Marco Carvalho
The Lusophone Scouts Group of Macau (GELMac) organized an Investiture ceremony last Sunday, formally welcoming almost a dozen new members. The ceremonial, which took place in the Casa Ricci facilities, in Cheoc Van, marks the moment when a Scout publicly commits to the Scout Promise and Law. Next Saturday, the group will join a spiritual retreat in Ká-Hó.
The seaside facilities of Casa Ricci, in Coloane, hosted on Sunday, 11th May, the Oath and Investiture ceremony of the Lusophone Scouts Group of Macau (GELMac). Almost two dozen cubs, explorers and pioneers made or renewed their promise during a Mass celebrated by Father Daniel Ribeiro. The parochial vicar of the Cathedral of the Nativity of Our Lady, who is also GELMac’s chaplain, endowed the inducted scouts with their first scarf or the scarf of the section they joined.
The ceremonial weekend began on Saturday afternoon, with the members of the Lusophone Scouts Group engaging in leisure activities and taking part in a prayer vigil. This time around, nevertheless, the scouts did not camp overnight in Cheoc Van due to the weather conditions: ‘We didn’t set up camp or stayed overnight. The activity took place over two days: on Saturday evening we held our prayer vigil and on Sunday afternoon, Father Daniel celebrated the Eucharist and presided over the oath ceremony. On the same day, we also celebrated GELMac’s 28th anniversary. It was a double celebration. We commemorated our anniversary and, at the same time, we welcomed almost a dozen new scouts to our group”, Nélson António, GELMac’s group leader told “O Clarim”.
Reinvigorated with the formal admission of his new members, the Lusophone Scouts Group of Macau will join, next Saturday, a spiritual retreat in the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, in Ka-Hó. The following day, on May 25th, the catholic scouts will take part in the Africa Day celebrations and help raise money for the youth ministry mission that will take a group of local youngsters to Cape Verde later this year: “We want to extend an invitation to the whole community of Our Lady of Carmel, particularly the children and youngster of the parish, to join us in the church of Our Lady of Sorrows, in Ká-Hó. We will organize a full day of activities, with a special focus on spirituality, under the supervision of both Father Eduardo Agüero and Father Daniel Ribeiro. We will have group discussions and several other activities. It will be a good opportunity both to socialize and to deepen our faith”, Nélson António remarks. “On May 25th, the parish of Our Lady of Carmel will organize the Africa Day celebrations. There will be a Mass, followed by a moment of conviviality at the Taipa Fortress, the headquarters of the Scout Association of Macau. There will be music and African food for sale. The proceeds from this get-together will go to the group of youngsters that will be travelling to Cape Verde in the summer”, GELMac’s chief scout told “O Clarim”.
To round off a month full of activities, the Lusophone Scouts Group of Macau will travel to Hong Kong at the end of the month to take part in the Beach Olympics. More than a hundred children and youth will take part in the games at Golden Beach in Tuen Mun, competing in sports such as football, tug-of-war, volleyball and Frisbee: “On May 31st, we will go to neighboring Hong Kong, to compete in the Beach Olympics. It’s a big get-together, held in partnership with the Hong Kong Scouts Association. Around sixty scouts from Hong Kong will be there and we will join in with a very similar number. In other words, over a hundred scouts will take part in this sporting event”, Nelson António concludes.
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