Reflections on Psalm 45 (Br Benedict Chng)

“God is for us a refuge and strength, a helper close at hand, in time of distress…” reminds me of a story. It goes like this:

A man was walking along and fell into such a deep hole that he could not get out. So he began to shout very loud for help.

A learned professor came along and found him. He looked down into the hole and began to scold him: "How could you be so careless as to fall down there? You should be more careful. If you ever get out again, watch your step." And with that he walked away.

Then a holy man came along. He looked down into the hole and told the man, "I'll reach down as far as I can and you reach up as far as you can. If I can grab your hand, I'll pull you out." But it did not work: the hole was too deep. So the holy man said he was sorry, and left the trapped man to his fate.

Then Christ came along. He saw the man's problem, and without asking him any questions, he jumped down into the hole. Then he let the man climb up onto his shoulders, and even onto his outstretched arms. And the man got out.

This is how much our God loves us. He loves us so much that he would be personally involved to get us out when we are in distress. This is echo in our second antiphon reads “The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our stronghold”. Likewise as Christian, have we given our life for another?

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Edward Seah on 19th Feb 2011.

Reflection on Psalms 114 and 115 (Br Alphonsus Dominic)

Divine Intervention

Psalms 114 and 115 boldly express the love of God for His people for He hears the cries of His people and graciously intervenes to restore divine order. Although, nothing humanity offers can repay God for His many benefits, our response to such unconditional love is first to receive it and then pledge ourselves into the service of the Lord.

During occasions of emotional or physical distress, we are to be quick to call upon the Lord and He will hear our cries and deliver us even if the circumstances seem impossible. All the saints had practiced this in their life time and have become witnesses of how God worked, marvelously intervening for both great and small situations in their lives.

I would like to share with you an account of how a friend of mine experienced this wonderful God of ours in the lowest moments of her life intervening at the sound of her cries. After being married for a number of years and not being able to conceive, Cynthia was informed by her gynaecologist that she had a number of cysts growing in her womb during one of her usual visits. This could hinder her from ever having a child. Devastated upon hearing the news, she shared it with her husband only to discover a week later that he had been having an affair with a friend of theirs for a year. Her world fell apart and she went into depression. She could not handle the fact that her husband whom she loved so dearly could cheat on her and on the top of that she has to undergo an operation to remove the cysts in her womb. She even contemplated of committing suicide but her faith prevented her. Knowing that her only hope is to turn to the Lord in prayer, she cried out to Him seeking His aid for both her situations. She didn’t want to go for the operation. As for her husband although being immensely hurt by him, she could not let go of him for she loved him too dearly.

Just a day before the operation, to her surprise, the scan showed no traces of cysts in her womb. The cysts had suddenly vanished. Even the doctors were amazed at the results of the scan. She no longer had to go for the operation. She continued to give thanks to God and to pray for her husband to stop having his extra-marital affair and return to her so as to keep their marriage alive. A year later, her husband realised his mistake, ceased his extra-marital affair and returned back to her.

As for us today, let us be reminded to seek the Lord no matter how difficult a situation we are in. Apart from that, let us also honour our merciful and faithful God for all the times He had delivered us in our time of need by adoring, praising, thanking and serving Him.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Benedict Chng on 17th Feb 2011.

Reflection on Today's Scripture Reading - 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Br Samuel Lim)

Please Stand Behind the Yellow Line

This is a photo of a typical MRT platform. Where is the best place to stand? Area A, Area B, or Area C? According to the rules and regulations of the station, we should stand behind the yellow line while waiting for the train. This means that we’re not allowed to stand in Area A, which is beyond the yellow line. And this also means that technically we’re allowed to stand in Areas B and C.

Now these rules – in this example, the rule concerning the yellow line – are made for the safety of the passengers. And if the purpose behind the rule is the safety of the passengers, then it is obvious that although we’re allowed to stand in Areas B and C, it is safer to remain in Area C. Standing in Area B is technically permissible or ‘legal’. But what is permissible may not always be beneficial. Although standing just behind the yellow line is OK according to the rules, what if we feel drowsy and accidentally fall asleep and drop onto the track? This is of course an exaggerated example but the point is this: Why should we be so sticky with the rules and “stand on the edge” when we have high risks of getting ourselves into unforeseen dangers? Although we don’t “cross the line”, keeping ourselves much further from the line is more beneficial – and in this case, it’s more life-giving, literally.

Live Life, Don’t Compromise

For the example of the yellow line above, we don’t need to be great theologians to know that the safest place to stand is Area C. But many times we fail to see this when it comes to our faith and moral living. God, the Author of life, has kindly given us many guidelines so that we can live our life in the best manner possible. These guidelines, or laws or commandments, have been given to us through the Old Testament prophets, through the teachings of Jesus himself, through the Church inspired by the Holy Spirit. But more often than not, we either don’t follow these guidelines [standing in Area A] or we observe merely the minimum requirements, just so that we don’t “cross the line” [standing in Area B]. Somehow, we prefer not to live life to the max.

Letter vs Spirit

This is the message of Jesus in today’s Gospel [Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A – Mt 5:17-37]. He is comparing the strict observance of the letter of the law versus the understanding and living the spirit of the law. To illustrate his message, he uses a few examples, and one of them concerns adultery. The letter of the law prohibits adultery, but if we understand the spirit behind the law, even looking at a woman lustfully is committing adultery in the heart. Jesus himself says in the beginning of the Gospel that he didn’t come to abolish the law but to bring life and meaning into it – and more importantly, to bring life and meaning to those who live out the spirit of the law. And going back to our analogy of the yellow line in the MRT platform, these are the people who happily remain in Area C not just because they’re obedient to the rules, but because they understand and are convinced of the purpose of the rule. These people are the ones that are actually liberated even to dance around without the risk of falling into the tracks. What more, they can even relax on the benches that are provided by the station! As today’s Responsorial Psalm exclaims: They are happy who follow God’s law!

The WHY

Therefore, it is pretty obvious that living our life in accordance to the commandments of God will only lead us to experience life to the fullest. But this must be equally emphasized: that it is crucial for us to know the whys of these commandments, the spirit and purpose behind them. Far too often we Catholics have been keeping the commandments without understanding why. So a lot of us end up feeling imprisoned by them.

Choose Life!

The final point of my reflection is about choice. And I will let the word of God to speak for itself as I quote a few verses from today’s First Reading:

“If you wish, you can keep the commandments, to behave faithfully is within your power.
He has set fire and water before you; put out your hand to whichever you prefer.
Man has life and death before him; whichever a man likes better will be given him.”
[Ecclesiasticus 15:15-17]

These verses from the book of Ecclesiasticus are obvious and self-explanatory. At the end of the day, we’re all free to make our own decisions and choices. But as I emphasized earlier, we need to understand the meaning of the commandments in order to avoid making blind decisions. And if we really want to comprehend the spirit of God’s Law, we have to remember not to depend on our human abilities, but on the help of the Holy Spirit, as reminded by St Paul in today’s Second Reading:

“These are the very things that God has revealed to us through the Spirit, for the Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God.”
[1 Cor 2:10]

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Alphonsus Dominic on 15th Feb 2011.

Reflections in Psalm 96 (Br Joseph Zhang)

How Great Thou Art!
“The skies proclaim his justice; all peoples see his glory …” (Ps 96)

Psalm 96 describes the majesty and power of God. God’s power and majesty is shown in his control over the universe. The psalmist experienced it and he wrote it down. I was also blessed during the Jesus Youth conference to behold the glory and power of God.

On 31st December, the second last day of the conference, we had activities throughout the day and many other programmes were organized for the night lasting till the next morning. In the evening of 31st December, during the praise and worship time, before a new session started, many people were not focused, some were walking outside the tent, some were taking photos and some were talking. The volunteers tried to get them into the conference hall but couldn’t.

Suddenly, it began to rain heavily. And the people outside the tent quickly ran into the tent. A task that was not achieved through the human efforts of the volunteers was done by the rain.

The rain was so heavy that some parts of the tent began to leak. If the rain continued, many more parts of the tent would have leaked; all the programs organized for the night would be affected.

At this time, the praise and worship team asked the congregation to pray for the rain to stop. They suggested that we pray the Rosary and ask the Blessed Virgin Mary for intercession. At this suggestion, all the people began to pray. The earlier noisy scene suddenly changed into a solemn and quiet scene of prayer. When the Rosary was finished, the rain stopped.

At that moment, I could not help but thank God for his almightiness to stop the heavy rain. And all of us gave a loud applause of praise to God for his faithfulness and goodness. Thus I personally experienced how God made use of the rain to bring the distracted people back to the session and how he gave us the privilege to see his majesty and power. I can now exclaim the same with the psalmist of psalm 96, “The skies proclaim his justice; all peoples see his glory … for you indeed are the Lord, most high above all the earth, exalted far above all spirits.”

There might be difficulties in our lives which we find that we cannot overcome with our own efforts. Let us not be dismayed but turn to God. With his power and majesty, He can accomplish what is impossible for man.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Samuel Lim on 13th Feb 2011.

Reflection on Psalm 36 (Br David Arulanatham)

In you is the source of life and in your light we see light.

Psalm 35(36) : 9

In this psalm the psalmist makes a vivid description of the darkness of life as opposed to the life in the light of God. The first part of the psalm alludes to the darkness as experienced by a sinner who refuses to acknowledge neither God nor the ways of God. The rest of the psalm takes on a very positive tone of love, peace and joy that is experienced of how good life with the Lord is.

I found myself very drawn to verse 9 of the psalm which declares God as the source of life and that it is only through the light of God that we will be able to perceive the truth. As, I prayed and reflected further this verse of the psalm my thoughts were taken way back to the creation story where God upon completing his creative work looks on at all that he has created and declares them ‘good’. More than good the human person that God created were created in his image and likeness.

Coincidently the readings for Mass on Monday and Tuesday this week (5th. Week in Ordinary time) took us back to the creation story. In response to the words of the creation story in Genesis we must begin to own the fact that we are good and that we were created in the image and likeness of God. This simply means that our roots are in God, the source of our life, our very being. In addition, having the image and likeness of God means that we do have the attributes of God, the potential to move towards the divine and eventually become another Christ. Therefore, if we begin to cling on to this God in an intimate manner then we will truly see light. In all our joys and struggles we will begin to appreciate God and his abundant loving and merciful ways.

Recently, I was sent a URL for a video clip of a testimony of a lady on ‘the best gift I ever survived:


I found it very good and in some ways it reflects the verse of the psalm that I have chosen to reflect. Hope you will take a view of it and maybe share your thoughts of the clip with me.

It is only when we are connected with God and become in tune and harmony with his ways; we begin to understand who we really are and where our destination is. Jesus was completely in communion with the Father that he was able to fulfil the will of the Father for him even when he had to experience passion and death on the cross. He truly saw the light and lived in the light for he was truly the light of the world.

Let us therefore turn from the light of the world and be connected to the source of that light and live in the light, glorifying God the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit in our joy and struggles.

Your word is a lamp for my feet
A light on my path
Psalm 119:105

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Joseph Zhang on 11th Feb 2011.

Reflection on Renewal (Br Aloysius Tan)

As we celebrate Lunar New Year, I recall my experiences of the celebration during my childhood whereby this was the only time of the year when we are able to get new clothing. However, I guess besides getting new clothes, changing new curtains and putting up new decorations in the house, the celebration of New Year was not so much a celebration of total newness only but rather a celebration of RENEWAL.

With the New Year, we are given the time and opportunity to recall the past, make new resolutions and most importantly to start anew for whatever we have failed to do in the past year. Sometimes, we make a lot of new resolutions which we never successfully achieve. For instance, my New Year resolution was to lose weight but with the good food on the table during the celebrations, the resolution of the year was always postponed for the next year. Thus, with lots of past experiences, pending matters to be settled in life, our New Year celebrations definitely is not a celebration of total newness but a celebration to remind us and to invite us to renew our lives.

Surely, in this process we need our Saviour to lead us and to guide us so that we may persevere and have the wisdom to acknowledge Him as the only guide in our life’s journey of constant renewal. The writer of the canticle (1Chron 29: 10-13) beautifully expresses it: “Both riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all.” Yes, only through His strength are we able to regain wisdom and courage to renew our life.......without fear!”

Happy Lunar New Year! Wishing you NEWNESS in Christ through our RENEWAL in HIM!

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br David Arulanatham on 09th Feb 2011.

Hello again! We'll be back real soon!

Dear friends,

Welcome to the new year and we hope you're having a great start to the new year!

After two months of rest (from blogging) we shall be coming back very soon with our sharings.

In view of the upcoming Chinese New Year (CNY) celebrations, our first post for the year will be on 07th Feb 2011. So stay tuned for it!

In the meantime, we would like to gather some feedback with regards to our seminary blog. So we hope you can spend some time providing your heartfelt comments, feedback, or suggestions for improvement so that we can serve you better! Even a simple word of encouragement or affirmation will be most appreciated! (Kindly leave your comments by clicking 'comments' at the bottom of this post.)

So we hope to hear from you, as you wait to hear from us real soon!

Have a Blessed CNY celebration and enjoy the long weekend too! =D

God Bless!!

The Blogmaster ^_^