“The Rosary and the scapular are inseparable!” -Sister Lucia of Fatima
I bought myself a brown rosary scapular a few days ago. The problem with my sapphire rosary is that I can’t have it carried with me everyday, not to say wearing it. A brown rosary scapular seems to be a better selection because it has a scapular and a rosary, I can always wear it with me.
The rosary scapular
The Sacred Heart, Immaculate Heart, and Crucifix
The Brown Scapular is a Roman Catholic devotion to Mary under her title of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It is worn as a sign of love and devotion for the Mother of God. The Scapular is worn on the shoulders in such a manner that one part hangs in front of the body and the other in back.
The Rosary, is a set of repetitive prayers. It cycles around the life of Jesus from His birth (Joyous Mysteries), His death (Sorrowful Mysteries), His resurrection (Glorious Mysteries) and His ministries (Luminous Mysteries). This is the most said prayers among Catholics.
Since I haven’t met my priest, my rosary scapular has not been blessed but I decided to wear it. Most of the times I wonder if it’s necessary to bless all the crosses, rosaries, scapulars, statues and saintly pictures. To me, these sacramentals are just objects, instituted by the Church, that reminds us of what we are supposed to do and think. What matters most is still our heart and our devotion to God.
Blindly believing in these sacramentals is against Church teaching, is superstitious and a grave error. Do not falsely believe that sacramentals are magical ways to manipulate God. My stance on my faith is to love God, with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind. Others come second. I stand to be corrected by religious (priest, brother or sister).
Back to my profound experience with this rosary scapular, or should I say devotion to Mary. Just when I was about to let myself fall into temptation, something struck my head. A short sms by a friend, at the time I wasn’t expecting to receive it, was delivered to my mobile. I took it and it read:
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10
I was like so speechless and left in awe! Many times, I have let God down and myself as well when I gave in to temptation like a fool. Yes, I am a fool. When I should have been steadfast, I just let the situation got out of hand. Temptation can happen to anyone of us, and anyone can fail.
God knows me so well! Mary too! Just when the temptation is so luring, a ray of light beams in the form of God’s word - the bible. I don’t have much experience to share when it comes to God, but this is certainly an honest and true one.
Yesterday was the Annual General Meeting of MCG. The numbers who turned up was desirable, thank God! I remember I was in their shoes about three years ago. I’ve been through the thick and thin of this organization together with Paul ‘05, Doreen ‘06 and Vincent ‘07. Each of them played their part, though in different ways, in ensuring this organization remains, remains strong and alive.
One hour went to usual secretariat and treasury report while another one hour went to nominating and choosing the candidates. After much discourse and the common beating around the bush, the new committee was at long last chosen. The newly elected committee seems dedicated and committed.
Here’s the new faces of the newblings serving Chirst for the needs of Catholic undergraduates. If you noticed, one guy versus seven ladies. W00t!
Just before the AGM was concluded, I shared with the new committee one simple message. Though this message was simple, but the meaning is clear - be not afraid. In the first homily of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger after being elected as the Pope, he preached about ‘friendship in Christ’.
We lost nothing, absolutely nothing. We receive a hundredfold in return.
Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to Him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us?…And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation….When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. (Source: Vatican)
Guys, we all have to learn. Learning is a part of growing up. I hope I could spend more time with you guys but looking at my current situation, I am afraid I cannot. However, I will always be there when advice or opinion are needed (eh leh, as if I so geng…).
This is my first movie made using Windows Movie Maker. I spent three nights to finish this 6 minutes plus short presentation on Roman Catholic. For God’s sake it is so hard to find relevant introduction to the Catholic Church especially in Chinese. Therefore, I hope with this brief video presentation Catholics (especially whose mother tongue is Mandarin) will find it useful.
All those pictures used can be googled from the Internet (if you use the right keywords). The information was “extracted” from this website - 天主教在简介. Music used: 上主是我的牧者 - 黄韵玲; Jesus Christ, You Are My Life - World Youth Day 2005.
Now.. I cannot divide myself into many portion, this explains why I was staying away from my blog/plurk/facebook for the past few days because I dedicated all my time working on this presentation. I am so gonna share this presentation with Tzu Chi this Sunday. We are making a trip to their Johor Bahru Branch. I hope this will give them an insight on the Catholic Church.
UPDATE Oct 22: After much advice from Fr Paul, Andrew and Raymond, I managed to refine my work. Posted to youtube.
