A grace-filled experience for St Thomas parishioners

Mar 28, 2025

Dr Francis Leong
In observance of the season of Lent, the parish of St Thomas the Apostle organised a three-day weekend retreat for its English-speaking parishioners, centred around the theme Grateful for Grace, Living God’s Promise. The retreat was led by Alvin Teoh, pic, a charismatic leader from the Church of the Good Shepherd in Setapak, and was attended by approximately 80 parishioners of all ages.

The retreat began on Friday, March 14, with the Stations of the Cross, followed by Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. On Saturday, the retreat continued with a session of Praise and Worship, followed by three talks in which Alvin shared real-life stories from his own experiences, highlighting moments when he encountered God’s grace in various situations.

As part of the retreat, participants were asked to write down 10 negative aspects of themselves on one piece of paper, and 10 positive attributes on another. In the afternoon, a para-liturgy was held, where each participant took turns nailing their paper with negative self-perceptions to a wooden cross, symbolising the surrender of these negative thoughts to God. The paper listing their positive traits was kept as a reminder of their intrinsic worth in God’s eyes, to be referred to whenever feelings of self-doubt arise in the future.

On Sunday, during the final session, Alvin cautioned against the practice of “Culture-Catholicism,” which he identified as being ego-centred (politics), legalistic (focused on do’s and don’ts), ritual-centred, and self-righteous. He emphasised that true personal growth and maturity can only occur in a “Trinitarian relationship” rooted in agape love — through knowing and loving God, loving oneself, and loving others. His parting message was, “If ordinary Catholics realise they are the temple of the Holy Spirit and have faith, they can do mighty things.”

This retreat was a true moment of grace, bringing faith to life in the hearts of all who participated, inspired by the powerful real-life stories shared by Alvin.