Tuesdays with Morrie

Yes I watched the show. Even though I missed it 2 weeks ago and last nite on hallmark. We watched it for session today. After watching 5 people you meet in heaven, I knew that it would be good. But its quite an amazing show. And knowing how a movie can never do justice to the book, will probably look at buying the book sometime soon.

Was thinking of putting some quotes in this post, but really there are too many. But must say, that watching it really reminded me of Fr Fossion. This humourous old man, waiting for the Good Lord to take him home. He spouting his words of wisdom everytime we visit him. And imagine the surprise I had, when I looked at my palm for this week's events, and I saw that Fr Fossion's Anniversary falls on Tuesday. Maybe will have a Tuesday with Fossion lesson.

The other thing is that Tuesdays with Morrie also has many lessons to teach for me for my future ministry. That fatherly figure, who puts much emphasis in relationships, in teaching his experiences. His openess, approachability also links with the polish priest who I blogged about that did the Divine Mercy triduum. Some of us met up with him yesterday, and he was really warm and friendly. In the conversations that we had, although we kept asking him questions about poland, he seemed more concerned about our lives, and getting to know us. Maybe because there are no chinese and indians in poland ;Þ

But yup, quite eventful and thought provoking 2 days. Had a long meeting but like Morrie said, he spends some time in "self-pity" on some mornings and then he looks forward to the joy the new day will bring him. Cheers!

John Paul II Generation

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for August 2005

General Intercession:
That World Youth Day may inspire or re-awaken in young people the desire to meet Christ and find in him the guide of their own lives.

Mission Intention:
That the priests, religious men and women, seminarians and laity from Mission countries who are completing their formation, may find their stay in the “Eternal City” a time of spiritual enrichment.

Anyway now about the title of this post : "John Paul II Generation"
I was just reading an interview in Zenit of the author of the book titled "The John Paul II Generation" which is on the effect the Polish Pope has had on the youth who were born during his papacy.

John Paul II was Pope for more than 26 years, the period of a generation. Therefore, all youths born since 1978 have been formed with his teachings. This is the John Paul II "Generation."

These are the young people of Pope Karol Wojtyla, who followed him to the end and to whom he himself dedicated his farewell phrase: "I have looked for you. Now you have come to see me, and I thank you."

This "John Paul II Generation" has a fundamental characteristic: It is the generation of young people who think in an affirmative way. It is the "yes" generation. "Yes" to life, understood as vocation and therefore as gift of God.

"Yes" to commitment, consequent to this vocation. "Yes" to Jesus Christ, that is, to the one who calls. "Yes" also to the Church, through the call. In sum, it is precisely that "yes" that John Paul II preached in the course of his pontificate, living them and witnessing them himself to the end.

How lucky I am to be part of this generation. Born the same year as he started his great mission.

And definitely one of the most important facet of this great man, is his passion for the youth. And not surprisingly this World Youth Day, is a continuation of the legacy that he leaves behind. So let us keep Pope Benedict's prayer intention for this month in our hearts, as the many youths travel and gather in Cologne, to share and celebrate their identity as the future of the Church. May they be touched and transformed to become Christians strong in faith, and passionate about the message of Christ. To say that "Yes" to Christ, and "Yes to following Him.

Divine Mercy Triduum

Ok last one before I go to sleep.
On wed and thurs nite, I went for the divine mercy triduum at CTK. It was preached by a polish priest, from the hometown of St Faustina. I can't remember how to spell his name, but will find out later today.

Anyway, he had many interesting stories in his sermon. Just want to record it down for future use, and share with my readers if there are any ;Þ

Bus Driver
There was a bus driver, driving his bus full of passengers into town, when he realised that his brakes were not working, thus not able stop the speeding bus. He saw a parking lot ahead, and decided to turn into it, as it was on a slope, and that would slow the bus down. Normally the parking lot would be deserted, but as he turned in, he saw a child playing there. Without brakes he only had to choices, to knock the child or swerve and kill the people on board the bus. (a bit drama..but tat's not the pt) So the bus driver kept his course and knocked the child over. When the bus came to a halt, the passengers asked him, "why did you knock down the child?" He answered, "I had no choice, the brakes were out, it was either he die, or you die." Then a passenger said, "you should at least have sounded your horn". The bus driver in tears replied, "it would have been of no use. The child is deaf." "How do you know?", They asked. "Cos he's my son."

I heard this story before, but can't seem to find it on the net. But yah, basically describes the father's love for us. Sounds like the other story about the family who had to give up their son to produce a cure for a plague.

Bend Down
When John Paul II was still a cardinal and the archbishop of Kraków, there was an occasion where a boy was reading a poem to him. But because of the noise generated by the crowd. Cardinal Karol had difficulty hearing the poem. So he asked the boy to read it again, because he couldn't hear it. And the boy told him "Bend down, so that you can hear".

The point the priest was bringing across here, is for us to listen to the voice of God amidst the noise of the world around us, we have to 'bend down', to humble ourselves, to put ourselves in a better position to hear God speaking to us.

Good Luck, Bad Luck
There were two polish neighbours, one day the horse of one man escaped, the neighbour said, "oh wat bad luck". The owner of the horse replied, "bad luck? maybe good luck." A few days later, the horse returned, the neighbour said, "oh wat good luck". The owner replied, "good luck? maybe bad luck". The next day, the owner's son was riding the horse when he fell and broke his leg. "Oh what bad luck." The neighbour said. "bad luck? maybe good luck." was the owner's reply. Subsequently the son was supposed to be called up to do national service, but because of his injury, he was exempted. "oh wat good luck" the neighbour commented. The father said "good luck? maybe bad luck".

This story can go on forever, but the point is, that bad things may be blessings in disguise, and good things may not be that good after all. God has a purpose for things to happen in our lives. He can bring good out of our misfortunes, even when we can't see it. We have to trust in him.

Ok... no more stories. But some interesting points he brought up.

Disciples in the Upper Room
The gospel he used on thurs, was on doubting Thomas. And father, suggested that we imagine that the upper room with the 11 disciples in it is actually our heart. In each of us, we have the doubts of Thomas, the weaknesses of Peter, the rashness of James.

Building up trust in God
One of the ways that father suggested for us to build up our trust in God, is to connect ourselves with others who also trust in God. He mentioned that the early christians had a practice, that they were to meet a fellow christian everyday. So that we can be motivated and inspired to trust in God more. We can also read the lives of saints to see how they led their lives. At that time, I remembered one of the few chinese proverbs that I know by heart.

Jin Zhu Zhe Chi, Jin Mo Zhe Hei.
"He who stays near Vermillion gets stained red:
He who stays near ink gets stained black."
Meaning : One takes on the colour of ones company.

My chinese not bad ah...can quote proverbs all. Anyway that's about all I can remember. Time to go to sleep. So I shall end of with some polish words :

Jesu Ufam Tobie
Jesus I Trust In You

Moses' Radiant Face

Wednesday's first reading Ex 34:29-35 talks about how Moses, after speaking with the Lord, came down the mountain and his face was radiant, and the rest of the Israelites saw it.

It reminds me of what I always think of when I read the passage of the visitation Lk 1:39-45. Mary carried in her womb, Jesus, and Elizabeth was able to recognise that just on seeing Mary. That's the transforming power of God, same with Moses, to be able to give people that peace and joy that just radiates out of the person.

Which reminds me of what Sr Theresa Ryan once shared with us. She said that even when she wasn't wearing the habit, sometimes strangers would know that she is a nun. And then don't know who was telling me, that for the canossian sisters, it is part of the spirituality or their rules to be joyful. No wonder so many of them are gila.

People always say that a pregnant woman has this 'glow'. And that's probably because of the life that she carries within her. But we guys only hope of glowing is to carry Christ in our hearts ;Þ

Parable of the Pearl

Delayed long enough. Had 3 posts in mind, but never got round to posting it. Hope it doesn't take too long.
Tues night's sharing was taken from Mt 27:45-56
And its been quite a few days, so hope I can remember what I shared. Don't know why I didn't record it in my palm.

The first thing that struck me, was the song we sang at the beginning : So You Would Come. Because on mon nite, I met a friend, who was telling me what Fr Luke preached on sunday. He asked the congregation to close their eyes, and think of the most holy, God-pleasing thing that they had done. After which he said, "God didn't love you any more because of that". Then he asked them to think of the most hideous, sinful thing that they had done. And "God didn't love you any less because of that". And immediately I thought of the lyrics of this song.

"Nothing you can do, could make Him love you more,
and nothing that you've done could make Him close the door.
Because of His great love, He gave His only Son
Everything was done so you would come"

And yes, thats the concept so hard to grasp. So often we want to gain God's love by trying to be holy, when actually it's because of His love that we want to be holy.

Then Fr Luke also talked about the parable of the pearl. Explaining how a pearl is formed. It starts out as an ugly piece of dirt. But by embedding itself in the oyster, it slowly gets coated, over and over again with nacre until it becomes a beautiful shiny pearl. And that is how we can also be if we allow ourselves to be transformed by Christ, by allowing ourselves to be coated by His love.

The last part of my sharing is using Fr Cantalamessa's sharing on the passage

"On the other hand, the parable does not say that "a man sold everything he had and began to look for a hidden treasure." We know how these stories end: One loses what one has and finds no treasure. These are stories of illusions, of visionaries.

In this story, a man found a treasure, and because he found it he sold everything he had to acquire it. One must first find the treasure to have the strength and joy to sell everything."

So look for the treasure. And once you find it. Do everything you can to own it.

Then someone in the group shared about the contrast between Jesus' death (light turning into darkness)

"From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon."

Mt 27:45

and his birth (darkness turning into light)

"And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was."

Mt 2:9

Role of Parents - Ss Joachim and Anne

Today the Church celebrates the Memorial of Ss Joachim and Anne, parents of the blessed Virgin Mary. And something struck me in the course of my day which was linked to the first reading.

The first reading was taken from Sirach 44:1,10-15. What struck me was this

"Here is a list of generous men whoes good works have not been forgotten. In their descendents there remains a rich inheritance born of them. Their descendants stand by the covenants and, thanks to them, so do their children's children."

Sir 44:10-12

Father in his sermon preached about how parents hand down their faith to their children. And rightly so, as it is stated in the reading. It is a rich inheritance that they receive from their parents. And "thanks to them" they pass it on. Just like Ss Joachim and Anne, raised Mary up to be a holy girl, such that she was in the right disposition to respond to God's calling to be the Mother of God.

Now the sad thing is, todays parents may not be passing the faith on. Because of the fact that they themselves may not have it in the first place. Why I say this? Today in the tuition centre, my mum told me about this student. (She likes to inform me of the Catholic ones, just like my dad likes to tell others that I know Fr Brian, Luke and Mike, when others say they are from those parishes)

Anyway, she told me that this student said she couldn't come on saturdays because of catechism. That's the good part. So my mum asked when does she go for mass, and the girl replied, she seldom goes, because her parents don't bring her. And I told my mum, yah this happens in almost every parish. Parents drop kids for catechism, parents go for mass, after mass pick up kids from catechism and go home.

How is the child ever going to receive a rich inheritance from their parents? It reminds me of the term Fr Ignatius Huan always uses. Second-hand faith. And as it passes down, it becomes third, fourth, fifth-hand. The value keeps dropping. And that person becomes like what Fr Cantalamessa preached

"the man or woman who had the precious pearl and did not realize its value"

Father Cantalamessa on Heaven's Insurance

Thankfully by God's wonderful grace, there is hope for some, who search for the truth, or encounter "angels" who guide them back to the treasure. But sadly most will fall away.

So much to be done, but who and how? Sad!!!
May all parents follow the example of Ss Joachim and Anne, and help their children to grow in faith and love for God. Amen.

Zenit Snippets

After formatting and reinstalling my comp 3 times, it is back and fully alive.
Also had to finish my article for In Communion on Catholic Blogs.
And when I finally opened my gmail acct, I saw a whole flood of emails, especially the daily ones from zenit, purposed driven life and shorelines.

So here's just a snippet of the interesting ones.
1) Vatican Radio - www.105live.vaticanradio.org
Vatican Radio's website allows you to download the programs they broadcast in mp3 and real audio formats. From reflections on the Gospels, to news, to faith issues. And it is daily, you can download it into ur mp3 player and listen where u go.

2) Catholic Insider - www.catholicinsider.com
This one is really a podcast, maintained by a Dutch priest, he takes excerpts from vatican radio, adds in his own comments. And for Harry Potter fans, he has quite a bit on the book.

3) Fr Cantalamessa - Sermon on Parable of the treasure and pearl
Very good sermon, talks about the other party who owned the field and the oyster, but didn't realise its value. Also about how we give up all after we found the treasure.

That's about all I manage to clear... See if anything else interesting pops up. And of course got to start reflecting on my own. And share some personal stuff.