“I feel that this retreat should be made compulsory for every Catholic in order that they understand their religion, in order to evangelise.” This comment made by Mrs Maggie Goh, 45, a participant at the workshop held by the Apostolate for Catholic Truth (ACT) on July 29 and July 30, probably sums up the feelings of the other people who attended. The retreat held at the St Francis Xavier Retreat Centre (SFXRC) drew a huge response of close to 200 Catholics, given the little publicity it had.
The talks given by ACT members (Kelvin Chia, Andrew Kong, Margaret Chew, Dr Wibisono Hartono and Lawrence Ho) include topics on Purgatory, Norms of Piety, the Divinity of Jesus Christ, the importance of the Holy Eucharist and the Task of Evangelisation among others.
Entitled “To Know, Love and Serve Him”, the participants braved early morning downpours to be at the secluded SFXRC to spend an inspiring weekend with our Lord.
The majority of the participants affirmed in their evaluation forms that the talks ranged from ‘good’ to ‘very good’. Ms Celestine Tan, a parishioner from the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour (OLPS), had this to say, “I now have a better knowledge of my Catholic faith in areas that I didn’t know about from the ACT team. I certainly know more about Jesus and our Mother Mary, and I know I will love and serve them more. I gained an enriching experience during this retreat for my spiritual growth. I feel very touched by everything that has happened. I am deeply grateful to Fr Alfred Chan and his team. Praise God!”
Ms Christine Chu who is also from OLPS, commented, “The retreat is Spirit-filled, lively and enriching, ending with our personal reflection on what is our next step towards evangelisation.”
The Apostolate for Catholic Truth aims to spread the Catholic faith by promoting and proclaiming the truths of the Catholic religion, its doctrines and practices as taught by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. They give presentations and seminars upon request. Please contact Andrew Kong at 4495552 or check the ACT web site at http://scroll.to/act for further information.
This article appeared edited in the August 20 2000 issue of the Catholic News.