Life's Crosses

Eat Well!...

2012-01-24T17:24:00.000+08:00

Happy and blessed Chinese New Year!

Praying Together?...

2012-01-13T15:52:00.001+08:00

Image by aronki via Flickr

Greetings friends and welcome to the new year!

Yes, I did say that I would be back over the next few days after Christmas but that didn't happened. Nonetheless, the year carries on and now we are 2012. It is going to be an interesting one because, once again, we are facing another swirl of doomsday talk about the end of the world and all that goes along with it. It will be interesting because I am going to witness another round of 'shaking-my-head' at the end of it all and, to use a known social media term, ROTFL, when we get pass this year and greeting 2013 instead. It seems we never learnt from past mistakes or that we give too much credence to doom-sayers and quack seers who don't really know what they are talking about or dealing with.

Aside those, closer to home, there is a niggling discomfort and disquiet that came up with the recent article by Chua Mui Hoong, 'Quiet Contemplation on Common Ground', on her recent attendance at a meditation conference organised by the Catholic Church's Archdiocesan Council for Inter-Religious and Ecumenical Dialogue and the World Community for Christian Meditation, which was also supported by the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO) of Singapore.

First, was the letter from a Buddhist reader in the Forum section of The Straits Times about Ms Mui Hoong's description that the participants were engaging in a (praying) practice which was both unique to their tradition and common to all faiths, namely a reaching out to God through silence, was a misrepresentation of the Buddhist faith. While the article may seem respectable and informative to the event that had transpired, there were certainly quite a few elements in the article, which are rather questionable. The Buddhist issue is one thing and rightly so because to any practicing Buddhist, they will mention that they do not profess to a God or a Divine Being. Thus, their ultimate goal, even in their meditation is never to or for God. Strictly speaking, they don't really profess a religion but more a way of life.

But perhaps a wider and problematic issue here is concerning our own Catholic view on the following matter: Can we pray together with other faiths, in a situation such as this, at all?

Perhaps an article with the headline, 'No Joint Prayer at Pope's Inter-religious Meeting', and another here, can shed some light on the matter. This article would put before us that the recent meditation event in Singapore is very questionable and the way it was conducted, especially with the presence of the Catholic Church there is somewhat in contradiction to the basis of our own Catholic faith. The Pope himself is very clear about praying in such a setup: we don't (or cannot) pray together.

This event could serve its intentions better when, it best promotes the dialogue of faith sharing but avoid any religious syncretism, or combining of different beliefs and practices. The current Assisi prayer meet would be a better template (thought not perfect) to engage in this meditation event: that we meditate/pray separately and in private areas alloted for each faith.

Perhaps those in the Archdiocesan's Council for Inter-religious and Ecumenical Dialogue be a little more discerning about such matters when dealing with events like this in the future.

Fly Kites!

2012-01-12T19:52:00.002+08:00

The next time someone tells you to "Go fly kites!", you can get in touch with these gentlemen at Ponggol End, aka Ponggol Promenade, to teach you how to!....

Welcome to 2012 and may your new year be fruitful and blessed!

Christmas Greet!

2011-12-26T21:22:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Joyous and Blessed Christmas and compliments of the season. May your New Year be also filled with God's grace of peace and joy!

Will be back in a few days time!

Oh, O!

2011-12-20T13:02:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

The countdown is slowly getting us to the Christmas event and during this week it is being rung, not by silver bells, but by the O Antiphons.

If you go to the link from Wikipedia, you will get the whole description on what we are encountering here. So, since the 17th of this month, we have seen Wisdom (Sapientia), Lord (Adonai), Root of Jesse (Radix Jesse), and today, it is Key of David (Clavis David). These are excellent items you can use for your Advent reflections as we get closer towards Christmas. If you don't also already know, these antiphons are embedded in a very fitting way in a hymn which you may have already sung it at Masses during this period, or perhaps last Sunday recently: O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

Being here in Kajang, everything seems to have slowed down. Unlike in Singapore, where everything seems rushed, I can now really feel time slowing down as I savour the seconds and minutes passing by. I don't have to worry much about the next appointment or activity to be done, as there are none here now. So, for now, it is a slow burn towards Christmas with the Antiphons.

Meantime, do keep in your prayers for Deacon David Arulanatham who was recently ordained to the diaconate in his parish in Klang (Malaysia). Deacon David finished his priestly formation recently this year in the SFX Major Seminary, Singapore and will be serving the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur in his parish at Klang. He is among the batch of Malaysians who are studying in the Singapore seminary and has now finished and moved on towards the priestly ministry. His priesty ordination is expected to be in mid-January next year! Praise be to God!

The Real Stuff

2011-12-16T20:35:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

"... the best way to maintain a spirit of love is to give beyond yourself. Find a place to give a little of your money, find a place to give a little of your time. It's amazing how much Christ comes back to you when you do that."

Sarah Hart on her latest Christmas album "This Winter's Eve"

Sometimes when you come once again back to the season of Advent and then moving into Christmas, you can get this lazy and, perhaps, a little lost feeling that nothing seems to have changed and there seems no use to continue to welcome this celebration any more.

This is not surprising if we just look at all those secular activities associated with this season as thought Christmas is all only about shopping, Santa, silver bells, snow, tree, lights, Orchard Road, or even carols. When we start going down that way, then it is no wonder it could end up being the same old, same old. This is also giving in to the sentiment of secularists or even atheists who see all this as necessary fluff to feel good about something and nothing else.

The season and celebration of Christmas is much, much more than those shopping bags, presents, lights and glitter that usually crowd out the real message, which, by the way, is a radical and rallying call to claim our identity and true calling as children of God, that we belong to one another, and not slave of the material world and all the sins that ensue in our fallen nature.

"... in truth and the heavenly reality, which is so different from our reality, all is well because God has kissed the world and said 'I love you and here's My gift for you, My gift of eternal life through My son."

Sarah Hart on the song All is Well in This Winter's Eve.

The real Christmas message always continues to ring out tall and imposing because it is about our Father in heaven who came down to us to take us up to Him to see and enjoy His love that none in this world can ever hope to give or achieve. But because we always think less of ourselves we shoot for the second best or anything else, we are always finding our glasses half-filled and therefore always lacking. This is even in spite if the assurance of His son, Jesus Christ, who said, "I come to give you life, life to the fullest".

"For my husband and me, I wanted to paint that picture of . . . bringing our sacrament back to the manger year after year, turning to Christ with our brokenness in our hands and saying, 'Lord, continue to help us. Bless us and walk with us on this path of marriage. We come here to remember where love comes from. It comes from You. Please bless us with one more year of love for each other in our love for You."

Sarah Hart

One of the powerful symbols that continue to carry us into the mysterious embrace of the Incarnation, which is what Christmas is all about, would be the crib and in the Nativity scene. Its very setting is more than enough to tell us that our faith is not of this world and will never seat well with fluffy and light-headed sentiment that knows not the very presence and power of God, in the, ironically, vulnerable and lowly stable, whose occupants include an oxen and an ass.When we do find ourselves in front of a Christmas crib, we should allow the setting there tell us something about ourselves and how much we may need to amend in order to accept the infant Christ child into our lives today, so that real transformation can take place. I pray that all married couples do take this opportunity to bring their sacrament back to the manger for their love to grow deeper, for that is what the Lord wants.

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Kajang Advent

2011-12-13T16:16:00.002+08:00

Image by Ryekatcher via Flickr

Greetings from Kajang!

I am back with my parents and siblings in the quiet town of Kajang just outside of KL. I have also to contend with my nephews and nieces who see me once a year and always make friends more with my iPad than with me..

So far, it has been peaceful and not as hectic when I am in Singapore, which of course has a different surrounding to it all. Here, everything else is slowed down by a factor of 50, at least. That's because I don't go anywhere else nor find myself rushing for anything.

We are also on the second last leg of Advent and Christmas will soon be upon us. Before anyone knows it, another new year will begin and the cycle wil begin again. Will be the same as previous years? Have we done anything to sufficiently make us truly a newer and better person in God's eyes? Are we any closer to fulfilling our responsibility being persons who are sensitive to the presence of God in all things, in events, and in the seeming coincidences that occur in our lives and in our worlds, coincidences that point to the activities of God in our lives and in our world?

Not easy questions to answer. Yet, important ones that will certainly determine the kind of person we will turn out as we come face-to-face with the new year.

Lunar Eclipse, Dec 2011

2011-12-11T14:27:00.001+08:00

A funny thing happened on the way to Punggol Point yesterday evening, Saturday, 10 December 2011...

It was the night of the lunar eclipse which was to be seen across Asia and SIngapore had a great and grand spot from earth to capture this event. The crowd over at Punggol Point, though small and sparse, never realise what was unfolding before their eyes and only realise later when the Moon began to darken and finally reached full eclipse in its, almost, red blooded glow.

A fellow amateur astronomer who was recording this event from the lawn of his home commented that it was a sight to behold and one that really speaks of God's creation and wonder. I cannot agree with him more!

Expectations - Ah, The Mystery of It All!

2011-11-25T21:08:00.001+08:00

Image by Will Humes via Flickr

It is a only a day away from this point of writing before we really hit the period of Advent. I seemed to have been given this dubious honor of starting this new day in the Church's liturgical calendar by having to celebrate a wedding in the morning followed by the weekend Masses, starting with the Sunset Mass, all tomorrow.

Advent is known as the season of waiting, anticipating and also about expectations. There is something special about expectations, when we are expecting someone or something. It has this air of excitement and mystery around it because you don't know what and how things will turn out. This is so unlike realisation. When we realised something, there is nothing else to consider anymore and we move on to the next.

So, what is or are your own expectations this Advent?

As for myself, I have to expect that:

a. I shall be chanting some parts of the Mass once we begin the 1st Sunday of Advent and I don't know how will all this turn out.

b. Parishioners of IHM, once they realise that I shall be their preacher for the weekend, would, themselves, be expecting a homily that may be substantially different from their usual ones which they would get through their priests of the parish. An unfortunate comparative situation but one that I always have to take in my stride whenever I go to any parish as a guest priest.

c. This Christmas hols, I shall be back with my family in Kajang.

Life is Changed Not Ended

2011-11-02T00:30:00.000+08:00

Image by The Wandering Angel via Flickr

On the occasion of All Souls, let me offer my homily for the day. I hope you may find some consolation and peace, especially for those who have lost their dearest and best.

The past two days we have been placed before the great question that always haunts us, we who are mortals. It is this practical question of the end of life, we call death. Today, we are reminded that as mortals, we don’t live forever, no matter how much we try to add on those extra years to keep living. Then, again, there are those who would want to die now due to extreme pressures of life and just want to end it all. We are complicated creatures and just don’t know how to handle death and its implications well – in general.

The celebration like today is one way the Church offers us hope that even though we may not in this life be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect, we can still hold on that there are mansions for us in the kingdom of heaven through that very profound and loving act of God who completes our salvation, purifying us for glory. It is also on this note that we pray for the dead in a special way today, keeping clearest in mind that for the Lord’s faithful life is changed not ended.

In her eulogy to her brother, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple who passed away recently, Monica Simpson said that Steve valued highly beauty and has his life philosophy that hinges on the aesthetics and one that drove him to always aspired to make things that are ‘beautiful’ which people would want to use. Alongside that, she mentioned that her brother’s supreme virtue, his god of gods, was Love. In his final moments as he lay on his bed with his closest family and kin with him, Monica mentioned that he looked at his other sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then his wife Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them. His last words as he looked past them was, “Oh Wow. Oh Wow. Oh Wow.”

I’d like to think that Steve Jobs at his final moments on this earth finally saw the Beauty and Love that he so aspired for all his life and realised in that instance what for us to mean in saying that life is changed and not ended. So, as we continue out celebration that commemorate the dead, in all humility and awe, we praise God and his goodness and love with the simplest words as only a child may utter: Oh Wow. Oh Wow. Oh Wow.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through Your mercy, rest in peace. Amen.

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Fun

2011-10-27T23:37:00.000+08:00

It is not always prayers and studies. We do know how to have some fun, now and then!

Time Slice of Punggol

2011-10-27T22:02:00.000+08:00

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

The new template somehow didn't work and stayed on and now we have this original one back in place. I, myself, wasn't too confident with that new look, so I wasn't all that disturbed that I got back the previous layout.

I am now about a year or so (I have passed 1 year, 3 weeks and 6 days) since I came in the Seminary. Much have taken place since then but the work and responsibilities involved has not necessarily lessen. However, the peaceful and serene environment and the setting here has been consoling enough to allow me to be able to look and be open to the other side of Singapore which ordinarily you don't get to encounter.

It is the rustic and laid-back feeling in a place that was once littered with pig, chicken and vegetable farms complete with jungle and other deep undergrowth that we call Ponggol. Today, that whole landscape has changed and offers a more modern perspective that still is a little understated in its transformation - parts of the undergrowth and some jungle remain.

I have had several opportunities to use and put to good action my iPhone camera and took quite a number of picture bites of the surrounding area which also just saw some 'upgrading' with the Punggol Waterway and the soon-to-be-open Punggol Promenade at Punggol End. The Waterway has been dubbed as the 'Venice of Punggol'.

This part of Singapore which I am now residing, is a far cry from the setting which I was accustomed to during my previous stints at the parishes when I had to face concrete buildings, roads, vehicles and, literally, thousands of people.

Now, I just take care of 17 and watch out for mosquitoes, monkeys and squirrels (some friends swore that these are 'ninja' squirrels - be warned!).

Playing Catch Up and Changes...

2011-10-18T12:35:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

It was time for a change and I thought it would be a way to get out of the current rut that had prevailed over my writing in this blog. Hence this new presentation and way of seeing things.

I don't know how this would affect those of you who have been accustomed to the previous one and if you have any concerns on this you may send in your comments and I'll see how we can work that through.

I have allowed much to slip by and instead of trying to play catch up, I prefer to get on with where we are and make the adjustments from there. So, the one thing which I am not going to talk much about is the passing of Jobs (though you can get some good takes from here, here and here).

The past weeks have been a bit of everything: Masses, recollections, talks, classes, Open House (1) and to deal with other responsibilities within the workings of the archdiocese. It is more than enough to take you through the weeks with all their goings on that come with different degrees of challenges and needs.

Perhaps one of the nagging thoughts that occupy my mind now as we move closer to the period of Advent, is the usage of the new English translation for our Roman Missal and the accompanying chants. While I welcome the given and needed change, I question the manner of execution for the chants that are being used.

I feel that it has become too forced and somewhat oppressive that doesn't blend well with all the changes and adjustment that is going on with the said Missal. The main issue in all this has always been the new translation and not on the chants, though they accompany it. In the archdiocese push for both and in such an 'aggresive' manner, I wonder if they are shooting themselves in the foot with this and end up losing the whole picture in this and the faithful's attention or acceptance in these changes.

As it is, not all choirs are adopting this in a tandem manner and when comparing across dioceses, there are glaring differences on how each choirs in the different dioceses are interpreting the intention of how the chants are to used or adopted in the liturgy. Time will eventually tell just how all this will end up.

Meantime, here's something to get by. It is, to put it simply, magical (in a tongue-in-cheek manner)! Now if we can know how to engage our people in this fashion...

Journey to the Heart of the Christian Faith

2011-09-21T17:12:00.001+08:00

I was patiently waiting for this series that opens up great possibilities for it to be a good teaching, sharing and evangelistic tool for Catholicism. It is now available and Fr Robert Barron has done a wonderful and masterly work in giving this series a clear and insightful journey to the very heart of the (Christian) faith!

It is available online or you may order it through the help of Wellsprings Singapore.

He Will Provide....

2011-09-20T21:41:00.000+08:00

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

I have let almost another month to lapse again before I start up on my blog entry again...

Much of the time have been used for more urgent items which figured quite a huge portion for this month. That included the exercise of assessing all of the 17 seminarians for their year end report to their respective bishops/superiors. That took almost two weeks of afternoons and the putting aside of many other work and activities in order to cater to the seminarians well-being and status in the seminary, where some of them were applying for the ministries of lectors and acolytes (all those applied were granted approval).

There were also some series of talks and recollections which I had to give or present the past week in the midst of the assessment exercise, which caused some flutter and running round as I had to find what little time I had to prepare for them and present them in a coherent and meaningful manner.

What I am looking forward now is the upcoming mid-term break where I don't have to worry too much about lectures and studies and just chill out or catch up with some other work which I have placed on the back burner for awhile.

At the last class I gave at SPI, last Wednesday, a verse from the Bible, Genesis 22: 14 to be exact, caught my attention and came to occupy the niches of my mind as an assurance that the power and presence of God constantly permeates the very life I engage in: He will provide. Thus far, I see no reason why He doesn't, for His activity and movement can be felt touching in many other people's life, especially those whom I am directing.

So, as we moved onwards to another close of a quarter and looking forward towards the final stretch of the semester before we close for the holidays, I am grateful for all the experiences that have taught me patience and to see God in everything and everything in God.

Sin: Call It Whatever You Like, It Is Still About Evil

2011-08-24T11:43:00.005+08:00

Image via WikipediaThis is sin, right? That is immorality. We know right from wrong. We have to justify abortion to make it right. We have to justify all sin to make it right. But we do it…because sin is easy…it is comfortable…it is, many times, fun.

Night Time Scares: Working at the Abortion Clinic After Dark, Abby Johnson

Abby Johnson was once a promoter of women's rights for abortion and worked in an abortion clinic. Then she had a conversion of heart and now she assists in and is a promoter for pro-life. However, this is not so much about her life and her change of heart and attitude on abortion and related issues. It is about what she had mentioned above about sin.

It is about this manner we justify a wrong to make it a right because it is easy, comfortable and, well, fun.

Hence, our dilemma, sometimes, as to why we can have habitual sins that doesn't seem to be able to get rid of. We are not too convinced that they are really wrong. These days we are, also, very clever in finding a lot of ways and reasons to justify "... all sins to make them right." It doesn't help that many prominent Catholics who are in positions of power use this power to further their own agenda to serve their needs and preferences rather than fulfilling their prophetic role to speak out against the dubious values and structural sins that are prevalent in the world, which affects the dignity of the human persons.

Sin, a word that seems to have become antiquated, harmless and a footnote in history. Now, everything is being measured by how good we feel and the pleasure derived from any circumstances.

That is why one of the Office of Readings entry (Tuesday, 21st Week of Ordinary Times) from St John Chrysostom homily concerning The Five Paths of Repentance would form an insightful reminder for all of us who profess our believe in God, that sin is anything but harmless. There are 5 paths listed out altogether and "... all of them lead to heaven".

The first path is that of the condemnation of sins. This is saying things as it is and for what it is. No fudging or justifying, "... condemned the sins you have committed... Stir up your own conscience to be your accuser - so that when you come before the judgement seat of the Lord, no one will rise up to accuse you."

The next is no inferior to the first: "It is to forget the harm done to us by our enemies, to master our anger, to forgive the sins of those who are slaves together with us... As the Lord says, Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive yours." I can't disagree with that.

The third is prayer - "... fervent prayer, sincere and focused prayer, prayer coming from the heart." Much of what we usually bring into our prayers, assuming we ever pray at all, can be rather superficial and sometimes border on being self-centered, self-serving with not much thoughts for the reality of sins in our lives. Thus the need and importance to pray in standing firmly by God and not give in easily to the influences of the Evil One.

The fourth is almsgiving. According to St John Chrysostom, it "... has great power". In Greek, which the New Testament is written, when this word, power, is used, especially to refer to that of Christ, it is 'dunamis'. It is also from this Greek word that comes the English 'dynamite'. So, in almsgiving, the eficacious effect is liken to being mind-blowing and life changing, provided this is done in the right spirit, i.e in tandem with prayer.

The last one, "... if someone acts with modesty and humility, that path is no less effective as a way to deprive sin of its substance." That is what we want, don't we? To loosen and eventualy get rid the hold and bondage of sins on our lives that we can once again walk in confidence with the Lord as his children.

Now, I am very sure, after all this said and done, we can still turn all this around and justify our continued wallowing in sin by pointing out that it is difficult and no ordinary human can do it and it will be back to the same old again, so no need to bother with all this frivolity.

Perhaps.

But this was from the homily of St John Chrysostom, whose main title was, On Resisting the Temptations of the Devil. By giving a lazy, cop-out excuse like above, one is already submitting oneself slowly to the wiles and deceit of the Evil One. I strongly recommend that we allow the following instead to take place, as St John Chrysostom says it, "Let us apply these remedies. Let us regain true health and confidently receive the blessings of Holy Communion. Thus we may come, filled with glory, to the glory of Christ's kingdom, and receive its eternal joys through the grace, mercy and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ."

A Good Case For More...

2011-08-12T12:07:00.000+08:00

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

I have let the weeks slipped by without an entry and I was about to let another few more days to go on before I put something down here but thought otherwise. I am getting lazy with this blog...

I thought that I would be able to have a little more time here to cater to more frequency of using and updating my blog but that doesn't seem to be the case. Call it procrastination and the lethargy that sets in when I get caught up with other work and administrative matters. I have been here for the past 7 months and by October I would be finishing a year in this Major Seminary as the Spiritual Director of the House.

As an SD of the House it is my responsibility to ensure that the seminarians get the right balance of spiritual formation and a proper take to the roles and responsibilities that come together within the purview of the priesthood. In this time and age, it can be very challenging to prepare our young men (some are already middle aged!) to face adequately the forces of the world that are constantly at odds with our values and lifestyle we are upholding. We, the Seminary Fathers, can only do so much and the rest would be up to them to navigate carefully as befit their ministerial priesthood later.

With 17 of them in the seminary this year, of which 10 are local Singaporeans, it isn't really a great number to be comfortable with when we look at the growing numbers of baptised Catholics that have come up over the past 10 years. According to the National Census of 2010, we have with us a total of 219,133 Catholics (of whom 165,520 are PRs) in the Singapore, who are 15 years and above. Add in those below 15 years and infants who are baptised and the numbers will certainly be a lot more.

But we are still maintaining our total number of priests at around the average of 130, both religious and diocesan. But not all are fully functioning in the parish and we have others who are away on leave (study or medical) and some who have retired. So, you can do your math to see how overworked the clergy is, in living out their ministry in the Archdiocese.

Meanwhile, our vocation programs are slowly bringing about the necessary awareness for more your men to consider and discern their calling toward the life of a priest. There are vocation teams at most parish and the Seminary conducts vocation retreats and recollections over periodic months of the year and keep in contact with the aspirants. Much of this work is led by Fr Alex Chua who is the archdiocese's Vocation Director.

But we need to translate the program's activities into fruits of new admissions into the Seminary of these men who have journeyed through much of the discernment process and vocation programs with Fr Alex as well as the Seminary fathers. We certainly do not expect to see a flood of people suddenly wanting to join the seminary just like that! But, it would be fitting if there were a steady intake of around 2 or 3 men every year, assuming these men are rightly motivated and have been judged suitable to continue their journey into the seminary's formation.

For now, it would be a major windfall if we ever get one...

note: here are some pics of the recent priests' retreat.

Limits

2011-07-08T21:29:00.001+08:00

Image by Ferran. via FlickrAnother week ends and as one more week goes by, I get closer to another week that would eventually end the semester break (2 months) and herald in the final semester before we end the academic year for 2011.

Throughout the break thus far, much matters concerning the human person, one's frailties, potential and dignity were never far from my consideration and, to put it honestly, is a real messy affair because we are all complex and complicated creatures.

When dealing with people, whether in spiritual direction or researching on priests' resources for the diocese, the one common factor that crops up is the willingness or unwillingness of the person or priests to concretely have a bold faith that doesn't place limits upon God in one's life. All that has transpired thus far in our own lives may come down to answering the following: Do we have a living relationship with God, or are we just practicing religion?...

I believe that much of our problems in the parishes and the archdiocese can be resolved if we answer that question brutally and honestly. There is a great need to undo all limits that we may have thrust upon God and allow ourselves to be invited to believe that God is bigger, much bigger than we can imagine and whose love truly knows no bounds. Much of how we go through life now as Christians can be liken to an experience of the divine which is static and predictable, bringing about a relationship with God that is small and confined. That is if we still have a religion that we say we go to!

The true purpose of religion, the one which we follow through, is one that must open our hearts and minds in a manner we can personally experience the infinite breadth of God, an experience that will really cry out, "Abba!", Father!

Which Is the Real Way?

2011-07-04T13:46:00.006+08:00

Image by 2create via Flickr866th post and counting...

That's blogging since June 27th 2001! It has been just a over 10 years of engaging in this type social media that has since taken over the world in so many ways that now it has already become one of the many 'norms' of communicating on the Web. It is also a way where one opens up a little of one's life to the world which is constantly monitoring for any news bite that it wants to highlight.

Recently, there were some discussion brought up by a friend who pointed to the dubious value of things related to New Age and their ilks. These may include yoga, chi gong, Harry Potter stuff, etc. I am sure there are some of us out there who may already been involved in some small way towards some usage of practice of these elements. Fr William Goh over at the Catholic Spirituality Centre has spoken with some greater detail on this matter under the topic of New Age Spirituality: The Dangers of Syncretism and Illegitimate Assimilation of New Age Beliefs into the Christian Faith.

I, myself, hardly bothered with such New Age stuff - whether one calls yoga or chi gong as such - and my attention to the Harry Potter (and the Twilight series) products are just entertainment curiosities akin to watching The Green Lantern, The Green Hornet, The Green Mile, and so on.

But for the younger generation of this era, these elements are highly influential to them and do form some sort of a construct of how they see the world, act as humans/adults, all of which will then inform - rightly or wrongly - their thinking on matters of right and wrong, fantasy and reality, natural and supernatural. It becomes seriously damaging when all of these coaleasce into one fuzzy mixture where proper distinctions cannot be made or are not being made between each one.

We find ourselves, especially today, in an era where information, and there is an explosion of them, are taken easily for granted and there is a general lack of discerning them carefully whether they are suitable for consumption and how to deal with them appropriately. Mostly, we may be also totally clueless of the implications of the information we are staring at. In all this, all persons are, in one way or another, doing one's best as one can, to perceive or believe and to achieve towards the truth of things in life.

However, as Catholics and disciples of Christ, I believe that all of us must do our own upmost and with great gumption, sincerity and honesty own up and reclaim our truth in Jesus Christ, "... the real way to happiness, the truth about God and the fullness of life for every man and woman who is prepared to respond to His love".

Any other way would leave us totally disoriented, confuse and, ultimately, lost.

Into the 8th...

2011-06-30T16:58:00.000+08:00

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

Well, what do you know: I have the same ordination date similar to that of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI! Only he has been at this ministry for the past 60 years, while myself only a mere 8 years.

At the rate the word is going, I don't know if I can see into another 8 years...

Meantime, it has been quite an insightful 8 years in this ministry and all of them not without their challenges and surprises. With 8 years to show for, I am still a novice in this and still have much to learn. Even so, with the added year every time we reach that ordination anniversary date, it seems my plate gets more full with responsibilites that I don't necessarily subscribed to but, in priestly service, carry that cross.

Someone requested a biodata from me recently. So, perhaps you can make up your mind as to how I have done for myself thus far:

Name: Aloysius Ong (Fr)

Order: Diocesan
Diocese: Archdiocese of Singapore

DOB: 6 Nov 1964 (M'sia)

Ordained: 29 June 2003 (Solemnity of Ss Peter and Paul)

In Ministry/Studies: Holy Family (2003 - 2007), Rome (studies, 2007 - 2009), IHM (temporary attachment, 2009 - 2010), SFX Major Seminary (2010 - )

Seminary: Lecturer - Spirituality courses, Formator - Spiritual Director of the House, 1st Yr Initiation Director

Archdiocese: Chairman - Priestly Life Commission, Priest-presenter - Engage Encounter, SPI - course lecturer for Salvation History

Oh yes, the Holy Father has made his first tweet online and made the world sit up and paid attention, even if for a little while. I am still ambivalent and non-partial to Facebook and Twitter as I do find them a waste of time, for me personally. However, I don't see anything wrong if the Church could use them as a voice to evangelise into the world who we are and what we do in a coherent and rational way - especially to counter the biases, prejudices and misinformation that is in the wild out there.

Meantime, I prefer my next 8 years to be nondescript and far from the maddening crowd that the social media has, with their trending and sometimes inane messages.

A Thought on the Body and Blood of Christ...

2011-06-26T14:25:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

It is Sunday of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, a.k.a. Corpus Christi.

I was thinking about the title 'Corpus Christi' and instead of looking at it from a purely doctrinal or theological point of view, what came to me was simply an idea that, should we ever built another church and that the next obvious place may very well be the Ponggol area, it should be named as Corpus Christi.

Why, you may ask?

Well, looking at all the churches/parishes we have so far in our archdiocese, most of the titles and celebrations pertaining or related significantly to Christ are already named: Sacred Heart, Divine Mercy, Blessed Sacrament, Christ the King, Risen Christ and even Good Shepherd. Closer to this would be Trinity, Holy Spirit and Holy Cross. That leaves 'Corpus Christi' up for grabs for the next possible name of a new parish, if that ever comes about. So, the next time an exercise comes about to name your next new parish church, wherever it may be, give some loving to 'Corpus Christi', ya!...

Love

2011-06-17T21:54:00.001+08:00

This is time of the year when the Seminary takes a break - two months of it, to be exact!

During such moments, the place here resembles a little bit more on the side of a cemetary than that of the Seminary. Much of the main activities here have slowed off or shut down. The staff is almost a skeletal crew. Yet, it still doesn't stop some parish groups from having their time for retreats and other related engagements in the Seminary.

In this lull moments, one would be forgiven to think that I would be free and have much more time than during the term times. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Besides having to prepare and do up the notes for the next semester's classes in the Philosophy cycle, I also have to contend with my other Archdiocesan work in the Priestly Life and ad-hoc committees, and other minor talks and retreats, all with need to do some preparation and research, etc. These, again, means time needed to work on the items trying to juggle all of them, finding a decent balance to what my body and mind can cope with.

Tomorrow, for the entire day into the night, I shall be at IHM retreat house giving a session to one of the parish choir on the theme of God's Love For Us. It is an apt moment to consider this and also for myself, because for most of the time that we exist, we don't ever find the time to look into the awesomeness of this love that is always enveloping and sustaining us and providing life all the time.

This coming Sunday's celebration happens to be Trinity Sunday and is also a great day to celebrate this love for it speaks of the fiery and deep relationship between the Father and Son which the Holy Spirit unites in the embrace of utter unconditional love that wants to ignite the world with its power.

Our human version of what love is all about pales in total comparison with what the prophets of the Old Testament experienced, the apostles and disciples of Christ engage it, and the early Christians felt when they allowed themselves to be wrapped up in this ferocious and passionate love that knows no end but only limited by how we response to it.

No matter what we can say about this, perhaps no one can put it in a better way than Paul himself who touched that powerhouse of love and was burned to the very core by its fiery passion:

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rom 8: 38 - 39

Back....

2011-06-10T13:07:00.000+08:00

I am back since 4 days ago and now adjusting back to the local time and food....

View of the Dome on the Rock

Will be putting up pics and writing a bit on my trip to the Holy Land that lasted 12 days of journey and inspiring episodes, much of which were palpably felt by the people that were in the group.

Meantime, please keep in your prayers for the couples who will be attending the Engage Encounter (EE) this weekend as the EE presenters and myself take them through the paces of preparing them well for their married lives.

Away...

2011-05-25T10:53:00.000+08:00

This little blog will take a short break as I shall be away taking a group on a pilgrimage and won't be back till 6 June.

Meantime, do keep us in your prayers for a safe journey there and back! :-)

Again??!...

2011-05-22T09:32:00.001+08:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I am writing this on a Sunday, 22 May of 2011. If you are reading this on a Monday the 23rd May, or even after 6 p.m. of this Sunday, then depending on which camp you are in, you are either thoroughly disappointed, greatly relieved or utterly hilarious that the day turned out as you are experiencing now.

That's because one Harold Camping, one of the founder of Family Radio - a nonprofit, noncommercial, listener supported Bible Radio Ministry - has mentioned, rather confidently that the world will see its demise on the 21st May 2011 at 6.00 p.m., New York time. Massive earthquakes would begin in the mid-Pacific and will be wending their way around the globe all day long. New Yorkers can expect seismic horror at approximately 6 p.m. It's the Rapture!

Hmmm, where have we heard all this before?...

Camping and many others before him and many more after this will always fascinate the world with their doomsday prophecies which will always come to nothing. They and many others always can't seem to get it round their heads that no one human can predict and even prophesy exactly when the world is to end. It is only under the purview of God and God alone. It is an event that the Son Himself doesn't have the privilege to possess (cf. Matt 24: 36).

So, here I am now, happily tap, tapping away on my computer keyboard and wondering when's lunch...

The Weeks That Passed By...

2011-05-10T14:46:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

I thought that being in the Seminary may help in bringing more opportunities to blog but since I am here, it has been much more difficult to put down my thoughts or experiences in a more frequent manner as I would like it to be.

So, I managed to let the Easter season to go by without even making a squeek and the same can be said regarding Mother's Day (happy belated Mother's Day, mummy and all moms out there!) ... That's not mentioning also some world events (Osama) and our nation's recent election which saw several ministers having to vacate their seats in parliment as well as their posts.

The past two weeks or so certainly had been full of excitement and exceptional activities that have captured and captivated many! I know for once that I had managed to allow myself to be engrossed by the elections and stayed up late till 3+am to get the final results and fate of the country's government that will lead us into the next 5 years.

That was went I was spending the weekend over at the Church of Divine Mercy (Pasir Ris) for my preaching there. Nice and quiet parish and the crowd is manageable with quite a few whom I know had come from other parishes like St Bernadette, IHM and Holy Family! I was just as surprised to see some of them there as much as they were surprised to see me celebrating/preaching the masses there that weekend. Looks like our parishioners are very mobile with the churchgoing. Of course, there are those who are there because over time they have shifted over to Pasir Ris and now more convenient to worship at Divine Mercy. There are others who have been living within the Pasir Ris area all this while but were going to other parishes in the East as Divine Mercy wasn't around then - until now. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant surprise to meet up with those familiar faces over at the the eastern far end of Singapore.

Meantime, as the dust settles after the election and the week ahead looms, life carries on and I still have my whole string of work and responsibilities to look into. I have a coaster that is on my desk that drums a sarcastic tune of "My job is safe, no one wants it"....

Indeed!

Looking Ahead!

2011-04-24T14:34:00.001+08:00

Image by Dean Ayres via FlickrHappy Easter everyone!

There is something about this day that can inspire anyone to make a fresh start in life or to just do something different from any other day.

Perhaps it is the result of having to undergo some soul searching during the forty days of Lent and the coming out of that sombreness to a celebratory mood. Last night's Easter Vigil over at IHM with Frs Stephen and Stanislaus, whom I have the pleasure of concelebrating with, was certainly filled with that mood of joy, peace and happiness, inclusive of the long readings, baptism, confirmation and, of course, the Eucharist.

It was encouraging to note that Fr Stephen, as acting parish priest, is making good connection with the parishioners whom he is currently pastoring and this will go a long way towards the healing and restoration of a community earlier divided by controversies and misunderstandings. Using the theme of death as a jumping-off point for his homily, while it may be perceived as somewhat odd, had its poignancy of leading the congregation, many of whom are parishioners of IHM, from the days of hurt and darkness towards the radiant grace of healing and forgiveness. It now falls upon the IHM community to pick up the pieces and to walk again and not look back but towards a new horizon of rebuilding and mending of hearts with greater confidence in the Lord that he will provide.

As for myself, well, let's just say I have done my part and for better or for worse, it is quite comforting to know that there is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow and the fact that He has risen made all that difference.

The Brand

2011-04-10T13:19:00.001+08:00

If we have a gram of this guy's vision and will, I am sure we can move more than mountains with what we do with our faith and in our church...

Double Confirm??...

2011-04-06T21:51:00.003+08:00

I just arrived after finished watching the inaugural new local gameshow 'We Are Singaporeans' and got to see how an NTU undergrad became the first Singaporean to win the jackpot of S$10,000 after answering correctly all the questions in the final round (actually there were only two rounds - qualifying and final).

The show format is like Hollywood Squares where the celebrities are housed in big square boxes asking questions at the contestants, only for this show the squares were decorated and constructed with known Singapore icons. Hossan Leong is the MC of the show and for its starting episode, it went of quite well.

The real reason why I am writing about it, is this: I wonder how it would be like if we have an equivalent for our Catholics?.... It could come with a snazzy title like, 'We Are Catholic Singaporeans'! Like it?

The questions may be the following:

a. If Catholics are in the cinema and are moving to take their seats in the row, this is one thing they shouldn't do. What is it? (careful, this is tricky!)

b. Most of the Catholic churches have their regular copies of the hymn book which may differ from parish to parish. There is one older hymn book which was common use till the late 80s. What is the name of this hymn book? (definitely not Count On Me Singapore!)

c. During Mass, what do you call Catholics who are not found present in the church till after the homily or sermon is over (and that they have NO reason for NOT being in church during this time)?

d. What do you call the vessel that carries the Blessed Sacrament during the exposition at Holy Hour? (hint: it is not monster)

e. Who is the Trinity? (hint: it is NOT MM Lee, PM Lee and SM Goh!)

f. Who are priests of your parish and can you name them? (shame on you if you don't know this!)

I am sure you can think up of more. But those above will suffice for now. You think you know the answers? Go ahead and give them in the comments. I promise I won't laugh if you get them wrong....

Confirm? Double confirm??

Half Way There!

2011-04-05T14:43:00.000+08:00

Image by jezobeljones via FlickrWe just went past Laetare Sunday (or Rose Sunday) and the Lenten journey is effectively half completed!

A few more weeks and we will have that grand celebration of Easter and the use of the Alleluia again after 40 days being in confinement. In fact, with the Easter season the Alleluia would be use with such frequency and gusto that after it is back to normal or Ordinary Times, you'd want to stay away from it again!

This Lent and the Holy Week celebrations, moving into Easter, I shall find myself out of a parish and would have to figure out where and which parish to place myself to join in those main masses and services accordingly. It would be interesting from this point of view as an 'outsider' to participate as a concelebrant. I don't have to worry myself unnecessarily with the preparations and the responsibilities in seeing to the proper and orderly unfolding of the event in the church premises.

Nonetheless, for what I am 'missing' in the parish environment, the seminary is more than capable to make up for the workload that I have to undertake since my posting here about 6 months ago. It is not that I have 'nothing' to do here. The environment here is different and the priorities are of another nature. So far, I am not complaining as most of what is needed to live and work and to fulfil my responsibilities here are available and functioning.

What is most interesting about this part of the world is that I get to see for myself the changing landscape of the area where I am staying (Punggol) every time I make trip out from here. There is the ongoing works being done at Punggol End where a new waterfront park and pavilion will be situated. I have already been to the newly opened Punggol Promenade a few times and taken a few shots of the scenery by the Sengkang River.

It has been a quiet and peaceful Lent thus far, away from the crowd and the bustle that is of the parish. Mother Nature has been around more often as my neighbour with the other denizens of the forest nearby, which, by the way, is slowly dwindling away.

How is your Lent thus far?

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Lent Again!

2011-03-14T15:00:00.000+08:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

We are now into the season of Lent and it has been quite a journey so far, because I suddenly realised that most of my workflow and items that continuously would fight for my attention would come from three major composition of people: couples preparing for marriage, seminarians and the clergy.

I just finished one Engaged Encounter (EE) weekend (last weekend) and I was the presenting priest with two other presenting couples that oversaw to the presenting of topics concerning marriage and the married life in the Catholic perspective. There were 31 couples and we had them run through their paces on issues like communication, mutual responsibility, family life matters, marriage and all other related items that promote the married life within the embrace of God's life and love.

I am also made aware that I am, as the Spiritual Director of the House for the Seminary, all the spiritual needs and activities of the seminarians are under my care and nurturing. These will include retreats, recollections, spiritual direction which are spead out over the months of the year, where I am to have a reasonable take and insight to the pulse and rhythm of life of the seminarians under our care.

Then there is the Priestly Life Commission, which I am the current chairman. This means together with 9 other members, we look after the welfare and spiritual needs of the clergy of the Archdiocese of Singapore. This is no small task nor simple because of the many sensitivities and complicated issues that abound in relationship between priests and the laity, priests and priests and priests with the Bishop.

For all three, I am playing a role that is to encourage, nurture and enlightened, besides supporting and looking out for the general well-being of the persons. Heavy responsibilities, indeed. It is an interesting movement into Lent this year...

iPad2

2011-03-07T17:10:00.002+08:00

I think I'll get it anyway, too!... somehow.

(here's the actual ipad2 commercial)

My Home

2011-02-20T22:28:00.001+08:00

Alvin from The Spark had a hand in editing the making of the Home music video which is a Total Defence campaign for the country this year. Alvin is a parishioner of Holy Family parish where I was some years back (2003 - 2007) before leaving for studies in Rome. He is a talented media and graphic designer currently studying to improve his arts and is also helping out in the liturgical art decor for Holy Family.

The main Home music video is below

Having watched this video on the television recently, which is now being shown during prime time over the past week, it is poignant, soulful and speaks to the heart in so many ways that if you transpose to any other place that you would call home, it would still ring true.

Here are what some artistes have said about making this music video on the subject of Home:
It is the home with a capital 'H'!... It is not just a resting place for the body, but (also) the resting place for the spirit and our emotions... (Kit Chan)

...a reminder that this is the place to be, this is your home, this is where your loved ones are and this is where you are love most. (Shabir)

...Home is where you know you must be, you must be there. Whether it is friends, family or loved ones, you just know you have to be there. (Stefanie Sun)

Now, does this say to us something about the true home we are all called to be?....

Who IS Our God?

2011-02-15T14:47:00.003+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

The recent highlight in the papers recently (The Sunday Times, 6 February 2011, Home section, pg 8) on the issue of dress code in the Catholic churches have brought out some burning thoughts from my mind as I ponder on this tension of how we present ourselves before our God.

First and foremost, it is an issue that falls solely upon us Catholics Christians as believers of God we call Father. It is also an issue that only within this recent decades have emerged as a challenging dimension in one's spiritual life or lack of it in the context of our calling into the discipleship of Christ. It is also an issue that will determine whether we can effectively work out our baptismal calling and vows that want us and is pointing us to being truly people of God who are 'salt of the earth' and 'light to the world'.

It is therefore telling upon us as Catholics, in particular, that much of this brouhaha and tension arising from this matter can be encapsulated into the following statement that was towards the end of the article: "We are taught that God loves us no matter what we are, so why should the church discriminate against our attire?"

It is certainly true that God loves us no matter what we are. The whole of our Bible attest to that, Old and New Testament alike. But to stop at that or to simply choose to bracket our faith solely on that loving action of God, is like seeing life and the question of God and the way we celebrate and express our faith with blinkers or with just one good eye. The view is myopic and half-truthful at best, disrespectful, distorted and on the borders of heresy at worst.

Much of what we encountered and are influenced by in the world of modernity of today, we have in some way living a life that is somewhat based on a measured freedom that, to some extend, allow us to do, say or acknowledge whatever one chooses. This is also an influence that has affected ourselves as a people of God who is '... in the world but is not of the world'. We are seeing that happening through this article in the papers recently.

Which brings us back to the question of God who '... loves us no matter what we are'.

I wonder just how each of us see or know God for who he really is. With the kinds of images and responses which we can give to the question of who God is for us, there are many that is not truly the God I know that is revealed to us in the Scriptures and '... in the last days... has spoken to us by a Son' (Hb 1: 1 - 2).

This is because we seem to be rather lackadaisical about our faith that everything becomes relative to the secular dimension which in turn dilute the very power and glory of God which we are continously called to proclaim (1 Pt 2: 9 - 10). If we truly experience the real and active nature and presence of God in our lives, an experience of being taken out of darkness and into His wonderful light (and life), there would be no fighting over as to how to worship Him and what attire we wear. We would know what is the right thing to do. Our attitude, however, seems to have placed God, which is summed up in the following words by a German Dominican mystic, Meister Eckhart: "... you are acting just as if you took God and muffled his head up in a cloak and pushed him under a bench..."

What it boils down to, is our response to the fact '... that God loves us no matter what we are'. It is precisely because of that love that we ought to be able to give the necessary reverance and respect in return, which will form the basis of a decent and right ATTITUDE to use for any Mass or Eucharistic celebration.

What kind of a God that deserves such reverence and respect that we quibble over? The whole of Scriptures have given us generous signs and clues and spiritual footnotes, where the few given here, can help us reconsider our attitude we now possess towards God.

In Genesis, as with the readings we have during these weeks, we see the Fall of man and woman in their disobedience to God and their lost of supernatural life that placed them into a state where they had to hide from his presence and the sound of his voice. Commentors have said that besides hiding because they were naked, it was also this presence and voice which they now could not bear. Psalm 29 gives us this idea what commentators are hinting at:

... the voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon...

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire...
the voice f the Lord... shakes the wilderness of Kadesh...

The voice of the Lord... strips the forest bare...
and in his temple all say 'Glory!'

This is the God who, also in his reply to Job, gave a sweeping and majestic account of his powers and glory that signifies He is in charge:

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?...
... who laid the cornerstones when the morning stars sang together...
... who shut in the seas with doors when it burst from the womb...
... entered into the springs of the sea or walked the recesses of the deep?...
... cut a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunder bolts...
... know the ordinances of the heavens... establish their rule on earth?...
(Job 38: 1ff)

One can go on and on to see how much we have misjudged the very nature of God and by our lazy manner in addressing our relationship with Him thinking he is like any other things we use and put back to the shelf when we tire of him.

Seriously, I think we are like the disciples in today's gospel reading (Mk 8: 14 - 23) who were clueless about Jesus' identity and his power when he had to question their understanding after the feeding of the crowd on two occasion: "Are you still without perception?". The disciples were thinking about food when Jesus talked about the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod, while he meant them to look at the signs given that point to the message of the Kingdom and who the messenger that is in their midst.

I think we are doing just that today - ignoring God in our midst and immersing ourselves too much in the material realities of the world and being influenced by them. I believe we can do better than that. After all, He has given us, who believe, the power to become His children and what greater deed can any child to do than in honouring this position and gift by offering back a reasonable semblance of reverance and respect for our Creator who continues to love us and sustain our existence, no matter what we are.

Man of God

2011-01-24T18:19:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

I had my first go at an extended recollection with the seminarians last weekend. This would be my first and starting official 'work' within my role as Spiritual Director of the House for the seminary. With such an officious name like that and all those usual expectations that fall upon this formator, I was had taken great pains to want to make the weekend recollection work and be fruitful as well as meaningful for the seminarians in attendance.

I chose the letter from Pope Benedict XVI written to seminarians given last year in October of 2010.

There were many reasons why I chose this to present, but primarily it was to help our seminarians here in St Francis Xavier Major Seminary to come to better terms with their vocation and calling as they journey towards the priestly ministry as a community. Hence the title of the recollection: A Community Journeying Towards Priestly Ministry", which by the way is also what the Holy Father mentioned or pointed out in his letter.

Much has changed and 'transformed' over the years since I last left the seminary, upon finishing my studies here, till now that I am back as a formator. One of the significant changes would be the area of how to handle/deal/interact with young men who enter the seminary these days compared to how thsi was approached during my time when I first entered. I am sure the formators in the past had done their level best to form seminarians in line with the needs of the archdiocese. Today, however, the needs of the archdiocese have changed and this follows from the changing times we faced from society and the world around us. What methods and tools of formation used in the past may have been appropriate then, but is no longer viable or useful today. Hence, those changes we see unfolding today with how we deal with seminarians entering to the Seminary.

Nonetheless, the basics and foundation of forming seminarians into priests after the heart of Christ remain. We still look into the need to mould them through the four pillars of formation which all seminarians in the world would be very familiar with: Human, Spiritual, Pastoral and Intellectual.

The presentation I gave over the weekend wants to impress and encourage our current crop of seminarians that what they are undergoing now is not to make life 'difficult' for them but more to the betterment and empowerment of them to be truly that 'man of God' ,which the Holy Father mentions in his letter, with a heart that is after that of God and being the good shepherd of Christ in the world that is lost and scattered.

To that account, I hope I had contributed my part accordingly.

Sold!

2011-01-12T18:45:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

I had the opportunity to celebrate Mass this afternoon over at the Catholic Archdiocesan Youth Center (CAYC, Lorong Low Koon), for the youths and young adults undergoing the School of Witness (SOW) program.

In my homily, I mentioned something about Steve Jobs and his way of 'selling' a product, from an interesting read here. When he first introduced the iPad into the public's eye and subsequently the world, he sold us the idea that this device is “magical” and how it is a great way to experience the Internet. He also gave practical examples of using the iPad and emphasized its ease of use and how fun it is, basically for anyone, to use. When his competitors jumped onto the bandwagon recently and started selling their iPad killer tablets, they talked about how they had dual-processors, included so many gigs of memory, and ran the latest Android OS. They reiterated the great tech specs their tablet had compared to the iPad and other tablet devices. Time will tell whether these tablets will 'kill' the iPad.

However, noticed how Jobs sold his iPad that captured the imagination of millions of people worldwide that his competitors had to play catch-up to. While the competitors spoke of technical superiority their product may have over the iPad, Steve spoke of how his product will change people’s lives. It is as if, the article mentions, while his competitors were trying to sell toothpaste, Steve was selling white teeth! Between white teeth and toothpaste, it is a no-brainer which most people would gravitate to!

What's this got to do with our faith life?

The article which is one of the items where my homily runs on, mentions that the method of Jobs sales pitch can teach us something about how we evangelize our faith to others. Certainly, we do need to know and pass on the technical details and teachings of our faith - the hows, whys and what-nots. But these are not the main first things to use to get people's attention. Instead we must proclaim that Christ has changed our lives and that he can change yours/others as well. Those who are in most need of Christ will be drawn to our experience and it will lead them to want to know more about this Jesus Christ and his Church that have so radically changed our lives.

I am assuming that we ourselves, who are in this evangelizing mission, have lives that are radically changed by Christ, or that we have experienced Christ profoundly to be able to share this experience.

Call to Prayer

2011-01-05T19:36:00.003+08:00

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

News of the parish priest of whom I had assisted in my last parish before transferring to the Seminary reached my ears some two days ago. Apparently Fr William Lim had collapsed after a morning (brisk) walk around the Serangoon Stadium and sent to the TTSH (Tan Tock Seng Hospital). He is still unconscious and awaiting an operation to clear three clogged arteries in his heart.

His condition is stable now but has to be checked with a brain scan first to determine if it is safe to do the operation. Meantime, do keep Fr William in your prayers, together with the parishioners of IHM (Immaculate Heart of Mary) as we pray for his complete recovery.

Into 2011

2011-01-05T19:16:00.000+08:00

Image by Yulian Firdaus via Flickr

In the midst of arriving back to Singapore and having to look into the various administrative work needed to be done, I have been unable to provide anything substantial here.

I have also allowed the New Year to slip by unannounced!

It has been 5 days already since we crossed into 2011. I am in the midst also of shifting into my new quarters, one floor down from my temporary rooms upstairs. Renovation work has been rather slow, with all the contractors and workers being taken up by other projects even as they hurry to finish my rooms - office and sleeping quarters. So far, only the office area has been, more or less, completed and is being use now - writing this, especially! The sleeping quarters, well, it seems like be fully functional and be able to live in by early next week.

Meantime, it is the New Year, so we make the best of everything.

Real Seasons Greetings...

2010-12-27T14:32:00.005+08:00

Image via Wikipedia
Here are some more insightful articles to check up on, in our journey to get a grip on where our faith is taking us and, how, we as Catholics ought to carry ourselves:

Raging Mirth
Christmas Back in Christ
Questioning God
How Not To Fail Your Children

Those above are good meditational pieces do be done in front of the Christmas crib. Enjoy!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Blessed and Holy Christmas!

2010-12-25T00:12:00.006+08:00

Image via Wikipedia
Some fireworks and sounds of crackers can be heard going off in the distance. It is a little after midnight

Merry Christmas everyone and do have a meaningful and fruitful celebration of it for the festivities and season ahead! After all, we have 12 days to thoroughly enjoy them all.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Like Ice Cream and Peanut Butter...

2010-12-24T13:33:00.004+08:00

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From Anon

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hi fr aloy..

just my thoughts.. what do you think of our way of life in sinagpore? are we pursing recklessly? meaning excessive materialism, selfish culture, addictions of all kinds.. seems to be we are quite close but yet to this "culture of death"? than life.. look at it.. sinagpore seem to have all the ingredients of it.. high abortion rates, excessive materialism, quite high divorce rates.. etc..
While we may progress materially, our life esp morals is decaying day by day..
to me while economic growth is good.. but too much of it is bad enough yr thoughts?
blessed X'mas
tks

anonymous...

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We are on the threshold of Christmas and tomorrow (or in the night closer to midnight) we will be celebrating the wonder of God's gift onto the world and the birthday of Our Lord and Saviour.

In the midst of the preparations and the festivities that follow, there will always be that niggling thought like anonymous above which can have us pause a little to question the very nature of our being.

Perhaps the following may give us that pause or two. This was written in the heart of 'evil' itself in the early 1940s and during the Advent season, as the writer considered the actions of man in the grip of arrogant power:

"[We] have stood on this earth in false pathos, in false security; in our spiritual insanity we really believed we could, with the power of our own hand and arm, bring the stars down from heaven and kindle flames of eternity in the world. We believed that with our own forces we could avert the dangers and banish night, switch off and halt the internal quaking of the universe. We believed we could harness everything and fit it into a final order that would stand.

Here is the message of Advent: Faced with him who is the Last, the world will begin to shake. Only when we do not cling to false securities will our eyes be able to see this Last One and get to the bottom of things. Only then will we be able to guard our life from the frights and terrors into which God the Lord has let the world sink to teach us, so that we may awaken from sleep, as Paul says, and see that it is time to repent, time to change things..." (Rev Fr Alfred Delp, s.j.)

The Jesuit Rev. Alfred Delp wrote those words from his prison cell shortly before the Third Reich executed him for resistance to Hitler's regime. His words are still very prophetic today, for even if that regime is no longer in existent today, ironically, its very ideology and attitude is now prevalent like ice-cream and peanut butter.

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Is This Too Much To Ask?

2010-12-19T13:22:00.002+08:00

Image by Annoysius via FlickrSo, here we are onwards to Christmas and in the midst of the 4th Week in Advent.

From the comments in the previous entry, there seemed to be some varied response to the question 'All I Want For Christmas...' There were also other silent and unmentioned responses, which I am sure are still out there within the hearts and minds of those silent observers who frequent this dubious blog.

For all, here is my own take to that query.

What I want for Christmas is to regain the sense of awe and wonder to the beauty, greatness and mystery of this world that can open up all our inner senses to that glory and mystery of the divine, whom we as Christ followers call God and Father. There. I finally got that off my chest.

This is no small matter. Let me explain.

In April 19, 2005, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was elected the 265th successor of Peter, bishop of Rome and head of the universal Church. He was elected by his fellow cardinals, many of whom representing countries like Argentina, India and Nigeria, who would prefered someone more progressive who can modernize traditional Christian doctrines and to emphasize social issues, but decided in the end, to put in someone who earned a reputation for defending the traditional teachings of the Church and for emphasizing the priority of "right worship" of God as a way towards building a just human society.

Why did this happen? Here is where it gets interesting. Over the past 30 years or so, not only the cardinals who elected Ratzinger as Pope, but many Catholics and other men and women of goodwill around the world, have come to agree with Benedict that the greatest 'crisis' facing the Church and the world is the "absence of God" - a culture and way of life without any transcendent dimension, without any orientation toward eternity, toward the sacred, toward the divine. Benedict' solution to this is simple: the world needs the presence of God!

Benedict was elected by his fellow cardinals, including those from very poor countries, because they agreed with him for a need of a Pope who could preach the priority of God, and in doing so, lay the only secure foundation for a just society.

When reading his memoirs or autobiography, you will come to encounter Benedict as a man who sees the world and everyday life with a sense of wonder, as if all things are crisscrossed with hints and "traces" of God. In this attitude, is Benedict's great message: the world is a sacrament - an "outward" sign of the "inward" reality of God's love and that man would only be happy when he recognizes the primacy of God in his life and in the entire world.

That is what I am asking - reclaim our spiritual senses that will put us right back on track towards all clear understanding of the meaning of life and our ultimate destiny.

(sources from Let God's Light Shine Forth: The Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI, editor Robert Moynihan)

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Advent Query

2010-12-15T12:41:00.004+08:00

In case you are wondering about the recent lack of activity here, it is because I am out of town!

I am vacationing during this December break back at my parents place in Kajang (M'sia). The sparseness and no frills flavour of this entry is not, so much, due to the lack of sophistication of electronic or s/w means of blogging, but an intention of mine to make a point that blogging is still very possible, even with the more-than-average comforts of modern technology being sorely lessened.

Which brings me to the question: All I want for Christmas is?.....

Comment below and let me know, while I work this out myself for the next entry.

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Someone Is Smiling

2010-11-27T09:50:00.000+08:00

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The world's most powerful particle accelerator smashed together lead nuclei at the highest energies possible, creating dense sub-atomic particles that reach temperatures of over ten trillion degrees. Beyond being awesome, this achievement shows the early universe was actually a liquid.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Gen 1: 1 - 2).

Somewhere in the universe or out of this world, Someone is smiling...

They Say, We Say...

2010-11-26T10:13:00.000+08:00

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An offshoot from being in a Seminary environment, is the opportunity to come across interesting insights that could easily be forgotten or lost in the midst of our daily hustle and bustle activity we call LIFE.

One particular insight, well... actually 12, came from a Catholic website that, coincidentally, amounted to those questions that we, as Catholic, usually have to attend to when confronted by our questioners that tend to deride our faith. Some of the questioners can be, disappointingly, be our own brethen (these are people who seemed to be the ones to look for the simplest and wrong reasons to leave the Church and the faith).

But fear no more! At InsideCatholic, a presentation of 12 Myths Every Catholic Should Be Able to Answer will assist Catholics to come to terms with what their faith is all about and if they should find themselves lacking in a decent understanding of what they are professing to, this would be a good starting point to start deepening their knowledge of their faith - and also yours.

In Between the Rains

2010-11-25T18:00:00.000+08:00

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This late afternoon is no different from all other late afternoons the days past, even as I write this - it is raining... again!

However, instead of complaining that I can't get to go outside and get some exercise done to ease off my increasing centimeters around the waist, I decided to make the most of it - indoors - and got myself acquainted with a game on my iPad. No, not Angry Birds. Not even Cut the Rope. This one got me travelling from one pirate island to another, in search of the Big Whoop that will, once and for all, rid off the baddest and biggest pirate captain of them all - Le Chuck. I play the wimpy and bumbling hero-pirate Guybrush Threepwood. With a name like that, it's no wonder he is wimpy and bumbling....

That game residing now on my iPad is a classic PC game (LucasArts) from the 80s that found new life in the iOS devices brought through the courtesy of Apple Apps Store. It is none other than Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge.

Anyway, it is still raining and the seminary now is deathly quiet (more deathly than the Hallows) and that is only because there is no manual labour for the rest of the week. It is exam period and the final years have just started their phase one of their Baccalaureate exam yesterday with the written one that lasted 5 glorious hours. Next Wednesday would be their final phase where they will have an oral exam to traumatise them till they will sweat blood. I know all this because I have gone through all that before - and survived... barely!

Such is the state of things and scene today in the seminary. I have no more classes to teach but have to plan out the coming priests' Advent reconciliation service and lunch get-together for the 22 December date. That's all being the chairman of the Priestly Life Commission.

In the meantime, I think I shall return to Monkey Island as I have some work to do over at Booty Island...

King of Kings

2010-11-22T11:40:00.001+08:00

Image by Annoysius via FlickrWe have just arrived at the threshold of Advent as we celebrated Christ the King the weekend past.

When we mention 'king', I am sure we all would have varied images and perceptions as to what a king would be, look like and how he should act. The recent news about the engagement of Prince William and Kate MIddleton would certainly rouse up much more interest to the issue of the monarchy and all things royalty. But a closer look to our Christ the King would reveal a much more significant and real understanding to what a king is to be. The gospel scene for that Sunday's solemnity opens up with Christ our King on the cross and is mocked and ridiculed by the passersby, the soldiers and, yes, one of the criminal on the cross beside him. All of them said the same thing in their insult to him: He saved others, he doesn't save himself. Why did our King do that? Is this a king we really want? Why do we bother at all and what is the fuss about this solemnity of Christ the King?...

The clue is in that insult made by the people to Jesus on the cross.

Any human king is really one who saves himself. He does so because he is to be above all pain, poverty or any form of need or want. Hence he is never seen to be undergoing great suffering or discomfort. He can use his power, prestige and money to buy himself out of such distressing forms of living. With this clout and influence as king he can save himself and be protected from all misery. But the true king, Christ the King does not save himself but gives away of himself in love. He does not fill himself up, but empties himself out. This is not the kind of a king that the world usually portrays in those million ways it sees it. The true King that is Christ Jesus would invite us to seriously consider the following:

- stop saving yourselves, save somebody else instead.

- stop filling up your life in a self-protecting manner, reach out in love and protect somebody else.

- live in the power that sustains the universe, perform the simplest act of love.

This, I believe, is the main flavour for the signalling of the end of the liturgical year as we begin the new one when we gently move towards Christmas.

Helped By Jacob's God

2010-11-11T14:26:00.001+08:00

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There have been a few inspiring moments that made me very hopeful for the ministry of the priesthood, at least for the near future and within the S-E Asian region.

One is to see that our seminarians have taken to using their skills towards their homily practices at a more regular pace and frequency in their introduction to the psalms during their prayer times at the chapel. Their stories and sharing in relation to the psalms and prayers which we will do later is a good way to get them to form their homilies in time to come when they do begin their ministry of the Word later. All of their introductions thus far have been inspirational, offering much food for thought, and also creating an atmosphere of attentive prayer where one is taken and prepared into even as we move towards singing the hymn that follows after that. This is a practice that came into the Seminary only recently and it is a timely one, too.

This would allow the seminarians now to learn how to formulate their thoughts well, seek out ideas and homily aids, all to break open the Word to the faithful to understand and digest better, so that the People of God can be better inspired to live out their calling as sons and daughters of God that we all are. It is a small contribution to bringing about a better and orderly manner to homilies in the pulpit during Mass by priests in general, and to slowly do away with sloppy and unprepared ones...

Another inspiring sign on this ministry, is the homily today by the newly ordained priest Fr Andrew Stephen (Malaysian), who celebrated Mass for our community in the seminary. He was here with us this morning as a traditional practice for all newly ordained from this Seminary to come back and celebrate a Mass for us. His homily spoke of his struggles from his younger days when he never paid any attention to his studies and school, but through the miraculous grace of God, still managed to rise up to life's challenges and ended up beng a priest today. He could safely and proudly say that, apart from his 'O' levels certificate which he just got through, through the skin of his teeth, the only other paper qualification he managed to receive was his degree in Theology from the Baccalaureate exams before he graduated from Seminary studies. That's really a feat of going from 'zero' to 'hero' in such a short period of time!

Of course , all this is only possible through the very grace and blessings of God and his love for us all.

"He is happy, who is helped by Jacob's God" (Ps 145)

Rest In Peace

2010-11-02T22:14:00.001+08:00

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

Is this a glimpse of what our final destiny with God is all about?....

On this day of All Soul's, I was brought to the realisation that life can certainly be fragile and that we must cherish every moment of it, especially with and among our love ones, friends and acquaintances. We do not know when we would no longer be among the living, for at any moment we can be called away from this realm of existence.

I was suddenly brought to mind concerning an old school mate of mind whom I had never seen in so many years, and was told one day by my other classmate whom I had bumped into, back in Melaka, many years back, that this person had died. He died because he had committed suicide in a fit of depression. I felt utterly at a loss when I first heard that news and felt the force of the tragedy that came with it because of the waste involved and that none of us, as his schoolfriends, were able to be there to help him. Today I remember him in my prayers, along my other love ones who had gone before us.

I remember him so that through this, he could be forgiven and be made available to the vast mercy of God who calls no one away from Him and I remember this friend with hope that together with all the saints and our love ones in heaven, I may one day greet him there as a fellow child of God, that he truly is...

"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen"

Monster or the Monstrance

2010-10-31T22:31:00.002+08:00

I was having breakfast with a parishioner friend over at one of the Jalan Kayu food stall, where we had some prata with teh halia and tehchino.

Over the course of the conversation, our subject matter came to the festivity of Halloween and how does it square with our Christian faith. Our current understanding to this seemed to have been muddled by the overwhelming presence of the secular and the practices that tend to border on the pagan realm. Its actual intention certainly had been Christian but somehow all this have been hijacked by the forces of consumerism, pagan lore and other urban legends that one wonders where faith begins and superstitious mumbo jumbo ends.

Here states the point clearly concerning Halloween (or Hallowe'en): Solemnity celebrated on the first of November. It is instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV, to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year.

By this, I am reminded of an enlightening article entitled Monster vs Monstrance (M vs M) and it mentions about the dilemma for Christians concerning this celebration. It carries with it a rather thoughful piece as to the real intention which all people of the faith ought to follow when faced with the 'supernatural' dimension that accompanies Halloween. The young generation of our times are especially fascinated by such supernatural elements as a "... vast panoply of scary creatures [of] the human imagination ..." has been made available to them. Unfortunately, this type of imagination has not been carefully qualified to them concerning the influences and effects that can do them no good, thinking that all this is harmless or for the sake of entertainment.

Fr Barron has a reason for this rather taken-for-granted attitude which may the be symptom of our generation today: we are, by nature, wired for God, but in this time and age, our very deep aspirations for the divine and the supernatural have been deprived or suppressed, this suppression thus brings about an effect of a coming out or an acting out of an alternative that expresses itself in forms in what we now see in this fascination for monsters, zombies, vampires and the dark supernaturalism powers and their ilk. So, for this night, there are opportunities that abound all over town and in entertainment places where Halloween would be celebrated and enjoyed within this view that centers on the supernatural dark of things, and all in the name of fun and harmless enjoyment.

I may not be too far in saying that some of our people of the faith also do join in these 'festivities'. This begs the question: Could we be better off celebrating this vigil of Hallow's Eve in a much more fitting manner that do give honour to the saints and the dead in the light of God's love rather than engaging in activities that celebrate the dark?

While at Vespers and Adoration this evening with the seminarians, I found my answer. It was a long time since I attended one, where my whole being was in attention to the celebration, in the wonder and awe of the Eucharistic presence of the Lord in the monstrance during adoration for the Evening Prayer I for All Saints. The singing of the hymns by the seminarians in the chapel attenuated with the structure of the building and gave their voices almost angelic-like and there was the palpable presence of the divine and I could almost, just almost, touch the hems of the multitude of saints and those who have gone before us in heaven. That powerful and awesome was the feeling and I would recommend this form of adoration incorporated with Vespers to welcome All Saints on this eve.

It is as if to bring about a choice to be made to the following question, which was mentioned in M vs M: "... It’s what Jesus calls the broad and the narrow way and it boils down to this: the Monster or the Monstrance."

Choose wisely...

Settling In...

2010-10-26T21:34:00.001+08:00

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

It has been 26 days here in the Seminary since I first came in fresh on the 1 October, and I must admit, it has been very refreshing and peaceful! :-)

It has certainly been a very big change from my previous posting in a parish where the dealings of the people/parishioners and the masses and sacramental duties took centrestage and, at times, demanded time and space that almost stretched my tolerance level.

Now, I am still slowly adjusting to the timing of the schedule, which includes prayer time at the chapel, meal times and recreation, among the other work and activities we do here in the seminary. There were times where I was left scratching my head as to what time was the next prayer in the chapel and have I missed it?!

The best part of being here, and to see the end of the year without having to exercise my portfolio fully just yet, is the relative ease and generous time I have on my hands to use as I see fit. Of course, one can be tempted to spend all this by going out and not spending more quality time with the seminarians or the regimented life style here. The temptation is always there. But, I am very acutely aware that my place here is one that is purposeful enough towards the well-being of the seminarians and this community that we all engage in and are part of.

I trust I can continue to be reliable and be able to keep to that trust as long as I am here as the Spiritual Director of the Seminary (well, soon-to-be).

Well Met, Indeed!

2010-10-18T00:40:00.005+08:00

Image via Wikipedia"Elen síla lumenn' omentielvo"

A parishioner greeted me earlier this Sunday morning in Elvish, Quenya Elvish to be exact. I was caught unawares by the gesture and when I managed to regain my composure, I was pleasantly surprised that she had managed to spur within me my previous love affair with Tolkien's Lord of the Rings universe of books and films (i.e. the Peter Jackson's masterpiece).

I had first came across that literary masterpiece when I was a teenager and trying my best to grasp the worlds, people and the goings-on in the 3-volume Lord of the Rings tome which spanned the Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers to The Return of the King. I did have a go at trying to make some sense of what Elvish language was then, from the appendices given in those books, but that came to naught...

I was at IHM this morning (Sunday), helping out with the Masses there, including preaching at all Masses. The priests of the parish were shorthanded, so I was 'recalled' to assist this weekend and I duly obliged. While waiting for the next Mass to begin, that was when I bumped into that parishioner and her Elvish greeting. What that means is:

A star shines on the hour of our meeting

I, of course, wanted to reply in equal gusto, but was found wanting as I never did get into learning Elvish to a decent and coherent level. If I could, I would have said, "Mae govannen", meaning "Well met", or "Mára aurë" meaning "Hello" or even "Le suilon" meaning "I greet thee".

I like the one uttered by the parishioner, though, because it goes deeper than just meaning "good day" or "how are you?". It implies a bond of familiar friendship and one that came about after some level of hardship or trials encountered together where one survives and lives to tell the tale. I guess hearing that managed to close up some earlier wounds concerning my previous stay in IHM.

That is the power, which language can sometimes do to a person.

Till the next one, No galu govad gen! (May blessings go with you!)

The Signing...

2010-10-13T11:54:00.004+08:00

For those who have been with me for Salvation History course, here's a piece that captures what this history continues to mean for us today...

Discern the BBQ!

2010-10-11T22:28:00.003+08:00

Image by Giorgio___ via FlickrThe last weekend saw the Seminary together with the Vocation Office organising a discernment workshop or both the aspirants and members from the parishes to explore the various ways to figure out carefully, in the context of faith, how to discern God's call. The main speaker, being Fr Ignatius Huan, engaged the participants through an enlightening series of sessions that offered them the intricacies and potential of using the Ignatian method of discerning the spirits to sieve through our baggages of life and to come to a suitable conclusion of what need to be done for one's vocation in life.

This workshop gave valuable tools and insight, which should be used by any one who profess to follow Christ and seek to do God's will. I have come across quite a few persons during my stint in the parishes who are earnestly searching for answers in this area that may be on vocation or just simply to deal with a particular crossroads of life, but do not know where to start or how to go about making a right decision. Perhaps, they should have attended the workshop...

On Saturday, the Serra Club (of Singapore) graciously held a BBQ for the Seminary and we had our aspirants who stayed for the weekend to joined in and gotten myself initiated into the community here, in a small ceremony of myself receiving a gift and wearing it - a sarong! The theme for that night's BBQ was "Kampung Nite"! It was the first time in a very long while that I wore one...

Besides the usual, and delicious, BBQ food, we also had local fruits which included the durians. The durians that we had was one of the better quality ones, brought over by the Serran president (Sean Yeo), who had to bear with the smell over the two hour journey in getting it into Singapore and to the Seminary, as he couldn't stand durians. That is what we call sacrifice!

The workshop ended on late Sunday afternoon with a celebration of a Mass and the participants and the aspirants much more enlightened and discerning concerning their call of life to engage in.

Adjusting With Side Effects

2010-10-06T21:33:00.002+08:00

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One of the side effects of getting back into seminary life is the prayer time. Except for the Mondays and weekends and other special feast days, we have our morning prayers at 6.00 a.m. in the morning!

Some nights ago, I had to take my cought mixture, which was a strong concoction, and found out to my little dismay, that I really had to struggle to get up and stay awake for the rest of the morning. It was a real feat in trying to keep on my feet without looking as if I was someone just out of a bar after the wee hours of the morning....

What was interesting about the prayers (morning and evening, a.k.a, lauds and vespers) this time round, was that the seminarian in charge of that occasion would introduce a short sharing based on the psalms to be used for prayer. It was like a mini sermon. I thought this was a pleasant, simple and nice way to get the seminarians to practice in a small way their homily making.

Speaking of homilies, I have to make another adjustment again to how I address my current congregation who are now seminarians as compared to lay people. The thinking changes and the recipients are a little more on the theological dimension with different degrees of understanding and knowledge. Whatever it may be, I still have to make it as insightful and digestible as possible for them to grasp the message put across.

Walking with Seminarians....

2010-10-04T22:00:00.000+08:00

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

It has been three days since I stepped in here at the Seminary to begin my new posting. It was a little over seven years ago when I first left this place after finishing my formation and studies here as I head of to my first parish then, Holy Family.

Now that I am back here in this hallowed place it is like coming full circle to what my ministry had entailed. Never did I thought, after stepping out of the Seminary, that I would one day return and to be a part of the formators team. Now that I am part of this landscape in Punggol it became apparent that I would have a great and heavy responsibility ahead in contributing to the growth and formation of discerning young men towards the call of the priesthood.

There has been some amount of adjustment I had to make and the main one was getting used to a much lesser amount of people and the lesser attention given to me compared to back when I was in a parish. Here, I can't help but feel like one of the seminarians, and that is rather schizophrenic!

Whatever it is about living here, I am accepting my placing here as one for the long haul and a life that will see how to raise men into the priesthood that is after the heart of Christ.

I Take My Leave....

2010-10-01T00:52:00.000+08:00

It is the last night I am spending in IHM parish and tomorrow, after the morning mass, I shall take my leave and move on to my new posting at the Seminary. It has been a colorful and quite an eventful year and 3 months in this parish and though the shortest stint in my life as a priest, it is one that will capture my attention and memory for the longest.

I have no expectations of what will be next in my life as formator and teacher in the seminary and I am open to any event that life can offer there. For now, all I can say is that for all that I have been through, thank you and for all that is to come, amen.

Counting Down...

2010-09-24T11:05:00.004+08:00

It's official. I leave the parish of IHM in 7 days time. The Seminary beckons...

I have been in this parish for the past 1 year, 2 months and 24 days. From the previous posts and the little that has been put here the past months, you can tell that my stay here has been a series of hits and misses, with a whole lot of drama and trauma. That I am relieved because of this opportunity to be finally taken out of this environment is not too far from the truth. My stay here wasn't meant to be for long and I feel that I have overstayed my welcome.

Meanwhile, I now face an exciting future ahead where my role takes on a different tack as I now become a formator, as well as being a teacher which I already am undertaking. That means looking after 18 seminarians and helping them work out their vocation towards the priesthood. It is also taking up and preparing for newer sets of spirituality courses for which I am to be responsible for.

My new life begins 1 October and that's a week from now....

Gem Along the Stony Ground

2010-08-23T11:51:00.003+08:00

Image by k-ideas via Flickr

It is difficult to put something down here these days, as I find myself loss for words and facing a lack of inspiration of any sorts. This is mostly due to the working condition and the zoo-like situation that continues to plague this parish. It is not that all the people here are not acting like mature humans or adults. It is only a few. But it just take these few to 'reap a hurricane' that brings no one any good. Everything now becomes 'personal'. There is nothing objective about whatever gripes that has came out of this parish anymore. It has also come to a point that I myself have gotten somewhat personal in firefighting all this - that's how bad all this has boil down too. But I have still managed to stay a good part away from the fray and keeping as mature and objective as possible, though the difficulty remains. I know so because I did step on some people's toes...

But this posting isn't going to be all morose and sombre all the way. I don't want to waste any more words with the ministry in my parish. There are and continue to be uplifting elements in life that brightens up the day and point to the silver lining under the clouds where the mischievious traces of God's smile lie awaiting for anyone who can look beyond their daily troubles, foibles and toil.

One gem that I encountered had inevitably to do with my iPad. It is an ebook of sorts with a slight twist offered from Moving Tales. Their first offering is a tale, "The Pedlar Lady of Gushing Cross", describing "... the journey of a poor pedlar woman who, guided by the shifting line between the real and the unreal, discovers a surprising and wonderful treasure." Reading that ebook form of story which came up in sophisticated 3D animation with voiceover effect, can bring back the joy of story telling and reading for anyone. It is one of the outstanding iPad apps currently worth getting at US$4.99.

Its moral of the story is that you don't need to go very far to find your treasure. It can very well be in your own backyard. This Pedlar story also reminds me of another longer story of P Coelho, The Alchemist, which tells of a shepherd boy searching for a treasure (meaning of life) and subsequently finds the answer he was looking for back at his home, after travelling all over the lands in search for it.

New, Sort Of...

2010-07-29T18:16:00.000+08:00

Image by mjdave via Flickr

New look, new feel...

The weeks past has been very taxing with many other work and responsibilities that cropped up which occupied my time and attention, making blogging rather difficult to attend to. There was the annual priests' retreat, of which I was in the committee that was organising it. Then came several visitors from Rome who needed my attention again as I played tour guide for them. They were the rector and spiritual director of the Collegio where I stayed during my studies in the Eternal(ly Crazy) City.

It is only today that I could do something viable for this 9 year old blog which had been with me through thick and thin, with some wear and tear here and there. It is appropriate today for a little 'facelift' and since Blogger had a new inbuilt template designer, it was a good day for a 'renewal'.

Meantime, I finally took the plunge and got myself an iPad and it was an investment well spent! I have been using it for the past week already and it is 'magical' as Apple claimed it. I know it is really a bigger version of the iPhone with its OS that uses apps and all, but I am not complaining. I have already used it for teaching in my classes, both in the Seminary and over at SPI, and it is really a good and useful help! I used it in these classes for notes referral during my lecturing.

This has been a little sliver of light in the midst of the dark throes of problems that continue to hover over this parish, as the struggle to stay sane and above waters become a usual staple of activities here...

Not My Call....

2010-07-06T00:46:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes, there will be moments where certain phrase(s) can pop out of nowhere and summarises an event that had taken place and offers an opening to what can be done to address the circumstance. One such phrase that came to me, after a trying moment at a meeting this evening, was - keep to the sidelines and don't wade into the deep-end of the pool. It's not your call.

The only appropriate rejoinder I can place to that would be "I retract all that I have said... in dust and ashes I repent..."

2010-07-01T17:05:00.000+08:00

A picture is always worth a thousand words...

source: ari's blog

Seven Years

2010-06-29T14:52:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

I am back after a two week break in Kajang and the land of my birthplace. The well-needed respite from the parish was certainly welcomed.

In the meantime, with the solemnity of Ss Peter and Paul in the Church's liturgical calendar today, marks my 7th year in the priesthood and I continue to shake my head, as always, for having survived all these years in this ministry. It has its ups and downs and offers many opportunities to stretch my limits and even my sanity that this ministry can certainly qualify as one of the challenging 'jobs' in the universe (just my humble opinion)!

Seven years is nothing compared to my peers who have been at this half their lives and still have their heads firmly fixed on their shoulders, weathering the storms over their own years of serving, especially now in a world that has seen decline in priestly vocations and a general aversion to things religion.

It is a great challenge to be in this situation as a priest of today. Seven years is certainly not enough of experience to seriously or adequately handle the many issues of the faith that, in view of the current happenngs in the world, is seeing itself questioned and even mocked. Today, knowledge is power and all things tend to gravitate around this scheme that there is a great scramble to acquire such position. The Church of today finds itself in a very challenging role to account reasonably for its existence and, more importantly, to account for her mission to the Gospel of Christ which the apostles Peter and Paul had started on admirably during the pioneering life of the early Church years.

With my seven years in the priesthood, I have reached another milestone, after finishing my 2-year tour of duty in Rome and now grappling with the intricacies of life here in the parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. If there is any knowledge which I have acquired over the years, it is the knowledge that I still am an amateur in this ministry and the only constant is still change and taxes.

If only life could be simpler....

Disconnected

2010-06-21T13:07:00.000+08:00

There is always something nostalgic about heading back to places that you have been before when you were growing up. It shows up the timeline of one's history over the years and how these places have, in one way or another, shape one's life to who one is today

That is the general feeling I usually get when I get back to Malaysia during my leave to be with my kin and family. Such visits isn't always full of excitement and rah-rah fun all the time, as it can be interspersed with some amount of quiet and slow moments, even boredom too. Nonetheless, it is the very act of getting connected with my roots and the echoes of the past that always impressed upon me that I had came from somewhere and now with what I had undergone and experienced, to move towards a future to bring about something worthwhile and good to the world, whatever that may be

There is, however, a little side-effect from it all. It is the realisation that I don't really belong fully to this place anymore and will once again get disconnected whenever I get back to Singapore. That means letting go, of sorts, family and friends who are still around to carry on with their lives as I deal with what is in store for me in my life in the island state.

It's this strange feeling of carrying two different and unique countries in me...

It's For Real!....

2010-06-19T23:26:00.001+08:00

What I had mentioned earlier isn't too far fetch after all! Be very, very afraid! :-D

What Beautiful?!

2010-06-15T21:36:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

The FIFA World Cup is in full swing and despite the newly acquired Astro channels at home now, with their televising of all the games, I haven't been taken of all by the hype and excitement of the beautiful game thus far. A few have asked me earlier as to which team I would like to see win the Cup and my answer was "whomever that wins the final, lah!"

The so-called 'beautiful game' has become, for me, quite a plain and tasteless affair. There is more talk concerning the game engineered by what money can produced, rather than the pure human spirit and skills which drives the passion towards greater heights. Of course, not all teams can boast such technology and skills which money can provide, so it is really the underdogs that I really look out for. Since, they do not have that edge over the superior teams, if such an underdog do win the Cup, that would certainly be the beautiful game!

Gimme A Break!

2010-06-14T21:00:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Here I am now, in Kajang. I am on my 2-week leave and away from the parish and the craziness that is of parish life.

It is a different perspective altogether to be away from one's responsibilities and from the unconscious need to be in control of things and making sure that things run accordingly (as best a sone can do so). First, there is this great feeling of not having to carry any burden of responsibilities for the moment and to be free form any expectations (one's own and other people's).

I just enjoy the moment as it comes along and get in touch once again with my family members (parents, siblings, nephews, nieces, relatives) many of whom I get to see only once a year, back in Malaysia, and only during my leave such as this. The rhythm and pace may be slower and much different than in Singapore, but it does offer good breathing space to recoup one's thoughts and brings about much more opportunities for some needed recollection and consolidation of my life thus far.

In short, to quote Kenneth Grahame, "... the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working."

A Student Too...

2010-06-03T22:22:00.000+08:00

The folks at the Singapore Pastoral Institute has put up the advert for the course which I had agreed to conduct for them. This was taken off from their e-news June issue at their website.

It is a compressed course which I am currently giving in the Seminary for all the first years there. For the Seminary purposes, this course is 1 year. However, for the one at the SPI, it will be a series of 20 sessions beginning 1 July, Thursday, 7.45 p.m. This will go on for every Thursday of the week till 11 November.

As the title suggests, "participants in this course will be guided to explore the roots of our Catholic tradition from our history with God - the History of Salvation." This is my first stint teaching at the SPI and to a more mature crowd of people who come from all walks of life and not necessarily with a seminarian mode of thinking. So, I am really working through this experience blindly and with a slight trepidation as one walking into the unknown.

I may be smiling in the picture, but beneath all that so-called confidence is the awareness that I am really like anyone of the participants for the course - a student too...

iPad?!

2010-06-03T10:59:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Unlike my fellow blogger over at ruminations, I haven't the capacity these days to sit down in front of the computer screen to put down an entry weekly that would be of interest or inspiration to those who drop by for a read.

My mind, for the past few months, have been experiencing some sort of writer's block that made blogging here rather tedious and wasting. I don't know if I can get out of this rut. Perhaps, forcing myself to write something here, anything, may bring back some enthusiasm for this...

So, while looking nonchalance as I possibly can and without seeing to be too caught up by the hype and media that has been going on with the Apple's iPad lately, I must say I am rather impressed by the product and what it can offer. Already I can see what it can become, when taken to liturgical extreme - try using that as the Book of Gospels during the entrance procession, when it is carried in by the lector, with the Apple logo in place of the crucifix, and used later for the readings as the pages are flipped by the two finger swipe! This is the perfect nightmare for any God-fearing liturgist to undergo in his/her sleep.

What say you? Thinking of going the way of everybody else and getting that iPad?...

Afraid, Be Not!

2010-05-20T12:26:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

It's a message centered on prayer, on penance and conversion, that is projected beyond the threats, dangers and horrors of history, inviting mankind to trust in the action of God, to cultivate great hope, to experience the grace of the Lord so as to fall in love with Him, source of all love and peace.
Pope Benedict XVI, Mass at the Fatima Shrine, May 13, 2010

We are fast approaching the feast of Pentecost and, once again, be made aware of the presence, power and fruits of the Holy Spirit. For many of us, this feast only comes once a year and promptly places us in its midst and after that, it is put aside and life carries on like it did before.

The homily given by our Holy Father at Fatima, during his visit there recently, is a timely reminder that we need to recover our lifeline and relationship on a better footing with God, our Creator and Father.

It is certainly not an easy task when you have to juggle between what affects you in your daily dealings with the world and what is required of you as a follower of Christ and a member of the Catholic Church. We speak of the dichotomy that tends to exist between the two (world vs faith) and there are grounds for concern when one is torn or struggling to find one's proper footing in the effort to find the middle ground.

Thus, the homily given at Fatima carries with it profound elements of joy and peace that we can hold on to without having to wring our hands in panic and hopelessness in the face of great turmoil. When we begin to relate ourselves appropriately with God through prayer, penance and conversion, we can hear with acute distinction, the calming voice of the Father, "Be not afraid!". This therefore starts a whole new outlook in life where we begin to sense with greater assurance that God is in control and can be truly trusted.

It is a reminder for myself that even with what I am experiencing in the parish and elsewhere, in relation to the ministry, there is always this sliver of hope under every dark cloud.

Fury In Your Words

2010-05-14T00:01:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

I understand a fury in your words.

But not the words.

Desdemona (to Othello)

Othello, Act 4, Scene 2

One of the main reasons for my silence here thus far has been the highwire tension I walk daily that continues to deal with the fury words can bring, which subjected me into a position where a malaise of sorts set in. It has been extremely difficult to pen something decent and meaningful in such situation when all you want to do is close your eyes and wish the day away to the next, only to find yourself going through the same thing again.

It has always been easy to create a bogeyman so that a blame can be put upon others and to justify one's vindictive action for the grievance or hurt caused (imagined or otherwise) upon oneself. Othello is a play which uses the backdrop of a Turkish invasion of Cyprus, a very public act, to explore a most private act, the jealousy of Othello as he suspects his wife of infidelity. In this scene from Othello, he blames his wife Desdemona for some crime which she did not commit and rants at her with such bile and anger, that she asks Othello to explain his reasons for such action.

It is in Othello's paranoia and the lack of listening, coupled with the need to start labelling others too quickly as evil or the enemy, which has been parallelling the conditions of living here in the parish which I am in. There are people saying too many things but no one is wanting to listen to anyone. Everyone of them are sure that they are right and that is final. The invectives and bile that are thrown around is done with great gusto, with nary a thought for the dignity of persons involved, making them worse than animals. The air of finality in all these does not seem to allow any room for change, dialogue or transformation sorely needed. Those accused seemed doomed to the pains of hell where the fires there never go out.

It is extremely difficult to have a decent conversation in a situation like this when every word or action of yours can be scrutinised and be labelled as a potential threat. To what, I don't know. But a threat nonetheless. So, I can feel for Desdemona who cannot figure out what in the world are all those shouting and screaming about, fast and furious in coming they may be.

Alas, what ignorant sin have I committed?

Desdemona (to Othello)

Othello, Act 4, Scene 2

Five Years...

2010-04-19T18:45:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

For a change, instead of rambling on with my insignificant life and goings on, I would like to take this opportunity on the 5th anniversary of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI to wish him a glorious and blessed leadership and that God continues to support and grant him the necessary graces to carry our Church confidently into the future.

We continue to keep him in our prayers, especially with the recent bad press and uncalled for remarks from the media on the problem of sexual abuses in the Church.

Our Song

2010-04-05T10:41:00.000+08:00

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Alleluia! Christ is risen! We have engaged ourselves through the Easter triduum and now basking in the glow, mystery and glory of the resurrection.

So, how has Easter been for you thus far?

We are now in the Easter Octave celebrations, where Easter Sunday is stretched out over eight days of continued celebrations on the signs, symbols and gospel stories of the resurrection and Jesus' appearances to his followers. The Alleluia is used prominently and the Gloria is sung during this Octave at the weekday Masses. At the Easter Vigil on Saturday, we saw 37 adults who were baptised and confirmed in the Parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. For them it was a great moment of their lives where they literally felt a transformation that changed their perspective on life, relationships and God.

What about us who are already baptised and for many years too? Have we ever felt that transformative element or dimension which tells us that we are truly children of God? The sins and sufferings of the world and those that affect us notwithstanding, we are still being loved and sustained by our Maker, the God whom Jesus has revealed to us as Father (Abba). St Augustine mentioned this in another way, which to me is much more profound and beautiful: "We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!"

What is your song during these days of the Easter season?...

The Rain...

2010-03-29T18:25:00.000+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

We have started Holy Week.

As I write this, it is raining heavily outside. It is a relief for the rains as the recent days have been hot and humid. It usually is like this for as long as I have been ordained that during this period in time as we make our way through the Triduum days, the weather can be seen as being heating up to a point that a downpour is also imminent by Good Friday.

Meanwhile, I struggle through my own 'Stations' as I continue to deal with my responsibilites in the parish as well as the Seminary. The past week has been very taxing with a series of penitential services in the schools (7) and the Serangoon district parishes (5). Hearing confessions from all kinds of people and of all walks of life can be quite an experience that can take a priest through all sorts of extremes. No wonder, I usually feel exhausted and a little numb after numerous bouts of confessions.

It is in this stage of Holy Week, when we have some days to recuperate or take a deep breath before the Triduum that I would hope to distance a little from the noises and distractions around in order to recover my senses. However, that is not always possible and I have to scrounge around for any bits and pieces of time that I can find in the midst of the goings on in and around the parish. It's ironic that on one hand I am running away from noise, while on the other hand, we have the Arts Festival which, for its theme this year, playfully asks, "What Noise Do You Wanna Make?"

Our city is always on the go, switched on literally 24 hours, 7 days a week and can't seem to be still. Much of that attitude is also seeping into and compromising our faith lives. For example, we have this strong tendency to multiply stations of the cross on Good Friday when they are not meant to be done during that day in the first place. The Stations have their proper time and place to be done, but to insist that it be placed together in same priority with the Good Friday services is to miss the whole picture of what posture and reflection Good Friday can offer on its own standing, which by the way, is an important part of the Easter Triduum celebration (while the Stations is not).

The rains have stopped and I have to also. Have a blessed Holy Week ahead and may your preparations for the Triduum and Easter be a fruitful and transforming one!

Messy, messy...

2010-03-15T17:31:00.001+08:00

Cover via Amazon

Reading up on a book by Richard C Brown on "When Ministry is Messy: Practical Solutions to Difficult Problems". I started reading this much earlier some months ago after getting it from Wellsprings Catholic Bookshop. I had went there to meet up with my old friend, Peter Hong (with his wife, Belinda), whom I have not seen for some years now, since he moved his book shop to Lavender Street.

Why am I reading this book now? Well, apart from the obvious title that relates to my ministry, I am also currently on leave and using this time to catch up on some engaging reading material. I also need to find out what else I may need to consider when I am in the midst of such messy ministry.

It is a messy place out there in the parish ministry. When it is being run well, problems are kept to the minimal. Mostly, and this is found in all parishes, the ministry tends to be run in a manner where personal interests abound and fill with the intrigue of a spy/thriller novel that can make Ian Fleming proud. It may not start off as such. Everyone wants to head to a direction that is to serve the needs of the parish and, ideally, the vision of a Kingdom of God in which every one has a fair stake in it and engaging with the commandment of loving God and neighbour.

But, always along the way, someone must have forgotten the neighbour part and it then becomes a race as to who can do better to get God's attention and points.

I find it utterly tiresome and exhausting to be in the middle of all this, and wondering why are people fighting over a turf that was never theirs in the first place and why this myopic view of a Kingdom that centers on a particular ministry or post as if it really had their name written all over the place for them to use (or misuse) as they see fit.

The book suggests three main reasons why we have such messiness: personality differences, emotional illness and sin. These are nothing new and they can be found in various degrees and intensity in any ministry of any parish. The challenge is to identify them and work towards solving them and to come to a peaceful settlement. We are extremely complicated human beings - no wonder we are so messed up!...

What Lent?....

2010-03-05T20:42:00.001+08:00

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

I feel drained after the past two weeks of 'parish situation hazards' that taxed my duties in the parish, archdiocese and the seminary.

I have my presence, besides being the usual suspect in the parish, also in the Senate (member), Priestly Life (member), District Priest (Chairman) and assisting in the Engaged Encounter as one of the panel of priests presenters. I have my hands already too full with these 'portfolios' and I certainly do not need any more problems to present itself unnecessary to complicate matters further.

However, as with any parish, there will always be occasions where such matters can make its way into the parish scene whereby I have to go in and fire-fight the situation. Much of the problems that I have dealt thus far, tend to fall into the case of misrepresentation, differences of expectations and lack of communication between two parties. In this case between priests of the parish and parishioners and between ministry members.

They never taught us in the Seminary, the finer details of dealing with people and how to maneuver with difficult persons using necessary PR tools or other related skills. Much of this I picked up by trial and error and through learning by experience. But not all priests have this kind of awareness and have found themselves in the firing line of people's expectations.

Hence I am certainly glad to really take a break from all this when I go for my leave in two weeks time to recover from playing nanny or fire-fighter to all the various ministries under my care. I really wonder if the correct sense of Lent is in the minds and psyche of our people when it comes to areas like prayer, conversion and penance...

Ashed!

2010-02-17T11:38:00.005+08:00

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I had a dinner conversation with a friend last night and the topic was on the matter of Lenten practices which we Catholics are familiar with and sometimes follow through with much devotional zeal.

We are already into Lent, today being Ash Wednesday. The practice of prayer, fasting and alms giving begin to take prominence as we move towards our 40 days of this penitential season into Easter later. We also have the abstinences for Fridays and other acts of charity that tend to affect on how we give an example or account for, in our day-to-day living as Catholics during this season.

All of these are to help us, the faithful, to take a break from our secular views and living, which we are so enamoured by, and to recollect and regain our spiritual identities as, truly, a People of God that we are. However, I am inclined to feel that, most of the time, this spiritual reality tend to be missed out altogether for something which borders on superficiality. Why so?

Perhaps, it may be that we see our ashen foreheads (or other Lenten practices) as 'badges of honour' that symbolise our 'heroic' gesture to fast and abstain, whose actions give fuel to our ego, instead of being more aware for the need towards repentance and a better acceptance of humility in our lives.

Perhaps, it may be our misunderstanding or total ignorance (or both) concerning the real reason why we abstain on Fridays which usually paints a superficially devotional picture to the whole practice. One of the usual replies given to the question on why we abstain, especially on Fridays, is that we want to remember Jesus who died on the cross and had suffered for us. While that may be noble, it doesn't address the real issue concerning Jesus' mission for humanity and what the commandment of love is all about.

Our acts of abstinence in the context of our faith is to help us to become more aware of our fellow human beings who have no food or have to scrounge around for food just to survive the day. It is an act of Christian solidarity for the less fortunate and those who cannot get food on their tables and may have to go hungry for the day. This act may not be much but it certainly does give us a sense of emphathy and care that our abundance that we do have, can be shared when we look around and do something worthwhile to facilitate this need towards the poor and less fortunate.

When we reorientate our views concerning those practices which we have during this Lenten season, then we won't be quibbling about how to fast or abstain, is it 'sinful' if we forget to do so, how do we 'make up' for those fast or abstinence we 'missed', etc. It is all about getting down to our hearts and centre of our being for transformation, so that we can be life-givers to others. The Lenten practices must never become a source of pride on the one hand, or something oppressive on the other. It is a measuring stick for our individual practice. If we keep it faithfully, we must say: "We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do" (Luke 17: 10). It teaches us to seek our consolation in things of the spirit rather than of the flesh.

... return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God (Joel 2: 12 - 18)

Lenten New Year?...

2010-02-16T23:04:00.001+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

It is the third day of the Lunar New Year and the eve of Ash Wednesday.

This part of the week is certainly one of the incongruous period where customs and beliefs of two religions meet. While one invites to the enjoyment of food and festivities, the other persuades for the solemn abstinance and fast of revelry and grandiosity.

For those of us who are caught in between these two, especially in a multi-cultural environment and society, trying to remain neutral and saying that it isn't a problem can be very trying indeed. For one thing, we can't seem to make up our minds as to what we want to make out of having a Lunar New Year celebration in the midst of a Sunday mass celebration. I certainly am not complaining about the Lunar festivities that came along this week, and I am thankful for the many generous gifts received from the parishioners and well-wishers. But to let this sit side-by-side to the Christian way of life that speaks of moderation and asceticism can be very jarring.

Tomorrow would be even more pronounced with regards this incongruity. For now, it is best just to enjoy the moment and here's wishing to all out there who have sent me greetings and others who are enjoying the Lunar festivities - Happy Chinese New Year!

What Drives Your Life?

2010-02-09T22:18:00.003+08:00

Image by Annoysius via Flickr

Many people try to use God for their own self-actualization, but that is a reversal of nature and is doomed to failure. You were made for God, not vice versa, and life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose.
Rick Warren, A Purpose Driven Life

I suspect that many of us baptized Christians are not aware of the fundamental relationship that we are to have between us and our Creator, spelt out by the statement above in Rick Warren's book. It becomes a sorrowful tragedy when we totally ignore this relationship and think that we can do better than God. This usually leads to all kinds of unnecessary disappointments and sufferings in life which we then ungraciously blame God in return!

I used this pointer from that book when I presented the homily last weekend and from some of the responses I have gotten so far, they seem to indicate that it has made quite a few to sit up and pay attention. My point on the homily was about letting our lives be led or driven by God for his purposes, using precisely the Sunday readings on the call of Isaiah, Paul and Peter, showing how they accepted with great humility their own limitations which will be compensated by God's own power for the mission he calls them to.

Today, we are also called and missioned that way. Depending on what is at stake, we will be equipped accordingly and be given charge with a mission to carry out that befits our disposition and skills. The problem lies in our response to all this. Quite often, the matter of humility - a sense of who I really am in relation to the Other, the Transcendent - is usually left out. This, then, gives rise to religious superiority or that level of arrogance and spiritual pride that one is better than the rest creeps in, breeding jealousy, hate, in-fighting, back stabbing and the lot, among individuals or groups in the church.

The matter of humility raises another fundamental point, that, it is utterly wrong to suppose that we could ever be worthy of what God gives us and what folly to second-guess His freely-given love and blessings. God doesn't reward us by virtue of our personal achievement in doing things for Him. God just gives to us and gives us abundantly, period! That is what grace means - always unmerited and given unconditionally.

We work in a reward-punishment mentality so often that we end up applying this to God, as though he is to follow by our rules too. That is putting God in a box where he can be tamed and control. I don't know about you, but that is not the kind of God I want or choose to believe in!

It's not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It's far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by his purpose and for his purpose.
The Purpose Driven Life

It Has Been 9 Years!....

2010-01-30T22:34:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Priestly bloggers are a great gift to the Church

So says the headline over at one of Britain's leading Catholic newspaper, The Catholic Herald.

In conjunction with World Communication Day, The Holy Father has issued a message and document on how the Church is encouraging her members and even her priests to use the technology of today to promote activities in the area of evangelisation. The Pope writes: "... Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelisation and catechesis."

I have been blogging since my days in the seminary way back in 2001 and never stopped. That makes this my 9th year of engaging in the blogosphere. When the blog phenomenon first appeared sometime in August 1999, I wasn't yet aware of its influence and only got round of its presence when I had nothing to do one evening and did some surfing in the office of the St Anne's parish where I was doing my pastoral there then in 2001. It was then that I came across the Blogger website and decided to sign up (free) to become one of its already growing base of bloggers online. The rest, as they say, is history.

When I first started, I found it a useful tool and an outlet for me to express my thoughts concerning the journey I was going through as a seminarian then and to, sort of, catechise the general public what life in the Seminary was all about. Then the entries were mostly in text and links. Today, as you have already gathered, a blog entry can easily accomodate all kinds of visual stimuli and specialised links that can take a person on a portal ride to another universe!

It has been quite a ride since I started blogging and I have never once regretted taking this up. It certainly has been an instrument of evangelisation, with what little I have contributed so far, and a way of reaching out to readers of liked-minded inspiration or to those who just want to find out what goes on in the mind of a priest like myself. It is also humbling to note that my blog is listed in the Catholic Blog Directory under the 'L' section all this while, with a new addition recently of Fr Luke's one under 'R'...

So, if you haven't decided anything yet about blogging, maybe you would like to seriously considering this as your next project? Speaking of which, here's one which I managed to help put up after convincing these friends to put their passion for food into a light-hearted commentary on local culinary delights. How's that for putting in another 'soul to the fabric of the Web'...

Blue People

2010-01-22T11:33:00.001+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

I went to watch the most recent talked about movie with blue aliens and floating mountains - Avatar. That was about two weeks ago.

I watched it for the entertainment value that it offered and for some two and a half hours was bedazzled by the seamless reality it brought, in the midst of all the 3-D CGI, technical and camera wizardry that James Cameron is capable of and famous for.

I wasn't too caught up with whatever underlying messages in this movie that can make people sit up and pay attention to. I was just revelling in all the 3-D magic and the action, plus the storyline, that took the audience from one breathtaking, fantastical scene to the next, making you feel as if you were there and that such a place exists.

It didn't prevent some some quarters, however, and other groups of people, including some from high places to weigh in their strong feelings and thoughts about what Avatar can represent or had subtly implied.

The following, so far has transpired, since the movie made its round across the globe:

- The Chinese government banned Avatar

- a branch of the Russian communist party condemned it

- other groups are endlessly debating its political meaning

- the Vatican has weighed in on this too! (Fr John Barron suggests why here and highlights a certain attitude that is prevalent in the secular, entertainment world)

An article here has a few words to suggest why this movie may be causing some ripples in high places and you may have your own view to this too. Realism or not, Avatar certainly has evoked many deep seated feelings and emotions, somewhat like what Star Wars did eons earlier, but this time it took on the proportion of a political effect that stoke the disquiet of many with regards humanity and freedom of the person. The article goes with a view that perhaps all this is an over-reaction to what is, after all, a fictional story. I'd prefer to go its statement towards the end: "... Or maybe this film is a reminder that stories, when told realistically enough, can change people's minds and lives."

We could use more films like that...

Great Hope in the Midst of Mourning

2010-01-19T20:39:00.002+08:00

I went over to the town of Segamat today to attend to the the funeral of my second aunt who passed away on Sunday. I went up by car with my godmother and the journey there took us about two and a half hours and close to RM50 for toll charges that came along the way. The funeral and all when well, and the celebrants were my uncle (Fr Joseph Pang) and myself, together with the family members whom my second aunt have lived with and brought up over the years.

Being in a place and situation like that have brought back many memories of my own days as a youngster in Segamat where I would spend my childhood holidays there with my cousins and relatives.

What I want to share here is the presence of an opportunity whereby I was made to realize that all that had transpired in the past and the influence of my second auntie in the family environment has brought about fruits and meaning that are, even now, unfolding with promises of exciting challenges for our current generation within the family.

My cousins whom I have spent holiday times when younger are now all grown up and with families and children of their own, the one on top of the list with the most being 5 kids! Our parents are getting older and some are already complaining about ache and pains in this and that joint. Sitting by the table and talking with 4th auntie, I see in her face and with her other remaining sister, features and resemblance that of my own mother, of whom this family she belongs.

All of us have been touched and graced by the presence of 2nd auntie during her living years and we never forgot her culinary speciality of 'choy pau pan', a savoury dumpling made with rice flour with vegetable mix on the inside.

The whole event this day, while undeniably sad, was still one that allowed the sense of hope of a future that has great promise and gratitude of what had been given for, to and through this family which I am a good part of. More importantly, it has help me appreciate my own family (at right) and where I came from and what great treasures may lie ahead on our road towards a greater communion with one another and our God who always looks after His people (in ways sometimes beyond our understanding) with great love that surpasses all our expectation.

Afternoon Delight!

2010-01-15T09:58:00.001+08:00

If you are free today afternoon and have a knack for taking pictures of the skies and other heavenly bodies (I mean astronomical objects!), do go on outside and have a ball with an event happening today between 3.00 p.m. and 5.00. p.m.!

Go here to find out what...

Up to Speed...

2010-01-12T11:58:00.002+08:00

Alright, I am catching up on the past week of inactivity and to come up to speed over the days where we are already in full swing into the year 2010.

1. That is about 2 years away from the 'impending disaster-end-of-the-world' event - if you believe that nonsense....

2. This year marks the time in April when the catechumens from the RCIA journey of the parish of IHM will make their life-changing decision as to whether they want to approach the waters of baptism. I spent the last weekend with them at a retreat in the Majodi center, together with Fr Joseph Tan. The retreat master was Bro Collin Tan from the La Salle brothers (at St Pat's). Sis Susan Thomas, fmm. joined in the fun too! In all, everything went well and the catechumens were greatly touched by the graces and presence of God that profoundly marked the occasion.

3. I begin teaching again in the Seminary with an additional course to my schedule, taking my presence in there up one notch. My teaching days now are on every Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Thankfully I don't start my Tuesday and Friday classes, i.e. on Salvation History, till the second quarter, i.e. late March. This gives me a little more time and breathing space to further do up my new course for the Monday classes. I managed to survive my teaching ordeal last Monday with 9 seminarians on the topic of Mystical Theology. Just barely!

4. Oh, I have found an old friend (always wondered what she gotten herself up to after Reuters...) and her family, whose doctor-husband (Leslie) operates a fascinating food blog. So, next time I want a GP or a friendly tip on which great places to go and get a good bite, I know where to look!

5. We are in Ordinary times in the Church's liturgical calendar... I need to do up an article for this weekend's bulletin. I haven't figured out what to write on yet and I am getting desperate! (update, 1.10pm - managed to do up that article!)

Relak Lah and Happy New Year 2010!

2010-01-01T01:21:00.001+08:00

I thought I'd do this later in the day of the new year but in the end after much procrastination, I decided to just put this here now or else I might just forget all about it.

The New Year of 2010 is upon us and it is time for a good look at ourselves to shed off our old and useless ways and to adopt and take on a better outlook in our lives for the good of the person and dignity that we are before God.

I had spent dinner with my godson's family on New Year's eve and when I introduced my Macbook Pro Photo Booth software to play around with, they came up with a series of fascinating and utterly guffaw wrenching shots that I can't help but feel that they have shown a way for our lives to enter into the new year - with great simplicity of joy and laughter that permeates our very being which help us look at the world with a touch of humour and light-heartedness.

Happy New Year to one and all!

2009-12-25T08:45:00.001+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

Merry Christmas to all and do have a blessed and meaningful one this Christmas season!

O Antiphons - Oriens, Rex Gentium, Emmanuel

2009-12-23T17:11:00.001+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

It is the eve of the eve...

Today the remaining series of antiphons get down to the heart of the person and mission of Jesus Christ and why we, as his followers today, have to be clear as to why we continue his mission which he had mandated: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit... "

Those remaining antiphons put into place what we already have worshipped Jesus as all this while, namely he is the Rising Sun who comes to light the dark corners of our lives and give to us the true freedom as God's children, freeing us from the shadows of death. He is also our King to whom we must allow to matter most in our lives and not the kings of materialism, consumerism and other worldly priorities. He it is also whom we must acknowledge as Emmanuel, being among us, even in a world that doesn't want to acknowledge him.

All this is gathered up in a special day later when he is borned in a manger that is cold, of a lowly estate and vulnerable to the elements of the world, helped and cared for by the parents called by God in a mysterious manner, whose instructions were carried out only through faith for the very hope of Israel which welcomed the love that came down that profound night.

May your Christmas season be blessed, meaningful and joyful!

O Antiphons - Clavis

2009-12-21T17:22:00.000+08:00

Image by mtgf93 via Flickr

Isaiah 22:22: "I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder. When he opens, no one shall shut; when he shuts, no one shall open."

The key and scepter are traditional symbols of kingly power and authority. Christ, the anointed one, is the heir of David and possessor of the kingdom. Jesus himself also made use of this symbol, showing the prophetic relationship of the earthly kingdom of David to the kingdom of God. All power and authority was given to him after the resurrection, and he entrusted this power to "bind and to loose" to Peter and the ministers of his church. (Jeanne Kun)

O Antiphons - Radix

2009-12-20T16:57:00.004+08:00

What is a sign to you?

We have them all over the place and we have taken them to a level where signs have been taken much for granted. Especially in advertisements, they have been used and milked in many forms and ways, just so they could provide monetary gains for businesses. Some signs do have their learning value and there are those which seem to pervert the notion of goodness and areas of decency (all for the license of creativity).

However, for us, the faithful believers of God, there is one clear and solid sign that we are made known of every time this Advent is here: Christ, himself.

O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presences; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

The question which Jesus asked his disciples at Caesarea Philippi continues to ring down to our times today as the implication of the sign of Christ bears down upon us: Who do you say that I am? How you answer this will tell you much about the question of signs in your life.

O Antiphons - Adonai

2009-12-18T17:42:00.002+08:00

O Adonai... come and save us with your mighty power!