Start the June holidays the best way possible—in prayer! On Tuesday, 1 June, from 8pm to 9pm, the ACCS will be leading an intercessory prayer session on Zoom, in conjunction with Catholic200SG, celebrating two hundred years of Catholicism in Singapore.

After the opening hymn, Sister Cecily Pavri will give an introduction to the session. She will speak about the missionaries who founded our Catholic schools, heeding the call of the Gospel to make Christ known and loved. Sr Pavri will touch on how the original missionaries inspired locals to follow in their footsteps and continue the legacy of Catholic education.

After Sr Pavri’s introduction, each religious congregation and their schools will give a short presentation, comprised of a scripture reading and quote from their founder, followed by prayers of the faithful. Together, the community will pray for our Catholic schools, school leaders, teachers, students, parents, sponsors, the Ministry of Education, the Catholic Church and our nation.

The session will also include hymns led by three teachers from St Stephen’s School.

Diocesan school representatives will close the session with a prayer to St Joseph and the Catholic200SG prayer. This will be followed by the final blessing and a closing hymn.

As we celebrate Catholic200SG, we invite parents, educators, and students to join us in prayer, giving thanks for the gift of Catholic Education, a legacy left for us by the early missionaries. Log in with the following details (please note that there is a 1,000-seat capacity for the Zoom event):

Zoom
Meeting ID: 944 2696 7285
Passcode: Faith200

Saint Max, the video production arm of the Archdiocese Communications Office, is producing a series of short videos meant for Catholic schools and parents to use freely in this season of Home-Based Learning (HBL). Particularly suitable for primary school students, these videos aim to inspire a focus on God as the children began each new day preparing for lessons at home.

Beginning with a song of praise, each episode contains a reflection on the day’s scripture readings or feast, with suggestions on how to incarnate spiritual truths through acts of love. The videos conclude with prayer intentions for the community and Spiritual Communion.

Each episode will be released at 7am every alternate weekday morning, beginning this morning. The five episodes will cover topics like God’s promises in times of uncertainty and fear, the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, living the Christian life, and faith that moves mountains. The schedule is as follows:

• Episode 1 – Wednesday, 19 May: God is One with Us
• Episode 2 – Friday, 21 May: They were All in One Room
• Episode 3 – Monday, 24 May: All Things are Possible for God
• Episode 4 – Wednesday, 26 May: Persons for Others
• Episode 5 – Friday, 28 May: Moving Mountains

Teachers and parents may access all five episodes via the Saint Max YouTube playlist.

By Adeline Low and Fr Edward Seah

Soon after we welcomed the New Year and even before our first term break, our world entered a very unusually challenging time. We have yet to fully recover from it. COVID 19, which became a pandemic, continues to affect us all with no regards for social status, race, religion and age. This virus had swept into our world and closed our churches and schools. Initially, we were all saddened by the disruption and uncertainty. For the Catholics, we missed our Mass as well as the religious celebrations and devotions as we entered the Lenten and Easter seasons. Over time, we learnt to adjust ourselves by keeping in spiritual communion with the Church through online masses, prayer sessions and inspirational talks.

The Chaplaincy team of Montfort Junior and Montfort Secondary Schools encouraged families of their students to commemorate Holy Thursday and Easter Vigil in their homes with Washing of Feet services and by lighting candles to welcome the dawn of Easter Sunday.

The young and even the not-so-young have found the online Holy Mass With Children meaningful and insightful. Not only do they get to be in spiritual communion with the whole Church during mass but also benefit greatly from the catechesis facilitated by inspiring catholic families as part of their preparation for mass. Many schools continue to encourage their children and parents to pray together among themselves using what is offered online by the church locally and universally.

As the Church moves into the Ordinary Time of our liturgical calendar, and we as gradually adjust to the ‘new normal’ ahead of us, let us live in hope and faith as we continue to pray for one another, especially those who are uncertain about their jobs as well as their health. We pray for parents and family members serving in the front line as healthcare personnel, law enforcers and care ambassadors. We also pray for all our teachers, parents and students who are badly affected by this pandemic. May God’s help and grace be upon them. And may St Michael, the Archangel, defend us and protect all our schools. Amen.