1|E V A N G E L I I
Evangelii Updates
Newsletter of the
Office for the New Evangelization
February 2015
www.one.org.sg
Staff Movements
Jane Lau, Executive Director, is now
on maternity leave as she and her
family welcome their fourth child,
Michael Ang.
Rofina Tham, Deputy Director, will be
overseeing Jane’s duties. You can
contact her at [email protected]
Isabel Ho has transferred from the
Catechetical
Office as
Manager, Youth
Catechesis to her
new
appointment as
Manager, New
Evangelisation. She is designing and
coordinating formational
programmes for adults at the parish
and diocesan level. Isabel can still be
contacted at [email protected]
Victor Ooi has joined the Catechetical
Office as
Assistant
Manager, Youth
Catechesis.
Victor previously
served as
coordinator for
Level 8 catechesis and is currently
co-coordinating the Youth
Catechetical ministry at Holy Trinity.
At the Catechetical Office, Victor is
working on developing the Youth
Catechetical Curriculum as well as
training and formation programmes
for Youth Catechists. You may
contact him at [email protected]
Fr Terence Pereira appointed new
Episcopal Vicar for the New Evangelisation
Per the Chancery Notice of February 2015, Fr Erbin Fernandez has been
appointed Spiritual Director of the Catholic Spirituality Centre with effect from 1
February 2015. Fr Terence Pereira has been appointed the new Episcopal Vicar
for the New Evangelization with effect from 1 February 2015.
ONE thanks Fr Erbin for his guidance and wishes him all the best in his new
appointment. We’ll still see him around ONE as Fr Erbin will continue to be the
Catechetical Director. Here’s his final message as Episcopal Vicar for the New
Evangelisation.
My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
In this holy season of Lent, I greet each one of
you with the kiss of Christ crucified who cries
out for each one of us - `I Thirst`. What is this
thirst about my dear sisters and brothers? Or
rather who is it for? Jesus thirsts for you!
My brothers and sisters never doubt that you
are loved by God. The devil always tries to
distract us with the hurts of life or even our own mistakes to make us think that
God cannot love us. But this is not true indeed it is a heresy to say that – God
cannot love me!
I want to leave you with this important announcement as my last message as
Episcopal Vicar for the New Evangelization. As of 1st February 2015 (as most of you
may have already heard) I was appointed as Spiritual Director of the Catholic
Spirituality Centre and this will probably be the message that will echo through my
ministry there and for the rest of my life.
I want to thank all of you who have supported the work of ONE (Office for the New
Evangelization) over these last two years of my tenure. May all of us as joyous
Christians continue to announce Him who is the Alpha and Omega of all time and
history in this holy time of Lent.
-
Pax
Fr Erbin Fernandez
ONE Mission Communitea Gathering
-
Catherine Lee, Manager, New Evangelisation
Imagine how nice it is to have tea with people who share the same passion. It
was precisely with this thought that ONE gathered eight missionary groups,
including those based in parishes, for an informal dialogue on 31st Jan 2015.
During the gathering, Jane Lau, ONE’s Executive Director and I first shared
Archbishop William Goh’s definition of what is the New Evangelisation as a point of
(continued on next page)
OFFICE FOR THE NEW EVANGELISATION
2|E V A N G E L I I
What is the New
Evangelisation?
ONE Mission Communitea Gathering (from page 1)
In January 2015, Archbishop William
Goh gave a definition of the New
Evangelisation for our Archdiocese.
Over the next few issues, we’ll take a
closer look at what this means.
Mission is not restricted to overseas humanitarian aid but includes reaching out to
those in Singapore as well. And while evangelisation and mission is not about
converting others – that is the work of the Holy Spirit - the announcement of the
Good News must be made to all. Everyone was in agreement that as bearers of the
Good News, our lives should be so attractive that others will be moved to ask the
reason for our faith and joy.
alignment for all our work, and a focal point for our sharing. The key points of what
is evangelisation and mission were discussed with some clarifications given:
As each group shared on their work, opportunities for collaboration arose. For
example, one community which ministers in a remote area of Indonesia was looking
for materials for their children’s ministry. Representatives from another
organisation generously offered to link them up with their communities in that
location. ONE also offered training for catechists who minister to children overseas.
The New
Evangelisation
is a call to all Catholics to
renew their Faith and, working
in communion, to share the
Good News about Jesus Christ
with ardour and to be visible
witnesses of His love in every
sphere of society, using
approaches relevant to today's
society.
We ended our time together not just getting to know each other better but with
this spirit of oneness, knowing there are resources and fellow brothers and sisters
in the mission field we can work together with to advance the mission of Christ.
ONE is planning more opportunities for formation and dialogue for those involved
in missionary work. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
E-mail: [email protected] | Telephone: +65 6858 3011 | Fax: +65 6858 2011 |
www.one.org.sg
Catholic Archdiocesan Education Centre, 2 Highland Road, #02-02, Singapore 54910
Upcoming Events
February
March
Basic Catechist Course Level 1 Scripture
Wed Feb 4,11, 25, Mar 4, 11
(7:30 – 10pm)
In this basic course, catechists will discover the fundamental principles that undergird
and animate the great themes of Sacred Scripture, including:
Special Needs Catechesis 1 –
Understanding and Supporting
Young People with Special Needs
Tue Mar 3, 10, 17, 24
(7:30 – 10pm)
The course is designed to help catechists, assistant catechists and parents serving
people with mild to moderate special needs who are recommended to remain in
existing mainstream catechetical sessions. Training is helmed by Teresa Chia who has
extensive experience in conducting training on managing people with special needs.
Evangelisation & Mission Retreat
Sat Mar 21 (9:30am – 9:15pm)
This course begins with a retreat that invites participants to a deeper relationship with
the Lord with the aim of evangelising the evangeliser so that the proclamation of the
Good News comes from a personal encounter with the Lord. The follow-up session will
give a framework of evangelisation, and some pointers as to how to evangelise on a
person-to-person basis
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Sun Mar 22 (9:30am – 5pm)
Sat Mar 28 (9:30am – 4:30pm)
Follow-up session
April
Divine Inspiration
Nature of Christian Revelation
Sacred History
Typology and Memorial
Introduction to RCIA
Tue Mar 31, Apr 7, 14, 21
(7:30 – 10pm)
Over the four sessions, participants will learn about the thresholds of the various RCIA
stages, the marks of discipleship and the importance of announcing the Kerygma when
making disciples.
Basic Catechist Course Level 1 –
Introduction to Catechetical
Pedagogy & Catechetical Methods
Wed Apr 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, May 6
(7:30 – 10pm)
Over this 6-session course, Primary, Youth and LOWC catechists will learn about:
Catechists can opt for the
Primary, Youth, or Liturgy of the
Word with Children (LOWC)
tracks.
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the Pedagogy of God,
Liturgical Catechesis,
crafting and planning of their catechetical sessions,
the planes of development of young people,
the Archdiocesan Catechetical Curriculum,
the format of a catechetical session and sample presentations specifically for
their respective ministries.
Special needs workshop- ASD,
Dyslexia
Tue Apr 28 (7:30 – 10pm)
OFFICE FOR THE NEW EVANGELISATION