The Barefoot Journey Home

Spirit fall Open up heaven's door We're waiting with worship for more You're the only love that satisfies me Lord, we run into Your loving arms We're safe and secure in Your love You're the only love that satisfies me Leave me astounded, leave me amazed Show off Your glory, let heaven invade We're waiting with worship, we're waiting with praise For the almighty presence of God to invade.  A couple of years ago, at a Camp that I was serving at, this song was specifically chosen as the theme song of the camp. This song was specifically chosen for the purpose of helping the youths to call upon the Holy Spirit, to give them that personal encounter with the Lord. And what moves  me about this song, apart from the fact that it calls upon the Holy Spirit to come to us, just like how it came to the disciples and Mary did at Pentecost which the Church celebrates today, is the fact that this song invites the Holy Spirit to leave us astounded.  Why on earth wo...

We’ve just celebrated the solemnity of the Ascension last Thursday, where Jesus, 40 days after his resurrection, ascends to heaven to take his place at the right of his heavenly Father. Jesus has left this earth, and now, we wait for the coming of the advocate that he’s been talking about during the last few Sundays in our gospel. And it is this same advocate that the Church has been praying for in these last few days, especially in our liturgies. This advocate is none other than the Holy Spirit.  This week, Jesus leaves this world, and the gospel for the Ascension tell us that when Jesus does so, the disciples fall before him, even though some of them hesitated, and Jesus gives them this promise, that he will be with them always.  It’s no doubt that the disciples to whom Jesus made this promise were just like you and I. The disciples were saints in the end, but they were also sinners. Peter, the rock on which Jesus built his Church and to whom Jesus gave the keys...

If this prayer rings a bell to you, chances are; you’re probably a parishioner of St. Mary of the Angels, or you’re familiar with the Franciscan Friars. This simple prayer is a prayer which is actually composed by St. Francis of Assisi, and it is prayed by Franciscans throughout the world today, typically at the start and at the end of each hour of the Liturgy of the Hours.  During his life on earth, whenever Francis caught sight of a Church, he was known to go into the Church, where he would kneel and pray these very simple and profound words in front of the crucified Lord. Francis was known to gaze into the eyes of Christ on the Cross as he prayed this prayer, which he believed to follow him wherever he went. Whenever Francis prayed this prayer in front of the cross, it was always the eyes of Jesus which drew his attention. Francis saw that the eyes of the suffering servant which hung upon the Cross showed no sign of anguish. To Francis, the eyes of Christ on the c...

Among the non-human creatures in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, one of my all-time favorites is none other than Dobby the House Elf. This character was introduced to us in the second book, and I think it’s quite safe to say that Dobby has won the hearts of many Potterhead’s like myself. And I think it’s also quite safe to say that there are many things that we can learn from Dobby, especially with regard to the faith that we have. Sounds cliché? Maybe.    For those of us who are familiar with the Harry Potter series, we’d be fully aware of this fact. Dobby was enslaved. At the beginning of the second book, where we are introduced to Dobby, we learn that he is enslaved to a family in the wizarding world, who we later discover to be the Malfoy family. During his enslavement to the Malfoys, Dobby is tortured and abused, both physically and mentally, on an almost daily basis. Dobby suffered much under his enslavement.  The only way for Dobby to be set free is...

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong." - 1 Corinthians 16:13 A couple of years ago, after resisting many invitations to at least come for the ballot for nearly three years, I finally plucked up the courage to attend a retreat called Awaken. I gave the excuse that I didn't quite like the idea of queuing up from the wee hours of the morning before, just to get a chance to attend the retreat (as it was extremely popular back in the day). However, I think that God must have planned for me to attend this retreat exactly at that point in my life, in June 2016, where there was an extravagant amount of empty slots, such that I did not even need to physically go down to CSC in Serangoon to submit my forms. Moreover, the timing couldn't have been better as I was in my last six months of National Service, and I was already in "ORD mode".  It became quite clear from then on that the Lord was after my soul! During this retreat, ...