Catechetical Ministry Celebrates NBVM/SCIC 86/26
The kids are not yet able to attend Mass in church but that didn’t mean that they were going to be left out of the 86/26 NBVM/SCIC Anniversary festivities.
On Sunday, 5th September, the Catechetical Ministry organised a virtual celebration to commemorate the feast days and anniversaries of the two churches. Catechism students, teachers and parents from all classes and language groups came together for an evening of songs, prayer and a walk down memory lane.
“Beyond celebrating the feast day and anniversary of our parish, we want to connect the future of the parish – all of you kids – with the rich history our parish holds. The entire event here is to bring together all of us to remember our church,” said emcee for the day Cyril Joachim in his welcome remarks.
The event started with praise and worship, thanking God for the gift of Mother Mary, the mother of our parish and the mother Jesus gave to each one of us. The children were led in prayer to join with Mary in offering up everything they do out of love for the Lord. They praised God with songs like “To God be the Glory” and “Every Move I Make”. In the final song, “This Little Light of Mine” the children were reminded that within each one of us is the light of Jesus, given to us at our baptism. Our task is to let this light within us to shine so that everywhere we go the brightness of the light of Christ will overcome darkness.
After the praise and worship, the children were regaled with tales from the past decades about how the NBVM and SCIC churches came to be. The stories of the MEP Fathers who journeyed from France to spread the Gospel all over Asia and their close connection to the two churches were heard. The children were told about how priests and parishioners used to travel to the NBVM Church by sampan in the early years. They were also given a glimpse of the renovated NBVM Church and the newly built Nativity Centre.
The highlight of the evening was the children’s various presentations, dedicated to Mother Mary on her birthday. There were songs and poems, violin and piano performances, as well as short sharings about the parish. Every presentation was received with rapturous response from the audience, as evidenced by encouraging comments streaming in nonstop in the Zoom chat box.
Following the presentations, the children prayed together a decade of the Rosary asking the intercession of the Blessed Mother for all the children in helping them to draw closer to Jesus and in all the challenges that they face. At the end of the event, Fr Konstend thanked and congratulated all the children for sharing their talents and for the interest they have taken to learn more about the parish. He reminded the children to continue to pray for the pandemic to end and that we will be able to meet physically in the near future. The event concluded with a blessing from Fr Konstend and a final song commissioning everyone to go out and tell the world about Jesus.
Click here to watch the replay of the event.