The Barefoot Journey Home

Among all the doctrines of the Catholic Church, I can't think of one that we Catholics seem to neglect more than the doctrine of Purgatory. For those who've at least heard of the doctrine, it is often understood as the need to appease an angry God for the sins we've committed in this life. And since most of us know that God is loving and merciful, the doctrine of Purgatory is often written off by Catholics. Some of us are also convinced that the doctrine of Purgatory is not even mentioned in scripture (even though it's in Maccabees) and therefore it's probably some man-made teaching which the Catholic Church uses to encourage people to work on keeping their souls clean. Some just don't understand the doctrine enough to appreciate it fully.  It's no secret that the topic of Purgatory is something that most Catholics would avoid as much as possible. It's hardly mentioned at funerals, and I only know of two priests who are bold enough to preach about the s...

God certainly has a sense of humour. When I wrote about the three things I wanted for my funeral liturgy last week, little did I know that I was going to be involved with the planning of a funeral liturgy during the week. I suppose it was a reminder for me, that like the gospel from last Sunday tells us, an important thing which our faith demands is that we have our lamp of faith lit at all times, because we really never know when God is going to call us. And like I mentioned in my previous musings, the funeral liturgy is indeed a celebration, though it is much more than a mere celebration of the life of the deceased.  From the beginning of the celebration, when the casket is transferred from the Wake Parlour to the Church, something appropriate to be sung, is in fact Psalm 122, even though it is hardly used at funerals.  "I rejoiced when I heard them say,   Let us go to the House of God,  And now our feet are standing,  In your gates, O Jerusalem" From the...

In my days as an Altar Server, I've served at quite a number of Wedding and Funeral liturgies. In fact, up till this day, I still occasionally go back to serve at such liturgies when the need arises. More for funerals actually, because the current generation of servers are generally in school when Funeral Masses take place.   And more often than not, when I somehow get involved with the planning of the Funeral Liturgy with the family of the deceased, the question that often comes up would be if the deceased would have wanted certain things done in a certain way for their funeral. I find that it often leaves the family of the deceased with an additional burden as to how to best say goodbye to their loved one.  In light of this, I have decided that on this day, the second day of November, where the Church commemorates our loved ones who have gone before us, I want to make it clear that there are certain things that I want, and do not want to happen at my Funeral Mass. Fortunatel...

Last Wednesday, our Holy Father shocked Catholics around the globe when in an interview, he seems to have called for Civil Union for LGBT Catholics. In the documentary, Pope Francis appears to be in full support for allowing Civil Marriages between LGBT couples, especially when he said that they are beloved children of God, and that they have a right to a family.  It's no surprise that this statement from the Pope caused quite a stir among Catholics throughout the world. For people who know the traditions of the faith, including a few theologians, their first reaction was to denounce Pope Francis and his style. Their first reaction was to defend what the Church has taught for thousands of years. For others who approved of what the Holy Father said in the documentary, their reaction was one of full support. Many of them engaged in a war of words over the internet with the ones who tried to defend the teachings of Mother Church, and some even accused others of trying to be more Catho...

 Staying behind in Church when the celebration of the Liturgy ends is something which is quite a norm among many Catholics. For some, this is a rare chance for them to have some quiet time with our God, something which seems to be rather difficult to do during the week. For others, they know that having just received the Eucharist, they are as close as they possibly can get to our God, and they take comfort in savouring the moment. Some do it out of personal habit.  This post is not written with the intent to discourage people from spending that precious time with our God after the celebration of the Eucharist. I assure you, my dear reader, that it is not. Nor is this post written as an attempt to push any agendas. When I felt called to begin writing weekly musings and reflections at the start of this year, one key area in which I knew I was called to share with others by means of this blog is on how I practice the Catholic faith, which I dearly love. I do not write any of my ...

The worldwide situation for vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life definitely needs improvement. This is a fact. In Singapore, there are 13 seminarians who are currently in formation in the Diocesean Seminary, and there are probably no more than 20 men (and that's being generous) currently undergoing formation with the religious congregations. Within the next few years, more than half of the Priests in our Archdiocese will be above the age of 65. We certainly are facing a shortage of Vocations.  It's true that we need to get new vocations. And I don't just mean to promote Vocations and to encourage young men to give the priesthood or religious life a try. Sure, that's important. Quite frankly, I do feel that we as Church need to be more pro-active in promoting vocations. But beyond that, we need to nourish vocations. We need to provide an avenue for young people who are discerning their vocation to be intentional about their discernment journey. We need to help ...

No, I am not one of those Catholics who push for the Tridentine Mass to be the only form of worship officially recognised by the Church. It doesn't upset me when I enter a Church and see that the Altar Rails are absent, and I do not get irked when I see Catholics receiving the Eucharist with their hands. In fact, I'm all for allowing the Liturgy to be celebrated in our own languages, and I'd personally advocate for the Mass to be celebrated Versus Populum, rather than Ad Orientem.  I know that some might be starting to think I'm deluded. Or perhaps you might think that I just lied with the title of this musing, where I claimed to be a traditionalist, but in the very first paragraph of this blog, I expressed my views to be more in line with that of the mordenists. How are any of these things traditional?  In the 1960's, with the completion of the Second Vatican Council, or Vatican II, the Church saw a variety of changes to the Liturgy. Many Catholics were upset with...