Still...

There has been a few episodes of life which I haven't been able to jot down here earlier and now doing so seems a little too late. Still...

Ordination

Double affair at the parish of Holy Family as we welcomed Frs Valerian Cheong and Damian Dewind to the priesthood. Both are sons of the parish - one a singer and the other a nature lover. A very grand affair which saw close to 2000 or more people gracing the ordination ceremony on Sunday, 7 August at 5.30 p.m. When it ended it was around 7.30 p.m. and invited guests trooped over to Roland Restaurant for dinner which was marred a little by a 20-minute blackout that brought down the entire building. Food was halted, the aircons stopped and it was a slow burn while waiting for the situation to right itself. DJ Joe Augustine had to make this announcement: "The Management is doing its best to rectify the situation. They ask that we remain calm. Ironically, they also ask that we stay cool." At the end of it all, the whole affair was tolerable and everyone generally enjoyed themselves.

National Day

Singapore turned 40 years old! Took some snapshots of the fireworks by the river near the Stadium around Tg Rhu. Disappointed that the fireworks was rather a short affair. That was done using my trusty r707 HP 5.1 megapixel camera with flash off and my whole body as tripod as I stood there still like a deadwood (not too successful) to frame that shot for about 15 seconds. It was a looooong 15 seconds. My next item in my wish list: a real tripod!

Novena

Am preaching and celebrating the mass for the parish of Queen of Peace on Friday night, 12 August, as they gear up for their celebration of their feast day on Assumption Day which falls on 15 August this year. My topic? "Jesus, Our Counselor and Friend." Still figuring out what to share about on this. Maybe I should focus on the 'counselor' and 'friend' part. Something inside me wanted to frame the sharing/homily in this manner: "What is there to know? So simple whaaaat! You know, friend...? I and you, you and me?.... You know, good friends?... Counselor? Well, that's how Jesus is to you riiite?... He is there for you and helping you what. So, now you reflect carefully!" But I know this willl not cut it for any mass and/or novena, no matter how local and personal that touch may be!

Last But Not The Least

I shall be on leave next week! For one week I shall not have to worry about anything on parish work and Holy Family. Going off to see my family up north in Puchong, just off from KL town. R&R here I come!