Thursday, February 22, 2007

Joy & Prayer

One day a novice in Rome came to me. She was crying. I asked her, "What is the matter?"

She had just come back from a family and said, "Mother, I have never seen such suffering. They had nothing in the house. There was this terrible sickness, the terrible cancer, and I could do nothing. Please allow me to do a little bit of extra penance. I want to share in that suffering."

She was a young sister, scarcely three years in our congregation, but it was painful for her to see the suffering of the others.

Joy is prayer, Joy is strength. Joy is love. Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. God loves a cheerful giver. He gives most who gives with joy. The best way to show our gratitude to God and the people is to accept everything with joy. A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart burning with love. Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make you forget the joy of Christ risen.

This I tell my sisters. This I tell you.

~ Mother Teresa

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Chinese New Year

Happy CNY to one and all. Hope your days will be filled with red packets. Hahaha.

It is a great time of the year once again, for family members and extended family members and friends to come together and to share love with one another. Have we ever wondered what is the best way to share love? Some of us share love by winning money from each other… well not everyone is going to feel loved especially the one who goes back with an empty pocket. Hahaha… I know, it has happened to me before. So what is the best way to share love?

Frankly, I am still on the road of discovery and look forward to find more insights to the question. As of now, I feel that one of the best ways to share love is to PRAISE. Yes, praise.

Go and say something good to someone. It would make a whole lot of difference to the person. In a society that is filled with negativism, you have an opportunity to make a positive change is a person’s life. No matter how blatantly the negative aspects of the person may be staring at your face, search out for the positive one and praise the person.

Praise will do marvels. Test it out for yourself and you will be amazed.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Hearts On Fire

There is a first time for everything and yesterday we experienced the first rally organized by the NUS Catholic Students’ Society outside the confines of its campus.

In a bold step to reach out as many youth and young adults as possible, NUS CSS decided to bring an interesting twist to its annual Catholic Awareness Week. Catholic Awareness Week was never done on such a grand and large scale as it was this year. It is really heartening to see our NUS catholic students on fire with the love of God and the intense desire to share the love with others.

The climax of the Catholic Awareness Week was the rally ‘Hearts on Fire’ held at Catholic Junior College Arts Centre. As early as 6 p.m. a huge crowd was already gathered at the centre waiting for the doors of the auditorium to open. By the time the doors opened already three quarters of the auditorium was filled and by the time the rally started the auditorium was filled to its maximum capacity.

More than 800 excited and enthusiastic youth and young adults spent an awesome time of praise and worship with the worship team from SACCRE Youth. They were led from the gates to the courts and into the holy of holies where they encountered the immense love of the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit. Their hearts were set ablaze on fire with the Love of God, a love that goes beyond our comprehension.

After the praise and worship, we had the privilege to hear the testimony of Theresa and Jeremy. Therese shared on how she experienced the love of God in a recent mission trip and how it has transformed her relationship with her family members, friends and herself. Jeremy shared on how despite having a medical condition, the love of God drives him on regardless of the setbacks he faces in life.

Rev. Fr. Simon Pereira, CSsR, was the preacher for the night. His immense interaction with the youth was immediately evident from the moment he started. He understands the challenges that the youth today face and was able to relate to them. At the same time, the importance of the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of each and everyone of us was strongly put across. ‘Our hearts need to be on fire for Christ,’ he said.

This was followed by a time of Eucharistic adoration followed by healing. The Power of God moved strongly in the hearts of us all. Praise be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you NUS CSS for going out of your comfort zone and making it possible for us to experience God in a powerful way.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Ultimate Power

We are given the ultimate power in life. Yes, it’s free will. With this free will, if we were to just sit down for a while and reflect, we would realize that free will ultimately gives us the power of choice.

Everyday we make choices. Each morning when we wake up we have two choices. We can choose to be in a good mood or we can choose to be in a bad mood. What choices have we been making every morning when we wake up? Or do we not even realize that we have a choice and just go through the routine of daily life and let the events of the day influence our mood?

Each time something bad happens, we can choose to be a victim or we can choose to learn from it. How did we respond to the events of today? Did we choose to learn from it? Every time someone comes to us complaining, we can choose to accept their complaining or we can point out the positive side of life. What did we choose to do? I choose the positive side of life.

Is it easy? Yes, it is. Life is all about choices. When we go into the core of the situation we are in, every situation presents us with a choice. We choose how we react to situations. We choose how people will affect our mood. We choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. At the end of the day, it’s our choice how we live life.

So what choices are we making today?

Words of Wisdom

"What we need is to love without getting tired. How does a lamp burn? Through the continuous input of small drops of oil. What are these drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things of daily life: faithfulness, small words of kindness, a thought for others, our way of being silent, of looking, of speaking, and of acting. Do not look for Jesus away from yourselves. He is not there; He is in you. Keep your lamp burning and you will recognize Him."

-- Mother Teresa

Say A Prayer

There may be times when we wake up in the morning and things aren't the way we had wished they would be. Say a prayer and we will know that things will get better.

There may be times when people dissappoint us or maybe even we dissappoint ourselves. Say a prayer and keep life focused on believing in ourselves.

There will be challenges to face and changes to make in our lives. Because the challenges and changes will only help us to move closer towards our goals and to tap into the great potential within us.

Always remember it is not the event that determines the outcome, it's our response to the event that ultimately determines it.

Say a prayer and let the spirit guide us.