Reflection on 'God Ahead - Slow Down' (Br Nicholas Lye)

If I could describe an experience that brought me close to an experience of Christ's resurrection, it would be this:

While I was suffering from a fever AND diarrhoea double-hit combo some weeks ago, I had been eating porridge for 4 days. Not that the porridge was bad - in fact, it was so good, I didn't even know I had been eating it for FOUR days already. But still, when I had my last bowl of porridge delivered to me on the day when I was almost on the brink of recovery, I saw this piece of 'siew mai' in the bowl. At that instant, it was as if heaven's gates flung open! As I'm the kind who likes to save the best for last, I waited patiently till I finished my last scoop of porridge. Then I slowly raised up the piece of 'siew mai' with my spoon, gazed at its soft, yellow flesh for a moment, before finally sinking my teeth into its sweet, juicy flesh.

And for those brief seconds that seemed like eternity, I said to myself, "Now THIS is Heaven!"

One thing I've learnt from my sickness - while cooped up in my seminary room for 4 terrible days save for the love, care and concern from my seminary brothers - is that, in the midst of our busy, jam-packed schedules that we so often get so caught up in, the "interruptions" of sickness or suffering, can actually be part of God's agenda to slow us down in order to sharpen our senses, not just to the heavenly taste of 'siew mai', but more importantly, to the taste of God. When my tired, sickly body caused me to slow down my movements around the room or in performing simple tasks like bathing or brushing my teeth; when having to eat alone made me slow down each spoonful I placed in my mouth such that it heightened my taste buds and I was more conscious of the variety of taste that my hardly noticed taste buds now seem to be able to savour; when my lack of activity during my solitary confinement left me more time to stare at the view of nature outside my room, allowing me to more deeply admire and appreciate its beauty and even smell the fresh air that came with it; all these experiences increased my sense of God's presence and action in my daily life, increased my sense of awe and wonder at His creation and works - something that have not been too apparent to me in the hustle and bustle of my daily routines.

As we come to the end of our liturgical year, as well as our calendar year, let us not wait for the "interruptions" of sickness or suffering in our life, but start right now to slow down and take stock of how we have lived our Christian lives, how we have been conscious of God's presence and action in our lives, how we have been living in His Resurrection!

Only when we learn to slow down our lives, can we learn to heighten our sense of God who has been right before us all our lives, watching over us, working in us, and all around us, non-stop, all throughout the year. It is only up to us whether or not we are conscious enough to savour every taste of that Godly experience, even a deeper experience of His resurrection each day, which He is all ready to give us, once we are ready to sloooow... doooown...

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Reflections and Thoughts (Br Gabriel Wong)

After reading Bro Cornelius’s latest blog entry, I am pretty much inclined to ask myself, “How in the world did I get here?” Hmm, I guess I can gloat about myself. I can list down all the virtues, which I think I have. Maybe, I can even throw in a few good saintly characteristics. No one will know whether I am lying or not. After all, this is my blog entry. I can write what I want. Someday, someone may use this blog entry as reason for canonization?

Nah. Who am I kidding? The amazing fact is that I am pretty much flawed, and yet felt so much loved by God. That is why I am here in the first place. The man in the story, which is shared by Bro Cornelius, tried so hard to validate his entry into heaven by listing out his own merits. However, it is only revealed through the punch line of that story that it is only due to God’s grace. Good sharing there, Bro Cornelius!

This is my last entry for this year. This will be the last time I will ever walk in the passage way of the seminary as an Initiation Year brother. Philosophy Years beckon. As most…No, ALL of my older brothers have said, this will be the last time in which I will enjoy so much free time in the seminary. I guess being at the bottom of the “food chain” can be rather enjoyable this year. I have no major tasks to do within the community. It is really great having older brothers around. They have an amazing knack of making themselves useful.

They affirmed you.

They praised you.

They corrected you.

They cautioned you.

They are there for you.

As the only child and the son of a widow, I always yearn to be in a big family. God is amazing. He gives me brothers and daddies.

A daddy, who is crazy about the Spirit, shares with you so readily on his passion for God.

Another daddy, who is crazy about the teaching of Jesus, prays with you at night and makes himself so readily available for you.

The other daddy, who is crazy about the Word of God, teaches you a sport and never fails to bring goodies to the dining table.

A daddy, who is crazy about knowledge, shares so readily on his own experience to encourage you.

The newest daddy, who is crazy about the creation of God and salvation history, spends long hours to listen to the crabby you.

I have some brothers as well, who are crazy about Christ and His Church. Where can you find brothers like this?

Brother, who is so moved by the Spirit and passionate about youth work, endures your nonsense with a smile.

Brother, who has a knack of making you laugh, willingly coaches you at sport and in life.

Brother, who is very logical and generous, takes walks with you to help you to understand about seminary life.

Brother, who is so passionate about reaching out to the flock, selflessly spent long hours to converse with you and listen to you.

Brother, who is very open, is not afraid to share his own past with you to help you to overcome your past hurts.

Brother, who is so talented in design, forgives you easily in matters in which you make mistakes.

Brother, who is gifted in music, readily expresses his care for you as easily as he sings in parts.

Brother, who is so passionate about vocation, is unafraid to correct you when you are wrong.

Brother, who makes jokes to make you feel comfortable, makes an effort to drive you around even when he is tired.

Brother, who is incapable of deceit, takes time off his own personal time to show you around schools to let you understand the importance of a catholic education.

Brother, who is humble, readily uses his own free time to serve the community and freely share his knowledge with you.

Brother, who has a knack for cleaning up huge mess, affirms you readily.

Brother, who is kind in leadership, drives you to clinics if illness strikes.

Brother, who is so caring, transcends his own needs to rest by waking up early to prepare food for you and make herbal tea for the sickly you.

Brother, who is genuine, gives advice to you every step of the way.

Brother, who is gifted in storytelling, shares with you stories to remind you about the love of Christ and makes effort to be there for you in his own quiet fashion.

Lord, I love it here. Thank you so much for the abundant blessings you have given me. Thank you for this beautiful vocation.

I love You.

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Stay tuned for the last post of the year by Br Nicholas Lye on 27th Nov 2010.

Reflections on Ps 14 (Br Cornelius Ching)

No one goes through the Pearly gates
Without St. Peter’s holy nod.
Nobody is allowed access
To the Heavenly Throne of God.

So he was stopped at Heaven’s gate
And told that to atone for sin,
He must name good things he had done
To earn enough points to get in.

He said that he had been married
To his wife for fifty years,
And had been a faithful husband
Through times of strife and sometimes tears.

“That’s worth three points,” St. Peter said,
And entered it into his book.
The man complained, “Only three points?”
And gave St. Peter quite a look.

“Well, I have always paid my tithes,
And always given to the poor.
And when a stranger needed help,
I always had an open door.”

“Well, that’s good for another point.”
St. Peter wrote it as he said,
“And I will add another point
For all the hungry souls you fed.”

The man asked, “How am I doing?”
How many points to enter in?”
St. Peter said, “One hundred points
Are needed to atone for sin.”

The startled man said, under breath,
“Well that would take the Grace of God!”
“Bingo!” St. Peter told the man,
And then gave him the holy nod.

Who is worthy to come face to face with the Lord? Who is worthy to go into heaven into his heavenly presence? Who can qualify? No matter how much we do, we can never earn our way into heaven (but it does not mean we should stop being a good christian).

As we come to the close of the liturgical year and prepare for the coming of the Lord in the season of Advent, let us be reminded that this is the ultimate testament of the love of God in sending his only begotten son to be our Saviour. It is only through his grace that we can be admitted to his tent. It is with the tickets purchased with the precious blood of Christ that we can gain admission through the gates of heaven, can enter our eternal home.

"His grace is sufficient for me!"

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Gabriel Wong on 25th Nov 2010.

Reflections on the Solemnity of Christ the King (Br Terence Kesavan)

As we come to the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, it is always the celebration of the Solemnity of Christ the King. And I would like to share with you an interesting clip I saw that highlights the Kingship of Christ. It is from the movie 300, which is about Leonidas, king of Sparta, who led 300 men to defend his land from an invasion by the Persian army led by their "god-king" Xerxes. In this clip, we see a negotiation between Leonidas and Xerxes.

The video clip can't be embedded, because it is copyrighted. So click on this link to view it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXaTcZWBfC0

There are a few points in the dialogue between the two which struck me, highlighting the contrasting ideas of what kingship was. And I found that I could relate Leonidas' kingship with Christ's kingship of love, self-sacrifice and freedom. In contrast Xerxes kingship can be equated to the devil's kingship of false promises, fear, oppression and pain.

Xerxes / Devil	Leonidas / Christ
- would gladly kill any of his own men for victory	- would die for any one of his men
- has slaves	- has warriors who were free men

What Xerxes does, is like what the devil did to tempt Jesus after his forty days in the desert: a promise of power and fame, if Jesus would only bow before him. And just as Leonidas stood up to Xerxes, Jesus stood up to the devil, because he knew who was the true source of power and good.

This is what we need to reflect on today - Is Jesus really our king? We know that he was willing to die for any one of his men, to free them from the hands of the evil one. Have we then experienced his kingship in our lives? Are we marching in his army, under his banner, following his lead? Are we as Leonidas says, free men who stood against a tryant, the evil one?

Let us then today truly acknowledge Christ as our king, bending our knee before him, pledging our allegiance, following his commands, and be his army in establishing God's kingdom here on earth.

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Cornelius Ching on 23th Nov 2010.

Reflection on Revelation 7:9-17 (Br Jude David)

One of the features that is unique about the parish that I come from is that although it is a pretty newly renovated church building; the parish priest who renovated the parish had envisioned a fusion of the old and the new. Whilst the church has been refurbished and air-conditioned, there are also life-size statues of Saints at every pillar of the parish just like the church of old. There were mixed reactions to this decision for there were those who were uneasy with the changes that were being made to the building that they had grown up with; and then there were those who did not like the idea of having too many statues around in the church because they felt it was a swing back to the devotionalism of the pre-Vatican II period and then, there were those who were grumbling because they felt that there was some chauvinism because the statues of the saints had been arranged according to gender, with male saints on one side and female saints on the other. Amidst all these criticisms, I was deeply inspired at a mass which was celebrated by a visiting foreign priest who was passing through Singapore. As he entered the sanctuary of the newly-renovated church, one could see from his facial expression that he was deeply moved by the sight of the church and he exclaimed to the congregation, “I feel like I am in heaven!” He continued, “Look around you at these Saints, and how in every difficult period of history, God has raised up Saints for His Church. You are the Saints of these difficult times!”

This profound reflection of that visiting priest has remained with me all these years and even now, when I go back to my home parish during my holidays, I am deeply moved by the thought that I am having a glimpse of heaven. Indeed, the image portrayed by the author of the Book of Revelations in Rev 7:9-17 comes alive for me as I attend mass at my home parish with the statues of all these glorious men and women who have left their mark on the Church and as I stand amongst God’s People whom He is raising up as the Saints of today. Are we not the ones who are standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in the white robes of our baptismal garment and holding the palms of Christ’s victory over sin in our hands? Is not our common cry, “Salvation to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”?

It was easy for many to criticise the new statues that surrounded the newly renovated church but it took the eyes of faith to see beyond the criticism and to discover the message that God was communicating to us. Indeed, in every difficult age in the Church’s history, God has raised up some of the brightest “stars of Faith” in the men and women who have borne witness to Christ. Indeed, even today, as we stand amongst our fellow Christians, we may find it easier to highlight all their weaknesses and criticise them for their many shortcomings, but only when we look beyond their inadequacies and seek to discover the presence of God amongst them, can we also start to see the faces of the many bright shining “stars of Faith” that God is raising up even today amidst the difficult times the Church is facing. We can be certain that God is raising up Saints today. Could the person sitting next to you at your next Sunday mass be one of them? Even more, could the person you see in the mirror every morning, be the one God is raising up to be a great hero of Faith for the Church of today? May we constantly wash our robes clean in the blood of the Lamb so that we may stand victorious in the great liturgy of heaven. Let us constantly pray for the grace to respond to this high calling!

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Terence Kesavan on 21th Nov 2010.

Reflection: Do you love your Church? (Br Anthony Liew)

All of us know how important it is to have a church building for worshipping and thanksgiving – a sacred place where we meet our Lord. Unfortunately, many of us take our church building for granted. I suppose it is because not many of us have experienced having our Eucharistic celebration done outside the church building or have never had a chance to participate in the process of planning a new church building. Indeed, there are many procedures we have to follow and it can be complicated at times. The situation becomes worse if it is mixed up with the political elements in the country.

Last year, I was attached to a parish for my regency year. I was blessed to be able to get involved with the parish building committee in the process of planning their very own church building. The parishioners of this parish have not had their own church building for many years. They have had their Eucharistic celebrations in a rented hall during the weekends. In fact, they have been hoping to have their own church building for a long long time – a place where they can pray together and above all, a place to call a home to which they belong where they can feel free to mingle around after Mass as one family of Christ!

After having gone through these challenges in planning the church building, I started to appreciate the significance of having our very own church building for our people of God. Indeed, I am waiting for the completion of this church building. I am sure not just me alone, but all the parishioners of that parish have been praying to God for their very own church building. Despite the many challenges they have had to face, they have never given up this hope of owning a house of God – a house that truly belongs to them. I am sure when the church is completed later, we can be like the Psalmist of Psalm 121 who rejoices together with one another when we enter the house of the Lord. In fact, what touches me the most is the statement given by their pastor to his flock. He said, “it is urgent to build the church - a home that belongs to all of us to worship God. Yet, it is even more urgent to build the church – the people of God in which God dwells in us in order for us to make His presence to the world.”

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Jude David on 19th Nov 2010.

Reflection on Psalm 90 (Br Peter Anthoney)

The psalmist of psalm 89(90) is reminding us of our limitations and shortness of our life, our human existence.

To your eyes a thousand years,
are like yesterday, come and gone,
no more than a watch in the night.

We are reminded that by the divine command, man returns to the dust from which he was taken, as already affirmed in the creation account of Genesis: “You are dust, and to dust you shall return”. In the reminder is also an admonition for us to become aware of where the worldliness of our life is leading us. God our Creator, who shapes the human creature in all his eauty and complexity, is also the One who “turns men back into dust”. And “dust” is also a symbolic expression of our death.

The psalmist, pleads with God, pouring out his weaknesses as human, bound by sin, wiped away by the evil force which has resulted in him falling short for the grace of God. The psalmist continues, pleading God for the knowledge of understanding human life…he says…

Make us know the shortness of our life,
That, we may gain wisdom of heart
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
Show pity to your servants

Therefore, by gaining the wisdom of God we may see the light of hope to direct our life towards this life of hope. It is at this point we become aware that the predestination of each one of us is to a life of holiness, a life predestined to see its fulfilment in the beatific vision of God in all his Glory.

To gain this wisdom of God, we do not only have the assurance from God but his gift of his grace for us to be able to encounter and overcome all forms of trials and tribulations of this world. It is only with this grace of God which is more that sufficient to leads us to discern his will for each of us, live according to his will for us and to grow in holiness.

As such together with the psalmist let us seek the grace of God to be able to embrace the virtue of faithfulness.

Let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us
give success to the work of our hands!
give success to the work of our hands!

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Anthony Liew on 17th Nov 2010.