As the month of September begins, a special time when we honor a special fire in our dear founder, St. Vincent and specifically in this year dedicated to the Pentecostal Light of St. Louise de Marillac, the Vincentian Marian Youth from Albania and Kosovo gathered in Tirana, Albania for their National Meeting to celebrate and witness the living Christian love and our belonging to God and our most beloved mother Mary, on September 08-10, 2023.

The activity started with the Eucharistic Celebration presided by Fr. Ferdinant Kodra CM, National Priest Advisor of VMY Albania and Kosovo. We also got to know each other and unfold the agenda of the upcoming days.

On the second day, the members were gathered for the Morning Prayer. After the prayer, Fr. Dario Rosseti, gave his talk about “No longer do I call you servants…. but I have called you friends” John 15, 15 where he discussed the bible verse by sharing that Christ instructs, informs and offers His life for our sake and proves that He sees us as His “friends”. As God’s love and knowledge flow to Christ, Christ passes them down to us, as a vine passes along to branches. We, in turn, are meant to pass the Word and love to other people. Our youth also had a time for personal reflection. What kind of servants are we? Are we loyal servants, or are we lazy ones? After sharing on this topic, the youth had the opportunity of a meeting with the National Council of VMY Albania and Kosovo. New ideas, suggestions and how life is going within the Association were discussed. A socialization night concluded the program on the second day; we also had the opportunity to prepare the program for the next big day!!

The third day was a big day! The feast of St. Vincent was celebrated for the first time in the history of FAMVIN Albania and Kosovo, with all the branches of FAMVIN operating in Albania and Kosovo, CM, DC, VMY, SSVP, AMM. About 120 participants were gathered. The meeting had a purpose: to grow more in Christian love and our beautiful charism and in our commitment to being true friends of Jesus. The day started with the Eucharistic celebration by thanking God, because we are convinced every day more and more that the encounter with Jesus is not an isolated event but a daily relationship of love! The day was enriched with a formation based on meditation on the life of St. Louise and sharing of the activities and life mission of each branch of FAMVIN in Albania and Kosovo, including works, services, projects, initiatives and common plans we have, for which we gave thanks to God for entrusting us so much! The activities of our Association were presented by our National President, Hana Shalaj. The day ended with a party, with singing, dancing and having fun.

IT IS REALLY GREAT BEING A VINCENTIAN, because our service is not just a duty but a source of true joy, a precious vocation entrusted to us, “Ride the waves of Christian love where YOU/WE are”.

To Jesus with Mary,

Hana Shalaj
VMY Albania and Kosovo
Source: https://jmvinter.org/