The premise started off promising, but as the evening wore on, it became clear that the speaker had neglected to put in the necessary preparatory work and was merely rambling and repeating the same points in a manner that lacked logic and cohesion. This was lazy catechesis, and its lacklustre fruits could be seen around the room, as the participants [...]
In the timeline of the Earth, there have been five major cataclysmic mass extinction events that caused life on Earth to cease either almost completely or definitely. The first occurred around the end-Ordovician period around 450 million years ago. The Ordovician period was marked by a diversity of marine invertebrates. With the presence of tetrahedral spores dating to this era [...]
Many years ago, in 2015, thereabouts, I was praying at the Perpetual Adoration Chapel at the Catholic Spirituality Centre when completely tired out, I fell asleep. When I awoke it was about 2 or 3 in the morning. I had missed the timing for the last bus home, and the only options were to stay on in the adoration chapel [...]
The Church is facing an unprecedented crisis that had been steadily creeping up over the past twenty years. The alarm bells should have sounded, when the early warning signs came about, but complacent in its status as a moral authority and as an institution, the Church did not pay heed to the grumblings and rumblings that were felt on the [...]
I was recently asked by a friend who is currently undergoing a difficult time, “Why must people suffer?” and “Why is there suffering in the world?” We all know the head knowledge about how suffering is redemptive, and that which would eventually lead us to deep joy when we find meaning in the suffering and when we unite our suffering [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
I have not been able to attend mass in person for some time. Due to personal reasons and at some times I'm not able to book a slot. Even though I pray to Jesus daily and catch up on daily readings on catholic.sg. I still find that there is something missing. I have been asking myself what's missing. I attend [...]
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 [...]
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”. [...]