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Dear Pilgrims to the Vatican and Italy,
Greetings of peace and joy to you in our Lord Jesus Christ! I trust that you have been well since our return from this adventurous formation-based pilgrimage to the Vatican and Italy. It has been more than a month since we completed our sacred journey together. I am sure most of you, if not all, will remember this pilgrimage for a long time to come. The journey was more eventful for some of you than for others. For many of you, I am certain that this trip has quite radically changed the way you look at your faith. At life even. Nothing on a proper pilgrimage ever happens by coincidence. It was certainly not by mere happenstance that the Wednesday Papal Audience was converted into a Papal Mass for the opening of the Synod on Synodality. While hundreds (or thousands, rather) of people from around Southeast Asia were longing for an opportunity to participate in the Papal Mass that took place in Singapore just weeks prior to our trip, you found yourself being a part of a Papal Mass in Saint Peter's Square itself by divine design. There were also moments during the trip when our faith and confidence in the Lord was tested. One immediate example of this was the evening that we were abandoned by the bus driver in the middle of Rome after dinner. Another example is the laborious journey that most of you had to take in hiking up to our hotel in Assisi from the parking space where you alighted the bus. These were surely somewhat trying experiences for us all, which speak of how life often comes with its tensions, anxieties, and stresses. Anxiety speaks of our emotional inability to fully trust that the Lord is in control of all aspects of our lives. These moments of stresses during a pilgrimage are precisely meant to highlight our need to intentionally trust in God at all times, knowing that He loves and cares for us. I was delighted to see signs of faith and much generosity in each one of you as we journeyed together through these situations. May these graces that you have obtained throughout the trip be kept in your heart as you continue with your daily routines. Our journey has not ended. We continue to pray for you each day, for all the intentions that you have submitted throughout the pilgrimage. Do keep in touch with us. In this webpage are the group photographs we’ve taken, made available to you in high resolution as promised, and also the video footage for you to view and to share generously with all your loved ones and friends. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all, now and always. Yours most sincerely, Deacon Sherman Kuek OFS VIDEO FOOTAGE |
Photographs
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St Alphonsus Liguori Church
St Peter's Square
Papal Mass
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Mass in St Alphonsus Liguori Church
Gelato
Basilica of St Mary of the Angels
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