Verbum Dei Sister Isabel leading a praise-and-worship session at the NTU Catholic Students' Apostolate retreat last month.
LIFE and love. These two fundamental issues were re-examined by more than 30 Catholic undergraduates from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) during a retreat recently.
The Verbum Dei Missionaries journeyed with this group in prayer and reflection from Nov 16-19 at the Franciscan Retreat Centre, conducting sessions to encourage the youths to contemplate on scripture and share their thoughts on the theme. Srs Isabel, Maria José and Elaine, veterans in conducting retreats, reiterated Jesus' call in the Gospel to live out a "full life" in love.
Praise and worship included some Spanish Gospel songs, which were thoroughly enjoyed by the participants. NTU Catholic Students' Apostolate (NTU CSA) acting chaplain Fr Clifford Augustine, OFM, in his homily in the Thanksgiving Mass on the third day, warned against the danger of indifference in the lives of Catholics. "The Lord does not want lukewarm Catholics," he said referring to Revelation 3:16.
The offertory included a heart-shaped paper on which were thanksgiving notes written by students for God's help in their exams a few weeks ago.
Most of the participants, like Indonesian Engineering student Danny Tantri, 19, felt that the retreat was "spiritually enriching". Indian undergraduate, Jesu Joseph, 17, commented: "I felt that the reflection times were most beneficial as they helped me to know myself better in the light of the scripture readings given."
For more information on NTU CSA activities, visit website http://w3.to/ntucsa or contact Egwin (9595-4754).