I am a CHRISTIAN

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean living.'"
I'm whispering "I was lost,
now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Christians - By Maya Angelou

Homily for 5th Sunday of Lent (Year C)

Isaiah 43:16-21
Psalm 125
Philippians 3:8-14
John 8:1-11

Part of my homily given at my home parish (Church of the Visitation, Seremban)

The Woman caught committing adultery.

- Usually when we hear this gospel narrative we will reflect on either Jesus or the woman or the scribes and Pharisees.

- We can identify ourselves with the characters.

Woman = sinner being forgiven by God

Scribes and Pharisees = identify as accusers or always looking out at other people’s sins / mistakes.

or

Reflecting on the gracious mercy and forgiveness of God.

- Today, I invite you to reflect on the missing character in the narrative; i.e. the man.

In the Gospel, the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman who had been caught committing adultery to Jesus. They said, ‘Master, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery….’.

- If she was caught in the very act, then where is the man??

= The man might have been bribed by the Pharisee to go away hiding, because he is not important, the reason for this so called 'trial' of the woman, is basically to test Jesus.

= Or he might be the one bribing the scribes and Pharisees.

= Or he might be one of those accusers waiting in the front line to stone the woman (a good chance of ‘killing’ the evidence – very common nowadays).

- At the end of the gospel, we see that woman received forgiveness but we don't hear of the man's forgiveness.

- Yes, it was by chance she experienced God’s mercy but the man never.

- If only the man took responsibility of his sins / actions; he too will have been forgiven.

- It is all about personal responsibility….about ownership and accountability.

- We can easily identify ourselves with this man, we see he is very much existing in our lives. A character who does not take responsibility.

- Examples:-

1. A parent not taking responsibility over his son/daughter’s actions. (See YOUR son did this….YOUR daughter did that).

2. When the child is learning to walk or run and the child hits a chair or the wall and the parents blame the chair or wall (oh baby, its not your fault, this naughty naughty chair / wall. Beat it..ah beat it…ah you good baby, naughty chair). Eventually the child will grow and learn to blame others. Or he might be violent when dealing with others…any eye for and eye!!! We are teaching the child not to take personal responsibilities.

3. Children using siblings, grandparents or a parent as scape-goats. (He told me to dot it!!! Its all his faults!! Grandpa said its ok).

4. Getting a girl pregnant and not wanting to take responsibility.

5. Getting pregnant and wanting to go for abortion

6. When priest asks why the ministry is in this situation, and the member says he is not responsible (I don’t know, you ask the chairman. I didn’t want to serve here but you only ask me to be involved…its your fault)

- Taking responsibility of the way we live, our sinful life.

- Every action has a consequence just as sin has a consequence (St. Paul: the wages of sin is death)

- God forgives all our sins no matter how big there are.

- We just need to take the step, to go to him with a repentant heart. We need to take personal responsibility of the way we live.

- 1^st reading – God can make the impossible possible (dessert --> water / wilderness --> road) So God can sets us free and remove all our guilt.

- Pope’s Lenten and WYD Message (Jesus thirst-->Cries out to be loved and to love)

- God is calling us to renew r’ship with him.

- Just as the woman was brought to trial by ‘chance’ we too have an opportunity to be brought to God. Not a trial, but an encounter of love=Sacrament of reconciliation.

a 'Relational God'

Just after conducting a recollection for a youth group that i was posted 2years ago (St. Anne's Life Teen). Tired?? Yes. But working and being with youths; they'll give you all the energy, even if they don't have it!!!!

Anyway it was worth it. Once again I experienced the marvellous works of God through this recollection. Our God is a FAITHFUL GOD. I love to be a Catholic, cos i have a 'relational God'. And this is what i shared with the Youths. We have a God who loves us and in turn wants to be loved. As Pope Benedict XVI in his message for the 2007 World Youth Day affirms; "Christ cried out from the Cross: “I am thirsty” (Jn 19:28). This shows us his burning thirst to love and to be loved by each one of us." (Full text of the Pope's 22nd World Youth Day Message).

Thank you very much for all who prayed that the recollection will be a spirit-filled one. Indeed it was. Please pray for me as i began my retreat tomorrow until Saturday (24/3). After that I'll go on 4days break, till then...enjoy Life, enjoy JESUS.

Why Go To Confession?

Many churches will be having Reconciliation Services around this time. It is a good opportunity for us to be reconciled and strengthen our relationship with the Lord. I found an interesting article from a website and would like to share with all of you.

Why Go To Confession?

A person once asked about the need for the sacrament of confession when we can easily confess our sins directly to God. While there is some truth to this, there is something else that needs to be considered. Whenever we sin, our first response should be an immediate appeal to God for mercy and forgiveness. Repentance should be a regular part of the life of every human being, especially a believer. God is omniscient. Even when we repent in the secret of our heart, we are not telling Him anything that He doesn't already know. Rather, we are acknowledging our sin and taking responsibility for our actions and their consequences. The question that remains is whether or not this private, one to one conversation with God is enough. God does not need our repentance, we do. So God's gift of the forgiveness of sins is tailored to meet our needs.

One thing we should note is that human beings live in community and our actions affect others for good or for evil. So sin-even sin committed in private-is not a purely private matter. All of our actions have a communitarian dimension. That means our reconciliation after sin must somehow involve the community. The Sacrament of Penance provides that necessary link between the commission of sin by the individual and the reconciliation of the sinner with God and the community of believers, especially in cases involving serious or mortal sins, which require the influx of sacramental grace for forgiveness.
Did you ever notice that people usually don't question the communitarian dimensions of Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Matrimony, Holy Orders, or even Anointing of the Sick? But they always seem to question the need for an instrument, a human mediator, in the Sacrament of Penance! Why? Because confessing one's sins to another human being is difficult. It is often embarrassing. But that is part of the power of sacramental reconciliation. It makes one honest and humble before God through a human instrument-little chance for self-deception here!

The question still remains about the necessity of going to confession. Well, what does the Bible say? In St. Mark's Gospel (2:5-12), the Pharisees criticize Jesus for forgiving a man's sins. To prove that He has this authority, Jesus cures the man. The Pharisees couldn't bear the thought of a man acting as if He were God! They didn't know that Jesus was also God. As God, Jesus is unlimited in power and in St. Matthew's Gospel He shares His power and authority with His Church through St. Peter, who was just a man!

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven" (Mt. 16:16-19).

Finally in St. John's Gospel (20:21-23), Jesus explicitly gives the disciples the Holy Spirit and the authority to forgive sins:

Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Jesus gave this power to His disciples and the Church continues to make it present to the People of God. Our response to this gift should first be one of gratitude. Then we should be motivated to examine our consciences, confess our sins, be reconciled to God and our brothers and sister and discover the joy of living in God's mercy.

PRAY FOR ME BROTHER

Pray For Me Brother (2007)
Composed by A.R.Rahman
Lyrics by Blaaze
Singers: A.R.Rahman and Blaaze

Pray for me brother
Pray for me brother
Pray for me sister
Are you searchin’….
Pray for me brother

Lookin’ for the answers To all the questions In my life
Will I be alone Will you be there By my side
Is it something he said Is it something he did
I wonder why He is searchin’ For the answers
To stay alive

Could you ever listen Could you ever care
To speak your mind
Only for a minute For only one moment
In time

The joy is around us But show me the love
That we must find
Are you searchin’ For a reason to be kind, to be kind…
He said… Pray for me brother

Pray for me brother Pray for me sister
Pray for me brother Say
what you wanna say now
But keep your hearts open
Be what you wanna be now
Let’s heal the confusion
Pray for me brother

Don’t let me take When you don’t wanna give
Don’t be afraid Just let me live
Don’t let me take When you don’t wanna give
Don’t be afraid Say what you wanna say now
But keep your hearts open

Be what you wanna be now Let’s heal the confusion
Pray for me brother Pray for me brother
I’m ashamed ah, brother be dying of poverty
when he down on his knees its only then he prays
And it’s a shame ah, brother be dying of ignorance
cos the world is a trip and everybody’s a hypocrite
Need to stop ah , taking a look at the other
I’m not ashamed of poverty
need to be making his life better
So think about it, think about it once more
cos life is a blessing and it’s not justa show, ah
Round and round the world is spinning around

We need to be singing a prayer, we need to be singing it now
Round and round the world is turning around
We need to be singing a prayer, we need to be singing it now
Need to be feeling the power, need to be feeling the faith
We need to coming together just to win this race

Need to be feeling the power, need to be feeling the faith
We need to coming together just to win this race (twice)
Are you searching for a reason to be kind ?

Perfect 7

1. Wake Up !! Decide to have a good day.
"Today is the day the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" Psalms 118:24
2. Dress Up !! The best way to dress up is to put on a smile. A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearance; but the Lord looks at the heart."
I Samuel 16:7
3 . Shut Up!! Say nice things and learn to listen. God gave us two ears and one mouth, so He must have meant for us to do twice as much listening as talking. "He who guards his lips guards his soul." Proverbs 13:3

4. Stand Up!!... For what you believe in. Stand for something or you will fall for anything.. "Let us not be weary in doing good; for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good..." Galatians 6:9-10
5. Look Up !!... To the Lord.
"I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13

6. Reach Up !!... For something higher. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, And He will direct your path."
Proverbs 3:5-6
7. Lift Up !!... Your Prayers.
"Do not worry about anything;
Instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING."
Philippians 4:6

Introduction to Vespers (Lent: Week 2: Friday).

Introduction to Vespers (Lent: Week 2: Friday) - Scripture Reading (James 5:16,19-20).

This morning we were reflecting on 'sacrifice for others'. Even the readings at Mass spells out the theme of accountability and responsibility others.

 
This evening the Scripture reading also clearly gives us the same theme - "...My brothers, if one of your number should stray from the truth and another succeed in bringing him back... ." This is an act of a Catholic Priest whose being is not only to offer sacrifices, but to teach and to pastor. This is what Jesus meant when he said about a shepherd who goes in search of the lost. This mission is not only for the ordained priesthood but also for all of us who have a share in the common priesthood through the grace of baptism.

We pray that we may imitate Jesus, the Good Shepherd who came so that ALL may have life, and have it to the fullest.

Introduction to Lauds (Lent: Week 2, Friday).

Introduction to Lauds (Lent: Week 2: Friday) - Scripture Reading (Isaiah 53:11b-12).
People of the Old Testament and even people of today regard suffering as a punishment for sin, but our Scripture reading taken from the Book of Isaiah on the 'Suffering Servant' seems to show that suffering can have a positive purpose - "By his sufferings shall my servant justify many, taking their faults on himself."

This model was exemplified in the death of Jesus, whose suffering and death were also understood as a sacrifice for the sins of others (The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world).

The Scripture reading reminds us of Pope Benedict XVI's Lenten Message, he says that to be able to participate fully in the Joy of Easter, we must in turn 're-give' to our neighbor, especially those who suffer and in need; the renewed experience of God's Love given to us in Christ that we experience each day through our Lenten sacrifices. (Full text of the Pope's Lenten Message)
So let us reflect then; the sacrifices or penances (which for some can be a suffering) that we make during this holy season; for who are we offering it; only for ourselves or for others too?

Ponggal Celebration

We celebrated Ponggal on the 21st of January. It was the first time the seminary is celebrating it. The paraliturgy was in Tamil and English and the intercessions was in Vietnamese, Mandarin and Bahasa Melayu.

Ponggal is a harvest festival - the Tamil equivalent of Thanksgiving. Ponggal means the "boiling over" of milk and rice during the month of "Thai". Thai is the first month of the Tamil Almanac, and Ponggal is a dish of sweet concotion of rice, moong dal, jaggery and milk.
This cultural festival is celebrated by one and all as it is non-relevant to any particular religious faith. That is why, it was a unique celebration in the seminary where we had our Chinese and Vietnamese brothers joining us.

The whole Tamil population of the world celebrates it without any differences. Therefore it is widely known as "Tamil Thai Ponggal" or the "Festival of the Tamils".

There is a Tamil saying that "Thai Peranthal Vali Perakum". That phrase means with the dawn of the month of Thai, there will be a way, which includes the meaning for peace, happiness, prosperity, brightness and harmony in the life of everyone. Thai Ponggal is also an occasion for family re-unions and get-together. estrangements are healed and reconciliation effected.

Some of the guys taking a snapshot after decorating the place for the event

I making a "Thoranam" - made out of tender coconut palm leaves.

The seminary community gathered in prayer at the porch of the Chapel


Fr. William Goh lights the Oil Lamp

Waiting for the milk to boil over

The milk boil over, and everyone present acclaim "Ponggalo Ponggal"

Fr. William Goh blessing the Ponggal, sugar cane, local fruits and vegetables that is found in the seminary

Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of a wicked man?

Reflection on the Readings of Friday: 1st Week of Lent.
(Ezk.18:21-28 / Ps. 129 (130) / Matthew 5:20-26)

I remember when I was a small boy and whenever I was naughty, I was always told that I’ll be punished and God will punish me too. I am not sure whether God will punish me but I know my Mum will. Later I begin to understand why I was told that. As you can see now, I became a good boy hehehehe.

The reading today, especially the gospel shows us a God of justice; “I tell you solemnly, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.” Mt.5:26. In the gospel too, we are told that we are responsible of our own actions; “…will answer for it…” Mt. 5:21-22 (in this 2 verses we find this phrase 4x). I used to wonder why people come and ask for funeral masses for their family members who died and while living they didn’t come to church or live a holy life. At the funeral mass, they are asking God to be just!!!

But thanks through a maturation in faith, experience in life and especially through seminary education, I see a whole new side of God. Yes, God punishes when I am stubborn and don’t want to change. This punishment is an opportunity for me to learn (lesson), repent and change. God always allows us to make our own decisions, and we have to face the consequences for the decisions made. At times the consequences can be seen as a punishment. But the new side of God I see is that he is a God of love, mercy and compassion. Now I see that in funeral masses we ask the God of justice to look on mercy and compassion on the dead too. “If you, O Lord, should mark our guilt, Lord who would survive? But with you is found forgiveness, for this we revere you” Ps.129 (130) - today’s psalm.

What strike me today in the readings is from the 1^st reading, where God says; “Am I likely to take pleasure in the death of a wicked man and prefer to see him renounce his wickedness and live?” Ezk.18:23. Wah… God gives not only second chance but many chances for us to repent (‘Metanoia’ – a radical change).

Here I am reminded to be like God. As I reflect, I see that I myself have not given people another chance to change. I have been judgmental on them. I might have stop in a second chance and not given them further chances. If GOD could be forgiving and gives chances, who am I who am just a MAN!!!

I hope you will read the full text of today’s reading. My reflection and the 1^st reading itself do not teach us to take God’s mercy, compassion and love for granted. As I said earlier, we are responsible of our own actions and we have to bear consequences for the actions taken. For God says; “Listen, you House of Israel: is what I do unjust? Is not what you do that is unjust? When the upright man renounces his integrity to commit sin and dies because of this, he dies because of the evil that he himself has committed…” Ezk.18:25-26

Very often we say that everything must come to an end, so before our life comes to an end, let us make good use of the many opportunities given to Metanoia and be reminded that we make choose our own life and bear the consequences. Don’t delay like the foolish bridesmaids (Mt. 25:1-13).

Let the conclusion of the text of the 1^st reading which is not in today’s reading speak to us “So in future, House of Israel, I shall judge each of you by what the person does-declares the Lord Yahweh. Repent, renounce all your crimes, avoid all occasions for guilt. Shake off all the crimes you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why die, House of Israel? I take no pleasure in the death of anyone- declares the Lord Yahweh- so repent and live.” (Ezk.18:30-32).

Don’t tell God didn’t warn and give chances!!!!