Entries Tagged 'Faith and Religion' ↓

This is a letter from Saint Paul to the Romans. This piece of advice is what I keep telling myself over and over again in my ministry. These words give me strength and therefore I would like to share with you. 

¹ I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.

² Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.

³ For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned.

⁴ For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another.

⁶ Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them: if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; ⁷ if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; ⁸ if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others, with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

⁹ Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; ¹⁰ love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor.

¹¹ Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute (you), bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If possible, on your part, live at peace with all.

¹⁹ Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” ²⁰ Rather, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.”

²¹ Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.

May the good Lord keep me sane and wise in dealing with decisions, people, foes and enemies. I feel refreshed to viewing these photos over and over again. God, human and nature, we are all connected in some ways we cannot define nor explain. Just be greatful in our lives.

(All photos are courtesy of Ivan Makarov. Bible verses from USCCB.)

This is a post specially dedicated to my parish youth and is a continuity of my previous post. AMBO is a project, a camp to be exact, organized by St Paul’s Youth! You might want to ask what it is. Pick each capital letter of “All May Be One” you will get the word AMBO, which is also known as 《同步。爱》.

I would like to introduce some of my youth here, let’s just say, it’s a gratitude post for this month. A gratitude post is always important to show that I care for them and to serve as words of encouragement for their untiring effort to bring others closer to God.

Keep going! Keep serving! Keep growing in faith!

This is the first time I set foot to Loyola Jesuit Novitiate which is situated in the high-end neighbourhood area in the heart of Singapore. In fact this is the first time I experience the way the Jesuits live – simple yet lively.

Br Alvin Ng and Br Mark Aloysius, both Sarawakians, gave Simon and me a ride from Johor Bahru all the way across the Causeway to Singapore. On our way to the Novitiate, we asked the two brothers a lot of question. I remember I asked them how Fr. Philip Heng looks like, whether is he fierce and old or young and nice. They told me that all Jesuits look young, which turned out to be quite true. Fr Philip Heng is the Novice Master, meaning he is shepherding his subordinates in the Novitiate.

The queue to pass the two Immigration offices was not that long; it took us half-and-hour to get into Singapore. I could not contact others nor be contacted by others when I was in the city state, mainly because I forgot to call up my telco to activate the roaming services. In fact, I am still glad I did not do that. I would not be able to enjoy the serenity and the peaceful time in the Novitiate with those bugging texts and calls.

Upon entering the Novitiate, we were greeted by Fr. Philip Heng and a few of the novices (Julio and Sylvestre from East Timor). Breakfast was served and we had coffee to go with the bread. Then I climbed up the winding stairs to my room. In the room, there is only one wooden bed, one wooden table, one plastic chair and one wooden cupboard. There was a Crucifix hanging on top of the door. Looking out of the window is the Garden of Light, a beautiful garden with pine trees and palm trees standing tall and straight.

We were invited for lunch with all other participants. After Fr Philip blessed the food I quickly grabbed the plates and got myself some food as I was rather hungry. By the time it was 230pm, we were all ushered to the hall. The journey then begun with Fr Philip welcoming all of us and we were given an “Introduction of Vocation Weekend” as well as why this Vocation Camp was here in the first place.

One thing for sure, the Jesuits are somewhat different. I think their spirituality and way of life is attractive in the sense that they look just like a normal person (they are one of the few religious who do have a formal habit). Perhaps that’s the reason why we were able to get close to them. I forgot to stress that this Vocation Camp is not about calling us to become a priest or religious brother, but more of a camp to provide us an insight about how to better know God’s will for us in this world!

There was this exercise called “Greater Self-Awareness” introduced by Sch Adrian Danker. In this exercise, we were asked to look into our present, our past and what we expect of our future. We were told to think of what makes/made/will make us happy and sad, what moves/moved/will moved us and who I am/was/will be in those three very distinct time. I chose three spots for this exercise – two spots (past and present) were located along the corridor while the car park was my future.

I reflected on my past and gave a thought on what I want to become in the future. I feel that I wanted something deeper in life that money cannot buy, but I am not very sure what I am searching. If I could describe the three spots that I have chosen, the corridor resembles the life that was conditioned by the people around me and my environment. On the other hand, the car park being an open space represents the future which is so full of possibilities. I could choose to walk straight or turn left or turn right, yet wherever I turned to it’s still a car park. I need God in my life to lead me to the way that He wants and not so much of the way I want.

The exercise was too short, but it gives me a better understanding of myself. I know what makes me happy and sad. We then were divided into smaller groups for discussion. In my group, we have Br Alvin as the moderator, Julio the novice, Ambrose, Victor and me as the participants. We shared our thoughts and experiences in the abovementioned exercises. It was simply great to share our own story. Since we promised to keep whatever being shared to be confined among the five of us, so shall it be.

Things will happen in His due time. What matters is that I give my best, my all for things to happen
-Br Richie Fernando, SJ

We then witness the life of an ordinary man who cared for those who lost their body parts in the landmine of Cambodia. Br Richie Fernando was the man who showed us what “Deeper Meaning in Life” means. There is no greater love than to sacrifice his life for others. He taught me this simple message:

“I wish, when I die, people remember not how great, powerful, or talented I was, but that I served and spoke for the truth, I gave witness to what is right, I was sincere in all my works and actions, in other words, I loved and I followed Christ.” adapted from Jesuit Mission

A few dropped of tears as managed to leap out from my eyes as the commentary was played.

We then had our own free time to spend on silent reflection but I took the 30 minutes for a short nap. I don’t feel guilty for that because I was simply tired and I knew I needed some sleep so as to be more attentive to the programs at night.

Fr Colin Tan, SJ then celebrated the Eucharist. We sung Come As You Are, Ave Maria and You Are Mine as the hymn for this mass. Dinner was served after the Eucharist and we played a game called “Pictionary”.

We then proceed with the next session. The theme was “God’s Involvement in my life & What is our Personal Response”? God created this world beautiful enough for human to stay. Human today are just too busy about finding more money and materials for their own satisfaction, I am one of them. From this short presentation slides, I think I need to ask myself this question, “How can I make a simple difference in the little things I do each day and how can I be more attentive to what He is calling me to do”. It would be silly of you to think that God is only calling those religious; he is calling us as well – the normal people.

At this point, I need to clarify that I am open to understand more about the marriage and religious vocation. All that I have written is just my experience and thoughts, it does not indicate any inclination yet, so please do not, do not ever try to put your label on me.

Fr Philip then introduced us the Consciousness “Examen” Prayer which was one of the important prayers introduced by St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesuit. St Ignatius believed that he received a gift from God that not only enriched his own Christian life but was meant to be shared with others. The gift was a “method,” a way to seek and find God in all things and to gain the freedom to let God’s will be done on earth. This way of praying allowed Ignatius to discover the voice of God within his own heart and to experience a growth in familiarity with God’s will. Just as the Jesuit has shared with us this prayer, so shall I share with you this Examen of Consciousness prayer.

That’s basically the first day of the Vocation Camp. More to cover in the next post, stay tune.

This is how the Catholic Church of St Ignatius looks like.

“Let me pass, I have to follow them, I belong to the chicken.” Little eaglet

This is a story told by Fr Philip Heng, SJ when I joined the “Live in Vocation Camp” during the weekend. It was a very inspiring weekend. I’d cover in details of my experience with the Jesuits in the next post but for now I just want to retell the story that Fr Philip shared with all of us.

There was once an eagle that gave birth to a baby eagle – an eaglet. This mother eagle fed her eaglet day and night with the prey she caught in the open field. Days went by and this little eaglet grew a few inches bigger. From a featherless eaglet, feathers started to grow and soon this little eagle has had all the features of an eagle except that he is still sitting in the nest his mother built.

This mummy eagle knew that it was time to teach this eaglet to fly, so off she soared to the sky with the eaglet sitting on her wings. The eaglet was so amazed with the height of the mountain, the lush greenery of the forest, and they were touching the clouds. Without knowing what was in the mind of his mother, she threw him off her wings. Being thrown off and had no prior experience of flying, he dove all the way down helplessly. He has no total control and just could not spread his wings to fly. The mother was all the time beside him when he dove all the way down, giving him words of encouragement. The mother sensing that her little eagle was at danger picked him up just before the eaglet hit the ground.

The eaglet felt relieved that he thought this was over and his mother was bringing him back to his good ol’ comfortable nest. He was wrong, with the eaglet on his mother’s wings they sped off to the sky. At the top of the mountain, her mother threw him off again. The eaglet, being unable to open his wings, dove all the way down to the deep valley this time. He was afraid. Mother eagle was side by side with him encouraging him. Eventually she picked him up before he fell into the darkness of the valley.

This exercise was carried out again and again until he managed to fly. It took him quite some time to learn how to fly. A courageous eagle was now in the making. One day, mother eagle went out to prey for food. The eaglet, who just knew the basic of flying, was so happy. He kept flapping his wings, playing safe by remaining a few inches above the nest.

Out of a sudden, a strong wing blew. The eaglet having no full control of his flying skills was blown away. He dropped to the ground. In the bushes he met a group of little chickens. They took him and accepted him as one of their family members.

Time went by, this little eagle learned the way the chicken eat, the way they flock together, the way they catches worm, the way they run for cover when preyed by other eagles. Being a male eagle, he learned how the female hen clucks instead of following the rooster cock-a-doodle-doo. He saw himself as a chicken and no longer an eagle.

“Let me pass, I have to follow them, I belong to the chicken.” Little eaglet

One day, mother eagle was soaring in the sky as she still haven’t given up hope to find his son, he saw his son in the midst of the chicken. She landed on the ground to approach her son. Little eaglet told his mother he is no longer an eagle, he insisted that he is now a chicken. He was happy being a chicken. Having no way that she could convince him to go back with her, the mother left him. Yet, she still kept an eye on him in the sky.

The eaglet continued to live as a chicken, and he died as a chicken. He was “chicken” to admit his true identity – the eagle.

My dear friends, are you clucking or soaring?

The eagle resembles God, a caring Father yet always challenging us to achieve our limits. He teaches us and feed us when we are young. He takes us around the globe to see the beauty of the world which He created. He challenges us when we least expect, yet He is all the way staying with us and encouraging us when He gives us these challenges. When He knows we could not make it, he picks us up again. Time and time He gives us challenges.

In the middle of the challenges, some of us succumb with the comfort of the world. Some of us no longer admit ourselves as the eaglet (children of God) despite the fact that we are eagles. Most of us choose to become a chicken. Most of us got deceived with the identity given to us by this world. We no longer seek to discover our true identity not to say remain faithful to our identity. We no longer soar like the eagle though we used to.

My dear friends, do you still choose to cluck instead of to soar?

I want to share with you this song “On Eagles Wings”. This is how much God loves us.