The Barefoot Journey Home

Let's be honest. All of us have difficulty agreeing with certain teachings from Mother Church. Here are some examples. Some of us are passionate about Gender Equality, and we can't understand why the Catholic Church does not allow for Women Priests. Some of us view the scandals that are being uncovered in the Church among the clergy today are a result of our Priests being required to remain celibate, and thus we strongly feel that the Church should not impose celibacy as a requirement for its clergy. To some, human beings are made with physical needs, and they feel that the Church should relax her stance towards pre-martital sex, contraception, LGBTQ, and even abortion. Some of us feel that the changes to the Liturgy from Vatican II ought not to have taken place. To many, the Traditional Latin Mass is the only form of worship that should be accepted as valid by the Church. To many, the rubrics of the Liturgy are but man-made laws, and we feel that there's no need to observe...

Growing up with the Harry Potter Series, I’ve always been intrigued by Harry’s scar. For those of us who are familiar with the series, we’d know that this scar was caused by the dark wizard, Lord Voldermort, during that fateful night when he appeared in Godric’s Hollow and murdered Harry’s parents.  My fellow potter heads would also know that throughout the story, Harry’s scar was a constant source of pain and suffering. Whenever Voldermort was near, his scar would burn and Harry would experience immense pain. The scar caused Harry even more pain whenever he was in danger of Lord Voldermort or his followers. And because of the connection that the horcrux inside of Harry had to Voldermort, Harry’s scar would hurt every time he had a vision of what Voldermort was doing, or when Voldermort was able to use dark magic to penetrate into Harry’s mind.  However, for those of us who know the story, we’d know that the scar played an important role in helping Harry to destroy the hor...

We've been taught from the time when we were young that when we receive the Eucharist, what we're supposed to do is to return to our pews, get down on our knees and pray. We've been taught that this is the time where we are the closest we can ever be to our God, and therefore, it's the best time to talk to him about our struggles, to thank him for the gift of life and for the gift of his very presence in the Eucharist. This is amiss in itself. In other words, this is not the way in which Mother Church intends for us to receive the Eucharist at Mass.  I know that I'm going to unruffle the feathers of many by posting this musing. So before I do that, I just want to assure you, dear reader, that like all my liturgical musings, this post is not an attempt to be a critique of anybody, nor is it an attempt to push an agenda in our diocese. Like I've mentioned in all my liturgical musings, I would not be aware of such things today if I had not had the privilege of bein...

This is something which does not happen in majority of the parishes in our Archdiocese. Perhaps it’s in the interest of time not to delay the offertory by waiting for the money to be collected by the Wardens before bringing it up with the Bread and Wine. After all, with the happy problem of our Churches in Singapore being packed to the rafters on Sundays, there is a practical need for our Masses to end on time, so as not to cause a war in the carpark at the end of Mass. The people who may be attending the next Mass would also need to get in, with sufficient time to compose themselves before entering into the great celebration of the Paschal Mystery. It’s a practical concern.  This post is not meant to be a critique of the liturgical practices in our Archdiocese. I assure you dear reader, that it is not. Nor is this an attempt to push an agenda, or to be a Liturgical Terrorist. Personally, I would not be aware of such things today if I hadn’t had the privilege of being taught b...