11 excited youths set out on a mini pilgrimage, organised by the CUE ministry on the 22nd of December. Seeing as Advent is a time where we all are called to prepare ourselves for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ as well as his second coming, we decided to visit a few churches and to learn about the lives and sacrifices of its patron saints.

The first stop of the day was the Church of Saint Thomas More in Subang Jaya. After spending some time in prayer as well as looking around, we gathered to hear the saint’s life story as retold by one of the youths, Ian Ho. We then shared our thoughts on Saint Thomas’s struggles and breakthroughs to conclude the session. Our next stop was the Church of Saint Francis Xavier where we shared about St Francis Xavier and his struggles and adventures. As a plus point, we even befriended a little cat that we named Francis.

To replenish our energy, we stopped for lunch at a nearby restaurant before continuing the second half of our adventure. With full stomachs and a light heart, we continued on to Jesus Caritas Church. Although the church had no patron saint, there was still much to talk about as the subject focus was instead on the body and blood of Jesus and the feast dedicated to it – Corpus Christi. As that informative discussion came to an end, the group bumped into Fr. Michael Chua who had happened to stop by and stayed to speak with us about the recent renovations done to the altar of the church.

To conclude this mini pilgrimage, the group made a final stop at Saint Ignatius Church in Petaling Jaya. Although caught in the sweltering heat of the afternoon, we were still lively and looking forward to learn more on the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.

By the end of this journey, each of us had gained something new by looking into the lives of these admirable saints. Remembering the Saints and their struggles also served as a reminder to us of the sacrifice these saints had made to evangelise as well as our own call to evangelise.