MICA (P) 010/09/2011 November 2011 :: www.stmary.sg/tomorrowpaper :: tomorrow@stmary.sg :: Issue No. 50

For some eight months, Jitu lived a life that could well have been the envy of many of his fellow Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore.

Leaving behind his wife and four young children in his hometown, the 36-year-old paid an agent $4,000 to arrange his passage here and found a job in light construction, albeit illegally as he was here on a month-long social visit pass. Nevertheless, Jitu was paid his salary – he earned $50 per nine-hour workday – on time, shared a three-room HDB flat with three other workers, and even managed to remit some $600 to his family each month.

But an unfortunate accident soon sent his life in Singapore crashing.

After a slab of concrete fell on Jitu’s leg and shattered his lower left leg, his employer – a local Chinese contractor who had been a decent boss up till then – ferried Jitu to a HDB void deck in Ubi, left the severely injured man there to fend for himself, and disappeared without a trace.

Some 120 parishioners gathered at St Clare Hall on oct 24 for session titled “Modern day slavery in our midst”, organised by the Franciscan friars as part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the Spirit of Assisi. In his presentation, Dr Vincent Wijeysingha, executive director of migrant rights group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), shared stories on the plight of migrant workers in Singapore, like Jitu, who travel to our island-state in search of a better life, but find themselves caught in dire situations.

Speaking on human trafficking and unfair treatment of migrant workers in Singapore, Dr Wijeysingha invited the audience to feel “outraged” that such cases of inhumanity are happening here.

The Spirit of Assisi celebrations ran from oct 24 to 27, and included a talk on the United Nations and the Universal Periodic review on human rights, as well as an inter-faith Prayer for Peace.

More than one-third of Singapore’s 5 million population comprise non-citizens, making it the Asian country with the highest proportion of migrant workers in varied sectors such as construction and domestic work.

Apart from challenges with unscrupulous employers, some 1.3 million migrant workers here are also facing discrimination by Singaporeans, who see the influx of foreigners as a threat to their own rice bowls.

“There are many Singaporeans at this moment in time who are opposed to our immigration policy,” wrote Dr Wijeysingha, in an online article he encouraged the

Preserving Migrants’ Dignity By Stanislaus Jude Chan

audience to share with their friends and family. “It has brought inconvenience, unrest, anger, resentment, and overcrowding to the community and, most importantly, lowered wages and increased housing prices. And they are right. For the immigration policy has not been operated with the Singaporean in mind. It has been made and operated with GDP in mind.”

But Archbishop Nicholas Chia last month urged Singaporean Catholics to “open our hearts to migrants’ plights” and “be examples to others in our attitudes and behaviours towards migrants”.

His Grace also called for a stop to the “disturbing trend” of “abuses of foreign wives and trafficking of women and children in Singapore, which has increased dramatically over the last five years”.

Internationally, religious leaders are pointing the way for more to be done in support of migrants.

In a message released by the Vatican on oct 25, Pope Benedict XVI exhorted Christian communities to be close to migrant workers and their families, not only “accompanying them with prayer, solidarity and Christian charity,” but also “fostering new political, economic and social planning that promotes respect for the dignity of every human person, the safeguarding of the family, access to dignified housing, to work and to welfare.”

The Conference of religious Major Superiors of Malaysia-Singapore-Brunei (CrMS) in July also announced the launch of an Anti-Human Trafficking Project at the regional bishops’ conference.

Human trafficking “is the fastest growing crime in the world and as Catholics we need to do something to fight it,” says CrMS.

Project coordinator Fr John Wong hopes a set of five information brochures – Slavery in the 21st Century, Labour Trafficking, Child Trafficking, Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation, and Trafficking for organ removal – will help to “provide people, in their mid-teens and above, with basic information on human trafficking, our position on the issue as Catholics and how we can help victims.” The first in the series of five brochures, Slavery in the 21st Century, was distributed on oct 30; the rest of the information leaflets will be given out during the Sundays of Advent.

Non-government groups such as TWC2, The Humanitarian organisation for Migration Economics (HoME), and Migrant Voices are also working tirelessly to respond to the needs of migrants here. “We must ask ourselves how historians will view our attitudes and behaviours towards migrants years down the road. More importantly, how will Jesus view these actions?” Archbishop Chia said, in a letter on World Day of Migrants on oct 30.

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ArchdiocesAn ncc dAy

a Journey Of Friendship;a Journey Of Our Humanity By Stephen Wong

ABoUT 70 parishioners from St Mary’s Neighbourhood Christian Communities (NCC) joined 130 other participants from 17 other

parishes in Singapore for the 5th Archdiocesan NCC Day on oct 15.

The annual event, which was held this year in Catholic Junior College (CJC), was organised by Singapore Pastoral Institute (SPI). As Msgr Eugene Vaz puts it, it was a day “to stop, to evaluate, to celebrate and to be refreshed, to be encouraged, to be encouraging to one another”.

The theme for 2011 was “A Journey of Friendship” and what really struck me was the way the day’s events unfolded. As I looked back and reflected on it, I am reminded of how these small events are a reflection of how we journey together as friends within our communities, and how this journey of friendship is also a journey of our humanity.

The first “surprise” for the day was when the bus hired to transport some 40 parishioners from St Mary’s to CJC failed to turn up at the agreed time. After a few phone calls, the problem was found to be a miscommunication within the bus company. Having been informed that the bus should reach CJC by 1:30pm, the bus driver received the message that he was required to pick up his passengers from St Mary’s at 1:30pm! The bus finally arrived and the group arrived at CJC late. However, the program could not start as the guest-of-honour, His Grace Archbishop Nicholas Chia, was late as well due to a severe traffic jam. What impressed me was the NCC members waiting patiently and showed their forgiving nature. This event also showed how we are only human: some times, in life, we can make all efforts to ensure everything goes smoothly only to face some hiccups due to some external unforeseen circumstances.

The celebrations finally started with a paraliturgy which brought us to realise how real our lives are

and how it was also meant to be shared. Two video presentations were shown during the day while the rest of the day was dedicated to listening to various people, both clergy and lay people, sharing about their personal experiences.

In his opening address, His Grace shared at a personal level on what struck him during his various visits to the communities and how he was inspired by the commitment and dedication of NCC members coming together faithfully.

He went on to re-iterate what he had shared with some NCCs during his visits on the four aspects of community life as seen from Acts 2, namely:

• How NCCs are called to be a learning community (Kergyma) and that we are called to “see that the bible becomes a part and parcel of your daily life”;

• How NCCs are to build community spirit (koinonia) by building up relationships with one another when gathering in our NCC;

• How NCCs are to be service to others (dikonia) as service is part of NCC;

• How NCCs members are called to worship as a community (Eukaristia).

If our communities were to truly live out these four aspects of community life, Archbishop Chia noted, others in our neighbourhood will be attracted to the community, just as the “thousands were attracted” to Christianity in Acts of the Apostles.

While being grateful for all the personal sharings he heard during his visits, His Grace also shared that his visits to the various NCCs was to show how much he values NCC and he will continue to pray personally for all NCCs.

It struck me that the personal sharing by His Grace was markedly different from the sermons that I am used

to hearing him preach from the pulpit. He was showing us that our journey of friendship within our communities reflects the relational aspect of being Church.

Various NCC members also took turns to give their testimony and from our parish, Gina (Mary’s Soldier NCC) gave a testimony of how the Lord was faithful as the NCC she belonged to started with just three or four members but grew to 12 members after only a few weeks.

The day concluded with the celebration of the Eucharist and in his homily, Fr Erbin Fernandez shared the story of his life in the Church and how he was brought to a community when he was suffering from being burnt out during his early years of priesthood and had nothing left to give.

It was during this time spent with the community at Madonna house in Canada that he learnt what it means “to be human, to have a child-like heart, to ask for help when there is a need”. Likewise, being in NCC, it is not in the extraordinary but in the ordinary; not so much of what we can do for one another but how we can just be with one another that is important. Fr Erbin also shared that being in a small community has helped him experience relationships and that the church is not just a big group of people coming together on Sundays for Mass but also a small group where one can simply be “myself”.

After all, NCC is a place where, Fr Erbin says, “we can discover our humanity, a place where we can discover who we are without any of those functions that we have; NCC is a journey to discover your humanity.”

Are you connected to your ncc?You are invited to this journey to discover your humanity, to experience community life and just “be” in one of the NCCs in our parish. Refer to the weekly bulletin for the NCC meeting time and location. For more enquiries, contact nccso@stmary.sg.

St Mary’s parishioners among the crowd at Archdiocesan NCC Day.

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THE painting of orthodox icons is an exercise in humility, says artist Lino Wong Wing-kuen, and one rooted in an artist’s spirituality. one does not earn fame for such work, nor even

public recognition. The rewards are private, but no less compelling.

Wong, 43, is one of the few Chinese Catholic iconographers in the field.

“one cannot sign any signature on orthodox icons. Unless you are a master recognised by the Church, you can only imitate predecessors, which runs contrary to an artist’s mandate to be creative.”

Calling himself an “instrument of God,” Wong says he does not feel proud to be an iconographer but thinks it is “more meaningful to be humble” after he learned about the orthodox icon’s high status in Christianity as an object before which people worship and pray.

The Hong Kong-born artist began painting as a child, inspired to pursue the art after receiving his first sketch book as a gift from his sister on his 10th birthday.

As a student of architecture at university, he had his first contact with Italian art. Later he decided to pursue his studies in Italy to better understand Western civilization.

Wong studied at an art academy in Florence, where he was invited to paint icons by the nuns in a Church where he was housed. This invitation began his quest for faith and he was baptised in 1994.

His teachers in iconography included a Greek monk.

“I learned traditional techniques from him. After about 20 days, he told me, ‘You are not an orthodox Christian. You can never draw a good orthodox icon.’”

Wong said the monk’s words surprised him at the time but that he has since learned their true meaning.

“The icon is their traditional art. There is an in-born feeling to it. If you do not belong to that religion, you can hardly understand why the icons are so important to them.”

Wong says Chinese artists actually have an advantage in iconography because they pay more attention to details.

He says, nonetheless, that he has yet to be satisfied because even painting on the same theme repeatedly, he finds something different each time.

“It may be something that I could not do before but this time I could do it. I feel miraculous. It seems that God is painting together with me.”

Now an immigrant to Italy, Wong feels that he has a mission to help the Chinese better understand iconography.

He concluded an exhibition in Hong Kong late last month, where he displayed 26 icons that he painted since 2004.

“There is no specific spirituality for icons. The audience only needs to be attentive to what they see. Nothing then will obstruct them from getting close to faith.”

a Lesson in HumilityBy UCANnews

A PArISHIoNEr, rosemary Wong, recently sent me an article titled: “The challenge of raising children in the

21st century” by Fr Alexis Miller, a russian orthodox Pastor in the United States. Fr Miller advocates the need to be militant against modern culture to be successful at raising kids these days.

The idea that a home should be “a little monastery” may raise eye-brows. But on reading further, his reasons are neither unfounded nor his suggestions impractical. As I’m also a counsellor, I agree because I see many sad cases of dysfunctional families, and thought the orthodox are ahead in this. Families and children today are exposed to myriads of influences in spite of the “high-quality education”. It’s hard to see where moral and spiritual dangers are, and many are too busy to look.

I received and read the article while in a Thai minor seminary where the minor seminarians are boys aged between 13 and 20. They did all the chores, including cooking, laundry by hand, washing, mopping floors, gardening – all in addition to attending normal high school.

They have daily Mass and pray the Divine office every morning and evening. Weekends include afternoon prayers and rosary. For recreation, they have one hour of sports every evening, and just a few hours of TV a week. Use of computers is only for school work and research. It’s a structured life with a large dose of responsibilities, prayer, diligence, faith, education, moral and virtue practice.

There are very little behavioural or disciplinary problems. They stay six years, equal to the length of high school in Thailand.

Thai Catholics make up only 0.5% of the population. Yet there are about 20 minor seminaries, each having between 15 to 120

the rising Challenges in raising teens By Bryan Shen

boys, with an estimate total of 600 to 750 minor seminarians. There are other minor seminaries all over the world taking in Catholic boys through their high school years to groom them to be good Catholics. only a few make it to the major seminaries towards priesthood.

These minor seminaries provide an all-rounded education with faith at the centre, and at very low cost. They are numerous in countries like India, Philippines, Myanmar, Bangladesh and even more in Africa and Latin-America. Singapore used to have its own in Punggol until the 1970s.

In these challenging times, these minor seminaries are also becoming a sanctuary for the future generation. These Thai Catholic boys show what is possible. There are also Thai female “pre-postulancy houses” run by the female congregations with similar objectives. Can something like these be done in Singapore? I know there are Singaporean families concerned enough to take steps in this direction. Some have started by home-schooling their children.

Maybe it’s time our local Church lend a helping hand by restarting the minor seminary and pre-postulancy house, not with a primary objective to groom priests or nuns, but with a greater objective of grooming sturdy Catholics for all walks of life.

Thereafter, as a side benefit, let some of them be priest or nuns if they discern it. But I also believe such an objective will produce more vocations and a stronger Church in the long run.

Bryan Shen is an independent lay missionary of 15 years. Also a qualified counsellor, his work includes giving talks and counselling to families, groups and youths in Singapore, Thailand, Laos and Malaysia.

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I rECEIVED my first Bible as a gift from my wife back in 1998, a year before we were married. It lay in pristine condition for a long time on a book shelf. Actually, a

long, long, long, long time.

I only looked at it in 2004. That’s when I read the Gospel of Mark in its entirety after I watched The Passion of the Christ. (I did not know then that I could have also read the other Gospels for the same account!). I remember my wife rolling her eyes when I told her: “Hey, the movie is really faithful to the story. Quite different from the usual Hollywood fare.”

It was not until I completed my rCIA in 2005 that I decided to follow up from where I left off. But, I soon found that as hard, as I tried, I just could never go beyond two chapters – long or short – be it be the book of Genesis or one of the Gospels. reading the Bible on my own was truly the best cure for insomnia. Good for insomniacs; discouraging for a newly minted Catholic.

But, all that changed about six months later when I was reading a book about the Holy Spirit which include a number of recommended prayers at the end of each chapter. I recited them and miraculously – Voila! – a week or two later, I found myself suddenly drawn to the letters of St Paul. It seems that a little voice inside me was telling me that as a new convert – like Paul after his life-changing trip to Damascus – the epistles would be a good place to begin my biblical journey. Thinking back, maybe it was nine days after the prayers, a personal Pentecost of sorts.

And because of that, I also went on a vicarious travel adventure with Paul in Acts of the Apostles written by St Luke. I learned a lot about geography and history during the time when the first apostles walked the earth, discovering places with exotic names like Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth and Philippi while following Paul. It almost gave me the travel itch.

a Personal Bible Journey By A J Leow

When we share the Word, we get fleeting

glimpses of the Divine – the spiritual equivalent of the burning bush at

Mount Sinai.But more importantly, I was able to read the scriptures

now without falling asleep. I remembered telling myself: “That’s strange, isn’t this the same book?” My wife had to ask me when I was going to bed! I probably answered like an excited child: “But…but, but, I want to see what’s at Philippi.”

My godfather asked me that same year to accompany him to attend the non-denominational Bible Studies Fellowship (BSF). It wasn’t at Philippi but Bishan, which I suppose would be exotic if one was a Greek from Macedonia. It so happened that BSF was starting a new cycle with Genesis, which was to give me a good foundation with the scriptures.

With that weekly course over a year, I was able to relate better to some of the readings in the Gospels and Letters of Paul I had read previously – without feeling like a ‘lost sheep’ or groping like one of the blind men whom Jesus healed. I was now able to identify with some of

the characters and places from the old Testament and the Bible was slowly beginning to make more sense. The journey had truly begun. It came as a bit of a shock though to learn that some of the early fathers were not the sturdy rocks of the ages we had been taught in rCIA! They were rather chipped at the edges.

Abraham has a tendency to lie when it comes to his wife, Sarah, who was apparently the neighbourhood beauty in the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt in her younger days before she had Isaac. Moses stuttered. Noah got drunk. Jacob stole family inheritances as well as sheep and goats; he even had a night-long sumo bout with an Angel and was actually given a ‘wrestling title’ – that of Israel – for his efforts. only Joseph of the multicoloured coat fame came off with his moral reputation intact.

I also found out about the same time about the Little rock Scripture Studies (LrSS) group at St Mary’s and registered for a course. If I remember correctly, it happened to be on the subject of three of St Paul’s epistles to the Ephesians, Philippians and Galatians. I have been with LrSS ever since – quite a number of times as a facilitator. The thing about being a facilitator is that you can’t be a bystander. You have to get your feet wet (like Peter), so to speak. It was a role I found to be very beneficial; it’s really in the sharing and through discussions that the meaning of the scriptures grows on you. The same biblical passage, phrases, imagery or event takes on a new light with each sharing with different company or at various stages in life. Sometimes, one experiences a sudden “A-ha!” moment. These moments of epiphany can occur in the midst of a discussion. or in a quiet moment later on.

other times, it comes when a member of the discussion group asks a question. recently, during our 24-week Great Adventure Bible Study on Gospel of Matthew when someone asked if eating the Body of Christ was tantamount to cannibalism. Stumped, I had to look it up. The answer is that: It’s not. The Eucharist we partake is the Body of the risen Christ, and not Jesus’ human form. But what’s great about it is that while trying to find that answer, I also uncovered other pearls of information about the Last Supper and the deeper meaning behind the utterances of Christ on the Cross.

In the book of Isaiah in the old Testament, Yahweh said: “Your thoughts are not my thoughts.” In Matthew in the New Testament, Christ said: “When two or more are gathered in my name, I will be with you.” In that sense, I suppose that when we share the Word, that’s when we can get fleeting glimpses of the Divine – the spiritual equivalent of the burning bush at Mount Sinai. These moments when they surface can be ephemeral and yet leave a deep-seated impression on the soul, like flashes of lightning that reveal part of the skies on a dark night, reminiscent of the torn curtain at The Temple of Jerusalem when Christ died on the Cross. In short, one needs company on the biblical journey. That sounds like a new spin to the words that Christ spoke: “Man does not live by bread alone.” Bread that apparently has to be shared to come fully alive – just as it had transpired on the road to Emmaus in the Gospel of Luke.

New facilitators are also always welcome to join us at the Little Rock Scripture Studies (LRSS). Contact: Raymond Tan (rictan@singnet.com.sg) or Dominic Yap (domspyap@singnet.com.sg). Look out for upcoming talks or courses in the church bulletin. The next series will be on the Catholic Epistles covering the letters of James, Peter, Jude and John, presented by Fr Ambrose Vaz every Wed on Nov 9, 16, 23 and 30.

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Journeying in the gospel of MatthewWith only 52 weeks in a year, the 24-week Gospel of Matthew study programme was a daunting prospect for some. But the journey together turned out to be life-changing for many of the participants. Yet others have proclaimed that the course was awe-inspiring to say the least. Here, Juliana Kiu and Joey Lim share their experiences in the recently-concluded Gospel of Matthew course at St Mary’s!

JuLiAnA KiuAS a cradle Catholic, I finally picked up my bible when I joined the LrSS for the 8-week “Great Adventure – A Quick Journey through the Bible” last year. For the first time since I was given a bible as a gift in 1991 by my sister and brother, I was actually using it!

Although I had difficulties keeping up with the weekly lessons, I was nonetheless intrigued and hooked on Bible Study for the first time in my life. There it is, completely accessible, made understandable, easy to follow and interesting.

So when it was announced that the 24-week St Matthew’s Gospel study programme was going to start, I hungered to learn more about the written word of God.

The 24-week commitment was a bit daunting at first. It took a while and a slight struggle to settle into my bible study group, and into Matthew and the rhythm of preparing for Bible Study session every week.

Journeying with my fellow bible-study group-mates, I learned more about the Gospel of St Matthew, and the teachings of Jesus. There is a deepening in my understanding of my faith and the proceedings of the Mass. This also allows me to appreciate and participate more fully in the Mass. For instance, the part where we say the ‘Holy, Holy...’ we proclaim Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday where he proceeded to clean out the temple (as he cleanses us, the living temples of God today). And how we are all Barabbas (whose name means ‘son of the father’), the convicted rebel and murderer, whose place Jesus took on the cross.

There is so much to learn every week. The input from watching the Jeff Cavins DVD, followed by the group discussion and sharing, added another dimension to my own self-study at home.

I’ve also got to know more of the people in my BSG (Bible study group). While our main purpose is to study the bible, we have come to enjoy the camaraderie of our Thursday morning BSG. There is an acceptance, openness and living out of the Gospel message of a church community of believers that help each other grow spiritually, and in so many other ways as we also share our personal struggles and common experiences.

I started off with no involvement in any church ministry. I have been blessed by a warm and accepting ministry that lives out what we learn in our weekly bible study. I feel spiritually very nourished by what I have received from Bible study. I hope to continue with bible study with the LrSS next year, and serve in some ways in a ministry that has led me to learn more about the wisdom of written word of God! And I hope more will also come to know the written word of God by joining the LrSS!

By Joey LimI HAVE been a Catholic throughout my life. I was born a Catholic, raised as a Catholic, and educated as a Catholic. With all these mentioned, I can say that I have gained enough knowledge of my faith in Christ Jesus and have been trying to live out what I have learned.

Joining the 24-weeks journey with my fellow brothers and sisters with Jeff Cavins about the Gospel of Matthew, I was continually amazed at some

new knowledge I gained. one thing unique about this is looking at the Gospel through the eyes, ears, and heart of a Jew.

For me, it’s a whole new type of journey about my faith. Jeff shows and gives you details and pointers why this has to happen: what the Jews expect from a Messiah and how God corrects this thinking to accomplish a much greater role to save all men from sin and death. I also learned to appreciate and be aware of the things we do in the Mass: why we are doing it and what do they mean. I also like how Matthew wrote his Gospel. He always tries to link it from the old Testament, showing us that Jesus indeed came to fulfil all that has been promised and said about the coming of the Messiah. Jeff explains all these

clearly, to enable us to better understand it.

I always tell myself that faith is a journey, hoping that one day we all reach our final destination – heaven. I do not expect it to be smooth sailing always, but at least I am always reminded that I can look at it in a better perspective. This is what I have come to realise by joining this event. I hope I can find more opportunities such as this to deepen my God-given faith of being a Catholic.

If you would like to be informed about future Bible studies courses, please contact Raymond Tan (rictan@singnet.com.sg) or Dominic Yap (domspyap@singnet.com.sg).

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By Stanislaus Jude Chan.Photos by Luminaire team.

SoME 400 religious leaders and well-wishers gathered on oct 27 at the Church of St Mary of the Angels to

celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Spirit of Assisi with an inter-faith prayer for peace.

organised by the Franciscan friars, the event relived a landmark moment in 1986, when Blessed Pope John Paul II invited representatives of the world’s religions to Assisi in Italy to pray together for the first time in history.

The friars were joined by Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli and Archbishop Nicholas Chia, as well as religious representatives including Mr Kuek Yi Hsing of the Baha’i faith, Mr Harbans Singh of the Sikh faith, Mr Jaafar Ma of the Muslim faith, reverend Gabriel Liew of the Christian faith, Mr Jayantilal Jasani of the Jain faith, Master Adrian Long of the Taoist faith, Mr Henry Baey of the Buddhist faith, and Swami Jitamanasananda of the Hindu faith.

President Tony Tan and his wife Mrs Mary Tan also attended the event, which included prayers for peace by the various religious leaders, lighting of candles to spell out “Peace” in Singapore’s four main languages, and performances by the award-winning St Joseph’s Institution Vocal Ensemble and Catholic theatre group Walk on Water Productions.

At the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels in Assisi, Italy, Pope Benedict XVI invited some 300 religious leaders and – for the first time – several philosophers who describe themselves as humanists or seekers who do not identify with any single religion.

The pontiff praised the foresight of Pope John Paul II in calling the first Assisi meeting two-and-a-half decades ago, and said that the gatherings are a “vivid expression of the fact that every day, throughout our world, people of different religious traditions live and work together in harmony.”

“It is surely significant,” Pope Benedict continued, “that so many people are committed to working for the good of the human family.”

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By Stanislaus Jude Chan.Photos by Luminaire team.

SoME 400 religious leaders and well-wishers gathered on oct 27 at the Church of St Mary of the Angels to

celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Spirit of Assisi with an inter-faith prayer for peace.

organised by the Franciscan friars, the event relived a landmark moment in 1986, when Blessed Pope John Paul II invited representatives of the world’s religions to Assisi in Italy to pray together for the first time in history.

The friars were joined by Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli and Archbishop Nicholas Chia, as well as religious representatives including Mr Kuek Yi Hsing of the Baha’i faith, Mr Harbans Singh of the Sikh faith, Mr Jaafar Ma of the Muslim faith, reverend Gabriel Liew of the Christian faith, Mr Jayantilal Jasani of the Jain faith, Master Adrian Long of the Taoist faith, Mr Henry Baey of the Buddhist faith, and Swami Jitamanasananda of the Hindu faith.

President Tony Tan and his wife Mrs Mary Tan also attended the event, which included prayers for peace by the various religious leaders, lighting of candles to spell out “Peace” in Singapore’s four main languages, and performances by the award-winning St Joseph’s Institution Vocal Ensemble and Catholic theatre group Walk on Water Productions.

At the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels in Assisi, Italy, Pope Benedict XVI invited some 300 religious leaders and – for the first time – several philosophers who describe themselves as humanists or seekers who do not identify with any single religion.

The pontiff praised the foresight of Pope John Paul II in calling the first Assisi meeting two-and-a-half decades ago, and said that the gatherings are a “vivid expression of the fact that every day, throughout our world, people of different religious traditions live and work together in harmony.”

“It is surely significant,” Pope Benedict continued, “that so many people are committed to working for the good of the human family.”

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owner Frances believes that by bringing richter for the animal blessing every year, he would receive graces too, which would aid him in his work and help him bring more love and joy to the patients. Even animals can do noble jobs!

St Francis himself was famed for his love for animals and for preaching to the creatures, including “my sisters the birds” and “brother wolf”. Even more amazing was how the animals seemed to understand Francis, listening and obeying his words. Legend has it that on his deathbed, St Francis thanked his donkey for carrying and helping him throughout his life, and his donkey wept.

Eleven-year-old rebekah caused a little fiasco at the event when two of her pet bullfrogs, Lala and Huhu, leapt out of their tanks and hopped all around. Little rebekah deftly caught hold of them and put them back. Most of us would cringe at the sight of our slimy amphibian friends, but definitely not her. She first got them from a frog farm a year ago during a school excursion, and has been rearing them since. rebekah saw them grow to their current size, bit by bit, little by little, since they were small little tadpoles. She saw them shed their tails and grow limps. Now it’s no wonder they have become so dear to her.

THE piazza is usually filled with hustle and bustle of human activity. But on the oct 2, the usual crowd

was replaced by our excited animal friends, who gather annually to receive blessings from their creator. organised by the Franciscan friars, the “Blessing of Animals” was held in conjunction with the Feast of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

For Frances, who was attending the animal blessing at Church of St Mary of the Angels with her Siberian Husky, richter, the event was particularly meaningful. Frances specially picked St Francis as her patron saint, because she shared his advocacy. For the past 10 years, she has brought her beautiful and extremely obedient four-legged companion to be blessed during the occasion.

on the surface, richter looked like any other ordinary pet dog for sure, but his job

BLessing of AnimALs

Puppy Love! By Amanda ong

was more than just to be a companion. owner Frances volunteers at the Dover Park Hospice, where richter has been trained to do therapy work as part of the organisation’s “Animal-assisted Therapy” programme.

He started when he was just a puppy, at seven months old. Being part of the “Palliative Care” program, he is tasked with bringing joy and company to those who are suffering chronic illnesses and nearing the end of their life. At such a stage, sadness, oppression, pain and sufferings would be no stranger to these patients, who wake up every day not knowing if they would pass the next. richter would be there, even for those who are already bedridden, to play with them and sometimes snuggling up beside them on the bed, to offer them comfort and most of the time, lift their spirits and alleviate some of their physical pain.

rebekah’s mother, Charmaine, was initially apprehensive about allowing her daughter to keep these frogs, but relented after seeing how much her daughter loved them. For the record, rebekah would catch lizards to feed Lala and Huhu. Well, slightly creepy to some, but that’s definitely love. Little rebekah believes that by blessing them, her pet frogs would be happier. And that means a lot to her.

Many other dedicated pet owners brought their animals along, ranging from chinchillas, mice, birds, cats, dogs and many others. After a short prayer, the owners and their pets stepped up one by one, to receive their blessing and sprinkling of the Holy Water.

The Blessing of Animals event at St Mary’s has been around for more than a decade. According to Fr Derrick, the parish wants to invite creatures of the Earth, made by our same creator God, to praise God together with us humans. It also serves as a reminder to humans that we should have compassion and love towards these creatures, too, for in them and through them, we can learn values and virtues like patience and love.

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I rECENTLY watched a movie called “Dolphin Tale”, which was based on a true story. It’s about the relationship between a boy and a dolphin whose tail

had to be severed due to unforeseen circumstances (I’m keeping it generic so I won’t spoil the movie if you decide to watch it).

The boy had little interest in everything that he did. He had no friends, and was constantly bullied. Family was the only pillar of support.

Thankfully, that support extended to his older cousin, who had a God-given talent for swimming. He was so talented he had the prospect of being an olympic swimmer. Unfortunately he became handicapped, and had to walk with a brace. This meant that his dream of international prominence was over. When you thought things couldn’t get worse, his undisputed state championship record was shattered by his rival, who dismembered him more than he already was.

Then, one character in the show asked the swimmer a question that was so riveting: “What hurts more? Your leg or your pride?”

Putting myself in his position, I imagined how I would respond and react if it was me, losing something that meant so much to me?

on the way home after the show, I thought about the different characters, and I felt that in a way, everyone is crippled. of course, I don’t just mean physically. There’s a recurring conflict with our self, hindering us from making that daring step to move on. I tried thinking of the reason, and I think I found an answer of my own.

We are afraid, all of us. Few are used to setbacks, mainly due to the lack of it. People think that it’s unrealistic and impossible. The truth is: we face setbacks everyday. We miss the bus; the train is overcrowded; we are late for work. How do we overcome these? We simply move on. It doesn’t seem to be an obstacle because it’s so common. But what about other hitches such as missing a spot in the school soccer team, quarrelling with your “significant-other” or losing someone close to you?

So why are we afraid to move on? There are two factors I thought of: the fear of change and the lack of belief.

feAr of chAngeTechnically, it’s not moving on per se that we fear, I said it’s “change” because of our comfort zones. We are used to how things are. It’s in our natureto lean towards routine, because it’s safe, despite being boring at times.

LAcK of BeLiefWe are not exposed to enough situations; we can never be. It’s impossible to be involved with every situation. The point is, rather, to understand and accustom ourselves to the very fact that setbacks are bound to happen, whether we like it or not.

We humans are sometimes pretty determined creatures, and we don’t give ourselves credit for the effort we put in.

Have you ever played a game that you were so bad at, but you continue fervently, relentlessly spamming the restart button?

are We Being Crippled by Fear?By Mika Low

If so, do you realise that… Eventually, you get better? of course, some naysayers will be going, “But I’m still horrible at it, look at my friend, he’s level 40 while I’m still here.”

Well, you can’t always be the best among your peers. The point is: you do improve, given time and practice. And belief crawls into your mind, sometimes without you noticing. Before you know it, you made so much improvement and a sense of achievement is felt.

cAn i do whAt i’m not good At?I was given a piece of advice from one of my secondary school teachers, when I received my results. I was thinking of which course to take in polytechnic. The teacher said: “Choose what you are good at, rather than what you like.”

So, I thought, what if I don’t love it? Her defence then was that it would be easier to like what you’re good at it. Stubborn as a mull, I went against that counsel.

Looking back, I’ve learnt something from this episode.

It taught me to follow my dreams. Who says you can’t dream if you’re not good at something? It’s about the

mentality and perseverance.

Some tend to give up halfway, saying it’s not for them or that it’s too hard. Point is, when you’re willing to try, you are creating belief. My uncle once told me: “Don’t aim to be the best, aim to be better everyday.”

Should we follow that mentality, we would have improved by heaps and bounds. Not everyone one will be lucky as to succeed the first time they try, so setbacks will always get us down. Take them as a learning experience, for when we do succeed finally, value is added to our lives. It creates a belief that we can do anything.

There’ll always be back-pedalling thoughts, but they’ll all zoom away once passion and belief is present.

People are afraid of falling, that’s why we hold on so tightly to the reins of our comfort zone. People are so used to that.

Why not start trying today? As antithetical as it sounds, if you have the adventurous spirit, stepping out of your comfort zone may be your new comfort zone.

More importantly, you may just find your lifelong passion.

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Congratulations to Our newly Baptised!St Mary’s welcomes you into our family!

nAme

Gareth Zephaniah Tan

Ajam Christopher Archer

Nidia Phua Jia Jin

Matthew Wong Junzhe

Lauren olivia Guerrero Montales

olimpo Kaitlyn Cyrille De Jesus

Mary Margaret reyes Teston

Mitzi Mellyn Guinto Acuna

Desiree Marie Lim

Nathaniel Laurenzo Guico Vergara

Samuel Justin Ding Jieping

nAme

Sarah Ava Yap En Xi

Xavier Koh Wei Zhe

Miguel Emmanuel Chin Garbo

Caitlynn Cheng Li-Anne

Arguilles Michael Jacob Malabrigo

Maya Cheah Shu Shan

Gabriel Chew Jun En

Amaranto Eloisa Dawn Dominguez

Charlotte Tan Xuan Ning

Sherise Victoria Tan

Marcellus Samudra Wirawan

BooK reviews

infused with god’s spiritBy Peter Hong

All SaintsBy robert ellsberg ($49.90)

All Saints is a daily reader that presents short yet comprehensive biographies of 365 official and unofficial “saints” from the Christian tradition. From Therese of Lisieux to Mother Teresa, from Moses to Martin Luther, this inspiring treasury combines traditional saints with other spiritual masters whose lives speak to the meaning of holiness for our time. The purpose of the book is to enrich the lives of contemporary Christians through the strong Christian witness of those who have gone before us.

More Saintly Solutions to Life’s Common ProblemsBy fr Joseph esper ($43.90)

No matter what temptations you feel or troubles you have, there’s a saint who also had those problems and can help you deal with them. St Augustine is here, along with St Catherine of Siena and St Francis de Sales. But you’ll also meet lesser-known saints, including St Maria de la Cabeza and St Theophan the recluse. Indeed, here you’ll encounter over 400 saints who, by their example and intercession, will help you resist your temptations, resolve your problems, and bear with grace, good cheer, and genuine Christian hope the ones you can’t break free of. Fr Joseph Esper, author of the popular companion volume, Saintly Solutions, considers over thirty of life’s common problems, showing you how the saints dealt with each of them and grew holier as they did so. In each chapter, Fr Esper includes thought-provoking quotes from saints, a practical section entitled “Something you might try,” and suggestions for further reading.

All featured books are available at Wellsprings Catholic Books or at the bookcart at the Piazza.

all saints, all souls Day By Michael Figueroa Arteche

HALLoWEEN, Jack o’Lanterns, Witches, Ghosts, Trick or Treat – buzz words that fill up the airwaves and every other conceivable form of media come the month of october. Since the 19th

century, Halloween celebrations on oct 31, popularised in the United States and Canada, has impacted much of the world today.

Growing up in the 70’s in a small city in central Philippines, these words were alien to me. oct 31 had no significance. Instead, Nov 1 and 2 were school holidays and we spent them visiting the dead at the cemetery. The weeks prior were hectic for the adults in making preparations: food, candles, matches, etc. The cemetery had to be cleaned: grass trimmed, weeds pulled out, tombs whitewashed, letters on tombstones repainted.

There’s a carnival air during the celebrations. The roads leading to the cemetery are lined with vendors selling things from food, drinks, candles in all shapes, sizes and colours, matches and more.

It is said that families always get together during wedding and funerals. This is no different. relatives from far and widen – some we meet for the first time, ever – come to pay their respect for those who have gone before us, ‘asleep in Christ in the hope of the resurrection’. Entire families, some 3 or 4 generations, come together on this day.

These are the only days that the living outnumber the dead at the cemetery. With all the people, lights and sounds, it also does not look scary as it usually does. With family plots separated by low walls, prayers are scheduled so as not to start a praying contest with neighbours. The pious pray, while the rest make small talk (or gossip) while the children enjoy being allowed to play around with candle drippings. Adding to the din would be music from radios or musical instruments accompanied by singing hymns, liturgical songs or the latest pop love song.

All these are done for the sake of the dead. Visiting them, lighting candles, saying prayers, singing to them or just keeping them company. At the end of two days – yes, people stay overnight at the cemetery on Nov 1 – the cemetery goes back to its normal state of being quiet, eerie and scary at night.

I am sure the dead revel in these two days where their relatives and friends take time out from their hectic lives to visit them. “Do they listen to all the stories shared there?” I wonder.

In the creed we pray, ‘we believe… in the communion of saints’. I‘d say my childhood celebrations of All Saints Day and All Souls Day was a reflection of this belief. on these days, we, the living, pray for the dead and invoke the saints in heaven to intercede to bring unity of all believers. As in every Mass, we, as one family in the Church, will continue to pray for all.

All Saints Day. All Souls Day. Family Day.

by Carol Seow

-Lee

God’s superheroes

LIVING The Word

“For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but the

righteousness and peace and joy in the holy spirit. The one who thus serves the Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual edification.”

— romans 1 4:17-19

prAYer

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

A superhero is an unreal character dedicated to protecting the people against disasters and criminal actions by supervillains. They are usually portrayed to possess superhuman powers and often hide their true identity from the public.

If we mentioned superman, I am sure many would probably know quite a lot about this superhero. Being one of the earliest superheroes in comics, dating back to 1938, perhaps many

would know what powers he possessed, his secret identity being Clark Kent, what his costume looks like and so on.

so how about God’s superheroes – Who are they? What do you know about them? What do they look like? do you know many of them? As we look at some of God’s superheroes – the saints – do

remember that they are reAL people who lived exemplary lives dedicated to helping God’s people. They inspire us to follow in their ways and strive to become saints ourselves! They are always putting God first and have the strongest love and desire to work for the glory of God. We admire these saints and by reading about them and getting to know them and what they represent, we are inspired by all they do in showing how much they love God and God’s people. These saints share and show God’s love to us.

Because they are such important people who have sacrificed a lot towards building God’s kingdom, each year, on Nov 1, we celebrate and remember them on “All Saints’ Day”. Also, each time we celebrate the eucharist, we come together as one big family of God to be in communion with all the saints. And in this one family of God, we have many superheroes among us. Isn’t it wonderful that we have so many good examples to follow and learn from?

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ACTIVITY

The CommuNIoN oF sAINTsThis saint is believed to be a great miracle worker, the faithful ask for his intercession now to find things lost or stolen; Also a Franciscan.

he was a very prominent saint and had a large following. his teaching prepared the way for the work of Jesus. he baptised Jesus.

This saint is identified with Santa Claus and a patron saint for children, sailors and travellers. he was a very strong and gallant man.

This saint was the Leader of the apostles; Jesus called him the “rock of the Church”. He is the patron saint for fishermen and papacy.

This saint respects all creatures and chose to lead a simple life in poverty. He was the first saint to receive the stigmata in 1224.

st Francis of AssisiFeast day: october 4

st Anthony of paduaFeast day: June 13

st ThomasFeast day: July 4

st Nicholas of myraFeast day: december 6

st peterFeast day: June 29

Published by the Church of St Mary of the Angels, 5 Bukit Batok East Avenue 2, Singapore 659918. Tel: 65673866.Designed by Extent Communications (service@extent.com.sg). Printed by Chin Long Printing Pte Ltd, Blk 9 Kallang Place #04-08 Singapore 339154. Tel: 62945709. Fax: 62984736

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THIS photograph was taken in october, during a service trip with the Newman Catholic Centre to

Camp Baker, a handicapped retreat facility for intellectually challenged individuals, located in Chesterfield County, Virginia.

There is a story behind this picture. Look closely and you’ll see a pair of hands. The hand holding the pen is mine. The other hand holding (and guiding) my hand belongs to JJ, a resident of Camp Baker.

Do you notice something peculiar?

You may be wondering why an intellectually disabled individual would be guiding my hand to do a seemingly simple task of colouring. Shouldn’t the position of the hands be swapped? I should be the one guiding his hand right? I certainly thought so.

When I first saw JJ, I noticed that he was having difficulties colouring and matching the right colours to the right fruit images on the worksheet. So I sat next to him, held his hand and began to help him colour the images properly. But before we could finish one worksheet, JJ suddenly

an Unexpected, Colourful Lesson By Christopher Chok

AS a photographer, hearing of the words “oil” and “lamp” always brings about some excitement, as

small candles and lights almost always make for good photography subjects. They are also a reminder of a faith that you need to strive to preserve, with enough oil to keep burning.

And I guess that is the reason the five wise virgins were unable to spare their oil for the others - a personal life of faith is non-transferable. A faith that prepares us for the day and hour that no one knows.

I can show you the happiness and exuberance of the youth, appreciative of the water that cooled them down in the heat in this photograph. But to experience it, like the satisfaction brought about by a life of faith, you’ll need to enjoy the “shower” yourself!

tensed up and threw his marker across the table. I was a little taken aback at this sudden outburst but thought little of it. I held his hand again and tried to complete the worksheet together with him. But this time, he wouldn’t let me hold his hand. He resisted even more and I prepared myself for another violent outburst.

But that violent outburst didn’t happen. What happened instead taught me a very valuable lesson.

JJ gently held onto my hand and made me hold on to a red marker. He moved a new piece of colouring worksheet towards the two of us and began to guide my hand. Gingerly colouring images of apples, oranges and grapes together in this very interesting tableau, I became overwhelmed with humility and empathy.

Here I was thinking that I was the saviour of the day, hoping to help an intellectually disabled person complete a simple colouring worksheet.

I completely missed the point. By adopting such a mindset, I was unconsciously and unknowingly lowering

“non-transferable...” fritz ng from the Luminaire team reflects on the Gospel of Matthew 25:1-13.

myself from my own pedestal to help others around me. How egoistic indeed! Was I really helping JJ or was I merely patronising him from a superior vantage point? At the onset at least, I failed to recognise Christ in him; I forgot that JJ was also a child of God, very much like you and me.

This moment taught me something very valuable. Apart from teaching me that God speaks to us in the most unusual and unique ways, it made me question my motives of helping others around me; it questioned the authenticity of my

help. Ironically, the person whom I was intending to help complete a simple worksheet helped me in a very profound manner instead.

Looking at this photo again, I see more than a pair of hands. I see more than a simple act of colouring images of fruits on a worksheet. I now see, realise and recognise the presence of Christ through JJ. Christ was, still is, and will always be, holding my pen, guiding my hopes, dreams and ambitions and adding colour and vibrancy to the fruits of the Holy Spirit that are present in my life.