Close to 1,000 people were baptised or received into full communion with the Catholic Church in Singapore this month, marking one of the largest annual rites of Christian initiation in the country.
Among those baptised at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd was Linda Jane Lam, a 50-year-old cancer survivor and learning consultant.
Lam was one of 37 new Catholics who had been received into the Church at the cathedral by Cardinal William Goh, according to Catholic News SG, the official news site of the Church in Singapore.
“I dropped out after a few sessions because I felt I did not need God in my life. I thought I was doing fine, even when I went through cancer,” Lam said, recalling her initial experience with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) a decade ago.
She returned to the programme last year, prompted by another personal crisis and the encouragement of her sister. Initially reluctant, Lam said she found herself moved by the teachings of Fr Jude David.
“He told us how those who are near death become wiser because it is then they realise what is really important in life,” she said.
The weekly sessions soon became a refuge. “Now I know that even when I don’t feel ready for God, He is always ready for me,” she said.
Lam described an emotional moment after her baptism when she stood in front of CHIJMES, the former convent school where she first encountered the Christian faith as a child.
“Right after my baptism, I came face-to-face with the beautifully-lit façade of my former convent school at CHIJMES and I cried,” she said. “As a six-year-old, that was where I first learnt about Jesus. Now I am Catholic, and things have come full circle.”
At the Church of St Bernadette, another new Catholic, Luke Anthoan Loke, said his journey began after attending a 2023 retreat led by Sri Lankan priest Fr Michael Payyapilly, which led him to encounter the Holy Spirit.
“I have been trying to go for daily Mass; attending Masses online since 2023 and making the act of spiritual communion,” said Loke, who works in manufacturing. “I feel happy and blessed to finally receive him physically.”
At the Church of St Mary of the Angels in Bukit Batok, 37-year-old Lucia Luna described her baptism as a moment of profound release after a year of preparation.
“I was holding back tears of gratitude and joy all day, but when I stepped into the baptismal font, I could not hold back my emotions any longer,” said Luna, who runs a home bakery. “As Friar Mike (Michael D’Cruz OFM, Parish Priest of St Mary’s) immersed me in the water, I felt the heavy stones of my sins, unforgiveness, hurts, and burdens all lifted from me.”
“The first thought that came to mind as I stepped out of the font was ‘I’m redeemed!’” she said.
Luna urged others who may feel distant from the Church to not be afraid of returning. “Acknowledge your sins, seek God’s forgiveness, and come home to church. Do not be afraid, because God has forgiven us and He loves us unconditionally.”
The Catholic Church in Singapore holds annual RCIA programs in parishes across the country, leading catechumens through months of preparation ahead of the Easter sacraments.
