Some Aspects...

I just finished the last presentation for the seminarians of our extended recollection this weekend. The theme for the recollection was on aspects of the New Evangelization. This was a follow through from our community's bonding exercise last weekend to start off the year's academic and formation activities.

Bless Me Father

Confession (Photo credit: Lawrence OP)

When I sit by the confessional booth, awaiting the next penitent. As with each waiting, I wonder if the penitents know the following: there is no such thing as a “bad” confession as long as you’ve come to the Sacrament with a contrite heart.

Time: Man of the Year 2013

Yes, still in Kajang.

I fired up the iPad and headed straight for the Zite app, a news reader. A few flipped pages and my eyes came across a pleasantly surprising news spread: Pope Francis is Time's Man of the Year.

"It's about time! (no pun intended)", I exclaimed under my breath. Some may not be agreeable with this but I believe this is one way for the Catholic Church to engage the world without at the same time compromising her stand. Perhaps it is the way, for now, to be in the world yet not of the world which our Holy Father, Pope Francis, can afford. Our Holy Father certainly did not ask for this honour but that it was given nonetheless by one of the world's leading international magazine is a feat worth paying attention since his papacy began. He follows in the footsteps of blessed Pope John Paul II who won Time's Man of the Year in 1994.

Our Lady

I seemed to have overstretched my blogging hiatus a little, seeing it was a little under a month since my last entry....

Anyway, for all of us Catholics in Singapore, as well as other Catholics in the world, the special celebration of the consecration of the world to our Blessed Mother Mary was the profoundest moment for the Church as an act of solidarity with the Holy Father in Rome where he did the same celebration.

A Choice Made

With two more months left, things are moving fast as the final year seminarians prepare themselves for their graduation and eventual insertion into the priestly ministry. They have their final Baccalaureate (Theology) exams to undergo and following that, the essential preparations for their diaconate and the priesthood.

NS and Seminary

I just came from finishing a movie with the rest of the Seminary community. We saw it during our dinner as it was the eve of Hari Raya holiday. This is our usual movie night during such occasions. The movie? Ah Boys To Men (pt 1).

One of the aspirants who attended our last weekend's vocation retreat had commented that life in the seminary to him is somewhat more difficult than life in the army today! If he had come in and join us in the seminary during my time as a seminarian his comments may not have been too far off the mark. However, today, much have changed and the environment has improved tremendously.

Life - Death

The Devil's Sinkhole, Texas

I just read the latest post of my confrere Fr Luke on his response to the bone marrow transplant via stem cells which almost happened. It certainly was a blow that the donor Canada pulled out at the last minute  from donating her cells. Life can be frustrating indeed. He was that close to getting the needed treatment to curing his leukemia.

10 Year Plan

The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd is the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Singapore. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Archdiocese has lots of work cut of for it. Well, at least for the next 10 years.

That was the revealed plan from the new Archbishop William Goh as he presented his vision of "Building a Vibrant, Missionary and Evangelical Church" as the pastoral plan he hopes to accomplish within the next 10 years.

The first on the list of his priorities to move this vison and plan off the ground is the renewal and healing of the Presbyterium that wants to foster unity between priests and religious, engaging them through inclusivity, empowerment, passion and compassion.

Handing Over

Well, the announcement finally came about. This was what all in the archdiocese was waiting to hear.

As of 6 pm, Singapore time, on 18th May 2013, we have a new archbishop taking office in the person of His Grace Archbishop William Goh. It was almost 3 months ago that we witnessed his ordination and installation to the episcopate at the Singapore Expo.

Saint of Anonymity

English: Saint Matthias, who replaced Judas Iscariot as apostle. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After finishing the monumental task of rehauling to a new Blogger template, I am now ready to tackle a thought that has been on my mind since yesterday.

It is about St Matthias, whose feast we celebrated yesterday. He was the one that was chosen by lot, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to be one of the 12 apostles replacing Judas (Iscariot) who defected.

What was inspiring about this saint was because he was, firstly, uninspiring!

Consider this...

Isaiah 43: 19....

The Lenten period continues as we cross the halfway mark with Laetare Sunday last week.

With the months that went by as we make our way towards the great feast of Easter, we were given experiences that spoke of the work of God that would want to instil in us a proper sense of the dynamics of God's activity - He is still actively working in our world, as I write, and continues in His unique and mysterious manner that always circumvents all human machinations and motives.

The recent ordination of His Grace Archbishop Coadjutor William Goh at the Max Pavilion of the Singapore Expo, offers the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore (clergy, religious and lay faithful) an opportunity to move into the year ahead with renewed vision to face the challenges ahead, with the values of His Grace that spoke of passion and compassion. This stems from his motto of his coat of arms, "Ut Vivant", i.e. "that they may live..." (Jn 10: 10 - 11). Our archdiocese need to sorely return to basics and know how to care for the flock like how the father in the prodigal son parable of 4th Sunday of Lent gospel reading did, when he dealt very magnanimously and with love as well.

New Challenges...

What a month this had been and more seems to be coming up that will somehow speak of the changing landscape of all that is related to the archdiocese and in all aspect of our own lives - spiritual, material, physical

The seminarians just came back early this morning after visiting the KL archdiocese in attending to a sacerdotal (priestly) ordination of two of their alumni from our Singapore seminary. Deacons Gregory Chan and Peter Anthoney were ordained yesterday in the cathedral by Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, to the order of priests.

Today, the Singapore archdiocese will rejoice as we celebrate the ordination to the order of deacons for Joviat Ho, Benedict Chng, Alphonsus Raj and Edward Seah. The entire Seminary community will be heading to the Church of St Joseph - Bt Timah for the Mass ceremony this evening.

Not too far off from here is the next ordination, this time of the episcopal nature when Msgr William Goh is formally installed as Archbishop-Coadjutor, at the Singapore Expo in February 22.

2013 Ahead!..

The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd is the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Singapore. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is the last day of the year (2012)!

When the new day breaks tomorrow it will be another New Year to go into and what that promises is anybody's guess.

But, thus far, since the past week, we have, at least, been given a sign that 2013 may be a meaningful year ahead. How it will eventually fare still remains to be seen. There was the announcement last week that the Rector of the SFX Major Seminary (S'pore), Fr William Goh, has been chosen as Archbishop Co-adjutor for the Archdiocese of Singapore. He will later be appointed as Archbishop of Singapore at a date which is to be announced later.

Am Officially 48!

Catholicism at high altitude (Photo credit: blackenedsky)

I have just finished forty eight years of existence and now onto the forty ninth with no idea as to what the future may hold, except with some educated guesses and inferences from what goes on in the general public, the media, the life of the Church within the local archdiocese and in the world. On that, the future is challenging from all sides and certainly demands the life of a priest that goes beyond his usual comforts that he usually engages in. This is because we are heading into a culture that is deeply shaped by rejection of the Good News and by a sustained effort to live life on explicitly non- or even anti-Christian grounds.

Eternal Rest...

Zaduszki (Photo credit: Klearchos Kapoutsis)

Yesterday we celebrated All Saints’ and today we remember All Souls. There is something about the opening days of November that tends to bring these two celebration neatly together. Even the weather (cool and rainy) somehow have conspired towards bringing about this awareness of the mystical and haunting feeling associated with All Saints and today, All Souls.

To celebrate All Souls is not something we do lightly. Neither is it to be taken in a superstitious manner which would negate totally the understanding of our Christian faith. Instead, the celebration of All Souls’ is an affirmation of our capacity to a relationship with God – One whom we can know and love. It is also about our acknowledgement that in us we have something that links us to a power that transcends this world. That something is our soul.

Faith Relook and Renew

Crucifix on the wall of the sanctuary. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Much have been said about the Year of Faith and finally it is here. That began in Singapore with a formal ceremony and Mass celebration at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd on Thursday, 11 October at 8.00 p.m.

During this weekend, in the parishes, there would be ceremonies to enthrone the Creed and calls for a more reflective reading and deepening of the Vatican II documents, as well as a more thorough living out of our faith lives. That this year is the 50th anniversary of Vatican II is all the more crucial that we get ourselves in to this awareness of our Catholic understanding on the way of our faith life in the Church and in the world.

For most of us, that the Church is more than its institution and building, is something that is incomprehensible and a far flung notion that doesn't have much prominent place in one's faith awareness and life. Fifty years ago, the Church has this to say, "The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the men of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well" (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 7 December, 1965, para. 1).

This was the Church's bold and decisive way of saying that it empathises with all of the world's joys and griefs and sees the need for reconciliation and healing. But it is a reconciliation and healing that does not come from or through the world directly: "Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men, of men, united in Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, press onwards towards the kingdom of the Father and are bearers of a message of salvation intended for all men. That is why Christians cherish a  feeling of deep solidarity with the human race and its history" (emphasis mine).

This Year of Faith has a call that wants to get us out of our complacency and comfort zone to take a good look at what we have done to ourselves in keeping tabs on our lives as Catholic Christians today in the wake of all that is happening in our highly technical, information overload, materially consumed, and God-ly allergic world we live in: "In wonder at their own discoveris and their own might, men are today troubled and perplexed by questions about current trends in the world, about their place and their role in the universe, about the meaning of individual and collective endeavour and finally about the destiny of nature and men" ((Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, 7 December, 1965, para. 3).

The Church's stand in this light goes on to say that the following which is unfolding today, making this document a highly prophetic and profound assessment of our world:

a. Ours is a new age of history with critical and swift upheavals spreading gradually to all corners of the earth. They are the products of man's intelligence and creative activity, but they recoil upon him, upon his judgments and desires, both individual and collective, upon his ways of thinking and acting in regard to people and things (para. 4).

b. Increase in power is not always accompanied by control of that power for the benefit of man (para. 4).

c. We have not yet seen the last of bitter political, social, and economic hostility, and racial and ideological antagonism, nor are we free from the spectre of a war of total destruction (para. 4).

d. A change in attitudes and structures frequently calls accepted values into question... In the past it was the exception to repudiate God and religion ... nowadays it seems a matter of course to reject them as incompatible with scientific progress and a new kind of humanism (para. 7).

A good practice to take up, during this Year of Faith, would be to go to this particular Church document and reflect deeply and honestly as to one's state of faith today and make those relevant and needed changes so that, with the Church, be able to dialogue to all "... in order to unfold the mystery that is man and cooperate in tackling the main problems facing the world today" (para 10).

Related articles

• Inside the synod: Celebrating Vatican II, launching Year of Faith
• In Time for the 50th Anniversary of the Vatican II, New Book 'The Good Pope' is a Comprehensive Profile of Pope John XXIII
• Vatican II and the Ecclesiology of Joseph Ratzinger
• Hungry for change: Food and the Year of Faith
• ANALYSIS: 50 years ago, Vatican II changed the Catholic Church - and the world - Articles
• Card. Brandmüller on the liturgical reform of Vatican II

Is There Any Proof?...

I came across this video and saw it as a compelling piece that, somehow, mirrors very closely the state of affairs among our own teens before and/or after their confirmation.  On a bigger scale, it really is about all of us in the faith. Do we know that we are Catholics and show it? Is there any proof to exhibit that state of life?....

Dealing With 'Accolades'...

As I write this, I would have pass over many other notable events, e.g. the Olympics, the National Day celebrations, and from the liturgical settings - two sacerdotal (priestly) ordinations and the celebration of the Assumption.

This weekend, which I find myself now is the one with the seminarians in recollection. We will end soon by 12.30 p.m. after the mid-day prayer. This time round, however, I am not the main person conducting, as per usual, but Deacon Sherman Kuek from the diocese of Melaka-Johor. He is a permament deacon serving as Director of the Pastoral Institute of that diocese. He specialises in catechetical matters and is a well-known speaker within the conference of Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei region. He shared with the seminarians his life changing conversion and provided the framework for his theme of the talk, namely, The Beauty of the Catholic Faith. He also blogs here.

This morning, he gave a homily that while short and succint, was very pointed enough to get the message across which all of us at Mass would not miss out on. The gospel reading that morning was about the scribes and Pharisees with the need to be looked up to, fawn over, wearing broader phylacteries and the warning of not following through with what they preach. Deacon Sherman mentioned about the manner how priests and religious or clergy in general, can also unconciously fall into this trap. An elderly and wise priest once told him that once you have preached, no matter how good the homily may be, when finish, just shut up and get lost!

I believe this is the wisest advice for any clergy to follow and keep to heart. It certainly will put one in place with humility, which is rather rare these days. It will help all of us to know that at the bottom of ut all, this is really about God and not about us (at all). This may also cater for the homily that is half baked - one does not need to be around to get the flak from our listeners...

June, June...

VatCupola59 (Photo credit: Annoysius)

This certainly is a fine situation here...

It has been almost a month since I have put up anything on this blog and the interval between one entry and the next has been erratic. I thought by my coming into the seminary and away from all the distractions that can be found in the parish, I could get some consistent writing done. But, so far that hasn't been the case. In fact, I have been compelled, more, to put aside this blog and procrastinate in doing up any entries here. Terrible...

I have let some important weeks past by, liturgical moments that carry significant impact in our lives, that it would be remiss of me not to just say a few short words that hopefully may capture their power and effect in our lives as Catholic Christians:

Pentecost

It is the Spirit! How sure are you that you are walking in and with the Spirit? Galatians 5 offer the template for all Christians to follow. When the Queen of England is in Buckingham Palace, the palace flies up their flags for all to see and know that she is around. What flags of the Spirit that we fly to show that we are in the Spirit if not that of love, peace, joy, ....

Trinity

The most difficult homily to do as the subject matter is just to transcendent for life that is more grounded on earth and reality. Yet, we already move into this mystery when we make the sign of the cross at every Mass, a sign that proclaims, God the Father loves the world so much that He sends His only Son all the way down to us, so that we may be gathered in the Holy Spirit.

Corpus Christi

Much ink have been poured to speak of this mystery of Christ that its profoundness cannot still be captured or appreciated well in a lifetime. A more profound passage that will help us reflect even deeper is from Jeremiah 31: 31ff. Every time we are at Mass and receive communion, we are fulfilling Jeremiah's prophecy! Remember that passage well - Jer 31: 31.

Meanwhile, our Seminary's semester break is here! Since that means no classes and any other activities, I am looking forward to do the following:

a. an entry for my blog of at least once a week.
b. the use of one or both of my telescope to view the night sky more often, unless bad weather or clouds abound.
c. more occasions in the day to use the telescope to view the Sun with a solar filter.

Those above, of course, are on top of my other basic spiritual exercises/activities that has to go on regardless of weather or the GSS.

Related articles

• Benedict XVI's Sermon for Corpus Christi: Jesus in our midst is the "beating Heart" of the home, city, country, territory

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• A Big Month, The Solemnities of June

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Road Less Travelled...

Bell Tower (Photo credit: Annoysius)

I am using my iPhone to access the Internet to write this.

We had a heavy thunderstorm a few days ago and it knocked out most of our electrical system and phone lines, which we are now slowly recovering and bringing them back to normal. Meantime, our Internet line is still unavailable and the Singtel maintenance personnel haven't gotten round to our place yet to look in our predicament even though they said they would come by between 2 - 6 pm today. Typical!

This weekend is our Diocean Vocation retreat and we have with us just over 50 participants, young men between the ages of 18 - 35, who will spend the weekend in the Seminary to discern their calling to their priesthood. This is the early stages of the candidates' life as they explore their options toward this vocation and still a long way to go before they even decide to step in the Seminary.

Should they get serious about wanting to join the Seminary, they will have to see the Fathers' of the Seminary (of whom I am one of them) and journey with them for at least a year before any decision is made to take them in.

It is apparent since Fr William Goh took over as Rector of the Seminary that we are looking for quality and not too quick with quantity. If it were quantity, we would undoubtedly have a good bunch of men to help up the population of seminarians which currently stands at 15 this year. However, with the different emotional baggages, misconstrued expectations and possible wrong motivations that many take into the Seminary, the community here would be in a turmoil as we wade our way through all these landmines of human frailties and shortcomings. Hence the need and the putting in place of a need for a more proper and stringent screening. In doing so, the effect is the careful selection of candidates and longer duration of journeying with these aspirants before they are even given the form to register into the Seminary.

While journeying, they have opportunities to attend the Seminary's series of ongoing Vocation recollections and retreats that are done during the year. These give the aspirants a better foothold of their discerning stage as well as to continue to remain connected with the Seminary and the community there.

This weekend's vocation retreat begins for many of the participants a greater journey of life should they decide to take the road less travelled, making all that difference...