Church

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Thursday, 18 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus again reiterated the message in today’s Gospel reading, that He is the bread of life, the source of salvation, which can only come through Christ, and through the ultimate sacrifice He had committed on that hill of Calvary on that fateful day, when He was raised high between the heavens and the earth. That moment marked the moment when the pure and unblemished Lamb of God was sacrificed that His blood, splashing down on us, washes us away from our sins.

The Lamb of God did not resist when He was about to be killed, He kept His mouth shut and silent against the false accusations of those who tried to kill Him and bring about His death. Through His submission to the will of the Father, He had been glorified after His death through resurrection, and through this submission, He brought about salvation and reunion of all mankind with God who loves them all.

He died for us that we might live. His blood purifying us from our faults and sins, making us pure once again and worthy to stand before the presence of our God in heaven. Heaven had been closed to all of us since the day when our ancestors defied the will of God, and obeyed the evil one instead, believing in the wisdom of Satan rather than God, and through their disobedience, mankind fall into sin and become the thrall of death.

That was because Adam and Eve, our first ancestors failed to resist the temptation of evil in order to gain more knowledge into themselves, and desiring to become equal as God. But they, who were pure since the day of their creation, now knew the meaning of evil and sin, and as a result, the white slate of paper became splotched with ink and became ruined. That was the state of our soul too before our salvation in Christ.

We suffered the same punishment that Adam and Eve had been made to suffer for their rebellion, that is to roam this earthly plane, to work and toil hard, and death would claim us, and to dust our bodies would return, and we were to be enslaved by Satan. But yet, God is loving just as He is just. He hates sin, but He did not leave us His beloved children without hope of salvation. That hope He brought into our world through Christ His Son, whom He sent to be the Messiah who would save all mankind, once and for all, from the dominion of the evil one.

Christ had become the new Adam, the new beginning, by virtue of being born as man, but unlike Adam, who was sinless and pure as Christ was, but sinned through disobedience, Christ as the Lamb of God obeyed the Lord fully unto His death. This perfect obedience became the perfect offering that entirely countered the rebellion of our ancestors and made all of us worthy once again of God.

Through His Precious Body and Blood, which He offered to all of us freely, He made us into one body in Himself, the Body that is our Church, that all who believes in Christ may be united as one people, and praising God as one people, and sharing the faith that we have in God with one another, and also share the love that He had given us, that love would reign as the motivation behind all our actions.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us always remember that Jesus Christ our Lord is the bread of life, and also the way, the truth, and the life, and in Him alone lies salvation. Let us treasure the Eucharist that we receive in the Mass, that we truly honour the Precious Body and Blood of our Lord, and worthily take Him into ourselves, that we may always be united with Him, and be united with our fellow brethren, who also believe in Him our Saviour. God bless us all. Amen.

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will return to the Vatican on Wednesday, 1 May 2013

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/vaticano/dettaglio-articolo/articolo/papa-el-papa-pope-bergoglio-ratzinger-24332/

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According to the original Italian language article of the Vatican Insider/La Stampa above, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will return to the Vatican from his stay in Castel Gandolfo, the Papal summer residence on Wednesday, 1 May 2013.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had stayed at Castel Gandolfo since his retirement as reigning Pope of the Church on 28 February 2013, 2 months earlier. He will be staying in the former Mater Ecclesiae monastery which was originally a cloister for nuns, and now vacated to accomodate the Pope Emeritus and his assistants, which include the current Prefect of Papal Household, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, who is also Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s private secretary.

This will make the work better for Archbishop Ganswein as in his capacity as both the private secretary to the Pope Emeritus and the Prefect of Papal Household, he had to travel daily between the Vatican and Castel Gandolfo.

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(Above : Archbishop Georg Ganswein, current Prefect of the Papal Household and private secretary to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI)

May God bless our dear Pope Emeritus, bless him with good health, that he will continue to pray for our Church, and that the reforms that he had begun in the liturgy, worship, and new evangelisation can continue to flourish and grow.

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Passing of Coadjutor Bishop of Shanghai (China), Aloysius Jin Luxian at the age of 96

Coadjutor Bishop Aloysius Jin Luxian of Shanghai, has passed away today, Saturday, 27 April 2013, at the age of 96 (born 20 June 1916). Let us pray for him and for the persecuted Church in China.

http://www.ucanews.com/news/bishop-jin-of-shanghai-dead-at-97/68064

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The current legal bishop of Shanghai is Bishop Joseph Fan Zhongliang, who is 94, and also the Apostolic Administrator of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nanjing.

Two auxiliary bishops of Shanghai, Bishop Joseph Xing (ordained 2005) and Bishop Thaddeus Ma (ordained July 2012) had been under intense governmental pressures, and while the former disappeared from scene and apparently forced to resign in 2011, Bishop Ma has faced even greater persecution due to his courage to detach himself from the illegal CPCA, and for that he suffered greatly.

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(Above : Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin, Auxiliary Bishop of Shanghai, currently incarcerated in Shanghai seminary by the government, had been so for the past 10 months since his ordination last July)
Pray for the Church in China, and indeed that the motto which Bishop Ma and I had taken up, which Christ had said in His prayer for His people, will come true :

“Ut Omnes Unum Sint, ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam”
(That they all may be One, for the greater glory of God)

That the Church in China may be fully One again with the Universal Church, free from any kind of intervention and persecution by the Godless ones. God help China and the Church there!

Our Lady of Sheshan, pray for us, and pray for them too!

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Sunday, 14 April 2013 : 3rd Sunday of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Obey God, and not obey men! Indeed, we should obey God, our Lord first, before we obey men, just as what Peter had said to the chief priests and the Pharisees when he rebuked them for forcing them to abandon their mission to spread the Good News of the Lord. They did not obey men, and instead obeyed the Lord, and suffered in the process, from persecution and prejudice by the priests and many among the Jews.

But it is not to say that we should disobey all men, including our Church hierarchy, beginning with our Pope, down to our priests. No, indeed, we should still obey them, as long as they carry the will of God with them and through their words and actions, reflect the will of God. This is because by obeying those who are in the position of authority, and carrying the will of God, means that we obey God too at the same time.

Do not put our complete trust and obedience in men who are finite and flawed. For mankind is flawed and imperfect, and therefore are bound to make mistakes, which may affect many others, especially if we obey these flawed ideals from our earthly superiors. Place our complete trust and obedience instead in God, and indeed, in His chosen ministers, who are our priests and ordained ministers of the Lord, who had been chosen from among many, to serve Him and His beloved people.

Of course we should not be in open rebellion against our superiors, if we disagree with our earthly superiors. Rather, we should focus on prayer and concrete actions, that should be intended to help our superiors see light in their errors and flaws, and help themselves to improve and become better in the process. Help one another, superior and workers alike, that in doing that, all of us can then truly obey the will of God, and do good works for His sake, and for the sake of all mankind.

God protects us, and He showed us His great love and mercy, especially when we too love Him, and when we seek Him when we were lost. He showed His mercy to Peter, who had betrayed Him when He was under arrest, because of fear of man, and lacking strong faith in God. He showed His love and mercy, forgiving Peter as many times as he had betrayed Him before.

That is why we ought to put our trust in Him, because He can be trusted, and He is faithful to those who love Him. He recognised the faith in Peter, while it was weak and easily shaken by the arrest of Christ, Jesus recognised that in Peter was truly a strong faith like that of a rock, just as He had Himself given Peter the name, Peter, that means literally, the rock. It is His commissioning and forgiveness of Peter at the shore of the lake that day which marked the beginning of the transformation which Peter went through, from the fisher of fish, to a fisher of mankind.

No more would he catch fish for a living, but he would dedicate his life fully in the service of the Lord. To be a fisher of man is to spread the Good News of the Lord to many, so that they can be ‘ensnared’ in the faith, that they too would believe and then gain salvation through the faith in Christ. Peter’s obedience and profession of faith and love in Christ brought about the turning point in the history of our Church, that on that day, St. Peter, who would lead our Church as the first Pope, was truly reborn in faith and in God’s love.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Let us strive to obey the will of God ever more, through our priests and our ordained ministers who represented God in our world. Pray for them, and pray for ourselves too, that we can follow in the example of Peter in professing our loyalty, sincerity, and love for our God, and presenting to Him a contrite heart full of regret, desiring to return to our God who loves us. Obey men too, as long as they too do the will of God, and when they do not, help them to see the light of God, that they too eventually will obey.

Let us also follow in the footsteps of the apostles who had become the fishers of men, instead of just fishers of fish. Let us go beyond our human limitation of seeking only to fulfill our own earthly needs, and instead, seek to bring the Word and teachings of our Lord to many who have yet to hear them, and who long to know Christ, our Lord.

May God protect us and bless us always with His blessings and grace, that we will always be obedient to Him and follow His examples. Amen.

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Sunday, 14 April 2013 : 3rd Sunday of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 21 : 1-19

After this, Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples by the Lake of Tiberias. He appeared to them in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas who was called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together; and Simon Peter said to them, “I’m going fishing.” They replied, “We will come with you.” And they went out and got into the boat, but they caught nothing that night.

When day had already broken, Jesus was standing on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. Jesus called them, “Friends, have you anything to eat?” They answered, “Nothing.” Then He said to them, “Throw the net on the right side of the boat and you will find something.” When they had lowered the net, they were not able to pull it in because of the great number of fish.

Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Simon Peter put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and jumped into the water. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish; they were not far from land, about a hundred metres.

When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed into the boat and pulled the net to shore. It was full of big fish – one hundred and fifty-three – but, in spite of this, the net was not torn.

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” And not one of the disciples dared to ask Him, “Who are You?” for they knew it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and He did the same with the fish.

This was the third time that Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples after rising from the dead.

After they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” And Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.”

A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” And Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” Jesus said to Him, “Look after My sheep.” And a third time He said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”

Peter was saddened because Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” and he said, “Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You.” Jesus then said, “Feed My sheep! Truly, I say to you, when you were young, you put on your belt and walked where you liked. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will put a belt around you, and lead you where you do not wish to go.”

Jesus said this to make known the kind of death by which Peter was to glorify God. And He added, “Follow Me.”

 

Alternative Reading (Shorter version)

John 21 : 1-14

After this, Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples by the Lake of Tiberias. He appeared to them in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas who was called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together; and Simon Peter said to them, “I’m going fishing.” They replied, “We will come with you.” And they went out and got into the boat, but they caught nothing that night.

When day had already broken, Jesus was standing on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. Jesus called them, “Friends, have you anything to eat?” They answered, “Nothing.” Then He said to them, “Throw the net on the right side of the boat and you will find something.” When they had lowered the net, they were not able to pull it in because of the great number of fish.

Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Simon Peter put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and jumped into the water. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish; they were not far from land, about a hundred metres.

When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed into the boat and pulled the net to shore. It was full of big fish – one hundred and fifty-three – but, in spite of this, the net was not torn.

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” And not one of the disciples dared to ask Him, “Who are You?” for they knew it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and He did the same with the fish.

This was the third time that Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples after rising from the dead.

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The True Beauty of the Liturgy of the Mass

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Would you rather give a half-hearted offering like that of Cain, offering what the Lord had not desired, or would you rather give it all to God like Abel, who offered the best to the Lord?

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Would you rather be like Judas Iscariot, who scolded Mary for wasting money on perfume used to anoint the feet of Christ before His death? especially that was out of false concern of the poor given that he desired the money for himself? or would you be rather be Mary indeed, who anointed the feet of Christ for His burial, even with the expensive nard-flower perfume and therefore like Abel, gave her best offering to the Lord?

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Such is therefore, what we should think of, when we think about the Mass and the liturgy that surrounds it. Many would be in danger of misunderstanding the entire purpose of having such liturgies and rites of worship, and dismissing them as backward, elitist, showy, and wasteful in nature – No, indeed, in fact, all these are for the glory of God alone, and we wouldn’t give half-hearted gifts and attempts to our Lord. Our worship in the Mass is to the Lord alone, and the glory that is in the Mass, is for the glory of God.

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So why elaborate vestments, with colourful and vivid images, even with golden thread or velvet? Why elaborate and jewelled mitres? Why elaborate church buildings, the Altar decoration and everything else? That is because all these are for the glory of God, and for God alone, and not for the glory of men. And in this too, as I had often mentioned, many would be able to learn more about the faith, and at the same time, bring worship closer to what it should be, that is, to be a heaven on earth, especially with the angels and the saints, we worship God together.

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Men are visual creatures, and we base ourselves and our perceptions closely with our visions and what we see in our surroundings. One very strong argument why so many people had left the faith and became lost in the past decades was because the disappearance of beauty in our worship, not the beauty of excessive displays of course, but the true beauty of worship in that every part of the Mass and its liturgy has its own particular importance and meaning, even all the gestures made in the Mass.

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Being visual creatures, men no longer see God as the divine He is, because especially like Science, which place accountability, reproducibility, etc. at the most important, especially visual proofs, men no longer see God because our worship had become so diluted, so abused by decades of excessive trials and innovations which ended up diluting this image of ‘heaven on earth’ in the Mass. The Mass becomes less a desire for all to come to other than just a ‘chore’ for many to come, and Sunday obligation becomes what it is, an obligation, rather than true desire to come and worship the Lord.

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Therefore, it is important that in the coming future, our Church, while projecting itself ever more, as it had always done, in helping the needy and the unloved around the world, expanding its charitable acts which is already the world’s largest by significant margins, ever more, but most importantly also, at the same time, strengthening the anchor of faith, through the energetic and constant explanation of the faith and the Sacred Tradition, particularly on the Mass and its liturgy, especially to the youths and the newly baptised, that they will truly grasp what being a Catholic is about.

That being a Catholic entail not just being good person, helpful person, and caring person, but also someone who truly knows entirely what they are doing at Mass, at their worship of the Lord every Sunday, and who truly come for the Mass because they desire to seek the Lord, and understanding the beauty of the liturgy of the Mass, they become ever closer to God, and through this, be ever more blessed and loving, that they can bring forth this love in their service of others. Ora et Labora, a balance indeed required between prayer and worship, and the service facet of our faith.

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In this manner, we must always remember this verse, which is also a very nice Psalm passage I had discovered, that in all things, we glorify God alone, particularly in the Mass, through all its beauty :

Non nobis, Domine, sed Nomini tuo da gloriam!
Not to us, o Lord, but to Your Name we give glory!

+Peter Canisius Michael David C. Kang
Ut Omnes Unum Sint, ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam
21 April 2013, Good Shepherd Sunday

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On Liturgical Music and Proper Worship (Video by Cardinal Francis Arinze)

A very nice argument by Cardinal Arinze, who was the head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. This is how and why music, liturgy and all parts of the Mass must be proper (to refute those who says that these are irrelevant), because exactly they help us to be closer to God, to make the worship at the Mass truly a worship, and not instead becoming a glorification of the priest, self, or anyone else besides God.

The parish priests, anywhere in the world, Singapore, Asia, Africa, Europe, and others must make sure that rock music, loud music, clapping in the Mass, even within song is not relevant and therefore must not be used. A hymn, a proper Catholic hymn sung with reverence is much more appropriate and should be promoted.

The way to evangelise to our Catholic youths and youths in general is not to include contemporary music into our worship that makes it less than appropriate, just so that we can attract them. Those music and clapping actions, are more suitable for rally sessions or praise and worship, but NOT for the Mass.

The best way? Introduce our youths to the proper and solemn music, many of which are beautiful and no longer heard today, sunk by all the ugly contemporary music the likes of those by Lady Gaga, Psy, and so many others, which are contemptuous twisting of the true beauty of music, which purpose, like what the angels are doing in heaven, is to praise the Lord in His glory. Gregorian chants in Latin and other chants and hymns in the vernacular languages are the way to go.

We are the Church, and we worship the Lord in the Mass. We are not going to a marketplace or attending music concert when we attend the Mass, instead in the Mass we are with the Lord and through our tongues we praise Him with glorious and beautiful hymns appropriate to worship Him!

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75th Birthday Anniversary of Archbishop Nicholas Chia Yeck Joo, Archbishop of Singapore (born 8 April 1938)

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Today marks the 75th birthday anniversary of the Archbishop of Singapore, Archbishop Nicholas Chia. Ad multos annos, Your Excellency!

According to Canon Law 401, §1, all bishops must submit their resignation upon reaching the age of 75. Whether they will resign shortly or a while after the reached that age, depending on the decision of the Pope and the Congregation for Bishops, and whether the suitable candidate has been found.

In this case, as we already have a Coadjutor Archbishop, the Coadjutor Archbishop (William Goh) will take over as the new Archbishop of Singapore the moment the announcement of retirement of the current Archbishop (Nicholas Chia) is made by the Holy See.

(Check at Holy See Press Office daily bulletin at : http://attualita.vatican.va/sala-stampa/bollettino/en/index.html)

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Monday, 1 April 2013 : Monday of the Easter Octave (First Reading)

Acts 2 : 14, 22-33

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, and, with a loud voice, addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all foreigners now staying in Jerusalem, listen to what I have to say. Fellow Israelites, listen to what I am going to tell you about Jesus of Nazareth. God accredited Him and through Him did powerful deeds and wonders and signs in your midst, as you well know.”

“You delivered Him to sinners to be crucified and killed, and in this way the purpose of God from all times was fulfilled. But God raised Him to life and released Him from the pain of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in the power of death. David spoke of Him when he said: ‘I saw the Lord before Me at all times; He is by My side, that I may not be shaken. Therefore My heart was glad and My tongue rejoiced; My body too will live in hope.'”

“‘Because You will not forsake Me in the abode of the dead, nor allow Your Holy One to experience corruption. You have made known to Me the paths of life, and Your presence will fill Me with joy.'” Friends, I don’t need to prove that the patriarch David died and was buried; his tomb is with us to this day. But he knew that God had sworn to him that one of his descendants would sit upon his throne and, as he was a prophet, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah.

So he said that ‘He would not be left in the region of the dead, nor would His body experience corruption.’ This Messiah is Jesus and we are all witnesses that God raised Him to life. He has been exalted at God’s right side and the Father has entrusted the Holy Spirit to Him; this Spirit He has just poured upon us as you now see and hear.

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Eighth Anniversary of the death of Blessed Pope John Paul II the Great

Blessed Pope John Paul II, also called the Great, passed away in Rome at the Apostolic Palace, on 2 April 2005 at 9.37 pm Rome time (21.37) or 9.37 pm UTC+1.

It has been 8 years since his passing, and therefore let us join in the moment of prayer, in our own homes and at the time of his passing wherever we are. Pray for his Canonisation as a Saint, and most importantly, pray for our Catholic Church and all of God’s beloved people.