A stroll down the Central Business District of Singapore greets the passer-by with the majestic sight of the Marina Bay Sands towering above the skyline. In the corner, the megalithic Singapore Flyer, spinning serenely like a Catherine Wheel set ablaze with a spectacular lightshow, and where the river meets the sea, the Gardens by the Bay. Architecturally designed to draw [...]
“I can’t find my AirPods, mum!” “Did you check in your backpack?” “I did but I can’t find it.” “Let me pray to St Anthony – Dear St Anthony, please come down. Her AirPods are lost, it can’t be found.” “Could it be in the washing machine?” “Can’t be.” “Let me check anyway.” ‘Thud!’ Something hit the bottom of the [...]
The Gospel of the Transfiguration of the Lord puts before our eyes the glory of Christ, which anticipates the resurrection and announces the divinization of man. The Greek word for “transfigured” is metemorphothe, from which metamorphosis stems from, which means transformation or conversion. Jesus’ “face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white.” (Matthew 17:2). Jesus was transfigured by [...]
Founded in 910, the Abbey of Cluny was built in Beaune, Burgundy, France as a measure to put into place the Benedictine Reforms that would allow the monks to return to the essence of the Rule of St. Benedict - to focus on prayer, poverty, solitude, peace and work such as caring for the poor. With the reforms and via [...]
“Do you reject Satan?” “I do.” “And all his works?” “I do.” “And all his empty promises?” “I do.” Sound familiar? In the season of Lent, Catholics are called to remember our baptism and the promises that were made. And on Easter Sunday, we renew our baptismal vows. I believe that when we say “I do”, we probably mean it [...]
In all three Synoptic Gospels, the temptation immediately follows Jesus’ baptism. Matthew's more gentle expression -"was led up” indicates how entirely voluntary this action of Jesus was. The Spirit guided and accompanied Him into the wilderness to have His faith tried. The Spirit does not tempt Jesus, the tempting is done by Satan. The Greek word peirazo mean tempt or test. To tempt is to entice [...]
A Christian’s foundational identity is founded upon great and indescribable joy: The joy of being called by the Lord; the profound joy of being called and fully redeemed by the Lord; the unspeakable joy that the Lord by His cross and Resurrection has conquered all sin, evil, and death; the joy that is found in the knowledge that we who [...]
Baking Pretzels According to tradition in Italy, a young monk in the year 300, was preparing the monks’ Lenten meal of bread. This was usually just a mixture of water, flour, and salt. As a reminder to his fellow brothers in the monastery, he rolled the dough into strips, and then folded each strip into a shape bearing similarities to [...]
“When Jesus was baptised, he went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on him.” (Matthew 3:16) “There appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the holy Spirit and [...]
It is a myth and a fallacy to assume that there exists a perfect Christian community. The early Church faced as well its own set of challenges inter-community, intra-community – within and from external forces. For example we see in Acts 15: 37 – 40, that Barnabas wanted to take with them John Mark, but Paul disagreed with his [...]
