SMU FIDES Unite

In life with Christ.

2007-04-16T20:48:00.000+08:00

"And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." - Matt 3:17.

Thank you Fides for growing and supporting me all these while.

If Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him, why did he keep him in the circle of his close companions until the end?

2007-03-27T12:12:00.000+08:00

Among the many disciples who followed him, Jesus designated twelve to be closest to him, to share and continue his mission. He took very seriously the formation of this group of twelve apostles, praying an entire night beforehand.

But at a certain moment, Jesus realized that one of the twelve, Judas, had changed his attitude. Jesus understood that Judas was becoming distant from him, and even saw that he was going to “hand him over,” as the gospels put it. According to John’s gospel, Jesus understood what was happening already in Galilee, long before the events in Jerusalem that would bring him to the cross (John 6:70-71). Why then did he not send Judas away? Why did he keep him close to him until the end?

One of the words used by Jesus to speak of the creation of the group of the twelve apostles gives us a clue. “Did not I choose you, the Twelve?” (John 6:70; see also 13:18.) The verb to choose is a key word in Bible history. God chose Abraham, and then chose Israel to become the chosen people. It is God’s choice or election that forms God’s people, the people of the covenant. What makes the covenant unbreakable is that God chooses to love Abraham and his descendants for ever. The apostle Paul would comment on this: “God’s gifts and call are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29).

Because Jesus chose the twelve just as God chose his people, he could not send Judas away even when he realized that he was going to betray him. He knew that he had to love him to the end, to show that God’s choice was irrevocable. The prophets, Hosea and Jeremiah in particular, spoke in the name of a God wounded and humiliated by the betrayals of his people, but who nevertheless never stopped loving them with eternity’s love. Jesus did not wish to do less, nor could he do so: humiliated by the treason of one of his closest companions, he kept on showing him his love. By lowering himself before his disciples to wash their feet, he made himself the servant of all, Judas included. And it was particularly with Judas that he shared a peace of bread, a fragment of burning love that the disciple took away with him into his night (John 13:21-30).

If he wanted to be faithful to his Father – to the God who chose Abraham and Israel, to the God of the prophets – Jesus could do nothing else but keep Judas close to him until the end. He loved Judas even when Judas was enshrouded by darkness. “The light shines in the darkness” (John 1:5). The gospel says that Jesus “was glorified” at the moment he gave his love to Judas, when he loved him without gaining anything by it and beyond all measure (John 13:31). In the darkest night of resentment and hatred, Jesus manifested the unbelievable radiance of God’s love.

Source: http://www.taize.fr/en_article4572.html

Season of Lent

2007-03-04T23:01:00.000+08:00

And so it is, Lent once again. How fast time pasts. It seems just yesterday or thereabouts that it was Advent, and Christmas. After all that joyous activity, we had New Years, and the Chinese Lunar New Year. Amidst all this, we had Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of Lent.
Lent is a time when we prepare ourselves for what is to be the commemoration of the greatest gift one can get. This of course would be Jesus, and His great sacrifice for us all. In this time of Lent, we are called to not only make sacrifices like Him too, but to do good things as well. Moreso now, after today, which is the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, meaning that there can be no more excuse to be still in the festive mood of indulgence.
Inspired by the contemplative mood set in for this season, I decided to paint a picture, a Lenten project if you may, to remind me of what this season is about. It seems to be no coincidence that I painted this today, which as I mentioned is the last day we can use as excuse to be "immune" to what Lent requires of us as Catholics; we are now called upon to carry up our cross and journey with Him. I hope this will inpire the rest of you who read this blog to think and pray, during this Holy season of Lent.

-Shawn

Virgin Mary did not had any other children other than Christ

2007-03-03T14:43:00.000+08:00

Greetings,

As promised, the Douay commentary on Matt 1:25, attesting to the fact that the Virgin Mary did not had any other children other than Christ.

Your humble elect,
Gus

Click on the text to see larger font.

One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church

2007-02-16T22:02:00.000+08:00

The Latin phrase that you see at the start of the clip is "In principio erat verbu, et verbum erat apud deum et deus erat verbum". This comes from the Gospel according to St John and in English it means "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (Jn 1:1)

The background music that you hear is from the Pirates of the Caribbean Soundtrack. Both 'Fog Bound' and 'The Medallion Calls' are used.

At the end of the clip the following are the lines used...
"Urged by faith

we are obliged to believe
and to maintain

that the Church is
ONE

holy Catholic
and apostolic.

We believe in her firmly

and we confess with simplicity that outside her there is neither salvation
nor the remission of sins,

as the Spouse in the Canticles proclaims:
"One is my dove, my perfect one".

ONE. "

"One is my dove, my perfect one is but one" is found in Canticles of Canticles (Song of Songs) Chapter 6 Verse 8.

Message of His Holiness Benedict XVI for Lent 2007

2007-02-14T11:14:00.000+08:00

They shall look on Him
whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37)

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

“They shall look on Him whom they have pierced” (Jn 19:37). This is the biblical theme that this year guides our Lenten reflection. Lent is a favourable time to learn to stay with Mary and John, the beloved disciple, close to Him who on the Cross, consummated for all mankind the sacrifice of His life (cf. Jn 19:25). With a more fervent participation let us direct our gaze, therefore, in this time of penance and prayer, at Christ crucified who, dying on Calvary, revealed fully for us the love of God. In the Encyclical Deus caritas est, I dwelt upon this theme of love, highlighting its two fundamental forms: agape and eros.

God’s love: agape and eros

The term agape, which appears many times in the New Testament, indicates the self-giving love of one who looks exclusively for the good of the other. The word eros, on the other hand, denotes the love of one who desires to possess what he or she lacks and yearns for union with the beloved. The love with which God surrounds us is undoubtedly agape. Indeed, can man give to God some good that He does not already possess? All that the human creature is and has is divine gift. It is the creature then, who is in need of God in everything. But God’s love is also eros. In the Old Testament, the Creator of the universe manifests toward the people whom He has chosen as His own a predilection that transcends every human motivation. The prophet Hosea expresses this divine passion with daring images such as the love of a man for an adulterous woman (cf. 3:1-3). For his part, Ezekiel, speaking of God’s relationship with the people of Israel, is not afraid to use strong and passionate language (cf. 16:1-22). These biblical texts indicate that eros is part of God’s very heart: the Almighty awaits the “yes” of His creatures as a young bridegroom that of his bride. Unfortunately, from its very origins, mankind, seduced by the lies of the Evil One, rejected God’s love in the illusion of a self-sufficiency that is impossible (cf. Gn 3:1-7). Turning in on himself, Adam withdrew from that source of life who is God Himself, and became the first of “those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage” (Heb 2:15). God, however, did not give up. On the contrary, man’s “no” was the decisive impulse that moved Him to manifest His love in all of its redeeming strength.

The Cross reveals the fullness of God’s love

It is in the mystery of the Cross that the overwhelming power of the heavenly Father’s mercy is revealed in all of its fullness. In order to win back the love of His creature, He accepted to pay a very high price: the blood of His only begotten Son. Death, which for the first Adam was an extreme sign of loneliness and powerlessness, was thus transformed in the supreme act of love and freedom of the new Adam. One could very well assert, therefore, together with Saint Maximus the Confessor, that Christ “died, if one could say so, divinely, because He died freely” (Ambigua, 91, 1956). On the Cross, God’s eros for us is made manifest. Eros is indeed – as Pseudo-Dionysius expresses it – that force “that does not allow the lover to remain in himself but moves him to become one with the beloved” (De divinis nominibus, IV, 13: PG 3, 712). Is there more “mad eros” (N. Cabasilas, Vita in Cristo, 648) than that which led the Son of God to make Himself one with us even to the point of suffering as His own the consequences of our offences?

“Him whom they have pierced”

Dear brothers and sisters, let us look at Christ pierced in the Cross! He is the unsurpassing revelation of God’s love, a love in which eros and agape, far from being opposed, enlighten each other. On the Cross, it is God Himself who begs the love of His creature: He is thirsty for the love of every one of us. The Apostle Thomas recognized Jesus as “Lord and God” when he put his hand into the wound of His side. Not surprisingly, many of the saints found in the Heart of Jesus the deepest expression of this mystery of love. One could rightly say that the revelation of God’s eros toward man is, in reality, the supreme expression of His agape. In all truth, only the love that unites the free gift of oneself with the impassioned desire for reciprocity instills a joy, which eases the heaviest of burdens. Jesus said: “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself” (Jn 12:32). The response the Lord ardently desires of us is above all that we welcome His love and allow ourselves to be drawn to Him. Accepting His love, however, is not enough. We need to respond to such love and devote ourselves to communicating it to others. Christ “draws me to Himself” in order to unite Himself to me, so that I learn to love the brothers with His own love.

Blood and water

“They shall look on Him whom they have pierced.” Let us look with trust at the pierced side of Jesus from which flow “blood and water” (Jn 19:34)! The Fathers of the Church considered these elements as symbols of the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Through the water of Baptism, thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, we are given access to the intimacy of Trinitarian love. In the Lenten journey, memorial of our Baptism, we are exhorted to come out of ourselves in order to open ourselves, in trustful abandonment, to the merciful embrace of the Father (cf. Saint John Chrysostom, Catecheses, 3,14ff). Blood, symbol of the love of the Good Shepherd, flows into us especially in the Eucharistic mystery: “The Eucharist draws us into Jesus’ act of self-oblation … we enter into the very dynamic of His self-giving” (Encyclical Deus caritas est, 13). Let us live Lent then, as a “Eucharistic” time in which, welcoming the love of Jesus, we learn to spread it around us with every word and deed. Contemplating “Him whom they have pierced” moves us in this way to open our hearts to others, recognizing the wounds inflicted upon the dignity of the human person; it moves us, in particular, to fight every form of contempt for life and human exploitation and to alleviate the tragedies of loneliness and abandonment of so many people. May Lent be for every Christian a renewed experience of God’s love given to us in Christ, a love that each day we, in turn, must “regive” to our neighbour, especially to the one who suffers most and is in need. Only in this way will we be able to participate fully in the joy of Easter. May Mary, Mother of Beautiful Love, guide us in this Lenten journey, a journey of authentic conversion to the love of Christ. I wish you, dear brothers and sisters, a fruitful Lenten journey, imparting with affection to all of you, a special Apostolic Blessing.

From the Vatican, 21 November 2006.

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

Bits and Pieces

2007-01-04T18:31:00.000+08:00

Yesterday's prayer session was very meaningful and invoking. I came away from the meeting with not only St Thomas Aquinas in hand, but also with a greater appreciation of the gospel. Kudos to the people who have planned it out!

Last time, one of my main motivations of going to prayer meets was to socialize and also know God better. Besides making it harder to sleep in group prayer, it added structure and variety to my prayer life. In such meetings, the strong in faith uphold the weak, the fervent inspire the not so fervent and the learned instruct the unlearned, so all the good and weak are mixed up and for the sake of the wheat, hopefully God won't separate them so soon. LOL, anyway, really appreciate all the effort that goes into the preparation for all e meetings.

The passage was about the three wise men visiting the infant Jesus and it always amazes me about the humility of Jesus. Would He not have been happier with a roof over His Head and a pillow to lie on? And then when Jesus grows up, He doesn't eat much either! In the desert, and somewhere in the Bible, he rejects the food the apostles brought Him.

The way our Lord continuously denies Himself seems to defy human logic. But looking beyond that, maybe He's trying to tell us that there is something better than all these things, better than sleeping under a roof, on a pillow and eating good food. Perhaps He was exchanging one joy for another kind, the joy of doing God's work. The wisdom of it all sometimes evades me.

Anyway, Glenn raised up the point that the wise men travelled because they had hoped that they would find the King. We all study because we hope to do well, he said. Then Jeremy added that love is greater than hope and to all things we should add love. That really echoed with my sentiments.

Living in a competitive world, it's easy to become ambitious and totally absorbed in getting the ever elusive A's. We study so hard just to get the grades we want. One day, I got up and looked at the mirror and instantly disliked what I saw. I realized I was becoming a product of a system that encouraged competition and achievers. I was studying to get honour for myself, for my self satisfaction, forgetting my family, even to the extent of rejoicing if others did worse than me. Terrible, terrible, terrible. Where is the love?

So I started to spend time with my family and friends. Besides that, it's about loving yourself too. Gradually the Lord led me to discover that to really love yourself, you need to have a sense of self- worth that is larger than grades. Instead of focusing on the grades, why not focus on learning which is far more important?

The prayer meeting ended with what I thought was a very befitting passage of the day. From the Gospel of St John, Philip invited Nathanael to "come and see" and they stayed with Christ. To all of us who have seen, we should be like the Samaritan woman and tell other people, "come and see" We always glorify the new movie we watched and the food we like by telling everyone about it. We also need to talk about God and get our friends to simply show up at our favourite hangout. As Jesus reveals Himself to them, they will also want to stay with Him

* the power of peer pressure should not be underestimated- winks* I better get my friend to come.

Foxtrot & Latin

2006-12-31T23:28:00.000+08:00

Ratzinger on Advent

2006-12-14T10:31:00.000+08:00

Taken from Roman Miscellany

What is Advent? Many answers can be given. We can grumble and say that it is nothing but a pretext for hectic activity and commercialism, prettified with sentimental cliches in which people stopped believing ages ago. In many cases this may be true, but it is not the whole picture.

We can say the reverse, that Advent is a time when, in the midst of an unbelieving world, something of the luminous quality of this lost faith is still perceptible, like a visual echo. Just as stars are visible long after they have become extinct, since their erstwhile light is still on its way to us, so this mystery frequently offers some warmth and hope even to those who are no longer able to believe in it.

Advent is a time when a kindness that is otherwise almost entirely forgotten is mobilized; namely, the willingness to think of others and give them a token of kindness. Finally Advent is a time when old customs live again, for instance, in the singing of carols which takes place all over the country. In the melodies and the words of these carols, something of the simplicity, imagination and glad strength of the faith of our forefathers makes itself heard in our age, bringing consolation and encouraging us perhaps to have another go at that faith which could make people so glad in such hard times.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Seek That Which Is Above (1986), pp16-17

Could you not watch one hour with me?

2006-12-11T01:19:00.000+08:00

Irony isn't it. It seems that all of us are as busy if not busier over the holidays than over term time. True, the type of activity we engage in is probably more enjoyable (eg. catching up with old friends, holidays, two of the latter in fact, parties). But the hustle and bustle never ends. In our commitment to 'busyness', we often lose sight of God in our lives. And even worse, we become individualistic and stop caring for the needs of the people around us.

After the Thailand trip with Phuong and Van, I experienced a strong yearning to be with God alone after mass. For some reason, I felt empty and needed God to reassure me that I was heading where He wanted me to amidst my 'busyness' and lack of time for reflection. I went to the adoration room- something I haven't done in a long time. There is no doubt about the divinity of the host for John 6:35 says 'I Myself Am the Living Bread come down from heaven'. When we look upon the sacred host, we look upon Jesus. Jn 6:40 says 'Indeed, this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks upon the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life. Him I will raise up on the last day.'

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus asked his apostles to keep watch at Gethsemane and tells Peter to 'watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation'. It is in 'watching' or what we know as 'adoration' that we draw strength from God through prayer and reflection.

How grateful we ought to be invited to receive God's promises in the sacred host.

'I have come that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.'

'I am the Vine and you are the branches. Whoever remains in union with Me shall bear much fruit for without Me, you can do nothing.'

'I have loved you with an everlasting love, and constant is my affection for you'

And the only little request that Jesus has of us for all the love He wants to give

"Could you not watch one hour with me?"

Your loving sister,
Julia :)

Into Great Silence

2006-11-05T18:11:00.000+08:00

Synopsis: The Grande Chartreuse, the mother house of the legendary Carthusian Order, is based in the French Alps. “Into Great Silence” will be the first film ever about life inside the Grande Chartreuse.

Silence. Repitition. Rhythm. The film is an austere, next to silent meditation on monastic life in a very pure form. No music except the chants in the monastery, no interviews, no commentaries, no extra material.

Changing of time, seasons, and the ever repeated elements of the day, of the prayer. A film to become a monastery, rather than depict one. A film about awareness, absolute presence, and the life of men who devoted their lifetimes to god in the purest form. Contemplation.
An object in time.

Awards: Best Documentary, Bavarian Film Awards 2005; Best Documentary, German Film Critics Award 2005; Special Jury Award, Sundance International Film Festival 2006; Best Documentary, Sao Paulo Film Festival 2006; Premio Flaiano Pescaro 2006

Showtime: 10 November 2006 (Friday) 7pm @ The National Museum. Tickets Cost $6, Free Sitting.

As part of the 10th German Film Festival
Official Website of Into Great Silence
Trailer with English Captions

-Jeremy

You Are My God

2006-10-15T21:35:00.000+08:00

This is just a short video clip about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

-Jeremy

Why Am I Catholic?

2006-10-04T12:35:00.000+08:00

This video is by by Katerina Marie Cabello whose blog is Evangelical Catholicism. The video slideshow gives six reasons for being Catholic: 1) the Eucharist, 2) the Church, 3) the Sacraments, 4) Mary, 5) Marriage (actual and spiritual), and 6) Communion of Saints. The song for the video is "Jesus Christ You are my Life," the theme song from the 2005 World Youth Day.

Enjoy!

-Jeremy

2006-09-13T06:54:00.000+08:00

Hi all, how's everyone doing?

It's Week 4 already... and I think many are starting to get stressed and tired already...

Here's a song I wanna share with you all... a song that you and I can keep at the back of our heads through the daily hum-drum of school life... (I find every single line of this song so beautiful!) :)

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

Turn your thoughts unto Jesus
Drink deep of His comforting love
And the thoughts of sin, and self and strife
Will be lost in that rapture above.

Let's continue to lean on Him for strength, and never forget to set our eyes on the right prize -- God.
For we know that with Him, we will run but not grow weary; we will soar on eagles' wings!!

Alleluia & God bless! :)

Luv,
Vanessa

Pope's Message

2006-09-12T23:46:00.000+08:00

Dear All,

An inspiring and insightful passage from our Holy Father.

Nick Tan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Benedict XVI's Homily at Vespers in Altoetting"Let Us Love Being With the Lord" ALTOETTING, Germany, SEPT. 11, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave at the celebration of Vespers today in Altoetting's Basilica of St. Anne, attended by religious and seminarians.

* * * Dear Friends!

Here in Altoetting, in this grace-filled place, we have gathered seminarians preparing for the priesthood, priests, men and women religious and members of the Society for Spiritual Vocations in the Basilica of St. Anne, before the shrine to her daughter, the Mother of the Lord.

We have gathered here to consider our vocation to serve Jesus Christ and, under the watchful gaze of St. Anne, in whose home the greatest vocation in the history of salvation developed, to understand it better. Mary received her vocation from the lips of an angel. The angel does not enter our room visibly, but the Lord has a plan for each of us, he calls each one of us by name. Our task is to learn how to listen, to perceive his call, to be courageous and faithful in following him and, when all is said and done, to be found trustworthy servants who have used well the gifts given us.

We know that the Lord seeks laborers for his harvest. He himself said as much: The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest (Matthew 9:37-38). That is why we are gathered here: to make this urgent request to the Lord of the harvest.

God's harvest is indeed great, and it needs laborers: In the so-called Third World -- in Latin America, in Africa and in Asia -- people are waiting for heralds to bring them the Gospel of peace, the good news of God who became man. But also in the so-called West, here among us in Germany, and in the vast lands of Russia it is true that a great harvest could be reaped. But there is a lack of people willing to become laborers for God's harvest.

Today it is as then, when the Lord was moved with pity for the crowds which seemed like sheep without a shepherd -- people who probably knew how to do many things, but found it hard to make sense of their lives.

Lord, look upon our troubled times, which need preachers of the Gospel, witnesses to you, persons who can point the way toward life in abundance! Look upon our world and feel pity once more! Look upon our world and send us laborers!

With this petition we knock on God's door; but with the same petition the Lord is also knocking on the doors of our own heart. Lord do you want me? Is it not perhaps too big for me? Am I too small for this? Do not be afraid, the angel said to Mary. Do not fear: I have called you by name, God says through the Prophet Isaiah (43:1) to us -- to each of us.

Where do we go, if we say yes to the Lord's call? The briefest description of the priestly mission -- and this is true in its own way for men and women religious too -- has been given to us by the Evangelist Mark. In his account of the call of the Twelve, he says: Jesus appointed twelve to be with him and to be sent out (3:14).

To be with Jesus and, being sent, to go out to meet people -- these two things belong together and together they are the heart of a vocation, of the priesthood. To be with him and to be sent out -- the two are inseparable. Only one who is with him comes to know him and can truly proclaim him. Anyone who has been with him cannot keep to himself what he has found; instead, he has to pass it on.

Such was the case with Andrew, who told his brother Simon: We have found the Messiah (John 1:41). And the evangelist adds: He brought Simon to Jesus (John 1:42). St. Gregory the Great, in one of his homilies, once said that the angels, however far afield they go on their missions, always move in God. They remain always with him.

From this reflection on the angels, St. Gregory went on to think of bishops and priests: Wherever they go, they should always be with him. We know this from experience: Whenever priests, because of their many duties, allot less and less time to being with the Lord, they eventually lose, for all their often heroic activity, the inner strength that sustains them. Their activity becomes an empty activism.

To be with Christ -- how does this come about? Well, the first and most important thing for the priest is his daily Mass, always celebrated with deep interior participation. If we celebrate Mass truly as men of prayer, if we unite our words and our activities to the Word that precedes us and let them be shaped by the Eucharistic celebration, if in Communion we let ourselves truly be embraced by him and receive him -- then we are being with him.

The Liturgy of the Hours is another fundamental way of being with Christ: Here we pray as people conscious of our need to speak with God, while lifting up all those others who have neither the time nor the ability to pray in this way. I

f our Eucharistic celebration and the Liturgy of the Hours are to remain meaningful, we need to devote ourselves constantly anew to the spiritual reading of sacred Scripture; not only to be able to decipher and explain words from the distant past, but to discover the word that the Lord is speaking to me, personally, here and now. Only in this way will we be capable of bringing the inspired Word to others as a contemporary and living Word of God.

Eucharistic adoration is an essential way of being with the Lord. Thanks to Bishop Schraml, Altoetting now has a new treasury. Where once the treasures of the past were kept, precious historical and religious items, there is now a place for the Church's true treasure: the permanent presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

In one of his parables the Lord speaks of a treasure hidden in the field; the man who finds it sells all he has in order to buy that field, because the hidden treasure is more valuable than anything else. The hidden treasure, the good greater than any other good, is the Kingdom of God -- it is Jesus himself, the Kingdom in person.

In the sacred Host, he is present, the true treasure, always waiting for us. Only by adoring this presence do we learn how to receive him properly -- we learn the reality of communion, we learn the Eucharistic celebration from the inside.

Here I would like to quote some fine lines of St. Edith Stein, co-patroness of Europe: The Lord is present in the tabernacle in his divinity and his humanity. He is not there for himself, but for us: For it is his joy to be with us. He knows that we, being as we are, need to have him personally near. As a result, anyone with normal thoughts and feelings will naturally be drawn to spend time with him, whenever possible and as much as possible ("Gesammelte Werke VII," 136ff.). Let us love being with the Lord! There we can speak with him about everything. We can offer him our petitions, our concerns, our troubles. Our joys. Our gratitude, our disappointments, our needs and our aspirations. There we can also constantly ask him: Lord, send laborers into your harvest! Help me to be a good worker in your vineyard!

Here in this basilica, our thoughts turn to Mary, who lived her life fully with Jesus and consequently was, and continues to be, close to all men and women. The many votive plaques are a concrete sign of this. Let us think of Mary's holy mother, St. Anne, and with her let us also think of the importance of mothers and fathers, of grandmothers and grandfathers, and the importance of the family as an environment of life and prayer, where we learn to pray and where vocations are able to develop.

Here in Altoetting, we naturally think in a special way of good Brother Conrad. He renounced a great inheritance because he wanted to follow Jesus Christ unreservedly and to be completely with him. As the Lord recommended in the parable, he chose to take the lowest place, that of a humble lay-brother and porter. In his porter's lodge he was able to achieve exactly what St. Mark tells us about the Apostles: to stay with him, to be sent to others.

From his cell he could always look at the tabernacle and thus always stay with Christ. From this contemplation he learned the boundless goodness with which he treated the people who would knock at his door at all hours -- sometimes mischievously, in order to provoke him, at other times loudly and impatiently.

To all of them, by his sheer goodness and humanity, and without grand words, he gave a message more valuable than words alone. Let us pray to Brother St. Conrad; let us ask him to help us to keep our gaze fixed on the Lord, in order to bring God's love to the men and women of our time.

Amen!

God is AMAZING

2006-09-07T10:28:00.002+08:00

Hi Fidarians, I hope that God has spoken to you in some way on service. If you guys remember, I shared some stuff about Mother Theresa. Why did I choose her? Simply because neither did I know any other holy people nor could I find any comprehensive examples of service by the Saints. I thought, " Sigh, I guess I'd be doing on someone whom everyone knows about already and is probably bored of hearing about". Nevertheless, I didn't really have time to make any changes.

After the prayer meeting, I opened my hotmail inbox and someone from another youth group sent a reminder that 5 sept was Mother Theresa's feast day, one day before the Fides prayer meeting, and the day I was frantically searching up information about her, oblivious to any significance of the occasion at all. What's more amazing is that, the email ended with a line from the beatitudes:

matt 5:3 - Blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

And if you guys noticed the line on my T-shirt I wore for the prayer meeting, it said

"Blessed are the pure at heart, for they will see God"

It happened so coincidentally that I knew God planned it all. And you can't begin to imagine how blessed I felt that I was made part of His divine plan and His humble instrument.

Your loving sister,
Julia

P.S: Do go to this site for more inspiration.
http://www.writespirit.net/inspirational_talks/spiritual/mother_teresa_talks/oslo_1979/

Philosophy of Religion

2006-08-30T18:01:00.000+08:00

Does God exist? Have you ever considered why we believe that God exists in this world? Remember that we usually get our faith from our parents except for converts.

The ability to use reason to determine God's existence was a task that was undertaken by St Thomas Aquinas in the 17th Century and indeed it is amazing how he can come up with all these theories at that point in time.

I would like to share with you some of the points that I've learnt from class.

The presence of evil does not mean that God does not exist. Indeed God permits evil to exist in this world so that out of it, we can produce good. (St Thomas Aquinas)
The ability to use reason to determine God's existence is limited only by what is known by Divine Revelation. What is known to be revealed to us by the Apostles and God cannot be questioned.
Every cause has an effect. No cause, no effect. So who can be the cause or rather started everything must be God. There are 4 other reasons which I strongly encourage you all to find out. If you want, you can contact me and we can engage in a philosophical discussion.
If we don't question the very beliefs that we hold dear and close to us, how can we convince others of it?

I've also started to become interested in the Latin version of the Our Father. Indeed it is interesting to see how the language actually shortens the Our Father. I shall end my entry with the our Father.

Pater Noster
qui es in caelis
sanctificetur Nomen tuum
Adveniat regnum tuum
fiat voluntas tua
sicut in caelo et in terra
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie
et dimitte nobis debita nostra
sicut et nos dimmitimus debitoribus nostris
Et ne nos inducas in tentationem
sed libera nos a malo

Nicholas Chia

An occasional realisation

2006-08-18T12:36:00.000+08:00

The Fear of the Lord is the Beginnning of Wisdom yes but only the Beginning. True and total Wisdom is with Yahweh, the Lord and only with Him. It comes forth from Him and Blessed are we to be offered the beginnings of Wisdom. So Praise The Lord and Give thanks to Him. Amen!

QQ

On joining a community-- my story

2006-08-17T00:03:00.000+08:00

For some reason or another, I couldn’t open my mouth to share my story during today’s prayer meet. When I think back on my faith journey since I was baptized and how Fides came into the picture, I was overwhelmed with emotion. Just imagine the situation when I’m laughing too hard and cannot talk (it happens pretty often). It's the same idea. It’s not that I don’t want to share; I think I’m more comfortable talking in smaller groups.

My catechism course was a joke. Whoever has heard of RCIA that lasted only 6 months? The organizers decided it wasn’t long enough to be considered RCIA, so they changed the name to CCA instead. Whoever has heard of confirmation that happens one week after baptism? Well, the whole process gave me enough knowledge about Catholism to be baptised, but through that experience, my faith was stagnant since the time I was called by God at my Grandfather’s funeral. At the LISS after confirmation, I was incredibly boggled by the manifestation of gifts at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit because I doubted seriously that I would experience anything. Hence, that session wasn’t a fruitful one for me.

But I never lost hope in finding God. I knew whatever university I was going to, I would join the catholic society there. I remember my sponsor at IHM frantically looking for me in the midst of the after mass crowd to hand me a flyer from the joint outreach by the 3 universities. I signed up for both SMU and NUS camps because I was split between the two schools. I wanted the prestige of NUS, but the curriculum structure of SMU. If Raphael hadn’t called and told me how exciting life was at SMU (it helped that I liked salsa as well), I could have possibly chosen to go to NUS.

My first impression of a few of the seniors at FOC: Nick chia looked like a priest-wannabe giving a welcoming speech (brother, you should have cut your hair then; maybe I wouldn’t have thought that way). Ralf and Joseph looked too old to be in a youth group. When Joseph came in with long black pants and long sleeve shirt and did praise and worship, I thought he was some very religious and very devout teacher. And I don’t know why I thought Shawn looked like some pai2 gia4 (he sat next to me in a circle).

Albeit the comical beginnings, Fides was really the vector that helped my faith grow.
Without Fides, I wouldn’t have gone for YISS, discovered my gift of tongue, made a very good confession, and learnt to praise the Lord without inhibition during PNW.
Without Fides, I wouldn’t have experienced God when playing the keyboard at one of the midterm retreats.
Without Fides, I wouldn’t have discovered my gift of prophecy at one of the working retreats.
Without Fides, I wouldn’t have experienced community, among a group of people who loves God.
Without Fides, there wouldn’t be a hideout at GSR 4.6.
Without Fides, there wouldn’t be anyone to teach me MA or loan me a Finance textbook or go for latin ballroom classes with.

I cannot begin to imagine what would happen if the previous exco had lost faith. Because I would have never found mine.

God is so real to me now; Yesterday, I played the song ‘Everyday’ on the piano and found tears coming to my eyes as I sang. At the chalet on Sunday, I could feel God’s love flooding the BBQ pit area as I observed the conversation around me. And it fills me with so much joy, even though I’ve left for 3 months. It felt like I was around a week ago. The way God’s love flows through Fides is so beautiful.

I want to thank the previous exco for persevering in the hardest times.
I want to thank the community for being the beautiful people they are.
Most of all, I want to thank God for everything He’s blessed me with. The way he puts our lives together is simply too amazing.

Your loving sister,
Julia

The Hail Mary Rosary

2006-08-16T00:20:00.000+08:00

Hi brothers and sisters!!!

Here's some really beautiful description of praying the rosary sent to me by my sponsor (some of you would have received it in email):

Father Gabriel Amorth, chief exorcist of the Vatican writes: One day a colleague of mine heard the devil say during an exorcism:
"Every Hail Mary is like a blow on my head. If Christians knew how powerful the Rosary was, it would be my end."
The secret that makes this prayer so effective is that the Rosary is both prayer and meditation. It is addressed to the Father, to the Blessed Virgin, and to the Holy Trinity, and is a meditation centred on Christ. I write in addition to the above: Please enunciate each word of the Rosary clearly and distinctly. Do not 'trample on the heels' of the words of anyone with your words. Do not speak over the leader, if you are following, or the responders if you are leading the Rosary. Remember that they also are having a conversation with Mary Our Mother and it is not polite to speak when someone else is speaking.

In the case of the public Rosary there are only two people speaking, the Leader and the Responders. Each are speaking to their Mother and listening carefully to her response within their hearts as they meditate on the scene before them in their consideration of the mystery being spoken of and interpreted and translated into their lives.Spread this powerful prayer of exorcism, The Rosary which contains the Our Father, the Perfect Prayer, prayed five times in the rescitation of each set of the Rosary's Mysteries, backed up by the powerful prayers of Our Motherwho prays with us as we pray 53 Hail Marys.

The Eternal Father described to a group of us, through a Visionary Friend of mine, what happens when we pray the Rosary, saying, "When you pray Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now..... , the Blessed Mother comes instantly to your side to pray with you. And she does not come alone. She brings angels with her. And not just one or two for she is the Queenof Angels, so choirs of angels come with her. And she and Jesus are joined at the heart and cannot be separated so she brings Jesus with her. And Jesus cannot be separated from the Trinity so He brings the Father and the Holy Spirit with Him. And where the Holy Trinity is all of creation is and you are surrounded by such beauty and light as you cannot imagine in this life. Your Mother comes as Our Lady of Grace with her hands out-stretched. Rays of light emit from her hands piercing your body, healing you and filling you with graces.

This is your inheritance which was poured out from the heart of Jesus on the Cross, when the centurion pierced His Heart with the spear, into the only pure vessel ready to receive such graces at that time, Your Mother. Now as you pray the Rosary, or even just recite one Hail Mary, you receive your portion of these graces." He also said at this time, "Anyone who goes to Marmora and prays the Rosary cannot betouched by Satan."Is it any wonder that anyone who prays the Rosary from the heart is so blessed and protected and powerful in their prayers for others?"

God bless all of you.

Your loving sister,
Julia

Nice Quote!

2006-07-16T00:39:00.000+08:00

hi everyone, i found this meaningful quote in one of my old sketch book, thought i should share it with you all.

" At the end of our lives, we will not judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by 'I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in.'
Hungry not only for bread - but hungry for love.
Naked not only for clothing - but naked of human dignity and respect.
Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks - but homeless because of rejection. "

- Mother Teresa

-est.heng

FOA is coming

2006-07-09T15:09:00.000+08:00

For those that come to our blog for the first time, do come and join us in our Orientation Camp. This is not a camp for freshemen that are coming to SMU but it is a time for us to orientated ourself back to GOD's Kingdom.

We could be lost in the secular or working world that we forget about him, School is starting soon and we will be back to our endless world or meetings and assignments. Who can we turn to????

Lets take some time off. Lets Reflect. Lets Pray.

HE's GOD the power.

Please refer to our website : http://links.smu.edu.sg/cca/fides

If you want to donate or help us Please email :mailto:fides@smu.edu.sg

Call Adel : 93370205

Charismatics

2006-07-09T02:15:00.000+08:00

Dear all,

It has been some time since someone last posted on this blog. I wanted to share this with all of you but somehow the opportunity did not present itself and I did not have time to really formulate my thoughts. This summer and especially my ICT have given me time to think about this issue and organize my thinking. This issue is something close to our hearts. Charismatics.

Certain churches have received much flak from certain members in our community and these churches have often become the butt of their jokes. At the same time, there has been an interest in charismatic prayers in our community and resistance to it.

My stand has always been clear. Even if you are not a fan of it, you have to be open. There are many ways to worship and one should not judge which way is the best. One the other hand, even if we have our own favourite way of worshipping, we should not stick solely and stubbornly to it. However, I was wondering, all this talk about Charismatics, do we know what we are talking about? Why should we be for it? Why should we be against it? Do you know that there is a movement called the Catholic Charismatic Renewal represented by the Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Communities and Fellowships and they have received recognition from the Pontifical Council for the Laity?

How is a Charismatic session carried out? It starts out with Praise and worship, scripture, sharing and witnessing. Pretty much what we do. Of course as we know from those Charismatic Churches, their sessions are much more “high energy” and participants often experience a sense of ecstasy. Much like our Praise and worship sessions right? Harmless?

Herein lies the danger if we do not know what we are talking about. To understand the nature of The Charismatic Movement, we have to know its history. The “modern” Charismatic Movement started somewhere at the end of the 19th Century and the first decade of the 20th Century. (Note: I have used the word “modern” because there has been similar movements as early as the late 2nd century and all through the Church’s History. Such movements as the Montanism, the Joachimists, the Convulsionary Jansenists etc. I shall however not delve into that. Good to know. That’s all.) This movement is similar to another movement called the Pentecostalism movement which began in 1867. As we all know, Pentecostalism seperated itself from mainstream Protestantism which in turn seperated itself from the Catholic Church during the Reformation. It later became known as the Charismatic Movement as it began to spread across denominations. First through Baptist and Methodist Churches in a relative short period of time and through some other Protestant Churches and finally to the Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches. (Note: I have classified all other churches other than the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Church under the Protestant Church. It is burdensome if I have to name all 28,000 denominations)

The Pentecostal movement and the Charismatic Movement placed special emphasis, if not most of their emphasis on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is evident as there are many purported faith healings in these sessions, people dancing uncontrollably, supposed possessed by the Holy Spirit and almost everybody could speak in tongues. The reason and aim of this movement is to obtain grace from the Holy Spirit through these “gifts” This is to be expected in the sectarian environment of Protestantism, which cut itself off from the Apostolic succession and became devoid of the revitalizing power of the Holy Spirit which, since Apostolic times, Christians of the true Church receive in the Holy Sacraments. Ordinary prayers and singing during religious meetings cannot give complete spiritual satisfaction to the human soul.

Now that the waters of this movement have reached our shores, how should we as Catholics react to it? There is danger and opportunity. Danger that we must avoid and opportunity that we must embrace.

There are two dangers which we must be wary of. Firstly, as in our Praise and Worship sessions, we seem to seek a “high” at the end of it. If at the end of such sessions we do not weep or feel “a sense of overwhelming joy” the session is deemed to be “not that successful”. This is wrong and this mentality is hijacking the true purpose and intent of the Praise and worship sessions and of prayer. Secular society places emphasis on thrill, delight and ecstasy. We get if from drugs, sexual dissoluteness, wild music etc and now it seems like we want to get this same thrill out of prayer. The true purpose of prayer, be it in any form, contemplative, meditative, song etc is to get closer to God, to repent and to purify our conscious. When communicating with God one should seek not delightful or thrilling feelings but a renewal of one’s sinful soul, and this comes through repentance, humility and obedience to God. We should be on our guard against such deviant perversions of religious feelings. Secondly, the emphasis on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit is perverse and dangerous and we have to be careful. This “cult” seems to me to be overly concern with the Gifts of the Giver rather than the Giver of the Gifts. We have to be mindful that the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are given for the good of the Church on Earth and not for personal glorification or gratification. We often forget the plentitude of graces and treasures available to us in our Catholic Church through the Sacraments. What about the Eucharist? What about the forgiveness of sins? It is essential to remember the crux of our religion. What are we believing in? At the end of the day, although Pentecost is an important event and great miracles happened that day, is it as important as the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Yet, we should not ignore these Gifts. The Holy Spirit was sent to help the fledging Church. It in turn granted extraordinary gifts to believers in service of the church. These gifts are part of our Apostolic faith and we have seen an outpouring of these Gifts onto the Apostles and the believers. They converted the Gentiles and spread the Word of God to the ends of the Earth. We at FIDES especially need these Gifts and to make better use of the Gifts that we have been bestowed upon by the Holy Spirit. The Charismatic Movement has increased our awareness of these gifts, or rather, made us more aware that we HAVE been given gifts and that now it is time to make use of it. We must always remember that these gifts are meant for the Church and not for ourselves. That is why it is said, “we receive it freely, we should give freely.” The asking and receiving of these gifts is not “wrong”, it only becomes “wrong” when the gifts displaces the means of grace in our lives, such as the Sacraments.

Lastly, this is what our Holy Father; the Late John Paul II has to say about the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement. This is an excerpt from his message to the Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Communities and Fellowships.

“From the very beginning of my ministry as the Successor of Peter, I have considered the movement as a great spiritual resource for the church…Within the Charismatic Renewal, the Catholic Fraternity has a specific mission, recognized by the Holy See.”

The next excerpt basically summarizes everything that I wrote.

“The enthusiastic faith, which enlivens your communities, is a great enrichment, but it is not enough. It must be accompanied by a Christian formation, which is solid, comprehensive and faithful to the Church’s Magisterium: a formation based upon a life of prayer, upon listening to the Word of God, and upon worthy reception of the sacraments, especially Reconciliation and the Eucharist. To mature in faith, we have to grow in knowledge of its truths. If this does not happen, there is a danger of superficiality, extreme subjectivism and illusion. “

Pope John Paul II’s message condensed from his June 1, 1998 meeting with the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships at the Vatican as reported in L‘Osservatore Romano, English Edition

God Bless
Nicholas Tan

2006-05-12T04:08:00.000+08:00

Damn, it's me again... where are the rest of you?.. haha..

Anyway, just came across this in some blog... something interesting to think about:

"Ministry flows out of relationships, not the other way round."
(By this would all man know you my disciples, if you love one another)

Isn't that so true?! :D

Van

We need You Jesus

2006-05-12T02:08:00.000+08:00

I had hit the clubs last Friday. It was the first time (I think) since YISS that I went clubbing. (I felt kinda over this whole clubbing thingy ever since YI but this time I went just to enjoy the company :) )

So anyway, this time round, it was a depressing sight... everywhere I turned to look, I sensed emptiness, loneliness, depression, a yearn for attention, a desperate cry for help... something inside me was saying "These people NEED God."

Sometimes, I wish people won't be so stubborn as to think they can do without God.

That night, I sensed the urgency in bringing others to Jesus.

Van

God is Love

2006-04-26T01:32:00.000+08:00

Hi all, I've been meaning to share this since the Working Retreat, but somehow never got down to doing it til now. but well anyway, just wanna share some simple thots.

Just wanna say that the Working Retreat's Praise & Worship session we had was soo beautiful... you could say that it was during that session that the Lord opened my eyes (yes, depite all the tears) & allowed me to see something so special that I couldn't really see before -- that was, how there was so much LOVE flowing among those of us present there, & that in the midst of everything, it was His love that was the one thing binding us all together. That night, I truly truly felt that God was really walking among us, and it was the first time that I could really actually feel & know that God was with Fides (I mean, I always believed that He has been with us, but this time it was like a longed-for affirmation come true), & that He would continue to guide Fides and bless all our plans as long as we continued to stay close to Him. His presence was undeniably assuring & comforting... It was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

That, and so many other things that happened that night (which I may decide to share some other time)... Goodnesss, I really felt damn blessed that night. And I hope the rest of you will also come to realise how blessed each of you are too as we continue to seek & serve Him.

You know, just after spending an evening with us today at Julia's send-off at the airport, Wilfred was telling me how (& I quote him) "fides is a beautiful community of the Lord... there is so much warmth evident in your interaction, nice and easy... and it is obvious you are all comfortable with each other."

Dear exco, I think we shld all still be able to recall each other's thoughts about the "bonding" aspect of the retreat... of cos there's still a long way to go but let us also take joy in what we already have & what we hope to have :) & to remember to extend this to the others in Fides too.

Luv, Van

Walk, don't ride! A Holy Week Reflection

2006-04-14T20:59:00.000+08:00

Hi friends... wanted to share this with you all as Holy Week reflection... have a peaceful weekend (and all the best for exams!) - love, k.a.r.e.n

Walk, don't ride! - By Fr. Jerry Orbos

It is Holy Week. This week is the most important week for us Christians. In fact, it is more important than Christmas because if Christ did not suffer, die and rise again (Paschal Mystery) there would have been no salvation. The events of this week, starting with Palm Sunday, the Last Supper, the Way of the Cross, the Crucifixion and Death, the Easter Vigil, and Easter itself have only one clear message:
You and I are so much loved personally by God that He gave His only Son to die on the Cross.
Think about it: Is there anyone, anyone at all in your life, who is willing to die for you? (Maybe your husband or wife is with you right now. Ask him or her , if he or she is willing to die for you!)
As the events of the Holy Week unfold, let us not just be bystanders or onlookers. Let us be a part of it all. Walk, don't ride. How high you fly at Easter depends on how you walked the Holy Week.
Sorry, there are no short cuts, no free rides in the business of saving one's soul. Here are some suggestions to make Holy Week holy. They are all doable, all valuable.

RELAX: Many of us are overworked and overstressed. We need to rest our bodies and our minds so that we can "fine tune" with ourselves, with other people and with God. Take a break. Take a walk. Commune with nature. See the sunset. Enjoy the moon. Close your cellular phone and your beeper and just allow yourself to be open to the divine. Let go. Let things be. God is in charge. Experience the restoring power of sleep and rest. Smile at the sky. Walk the earth.
Whistle a happy tune, or hum a favorite melody. Just thank God you are still alive.

REFLECT:Find time to relax so you can reflect. Don't end up just relaxing. Don't end up tired and empty because you were too busy to relax and thus found no time to slow down and reflect. How long has it been now since you have been in this world? What have you done? You have work, but do you have a life? What is really important for you? What do you still want to do or accomplish? How is your family and your relationships? And how are you relating with your God? Is there an area in your life that needs to be healed? Is there excess luggage in your heart? How would you like to be remembered after you are gone? Questions. Allow yourself to be questioned by life itself.

REPENT: We all fall. We all have mistakes and weaknesses. Accept your limitations. Welcome to humanity! Be humble. Visit the "red light" district in the church and make a good confession. It's the Jubilee Year. Make that general confession. Find time to say sorry to people you may have hurt or just taken for granted. Make time to visit, to write, to call, to text anyone you need to say sorry to. Is there one bad habit you need to give up? Is there one good habit you need to take up? This is the time for soul-searching. Promise yourself not to go back to the pit of selfishness and sin. If today you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

RENEW: Take time to recharge and just be filled up. Renew your contact with God. Don't just sit in the comforts of your home and watch the services of the Holy Week. Make the sacrifice of participating in church. Show your gratitude to the Lord. Make that Bisita Iglesia (church visit), that Via Crucis, that Easter Vigil and do it all with gratitude and love. Renew ties with your immediate family. Make yourself available and vulnerable to them. Tell them in so many ways that you really care. The world is not just you and your family. Reach out. Give and share. The time to give is always now and it is never too late, never too much. Make a generous donation. Go and visit a hospital, an orphanage, an old folks' home or a sick person. It would be more wonderful if you can do all these with your family. Renew your contact with yourself. Go over old pictures, old letters and files and remember who you were and what you wanted to be. Clean your room and clean your heart of all the could-have-beens and should-have-beens and accept yourself. Embrace yourself for what you are and what you still can be.

RESIGN: That's right, resign. Resign from places and people who do not bring the best in you. Resign from vices and sins that are slowly but surely eating you up. Resign from falsehood and pretences. Be true. Have substance. No more japorms (pretentions). No more papogi (vanity). Just give your very best and God will take care of the rest. Resign to God's will and God's plan for you and you will have peace-that peace of Easter, that peace, which the world cannot give or take away. Good luck, and all the best as you walk the Holy Week.

The road that leads to true life is never easy, but the assurance is there: It is a road that leads to life, and He himself is on the road with you, every step along the way.

A Moment with the Lord
Lord, help me walk another mile, and help me smile another smile. Just one smile as I walk the Holy Week with You. Amen.

Proud to be catholic

2006-04-13T10:34:00.000+08:00

http://www.catholicexchange.com/bday/index.html

This was sent to me by one of my sponsors.
I thought the graphics and words were simple but beautiful.

Julia :)

Strength of God

2006-04-01T12:28:00.000+08:00

Hi my dear brothers and sisters!

You guys must be mugging really hard for your 'A's now, feeling lonely and weary and constricted within the four walls of your room or GSR(for those who work better alone) and most of all, wondering when all the nonsense would end. My heart went out to our sister Van when she went up to 4.6 on friday night of week 13 to complete a report ( I was out with a friend after watching starry starry night 3 with Van because I thought I deserved a break hehe).

Not too long ago I was feeling the same way, having two presentations every week, ltb and Comms being the major ones. Moreover, the LKC scholar raised the standard so there was a lot of pressure on my groups to outperform them (or kenna pushed towards the bottom of the bell curve). Hence, harassed and stoned I was as I attended Fides meetings, as Sabby noticed.

But now with 3 exams and 1 finance report to go, I really want to thank God for giving me the strength and perseverence to accomplish whatever I have gone through so far. It was through all these 'hardship' that reminded me the significance of my confirmation name.

Gabrielle-- Strength of God.

With God's strength, what more do I need? Or what more do anyone of us need? If Jesus could walk through the 14 stations of the cross, do you think we can conquer our little assignments and exams?

Yes, of course.

Don't give up hope people. God knows our strengths and limitations and He will not give us trials that we cannot handle.

I do want to encourage all of you to find a way to remember God amidst your studies. Do not think you are walking alone, because the Lord is always with you in this arduous journey. At this point of time, it is in my name that I remember that my strength comes from God and with that, I can accomplish anything.

All the best for your exams!

Your loving sister,
Julia :)

I have disappear

2006-03-25T13:33:00.000+08:00

I know i have not been blogging or even appearing. But dun worry, i am still around. I was just too caught up with my work. I think i shld not have and spend more time with the lord and my FIDES friends.

But nvm, i am back, hopefully. I will be back i full self after my exam. Great plans ahead like the retreat, FOA and my website and newsletter launch.

Look out for the new FIDES image.

FIDES Exam Mass

2006-03-24T13:07:00.000+08:00

The Perfect Cure

2006-03-19T21:36:00.000+08:00

Have you had a bad nose before? Have you experienced having to go through lessons when your nose cannot stop watering throughout the day? And when you wake up in the morning, your entire nose is clogged up and you are gasping for breath?

I couldn't take the feverish feeling anymore, so I saw the doctor. It was either allergic rhinitis or sinusitis. And it wasn't a good sign because I had a cold only a month ago. And it was week 11. The doctor apparently saw how serious the condition was because he gave me medicine that was strong enough to knock out a cow. It definitely dried up my nose, but it was temporary and I felt faint when I stood up (that's why I didn't go for prayer meet that week :S)

I started attending masses at St Peter and Paul recently because the Sacristy got burnt in IHM, so I was (am still) temporarily displaced of my church as I didn't want to risk celebrating mass in the outdoors (that happens when you are not early). Week 10's Sunday, I was at St Peter and paul. It wasn't too crowded and the people were very reverent and prayerful. I picked up a copy of the church flyer for the mass times for the following week and found that the week after was to be a healing mass (18 Mar, Sat).

Of course I was interested then. I've heard stories about how people get miraculously healed during the mass. My own sponsor's back was healed in mass. But as you know, stories will always remain as stories. You are awed by God's power but you don't really feel that you are a true witness.

Well, life gets crazier in SMU and I forgot about the healing mass over the week.

By chance, my finance group decided, after trying to accomodate everyone's schedule, that Sunday morning is the only time that everyone could meet. I couldn't go for Sunday sunset because I had a family dinner.

My salsa class on Saturday ended at 5 p.m. I bombarded QQ with msges to find out the time that was most convenient for my schedule. The cathedral one was definitely too late. I wanted something that was 5 plus.

Guess what? I ended up at the healing mass at Sp&p.

I was 15 min early for mass but by then, the church was packed to the brim. I thought it was the biggest mistake to be there because I had to stand on heels throughout mass, it was hot and stuffy, I had to keep blowing my nose, I felt sick in the stomach after twirling too much in class and I was tired and hungry. Father Gino was a very charismatic speaker who made everyone reflect about their Christian lives, but he spoke painfully slowly (for me at that state anyway). I almost contemplated leaving for the later mass at cathedral. At the point of time, I was wondering what could attract such a hoard of people to the mass when nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

The healing session came right at the end at the Eucharist. It didn't feel like one at all. It took at most 10 minutes? All Father Gino did was to prepare us by welcoming Jesus Christ in a humming manner. And then, he started on a string of healings. It went something like this:

'There are people here with problems with the blood. The Lord is healing you now. Just follow your doctor's directions and all will be fine.'

'There are a few people here with cancer. A boy about 12 years old has Leukaemia. Do not fear the Lord will heal you.'

'3 people here have heart problems. 2 men and 1 women. The Lord is healing you now.'

'A man about 75 years old has a back problem. The Lord is healing you now.'

'Many old men and old women sitting here have arthritis and joint problems. You will be healed.'

'People with gastric problems, the Lord is healing you. Make sure you continue medication and eat the right food.'

It was so vividly described. In a few cases, the age, the number of people, the condition was described.

'There are people here with colds or sinus. You will be healed.'...

Oh my goodness.

I was so touched I cried. I mean, there are so many people out there with far more serious illnesses than me. Why would Jesus bother about a mini cold?

Ironically, my nose started running more than ever with my tears as I walked out of church. But after I stopped crying. I never blew my nose again the whole evening. I thought it was too miraculous to for it to be true. So I decided to wait till the next morning to see if I wake up with the sickening blocked nose.

I could breathe freely the next morning. God's touch was gentle and comforting. He healed me in a way that I actually feel healthier, not knocked out like the medicine that I took for temporary relief.

God loved me so much He couldn't bear to see me suffering, even from a little cold. He arranged it such I had to attend the healing mass where He would be there to take the suffering away from me. Now I am a witness to God's healing powers and I will never cease to praise the Lord for his glory.

My dear brothers and sisters, no matter hard it seems at school nearing the end of the term, be assured that God is ALWAYS right at your side. He is willing to share your pains as long as you allow Him to. In His own special way, He will bring the right person at the right time at the point you feel you need most help. So continue to depend on the Lord and trust in Him....

Your loving sister,
Julia :)

O God come to our Aid, O Lord make haste to help us!

2006-03-13T00:18:00.000+08:00

The Tri-challenge was such an interesting experience. Never in my life have I spinned so hard with my legs. My thighs nearly gave way, as seen by the supporters, my legs when i came off the bike. I was initially disappointed that there were no supporters but I realised, when the race started, that we had our biggest fan there: GOD!

He was watching over the 3 of us to ensure that we'd a safe competition; no shoes stuck at the bicycle pedal, no shoulder joint coming out and no fainting cases! The supporters were probably wondered why I was shaking my head like a mad person when I was spinning. Nope I was NOT praying!

This was due to the spinning classes that I attended in school. They would play those techno music that drove me nuts! Realising that I couldn't beat it, I joined it and started shaking my head in tune to the beat! Thus when I was spinning, the beat came to mine and I instinctively started to shake my head.

In between shaking my head, I just prayed the prayer in the subject line. Relating this whole spinning experience to my faith life, I felt terribly lonely at the bike. I couldn't hear the encouragement from Nick Tan, QQ, Joe and Esther, no placards spurring me, loud music distracting me and all my competitors faster than me!

What was worse was the stupid distance meter did not move! Even the taxi fare meter jumped faster than the stupid distance meter. I was so despondent and about to give up when I recalled the last line in the "Footprints" Story

"When you saw one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

With that in mind, I hung on in there and prayed. I closed my eyes and just let it go blank. I focused on God and just spinned real hard. The next thing I knew, it was 2.0 miles already. It was like a mini reflection of my current faith journey with God!

My dear friends, our faith journey is often lonely and filled with despair. Prayer and communication to God will help you to keep track of your objective of eternal happiness!

"I can do all things in Christ in he who strengthens me."

Your humble servant

Nick Chia

Tri-Challenge Part 2

2006-03-12T00:56:00.000+08:00

I was one of supporters for the FIDES team, it was well down. I never know Nick chia could spin so fast. Dun be disappointed with the supporters, i believe the spirit is there. Lets look forward to our Working retreat.

Maybe i could teach the group a trick or two on enhancing our publications. I have created a web page for our tri-challenge photos. Do visit them.

http://www.smufides.os3.sg/album/trichallenge/

-----Joseph Sung-----

TriChallenge

2006-03-11T00:59:00.000+08:00

Apart from the terrible splitting headache & disgusting feeling of vomit stuck halfway in my throat after my leg of the race,

all in all, today's TriChallenge was fun!! :D

And I'm very proud of my team... Great job Geri & Nick Chia!!!

God is good!... Although we din get anything, well we din get last either...!!.. hahaa... (& we even beat our secret rivals... ;P) aw c'mon, we were one of non-sports CCAs that took part k...

Thought it was quite retarded the way our singlets were oversized and how our promised Goodie Bag never came... sigh man... was looking forward to that too. haha. but whatever, we completed the race well and now more ppl know of Fides! ~YAY~

Anyway... to Jo, QQ, Nick Tan and Esther Heng, thanks soo much for coming down to support us..!. geri n i were admittedly kinda like a little disappointed initially when we did not see any Fides ppl arnd... so it was wonderful seeing the 4 of u!! :D heh

wow.. what a day worth remembering... can't wait to see all the photos! hah.

Luv, Van :)

The greatest sin is to be unaware that God is with us

2006-03-09T00:12:00.000+08:00

I hope that today's sharing session was indeed fruitful to everybody. To reinforce what I've said, let me sum up what I mentioned.

1. Pray and Reflect on what you plan to do this Lent.

Examine whether you've committed the sins of commission (I did this and that) or sin of omission (I failed to do this....)

2. Resolve to do that thing during the season of Lent

Give up your favourite food, 'sin' or make time for prayer. Something that allows you to be closer to God

3. Remember to pray for the strength to adhere to your resolution.

Pray for Mother Mary's intercession to be there always with you

Nick Chia

Prayer

2006-03-08T23:43:00.000+08:00

Tis the season for deep soul searching and reflection. From the sharing session at CANA we had not too long ago, many of us feel that our prayer life needed rejuvenation.

To be honest I've never really felt connected with God through prayer.

I don't what to pray about. And I don't like the idea of kneeling in front of picture of Jesus and Mother Mary racking my brains of what to say. It felt fake, because I was doing so out of obligation (don't pray is sin right?). After a while, I gave up.

Have you ever experienced one of those nights where by you've felt that you've an information overload from the reports or admin stuff you're settling at the computer that you just don't want to think anymore?
It was one of those nights for me. I shut off the lights and sat at my bed, feeling harassed and certainly not in sleep mode.
It was then I remembered the centering prayer we did at one of the earlier prayer meets conducted by Father Fred. At that time, my mind was too fried to do anything intelligent. But how difficult can it get to just focus on the word, 'Jesus'.

I didn't exactly go into the whole prayer, but that started the ball rolling for me.

The whole idea is just to be there for the Lord. The common misconception is that you must keep your tongue wagging in His presence for prayer to be considered prayer. But have you ever held a fruitful conversation with your friend by just talking non-stop? Our loving Father wants to hear about our lives from our own mouths, but He also wants to share His own. We want to have two-way communication with God.

So when I run out of things to tell the Lord I tell Him 'Speak Lord, Your servant is listening'. And I would sit in silence and wait for God's response.

It is wonderful, the things He does for us. That night, my hands felt a reassuring sense of warmness, as if He was caressing them and telling me everything was alright.

That night I snuggled into bed. I felt so loved and I could imagine myself being tucked into bed by a loving Daddy. It was the same feeling I had many many years ago, when I was still a little girl and I had to be patted to sleep by my real Father (I didn't have the privilege of knowing God then).

Ever since, I've spent time with God that way and I suppose, prayed in that way.

Its funny how God works because this started for me at the time Lent started and it wasn't an intentional effort that I made to 'communicate' with him. But what I think God wanted me to share with you is that personal prayer is not meant to be forced or unnatural.

God wants you to be comfortable when you speak to Him. Off the lights if you feel more 'in tune' that way. You don't have to say the words I've said. Develop your own style; God made each of us unique and connects with us in His own special way.

Prayer is God's invitation for you to share your life with him, because He loves you so much. So so much. More than you can ever imagine.

How fortunate are we to have a friend in Jesus!

Julia :) (eh let me know of any bad grammar hor, I composed this very quickly)

The Season of Lent

2006-03-08T00:26:00.000+08:00

This is the first time that I am making an effort to do penance. Not that I didn't want to last time-- I hadn't been a catholic long enough realise the significance of penance.

Well guys, as most of you would already know...

I'm giving up chocolate for 40 days!

Sounds trivial, doesn't it? (I mean, I love chocolate but I don't eat them EVERY meal)
Well, you'd be surprised at how the little things matter

I've witnessed occasions that I was offered chocolate in class, passed around nonchanlantly by my friends. I would almost pick out one from the packet, until I am reminded of my resolution. Uncannily, its happened so many times throughout the week. Everytime I do so, I am think of God. Not necessarily the suffering He went through during the Passion. But I think of Him.

Perhaps that is God's way of reminding me that He is present in the setting of seminar room when I am having finance? Perhaps that is God's way of reminding me that He is present in the the LTB classroom where my group was dooddling on a mahjong paper for a presentation? Or when I'm at 4.6 studying? Or when I just decided I wanted to drop by Mr Bean? (suddenly, many of my friends have taken a liking to chocolate pancakes haha. In fact, a friend from stats class asked if I wanted a bite today).

God is truly shouting to me. Hi!! I'm EVERYWHERE. I'm EVERYWHERE you go. And I will be ANYWHERE you go or choose to go.

How many times have I remembered that God is walking with me, in the midst of school term, every minute, every second, and every millisecond of the day. I realised I have remembered God in school, only when I needed a miracle for comms presentation the next day.

Have YOU thought of God when you're solving some integration question for Econs, or when you're worrying about your final report for BGS? Even if you haven't, God is there with you, sharing your burdens.

And I just feel so thankful that I worship such a beautiful God. I love Him so much.

Your loving sister,
Julia :)

Is God your first priority in life?

2006-03-05T01:56:00.000+08:00

In spite of all the preparations for the numerous projects and tests looming ahead, let's not forget to put God as our first priority in life this Lent... the way He has!!

-Vanessa

Thoughts...

2006-03-04T23:10:00.000+08:00

Hi all,

This is my first post in this blog. We had a meeting with the FOC heads of the 2 other varsities this afternoon and these are my thoughts.... I shared them with Peter (President CSA) and Sean (President CSS). Would like to share them with you all now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Sean and Peter,

I trust we all had a fruitful meeting this afternoon. It is good to see students from the three universities working together. For those who have never stepped into SMU before, I hope you guys had a wonderful time admiring our school. Now you know why our school fees are so high eh? This meeting has left me with some thoughts, which I would like to share with you guys right now. I know some parts might seem a little harsh, but I have no ill intentions. The reason why I am willing to share it with you all is because I believe, in the words of Sean, “we see each other first and foremost as friends…” So let me be brutally honest. You all might not agree with me, but do take it in the right spirit.

As I was sharing with the both of you earlier on, isn’t it amazing that the 12 of us spent almost 2 hours debating and arguing about issues that the previous FOC committee debated about and then come to almost the exact same conclusion? Basically it just shows that we never learn! As I was talking to Raphael after the meeting, he told me that the same thing happened last year. They spent a long time talking about this issue. I don’t blame anyone, because I believe with the exception of me, no one else in the room knew what happened last sem. The majority in the room were year ones. Peter wasn’t involved in the FOC planning com last year, and I guess Sean too. Having an event sheet might prevent this from happening next year. Then again, I don’t want the next FOC com to be constrained by the decisions made by the previous com. This is a fine line that we have to tread.

Did you guys realize that we were actually arguing over a small amount? It was totally absurd. Assuming we have $1000 of surplus Love Offerings after covering cost. By dividing it evenly between the 3 of us and by dividing it in the ratio of 2:2:1, NUS and NTU stand to gain a grand total of $67 more in love offerings! Such a minute amount, but we spent such a long time over it and worst still, tempers were getting short and bad blood was being spilled. How much of the deficit will that additional $67 cover? The issue about people giving money without taking a shirt…. Even if we can collect an additional $1000 in offerings, it would amount to only an additional $400 for NTU and $200 for SMU. How important is that amount to us? Certainly, it is always desirable to have more money in the kitty. If that is that case, what makes us different from the other secular clubs? Who is the centre of our clubs? What is the goal of our clubs? That’s why in my closing prayer I said “… may we do Your work, not ours…” FIDES always has a “money losing” mindset. For all our events, with the exception of fund raising, we seek to lose money and charge the participants pay as little as possible. This sounds weird, coming from a student from a business school. I certainly would not make my accounting and finance profs proud of me. I am not ashamed to tell you guys that we only have less than a thousand dollars in our club account. Pathetic isn’t it? If anybody should be fighting for a bigger share of a pie, it should be us. Yes, we could do with more money in our account, but money is the least of my worries. We will do our own fund raising and stuff, we will try our best, but we will never worry about it. Somehow, God has always been good to us. We are not rich, but we were never broke. I remember once when we were almost broke, Archbishop Nicholas Chia just took $150 from his wallet and gave it to us one fine day. The best part was that he didn’t know about the dire financial situation we were in. He simply gave us the money out of the blue! That was the defining moment. We were worried before that, but after that incident, we just had this child like faith that we will always have enough. I don't know why I remembered that incident as it was almost a year ago, but it really left a deep impression on me and on the rest of the exco members. Yes. God will provide.

We may have done our own fund raising. Some more successful than others. If you have done a successful one, be glad. The Lord has laid a banquet for you and you need not worry about where or when your next meal will come. It is indeed a blessing. However, Blessed is the beggar who shares his meal with a stranger. Again I will say that I would love to have the additional $200. It represents 60% of our disposable income. What percentage of CSS and CSA disposable income does $400 represent? 10%? 20%? But if one of us needs the money more, shouldn’t we help one another? Where is the Love? It was sole lacking this afternoon. In that room, we seemed like a bunch of cut throat bankers, trying to squeeze every single cent out from one another. I admit that I am to blame too. I am no Saint. Initially, I told my people that they should be careful and try to protect FIDES’ interests. Don’t get eaten up by CSS and CSA and try to fight for the most advantageous position. It was only in the midst of our debate that I realized my foolishness and short sightedness. Indeed, it was one of my members who told me that if CSS needed the money more than us, then we should help them. I was enlightened. Come to think of it, if I were to be a non catholic observing the proceedings this afternoon, I wouldn’t think that I am in the midst of a group of catholic students. Worst still, if I were to know that I was in the midst of members of the Student Catholic Society from the 3 varsities, I will be disillusioned with the Faith. We were arguing about money! Whatever happened to loving your neighbour and helping those in need?

If you ask me, I don’t think we are all petty people wanting to count every single cent that we should get. Money has always been a tricky issue. Even among friends. The problem is not money per se. It runs deeper than that. Maybe, as the Chinese proverb goes “the outsider sees the clearest” (literal translation). Allow me to point out my observations.

If we are really serious about working with one another, our mindsets have to change. Some of us want to make sure that we are not short-changed in any bargain, some of us don’t want to be seen as kowtowing to someone else and some of us want to ensure that we “compensated” according to the effort that we put it. I know the universities have had some issues with working with one another in the past. What’s frightening is that this group of people seemed to be have those mindsets… and they are all year ones! This is their first occasion working with one another and they are already carrying the emotional and historical baggage from the previous coms. It seems to me that we are all treating one another with a degree of caution and suspicion and are doing our very best to get into the most advantageous position. It seems that we have been warned and been told of the past problems and we are all wary of one another. Have we truly forgiven each other? Can we ever forget the past? Will we ever start with a clean slate? We have to change the mindsets of our members. Such is the severity of the issue. Such is the problem that we need to overcome.

We are not working together. We are simply in an “uneasy” alliance. There is so much jostling around. Who are we? SMU Catholic Students? NUS Catholic Students? NTU Catholic Students? Or are we Catholic Students in SMU, Catholic Students in NUS and Catholic Students in NTU? Which comes first? Our school or our religion? This seems like a no brainer, Religion, of course… but our actions do not tally with our answers. We seem to put our clubs first before Him, and it is ironic as our clubs are meant to serve Him. Whichever university we belong to is only transient in nature. After 3-4 years, we will no longer be students of that university, but we will still be Catholics. We need to see that fact and stop defining the boundaries that separate us. The fact that all three clubs exist for the same purpose is reason enough for us to cast away our differences and stop being short sighted. At the end of the day, does the exco want to be known as the exco that successfully added to the bank account? Or does the exco want to be known as the exco that made a difference to the club and the members. At the end of the day, would your FOC com want to be the com that successful “fought” for a couple of hundred dollars more and “stood” their ground against the other two universities? Or the FOC com that managed to reach out and attract a large number of freshman? Enough bad blood has been spilled over the years and it is time for us to move on.

I’m not telling you guys how to run your club, I am in no position to do so. But given our positions, we should make our members see beyond the horizon. We have masses and prayer meets and cell groups and such, but what’s the point if we are not living our faith? What’s the point if we are going to be so calculating with our own Brothers and Sisters? What’s the difference between us and the Pharisees and Scribes in Jesus' time? He called them hypocrites. It is time we start practicing what we preach.

This is the first weekend of Lent. How apt! Lent is a period of reflection and contemplation. It will be a good idea to take this Lenten period to and make our members take a good look at themselves and the purpose of the club. I believed we have been called to our positions. It is time to reflect how best we can serve, not our respective clubs, but God.

What do you want to be known for?

Wishing you all a reflective and contemplative Lent
Nicholas

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nicholas Tan

God is good all the time! :D

2006-02-21T01:26:00.000+08:00

How I wish the retreat did not have to end.
How nice to just wake up, praise and worship Him, get to know Him better, experience Him, sleep, then start the cycle the next day. There's just so much I wish to know about Him!

Anyway, thrown back into reality again... into the busy world... all the piled up assignments, projects, tests, homework... (God, SOS. hee thanks!)

This retreat was refreshing and rejuvenating! :) I'm so glad that God had cancelled the Sapphires' performance for Waikiki, so that I could attend all the sessions & really retreat. It was a great time to run back to Him, to go back to the heart of worship, after a hectic half-sem that just zoomed past. I thank God for His healing touch upon me & for His reminder to me to remember to keep in check the priorities in life.

I could see God's Hand in the preparation and the entire retreat proper. Although we all agreed that the entire retreat was very last-minute, it was still a success. God was with us the entire way! *so extremely grateful* He has made all things possible even when we thought we could not see through to the end! Praise God!! :)

In preparing for my Praise & Worship, I knew God was with me.
One day before the retreat, I needed a tambourine, and the first friend I called had one. *Praise God!* To go to her house I had to take the LRT, and guess what? When I reached my LRT stop, the officer there told me that the LRT was not working, and that they had hired buses to ply between the LRT stops. And they were free services!! & so I did not have to pay for the expensive LRT ride! Hahaha. So amazing!! *Haha... Praise God again!*
This friend of mine was with me in the Praise Ministry in St Joseph's church, a gifted keyboardist. When I reached her hse, she so warmly invited me into her home and started helping me with the P&W… helping me with the arrangement, running thru the entire list of songs with her on the keyboard, etc... helped me big time.

The way my friend had so warmly welcomed me into her home, so willingly helped me, and had given me so much support I needed... I saw Christ in her. He was using her to help me. Like what I mentioned in my last entry. The importance of having friends in the Lord!
(Love ya, Mich!! :D You rock dear! -hugz-)

During the retreat, He'd healed me deep deep deep inside. His healing touch, so strong yet so gentle. Everything that was surpressed and swept under the rug was being resurfaced... His healing touch working through me, cleansing me & reassuring me.
How could I forget His personal promise to me?

"I will be with You till the ends of time."
As I spent time alone with Him, this song came into my head, and I felt God speaking to me through it -- through every single line. Wanna share this song with you guys...

"You're softening my heart
To the knowledge of Your love
And opening my eyes,
You light the way.

To love you,
Words alone cannot express
All the hope that You have placed within me
In between each heartbeat Lord,
I surrender...

I surrender to You
I surrender to You
Everything I am, and ever hope to be
I surrender to You

You gently lift me up
Wash me in Your blood
And opening my ears
You speak the word

Healing--
releasing all the hurts and fears
By the hope that you have placed within me
In between each heartbeat Lord,
I surrender to You

I surrender to You
I surrender to You
Everything I am, and ever hope to be
I surrender to You"

And I believe that it was not by coincidence that I chose the song "Trading my Sorrows" for my P&W session. It linked up with mission ("Yes LORD!") and also with the theme of casting away all our hurts, sins, worries, concerns. And for myself, it was also a song that God used to speak to me:

"I am pressed but not crushed,
Persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I am blessed beyond the curse
For His promise will endure
For His joy's gonna be my strength

Though my sorrows may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning!"

Oh how I love to praise and worship You O Lord,
For only You are worthy of our praises!!! :) :) :)

Yes, I want Jesus to be in the centre of my life, the core of my very being! :)
Yes, I want to be a witness for Christ to others, of His Love and His Grace! :)
It's all these little things that, when put together, just overwhelm you and leave you speechless -- raptured in awe, wonderment and fascination for Him. WOW! :D

Vanessa :D
"We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose." -- Romans 8:28

Friends in the Lord

2006-02-16T23:25:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I find it hard to feel God's presence in my life.
Many times have I questioned why God has chosen -- out of the zillion people He created -- to give me certain "bad lots" in life, and make me suffer in the darkness and confusion.

But reflecting upon these, I believe it's through these trials that God has taught me the importance of being in a community of believers of the same faith. Looking back, I see God's hand always guiding and helping me, through my fellow Catholic friends. Whenever I feel down, a church friend of mine will so-coincidentally text me something to cheer me up. Whenever I have difficult decisions to make, one of them will happen to text me a bible verse that helps me make my decision. Through these friends, He has also shown me that He fully understands whatever I'm going through, whether good or bad (& esp the bad times).

We are never alone in our journey through life and God will never leave us in the lurch. If He gives us anything that He knows we can't handle, it's only because He wants to teach us to place greater trust in Him.

To quote something a dear friend of mine said to me recently,
"Friends in the Lord share a special blessing like no other force of this world can give."
How beautiful... Hahaha... I cannot agree more :D

So, sometimes, when you think you are all alone in this world, remember that this Fides community is always here for you! God may be working through this people! :)

Dear Lord, I pray that Fides will continue to grow strong in faith and in love for you, together as a community of God's believers. Please teach the rest of the Fides members the value and importance of being in "a community of God's followers" -- just as you have so lovingly shown & taught me. Thank You and AMEN!

Vanessa :D
"How Great is our God! Sing with me how Great thou art..."

RETREAT --- STOP

2006-02-14T17:56:00.000+08:00

Never judge a Catholic by what you see

2006-02-10T21:06:00.000+08:00

I never imagined myself to be contributing to any blog but here I am. Blogs might seem voyeuristic in nature where people reveal their innermost opinions and feelings to the world for their view and comment. I think it is a good form of sharing something that is exciting, the joy of being a Catholic.

Perhaps the reason why I don't have a blog is because there's nothing proud to show in my life. I wonder whether it's the same for my Christian life i.e. I don't dare to proclaim that I am a Christian. Is it because I'm too scared of the requirements? Remember that announcing that you're a Christian means you've to live like one. That means no more strong language, no more bitching about people and faithfulness to live the Gospel life amongst other issues I've to grapple with.

Do you dare to live like a Christian? Does this entail wearing a Crucifix on you or carrying a Bible in your hand? These outward gestures are good but what's better is if you live your actions. I wish that at certain length in time of my friendships, my friends will tell me, "Nick, I don't know what it is that makes you different from the rest.. How can you tolerate......" And I look them at the eye and say," I never could BUT with God everything is possible!"

I hope to leave you with some thoughts for you to ponder: If you were to stand before God right now to account for your deeds, would you pass the test? If so, why? If not, why not?

Bite of the Day - 2nd Feb 2006

2006-02-03T09:25:00.000+08:00

The Creator gathered all of Creation and said,
"I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it.
It is the realization that they create their own reality."
The eagle said, "Give it to me, I will take it to the moon."
The Creator said, "No. One day they will go there and find it."
The salmon said, "I will bury it on the bottom of the ocean."
"No. They will go there too."
The buffalo said, "I will bury it on the Great Plains."
The Creator said, "They will cut into the skin of the Earth and find it even there."
Grandmother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said,
"Put it inside of them."
And the Creator said, "It is done."

Bite of the Day - 28 Jan 2006

2006-01-28T14:04:00.000+08:00

A dealer in precious stones buys most of his diamonds in Europe. While he is buying, he will, ever little while, look away from teh stones he is examining to a diamond in the ring on his own hand. After a steady look at the diamond on his finger, he will turn back to choose more from the stock of jewels at hand. He explains that the diamond on his hand is of purest quality. After looking at the tray of diamonds, one begins to lose his judgement. It needs to be toned up. The look at the pure diamond gives his eyes a new tone and a finer judgement.Life is like that. We shall not attain the highest standards, and the purest ideals, until we have looked upon perfection: Christ.

- Rev. A. P. Bailey (General Features Corp.) (1000 Stories You Can Use, Volume Two by Frank Mihalic, SVD)

Where do you look to find perfection?

Bite of the Day - 27 Jan 2006

2006-01-27T13:20:00.000+08:00

A farmer observed that his son was working with a dull scythe, and asked the reason.

"There was so much work to do that I didn't want to waste the time," the son answered.

"My son," said the father, "no time is ever lost sharpening dull tools."

- Walter L. Moore (1000 Stories You Can Use, Volume Two by Frank Mihalic, SVD)

Does prayer for prepare one to start the day by sharpening oneself spiritually?

CNY BAZZAR STALL

2006-01-27T13:13:00.000+08:00

We have our own stall in the CNY bazzar, we were selling kachang puteh. Sales look good so far, it part of our effort for find raising. But we all believe that the main purpose is not for the money, it to create an awareness for our club and for other fellow Catholics to know about us. It also give a chance for us to interact and to serve the lord. WE are all a big family.

Upcoming Events.......

2006-01-27T13:11:00.000+08:00

LOOK

AT THIS SPACE

FOR OUR

RETREAT UPDATES.

Prayer Meeting Line Up

2006-01-27T12:59:00.000+08:00

Week No. Item In Charge
5 2040 Prayer Session 2040 Core Group
6 Praise & Worship FIDES Music Ministry
7 Video Screening of Holy Eucharist Joseph Sung
8 Bible Sharing Spirtual Ministry