Reflections on Jesus, the P(b)alm of our Lives (Br Jovita Ho)

When I was in my early teens, whenever it comes to Palm Sunday, I would take home at least eight pieces of blessed palms. Two to be placed at the entrance of my flat, one two by the side of the Sacred Heart picture at the family altar, one above each of the three bedrooms and the last one perched just above the Last Supper picture in the kitchen. It was more of a decorative item rather than superstition although some of my non-Catholic friends commented that it looked almost like some magical talisman that was being placed about in my house.


As I grew older, and with better understanding of the significance and the purpose of the blessed palms, nowadays I take home three palms. One to be placed at the entrance of my flat, another placed at the family altar and the last one, when I was still a student, it would be placed near a holy picture at my study table at home, and subsequently when I was working, it will be placed at a conspicuous place at my workstation next to either a holy picture or a crucifix. Even as a seminarian now, I have in my room a blessed palm placed next to a miniature fiberglass model of the Pieta which belonged to my late paternal grandmother.


The palm is but only a palm in itself, but beyond itself, it points out to another higher reality. It is not just a sign of us welcoming our sovereign King Jesus into our houses, our homes, our rooms, our workplaces. Whenever we see the palm, it is a sign an acknowledgement of Christ’s lordship in our lives. Jesus does not just want to be Lord in the ordered and churched parts of our lives, but Jesus wants to enter and make wholesome the disordered and unchurched part of our lives and claim lordship over it. Regardless of the number of palms we bring into our homes and lives, put that one palm in that personal space in our lives, and whenever we see it, let it serve as a reminder of Christ’s love for us and His lordship in our lives.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Peter Anthoney on 1st Apr 2010.

Reflection on God is Love (Br Gregory Chan)

Urban Pantry is a Restaurant in Singapore which has a very unique way of advertising their food. They do not describe their cooking by reference to smell, taste or presentation, sight. Instead, they have a tag-line. It consists of only three words: "Love. Made fresh." Their poster shows a young couple totally engrossed with each other, enjoying a meal. I was fascinated when I first saw it. Now, if I've made all of you hungry, that is not my point!

The Psalms speak of high praise of God, of thanksgiving in His temple, etc. but all these would be absolutely meaningless if we do not speak of God with love, for God IS love. So much did He love us that He sent His only Son to us. And His Son is the one who emptied himself,

"taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men."

and that is why St. Paul writes,

"That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth."

Phil 2: 6 - 10

So, let us ask ourselves a fundamental question: Does our love for God have a freshness to it? Does it have an aroma, a sweetness all of its own? Does it spring forth ever new, ever fresh, &, if we wish, ever tasty? Does God excite us? Are we passionate about Him?

So let us be filled with love this evening, and as we think of the many ways we love Him, let us together, hunger for the Lord, for He is Love. With these thoughts in mind, let us turn to our prayers.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Jovita Ho on 30th Mar 2010.

A short reflection on John 8:21-30 (Br Edward Seah)

Finding ourselves lost or confused in our communications which affects our relationship with one another seems a common experience for many people. Often times it has got to do with misunderstanding which may be due to our attachment to certain views.

In the gospel of John chapter 8 verses 21 to 30, the people misunderstood Jesus’ words about “I am going away… where I am going you cannot come”. The passage seems to show a break down in communication which resulted in Jesus getting impatient with his listeners when he said “Why do I speak to you at all?”. Like the prophets in the Old Testament, Jesus had to point out to the people about their refusal to listen, often times due to their stubbornness. They prefer to live in darkness by attaching themselves to their own perception of what the messiah should be. The basic sin in the Gospel of John is the refusal to believe. The Pharisees especially seemed so trapped in their refusal to believe in Jesus to the point of slavery to their own stubbornness. Jesus asserted that they will be released from their sins only if they listen and believe what he has revealed: that He who is with the Father is sent by the Father to be the light of the world and to save them from sin.

Often times we seem to identify ourselves with many of Jesus’ listeners who did come to believe and distanced ourselves from the attitude of the Pharisees. But perhaps at times we may be like the Pharisees in other ways, such as our tendency to limit our faith to the intellectual level and the failure on our part to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Gregory Chan 28th Mar 2010.

Reflections on Ps 61 (Br Benedict Chng)

During this Chinese New Year holiday, I had the opportunity to watching the Winter Olympic on TV. I am most fascinated by the competitors on the skating ring. They were absolutely magnificent, the couples were able to coordinate well and seem flawless. However there was a pair that was not synchronizing themselves well to the rhythm.

My conclusion was when two people compete to take the lead, nothing feels right, the movement doesn’t flow with the music and everything becomes quite uncomfortable and jerky.
When a person realizes that, and allows the other to take the lead, both bodies movements begin to flow with the rhythm and the music. One partner could give a gentle cue, a nudge to the back or pressing lightly on the hand to indicate a certain direction etc.

I conclude that it takes two to become one then the dance will look gracious. The dance takes surrender, willingness, and attentiveness from one person and gentle guidance and skill from the other.

I realized that to dance with God, I must be docile, to surrender and to trust Him to take the lead and guide me through each season of my life.

Like the psalmist in Psalm 61 who proudly proclaims his dependency on God : “In God alone is my soul at rest, my help comes from him. He alone is my rock, my stronghold, my fortress : I stand firm”. With this in mind, then my life will be beautiful as I will be in tune with God’s will for me.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Edward Seah on 26th Mar 2010.

Gifts on loan to us from God (Br Alphonsus Dominic)

A parishioner recently lost her husband to cancer. It has already been several years but she still finds it difficult to accept his dismiss. She had spent the last thirty-eight years of her life with him but now she is all alone. Although, her children are there supporting her in all ways possible, she still can’t let go of her lost. She says, “The close bond that she had with her husband could never be replaced”.

Reflecting on the love relationship that this couple shared and how she misses her husband, got me to reflect on how we treat our loved ones. Our loved ones are a gift to us from God on loan. They do not belong to us. They are like a new book on loan to us. How do we handle the book in the process of reading and trying to understand its content? Similarly, in the process of life and in interacting with our loved ones, we can choose to relate with them in tender loving care or hurt them by our words and deeds. Most often, we only reflect and realise on the way we have treated our loved ones only when they pass on and return back to God. The question is in what condition do we return them back? Do we return them like a book that is all torn and with dog-eared pages or a nice well kept book back to its owner?

Obviously, no words can totally console one who is grieving, however, one of the consolations that can help in the healing process is to reflect on the relationship one had with the gift of their loved ones. Did I treat God’s gift well at least to the best of my abilities in process of discovering their mystery while they were on loan to me? Have I shown the basic Christian values of appreciation, care, concern, understanding and most of all my love for them? Upon reflecting on these, can there be a possibility of viewing the result of our responsibility in taking care of the gifts endowed upon us as a loan for a purpose.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Benedict Chng on 24th Mar 2010.

No postings from 10-21 Mar 2010.

Thank you for your continued support for our blog.

There will be a short break from our postings. We will be on our mid-term break from 10-14 Mar. Following that, we will be on our annual retreat from 14-21 Mar.


Please pray for us that we will grow and walk closer with Christ in these 8 days of retreat with him, that we will grow in humility and sanctity.

Stay tuned for our next posting on 22nd Mar 2010.

Once again, thank you and God Bless !

The Blogmaster

Reflection on Lk 15:11-32 (Br Samuel Lim)

4th Sunday of Lent
Luke 15:11-32

This Sunday’s Gospel is on the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It is such a common and often-used parable that I found it difficult to reflect on, ironically. I spent about an hour in my room reading and praying the text, trying to reflect on what message I should share in this blog. Nothing came. So I decided to go to the Prayer Room instead, hoping to receive inspiration by going closer to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament ;p Well, after praying and meditating for more than half an hour… still nothing. So I decided to keep it for another day, with a little sense of disappointment, I must admit. I felt that I have wasted my time.

Just as I was about to leave the Prayer Room, it suddenly dawned on me that I was exactly like the elder son. I ‘worked’ so hard and put in so much time but I didn’t seem to get my reward. But what I failed to realize was that, for the past one and half hours or so as I was praying and reading the Scripture, I was always in the presence of God. On top of that, I was even present before the Lord in the tabernacle! But instead of enjoying and appreciating God’s presence, which is the essence of our relationship, I was trying to get something out of Him. I was result-oriented and not Person-centred. And that was the attitude of the elder son. Instead of telling his father, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you,” he could have said, “Wow, dad! All these years we have always been together!”

We often forget the essence of relationships, be it with God or with others. We tend to calculate our time and effort spent with them, and we see it as a sacrifice on our part when we don’t get something out of it. We feel that we have wasted our time if there is nothing to gain in return. But the essence of an authentic relationship is love, presence and being – and all these are un-measurable, and most certainly immeasurable.

As we prepare for Mass this weekend, we can be honest with ourselves…
- How is my relationship with God?
- Do I love God because of what He can do for me or do I live Him for who He is? Do I see Him as a person or a function?
- What is my attitude and disposition in prayer? To ask for something? To feel good? Or to enjoy each other’s loving presence?
- How willing am I to waste time with God?

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Alphonsus Dominic on 22nd Mar 2010.