Interim Time: YC

The Youth Council (YC) members got together and gave me a farewell dinner over at June's Restaurant (Seafood) this evening. This place is along the Tg Katong Road before the Queen of Peace parish.

It was an enjoyable affair for the food was good and the company pleasant and engaging enough. The youths and young adults that formed the YC had been with me the past 4 years and we saw some interesting times together.

They are a strong and committed people that continue, in their own quiet way, to give opportunities for the youth scene in Holy Family to grow and find its appropriate contribution to the community there.

One member gave me something that came from his father's storeroom which contains many knick knacks. It came from the Phillipines - a GIANT SIZE rosary! Another bought a small little fan that has lights which play on your eyes that can be rather hypnotic if you stare at it too long! :-D

All in all, a good night out after all that running and prepping about. Thank you, guys! I needed that break. Keep the good work going and the YC flag flying! :-D

Interim Time: Kajang

It's been three days here in Taman Kajang Central. The apartment is a walkup with 4 floors. Since arriving here, I have been:

a. Eating, eating, eating! All my favourite and other familiar/well known foods have been presented for my consumption - pongteh, thunder tea (lei char), steamboat. It's as if I won't be having these kinds of cuisine when I go to Rome and now would be the best time to savour all these before I forget how they smell and look like! ;-)

b. Resting and sleeping! I don't get much of these when I was in the parish. So, now I ain't complaining about the abundance of them, at least for now...

c. Playing with my nephews. There are 4 of them and all equally fiesty and full of energy that apparently is gotten from sapping some from their uncle, i.e. yours truly!

I have yet to tuck in the roti canai and teh tarik from the coffeeshop downstairs. Then, there is still this nagging thought at the back of my mind telling me of some little tying up of things to do when I get back to Singapore and before I fly off to Rome. :-P

(ps - my naughty nephew is disturbing me now, so I have to end here.. :-D)

Get Up and Go #4

Finally completed my project to get up and go from the parish of Holy Family... :-D

After vacating the office and the quarters upstairs, I left for Kajang on the Aeroline coach service with a journey that took about 5 hours in all. It was a little cloudy when the bus left Singapore and along the way as it got nearer towards KL, it began to rain.

Having to leave the parish after 4 years there has been a little sad. I would miss the East Coast setting with the food, the beach, the parishioners and the Katong lifestyle that is so unique and at the same time diverse. I can understand how some priests can get rather emotional with leaving their parish after being there for so many years! :-P Getting all those farewell wishes after the last official mass that Sunday, shaking hands and wishing one another farewell can leave one's eyes a little moist... ;-)

So, here I am now at my family's place and just enjoying the last few weeks of rest and consolidation before flying off to another part of the world. Heaps of thanks go out to all who have send in their best wishes and prayers. Life carries on, so let us face the future together and see what we can transform together, regardless of distance and time!

Get Up And Go #3

The office has been vacated for the new replacement to the parish to use and I am almost clear with all the packing. I spend the whole of yesterday, together with two other friends, packing things from the office. I just had all the boxes send out this afternoon to the another friend's place where he will store them in the factory space which he has.

That leaves my clothings and other miscellaneous that will end up at my godmother's place for the duration of my studies. They will go out by tomorrow morning. So, after all these, I am all ready to vacate the parish and on to a fresh start in the life of being a student - of sorts... :-D

This weekend's Catholic News highlighted on the movement of three priests, namely Fr Luke, Fr Brian and myself. Our nice mugshots graced the front page of the paper and the word is therefore out concerning our new postings/transfers. Meanwhile, there have been a lot of speculation as to who will come into Holy Family to replace me. For now, we'll have to wait till the 4th June to confirm his presence. Still, that did not stop many 'seers' who made predictions as to who he might be. Whoever they have place their bets on, I am sure my replacement would make a worthy substitute that may bring added value and good to the parish.

Amen and May the Force Be with You!

I guess it had to happen. The situation begs that questions too. I have been putting this off for many reasons and one obvious one is that I never want to really spend too much time to dwell on a subject that I wasn't concern about. Then, too, I was busy with both packing and carrying on with normal duties in the parish that is really impossible to pull through without some divine gift of patience and understanding for the community I am still serving :-P

The query was: what are my thoughts concerning my impending studies in Rome?

Firstly, it is a welcome break from the helter-skelter of parish life and signals a significant transition to another portion of life that is both exciting and yet challenging. Yes, I will certainly miss the people and place that I have served for the past four and half years as seminarian, deacon and priest here. :-) Looking back at all that has transpired and experienced, I can only say that my continued existent thus far is only because of the works, inspiration, power and generosity of the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, two incredible items popped up this year, as if to remind me that I have to move on and that God is still with me, regardless of my failings and other faults, to take me towards the reality of who I am to be. My response to all these is a quiet assent that comes in only two syllables: A-men!

One item is the returning to the night skies where I am once again made (painfully, I must say...) aware of, is the constellation Crux or the Southern Cross. This particular constellation was crucial and played a significant role that led me to my current vocation. Now it is placed brilliantly in the southern heavens that twinkle back at me saying, "It's time to go!". The other item is the 30th anniversary of Star Wars since its inception way back on 25th May 1977. That was an incredible movie that started all this moving leading me to a life that I never expected at all.

Now these two signposts of my fairly colorful life are back that beckon me to Rome. What can I say but "Amen, may the force be with me!" ;-)

So, yes, I am sad to have to move on, to have to uproot and go. Yet, I am hopeful for what the future holds, despite its uncertainties and potential problems it can throw at me. This is because a friend said to me that I need not fear the unknown when I have a God who is Known. :-)

Perhaps it is true when we say that good things never last. Yet, even when the vase is broken, the sweet smell of the roses remain and those will be the memories that I take with me in appreciation and gratitude for all the goodness that is shared and experienced at the parish of Holy Family.

It has been an enriching stay and as mentioned or implied in Scriptures, nothing gets wasted with God, whatever the life or situations!

Get Up and Go #2

All my bags are packed and ready to go... (Leaving On A Jet Plane, John Denver)

Well, actually, not yet... :-P

It has been a rather stressful 2 weeks or so since my last writeup when I was preparing to get up and go for my studies in Rome. I started off Operation Get-Up-n-Go but that has been moving on very slowly and now has stalled a little. This was due to other parish work that came along the way and farewell appointments that took much of the time away from packing. But I still manage to get some going and have put those already processed into the boxes/cartons. You can assess the situation for yourselves with this flickr set here.

Meanwhile, it has been very heartwarming hearing from all who have sent in their best wishes and greetings on my impending trip to Rome and mentioning how this blog have been points of inspiration to them. This is exactly what I had set out to do when I first created Life Crosses with the tag line above stating about shared inspirations. :-)

It has been a good four and a half years here at Holy Family and there will certainly be a lot that I will miss, despite my ambivalence about this whole studies affair and the transfer. Still, good things don't usually last forever and we all have to move on to other things in life to conquer...

Just hope I am still sane enough to be there to see them through! ;-)

Marching Orders

The day has finally arrived...

I have been holding back on making this known as there were uncertainties and no confirmation on what will take place yet - until now. The time has come to take a bow and pack my bags for another phase of life that will call me out of this parish and, for a while, even out of the country.

I have just been given marching orders to pick up studies in Rome. Yes, the eternal city itself! I was first told of this and to prepare for it earlier this year. It comprised of having to take up a course in Spirituality. It wasn't naturally my first choice but, hey, because the course is in English, I am not complaining. My other choosing, Dogmatic Theology, would have me slogging it out in Italian...

The deal is for me to do the Spirituality course in Rome's Angelicum University and after 2 years, to come back and be consigned into our local Seminary to train/torment/form/<insert own adjective here> the seminarians for an indefinite time frame.

It is therefore a farewell to the parish that I have been in the past four and a half years *sniff* Before you all say, "crocodile tears!", let me assure you that it was still 4+ years of good exposure and experience in all things a parish can do to a priest which I will not forget in a long, long time. Really!

I am schedule to leave the country and travel halfway to the other part of the western world on the 25th June 2007. Now, I am in the midst of packing and getting all the necessary documentations and forms done up so that I can leave the country and get there in one piece without:
a. being mistaken as a terrorist
b. having to be put through a strip search at the airports
c. loosing any of my baggage
d. being mistaken as an illegal immigrant
e. losing any sleep on where to go and how, when I get there

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking and my days are numbered here in Holy Family. The following entries to come will chronicle my remaining days of, perhaps, hectic activity to get ready for the departure and hopefully be a peaceful one!

My replacement? I'm sure we all will know in due time! ;-)