Reflections on the Canticle of Daniel:Dan 3:57-88,56 (Br Jovita Ho)

Let Every Creature Praise the Lord

O all you works of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

And you, angels of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

And you, the heavens of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
And you, clouds of the sky, O bless the Lord.
And you, all armies of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

And you, son and moon, O bless the Lord.
And you, the stars of the heavens, O bless the Lord.
And you, showers and rain, O bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

And you, all you breezes and winds, O bless the Lord.
And you, fire and heat, O bless the Lord.
And you, cold and heat, O bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

And you, showers and dew, O bless the Lord.
And you, frosts and cold, O bless the Lord.
And you, frost and snow, O bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

And you, night-time and day, O bless the Lord.
And you, darkness and light, O bless the lord.
And you, lightning and clouds, O bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

O let the earth bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

And you, mountains and hills, O bless the Lord.
And you, the creatures of the sea, O bless the Lord.
And you, every bird in the sky, O bless the Lord,
And you, wild beasts and tame, O bless the Lord.

To him be glory and praise for ever.
And you, children of men, O bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

O Israel, bless the Lord, O bless the Lord.
And you, priests of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
And you, servants of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

And you, spirits and souls of the just, O bless the Lord.
And you, holy and humble of heart, O bless the Lord.
Ananias, Azarias, Mizael, O bless the Lord.
To him be glory and praise for ever.

Let us praise the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you be highest glory and praise for ever.
May you be blessed, O Lord, in the heavens.
To you be highest glory and praise for ever.

Taken from Canticle of Daniel (Daniel 3:57 -88,56)

When I first started off praying the Divine Office in my earlier years, whenever I come to the Canticle of Daniel, almost instinctively within me I can heard that groan and exclamation: “Here comes the long and winding canticle that seems so unreal to me living near the equator.”


However, about 5 years ago in 1995, when I was on a visit to my relatives in Canada, on a cold spring morning in the Parish of St Jude located in East Vancouver, all these seems to make sense when I observed the frost on the church’s windows, the snow-capped mountains flanking on one side of the church and even on that wintry morning, a large Canadian squirrel whizzed pass me as I entered the church for Sunday Eucharist (by the way, I like squirrels very much). It was in this context as I prayed the Canticle of Daniel, I could feel my whole being, in unison with God’s creation giving praise and glory to the Father, creator of all things.


We may not have the four seasons in Singapore but we do recognize the spring, summer, autumn and winter events of our lives. Some we revel in it, while other we rather not recall. However, whenever we pray this canticle, the Lord invites us that while acknowledging the current state of our lives, to yet place our trust and hope in Him, who is the Creator and Lord of our lives, and just like the three young men who sang this canticle whilst in the furnace of fire, the Lord Himself will surely transform and transfigure our lives, and on that day we shall see Him as he really is.


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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Peter Anthoney on 01st May 2010.

Reflection on the Shroud of Turin & Good Shepherd Sunday (Br Gregory Chan)

In 1988 - I was only 22 years old then - half a life-time ago, the Shroud of Turin was pronouned by a group of experts to be a medieval fake. Carbon dating from a sample taken from a particular location of the shroud showed that the fabric only reached back to the 12th/13th century. I remembered it when it was announced. I felt deceived & duped into thinking that something was genuine when it was not so. Twenty-two years later, the pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme. New evidence was uncovered to show that the experts got it wrong in 1988. The sample was taken from a particular area from the shroud, an area which was repaired by a group of nuns using a particular technique called "interweaving" where fabric of the old & fabrc of the new was interwoven together.


Today, scripture reading for Lauds speaks to us about the mission to preach the gospel to the people & to testify that he is the one whom God has appointed Judge of the living and the dead. (Acts 10: 40 - 43) To testify is to bear witness to, to verify the genuineness of a thing. This is particularly important, for it is Good Shepherd Sunday today. As we are called to give sharings on our vocation story, we are called to authenticate Christ and His message. In order for us to authenticate Christ, we ourselves must be authentic. We must live authentic lives. It is particularly important that we do so today, for the world is waiting to point their finger at us, and say "Fake!" I say this in the light of the allegations hurled at the priesthood over the sex-scandals. These allegations, in themselves do not invalidate the priesthood. A small portion in itself does not render the entire invalid. However, we can only refute these allegations if we ourselves are genuine.

So, today, as we pray, let our prayers rise up, in authentic witness to God. For the Holy Father reminds us that it is authentic witness which awakens vocations (Catholic News, 25.04.2010) .

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Jovita Ho on 29th Apr 2010.

Reflections on World Day of Prayer for Vocations (Br Edward Seah)

As the World Day of Prayer for Vocations approaches, naturally my focus of reflection lately has been on the Christian Vocation and particularly the priestly and religious vocations.

Once a young religious asked an elder religious brother: How do you know for sure, 100%, that this is your vocation? And the elderly La Salle Brother William, with a serene smile, peacefully and confidently replied: “When I breathe my last, then I will know for sure, 100%”. While his words seemed to show a sense of uncertainty and vulnerability, his body language manifested a sense of total openness and surrender to God’s loving plan for him. There was an enormous sense of perfect peace and deep joy in him. This elderly Brother’s motto in life was: To make people happy. And this he did for many years not only to the children entrusted to his care but even right to the final lap of his life’s journey in St Joseph’s Home where he also showed me what total abandonment to God was.

For some of us, our need for a loud and clear voice from God has been a major obstacle in our decision making with regards to the call to priesthood or religious life. For some others, we dare not face the issue of the possibility of being called. My former lecturer in the Philippines, Sr. Barbara Bowe, provides some useful tips in the latest Catholic News [dated 25 April 2010] for those who sincerely wish to reflect about God’s call for them. Let me stretch its heading a little further: What will you do with your life, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, when you have only one life to live?

Finally let me share with you my little adaptation of a prayer by Thomas Merton:

“My Lord God, I am not 100% sure where I am going or do I see very clearly the road ahead of me. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you and I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road. I will not fear, for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my challenges alone.”

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Gregory Chan on 27th Apr 2010.

Reflections on Ps 99 (Br Benedict Chng)

The Joy Of The Lord Is Your Strength

“Cry out with joy to the Lord, all the earth
Serve the Lord with gladness
Come before him, singing for joy” …. Psalm 99

This morning, I share the same sentiment as the psalmist of 99 where he finds strength in the joy of the Lord.

The Lord showed me in these words of the psalmist that my level of joy is like a thermometer revealing my spiritual strength. If my joy is low -- my spiritual strength is low. That is because the Lord is my strength, and in His presence there is fullness of joy.

If our joy is low, it means we have not been spending time in God's presence, receiving His strength and help. It means we have got our focus off God and onto something else.

Being gloomy is not a sign of being spiritual. God did not intend for His people to be downcast. Let the world be sad, we have something to rejoice that is Christ is risen!

If you look at your circumstances you may not feel like rejoicing. But if you look at Jesus as He truly is -- you will not be able to keep from rejoicing in Him. Jesus is wonderful!

Let us draw strength in the joy of the Lord in this day.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Edward Seah on 25th Apr 2010.

Reflections on PS 24 (Br Alphonsus Dominic)

A Call from “Attachment” to “God-tachment”

In this era of globalisation, society is very much absorbed into consumerism. Utilising electronic gadgets such as mobile phones, PSB, surfing the web, television, radio, etc are means by which we get caught in the web of attachment and hence get distracted. I am not saying that these electronic devises are bad but if we get attached to them then it becomes a problem for we loose our focus and get hooked or addicted to these gadgets to the extent that sometimes we can even neglect our responsibilities such as our work and family life.

Two weeks ago in the parish, I met a mother who shared with me how her son is addicted to playing computer games. All he does after coming back from school is to lock his room door and play computer games all day long. He doesn’t listen to anyone. The only time he comes out of the room is have his meals and to go to school the next day. Another parent shared with me, how her daughter is hooked to serving the web and hardly spends any time communicating with the family. Hence, in both families this creates problems in the family. I believe there are many such families facing similar situations.

Upon reflecting on what both these parents shared with me, on the spiritual dimension, the first aspect that one who is trapped would loose would be ones prayer life because other things would take precedence. Slowly the person would begin to loose his or her focus on others responsibilities as well and all focus would be on their attachment. The person would lose focus on the first call that of loving and being connected to God and to depend on Him and Him alone. In the process, the person would also lose the relationship of loving others as well.

You will be probably wondering, how is the spiritual dimension connected to detaching from ones attachments? Well, a couple of years ago, I met a middle aged man who shared with me on how he overcame his problems of being addicted to smoking and the attachment of watching television. The spiritual dimension in his life is what helped him overcome his problems.

One day, he came across Psalm 24 by accident and reading it came to the stanza that read,

“Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in His Holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart
Who desires not worthless things,

He shall receive blessings from the Lord
And reward from the God who saves Him”.

These two stanzas touched and affected him deeply. He took some time and started reflecting on his relationship with God which was affected because of his desires and attachments to worthless things. Slowly, being enlightened and aware of the neglect of his spiritual life, he prayed to God seeking for help to overcome his addiction and attachment. The grace of God worked marvellously in his life without even him realising it.

The next day after he prayed, he went to work as usual and when his friend offered him a cigarette to smoke and upon lighting it, he could not stand the smell of the smoke and he threw the newly lighted cigarette away. Only, when his friend asked him, “Why he threw the cigarette?” did he realise that not only did he no longer have the urge to smoke but he despised the smell of cigarette smoke altogether. At that moment onwards, he stopped smoking. Going back home, he realised that he also no longer was interested in watching television. He shared with me that it has already been six years and he has still not touched a cigarette and he is no longer into watching television since then too. His time used in watching television has been allotted to quality time spent with his family and for ministry.

In praying psalm 24, if we are in one way or another also struggling with some form of attachment, let us praise God and depend on Him for the necessary graces to have a pure heart in seeking God so that with faith and trust in Him, we will not seek worthless things that distract us.


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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Benedict Chng on 23rd Apr 2010.

Reflections on the Anniversary of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI (Br Samuel Lim)

Viva il Papa!

In the Gospel, we hear Jesus proclaiming, “So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.” [Mt 16:18] But St Paul also mentions that, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” [1 Cor 3:11] At a quick surface glance of the two scripture verses above, it seems that St Peter and Jesus are almost synonymous, since they are both mentioned to be the foundation of the Christian community. Of course, none of us would equate St Peter to Christ, but in this blog entry we will try to reflect on the connection between Christ and St Peter and his successors in the context of the Church.

Today we celebrate the Anniversary of the Solemn Inauguration of the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. My first and only encounter with the Holy Father was during World Youth Day in July 2008. Drowned in the sea of people from all over the world, I could only catch glimpses of the Holy Father at a distance. Every now and then the crowd would be cheering, “Benedetto!”


I remember thinking to myself: Do these people actually know who they were cheering for? Do they know the pope personally? Do they know who this Joseph Ratzinger from Germany is? How many of them actually know Cardinal Ratzinger’s portfolio in the Vatican before being elected as the pope?


The answer came to me one evening as I was staring at the moon. I was thinking that I could see the moon clearly that evening because it was shining brightly. But we also know that the moon doesn’t give out light –it merely reflects the light from the sun, which was nowhere to be seen at that time.


The World Youth Day crowd wasn’t cheering so much for Joseph Ratzinger but for Pope Benedict who is the representative of Christ on earth. Like the sun, we cannot see Christ physically here on earth, but we can see the Pope, who in himself is not at all significant if the light of Christ doesn’t shine on him. What matters in the end is not who Pope Benedict is but whom he represents. That is why the Pope is also referred to as the Vicar of Christ.

The Pope, together with the Church and the People of God whom he serves, are tangible signs of Christ’s presence here on earth. So let us allow the light of Christ shine into the world through all of us, for “no one lights a lamp to put it under a tub … [but] your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.” [Mt 5:15-16]
Let us always remember our Holy Father in our prayers especially now that the Church is experiencing a very challenging time.


Long Live the Pope! God bless His Servant!

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Alphonsus Dominic on 21st Apr 2010.

Reflections on the Good Shepherd (Br Joseph Zhang)

Am I a Good Shepherd or a Hired Man?

“O Lord, how great are your works! How deep are your designs! The foolish man cannot know this and the fool cannot understand.” (Ps 91) In Easter we celebrate the greatest event that was ever heard: the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his triumph over death.

As St. Paul said, “The crucified Christ is to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the gentiles foolishness.” (1 Cor 1:23) For those who have no faith and understanding, they think Jesus was stupid for not running away when the soldiers came to arrest him in the garden of Gethsemane; they think Jesus was a fool for allowing others to torture him without hitting back; they look upon the crucified Jesus as a failure. Yet Jesus put his total trust in God the Father, believing that he will be glorified in the end.


In the past few months, our Holy Father is going through a lot of challenges, the accusations of the media about him covering up the sexual abuses by the clergy, the reaction of the Jews against the church sparked by Fr. Cantalamessa’s Good Friday homily, and the reactions sparked by Cardinal Bertone’s comment linking homosexuality and pedophilia. As chief shepherd and guardian of the church, the Holy Father carries the burden of the whole church.

For those who have no faith, they may not understand why the Pope needs to go through and suffer all these, and why does he not just resign and leave. As entrusted by Jesus to look after his sheep (Jn 21:17) and to be the rock on which he would build his church and the gates of the underworld can never overpower it (Mt 16:18), the Holy Father places his trust in the promise of Jesus, and like Jesus, the Good Shepherd, he does not run away but lays down his life for his sheep when the wolf attacks (Jn 10:11).


Our Holy Father lives out the exaltation of St. Paul, “If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we dies, it is for the Lord that we die.” (Rom 14:8) Our Pope remains in his office and lives through all these difficulties because of Jesus. He dies to himself because of Jesus.

As workers in God’s vineyard and being among the sheepfold, be it as priests, religious or laity, what are our responses when we face difficulties in living out the Gospel and serving God and others in and through our pastoral activities? Do we imitate Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd or do we run away like the hired man?

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Samuel Lim on 19th Apr 2010.

Reflections on the Easter Triduum (Br David Arulanatham)

This Is The Wood Of The Cross,
On Which Hung The Saviour Of The World

Come, Let Us Worship

Easter Triduum celebrations this year was very significant to me as I participated in these celebrations at a very different role. During the unveiling of the cross I was allowed to carry the cross and do the unveiling as well. After the first unveiling and as I elevated the cross and looked at the elderly priest who was presiding the service I was awed at he sight of this priest who knelt down and bowed with his head almost reaching the ground. That posture almost brought tears to my eyes and I was moved to elevate the crucifix to the greatest height that was possible for me and quickly took a glance at the cross section of the congregation. It was simply awesome. I was struck with tears in me eyes simply seeing the faith of the people being manifested by just their looks, attentiveness and posture. Finally, when all the unveiling was over and it was my turn to venerate the cross I realised that I had never, ever seen the cross this way previously. It was not the blood that was oozing out from the damned, gruesome and bloody, body of Christ but love, passionate love for the Father and for the people whom the Father loved so much flowing out freely, and ceaselessly.

Christ Our Light
Thanks Be To God.

Next at the Easter Vigil, I had the honour of handling the candle. As I was holding the Candle for the celebrant to do the necessary I felt that I was holding a very fragile and vulnerable baby in my hand that was allowing itself to be handled for the needful to be done. It was simply a manifestation of sheer humility and obedience. Once all the needful were done and the candle was lighted the celebrant instructed to me in a soft voice to elevate the majestic lighted paschal candle as high as possible for all to see and then the procession began. Now I felt like I was bringing Christ the Light to the world in darkness. As the church grew brighter with the congregation lighting their candle,the paschal candle itself looked dim but continued to burn itself. Christ has given his life for the world to brighten itself again before God but as the candle continued to burn, Christ say, “I am with you till the end of time, each time you loose your light, come back to me and I will lead you to light again.”

In both the unveiling of the Cross and the lighting of the Paschal Candle, I realised that while the world was gazing at Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, Jesus was and is watching us in his immense tender love, waiting patiently for us not just to gaze but to get up, pick up stretcher and walk in His light, to embrace him willingly and completely.

As the psalmist of psalm 80 echoes;

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

It is our turn now to respond to this God who has redeemed us from our bondage of sin through His Son’s passion, death and resurrection. It is for us now to let go of our iniquities, embrace the Lord with an open heart and mind to allow the Grace of God to work in us. It is then we will be able to join Isaiah proclaiming the words of the
Canticle of Isaiah, 12: 1-3:

I thank you Lord, you were angry with me
but your anger has passed and you give me comfort
Truly, God is my salvation; I trust I shall not fear.
For the Lord is my strength, my song, he is my saviour.

Let us therefore seek out our Risen Lord and declare as Thomas proclaimed, “My Lord and My God”

With joy you will draw water from the wells of the Saviour, Alleluia.

Isaiah, 12: 4

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Joseph Zhang on 17th Apr 2010.

Reflection on Easter Season and Ps 64 (Br Aloysius Tan)

Since I like to cook and I am from the heaven of food – Penang, many people used to ask my how to prepare a plate of good Penang Char Koay Teow? My answer is always this: we need koay teow with good texture, fresh taugeh - preferably from Ipoh - fresh prawn and cockles.

Besides these ingredients, it will be better if we can fry it over a charcoal fire… but, beyond all this, you need a person who knows how mix the ingredients in the right proportions to truly make as perfectly as it can be. In short, while we may have the ingredients, it’s best that we have the right cook to materialize it.

As we continue in our celebration of Easter, perhaps the process of preparing Char Koay Teow can remind us to have a better celebration. We might have a good meal, good hymns, good decoration to make the Easter look good or feel meaningful, but all these ‘ingredients’ won’t make the celebration perfect. As the Char Koay Teow won’t be perfect without the cook, Easter won’t be Easter without Jesus. Thus, as we continue the Easter Season celebration, let us put Jesus in our focus, as the psalmist of psalm 64 did, his focus exclusively on God, that enabled him to praise God unceasingly at all times.

“To you our praise is due in Sion, O God.”

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br David Arulanathm on 15th Apr 2010.

Reflections on Divine Mercy Sunday – 11th April 2010 (Br Martin Arlando)

Have we ever wondered to what extent would our God go to save us? I was taken aback even more with the humiliation he had to go through for us mere human beings. Well let me illustrate with a story just to show a bit of what he would have gone through.

St. Clement Hofbauer of Vienna was collecting funds for the orphans whose fathers had died in the Napoleonic wars. He walked into a restaurant, where three men were playing cards, and asked them for a contribution to his good work. One of them cursed him and spat in his face.
Hofbauer quietly took out his handkerchief, wiped the spit from his cheek, and said without the slightest sign of anger, “Now, that was for me, sir. How about something for my orphan?”
This is just part of a similar humiliation Jesus had to go through to redeem us. In fact he has never stopped either to continue reaching out to us and introducing various means and channels to impart his graces and mercy. One of it is through His “Divine Mercy” devotion. It’s really great to know that God loves us more than we could ever imagine. But unfortunately our response is very slow in embracing His mercy for us. Let’s take a look again of His revelation to St. Faustina, in inviting us to draw closer to Him and respond accordingly.

It’s The Third Hour - The Hour of Great Mercy

At three o'clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and, if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy ... In this hour I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My Passion. (Diary 1320).

As often as you hear the clock strike the third hour immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it, invoke it's omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners, for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul. In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world - mercy triumphed over justice.

Try your best to make the Stations of the Cross in this hour, provided that your duties permit it; and if you are not able to make the Stations of the Cross, then at least step into the chapel for a moment and adore, in the Most Blessed Sacrament. My Heart, which is full of mercy: and should you be unable to step into chapel. immerse yourself in prayer there where you happen to be, if only for a very brief instant. (Diary 1572)
Diary, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul (c) 1987

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Aloysius Tan on 13th Apr 2010.

Reflections on Ps 149 & The Octave of Easter (Br Cornelius Ching)

The Lord is risen! I do hope we have had a fruitful period of preparation during Lent and have risen to new life with Jesus Christ.

This week, the church celebrates the octave of Easter. This is a period of celebration of 8 days, from Easter Sunday all the way to the 2nd Sunday of Easter (this means there is no need for abstinence today). Is there really a reason to celebrate? Definitely!


This is the time when all is fulfilled with Jesus, our saviour. For the last few years, I cannot help but feel an intense sense of joy during the Easter Vigil, especially after an intense Easter Triduum. I can feel with the psalmist when he echoes,

“For the Lord takes delight in his people.
He crowns the poor with salvation.
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,
shout for joy and take their rest.”

Do we feel this joy of the Lord’s resurrection and let it sink into us especially during this period of celebration during the octave of Easter or has this joy been crowded out by the mundane things of the world. If we are sucked back to the hustle and bustle of life, then let us try to take a moment or two each day to bask in the joy of the Lord and let this Easter season seep a little deeper into our being.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Martin Arlando on 11th Apr 2010.

Reflections on Eph 4:32-5:2 (Br Terence Kesavan)

There was an Abbot of a monastery who was celebrating his 25th anniversary. So all the monks threw him a celebration. As usual there was the many testimonies of what a wonderful person the Abbot was, and all the great things that he had done.

When the time came for the Abbot to cut his anniversary cake, he made a wish before blowing out the candles. The monks asked him what he had wished for. He replied "I wish that I would be forgotten". This surprised everyone, and there were many who voiced out that they would never forget the Abbot because of the holy life that he lived and the many people he touched.

The Abbot said to them, "In all humilty I acknowledge that I have done all these things that you have mentioned. And you remember me because these things are "great" or "holy". But all I have done was to try and live my life like Christ. And that is my wish for all of you too. If everyone were to live their lives like Christ, all of you would do the "great and holy" things that I have done, and then what I had done would be nothing out of the ordinary, and thus I would be forgotten.

In the scripture passage from Eph 4:32-5:2 St Paul exhorts us to "Be kind and tender to one another, each of you generous to all as God in Christ has been generous to you. As God's favoured children, you must be like him. Order your lives in charity, upon the model of that charity which Christ showed to us when he gave himself up on our behalf, a sacrifice breathing out fragrance as he offered it to God."

We too should model our lives around Christ's example and teaching. Sometimes we are afraid to be "holy", because it makes us stand out from the rest. Imagine if everyone loved and lived like Christ did, then being "holy" would be nothing out of the ordinary, we would be living our lives exactly as God intended us to live.

Let us pray then, that the "holy" and "great" people may be forgotten when being good and loving becomes the norm.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Cornelius Ching on 9th Apr 2010.

Reflection on John 11:45 (Br Jude David)

As we celebrate these great days of Easter, it is not possible to grasp the significance of these days if we have not fully grasped the great mysteries of Holy Week that we have just celebrated. I would like to share with you a theme that touched me at Holy Week this year and that continues to colour my reflection for Easter.
In John 11:45-56, we have the account of the meeting of the chief priests and Pharisees who plot the death of Jesus. The High Priest Caiaphas prophetically announces that it is “better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed” and this is certainly fulfilled in Jesus beyond our comprehension. The following verse (John 11:52) – “to gather together in unity the scattered children of God”, summarises for me the whole mission of Jesus and is for me, the underlying theme for both Holy Week and Easter. Jesus entire life, mission, death and resurrection may be summarised in these words. He has come amongst us so that He may gather together into unity the scattered children of God and we will experience the fulfilment of this at Pentecost when the Spirit of Unity will be poured out upon all mankind and the Church will be born. This gathering together into unity the scattered children of God is precisely the mission of the Church even today after 2000 years since our Lord’s death and resurrection. It is this unity that we must continuously and zealously aspire for. What are the means of gathering together the “scattered children of God”? Jesus tells us, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matt 12:30) and thus, Jesus is the only true source of unity; He is our singular means of “gathering together the scattered children of God” and this is our conviction as Church. Let us draw close to Jesus so that we may be gathered in together with Him in His Church so that we may be sent out to share in His mission of “gathering together the scattered children of God”!



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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Terence Kesavan on 7th Apr 2010.

Reflections on the Crucifix (Br Anthony Liew)

Throughout the Lenten season, many of us, Catholics, have been practicing different types of Lenten observances – the traditional ones are fasting, praying and almsgiving. We also often participate in the Way of the Cross in order to “journey” with Jesus Christ to Calvary. Yet, how much have these exercises helped us to get closer to Christ? How much deeper has our faith grown in Christ? Hopefully all these exercises would help us have a personal encounter with Christ which would eventually deepen our relationship with Him.

I personally like to look at the crucifix, especially when I am in the midst of some difficulties or are feeling down. Indeed, the crucifix leads me to ponder on the Way of the Cross that is so related to my life. I always ask myself – “How could Jesus who lived two thousand years ago and thousands of miles away from me still relate to me today?” When I look at the crucifix, it inspires in me the faith to believe that Jesus is truly one with us in our suffering. Through the Incarnation, Jesus came down from heaven and became man – just like you and me but without sin and embraced all our pains and sufferings.

By going through the Way of the Cross, I can truly feel His solidarity with us at every single station. In this way, I am able to relate my own struggles with His. It is very comforting to know that Jesus knows my struggles and is willing to bear with me (cf. Mt 11:28-30). As I ponder the death of Jesus on the cross, his pain and suffering inspire me in the following ways:-

• When His soul was sorrowful to the point of death, He brought His disciples and prayed to our Heavenly Father in the garden of Gethsemane (Mt 26:36-46) – Jesus sets an example for us. In the midst of our struggles, we should continue to pray to God for His strength and grace.
  
  
• He fell three times and each time was more serious than the previous one. Yet, He never gave up and continued His journey until the end for our salvation – Like Jesus, we should never easily give up when facing challenges in our lives, but dealing with them courageously.
  
  
• Despite His chosen disciples betrayed Him, Peter denied Him three times, false accusation from His enemies, people mistreated Him etc, He asked the heavenly Father to forgive them even at the point of His death on the cross – Many of these tragedies (betrayal, denial, false accusation etc) are still happening today in our lives. It is difficult to be like Jesus at times – to forgive those who hurt us. However, to forgive is to be liberated. Instead of being bound by hatred which will eat us up unconsciously, Jesus teaches us to forgive and be liberated.
  
  
• Above all, He was resurrected from the dead. Death has no power over Him any longer (Rom 6:9) - The resurrection of Christ brings us HOPE. If there is no passion of Christ, there would not be resurrection! It is this HOPE that continuously keeps us persevering when we are in the midst of our struggles.

The crucifix, indeed, is a symbol of the victory of Christ for our salvation. Jesus, being truly God and truly Man, knows our human struggles, He would surely continue to be with us till the end of time (Mt28:20). When our struggles seem so heavy to bear, He will give us sufficient grace as He has promised (2 Cor12:9). The question is – Do we have faith to surrender our whole being to Him especially when we are struggling?

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Jude David on 5th Apr 2010.

Reflections on Holy Thursday (Br Peter Anthoney)

Every year when we celebrate ‘Holy Thursday” my vision is drawn towards the washing of the feet. I feel challenged, I know for me to go down on my knees and wash and kiss the feet of another is not at all difficult but to let go of myself, my ego, my pride and allow God into my life leading me embrace humility to love freely, unconditionally is not at all easy. I suppose that difficulty is the truth of what Jesus is inviting us to be by washing the feet of his disciples. Jesus desires us to live in peace, love and harmony.

However, the church today is filled with a worldly spirit of competition and criticism as believers we with one another to see who is the greatest. We are growing in knowledge, but not in grace (2 Peter 3:18).
'Humility is the only soil, in which the graces root,'

Jesus, going down on his knees to wash the feet of his disciples being fully aware of his authority, his divinity, origin, and destiny demonstrates his humility. This act demonstrated free, unconditional love and provided a model of Christian conduct His humility did not stop there but led him to the cross, where he voices out “forgive them Father for they know not what they are doing.”

The demeaning menial task of washing the feet belonged to the slave but that was not Jesus’ message. It was indeed a message of love, relationship, leadership, redemptive suffering and vicarious living. A message and action enticing the world to become a place when one will live for the other and one will sacrifice ones own desires for the other. This then is the true love which has been put in our heart as promised in Ezekiel 36:26, “I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you”, but yet to be lived out by us.

Today, as we re-enact the “Last Supper” episode to celebrate that sacrifice of Jesus’ humility and him allowing his body to be broken and his blood to be shed for each one of us it would be a good idea for us to take stock of failures to model the example set by Jesus for each one of us.


Today as we accompany Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane let us pray our heart out for the grace of God to empower us with courage for us to get in touch with ourselves to get rid of all that vices in us that is preventing us from being that disciple of Jesus and to fill us again with the virtues of humility and Love.

Jesus as you sweated blood in the garden of Gethsemane
we pray that you will empower us by your grace
for us to purge away our sins
and fill us again with your abounding love and humility
so that we will be able to glorify you
in loving our brothers and sisters truly, freely and unconditionally.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Anthony Liew on 3rd Apr 2010.