A Penitential Service for the youth was held on Friday 27th March 1998 at 8.00pm at Novena Church. The event started with a rousing yet spiritual Praise and Worship session, which had the over 1200 people present first clapping to the beat and later settling down to a more sombre mood.
Fr Simon in his opening address talked about his experience in blessing houses. He noted that there were numerous huge posters of celebrities on the walls of the teenagers' rooms, but no picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ was found anywhere, just a tiny cross in the corner—full of dust. "The celebrities do not know us," he exclaimed, and "only Jesus Christ can change us!" Fr Simon then challenged the youth to allow Jesus to journey with them through the Emmaus Evenings by promising to put up nice pictures of our Lord and tear down all the posters of the celebrities.
A street evangelisation play put up by members of Vine & Branches (V&B) with Fr Simon followed. Fr Simon wanted Jesus to appear before him, and Jeremy—a V&B member, acting as Jesus, appeared bloodied and tied up. Fr Simon then mocked him for modern-day Singaporeans are taking Jesus as a joke, even Catholics. Jeremy was then crowned with thorns and dragged away. Another V&B member, Jay, played a doubting yet praying Thomas. The disciple saw Jesus walk in after the Resurrection. He felt Jesus' wounds, fell to his knees and believed. Jeremy then walked through the crowd, placing his hands on various people.
A Healing by the Blessed Sacrament thus began. Many were touched by the power of the Holy Spirit, for most were hugging each other, weeping and praying. The Sacrament of Reconciliation was administered by the priests present, Frs. William Heng, John Bosco, Bernard Teo and Michael Sitaram. Lay-leaders also prayed over non-Catholics.
Refreshments were served at the end, and Fr Mike called on the youths to invite their friends and catechists for the Next Emmaus Evening to be held on the 24th of April. Debra, 21, commented, "This Emmaus Evening is deeper, and it reaches to your soul. It was like a conversation with God, and I will definitely come again."
The Emmaus Evening in May will be held in the Singapore Indoor Stadium in conjunction with the Feast of Pentecost.
Here are some exclusive photos for the Emmaus Evening in March. They have not been seen before by anyone else, so you got them first on my Web Site!
Here are the street evangelisation play photos.
Oh, here is a treat to photos of Frs. Simon Pereira and Michael Sitaram at the event.
Thanks for enduring the download. Hope you enjoyed this page.
This page was updated on 10 July 2003.