Mark’s Gospel has 16 chapters, and we are at the 8th chapter for this week. This, in some scholars' view is the apex of his Gospel. In the middle of the Gospel, we have this important question asked of the reader. The Gospel begins with the believer (Mark) declaring that Jesus is the Son of God in Mk1:1: ‘The beginning [...]
Talking and hearing are vital in our daily interactions. Hearing, talking, seeing and walking are so important in our lives. In the first reading, we hear the prophet Isaiah announcing the good news of God’s salvation that God is able to heal the blind, the deaf and the dumb. In the Gospel, Jesus heals a deaf man who is also [...]
A friend of mine who has made Australia his home, has been coping with bouts of clinical depression, and suicidal ideation. The prolonged lockdowns that Australia has put into place in various states has exacerbated this person’s anxiety. Coupled with the stress of being unemployed, seeking out new employment so as to provide for the needs of his family, and [...]
The Gospel clearly points out to us what it means to live as Catholic Christians. To most of us, a devout Catholic is one who attends church, reads the Word of God, recites rosaries, recites chaplets of Divine Mercy, practises the sacraments of the Catholic Church, practises charity as and when time permits, and who goes for missionary work beyond [...]
Between the Book of Judges and the 1st Book of Samuel, is snuggled in an almost non-descript manner, four simple chapters of the Book of Ruth. Set in the time of the Judges, the land is hit by a terrible famine, which coerces Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion to embark on a long and arduous [...]
We can see that since the beginning of time that Our God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14). What does jealousy mean in this context? It means that God has our total love for us and us alone. Despite his great love for us, he has given us a choice to be with him or to be with some other [...]
The word, “pilgrimage” may be traced etymologically to the 13th century, Old French, pelrimage, meaning to take an often long and arduous journey through strange and foreign lands, to arrive at a destination of a holy place. The Old French word, was also used to signify a crusade or a distant journey. It would only be around the 14th century that the [...]
Today's solemnity celebrates Mary's Assumption into heaven. It is one of four principle feasts of Mary our Mother. January 1 is the feast of Mary, the Mother of God - celebrating the Marian dogma of Mary as Theotokos, Mary's Divine Motherhood, and December 8 is the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, celebrating the fact that from her beginning [...]
In June 2021, Professor Roger Foo and his team of researchers published a never-before done study (Foo et al., 2021) documenting the genomes of the Peranakan community in Singapore. Whole-genome sequencing was done on 177 Peranakans, or those who identified very strongly as Peranakan in Singapore – Etymologically, the word, “Peranakan” has connotations of being “a native of the land”. [...]
As the world exited the 20th century and entered into the new millenium, there was a great cloud of anxiety hanging about the world. People were worried about Y2K, a bug in the computer coding and carding systems that would cause everything to re-set, and many watched with abated breath as the world made its countdown on New Year's Eve [...]