Saturday, July 7

'My relationship with God' i typed into Yahoo's search engine and i clicked on one of Yahoo's answer page. How would you describe your relationship with God? it read.



the reply:




http://www.trinitylombard.org/apostlescreed.htm


that got me thinking - we recite this creed weekly. or the Nicene Creed. yet, do we mean what we say and truly believe in him? or is it just an obligation, because it is part of the Mass?

this isnt exactly relevant but i found this rather thought-provoking. :)

"I know that God won't let bad things happen to me" as Vincent wrote on his blog, and his steady relationship with the Lord is because he trusts God.

its hard at times to not push the blame to God when we're faced with a crisis, yet what Vincent said is true, in certain ways. Indeed, the Lord wont send a problem our way if its not meant to be. He has our paths set out and i doubt He will intentionally place an obstacle in front of us. However, some things are inevitable, such as the death of a loved one. Isnt that a bad thing? Could it then be considered as something God let happen to us?

yes, it can. however, God didnt say that he isnt there for us when such events occur. In fact, He will always be there for us, no matter what happens.

Just like this story of Footprints.

Not only can we trust in Him to not let bad things happen to us, at least those that aren't predestined, we can also take comfort that He will always be there to carry us when we are down. By trusting and believing, i feel that the relationship between us and God will only get stronger.

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Wednesday, July 4

Self reflection

However, i feel that im on the right path, journeying and finding Him. I call Him Father, but often i find that in my prayers, i dont treat him like one much. I ask for many many things and most of my prayers are requests. not that i dont, but seldom i thank the Lord for the gifts He has blessed me with. yet, at the same time, i feel Him in my heart. at times. my friendship with God, albeit not close, is still existent.

2 years from now, i see myself establishing a closer relationship with Him. I definitely hope i will go for weekday masses regularly. the discipline needed im going to cultivate. I see myself paying more attention during Mass. And i see myself reaching out to younger members in CYF. maybe not as a leader, but as a friend.

Of course, having a stronger relationship with God isnt going to happen overnight with the snap of my fingers. i'm trying to go for daily morning prayers now and start the day right with the Almighty Father. I dont ususally say nightly prayers, so thats another thing i will do. Its a habit i need to cultivate and hopefully over time and effort, i will. AND, ill definitely thank the Lord for the wonderful things He's given me, even if its for waking up in my bed healthy. Somehting we all take for granted, ill change my ungrateful ways. Going for Mass, ill try to stay awake for the Homily. Listening to the sermon should help me connect better to Him. Ill go for at least 1 weekday mass weekly and spend extra time with Him, not just when i have to during weekend masses.

"The King will reply, I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these brothers of Mine, you did it for Me!"
Matthew 25:40

To form a closer friendship with God, if im just a Sunday Catholic, its as good as doing nothing. Its not just about attending Mass and praying more often and thanking Him, but also about helping others and loving them. Ill dedicate some time to volunteer at an orphanage. Ill make an effort to be more generous in my donations to the needy. I will also work on my apathetic self and be more active in helping others, for example if someone falls. Ill be a better person. :)

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Saturday, June 30

#2

i read Achillia's post on the passage about the woman caught in the act of adultery, and i have to agree that that passage really shows Christ's immense love and forgiveness. Although the lady broke the law, Jesus stood up for her in front of the hypocrites, saying "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." After which He said "Neither do I condemn you. Go.."

This truly displayed how much He loves us and because of that crazy love, Christ forgave the woman. i mean this in the best way it can possibly be. It must have hurt him to see such beauty ... be consumed by the lusts of men, as quoted from Christopher West's book.

Jesus did not condemn. instead, He did what the others could not - see the the lady for the true beauty she was, regarding her as a human being, a person. The story touched Achillia, and i have to say it touched me too.

the Annunciation - the passage Vincent found touched him deeply reminded me of the boundless trust Mary had in God. If i were her, i'd probably have felt terrified too, and doubtful that it could happen to a virgin. Mary could have brushed it off and rejected God, yet she CHOSE to believe. And out of her free will and trust in the Father, Jesus Christ was born and we were saved, as a result. certainly, this extract is empowering.

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Wednesday, June 27

Reflection

Honestly, i seldom read the Bible and those few times i've read it, i found several Bible passages that i enjoy, such as The Prodigal Son, Noah's Ark and that of doubting Thomas. However, if i am to pick one, i'd have to say, without doubt, the passage on Doubting Thomas (John 20:24-29).

As Christians, we are called to believe without having witnessed Christ's birth, death and resurrection. It's much like Thomas, except he had encountered Jesus, yet he could not believe that He had risen from the dead.

"Unless i see the scars of the nails in his hands and put my finger on those scars and my hand on his side, i will not believe."

Perhaps, you might be thinking that it was ridiculous- how could Thomas make such a demand and not believe in Christ? Well, so am i.

www.digital-images.net/Gallery/Art/GettyMus/GettyPaint/gettypaint.html

Then again, haven't we all been doubting thomases once, twice or maybe many many times? When have we doubted our Lord's existence and lost our faith, blamed Him for everything bad that happened to us and gave up hope that things will ever change? We cry out "Lord, give me a sign to show me You are there. Help me out of this!"

well, i have. Its so easy to lose our belief in our religion, something so fragile and maybe intangible? We are not witnesses of Jesus' life, yet we are called to be Christ's witnesses. Many times, i have

I suppose it is that doubt Thomas possessed that he lost faith in Jesus that strikes home, for its familiar to me when i falter in my faith. The Bible was something i thought of as irrelevant to my life, but i am a doubting Thomas as well and this rare connection i feel is why this is my No1.

i recall my 3000m race in '05 and '06. In the first year, i prayed to God to help me run my best race. I completed it but it was far from a good race. I didn't have an answered prayer, and though this is shallow i started to doubt His existence. Is God real? Is heaven real?

then in '06, i was to run the same race. i was skeptical God would give me that extra boost to run well. But, with this passage at the back of my mind, i somehow trusted in God. Being a doubting Thomas robs me of hope that i could do well and i decided against it. I held on to my faith that the Lord would give me strength.

He did.

I learnt that however much we cant seem to trust that God is here for us, we need to, because when we do, He is truly there, intangible physically yet tangible within our hearts and souls. That Bible passage gave me a chance to grow spiritually and to believe.

"How happy are those who believe without seeing me!" Christ said.

How true.

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Friday, June 22

#3 - Reply

Having only men serve at the altar is definitely a tradition of the Catholic Church and something that noone can refute. However, i disagree that the reason behind this long-standing tradition is because "Jesus disciples were all men", as Stella mentioned.

Bishops are the successors of the Apostles, and priests being the Bishop's collaborators, are called to do what the Apostles did as well - to preach.

http://angelqueen.org/rosary/apostles.shtml

Hence, priests are now what the Apostles were in the time of Jesus.

Altar servers assist priests. Like i said in the previous post, the reason why altar servers are only male is due to the fact that in the past, only seminarians who need training or boys who the Church hoped to recruit as priests were introduced to service at the altar.

being an altar server would not help young women in their discernment to the religious life
I also disagree with what Vincent said in his post, because i feel that any service to God can help anyone in their discernment to religious life. Does this mean that being an altar server would assist in a boy's discernment to the religious life?


As much as one may feel that tradition should be maintained, according to Stella "should not violate this tradition", and disagree with the lifting of the ban of female altar servers, it "doesn't affect the Pope's authority to extend permission for this practice"
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0312qq.asp

Perhaps, the late Pope John Paul II though it best to allow females be altar servers and not deprive them of this sacred opportunity to be of service to God, and felt that the evil of this practice was once thought of no longer applies to this century and this age. We can now only wait for what Pope Benedict XVI feels on this topic.

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Wednesday, June 20

Female Altar Servers, a step too far ahead?

With the Holy See's permission for female altar servers and many Catholic churches around the world hence using female altar servers, i highly doubt that having females serve at the altar is a step too far. In fact, i feel it is very natural for women to do so.

This is regarding the "privilege of serving in an act of worship to which nobody has any inherent rights" as quoted from http://www.ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/zlitur19.htm,

and i strongly agree that such an honour should not be a right only for the boys. This is my personal opinion and no, i'm neither a feminist nor being feministic here.

Pope Benedict XIV once condemned female altar servers with these words:

"Pope Gelasius in his ninth letter (chap. 26) to the bishops of Lucania condemned the evil practice which had been introduced of women serving the priest at the celebration of Mass. Since this abuse had spread to the Greeks, Innocent IV strictly forbade it in his letter to the bishop of Tusculum: 'Women should not dare to serve at the altar; they should be altogether refused this ministry.' We too have forbidden this practice in the same words in Our oft-repeated constitution Etsi Pastoralis, sect. 6, no. 21."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altar_boy

Previously, only young men, among whom the Church hoped to recruit for priesthood, and seminarians who needed training, were altar servers. The Church has been conservative on females serving priests, perhaps because of tradition that from the past only men were recruited as altar servers.


Probably serving priests during Mass was considered an informal prior training to ordination, hence introducing females at the altar to serve might give the wrong impression of the possibility of future female ordination. Due to the probable misconception, the Church kept to tradition.

Another concern might have been that girls would pose a distraction to the males, one that might discourage boys from volunteering for this honourable service to God for fear of being distracted from the original purpose.

I feel that opening up on the restriction of service to God to only males is due to many factors, perhaps one being that fewer boys are volunteering for this service to our Lord. Another could be the Church becoming more liberal and possibly (in lay man's terms) keeping up with the times.


Our Lady, Queen of Peace Church in Arlington had their first female altar server in over a decade in March '06 and Father Leonard Tuozzolo said it was a "positive thing" after which was followed by an enthusiastic response from the congregration. The welcome the pastor and the people provided encourages and promotes having females as altar servers.

In Singapore, females have been recruited as wardens and also communion ministers. For example the Church of St Mary of the Angels has female wardens some of whom are teenagers. The Church of the Risen Christ had a commissioning of communion ministers a fortnight ago, among whom included a lady. This is a step towards including women in the service to our Father. In some sense, this can be seen as a stepping stone towards the encouragement of having women to be altar servers.

It is definitely neither of the genders' inherent privilege to be altar servers. Also, nowhere in the Bible does it state that only men are allowed to serve God. ".. there is no reason to think that the gender of altar servers—or even the existence of altar servers—has been passed down from the apostles as a matter of faith"
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2003/0312qq.asp

and continue to have predominantly males serve the priest.

female altar server pict from http://www.catholicherald.com/articles/06articles/altar%20servers.htm
pope benedict xiv pic from http://www.catholicradiodramas.com/Saints_Works_B/benedict_xiv.htm

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Saturday, June 16

There are just so many really life heroes among us. Ruth touched on her dad,
Stella talked about Martian Luther King,
Vincent blogged about St Francis de Sales


All these people were all just ordinary persons who like Stella mentioned "make a difference". It's rather amazing that anyone can become a hero, even if only to 1 person. You don't have to be Superman or Spiderman or Ultraman to do heroic deeds like save lives, only to touch lives is needed.

I found Cassandra's post especially striking because it just didnt occur to me that Christ was one person i could have written about. i was thinking about all the other people like Abraham, Moses, David etc. well, enough said about my silliness.

it must have been frightening for Christ to know that He was to be sacrificed, yet "...He did it willingly and no complaints passed his lips". His utter obedience to God although it meant his death was really beyond this world, at least for me. i wouldn't have done it either, Cassandra.

The intense determination Christ must have possessed to save us has helped Cassandra be a better Christian, and i believe that ultimate deed has inspired many other fellow Christians to lead better lives. Perhaps not the death, but the immense love He displayed is something we can learn from.

I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love
-Mother Teresa

Although this was mentioned by Mother Teresa 2 milleniums later, i strongly think that Christ must have loved us so very much till it hurt, yet all he felt for us was just greater love!

So many times we regard Him as a friend, brother, comforter, but hero? His heroism is literally, saving all Christians. Yet, it is also in his great LOVE for His people that Jesus is a hero.

".. understanding the suffering and pain that Jesus had to go through for the world and generations to come has taught me to value my faith and keep wanting to stay on the right path, so that I too may enter the kingdom of heaven one day"

Numerous lessons can be drawn from Jesus's sacrifice to help us be better Christians, and yes, the agony He went through has strengthened my faith and encourages me to strive to be more Christ-like.

Thank you.

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Wednesday, June 13

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Friday, June 8

So i was just surfing the net for a suitable quote and i came across this one.


"When you wonder about the mystery of yourself, look to Christ, who gives you the meaning of life. When you wonder what it means to be a mature person, look to Christ, who is the fulfillness of humanity. And when you wonder about your role in the future of the world look to Christ."

- Pope John Paul II


It really struck me how relevant it is, not only to the topic but to our everyday lives; that God is the answer to the many questions we as Catholics, as Christians would like to ask.

Like what Achilla mentioned in his post on the 'Charcoal' experience he had. His friend said

"What happened to that piece of charcoal is what might easily happen to us if we separate ourselves from our church groups. Our spiritual flame 'n enthusiasm might easily fade away or even disappear. Even thou we are still the same charcoal (the same believer) but we might be left with no flame of God's love, no enthusiasm in ministry, no radiance of joy. And that's a very sad thing. Church groups are important for our spiritual growth, as we could encourage and support one another to keep our spirit burning from within. "

Indeed, at times when we separate ourselves and lose contact with Him, disconnect ourselves from the links with God we lose that vigour, the joy and enthusiasm in life because God's love has faded. During that period of spiritual dryness we'd be overwhelmed with insecurity and qualm. Without God, we're like lost sheep waiting to be found. We wander further and start to doubt Him. However, when we eventually find God again there is perhaps a sudden security, knowing that He's there for us, always.

Church groups are just one of the many instruments that help us lay people experience Him and His powerful love, to get reconnected to our Father and let him into our lives. I feel that any ministry makes getting to know God more interesting because as we learn about the Lord, we experience fellowship. Instead of prayer, bible reading or going for mass, which may be in groups but still is ultimately an individual thing, being in a group enhances that desire to know our God. Perhaps its the friendships, companionship, and why not? If being in one lets its members benefit twofold, i think it would be advisable for lay people to join a church group, or more.

Then again, its all a matter of personal preference and what one wants to gain out of his/her Christian life.


The many doubts we have, the times we run away and get lost, the moments we feel disconnected from the Lord and wonder why exactly we were put on this earth..

"... Seek, and ye shall find; ..." Matthew 7:7

And so it is. Let's take comfort that all the answers that we ever seek, we shall find in God. He may not reply us in words, dreams or miracles, but, i know, He will answer all our questions and quell all our doubts in what he does best -


Love

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Sunday, June 3

Church groups for me and you

For me, it was Catholic Youth Fellowship (CYF). I joined it after my confirmation. I suppose being the young confirmant i was, i needed a direction, or something to follow at least, now that i was 'released' from the weekly catechism lessons. CYF was like an alternative to cat class. Actually i had unofficially joined the group in '05 when i joined them for Christmas Caroling.

The first session was practice for caroling and i recall feeling isolated because i didnt really know anyone, but later on the members were all friendly and i felt at home. i felt that caroling helped me to better undestand the spirit of giving during Christmas, not just the receiving of presents.

As i went for more sessions, i found out more about the different topics that concerned the church such as other religions, spiritual dryness, friendship etc. its hard to define what spiritual development is because its so vague so i cant say for sure whether it helped me to develop that way, but i know that through this youth group, im more in touch with God than i ever was during cat class. i find that in learning about the different things that concern us, not just about the church and its history, i know and understand myself better. self awareness is perhaps an aspect of spiritual awareness?

I also joined Mustard Seed for one of their meeting, but as it wasnt an ongoing thing, i cant say much about how i've grown in temrs of my faith. however, i can say for sure that ive experienced fellowship during that one gathering.

Being in a ministry is not necessary but it certainly is helpful in keeping oneself closer to God. I know of friends who, after confirmation, have become 'Sunday Catholics'. As part of the parish community, do we really interact with God apart from Mass? havent you ever wondered when you partake in the Eucharist is it just routine or do you regard it as an opportunity to become closer to the Lord? in fact, do you feel the Spirit within you when you consume the Body of Christ?

Is this all we want the inactive members of the church to become - partakers of the Eucharist without knowing its significance?

Yes, we need to acknowledge that much effort has been made to include the followers of Christ; to reach out to the parishioners, especially the youth, through the different youth groups, music ministries, legion of mary, altar servers and cell groups etc. however, can there be an extra effort made in order to reach out to more of these fast becoming Sunday Catholics?

there are so many people who do not belong to any church ministry. there is definitely a need to extend our love to them and help them to learn more about the church and themselves.

i know where i belong and that being in CYF and Mustard Seed (sort of) helps me stay close to God or at least not to drift any further. how about you? if you seek a closer relationship with Him, yet you seek more than what the available ministries offer, why not take the initiative and start a new group and grow spiritually?

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