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Beyond an Imagined Communitas: Building Authentic Christian Communities

In writing about the nation,  and drawing upon concepts coined by Anthropologists such as Victor Turner, Sociologists such as  Benedict Anderson have written about how the idea of a nation is a social construct and is by and large, "an imagined community" - "imagined" because "the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet [...]

By |2020-07-23T13:57:50+08:00July 23rd, 2020|Faith Formation, Featured story|Comments Off on Beyond an Imagined Communitas: Building Authentic Christian Communities

The Sacrament of Marriage as the Wedding Feast of Christ

Marriage has such a place of importance that Christ elevated it to the level of a sacrament. God himself is the author of marriage (C.C.C. 1603). Man is created out of the love of God, and being made in the image and likeness of God, who is love Himself, and since God made both man and woman, their mutual love [...]

By |2020-07-18T08:52:24+08:00July 18th, 2020|Faith Formation|Comments Off on The Sacrament of Marriage as the Wedding Feast of Christ

Liturgical Reflection for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (19 July 2020)

Our Father is indeed merciful and patient, loving and forgiving, He stays faithful to His Covenant and waits patiently for us to return. The psalmist is so convinced of God’s mercy and love that he becomes a willing servant and seeks God for strength to go through the trials to do His will. This is the response that we are [...]

By |2020-07-18T11:48:58+08:00July 16th, 2020|Faith Formation, Liturgical Reflection|Comments Off on Liturgical Reflection for the 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (19 July 2020)

Healing the Disappointments in Community

"Disappointments are markers on the road of life, saying: Perfect happiness is not here. Though your passions may have been satisfied, you were never truly satisfied, because while your passions can find satisfaction in this world, you cannot. Start with your own insufficiency and begin a search for perfection. Begin with your own emptiness and seek Him who can fill [...]

By |2020-07-16T14:34:06+08:00July 16th, 2020|Faith Formation, Featured story|Comments Off on Healing the Disappointments in Community

Christianity vs New Age Spirituality

Walk into any bookstore and you will find a section on Self-Improvement. Or just google search Self-Improvement and there are many websites offering advice. One of the first books I read was Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to make friends and influence people’. The tips were innocuous. I still recall to this day the tip on the importance of not only remembering [...]

By |2020-07-16T08:28:11+08:00July 16th, 2020|Faith Formation, Featured story|Comments Off on Christianity vs New Age Spirituality

A Case for Community Accountability

The word, "accountability" can be traced etymologically as being in a "state of testimony or being answerable", while the Oxford Dictionary, states the definition of accountability as, "​the fact of being responsible for your decisions or actions and being expected to explain them when you are asked."  However, in the context of a Christian community, the concept of accountability takes [...]

By |2020-07-12T03:29:59+08:00July 9th, 2020|Faith Formation, Featured story|Comments Off on A Case for Community Accountability

AC/DC: Let There be Rock

If you think I am referring to the rock band AC/DC and their megahit ‘Let there be Rock’, you are partly right. The lyrics which plays on Genesis is the creative license they’ve taken (Let there be light, Let there be sound, Let there be drums, Let there be guitar, and of course Let there be Rock) and there is [...]

By |2020-07-12T03:30:09+08:00July 9th, 2020|Faith Formation, Featured story|Comments Off on AC/DC: Let There be Rock

Discerning the Charisms of a Community

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Holy Spirit is "the principle of every vital and truly saving action in each part of the Body." He works in many ways to build up the whole Body in charity: by God's Word "which is able to build you up"; by Baptism, through which he forms Christ's Body; by the [...]

By |2020-07-08T06:17:19+08:00July 2nd, 2020|Faith Formation|Comments Off on Discerning the Charisms of a Community

Get Real! Are We the Real Church?

I always feel blessed that I have Christian friends of different denominations who will pray for my family’s well-being, and of course, I do likewise. They are often just a text message away. But occasionally I would feel uneasy when it turns out they don’t always share the same beliefs. Sometimes I am hit by brickbats. Your Church is evil! [...]

By |2020-07-02T07:43:22+08:00July 2nd, 2020|Faith Formation|Comments Off on Get Real! Are We the Real Church?

Blessed are the Poor and the Hungry

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 [...]

By |2020-06-27T13:06:50+08:00June 27th, 2020|Faith Formation|Comments Off on Blessed are the Poor and the Hungry