It was truly a joy to see all our parishioners coming together for the month-long Family Fiesta celebrations in August after more than 2 years. Many of us took the opportunity to Play, Pray, Learn and Celebrate through activities, talks and workshops. We reconnected with our friends and our family members, some learned new skills, but all of us celebrated! Just to highlight a few events that the Outreach Office had a hand in:

Ride for a Bite (Friday 5 August)

Being one of the very first Family Fiesta events, the team from the Portiuncula did not have much lead time to organise this activity and there was much preparations that needed to be done. Despite the initial anxieties and safety concerns, the event was injury-free with about 23 cyclists (and a couple over 60 years old) participating in the night ride that ended with happy bellies and smiles.

Divine Mercy Prayer Session (13 August)

Divine Mercy prayer & fellowship session

An excellent outreach initiative was this prayer session organised by the Divine Mercy Prayer group who readily accepted the task when approached. More than 50 participants were able to join in the gathering to enjoy prayer, food, fellowship, games and spiritual input by Friar Joe Nathan on the importance of prayer. Participants were grateful for the opportunity to finally get together again with friends over a meal and spend some time in prayer as well.

CPR + AED Certification Course (Saturday 20 August)

In view of the possibility of emergencies arising as our parish will be holding more in-person activities, 13 of our parishioners took part in this certification course and are now empowered with the necessary life-saving skills and knowledge to respond to cardiac emergencies if they happen.

WW2 History in Our Neighbourhood (Saturday 20 August)

This was a spontaneous ground-up initiative by Angelic Inn to organise a 3-hour guided walk around the vicinity of St Mary’s to learn about places of interest in World War II. The event was well attended by 41 parishioners and 10 mandarin-speaking migrant workers. There was also a collaboration with the Singles for Christ to help with English groups. The tour covered the Former Ford Factory, Bukit Timah Memorial, shophouses formerly used by the Japanese Army to house comfort women, and ended with lunch and fellowship at Bukit Timah Food Centre.

Super Sunday Snacks (7, 14 & 21 August)

A big hit with our parishioners were our weekly snacks and coffee offered after our Sunday Masses at the piazza and Gubbio. Organised by different ministries (including Pastoral Care & SSVP) each week, these allowed people to linger around longer at church to interact and connect with other parishioners, as food never fails to bring people together. Many have asked about the resumption of Sunday canteen and this is definitely in discussion as we need to look into complying with government regulations for sale of food and food handling.

Kampung Night (27 August)

Despite the wet weather, our spirits were not dampened. We embodied the true “Kampung” Spirit as we shared food, drinks and laughter. What a memorable and fitting way to bring our feast day celebrations to a close.

In Summary

The Family Fiesta has ended with a blast and we thank God for blessing us with supportive Friars, committed volunteers and some very generous donors in making this a success. Some of us have shared that they have managed to evangelise through the Family Fiesta activities. Do our outreach efforts stop here? We encourage everyone to be an outreach ambassador to reach out to friends who are still searching for avenues to serve or even return for Mass. Extend your hand or drop them a message. Maybe “How are you?” is what they need to hear today. 🥰🤗

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