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My take on Traditionis Custodes... at least for now

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Over the last weekend, Catholics from all around the world would have no doubt become aware that the Holy Father has issued a Moto Proprio. It appears that after years of Pope Benedict acknowledging the right of all priests to celebrate Mass in the Extraordinary Form, Pope Francis has decided to revoke this right and impose certain restrictions on the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.  Apart from the fact that the Traditional Latin Mass can no longer be celebrated in parishes, the new Moto Proprio dictates that the Diocesan Bishop must give authorisation for any priest to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass, and that the Bishop must only grant such authorisation to clergy and groups who do not deny the validity of Vatican II and the Magisterium. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to accompany a friend of mine to attend a Traditional Latin Mass at a SSPX chapel. While I found the rite to be beautiful, I must admit that what I encountered at that Mass was nothing short of t
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Forget About Forgetting

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"Forgive and Forget" It's something we often tell to our children and even to ourselves. It's no secret that all of us get hurt from time to time. It's also no secret that all of us hurt others from time to time. As Christians, we know that we ought to forgive those who hurt us. Our scriptures remind us of the importance of forgiving one another in many passages and stories. The grace to forgive one another is part of the Lord Prayer, the prayer which Jesus himself taught us, the prayer which most of us pray on a regular basis.  However, is there really truth in this term, to Forgive and Forget? Certainly, we ought to forgive one another as freely as we have been forgiven by our compassionate God. But have the scriptures ever indicated that we ought to erase from our memories all incidents in which we have been hurt? I don't think so. I might be wrong, and I'm open to being corrected if so, but none of the passages in the Bible which speak of forgiveness i
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On Being a Prophet

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In the first reading from our scriptures last weekend, the prophet Ezekiel heard the spirit of the Lord speaking to him, sending him to the camp of the Israelites, to the rebels who have turned against God. God chose to send Ezekiel to a place where people really needed God, to a place where the people seem to have abandoned God, and abandoned their faith. Sounds familiar? Maybe because the people who live in our world today have also abandoned their faith.   Two years ago, the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris caught fire. And of course, there was quite a lot of damage done. Many of our Catholics were posting on social media about how sad the situation was, and about how sad it was that such a beautiful Church had been destroyed. But how many of us actually were crying over the fact that people in Europe have abandoned their faith, rather than for the destruction of a Church which is also in fact a tourist attraction? The Churches in Europe are almost empty during Mass on Sunday. The C
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A Thousand Apologies

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I came across a Facebook post from a friend of mine last week, which brought back memories of a popular comedy from the 1970's. For those who followed the comedy, you'd know by the title of this post that I'm referring to the show Mind Your Language, a British sitcom about a group of adults from various parts of the world who come together in London to learn how speak English.  Although from the time of the previous century, this show is loved by many even till this day. I have to admit, I watched quite a bit of this show last week after coming across that Facebook post. In fact, in this day and age, many English teachers use this show to aid them in helping their students to improve their command of the English language (and this is how I was introduced to this show, as my Form Teacher showed this to us during our English lessons).  One of the catchphrases often heard in this show from one of the characters is the phrase "A Thousand Apologies" . For those who fol
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If there's a time to incorporate the Liturgy of the Hours into your prayer routine, the time is NOW

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 It has been a week since the authorities in Singapore have tightened movement restrictions in response to the pandemic. From being able to dine out in groups of 8, and from being able to gather with up to 250 people in our Churches for the celebration of the Eucharist, it seems as though we are back to square one. As much as it is not a full lockdown like we had last year (as we still can have up to 2 visitors to our homes each day), but with orders to work from home and to go out only for essential activities, it has left many of us rather frustrated with the whole situation. I have to admit, I was most upset when the Taskforce made the decision to order the gyms to close, as much as I understand why this needs to be done.  As much as it is more than understandable that people are frustrated with the whole situation, I'm a firm believer in making lemonade when life gives us lemons. As much as it breaks my heart to know that I won't be able to celebrate the Eucharist with the
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Our call to Unity

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If there's one thing that always strikes me about the gospel of John, it is the fact that during the passion, we see a very different side to Jesus than what is portrayed in the other gospels. While the accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke show us the brutality of the passion, and how much Christ suffered out of love for us, John depicts something quite different.  In the gospel of John, we see a very calm and collected Jesus during his passion. For one, when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane with his apostles, he did not sweat blood, nor did he ask his father to remove the cup of suffering from him if it were his will. In fact, you don't even have Judas coming up to kiss Jesus to signal the authorities to arrest him. Instead, we see Jesus give himself up on his own accord. John shows us that as much as Jesus did suffer the brutality of the passion, Jesus was in control. Jesus gave his life for us on his own accord, and he did so out of love.  It's interesting that the go
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Operating from a point of Convenience

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The manner in which we conduct our lives usually comes from a reference point, and in most circumstances, we are free to choose the reference point from which we make our decisions. For instance, when choosing what to eat at a coffee shop, we have a choice to take reference from the point of our cravings, from our dietary needs, or even from our budget. Every decision that we make should be made with reference to something.  This topic came up during one of my conversations with a mentor priest last week, where it came to light how sad it is that many of our parishes seem to operate from a point of convenience.  Many of our Catholics seem to have adopted the mindset that our faith is not all about following the rituals. And while I fully agree that it is not, I can't help but wonder if the way that this is pitched from the pulpit may have something to do with the fact that many of our Catholics don't seem to see the importance of understanding what we celebrate. Understanding t
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