Advent - To meet the Lord, we must be prepared for life, not just for death!

Travellers wait for buses and planes, students wait for their exam results. Waiting is part of life. Life is not like instant coffee, there is always more to life than we can grasp its fullness at any one time.

Advent invites us to wait for the Lord and surely we must wait for the Lord who will come at the moment of our death. Hence Advent calls us always to be ready to meet the Lord at our death. But as Christians, we should be ready not just for the final coming of Christ but for His constant coming every day of our lives.

If we are alert, we can find the Lord popping up in the ordinary activities and possibilities of life. If I am watchful, He may be tapping me on my shoulder when I meet my 'sisters and brothers'. If only we have 'those eyes that see, those ears that hear' (Is. 64:4), we can meet Him in His supreme visit, which He makes in a thousand ways. To meet the Lord, we must be prepared for life, not just for death!

As a community waiting in prayer, we pray...

Prayer is WAITING and so is Advent.

Prayer is WAITING.

Waiting, places the emphasis on the other person who is coming.

To wait is to express my powerlessness, my insufficiency because the other is in control. And that is how our attitude should be towards God. I cannot force God to come. All I can do is wait and be present. In simply waiting for God, I admit that God is important to my life.

As a people waiting in prayer, we pray...

Little Drummer Boy

In my post yesterday, i shared about one of my favorite psalm and had linked it with one of my favorite Christmas carols i.e. Little Drummer Boy. Personally i feel this song is suitable to be sang at mass for offertory or presentation of the gifts during the Christmas season. Check out the words of the song and enjoy the clips.




Little Drummer Boy
Come they told me, pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see, pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring, pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

So to honor Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.

Little Baby, pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too, pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give the King, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum,
On my drum?

Mary nodded, pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him, pa rum pum pum pum
I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum,
rum pum pum pum, rum pum pum pum,

Then He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.


Another version of the song.

Psalm 50 (51)

Psalm 50 (51) is one of my favourite psalm. I am very happy that this psalm is said every Friday morning at Lauds. For me this psalm is like a child begging or non-stop asking (pestering) the father for something and the child will only stop when the father says yes or gives it to the child. Likewise through praying this psalm, I am the child asking God my father for His grace of forgiveness and His love.

I dare not and will not say that I am perfect for I am a sinner. By praying this psalm, I am able to feel and receive God's forgivenes, assurance of His mercy and His love.

I have identify a 'mini penintential service' in this psalm:-

a) Introduction - a song of hope and assurance of God's forgiveness (verses 1-2) - confident that God will forgive me.

b) Confessing of one's sins / acknowledging of sins (verse 3-6)

c) Act of Contrition - prayer for forgiveness (verse 7-12)

d) Penance - to bring others back to God (verse 13)

e) Thanksgiving (verses 14-17)

f) Intercession (verses 18-19)

What attracted me to this psalm is God's constant love, His great compassion and His assurance of His forgiveness (verse 1-2). That God is able to create a pure heart and able to give me a new spirit. Just like the 'drummer boy' (a Christmas song) who could only play his drum as a gift for the newborn King, I can only offer my broken spirit and my broken heart to God as a sacrifice (verse 17).

Advent invites us to straighten-up, as we WAIT.

Christmas is fast approaching. We can feel the commercialized presence of Christmas already in our TV, Radio and Newspapers' advertisements and not forgetting the music and decorations in all the malls. Many in fact started either end of November or beginning December.

In the midst of this swelling excitement, worshippers in churches are reminded to be watchful, to repent, to do penance. Now, I am afraid that you are beginning to wonder whether Advent is a joyful season or a penitential period! It is true that Advent brings joy and feelings of excitement as we wait, but it also calls us to straighten up our lives.

Let us then "Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight" (Mk 1:3).

Advent, a call to WAIT...

We have come to the end of the liturgical year and tomorrow (in fact later in the evening) we begin a new liturgical year with the season of Advent. My personal prayer theme for this year's Advent is 'Waiting'.

As early as in mid-November, there were already people getting excited that even in their facebook status tags were on the theme of Christmas. I even noticed one guy who even used a Christmas Carol on his status just after Deepavali (which was on Oct 27 this year). Many now have begun the countdown to Christmas. So what are they doing? They are all 'waiting' for Christmas!

The Catholic church is so beautiful and wise. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the church did not just give us a day to celebrate Christ's birth into history instead has given us 4 weeks to prepare the great day i.e. Christmas.

The 4 weeks of Advent focuses on waiting for the Second Coming of the Lord in glory while remembering His first coming in history. In this way Advent is a preparation for Christmas. But the primary emphasis is on looking forward to the Lord's final coming at the end of time. This focus is geared to awaken the believer to a recognition of the Lord's daily advents into life now in what are often referred to as grace-filled moments.

At this time in my life, I too am waiting for God's answer and His divine intervention in the happenings of my life. "Lord, Your will be done. ...Amen".

Introduction to Lauds (Saturday - Wk 2 & 4).

'When I see the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars which you have arranged, what is man that you should keep him in mind, mortal man that you care for him?' (Ps. 8:4-5)

Many times in life we have been advised by many to take a break and enjoy moments in particular to enjoy what God has created for us. We are called to consider the works of God's hand.

We have taken His works for granted and fail to see the beauty. The beauty of ourselves, others, the beauty of nature and the world of cosmos.

I am amazed always, especially is it is a clear night, that whenever I look up at the sky and see the moon and the stars, I wonder how superb the 'un-moved mower' is; to place all of them in its place.

I think I can understand Abraham Lincoln of what he said to his friend one night when looking up the sky, "I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down the earth and be an atheist but I cannot conceive how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God."

So friends, 'In the stars is God's creative ability shown.
In the moon that brightens the night sky is His deliverance assured.
In thunder and lightning is His power displayed.
And in the silence of the night is His peace felt.' (source unknown)

Come let us praise God, our creator and the creator of all things!

Memorial of St. Martin of Tours, Bishop (Nov 11)

Today the church commemorates the Memoria of St. Martin of Tours.

When Martin was forced by popular acclamation to become the Bishop, in spite of his reluctance, this is what he prayed; "Lord, if your people still need me, I do not refuse to do your work; may Your will be done."
Many times we too have prayed that God's will be done in our lives, have we actually meant what we have been praying? Have we allowed God to have His way in us?

Allowing God's will to be done in his life, Martin has set an example as the Good Shepherd. We pray that we too will allow God's will be done in our lives and by doing this we may imitate Christ the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for others and give Him all glory and praises.

An unhappy St. Martin is made Bishop of Tours, as depicted in a 13th-
century window in Tours Cathedral.

Animals - God's gift.

It's been 11days since i came back to Malaysia after spending 80days in Australia. I am happy to be back home but at the same time missing Australia and can't wait to go back to the land Down Under and be of service.

Since coming back home, I've started to do some catching up with the happenings of some friends and relatives and also to allow my tongue hang loose on our Asian delicacies! hehehe.

I am still praying that God's will be done in my life and hope the recent developments are all His will. I can still see His divine intervention and thank Him for that. I will always trust in Him for He is my God and Saviour.

As I mentioned earlier, I've been missing the place (i guess it's the 'promised land' for me), maybe because I am not doing anything here and the mind is just idle, unlike when i was there; where i was involved and could do something.

Ahhh before i forget, what made me to blog today was the idea of uploading all the animal pictures i took while in Australia. Just a few hours ago, i was in town and passed by a pet shop. The animals were all caged up and in bad and dirty condition. The one caught my eye was a parrot. It has nice colors but was so dirty. It was indeed a disheartening view after seeing various type of animals especially birds of all kinds roaming and flying freely. Below are some pictures of the various animals I encountered in Australia which I was able to take pictures of them.

When I went to Australia it was the end of winter and when I came back it was Mid spring. The flowers and nature view was so beautiful. Don't worry, I'm not going to upload the many pictures I took for the obvious reason but might use it so later reflections and cards. Enjoy the pictures of the animals below:-

A Kookaburra

Magpie

Echidna

Rainbow

I heard this song during mass with the children at Nowra and liked it very much especially the words. When i visited the classes, the year 1 students sang it for me.

Rainbow- by Andrew Chinn.

Chorus
Red and orange, yellow and green
Blue and indigo and violet and me
Side by side, together we grow
Underneath God's beautiful rainbow


Red is for your spirit of love
Seven gifts from God above
Orange for the warmth of your Sun
Shining down on everyone

Yellow is the colour of faith
The light of Christ in every day
Green is for the life you give
A call to grow, a way to live

Blue is for the sky and sea
Gifts from God, for you and me
Indigo is in between
A colour of God's gentle peace

Violet calls us all to forgive
Together we grow, together we live
Side by side and hand in hand
Together we grow, together we can.

St. Michael's School Visit - October, 22-23, 2008.

Once again an opportunity to visit an Australian Catholic School. This time it's St. Michael's School, Nowra, NSW. On this visit, I met students raging from 5 years old to 12 years (School grading - Kindergarten year to year 12). For the younger ones, we sang some action songs and with the older kids, we had Q&A session after my sharing on Malaysia, Seminary life, the Priesthood and the Catholic Faith.

Below are some photos of my visit:-

Trying out the Vegemite.