The Barefoot Journey Home

Happy Pancake Tuesday! Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. Tomorrow, we begin the season of Lent, the period for us as Christians, where we prepare ourselves for the great celebration of the Paschal Triduum, also known as the Easter Triduum. The liturgical colour for this season is Purple, which symbolises that the Church is in a period of preparation. For many of us, myself included, Lent often appears to be a season where we are called to give something up, be it meat, sweet drinks, chocolates, or even cursing, merely as an act of repentance. There is a danger that Lent can seem to be a time where we are called to do penance, merely to appease an angry God. And while it is true that we are called to Repent and turn our hearts back to the Lord during the season of Lent, it is never for the purpose of appeasing an angry God. It's always about connecting with a loving and merciful God. This could possibly be why until recent years, I was never able to stick to my Lenten observances. Appe...

In a couple of posts in Social Media the other day, there were some comments about Priests celebrating "Private" Masses with a select group of people during this time of crisis, where all Parish liturgies have been suspended in the Archdiocese of Singapore. This post is not meant to be a critique of anyone who may have the idea that Masses are private, I assure you that it is not. Personally, I don't think I'd be aware of such things today if I hadn't had the privilege of being taught by my former Parish Priest. I do, however, hope to raise awareness, by means of this musing, of the right way of worship, something which is perhaps understood in a very weak way by all of us Laity. The very idea that our Liturgies, be it the Liturgy of the Hours, or the Mass, should be called private, is already amiss in itself. The liturgy is not private, nor is it exclusive. In SACROSANCTUM CONCILIUM , under the General Principles for the Restoration and Promotion of Sacred Li...

Yesterday, the Archbishop of Singapore made a very difficult decision to cancel all Liturgical Celebrations in the parishes with effect from this weekend, in light of the spread of the Novel Coronavirus. Personally, I'm very saddened by this. The Mass is the highest form of prayer. For us as Catholics, the Eucharist is our spiritual food, and for the time being, we're just going to have to make do with watching the Mass via Livestream. That seems like the closest we will ever get to the Liturgy, at least for the time being. However, many of us are not aware that even with the cancellation of Masses due to the Health Hazzard, there is a Liturgy that we can celebrate as Lay People. Even I was not made aware of this, until my former Parish Priest, who is a well-trained Liturgist, decided that as a parish, we should come together to pray this great prayer before the Daily Mass (and during the Morning Mass). He also took the liberty of organising formation sessions on this form of...

At the start of last week, I realised that I had an ulcer in my mouth. While usually harmless, an ulcer can cause terrible pain and discomfort. They are wounds that we'd normally prefer to heal as soon as possible. I was getting rather annoyed with having that ulcer, especially as I was on holiday. I wanted to enjoy my food in peace, but my ulcer was preventing me from doing so. I found myself wanting to rid myself of the ulcer at once. When I was young, I was taught that the quickest, but most painful way to heal an ulcer would be to apply salt to it. It had been a while since I had tried this, but since I was on holiday and wanted to rid myself of the ulcer as soon as I could, I decided to do it. I went to the kitchen in my Airbnb, found some salt, and went to the sink. I applied some salt to my ulcer, and at once, I was filled with an immense and stinging pain. The pain was so great that it instantly made me regret my choice of applying salt to my wound. I was reminded of the ...

‘At last, all powerful Master, you give leave to your servant to go in peace, according to your promise; for my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared for all nations, a light to enlighten the gentiles and give glory to your Israel, your people.’ These were the words from Luke's Gospel, which were proclaimed during Mass last weekend. The prophet Simeon spoke these words in praise to God, as the child Jesus and his parents entered the temple. Simeon was a virtuous man, and he had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death, until in his life, he had seen the Christ. And upon seeing the infant Jesus, he spoke these words of praise to the Lord, telling him that if he were to die that very night, all would be well. He was ready to leave this world, just because he had seen the Lord. These words are also prayed by all Priests, Deacons, Bishops, and Religious, on a daily basis. This prayer, known as the Nunc Dimittis, is the canticle prayed duri...