WE WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!

Tonight was a moment of revelation for me. It is Family Renewal Week in our retreat centre and over 3500 youth and adult retreatants are in our English Campus. The theme of the 31st National Youth Retreat being held this week is - "Soar High As On Eagles Wings" (Isaiah 40:31) It is a wonderful atmosphere to see tiny tots, little children, teenagers, college students, single adults and married couples of all ages all mingling together to spend a week in prayer and joyous praise & worship!

There are many inspiring homilies that I have heard in Divine – the great blessing of having deeply anointed Vincentian priests and why it is the largest Catholic retreat centre in the world. Yet tonight, I listened to one of the most uplifting and heart-stirring homilies by Fr. Michael Payyapilly V.C., the Assistant Director of our retreat centre. As I was listening, I felt a great stirring of hope and confidence that seemed to flow from my mind to my heart. Fr. Michael based his homily on the Word of God of David and Goliath (1 Samuel Chapter 17) - “We will not be defeated” As he spoke, this was the line that reverberated in me as Father kept emphasizing it, “With Jesus on my side, my family and I will not be defeated” - based on a true experience he had with another young man when they were both attending a youth retreat in Divine as college students in 1996. It was a very touching example of the power of faith.

It made me remember the joyful moments in my life when my friends and I believed that no challenge was impossible to overcome. At college and in my career days, even amongst them, I was often called an idealist as I would never give up if I believed in a cause / a principle / or a project. It was a personal challenge! Now that is a sure way to get into trouble with authority – and I did get into trouble at times. But I learned a valuable lesson. More often than getting into trouble, I realized I can only be defeated if I did not believe passionately in what I was doing or standing up for. It was a matter of faith.

I was pondering about this homily over dinner tonight and even now as I write this post. Why did this homily touch such a deep chord in me? It Is because I remembered vividly once again that faith is a beautiful gift of grace from God. I rediscovered my Catholic faith during my first retreat here in 1998. Despite troubles and difficulties that have been in my life – there has always been inner peace of knowing I will not be defeated and that Jesus will not abandon me no matter what. The bible verses, “If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) and “With God, all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) are Word of God that inspire me greatly in my life. We should not be afraid to live our dream to achieve our Christian mission.

I am deeply inspired by the courage of some of my friends in answering the Call of God they have experienced in their lives – none of them knows what  lies ahead or how they can carry out the mission they feel called for based in Singapore and Hong Kong. But they are proving one thing to be true – what Fr. Michael so aptly ended his homily with:

WE BELIEVE IN FAITH!

I dedicate this post specially to Fr. Michael – for reminding me of the joy of my Call, the joy of all my friends in answering the Call of God in their lives, the joy of the Call of every priest and lay person who serves in this centre AND of committed Catholics all over the world. We will not waver and we will not be discouraged – “With Jesus on our side, we will not be defeated.”

We will “Soar High As on Eagles’ Wings!” (Isaiah 40:31) . 

The hymn below "I Will Rise" will uplift your heart!