To Be Priest, Prophet, King in the Kingdom of God

A retreat was held at the Good Shepherd Catholic Seminary on June 11 for twenty-two confirmands of the Church of St Theresa prior to their confirmation on June 23.

Jul 06, 2018

By Anna James
A retreat was held at the Good Shepherd Catholic Seminary on June 11 for twenty-two confirmands of the Church of St Theresa prior to their confirmation on June 23.

The retreat with the theme To be Priest, Prophet and King in the Kingdom of God was delivered by Deacon James and catechist, Rosalind Lo. They impressed upon the candidates that they are called to share with the whole People of God this mission, through serving contemporary society as priest, prophet and king. In preparation for the retreat, the confirmands were asked beforehand to read Genesis and Exodus.

The programmes and activities were spread over two-and-half days. Scripture readings from the Old and New Testaments were taken to show the three-fold office of Christ which included the history of the Israelites. This included personal silent reflection, small group sharing and reporting their understanding of it during large group sharing. In line with the theme, every confirmand was asked to write a commitment letter to Jesus to be given as offertory on Confirmation Day, that is, a commitment to be priest, prophet and king. When doing so, they had to reflect on what areas were stumbling blocks to this commitment.

They were also introduced to Morning Prayers and Vespers using the Divine Office. The Sacrament of Reconciliation took place on the first day of the retreat. For one confirmand, confession took away the burdens he had been carrying around for a long time.

A movie titled The Fourth Wise Man was shown on the second day. The story is fictional in a Biblical setting but it showed the necessary attitudes for those who wish to enter the kingdom of God. The movie was a beautiful lesson on the Beatitudes as kingdomcentred attitudes.

During Holy Hour, two groups were formed to do the washing of feet. The confirmands were told to wash each other’s feet with reverence. The purpose of this was to remember that Jesus came to serve and not to be served. It was a humbling experience for them.

Based on the questionnaires given to the confirmands on the last day, five of them were ready to serve in the Catechetical Ministry. Celine Ng reasoned that as children of God, one had the responsibility to spread the word of God to the young people. Matthew Anderson feels that although he may not be qualified enough to teach, he believes God will give him the strength and wisdom to do so.

It was observed that it was difficult for some to part with their mobile phones for the two-and-ahalf days which was a requirement for the retreat. Most of them, who surrendered or did not bring their mobile phones, had no regrets for not using them during the retreat. Carl Yan noted that without the presence of his handphone, he had more time to learn about God and communicate with his fellow confirmands. We hope that the retreat has given them the impetus to continue reading the Bible and serving the Church after their Confirmation.

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