The retreat was assumedly the concern of the Retreat Group. But ultimately, it turned out to be a cross-group activity, involving the Choir, the 1045 Reading Group and the Parish Activity Group as well. The success of the retreat, if any, is the fruit of their joint effort.
The theme of the Advent Retreat had been conceived months before the event. Sister Victoria, the mastermind, thought of using a few verses from the book of the Prophet Isaiah, which she believed to be closely associated with the Advent message, with reference to the darkness of the sinful age, the call to repentance, the hope for the coming Messiah and the reminder of the evangelical mission. She invited the other members of the Retreat Group to search for the right verses. However, as usual, it was her choices that we gladly agreed on. After all, who else understands the Bible better than she does?
The Choir was invited to choose a few songs with lyrics that could match the Bible verses. Thanks to their expertise and good experience, the songs chosen were later found to be more than fitting, helping to bring out the message effectively and inspiringly. They then had to start the singing practice, which was understandably an added responsibility to their already tight schedule. There were also sequential requests, which further complicated the mission. But there was not a word of complaint. Instead, they made useful attempts to iron out one problem after another.
Then there was the need for slides showing pictures of the current world situation related to the scenes depicted in the Bible verses. Pictures of social chaos and the shrinking polar ice caps, for example, were focuses on the dark side of life. Scenes of ecstatic occasions and happy laughter of children, on the other hand, would signify hope brought by the coming of the Messiah. That would be the job of the IT helpers, a few members of the Reading Group. It was no easy task at all, considering the need to set appropriate time intervals between slides to allow moments of silent prayer and meditation. And, the effectiveness of the actual presentation on the night of the event was inestimable.
When everything was done and everyone was looking forward to the red letter day with hope and confidence, there came the news that Father Peter would not be able to attend it because of an urgent affair. That was a hard nut to crack since he was assigned a very important part in the event. What were we going to do? Could there be a replacement?
Fortunately, the Lord answered our prayer. The retreat took place as planned. Father Peter did make his appearance, read out a Bible passage, gave a sermon on it and even led the closing prayer. When his voice was heard leading the singing of the song ‘Here I am, Lord’, everyone present was captivated. And when the Choir joined in the singing in a chorus, it was a touching scene. Had Fr. Peter come to the retreat finally? Unfortunately not! But a miracle did occur in the form of recorded video scripts powerpoint projected. It was all due to the hard work of the IT helpers. Of course, Father Peter's kindness in preparing his recorded presentation is much appreciated.
The retreat has been a success and we are grateful for this. But shouldn’t we also be grateful that we have got very good fellow parishioners who can work in cooperation for the shared purpose of serving God? This is community spirit, which our kind Lord has taught us about. It is one of the inspirations I have got in this time of Advent and I hope it will continue to inspire us to join hands in our pursuit of faith enrichment and in our work of evangelization.
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