by Fr Lawrence Ng, CDD & Ken Cham
It started off with just three cycling pilgrims travelling only to Negeri Sembilan back in 2017. This year’s bike touring pilgrimage has grown to 18 pilgrims travelling to not just Seremban but to as far as Malacca, Tangkak, Tampin and back to Seremban with the intention to proclaim the Good News of the Lord Jesus Christ through their actions & charity. The cycling pilgrims also carried parishioners’ prayer intentions which they offered up for prayer at every church and chapel they stopped at. The pilgrims ranging in age from 23 to 64 were led by St Ignatius Church (SIC) Assistant Parish Priest Fr Lawrence Ng CDD who acted as the spiritual director.
This year's event particularly is more meaningful as it is in line with Extraordinary Missionary Year 2019 initiated by some dioceses in Malaysia culminating with the celebration of the Extraordinary Mission Month convoked by Pope Francis for October 2019 with the theme Baptised & Sent: The Church of Christ on Mission in the World. We are being reminded to “Go out to the whole world; proclaim the Good News” (Mark 16:15). Along the 350 km route, they make their presence felt at a Catholic Orang Asli Kampung Bekoh in Tangkak & the Infant Jesus Sisters Home in Taman Bakti, Malacca. They also visited a church ruin of more than 400 years old beside the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Krubong, Malacca.
One of the cycling pilgrims from Seremban Church of Visitation, Spencer Sequerah said: “Most pilgrimages I have been to are in the comfort of a bus. Once at the church we usually pray but there is not much effort being put in. This Cycling Pilgrimage brought us to so many churches & chapels that I may never visit on my own. The effort of cycling against the elements gave us a sense of accomplishment.” He continued that “becoming a true missionary is difficult but our group tried very hard to upkeep & be proud of what our jerseys stated: Powered by Jesus & Empowered by Jesus.”
Another cycling pilgrim from SIC, Bernard Tan shared: “During pilgrimage, I was able to break away from my daily life or comfort zone to be with God. I was able to be affirmed by and felt the presence of God in my experience (cycling pilgrimage) despite the suffering.” He added: “I think to me it’s not a matter of whether it is easy or not to be missionary. It is more of whether we are willing or not. Through my experience of this pilgrimage, I learnt that I am able in a small way to become a missionary! I can use my life as a light and salt to people around me. Through my actions and words, people will feel a difference – The Love of Christ!”
Fr Lawrence shared that, “to lead this group comprising people of different ages and attitudes is not easy. But with strong faith and trust in God, with daily spiritual input and reminders that ‘We are Missionary’, I was able to help them grow in spirituality through cycling. By the way cycling is just a kind of method of evangelisation. There are many kinds of it, but we found this method can be a good destress method to help all of them to get away from their busy lifestyle, and build the good relationship in Christian brotherhood and sisterhood.” He added: “In all we do, trust in God is very important.” For instance, three spokes of his bicycle wheel were broken but thankfully there was someone available to help replace them.
All who participated were thankful to the Lord for giving them strength, endurance, good weather & protection throughout the pilgrimage. Throughout this Bike Touring Pilgrimage, all pilgrims live out the teaching of Congregatio Discipulorum Domini (CDD) founder Cardinal Celso Costantini’s words: “I am with the spirit in your midst and I pray that God assist and bless you. Just like the star that lead the Three Wise Kings to Christ, so you have to be shining stars, which light up the way for many pagans to arrive at Christ.” (Put God’s Armour On, Chapter 24, verse 1).
Click on Bike Touring Pilgrimage 2019 to view a video.
