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Holy Spirit Camp draws 146 participants

PAPAR – The annual Holy Spirit Camp, organised by the Royal Ambassadors Youth (RAY) of Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish, drew 146 participants.

It was held at the Pace Bene Retreat Centre on 20-22 Mar 2017.   The camp is run by young people for young people. The camp helpers range from Form 5 students to school leavers and young adults.

The theme, “Your Will Be Done,” focused on surrendering one’s life to God’s will, modelled on Mary’s fiat.

Anthony Lim gave a succession of talks on the identity of Mary. He presented a short screening of the story of the Annunciation and then he explained Mary’s roles as the Mother of Jesus and our spiritual mother. Through these sessions, the speaker imparted knowledge about the significance of Mary’s apparitions to certain saints. He also expounded Mary’s mission for humanity.

The speaker gained the attention of the teens by speaking lucidly, throwing questions at them, and presenting tokens of appreciation to those who answered correctly. The response from the teenagers was encouraging.

Another session focused on the role of the father in the family and its impact on the wellbeing of individuals.

Aside from the talks, the inner healing service held in the evening was truly a poignant moment for all participants. Prayers were said for the healing of the significant stages in a person’s life.  The prayers were meant to help the participants to look back into their lives and discover where they need healing.

Prayer stations enabled the youths to disclose the intentions they had for prayer, repentance and healing. This enabled many to come to terms with their own personal hardships and helped them to deal with raw or suppressed emotions in an encouraging and respectful environment.

Other highlights were group activities comprising word games, treasure hunt, poster making, heart to heart sharing, discussion on lives of saints, personal reflection in the chapel and personal letters hand written to fathers. Every group was assigned a saint and they were instructed to use their handphones to look up the lives of those saints for discussion and reflection.

The camp ended on a different note this year. The organisers decided to end on a more sombre note, making the Holy Mass as the highest form of praise and worship. Each of them received a cord carrying a blessed Miraculous Medal, signifying the “recruitment” to be part of the Militia Immaculata, a movement dedicated to our Blessed Mother, founded by St Maximillian Kolbe. Jenna D. Robert

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