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.