Christmas 2009 Experience.

This Christmas I made a choice to stay back in Johore Bahru alone. My family lives in Seremban which is about 300km north from JB. The choice I have made is not as great as the choice God made i.e. to take himself our human nature. " Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. He emptied himself taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (Phil 2). It was a great spiritual experience for me here in JB this Christmas and my heart and prayers goes all out to all those who are far away from 'HOME' during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

At mass on Christmas eve, I was reflecting on the 'strangers' at Bethlehem; the Holy Family - they were far away from their family members and relatives, they had no place in the inn and I believe they were not familiar of the place, the crowd at Bethlehem who came for the census, the shepherds - who had a low status in the society at that time and the 3 Wise Men (highly respected group of people). But what interest me was the commonality of the last two strangers I mentioned above. They came to worship the new born King. And that was the same theme for the people at the midnight mass. The community gathered at mass that night; i.e. the outcast, the respected group, sinners, saints, the immigrants being legal or illegal , parishioners, etc whom in this article i would like to call the 'strangers' have all come to worship the new born King - Jesus Christ and thus making us no strangers but one common people, that is, His people.

CHRISTMAS 2009

"This is the day our Saviour was born: what a joy for us, my beloved! This is no reason for sadness, this, the birthday of LIFE - the Life that annihilates the fear of death, and engenders joy, promising, as it does, immortality. Nobody is an outsider to this happiness. Let the saint rejoice, for he hastens to his crown; let the sinner be filled with joy, for pardon is offered him; let the Gentile be emboldened, for he is called to Life"...pope St. Leo the Great.

Wishing you all, a very Blessed CHRISTmas.

Are you dying to meet someone?

Another Sunday, And I'm so bored in my rented room. Thought of writing on what I have been reflecting lately.

Sometime in September, a friend of mine met his hmmmm what shall I say, his idol?? I think it's better I put it this way, met the person he was eagerly wanting to meet. I know him for about 3 years now, and through our many conversations, I can testify he is a hard-core fan of Gwen Stefani. He not only just met her but gave Gwen a kiss on her cheek. Wow..lucky fellow. And I think this is his second time meeting her face 2 face. The 1st was 12years ago. Happy for you bro, congrats!! Click here to read his post.

Anyway, what I was reflecting about since reading his experience with Gwen is; who I would like to meet? For weeks I've been thinking about this and...hmmm I have no one!!
Yeah I don't have anyone I'm wanting to meet so badly! Yes not even the Pope or the Dalai Lama. Hmmm maybe the Pope, to tell him that a certain Archbishop (whose name with a change in an alphabet can be a malay vulgar word...hehehe) is hypocrite, dirty and self-centered government rewards seeker.

Going back to the issue of not wanting to meet anyone; so am I a proud man cos I'm not eagerly wanting to meet anyone in particular? I kept on searching my heart's desire and its just none! I'm a fan of certain celebrities of course, but...or maybe I'm just being simple and contented with life. Hmmm I don't know!!!

So how about you, yeah you... Are you dying to meet someone? If given the opportunity who do you want to meet?

Now check-out my lucky friend:-

Appreciation to the Priesthood.

This post has been edited due to my decision to move on. Click here for a read.
The earlier post was titled "Priest Threatens Ex-Seminarian" .

As I have said many times, i still respect and appreciate the priesthood. Thank God for the many holy and God-fearing priests who tirelessly minister their flock. I salute you, I pray for you. You are the hope of this trying times. You show us the face of God. Here a prayer for you and the rest who need to imitate you.

Prayer for Priests

by St. Therese of Lisieux

O Jesus, eternal Priest,
keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart,
where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands,
which daily touch Your Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips,
daily purpled with your Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unearthly their hearts,
sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.

Let Your holy love surround them and
shield them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit
and may the souls to whom they minister
be their joy and consolation here
and in heaven their beautiful and
everlasting crown.
Amen.

No Vocation??...My Foot!!

This post has been edited due to my decision to move on. Click here for a read.

Prayer for Priests
O, Jesus, I pray for Your faithful and fervent priests; for Your unfaithful and tepid priests; for Your priests labouring at home and abroad in distant mission fields; for your lonely and desolate priests; for Your young priests; for Your dying priests.

Above all I recommend to You the priests dearest to me: the priest who baptised me; the priests who absolve me; the priests at whose Masses I assist and who give me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who have taught and instructed me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way.

O, Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and eternity. Amen
(Source- Unknown)

Accidental touch makes girl unclean for prayers.

Hmmmm the above title would be a good headline for the newspapers!

This incident actually happened yesterday; a woman was having a 'break' in-between her prayer and while I was passing her, her tag our fingers slightly touched! For me it was nothing, so i just turned to continue my work but for this woman she was so uneasy that she quickly rose from her chair and told me "Adrian terkena jari kamu tadi, sembayang aku batal, aku kena basuh lagi" ("Adrian...touched your finger, now my prayer is canceled, i have to go and wash (purify) myself again.")

And i was like '@#$%' (no..its not a vulgar word! shame on you!!) I felt insulted of course! When she came back after some time (I guess after purifying herself -because, for the record, we had an accidental touch! and finishing her prayers) i asked her a question; Is it because the touched was with a man or because I'm not of her religion? And she answered that it was because i am a man.

I'm not sure of this religion but i guess they have a reason and some meanings for this sort of 'doings'. Hmmm I hope!
Thank God my religion or rather my relationship with God doesn't have any rigid rules that even an accidental touch can disrupt or even canceled the prayer.

Anyway i find the idea of purifying oneself before prayer is not after all a bad idea, Yes we have to be at right disposition when we're praying. I would like to quote St. John Mary Vianney whose feast day we celebrate today; "Prayer is nothing else than union with God. When the heart is pure and united with God it is consoled and filled with sweetness; it is dazzled by a marvelous light."

In honour of the 150th anniversary of the Death of St. John M. Vianney, Pope Benedict XVI declared that a Year of the Priests be celebrated starting June 19, 2009 until June 11, 2010. The faithful are especially called to pray for priests. I remember the pass weeks during the prayer for priests i was really scandalised. In the prayer especially in the 1st part there we're a lot of 'bodek-ing' ('buttering') on the priests and bishops. Some priests and bishop don't fit in that prayer!! I just felt like amending the prayer and if i did, it would just be a 1 sentence simple prayer. 'Lord Jesus, we thank you for the many faithful priests we have encountered, please bless them and we pray that the bishops and priests will be a faithful servant just as how You were faithful to Your Father.'

"Be still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10)

I normally stop over at the church nearby to pray for a short while before i rush off to work. But today there was a strange feeling when i was in church. The quietness or rather the stillness I felt after a very long time was something that I just realised I have missed so much in my life. All I could hear at that time when I was in church was the 'Azan' (adhān) - call to prayer for the Muslims. And a little voice within me quoting the scripture text "Be still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10). It was indeed a beautiful experience

Then what did I do?

Just as always I got up after my short prayer, left the church to continue my journey to work (actually 'rushing' for lunch and then to work)

Only after having a 'slip-up' in my work at the office, I realized the voice within me was asking me to 'be still'. 'Why the hurry?'

The experience in the church might have nothing to do in the 'slip-up' at work (hmmmm maybe there might have something to do), but I'm reminded today that I might have missed out something great such as the presence of God just as how I missed out or rather over-looked something while at work!

Hmmmm what else have I been missing out?

Forgiven?? I don't think so. (Follow-up frm previous post)

Just want 2 share with you a response from a dear friend regarding the previous post (dated May11, 2009).

"I still love u Adrian..regardless!! Being a priest doesn't make one any holier or better dear...(NAME...[Fr.]) always used to remind me at (NAME OF PLACE) .."There are good priests and there are bad priests". These lessons always help us understand that man is never perfect; not even priests.
(NAME...[Fr.])'s famous line, " We only really learn or understand the things we are willing to ACCEPT".
Perhaps its time to figure out your true worth dear..as a human being. Are you able to love and accept yourself now? Are you able to see and more importantly FEEL that God loves you regardless of whether you are a priest or not? Are you still able to Love with the same passion and drive? Can you accecpt that people still love you and see more than your roman collar?
Can you allow yourself to be angry and hurt that people have hurt you? Can you carry that hurt and pain for however long you wish until you are tired of it and want to let it go? (God is patient dear..after all He has all eternity! ha ha) and so am I... Answer these questions from your heart, not your head..la. Your heart is were God dwells.
Luv and big hug" (NAME)

A good reminder, a call for deep reflection, a knock on the head!
Thank you my dear friend.
Reflecting on it, i have come to realise that what i wrote in my previous post is not true at all; i.e. i have not actually forgiven those who are the cause of my crisis. Ahhhh i'm so frustrated and angry with them.
But i guess, its time to move on. Can I? Will I?
Hope this job thingy - a new chapter in my life, would be a good start.

1st Anniversary of Unjust Dismissal

1 year has passed since i was unfairly asked to leave the seminary and till now there are no concrete reasons given to me and no answers to my many questions on my unjust dismissal and the seminary 'happenings' and 'scandals' which i have raised. It has been a very difficult year and in fact its actually 2years since the whole saga started. During this time i have also come to know the 'true colours' of some people and institutions.

In a few days time, a new chapter begins in my life; working life in JB. I still believe God is leading me. He has a reason for allowing me to go through those difficult times, and again there is a reason for this new chapter in my life. I pray that I may do His will.

During this 2 difficult years in my life, I have encountered many different people, especially my fellow lay people, for being there for me. I want to thank you for your prayers, encouragement and care which has been a strength for me to carry on in life. Many says; It is in time of crisis that true character is revealed. It is also in time of crisis you can know who your true friends are. Friends, who stick with you in good times and in bad. I thank all of you who have helped me in one way or another.

For those of you who are the devil's advocate and the cause of these 2 difficult years for me, i forgive you and i pray for you and for those who ostracised and rejected me because i am a 'nobody' now, i pray for you. Too bad, you did not see that I was 'somebody' made in the image and likeness of God.

As Catholics, do we have to accept everything the Church teaches?

If you want to call yourself Catholic, but you want to pick and choose for yourself which of the Church's teachings to accept and which to reject, you give everyone else who calls themselves Catholic the right to do the same thing.

For example, you believe women should be priests...in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1577 states, "Only a baptized man validly receives ordination...For this reason the ordination of women is not possible!" You don't believe that...well, that's fine...[RIP] just tear that page out of your Catechism...you just made it a Catechism of your Catholic Church...not mine.

But remember, if you can throw doctrines out, so can everyone else who calls themselves Catholic. That gives Joe Parishioner over at St. Doubting Thomas Catholic Church the right to throw out the Church's social justice teachings...he doesn't feel like feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, and all that other "bleeding heart" stuff - Paragraphs 2401 -2463 [RIP]...he just made it a Catechism of his Catholic Church...not mine and not yours.

You believe contraception is okay? Paragraph 2370 says contraception is intrinsically evil! [RIP] Joe Parishioner doesn't like what the Church teaches on the death penalty - Paragraphs 2266-2267 [RIP]. You don't like what it teaches on pages 55-60 [RIP]. He doesn't like what it teaches on pages 128-140 [RIP]

Can you see what's happening? I heard it said once that there is a shortage of vocations to the priesthood in the United States, but no shortage of vocations to the Papacy! If we don't believe in all of it, if we each appoint ourselves Pope and throw out a doctrine here or a doctrine there, then our faith is no longer Catholic.

(This article is from the 'notes' of Alphonsus Josemaria Soh's facebook)