The Barefoot Journey Home

 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

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

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