WYD 11 First Pilgrims' Retreat

Date: 15^th January 2011

Time: 12.00 pm – 7.30 pm

Place: First Floor Hall, Assumption Family House

Objective: To prepare the WYD pilgrims spiritually for WYD 2011 and to create bonding among pilgrims.

Timeline:

<12.00pm> Arrival of Pilgrims and Registration
<12.30pm> Introduction & Prayer
                  Praise & Worship                   
                  Team Building Activities
<2.00pm>   Break
<2.15pm>   Praise & Worship
<2.45pm>   "What Is A Pilgrim?" Session by Fr Simon Labrooy
<3.45pm>   Group Discussion
<4.30pm>   Break
<5.00 pm>  Spanish Lesson
<5.45pm>   Mass preparations
<6.30pm>   Youth Mass

COMMENTS

What Is A Pilgrim?

During the talk by Fr Simon Labrooy, he gave the pilgrims a few questions to ponder on in the coming months to WYD 2011. The questions are “What is our focus as pilgrims?”, “What are we willing to sacrifice in order to make the pilgrimage happen?” and “What happens after the pilgrimage?” 

Group assignments

Due to the large number of pilgrims attending WYD 2011, all the pilgrims have been divided into seven groups named after the patron saints for WYD 2011. This is also to allow easier facilitation and communication among the core team and the pilgrims.

Good Attendance

Most of the pilgrims managed to attend the first monthly retreat and this translates to the seriousness of the pilgrims towards WYD 2011.

Spanish Lessons

Since WYD 2011 will be held in Madrid, Spain, there will be a tutor to teach Spanish during the monthly retreats. For the first lesson, the pilgrims were taught the Spanish alphabets (yes, there’s a Spanish alphabet system) and simple greetings in Spanish like “Good morning?” and “How are you?”

Thank You
A BIG thank you to all pilgrims and everyone who made the First WYD 11 Pilgrims' Retreat a success.

Some pictures from the First Pilgrims' Retreat. Enjoy!