Journey towards confirmation

Sep 04, 2014

By Thomas Seo
As part of the preparation for confirmation, the students of the pre-confirmation class are required to carry out a community service. This was no different for the pre-confirmation class of 2014 of St John’s Cathedral. On August 26, our class organized a day of fun and games with the children of the Divine Mercy Home. The community service was to be held at Lake Gardens because it had a playground where we could run around and play with the kids.

About three weeks before the day, we divided ourselves into groups and planned how to make the best of our time with the children. We organized games such as football, the newspaper dance and many more. The task of getting provisions for the Home was divided among the pre-confirmands. To ensure a smile on the face of every child, we ensured that each child received a gift .

On the morning of the 26th, we met up at the playground of Lake Gardens at 8.30am, as scheduled. Unfortunately, it was a rainy morning and the arrival of the children from the Divine Mercy Home was delayed. Like every church event, we started with a prayer and asked God to bless us and make our communion service a meaningful and Spirit-filled one.

We got to mingle with the children over breakfast. After breaking the ice, we proceeded with a game of football which was very much enjoyed by both our class and the children. Their energy and enthusiasm never seemed to run out. We played a few more games and then went to the playground. By then, the weather was sunnier and the children roamed around the playground happily. At 1.00pm, we cleared up and proceeded to a resting spot where we all had lunch together and talked. Although they had been running and playing for almost three hours, the children did not seem tired at all.

By 1.30pm, we decided to hand out the presents. It was such a glorious feeling to see the smiles of the children. We then took a group photo and said our goodbyes. Our class hoped that their smiles would be the affirmation that they had enjoyed their time with us as much as we enjoyed our time with them. After they left, we too dispersed and went home.

Writing this report, I have to admit that if we were not required to carry out this activity, I do not think we would have organized something like this as part of our journey towards confirmation. From the feedback from the confirmands what we’ve learnt from this activity, is as follows:

Being confirmed is somewhat about living a Spirit-led life and fighting for Christ, trying to be like Him in every way possible. One of our classmates said that what he loved most about the kids was their innocence and their purity. The way they looked at things and answered questions, you could see Christ in them. The kids, who have less than what we are blessed with, were so ambitious. We asked two kids, Kamal aged 11 and Puvin aged eight, what they wanted to be when they grew up. Kamal said that he wanted to be an automobile engineer while Puvin dreamed of becoming a doctor. Their ambition is a lesson to those of us who are lazy.

All in all, God answered our prayers and our community service was a very productive, successful and meaningful one. The pre-confirmation class grew a lot closer definitely, and we went further in our journey towards confirmation.