2012 Retreat Experience @ Divine, Kerala.

Not many know that my personal theme in life since 1996 is taken from the Holy Scripture i.e. Jeremiah 18:6 ('As clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in My hands'). That is why even my email id is 'jer186'. Hope u had noticed that the theme of my blog page is based on the same theme.

In 1996 when I was at a crossroad in my life, the Lord spoke to me through this scripture text when I attended an event for youths organized by the Youth Office from KL Archdiocese . Since then I've allowed the Lord who is my 'Potter' to lead my life by molding and using me as His clay whenever and wherever He wishes. This scripture text is my daily prayer. I know at times I've been a stubborn clay but the faithful 'Potter' never gives up, He will began again and shape it as He thought fit.

Once again the Lord has assured me of His faithfulness and love through the same scripture text when I attended the retreat at the Divine Retreat Centre in Kerala, India. After surrendering everything especially all that I've gone through since the year 2008; during the Holy Mass and prayer service on Thursday, the Lord spoke within me telling me that He is the same 'Potter' that I've encountered in 1996. I received messages from the Lord on this sentiment of my theme from the talks, songs and prayer sessions on that particular day in Divine. It was as though that day was dedicated just for me! Later in the evening during the healing service by Fr. Michael Payyapilly VC, I felt free, light and so much of joy. A feeling which I have no words to describe. All that I have been carrying within me since 2008 has been removed by the Lord and now He carries it for me, I need not worry at all about those pain, problems and struggles I have faced since 2008. Praise the Lord!! Alleluia!!.

I now look forward to the plans that my 'Potter' has for me and my ministry. Yes Lord, as clay in the hands of the potter, so am I in Your hands. Mold me and use me. Lord have your way in me. Amen.

I thank all of you who prayed for me during my retreat and especially Mr. Joseph Roosevelt Pereira for making it possible for me to be able to attend the retreat. God bless you all.

A Best Friend like Jonathan....

My reflection today on the 1st reading taken from the Book of First Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7 is on the person of Jonathan and his relationship with David. The two of them became close friends when David entered the service of Saul. "...Jonathan felt an instant affection for David; Jonathan loved him like his very self" - 1Sam 18:1. The following chapters will show us that in the conflated account of David's troubles with Saul there are accounts of Jonathan's successful intercession for David with Saul. When Jonathan was killed, David was in deep sorrow, he had an elegy for both Saul and Jonathan. This is what he had to say about Jonathan; "...Jonathan, by your dying I too am stricken, I am desolate for you, Jonathan my brother. Very dear you were to me, your love more wonderful to me than the love of a woman.." - 2Sam 1:25-26.

I tell you, I envy David!! I wish I had a close friend like Jonathan. And all I ask of him is just to be like Jonathan, to love and care for me. Hahaha sounds selfish ya!! Anyway when I look at myself, I see that I have tried to be like Jonathan to many. I have loved them more than I love myself. Sacrificed a lot and didn't count the cost and all I asked of them in return is their friendship of love and care. But all I got was otherwise. Sigh.....

As I conclude, I ask God what is His message for me; and the message that Jesus gave from the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) which is " You go and do the same; you be a neighbor to the rest"applies for me, i.e. 'You, go and BE A FRIEND to those in need of one".

I am not perfect, and in truth I need better skills to be a good friend. I shall learn. Experiences is a good teacher. I will continue my promises to those who are already my friends and close friends; that I will continue to love and care for you like how Jonathan was to David, no matter how you treat me. And maybe by God's grace, He will bless me with a 'Jonathan '.

May God bless all our friendships...

2011 CHRISTmas Experience.

This year's Christmas celebration for me has been somehow like a 'Biblical Christmas'. Allow me to explain further; The gospel readings taken for the midnight mass - Luke 2:1-14. From this reading we hear that the humble King's birth is proclaimed first to the lowly. The shepherds were generally poor and to some extent outcasts, considered by the 'respectable' to be ignorant, dirty and lawless. In another word, they can be called as 'Anawim' Yahweh - The 'poor' of Yahweh.

After my Christmas eve masses at Segamat and Cha'ah, together with Fr. Cyril and Bro. Joseph ofm cap, we traveled to the Orang Asli Kampung in the morning of Christmas Day. We had a Mass there for them and later joined them for lunch. They were prepared for the celebration, in fact I can say better then the city parishes. The singing was superb and though they had no Christmas tree or any of that sort of decorations at their 'Rumah Besar' (Place of Worship) they had decorated the place with their own cultural way with young coconut tree leaves and they even had a simple crib. They all came dressed in their best. I was told by the priest that some even wanted to do confession before mass just because they missed the penitential service 2 weeks ago. Now tell me, did they have a sense of Christmas? Was their celebration of Christmas with Christ. I'll give a big YES. They have put many of us 'materialistic' and 'respectable' people to shame. After the mass, we had the opportunity to be 'Santa Claus' or rather the real 'Saint Nicholas' by distributing some gifts to the children.

After that mass, we rushed back to Segamat to celebrate the Eucharist for the Migrants. And here again I witness tremendous preparation for the Eucharist Celebration such as the singing for mass. The church was packed for the 3.30pm mass and it was followed by an early dinner and fellowship.

In our society today, the two group above i.e. Orang Asli and the Migrants are considered the 'poor of Yahweh'. They are look down at and to some extent treated as outcasts. The scripture mentions that the Angel proclaimed to the shepherds 'good news of great joy', I hope through my presence and participation in their (Orang Asli & Migrants) celebrations I was able to proclaim the same 'Good News' and passed on the 'Joy', 'Peace' and 'Love' of Christmas.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen....Lk.2:20.

The Season of Advent.

In my previous post I promised to blog an explanation of the Season of Advent. The topic is easy for me but the task of summarizing and writing about it as a short article onto my blog was a difficult task. Every detail and information about this beautiful season of advent is important but I have to consider just giving the important points. Each time I was writing and typing on the keyboard, I have to keep telling myself; "Adrian, it's an article for your blog and not a half day session!!"..hehehe.

The word "Advent" comes from the Latin language (adventus) and means literally translated "arrival" or "coming into a place". The Christians use this term to signify the season of the year in which we are waiting for the coming of Christ: the time of recalling His first coming when he became man, and the time of looking forward to His second and final coming at the end of time.

Sadly many Catholic think that Advent is all about preparing (waiting) for Christmas i.e. the birth of Jesus Christ. They are not wrong and they are not fully right either. Advent is not just about 'waiting' for Christmas, it is also about the 'waiting' for Jesus' final coming. Advent has two parts; 1) From the 1st Sunday of Advent to December 16 inclusive and 2) December 17 to December 24.

If you follow the daily and Sunday readings during the 1st part of Advent, you will notice there are elements and expressions of the eschatological character of Advent: it makes us look forward to the coming of Christ at the end of time, thus for the reason that Advent is a preparation time for the final coming of the Lord. The final coming in glory is closely connected with the incarnation, in fact the second coming is the fulfillment of the first one. Advent then, should be a time of great expectation of the final coming of our Redeemer and therefore a time of great joy. Such a joyful looking forward to the day of the Lord is to a great extent missing in the life of Christians, and that is why it is important to make good use of the Advent season. The season of Advent calls for both: joy and penance, reverential fear and love and that is why there is a kind of penitential agenda for this period by which we prepare ourselves for the Christmas feast and also get ready for the final coming of the Lord.

The second part of Advent i.e. December 17 to 24 is focused as a preparation time for Christmas. During this period the weekday and Sunday readings helps us to look back at what happened during the 1st coming of Christ, His coming in humility in our human flesh. By recalling the events preceding the incarnation we should develop some special attitudes. We should come to a renewed and deep appreciation of this mystery of God becoming one of us in all things except sin. These few days before Christmas should bring us also to a better understanding of the history of salvation. Looking back how God prepared the way for his Messiah in the history of Israel we can only marvel at the wisdom and the wonderful plan.

In conclusion, the meaning of Advent: It is the time in which the Church meditates about the coming of the Lord. We recall His first coming and we yearn and look forward to His final coming.

Maranatha - Come, Lord.

Happy New Year!!!...Hmmmm in November 2011??

Coincidentally this year 2 communities (religion) also known as 'The people of the Book' celebrates their New Year today. The Catholic Community starts their New Liturgical Year (Missal of the Year B & Weekdays of Year 2) with the season of Advent and the Muslim Community with Awal Muharram (1st Month of the Islamic Calender) which coincides with Maal Hijrah i.e. Muhammad's journey from Mecca to Medina.

Both these celebrations calls for renewal and change and brings out the sense of anticipation (waiting). I hope in the next few days, I'll blog to explain about the season of Advent.
For now, lets just look at Muharram and Hijra. Wikipedia explains that; Muharram is one of the four sacred months of the year in which fighting is prohibited. Since the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar, Muharram moves from year to year when compared with the Gregorian calendar. The Islamic year is 11 to 12 days shorter than the Gregorian year for this reason the Islamic new year does not come on the same day of the Gregorian calendar every year.

Muharram is so called because it is unlawful to fight during this month, the word is derived from the word haram, meaning "forbidden". It is held to be the most sacred of all the months, excluding Ramadan. Some Muslims fast during these days. The Hijra (هِجْرَة) is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE.

Happy New Year my dear Catholic and Muslim friends. God bless you all.

A better understanding on the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

There have been some 'talk' on the Sacrament of the Sick lately at the small town I'm currently staying. Gathering from the discussions I hear, many people have actually misinterpreted and misunderstood this beautiful sacrament of spiritual and physical healing.

In the early middle ages this sacrament was administered to people who were not likely to recover from their sickness and eventually this became known as the sacrament for the dying which were likely called; last anointing or extreme unction (extrema unctio). Many people in this modern times still keep the above idea of extreme unction. I have seen this a couple of times when I follow priests when they go to administer the sacrament of anointing and the sick person or even the family members will decline to be anointed. Catholics still dreaded to ask for a priest to anoint themselves or their loved ones, since it was a sign that they had given up all hope of recovery and in the imminent danger of death.

So my dear friends if you are in the above group of people, this posts if especially for you. Now let us see one of the many text from scripture that explains this Sacrament of Anointing. James 5:14-15 - "Are any among you sick? They should call for the presbyters of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed any sins will be forgiven". The words that to be noted from the text is: Save, Raise them up, Forgiven. Now this three words clearly shows that it was not meant only for the dying but also 'spells out' HOPE for the sick.

Now how do we define who receives this sacrament for the 'sick'? I'm having a headache or a flu, so am I eligible to receive this sacrament? Definitely a sound mind and common sense can give an answer but nevertheless lets see what the Catechism of the Catholic Church has to say on this; 'The Apostolic Constitution Sacram unctionem infirmorum, following upon the Second Vatican Council, established that henceforth, in the Roman Rite, the following be observed: The sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given to those who are seriously ill...'(CCC.1513).

'The Anointing of the Sick is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived.' (CCC.1514).

'If a sick person who received this anointing recovers his health, he can in the case of another grave illness receive this sacrament again. If during the same illness the person's condition becomes more serious, the sacrament may be repeated. It is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick just prior to a serious operation. The same holds for the elderly whose frailty becomes more pronounced. (CCC.1515).

So who can administer this Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick? It is ONLY the priests. Now in addition to the Anointing, the Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum. Communion in the body and blood of Christ, received at this moment of 'passing over' to the Father. Now a deacon can administer the viaticum; a latin word which means 'provisions or food for the journey' and any commissioned Extra-Ordinary Ministers can distribute communion to the sick.

Please read the CCC.1499-1532 for more better understanding.

26th World Youth Day.

It's been 1month now since the closing Mass of the 26th World Youth Day at Madrid, Spain. This is my 3rd World Youth Day (WYD) after Manila in 1995 and Rome in the year of the Jubilee 2000.

All these 3 WYDs I attended has been recorded to be the 1st, 2nd and 3rd largest registered participants / pilgrims. WYD @ Manila has the current world record for the largest papal gathering with about 5,000,000 attended. WYD @ Rome in 2000 had about 2,000,000 pilgrims; whereas in WYD @ Madrid it nearly reached 2,000,000 participants.

I remembered being a timid person (sometimes I feel I am still one) but after my sacrament of confirmation in 1994, I felt and saw some changes in me. I am bolder now, I take chances and especially after the sacrament, I got involved in the parish youth ministry. This pave way for me to go for the WYD @ Manila. It was indeed a new experience; a gathering with a lot of young people. From here, I got more involved in church activities and even went further to the Archdiocese involvement. I even became the parish youth coordinator.

WYD @ Rome during the Jubilee Year 2000 was very special for me because it was a time when I was discerning my vocation. It was indeed a spiritual pilgrimage.

Compared to WYD @ Manila and Rome, the WYD @ Madrid was not an easy one for me. This was because I was responsible for the Malaysian contingent. It was like I was carrying a load on me and I really felt relieved when it was all over. Since being in charge, I did not have much time on my own to pray, reflect, etc but I did witness characters of certain Malaysian pilgrims and the best part is to see some youths from Malaysia taking on leadership roles. I must say I was proud to be leading this bunch of youths to the WYD. In particular I would like to mentioned that I underestimated 2 youths but they prove me wrong, they were just amazing. The best part for me during the WYD is the Marian Fest (the P&W, dancing, concert), listening to Archbishop Timothy Dolan from New York and especially the vigil with Pope Benedict XVI. A massive storm broke out during the vigil and all the pilgrims stood there still just wanting to listen to the beloved Papa. The Pope stopped his speech and waited with us for the storm to pass by. I know very well, that at that moment of the storm, the Pope was just thinking of all us pilgrims who were right in the middle of the storm and were getting wet. He was shielded by the cardinals and guards with umbrella but I'm sure he was 'feeling' for us and he prayed for us all. There were a reason for the storm; it was to settle the hazardous sand dust at the venue which was even worst. Actually it was kinda fun, its been so long since I 'played' in the rain..hehehe.

During this WYD I had the opportunity to see the Pope just about 5 meters away. Here is the video clip I took of the Pope (for those reading this via facebook, you have to go to the original post to view the clip):-



It is indeed a privilege, an honor to represent the many Malaysian youths who were not able to go for such an event; to listen and pray with the Pope who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church. I prayed for you all, our Papa the Pope prayed for you.
I thank God for this opportunity, I thank the many who made it possible for me to be part of this event. God bless you all.

To view more of my photos of the WYD @ Madrid, please click here.