The Barefoot Journey Home

In the last three Sundays, the Church has given us extremely long accounts from the Gospel of John. Two weeks ago, we heard of Jesus’ encounter with Samaritan woman. Last Sunday, we heard of the sign that Jesus performed by curing the blind man. Today, we hear almost the entire of the 11th Chapter of John's gospel. I'm quite sure that many would agree that the Gospel of John is not easy to read.  In majority of the signs that Jesus performed in the Gospel of John, it generally has the same theme. Jesus performs a miracle or a sign, which results in misunderstanding among the people, and the Jewish authorities get more and more angry with him. We see this Last Sunday, where Jesus cures the blind man. Jesus cures the Blind Man on a Sabbath day, and the Jewish Authorities got upset and persecuted the blind man and Jesus. The Jewish Authorities went so far as to say “A man who did this cannot be from God, because he does not obey the sabbath law”. In Tuesday’s gospel, ...

This is one of, if not the most frequent quotes from the New Testament. Sounds cliché doesn't it? Especially with the state that our world is in today with the COVID-19 situation. People are getting critically ill. Those who were pursuing their studies abroad have been asked to come home. People who have returned to Singapore from other countries have been given a 14-day "stay-at-home" notice to serve. As I was writing this musing, the latest press release from the Ministry of Health came out, ruling that all entertainment venues such as Bars and Night Clubs have also been ordered to close their doors for the time being. And lest we forget, the suspension of the celebration of Liturgies in the parishes is still ongoing. We are certainly in troubled times. Our world really seems to be in turmoil because of this whole pandemic. Last week, we celebrated the Solemnity of St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tomorrow, the Church rejoices in the  great celebrat...

We are certainly in difficult times. The liturgical celebrations within the parishes in Singapore were supposed to have resumed last weekend, but due to the worsening of the COVID-19 situation, it was not meant to be. Even with the precautionary measures in place, with thermal scanners at the doors of our Churches, the situation is still not stable enough to allow us to resume the celebration of the Mystery of Christ within the Parishes. Many parishes even had to put all large gatherings on hold as well. Alas, we are still waiting with hopeful longing for the day when we'll once again, as a Eucharistic community, be fed with our spiritual food from the table of the Eucharist. However, the good news is that there's still a table from which we can be fed and nourished spiritually, especially as we celebrate the Mass at home with our families. This table is the table of the Word of God, which is just as important as the table of the Eucharist. At Mass, this table is known as the...

The youth & young adults floor in my Parish is a place that's quite special to me. I must say that I'm really quite blessed that our parish is actually one of the more privileged parishes in the archdiocese that not only has the luxury of a youth room, but also a resource room for meetings, a cosy attic where our young communities gather for Sessions, as well as for Liturgies, a pantry where we share meals together, and on top of that, we have a rooftop garden, all on the same floor! The Youth Floor in St. Ignatius Church is a place of many fond memories for many people in the DVC Community. It's a place of rest during camps, a place where many of the young ones come to study during their exam periods, a place where many deep and meaningful conversations take place, a place where people pray with one another, a place where many feel the warmth of community and share their lives with one another. In short, the youth floor at St. Ignatius Church is a place where many ha...

In the popular Disney Film, Pinocchio, when the wooden puppet was given the gift of life, he was told by the Blue Fairy that in order to become a real boy, he would first need to prove himself to be brave, truthful, and unselfish. He had to learn to choose between what is right and what is wrong. And to do this, he was given a conscience, who told him to simply call upon his name or whistle whenever he ran into temptation. Just like Pinocchio, I suppose for all of us, myself included, we too have been put on this earth with a mission to become that real person that we have been created to be. We too are called to strive to always choose the straight and narrow path, to be brave, truthful, and not to be selfish, even when it is difficult to do so. We too are called to discern between right and wrong. And we too, have the gift of a conscience, the Holy Spirit, which we receive at our baptism, where God gives us new life as his beloved children. And just like Pinocchio, we too will run...