What needs renewal?

To begin with, it might help if we look at our personal response to the Eucharistic celebration. What is our attitude? Is it still the same one we have been hearing all these years, that one goes to attend mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation so as to fulfil one’s obligation?

If the Eucharist is the source and summit of our life as Christians because it contains our entire spiritual good, Jesus Christ, why do we not attend mass out of love for the Lord? He comes to us at Mass as a Father through His Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. He makes Himself tangibly present to us in the assembly, the ordained ministers, and the proclaimed Word of God. He is also present most especially and immediately in the Eucharist, which has a perfect and infinite value before His eyes. He graciously comes to us, not only to be with us, but also to raise us up to Heaven, to the Heavenly liturgy, where we worship in union with all the angels and saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the eternal offering of Jesus Christ to the Father on our behalf. Thus we enter the heavenly sanctuary while still on earth, and worship God in the full manner that He laid out for us!

 Did he not say, ‘do this in memory of me’? All that we are and do should flow from our participation in the Eucharist and lead back to it. It is absolutely central to our identity and faith as Catholics. It enables us to engage in our mission. Without a proper reverence, love, adoration and devotion to the Eucharist and the liturgy, we are lost.

Why do we not avail ourselves to the Eucharist daily? Here in our country, we are truly spoilt for choice. One can consider going to mass in the morning, at lunch time or in the evening. Sometimes there are also masses in the night. Not to avail ourselves to the Eucharistic banquet is to look at the Offering and turn away for food that will not last. It is tantamount to the person who prefers junk food to what will nourish the soul and sustain the spirit for eternal life.

Having been to places like Kenya, I can well understand the fervour with which the Eucharist is celebrated for at least three hours each time. Our brethren do not have the Eucharist like us. There are not enough priests to reach out to them. So many of our Kenyan brothers and sisters in Christ walk for miles on end to celebrate the Eucharist. Here we are still moaning and groaning about the air conditioning and about this and that.

Have we lost our focus? Yes, and  worse, we could have stopped loving Him who first loved us, Jesus our Lord.

Trying to do what is right, not popular

Havoc will result when we do not do what is right and acceptable to the Catholic Church. Shudder when you think of how we will be held accountable at the end of time.  Can we then face the wrath of God? Since when have we ever been taught to please the world? Since when did anyone give permission to water down what is distinctively Catholic? Is it not ironical that by complying with what is totally unacceptable to the Catholic Church we then make ourselves irrelevant and impotent for the mission of the Church in the world? When we seek simply what works or is “useful” in the end, we do a great disservice. Indeed, we become quite useless.

Our urgent need at this time is to reclaim and strengthen our understanding of the deposit of faith. We must have a distinctive identity and culture as Catholics, if we would effectively communicate the Gospel to the people of this day. At this moment, I just thank God for all our bishops and their co-workers, the many faithful priests and all those who work in collaboration with them to keep bringing the truth to a needy world. I thank God for the Year of Faith that will commence this October and the many parishes already focussing on this key topic, so central to our lives as children of God. Truly, we can say that this is a mission we all share.

How successful are we in bringing the world to Jesus and Jesus to the world? We cannot give what we do not have; we cannot fulfil our mission to evangelize, if we ourselves are not evangelised. How do we reclaim and strengthen our faith, identity and culture as Catholics so as to engage more effectively in our mission? Here in our country, I thank God for the priests actively putting right what is not so right in our parishes, and I thank God for all who seek to cooperate for the glory of God. We owe it to our children and we owe it to all our fellow Catholics in the world.

One of the most encouraging signs is to see our priests encourage the practice of Eucharistic adoration and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in particular, as well as prayer of adoration before Christ present under the Eucharistic species. In this area, we can thank God for our Archbishop who has given us a Perpetual Adoration Chapel, and we can thank God for raising up priests like Fr Antoine Thomas who, since his arrival to share with the local church, has encouraged Eucharistic adoration for both children and youths.

Praise God!

50 years later . . .

As we know, Blessed Pope John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council to be the moment of renewal for the Church in the modern world. It has been fifty years since 1962 and we are still on the topic of new evangelisation. I recall hearing about the New Evangelisation in a recollection for catechists in 2005. Today I see that the same priest who had conducted our recollection is still sharing the same message. I see it as not so much a reminder as the fact that we have been slow to listen and to obey. The challenge continues. All of us, our separated brethren in Christ and all who have yet to embrace Jesus as Lord and Saviour have a need to be enlightened, and praise God, with His help, we will get there.

For Blessed John Paul II, it was his special mission and it was close to his heart throughout his entire pontificate. He spent time and effort, lovingly interpreting and implementing the Council’s documents according to the light of the Holy Spirit, given in virtue of his office, amid the changing circumstances of the Church and the world. Again and again he called on the Church to be fervent, to use the appropriate methods and with enthusiasm, embrace the Good News. The words of our Lord ‘go out and proclaim the Good News’ ring in our ears even as Blessed John Paul II keeps telling us: Be not afraid! And our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI now says the same: Be not afraid. You lose nothing when you give yourselves to Jesus.

Today we have so many means of reaching out to the world. It is a matter of being wise and knowing how to tap on the new social media that has reduced the world to a global village. Fancy being able to reach someone far away with the Good News via the internet with Face Book, Twitter and other means. Since the word of God is all powerful and will never return empty but reach out to do what it wants to, we can count on the Lord to do what he says. But are we willing to be his hands, his mouth, his feet, his eyes and his ears?

Half a century is a brief moment compared to eternity but we are human and the psalmist says that one lives for seventy or at best, eighty, on this earth. So, it is up to each one to do his or her part. Some questions we could ask ourselves include the following: Have we understood the Council within the context of the entire history of the Church? Have we understood the documents well? Have we truly appropriated and implemented them? Is the current state of the Church what the Council intended? What went right? What went wrong? Where is the promised “New Pentecost”?

Come Holy Spirit, we need you!

 

What is sloppy liturgy?

My conversion to the Catholic faith was less than twenty years ago, and so I was immersed in the reforms of the Second Vatican Council straightaway. I understand now that we have not been faithful to the reforms. Along the way we have made our own interpretations and done things on our own. We have been, in a word, sloppy.

I recall specifically an article in our local Catholic News in 2003 when Blessed John Paul II commented on the sloppy liturgy and lack of reverence for the Eucharistic mystery. How it must have pained our Holy Father then as he was a pope who travelled far and wide. He was also a linguist able to communicate effectively in at least ten languages. So he would have witnessed first-hand what was happening in many places, and having perceived sloppy liturgy as a widespread phenomenon, he did not hesitate to urge the church to reform. The renewal continues, and the translation of the New Roman Missal is surely a part of this on-going process.

What is sloppy liturgy, one might ask? Remember secular songs like ‘I will follow him’? One knows that this song is about a woman who wants to follow a man, and so one cannot simply tweak it to mean following Christ. The music does not lend itself to worship of God at all. Blessed John Paul II said, “Worship must be purified of stylistic rough edges, of sloppy forms of expression, and of clumsy music and texts, which are hardly consonant with the greatness of the act being celebrated.” Truly, we have to pray to God not only with theologically exact formulas but also in a beautiful and dignified way. Hence we have a revival of Gregorian chants.

The liturgical reform started must continue so that we never shortchange the younger generations to come. The emphasis now in catechesis is that all we teach our young must lead to a love for the Eucharist and this is praiseworthy and correct. This augurs well for the future as we embark on this renewal and consider also how we can share a spirituality of communion. As members of one body, like it or not, we are linked in one way or another and what we do or do not do also affects others.  

So we have to admit that the Church is always in need of renewal because it is made up of us, imperfect human beings. This is the deepest reason: as individuals and as a Church, we are always called to grow, change, deepen, repent, convert, improve, and learn from our successes and failures in the pursuit of holiness and fidelity to Jesus Christ and the mission He has given us. Moreover, we need to do this in the midst of an ever changing world, culture and society.

Let us do this as one body of Christ, and brace ourselves for what lies ahead. Pray for us, O Blessed John Paul II!

 

Desire to grow in holiness

On 15 October 2009 (Memorial of Saint Teresa of Jesus Virgin and Doctor of the Church), Most Reverend R. Walker Nickless, the Bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, issued a pastoral letter on the future of the Church. He entitled it “Ecclesia Semper Reformanda (The Church is always in Need of Renewal)” and he addressed it to all his brother priests, deacons, consecrated persons and all the lay faithful. Incidentally that was the year we all looked to our priests in a special way with thanksgiving to God in our hearts, as the Church celebrated the Year for Priests.

Recently I read the entire pastoral letter again and felt moved to share it. As a lay consecrated person and a member of the body of the Christ, the issues in the pastoral letter concern me as much as any one of my fellow Catholics. Having been constantly renewing myself with courses and especially the recent ones concerning the New Roman Missal, liturgy and scripture in relation to catechesis have made me better appreciate what the Catholic Church offers to her children. I must make mention that our bishops in particular have been God’s instruments and I thank God for the many good shepherds we have in our midst. Needless to say, the sheep need to be obedient and heed the call of the Chief Shepherd first. We are all co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord.

I thought to myself. It is never too late, never too late for us to continue encouraging each other in what is basic to the celebration and faithful living of our Catholic faith. My involvement in faith formation will henceforth, I pray, be even more fervent. Alas, it is also a moment of remembrance, that the harvest is plentiful and the labourers few. How often have we heard appeals for people to come forward to share their faith?

As I share my reflections and thoughts, may St Teresa intercede for us so that we desire more and more to grow in holiness.

“O God, you raised up Saint Teresa by your Spirit so that she could manifest to the Church the way to perfection. Nourish us with the food of her heavenly teaching and fire us with a desire for holiness.” Amen.

 

 

Creative teaching

Creativity comes from God. It is a marvellous gift as all His gifts are. I was listening to a talk on how Jeremiah the Prophet used creative means to bring forth the message of God. He did it in various ways, catching the attention of the people in His time. What about us now? We can still learn from Jeremiah, the weeping Prophet, the Prophet who could not stop preaching because he was so in love, so taken up by God’s awesome love.

Fancy preaching with actions. It is possible to bring a message across powerfully. St Francis says: use words if necessary but more than that, use your life. Use actions.

Jeremiah took a clay jar and then went on a walk. The people saw and followed him. Where was he going and what was he going to do with the clay jar? He went to a dumping ground for garbage and at that site, he hurled the clay jar, obviously breaking the vessel into bits and pieces. Can one mend a broken jar?

His message? Unless you repent, you are going to end up like that clay vessel. You will have to face the consequences of your actions. God’s judgement will  be upon you.

It is true even today. We who are called to evangelise, to teach what we have learnt, to bring the Good News to the ends of the earth . . . . we cannot shirk from what people are not going to enjoy listening to because it is too hard for their ears. This is an important point to note, and unless we take courage and preach the truth, we too will be held accountable, won’t we?

So, like Jeremiah, may the Lord grant us the grace to be creative, to be persuasive and to never try and avoid what is not easy on the ears. Think of a meteorologist. What if he were to avoid warning people of a possible occurence of a tsunami? Will he be doing his duty? Would he not be accused of negligence if he did not say anything? What about the lighthouse keeper? Can he fail to send out warnings? So the list goes on . . . the watchmen must sound the warning too.

May the Holy Spirit empower us to proclaim loudly and clearly His message to the ends of the earth. Come Holy Spirit!

Holy Silence

Today we  are bombarded by noise, noise and more noise. People add to an already highly polluted envirnoment with electronic gadgets, with head phones and ear phones. . . An endlessly loud environment. Then when someone has lost some of his sense of hearing, one hears that person speak more loudly than usual. There are now shouts. . .

Yet, we know that there are many moments in life which call for silence.  In this silence, the madness of the world comes to a stop. There is no shouting. There are  no sounds but there is only peace.  Have you heard the silence?

There are  also the moments when we are lost for words. Imagine being present at the scene of the Ascension. Our Lord Jesus is speaking and blessing us.  . . Then he goes up and soon we can no longer see him. What would we do then? Imagine the wonder. Think of the silence in that magnificent moment. Joy fills our hearts for He has left us with joy and that joy no one can take away. Ponder in silence His advice that we wait upon Him in prayer for the Promised Paraclete will come and remind us of His teachings. As for Jesus Himself, He has also clearly told us that He will be with us till the end of time. . . . What place would there be for noise on this day of the Ascension?

Each person present gazes in awe and wonder as each one witnesses the glory of Christ’s Ascension. The scene painted in the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles depicts them, open-mouthed, staring heavenward. Two men appear to them and say “Why are you standing here looking into the sky?”

 Silence need not mean emptiness, silence can be the contemplation of glory. Yes, Jesus ascends into Heaven but He has not left us on our own. We may say that we experience His presence even more powerfully now that He has risen from the dead. The whole universe is filled with His holy presence. In silence let us continue to contemplate and to pray. . .

Come, Lord Jesus! Come in all your glory!

HOPE

At the mass this evening for the Solemnity of Ascension, Fr Emmanuel Danjoux had only one word for us to ponder over – that word is HOPE. What does this word spell for each of us?

Confident that our Lord Jesus has ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God our Father and always intercedes for us, we can cling on to all his promises. There are so many wonderful promises and every one of them will come true. What can we hope for? Plenty, more than we can ever fathom, think of or even dare to ask.

For me it is quite enough right now to contemplate on the HOME our Lord is preparing for me. When it is ready, He will call me and I will go HOME to him. Alleluia! In John’s Gospel chapter 14 we are told by Jesus himself: Trust in God and trust in him, Jesus . . .

This is a very special Gospel message for me. We have much to hope for!

HOPE –

H – old on the the Truth which is God’s Word

O – ver and above all, give Him praise for He is good all the time

P – erpetually He will be glorified by all who love Him with a sincere heart

E – ternally too will all the angels and saints in heaven adore Him.

An intimate relationship

We never stop learning. The question is: have we learnt that nothing short of an intimate relationship with God will sustain us on this pilgrimage of life? So many are the struggles we face daily. How does one get strength to carry on? A good prayer life.

Thank God for our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI who continues to share with us his wisdom, and reminds us of how the saints have taught us the importance of how we are to live our life. One could perhaps summarise with these words: Prayer is life, and life is prayer.

So if we wish to live a holy life, we have to always accompany our actions with prayer, doing as our Lord Jesus used to do, so that we may not only love God but love our neighbour as well. Our Lord is the one and only Teacher, and if we can learn from the saints today, it is only because they have, in their life time, looked to Jesus and faithfully imitated the Master. Jesus will guide us, and renew constantly in our lives strength and hope to carry on.  He is our Light.

Without daily prayer faithfully lived out, what we do will be empty, soulless and in the end we will find ourselves totally unfulfilled. Only a relationship nourished by prayer with the Word of God can sustain us. Let us not, in the words of our Holy Father, “ risk suffocating in the middle of a thousand daily cares: prayer is the breath of the soul and of life.”

 

Good and faithful servants

I visited the columbarium at the Church of the Holy Spirit one morning and experienced a deep sense of peace. I told myself that if I ever needed total  physical silence, this would be a good place to stay for a while.  I was all alone and all around me were the ashes of the faithful departed. I looked around and prayed for all the souls. Then I went round a second time and I stopped before certain niches to remember these special people. I went before my mother’s niche and thanked God for giving her eternal life. She was the first Catholic in my family. Praise God!

Then I went to a very exclusive area and there were the niches of a few CICM priests. They gave their lives to serve as missionaries. In a very special way I wish to remember them for the Scheut Missions was founded in 1862 for the conversion of China. This year marks the 150th year of the founding of the CICM – Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When the priests were expelled from China, they came to Singapore. Thank God for every one of them. Thank God for the priests who are still serving here.

Father Theophile Verbist, the Founder of CICM said: “The specific goal of the CICM is to commit itself entirely to the proclamation of the Good News wherever a missionary presence is most needed, especially among the peoples where the Gospel is not known or lived” I heard from a friend who had gone on several trips to evangelise in rural  parts of China how difficult the circumstances were, but she is happy and will continue to go as she knows that the Good News is being proclaimed to people truly hungry for it. She is not the only one who longs to share the Good News. . . they need the support of our prayers to persevere and to remain faithful to their calling.

Fr Verbist is also  known to have said: “To him who loves, nothing is difficult.” Yes, it is true. There is no labour where there is true love. My friend shared with me how poorly the people ate each day. She shared the same and for her that was tough as there were times when the meal was only a hard cold bun. (I remember having seen such buns when I went to a CICM mission house in Mongolia.)  One day my friend was told that she would be visiting the bishop and so, jokingly she told her friends that she would probably have a better meal. To her surprise, she found that the Bishop lived under more miserable conditions, and the food that they had that day was even less palatable. She was deeply moved seeing how many sacrifices the shepherd of the flock was making.

So, it is true that where there is true love, there is no labour. My friend has many more trips planned and she wil continue to go where there are opportunities to share the Good News. This reminds me of what a priest from Sri Lanka said: evangelisation is really one beggar telling another where there is food. Yes, we need to share the food that will lead us to eternal life.  May God bless all missionaries!