On Saturday, October 28, the Altar Society of St Mary’s Church, Mucurapo, St James organised a Prayer/Breakfast morning with the aim of building on the spirituality being developed in the parish.

This event was the second one of its kind to be held in the parish, following the first one held in 2005 which was truly spirit-filled. The theme of this event was The Mercy of God.

Fr Nathasingh was the main speaker. Present also were Frs Gerard Tang Choon O Carm our parish priest and Garth Eversley, Carmelite Formation Director.

The decoration for the venue was done by Michael Singh. In the centre of the hall was a large wooden cross surrounded by large candles on a red material background, on the tables were wooden crosses with red pieces of material wrapped around at the top, and little glass bowls with reddish water in which was placed votive candles.

The red and white drapes around the hall, with the other decorations presented a mental picture of the Blood of Christ, so entwined in the “Mercy of God”.

The day began with the singing of the National Anthem and a very warm welcome was extended to all present by our emcee Bernadette Allong. Following a procession of the Altar Society members, the big candles were lit followed by the lighting of those on the tables.

The praise and worship led by Fr Nathasingh together with our choir, I am sure brought down the Holy Spirit into our presence, and set the scene for his presentation.

Cross and candles in the centre of the hall

He reminded us that each one of us has experienced the mercy of God, that we have all come in touch with his mercy in our everyday lives.

We pray daily “Lord have mercy on us” in many situations and this helps us to understand the necessity of looking toward God and trusting in his mercy.

Mercy involves a kind of forgiving and relates to our attitude towards our neighbour. The Mercy of God will only be experienced if we put it into practice by the way we treat others.

We have to learn to give mercy in return, learning to tolerate each other and to care for each other. God is a loving Father and merciful in the way He treats us. In some instances when God gives us His mercy, we do not recognise it, and we cry out “We are just lucky”. Let us not take God for granted.

In Exodus 33 Moses cries out to God, “Please show me your mercy”. We must depend on the mercy of God. Abide by what the Lord says to His Church and His mercy will flow like a river. We need to humble ourselves before God and plead for mercy.

It is impossible to share the full text of his presentation, but we would like to extend grateful thanks to Fr Nathasingh for helping us to develop our spirituality and bringing us closer to God.

Then followed the laying on of hands by the three priests present, while our choir called down the Holy Spirit in song, which made this session a truly blessed and spirit-filled experience. God, in his mercy will bless each member of the choir for their praise and worship during this event.

As the morning came to a close, a very special thank you was extended to all who assisted, donated, participated or helped in any way to make this spirit-filled function a success.

We specially thank Frs Gerard and Garth for being with us throughout the morning’s event.