Gratitude & Thanksgiving

          Todays first reading was about the call of Jonah (Jon 3:1-5). The priest spoke about missed calls, answered calls, rejected calls... And the call of Christian discipleship.  The call is for us to be fishers of men. The call is persistent . We can run or hide from, or ignore the call But we can never escape it. The call is a privilege . It is to go along with Jesus to the end. Not only at the feast, but also at the cross . The call involves making decisions. It involves our everyday "yes"es It is to say yes in every small decision daily. Decisions to love , to forgive , to share It is a daily preparation for the big Yes. To allow ourselves to be purified . And to be joyful in acceptance. The Lord calls us each uniquely. The flower does not compete. It just blooms .  

  Every response is a surprise in today’s Gospel… John stood. Jesus walked  past.  John proclaimed “ Behold the Lamb of God " The two disciples heard.   They followed Jesus. Jesus turned and asked, “ What are you looking for? ” The disciples asked, “ Where are you going ?" Jesus said, “ Come and see. ” They went. They saw. They stayed. They influenced Simon. Jesus said, “Y ou are called Cephas. " How much of Andrew do I have in me? He heard He believed He followed He asked “where are you going” He went He stayed He influenced others Jesus passes my day - Do I see Him? Jesus asks what I need - What do I tell Him? Jesus invites me to go with Him - Do I go? Jesus looks hard at me - Do I meet His gaze? Jesus gives me a mission - Do I accept? Do I respond like Peter did? In all His flaws and imperfections.,,, I have in good times would I too in challenging times? Am I only a good time disciple or could I still be zealously and courageously  seeking and f...

14 Nov 2017  Tue “Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in deed and in truth” ( 1 Jn  3:18).  O ur Holy Father Pope Francis declared this 19 Nov Sunday as the First Day of the Poor.  He said in his encyclical: At the conclusion of the Jubilee of Mercy, I wanted to offer the Church a  World Day of the Poor , so that throughout the world Christian communities can become an ever greater sign of Christ’s charity for the least and those most in need.   I invite the whole Church...to turn their gaze on this day to all those who stretch out their hands and plead for our help and solidarity. He has some important messages for us, and I attempt to share my takeaways with you…. (Words in brown are extracted directly from the Pope’s encyclical.    The full encyclical can be found in the link at the bottom of this sharing.) What this World Day of the Poor is to mean for us all… This  Day of the Poor  is meant,...

  The Gospel was about the Ten Bridesmaid, five wise ones and five foolish ones…. from Mathew 25:1-13.   Rev Fr Francis Lau asked,   “ Are we ready to meet the King?”   "There is nothing more certain than death. There is nothing more uncertain than the time of death." Is our life in a state of preparedness? Are we doing all we can to receive the graces we need through the Sacraments, prayers and good wor ks? Are w e the light of Christ, shining for all?   Fr Lau quoted Pope XXIII “My bags are packed and now I am ready to go home.”  What about us, are we ready to meet our Lord and King?

      In the silence of the night, thinking about the many whose lives are transformed through the illness of a loved one….and penning my thoughts… . "MORE" We think we are getting less... until we realize we have been given more. We think it's tribulation, nothing more... until we understand it's God pouring His love unto us all. We think it's misfortune,  we pray for no more... until we comprehend the magnitude  of the blessing and learn to say - Thank you God, for this much More. How mysterious are God’s ways His thoughts are not our thoughts When I couldn’t comprehend so many things during my late sister’s journey through cancer this verse from Romans  accompanied me through those many moments.   "..we boast in our sufferings,  knowing that suffering produces endurance,  and endurance produces character,  and character produces hope,  and hope does not disapoint us,  because God’s love has been poured into our hearts t...

  23 Oct 2017 - Sharing the 2nd Reading in today’s Office of Prayers Today’s morning psalm was taken from Psalm 5 - A morning prayer for help.   “It is You whom I invoke O Lord, in the morning, you hear me…” How wonderful it is to be able to call upon the Lord in the morning, with all our day’s burdens and know He hears us.  I found today’s 2nd reading from the Office of Readings a good reminder too, about the attention, focus, disposition and pitfalls  we must take note of about praying….  St Augustine speaks about the need to  repeatedly "stir our faith into flame".... For we can be "so easily distracted" by our preoccupations, "losing focus on the object of our desire" (the Lord).  This losing of focus will lead our faith to "become lukewarm, grow chill and totally extinguished".... This is not an option for us.  We must strive to stir our faith into flame…. Second Reading  A letter to Proba by St Augustine  Let ...

22 Oct 2017  Sharing my notes taken @ Church of the Holy Family, Singapore - Homily by Rev Fr Philip Lai, CSsR Referencing today’s Gospel from Matthew 22:15-21, Fr Philip Lai (CSsR) pointed out that as Christians we are citizens of two worlds the physical world  and the spiritual world, that is the Kingdom of God. And we have duty both to God and to society. Many today remove God in the way they live…falling into secularism and relativism. Fr Lai elaborated that secularism is Removing God in the way we live Putting human being as the centre of the universe Insisting on the right to decide, each personally, what is right and wrong. Fr Lai cautioned that this is exactly repeating the mistake of Adam who wanted to have absolute authority over their moral actions as well as a to have a divine status.   The sense of he Sacred, God’s presence is constantly under attack today. True religion cannot be just a set of prayers or attending mass. ...

  21 Oct 2017  Sharing my notes taken @ Church of St Alphonsus, Singapore - Homily by Rev Fr Simon Tan, CSsR     Many of us will find today’s sermon by Fr Simon Tan, CSsR so relevant and meaningful…. I tried to capture the essence of what he preached and not all of the below are his exact words.  May you be blessed too, by his sharing. In this world of tragedies and pain, where do we find God? It is easy to sense God’s presence when things are going well. But when things fall apart , where can we find God ? in the loving acts of those who stand by us in the medical profession, doctors, nurses, health workers fighting hard along with us, caring for us.   They are instruments of God. In a friend, family member who offer encouragement  in someone who shows up caring in our moment of deep need In those who help us to continually hope in the Lord, encourage us to be open to God.  even in the person who sits next to us at the pew, join...