~Extra~

As expected, a friend commented that I sound like a pharisee in the previous entry haha...

Well, if I read such entry, I will think the same, but I'm just telling the truth. =p

The past 1 year, I've lost almost all my friends whom I used to hang out with because we have nothing in common anymore. In fact, they could bring bad influences for me. However, God replaced them with many, many new friends in the Church. Well, I've known many friends (mostly Catholics) from different parishes, nationalities, interests, etc. I've even made friends with religious sisters/brothers and also missionary priests in other countries.

I learnt a lot from them, especially those who do not reside in Singapore. Many of them do not have the privilege that we have here, especially daily mass. An island near my hometown in Indonesia only have Mass once a month due to lack of priests, whereas in my parish in Indonesia, daily mass is only once a day; Monday, Wednesday and Saturday in the morning (5.30am) and Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the evening (6pm). Usually I can only attend the evening ones.

That's why I started attended daily mass here, so many Churches with different timing. I can choose to attend morning mass, lunch-time mass and evening mass, I've not heard any country like Singapore; 30 Churches islandwide and all have daily mass at least twice a day. What a blessing!

Attending daily mass is a way of saying thank you to God for the privilege that I have in Singapore. =)

Week 5 #1: My Relationship with God

I really had no idea what I should write this week. I could say it's the most difficult among the five! I thought about it from Monday to Thursday and still nothing. Yesterday, I was able to do self reflection about my relationship with Him and I was quite surprised to know that my relationship is better than I thought.

A few days ago, I talked to my friend that my relationship with God was like a rollercoaster. Up and down always, but I was wrong. My relationship with Him now is quite steady, BUT sometimes my emotion is like a rollercoaster, especially with the people around me. The reason is simply because I know that God won't let bad things happen to me, but people are imperfect and they could easily be deceived and tempted by satan, just like Eve in the book of Genesis, to harm to others.

Jesus commanded us to love God "with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind..." (Luke 10:27). Honestly, this is not difficult if you know God. However, Jesus commanded us to love our neighbour (Matthew 22:39) and also our enemy (Matthew 5:44), why? Probably because they are the same people! =p It won't make sense if I say that I love God and yet I don't love my enemies/friends.

I think my personal prayer life is not so bad. I TRY to do Liturgy of the Hours (LoTH) daily, sometimes I attend mass in parishes where the LoTH is done together to keep me motivated, such as in the Church of Holy Cross where it is done before morning and evening mass and in Immaculate Heart of Mary Church where the youths gather to pray the evening prayer (Vesper) after the evening Mass with a priest. Well, maybe we can have it in the Church of Risen Christ in the future.

Liturgy of The Hours is the prayer of the Church. The early Christians did it daily because Mass was celebrated only once a week. However, when Latin language was introduced, many people couldn't do it anymore, because Latin was the language for the rich people. Thus, people started to pray Rosary instead. Since Vatican II, the Church has been trying to get the laity to pray LoTH. It is not a devotional prayer (like Divine Mercy/Rosary), but it's the prayer of the Church and by right, every Catholics should pray it, just like Muslims pray 5 times a day.

I also try to pray Rosary and Divine Mercy chaplet daily although I often fail terribly when I’m lazy or deceived by the media (Internet!). Actually, I was inspired to do this by a priest who prays this every morning. He described it as if these were his breakfast. Therefore, I believe it would be good if I could do the same.

I try to have personal time in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament at least once a week, it is to keep me aware of the presence of God in my life; to talk to God personally about everything that's been going around in my life. In addition, I also try to attend daily Mass, so that I can listen to the Word of God and receive Jesus in the Sacrament of Eucharist. If I can't attend mass, I try to read the readings for the day (Subscribe to God is my oxygen, it's good!).

Another important aspect is Sacrament of Reconciliation. When I started to do it regularly, I thought receiving forgiveness from God, but as I read more and understand the meaning of it. This sacrament is to receive God's grace to overcome my weaknesses and to be aware of my sinfulness and unworthiness. I realised during the time when I was a lapsed Catholic, I didn't go confession for years, I wasn't aware of my sinfulness simply because it became a habit, such as the eight commandment; You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour, in short, gossiping. How many of us guilty of it? =p

In order to have a good relationship with God, I need to obey His commandments and to do things that will please Him. I used to have double life (just like a superhero!), let's called it the good and the bad. In Church, I could be an angel to everyone, but outside, I could be mean and inconsiderate person. I realised that God won't be pleased, so I TRY to be the good person all the time now. Well, I still fail every now and then.

I'm still striving for holiness, it's along way to go. Two years from now, I want to be a better person in every aspect. It will be tough, but not impossible. =)

This entry isn't to boast how holy I am, because I'm still a sinner and often fail in the journey, but I don't give up because I know that God loves me so much that He wants me to TRY my best to be closer to Him. Honestly, when I started to have personal relationship with God, I only pray 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and 1 Glory be in the evening, I couldn't even pray spontaneously (Now you know how terrible I was). I feel blessed and thankful that He led me to where I am now. If I can, why you can't?

Week 4 #2: Response!

(The passage about the woman who touched Jesus’ cloak can be found in Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43 and Luke 8:40-56).

I was quite surprised when I read Alexis’s entries, simply because there are countless stories in the gospel where Jesus healed sick people and I used to think all of them are similar to each others. So how could a person be impressed with a story more than the others? However, when I read the passage closely, her favourite bible passage is different! Jesus did not heal the woman intentionally, but the woman had a strong faith that she was able to draw Jesus’ power by just touching his clothes, thus, she was healed immediately.

I disagree to say that she had a blind faith because she had a strong faith on what she did. She didn’t say “If I just touch his clothes, hopefully, I could be healed or I might be healed,” but she firmly believed that “If I just touch His clothes, I WILL get well” (Mark 5:28).

Her faith was definitely as big as a mustard seed (Luke 17:6), or even bigger! A faith with hope, not the ‘desperate hope’ like those people buying 4D and hoping to win (because they don’t know whether they will win), but the hope with confidence, such as our HOPE that Jesus will come again at the end of time. We must have confidence when we proclaim that Jesus will come again, as written in Acts of the Apostles 1:11 “…this Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way that you saw him go to heaven.”

After reading it a few times now, I’m amazed with the woman’s faith, because I really want a faith like hers. Honestly speaking, I had doubt and fear whether my prayer would be answered. Often time, I would start asking if Jesus would grant my petition, especially when I was alone in adoration chapel. I could just sit there for hours and questioning over and over again. Now I realised that it is because I have so little faith in Him.

The time is different now, we no longer see Jesus walking around to heal people literally, but we still can witness His healing power in every one of us, why? It is because He IS risen. At the Christ’s tomb, the apostles heard these words from the angel: “He’s not here” (Luke 24:5). Thus, the apostles’ faith came from the Resurrection. Nothing more concretely and conclusively proves Christ’s divinity than His resurrection. I don’t know whether the woman knew that Christ was God but we know that Jesus Christ is God and “…there is nothing that God cannot do” (Luke 1:37). Having said that, shouldn’t we have a stronger faith than the woman as we know that Christ IS risen?

Father God,
Let the splendour of the resurrection
Light up our hearts and minds.
And in your kindness increase your gifts of grace within us,
so that fervent in faith, hope and love,
we will be the witness of the risen Christ
especially to those who do not know You yet.
Amen.

(Pictures are courtesy of One Year Bible Reading and personal collection)

Week 4 #1b: My Favourite Bible Passage

As mentioned in the previous entry, my favourite Bible passage is the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38).

This passage is about Mary's vocation to be the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ.

She was about 15 years old when the Angel Gabriel came to her. As a young girl, I believe Mary had a dream (as many other girls do!). Since she was betrothed Joseph, it was likely that her dream was to have family with Joseph. You know, get married, have children, be a good wife and mother, grow old and die peacefully. Just the typical life cycle of human being.

However, God had other plan for her. An extremely special plan that He sent His Angel Gabriel to deliver the message personally, can you imagine that? It was the Angel Gabriel, not just any other angel, that was sent to tell Mary the news.

Last week, I was contemplating this passage when it struck me that Mary was probably confused and sad when she heard the message. When I was 15, I remember I had a big dream of becoming a successful actor, earns lots of money and lives in a luxurious condominium. If an angel were to appear and tell me that God has other plan for me, I would be freak out; I might reject His plan!

After she listened to the news, there was a doubt whether it was real from God. So she asked "I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?"
This is so understandable. After all, it was miraculous event. She might not know it whether it was truly from God. Ladies, try to imagine if an angel comes to you and say that you would become pregnant and give birth to the son of God. Will you believe it?

However, God prepared everything perfectly. He knows that Mary would ask for proof, so He gave an evident of His great power. It was Elizabeth's pregnancy. Mary knew that her cousin was barren, so only by God's power that she could get pregnant in her old age. It showed that there is nothing that God cannot do. Having heard this, Mary submitted herself fully to God, without even thinking of her own plan (Not even asking Joseph!).

Mary is a model for us when we answer God's calling in our life;
1. She was troubled by the message; the Angel Gabriel explained it clearly
2. She had doubt; The Angel replied by telling about Elizabeth's pregnancy
3. She accepted it; be submissive to God's will for her
4. She confirmed it; by visiting Elizabeth (she stayed 90 miles away from Mary). Have you ever thought that the visitation was to confirm the Angel Gabriel's message that her cousin was pregnant?

I learnt that I have to be ready whenever God calls me, whether to priesthood/religious life, married life or single life. I believe each vocation is unique thus none is superior than the others. A priest told me that if I don't accept the vocation that God gives me, there'll be something missing in my life. So I've been discerning where God is leading me and praying that I have a heart like Mary that I'll be able to accept my vocation with all my heart.
(Pictures are courtesy of Catholic Source)

Week 4 #1a: Favourite Bible Passage

I'm glad to know this week topic (Glad it came out this week, not last week!), I just attended a recollection last week and there was a bible passage that really touched me deeply. It's Luke 1:26-38, the Annunciation. Since the passage is quite long, so I divided this week entry into two; the first one is the Bible passage and the second post will be the discussion.
Let's read the bible passage first:

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee named Nazareth. 27 He had a message for a young woman promised in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of king David. Her name was Mary. 28 The angel came to her and said "Peace be with you! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you!"

29 Mary was deeply troubled by the angel's message, and she wondered what his words meant 30 The angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you. 31 You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God wll make him a king, as his ancestor David was, 33 and he will be the king of the descendants of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end!"

34 Mary said to the angel, "I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?"
35 The angel answered,"The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God's power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God. 36 Remember your relative Elizabeth. It is said that she cannot have children, but she herself is now six months pregnant, even though she is very old. 37 For there is nothing that God cannot do."

38 "I am the Lord's sevant," said Mary; "may it happen to me as you have said." And the angel left her.
(taken from Good News Bible)

A Tribute to Priests

A few priests celebrated their anniversaries of ordination recently. So I think it will be appropriate if I make an entry for them, since they have given up their life for us. Without them, we will not be able to receive sacraments, especially Eucharist and Reconciliation. Can you imagine if there is no priests around to celebrate sacraments for us? Well, let's pray for more vocation to the priesthood and religious life. God bless you.

To live in the midst of the world without wishing its pleasure;

To be a member of each family, yet belonging to none;

To share all sufferings; to penetrate all secrets;

To heal all wounds;

To go from men to God and offer Him their prayers;

To return from God to men to bring pardon and hope;

To have a heart of fire for charity and

a heart of bronze for chastity;

To teach and to pardon, console and bless always.

My God, what a life!

And it is yours, Priest of Jesus Christ!

Jean Baptiste Henri Lacordaire(French Dominican priest, 1802-1861)

Take a Break, listen to this song!

While many songs and albums have stories behind them, Al Denson's 1997 release Take Me to the Cross literally has a tale that is linked to the title song. It is the story of a lost little girl, unaware of the way home. A man and his wife stop to help the young girl; however, being three years old, she does not even know her last name or her phone number. Finally she tells them that if she sees a cross that sits on top of an old church near her residence, she can find her way home.

This story is the allegorical message of Denson's album, which points to the cross of Calvary as the way home.

~Ashleigh Kittle, All Music Guide

Al Denson - Take Me to the Cross

She's daddy's little girl, only three years old
All dressed up in her Sunday clothes
He held her hand on bended knee
He said, "I need to show you how
To find your way home"

As they walked along, how sweet the sound
Church bells ringin', people gathered 'round
Remember this church and the cross way up there,
"Sweetheart, if you ever get lost say...

Take me to the cross, high upon a steeple
The one where Jesus died for all the lost people
If you can't find home, know you're not alone
Take me to the cross

As the years went by, daddy's little girl
Lost herself out in a big, big world
And the day her daddy died
She said, "I need to know why"

Take me to the cross, high upon a steeple
The one where Jesus died for hurting people
If you can't find home, know you're not alone
Take me to the cross

Now that same little girl, thirty years gone by
She still knows her daddy's by her side
She raises her little boy in her father's way
And she smiles when she hears her son say
"Hey, mom...

Take me to the cross, high upon a steeple
The one where Jesus died for all the lost people
If you can't find home, know you're not alone

Remember the cross, high upon a steeple
The one where Jesus died for all the lost people
If you can't find home, know you're not alone
Take me to the cross, Mama,
Take me to the cross
Take me to the cross