On Thursday 23 January 2020 a meeting of Augustinian Laity was held at the Augustinian College, Pieta’. The theme was ‘Youths and the Elderly walk together’. This was derived from Pope Francis’ Exhortation ‘Christus Vivit’, a sequel of the Church’s Synod on youths held in October 2018.

The meeting started with a presentation on the life of Blessed Augustinian Stephen Bellesini,  known for his work in the educational field with children and youths. After prayers we recited together the evening Psalms in the course of which extracts were read from Blesses Stephen Bellesini’s writings regarding how teachers should lead by example in instructing their students.

 Prayers were followed by a talk by Fr. Terence Spiteri osa in which he explained the reasons behind the choice of theme for this meeting. He referred to the Pope’s Exhortation in which the elderly and youths were encouraged to walk together. Fr. Terence then highlighted ten particular characteristics which affected the lives of youths in this day and age and suggested ways in which parents and guardians could help youths in the early stages of their lives.

This was followed by a talk by Roberto Calleja, a Youth Worker at the Junior College. He spoke about his own experience with youths and how we can better understand them and their problems. Immediately thereafter Dr. Andre’s Debattista, a university lecturer involved in various Augustinian activities, spoke about St. Augustine as a model for youths even in present times.

The meeting ended with refreshments in the course of which we had the opportunity of mixing together as well as meeting all the speakers.