Wild Eagle Chase

I just saw in Tuesday's Today Newspaper, an article about how this guy found two white-bellied sea eagles in his house and went on a Wild Goose Chase, trying to find the correct government agency to help him get it out of his house. So he called the MND, which directed him to AVA, which told him to contact the NEA. He also tried calling the Zoo, which told him to call the Jurong Bird Park.

Why I find this article amusing, is because I went through the exact same thing last year. We found in the seminary a white-bellied sea eagle that had injured its wing. My first thought was to call the Jurong Bird Park, who told me to call the AVA, they in turn told me to call the NEA. who told me to call the birdpark, and was surprised when I told them, that I had called them first and was finally referred to them. In the end, one of the seminarians, brought the bird to one of our neighbours who brought it to a vet.

The reflection of this whole "wild eagle chase" is the question of whether we know who we can turn to in terms of an emergency. I remember one incident in the past, where a homeless young man came looking for help. We tried calling various place, but couldn't find a place that would be able to help him. We did get similar referrals to "try this other place, they might be able to help". I did learn of places for runaway girls, unwed mothers and abused wives though.

It would be a great help in ministering to those in need, if we know who and what are the resources that people can turn to for their various needs in life. And in the past few years on this journey, I have encountered many such people and organisations, that help the deaf, rehabilitate ex-cons and drug addicts, provide nursing care, journey with the dying and their families, help migrant workers who are cheated by their employers, provide free meals for construction workers, and even bereavement services.

Many of them do run awareness and publicity programs, to educate and promote the services to the public, but sadly, we normally only take notice when we have a problem, I know I'm guilty of it. So hopefully, I will now be more aware of how and what is being done to help those in need.

Everybody is looking for you

In today's gospel (Mk 1:29-39), one line struck me. Simon and the other disciples telling Jesus that Everybody was looking for him. And yet Jesus decides to "ignore" these people and move to another town. But only today did it strike me, that although the disciples were referring to the people of the town they were in, the "everybody" was really a reminder, that there were more people who were looking for Christ, waiting to hear him and experience him. Which is why Jesus said "Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come."

It is a strong reminder for me, to be more open to the many people who are looking for God. Or actually more to the fact that everybody is looking for God. This adds on to something that Fr Simon said to me when we went for the school missions earlier this month. He said that in our ministry, it is not always about helping people to find God. Sometimes we need to help people that they are searching for God in their lives. As someone once said, we all have a God-shaped hole in us, and because we feel that emptiness, we try to fill that hole. And yet not many people realise that
we need to find God to fill that hole. In the ways of the world, we try to fill it with money, power, pleasure, relationships, etc... but all these will never fill up that God-shaped hole.

Similarly, as Christians, disciples, and especially as I continue my formation as a priest, I need to be aware that this mission that Christ has given us is not just to baptised, but to the world. Just as Christ got up, and moved to other towns, I also need to work on this area, of bringing Christ to those who do not know him. As it is, it took a real transformation in my life to even start talking about Christ, and sharing my faith with my fellow Catholic friends. What more to my non-Catholic friends, or even to strangers. From some of the shocked reactions I get when I meet up with old friends when I tell them that I am in the seminary training to be a priest, I am reminded of my past. How I had failed to be a witness in my way of life, even less, sharing the faith.

But God is slowly changing me, and I really give Him praise and thanks for all that He is doing in my life. Especially the challenges and opportunities that he shows me. One recent incident, was on the last day of the Illuminate - Leaders For Christ Convention 2007, in my workshop on evangelisation. I shared, that for us Christians, there are 3 "target audiences" when we evangelise. Evangelisation is about bringing the Good News to others. So we need to evangelise to

1. To the Non-Christians - we need to bring the Good News to those who have not heard of Christ
2. To the Christians who have fallen away - we need to bring them back to the Faith
3. To the Active Christians - Active Christians too, need the sharing of God's love and action in our lives to help us to grow in our faith too.

And I shared an example of how a priest once shared, that he sometimes dreaded to go for wedding dinners, because he would be seated at a table with people he did not know. But he nows see each dinner, and each stranger that he meets as an opportunity to share about Christ. I shared this because I was going for a wedding dinner that night, and prayed that I too will be able to put my words into action.

Little that I know, God really answers my prayers. The groom was my Secondary school classmate, and so I was seated at a table with my classmates who I have not met for 13 years since graduation. Lo and behold, I found myself seated next to one guy who I didn't know was Catholic, and I was sharing a bit of my conversion with him, and then the guy on my right, turned out to also be Catholic, and later on, told me that he had stopped going to church, because of a fallout with his priest. And near the end of the dinner, the guy across me was sharing how he was turned-off by a teacher who forced him to learn chinese by reading the chinese bible. And yet he also shared how he had visited Fatima and the Infant Jesus of Prague, and how he felt a totally different feeling there. I ended my wedding dinner that night, in total awe of God's Spirit working.

Now the real challenge for me is to continue to try and grow in this area of evangelising, sharing my faith, and being open to the many opportunities that God is showing to me.

Face the Cross

I just realised that I have not blogged about my mum's situation. On the night of July 6th, my mum had a massive stroke, and was rushed to the hospital. The bleeding in her skull caused much pressure on her brain, which resulted in a great deal of damage to her brain. She has been unconscious since the operation to remove and control the blood in her head. But thanks to God's grace and the many people praying for her, she has recovered enough to be discharged, and is now in a nursing home where she can get proper medical care and therapy.

On sunday, the youth choir from my parish went to the nursing home to sing to my mum. Their beautiful voices filled the ward, and though my mum can't respond, but I believe that she could hear their singing. But not only were their voices angelic, but the words in the songs really brought home a message. One song in particular, "Face the Cross", touched me deeply. Below are the lyrics and you can download the song by clicking on the title.

Face the Cross

You came into the world as a tiny Child,
small and unassuming.
From Your first conscious thought,
You knew Calvary was before You, looming.
You knew who You were,
what You would do,
why You had been sent to this place:

To face the cross, never turn away,
the salvation of the world hangs in the balance.
You must face the cross,follow and obey,
knowing God will make a way
for You to face the cross.

Mary, on Golgotha's hill,
mourning ev'ry wound,
broken hearted, crying.
You can't believe your eyes,
cannot bear to see your son and Saviour dying.
You heard His first word,
held Him in your arms;
now you pray to heaven for grace

To face the cross, never turn away,
the salvation of the world hangs in the balance.
You must face the cross, follow and obey,
knowing God will make a way
for You to face the cross.

How hard it is to look upon that dying form,
to resist the urge to run for cover from the storm.
But each of us is free to choose
to turn away, or to stay

and embrace the cross;
stand and face the cross.
The salvation of the world hangs in the balance.
Stand and face the cross,
never turn away;
follow and obey,
knowing God will make a way
for you to face the cross, face the cross.
Face the cross.

The words of the song encouraged me to face this cross and the many other crosses that the situation has created in my life and family. Especially the last verse about the urge to run, the choice to turn or to stay, and to embrace.

It has been a difficult time in terms of coming to terms, both emotionally and practically (one of the reasons why this blog has been stagnant). But thankfully there are the many blessings and graces that have been showered on me and my family by God that has helped us through, and keep us trusting in Him. As it says in the last verse "knowing God will make a way...to face the cross". I will try to blog about the blessings another time, hopefully in the next post.

Just a small request to all who read this blog. Please pray for the vocation recollection this friday to saturday (26th-27th Oct), that the aspirants coming will be able to discover God's call in their lives, and have the courage to follow it and the strength to face whatever crosses may come.

Facebook Evangelisation

It has been a long time since I last logged on to blogger. Cos of the many things that have been happening, difficulty in putting my thoughts into words, and lastly my super tiredness. But something just sparked a small flame in my head.

I read in Straits Times about companies banning people from using Facebook, because of the time spent "throwing sheep" at one another. Just a thought came to mind, since people are throwing sheep and giving alcohol to one another, why not use facebook as an evangelising tool. Giving each other scipture quotes, love, encouragement, blessings. Or maybe like the aquarium and garden apps, have an altar app, where people can give each other crucifixes, icons, candles, incense. Currently there are no such apps, just the normal bible quotes, Catholic Friends,

Not sure how to create an app, and how long it will take. So if there is anyone who would like to embark on this journey of using technology to evangelise, the help is always welcome...I haven't touched programming in ages, and the new technology is way beyond me. For the rest, just a request for your prayers, that this venture might be for the greater glory of God... oh no I'm starting to sound Jesuit ;Þ

Featured

When I found out that this blog is featured in this week's Catholic News together with the blogs of Fr Aloysius Ong, Fr Christopher Soh and God's Rhinos, my first reaction, was oh no...the blog has not been updated for a really long time. I've been really busy since the last post, with the vocation retreat, metaphysics, history of philosophy and scripture assignments due, and hebrew exam coming up next week.

Oh my, just found out from the malaysian brothers that a similar article was published in The Herald, the malaysian version of Catholic News. You can find that article at this website. I will post link to the Catholic News article when it is uploaded on the website.

With all this publicity,I think that I better post an update on this site to show that it is still alive.

1) The Vocation Retreat was a big success, we had an overwhelming 53 young men who came to find out more how God is calling them to serve Him in His kingdom. Thanks for the prayers, especially the one all the way from Japan.

2) I've updated the links on this blog, to include those of the priests featured, and a few other friends/groups who use blogs to spread the wonders that God is working in their lives.

3) Do keep us seminarians in your prayers as they finish up their assignments and sit for their exams this coming week.

4) And lastly, do pray for us seminarians in the month of june, some who will be going for their retreat, and others like myself who will be going for our pastoral work, that God will continue to bless us with His grace, and that we will be powerful witnesses of His Good News to all we encounter.

The next post will most probably be when I'm in St Joseph's Home for my pastoral. Will share more on what God reveals to me there.

Old Testament Joke

Here's a joke we heard in our scripture class.

Q: Who was the greatest sinner in the Old Testament?
A: Moses, because he broke all the ten commandments in one day.

Been too busy to blog. But just going to do a short one.

If you are reading this between 11-13 May, do pray for the Vocation Discernment Retreat that is going on. We've got a good number of young man coming to discover how God is calling them to serve Him in their lives. So pray for us organisers and the participants. That this weekend be a wonderful encounter with the Lord.

Thanks and God bless you all.

P.S. Even if you read this post after the retreat, just say a short prayer for the retreat and vocations in general. With God there is no time difference ;)

You carry the name of Christ on your shoulders

This is a really scary example of how much people watch us as Catholics and will put us to the test! Always remember (as I try to remember) that you carry the name of Christ on your shoulders when you call yourself "Catholic.

This is the last paragraph of the 5 Cents story I posted on mon. I got it again in my email today, but what is more weird is that today on the MRT back from our pastoral at St Joseph's Home, I encountered an example similar to this.

Two of us seminarians were on the NEL chatting away, talking about the upcoming Vocation Retreat. When two seats became available, we sat down and continued talking. Then I heard the word "seminarian" whispered, and I overheard a middle-aged couple sitting opposite us talking about us both, that we are seminarians, and that she recognised the logo on our t-shirts. I must have been straining my ears to catch what they might be saying about us, when the woman and I made eye-contact. She mouthed the words seminarian, and I just smiled back, nodded my head and mouth back yes.

After that it was this weird situation, the couple were in this kena caught talking about people mode and did not look over at us, and I was stuck wondering what I should be doing. The train was still quite full with people standing around, so was like quite awkward to start a conversation across the train carriage. Thoughts like should we introduce ourselves, make small talk. So in the end all I managed to do was wave and say goodbye when they got off at the stop.

This was like the situation of the priest in the bus in the 5 Cents story. The idea of me being a public figure has not really sunken in. There have been instances before where strangers have recognised and approached me. But the story and this incident, reminds me that there could also be others who might be observing me without me knowing. Now as a seminarian, more so as a priest. This means that I could be proclaiming Christ through my actions, or a cause of scandal for others by my actions.

But I think the scarier thing would for me to be so conscious of myself and image, that it becomes hypocritical. That I do good so that others may see, or portray a front, instead of changing the inner-reality of my life. Thus I pray for the grace to change my life, so that what is inside me, is what people see on the outside, "the name of Christ on my shoulders". Or as the bishop would say during the ordination rite when he hands the book of Gospels over

"believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach."