Are you seeking to be a better version and to be who you are made to be?
God has planted within our hearts a desire to make a difference in the world, and a desire to make the world a better place. While we will certainly never understand the fullness of God’s intent, we are nonetheless drawn naturally towards the heart of God our Father and His plan for our lives.
“God can change our lives in many powerful ways beyond our imagination. But the only condition is… if you allow him to.”
– Fr. Terence Pereira, Homily Mar 2022
As a parish, collectively, we too are also working towards being a more vibrant and loving community of disciples, making disciples for the kingdom of God.
We have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function.
Imagine what our lives and our parish community would and could be if each of us allowed change and transformation to happen by the Holy Spirit and our guardian angels’ guidance.
Picture how our parish would be collectively – very loving and vibrant disciples who are together, discipling other sisters and brothers in Christ in and outside of the church for His glory!
The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ
-1 Corinthians 12:12
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;
-Ephesians 4:4
Why not explore and open the many more gifts and talents that God has given us, at our beloved parish church?
This is thus an invitation for us to reflect during this season of Lent:
What is My Mission As a Disciple?
1. To Learn and to Grow in Faith
Many from other churches hear about the many different faith formation programs and activities that we have.
We are so blessed to have so many ministers and parishioners in our parish who care for each other and even organize events for one another to grow in faith in interesting and creative ways.
Creative Workshop to learn how to create a prayer journal from scratch with saddle stitches and traditional binding
There are many faith formation programmes and encounters that help us to grow deeper in head knowledge and heart knowledge, and attending these events organised by our parish help to forge the friendships made with others and allow us to be touched by the Holy Spirit in what we see and feel in renewed ways.
Evening Brew: Our own “Happy Hour” together with BYO (bring your own) food and beverages and that which allows us to chat #AMA (Ask Me Anything) about our faith and questions pertaining to it on a Friday evening!
Our Lord is offering us these, are we willing to partake and participate?
2. Prayerfully evaluate the circumstances that God providentially brings into your life.
Spiritual life is not to need anything in this world but to grow in our love for God, while not expecting anything else. Belief in God, is not about what benefits there are in for me. Our faith journey will for sure comprise of many temptations. Sometimes, we may also ask of ourselves, why are there certain things happening to us.
It is usually in hindsight, when we look back and prayerfully evaluate the circumstances with our heart, that we can see how wonderful and how beautiful our Lord God is. Our Father knows exactly what we need.
God will give me another person I need tomorrow just as he did already give me what I need today.
– Fr. Sam, Homily Mar 2022
Our God who is the name above all names, knows what we are all in need.
“You are looking into my heart, i’m coming back into the heart of worship. It is all about you Jesus.”
3. Listen to and evaluate the counsel of each other in our sharing
Learning through each other and seeing (and hearing) how the other who is a person of faith lives, is also bringing alive the witnessing of faith in action.
When we see each other getting close and closer to our Lord and following His footsteps, we are reminded of the need to move and the need to grow in our own faith journeys too.
In this season of conversion that Lent brings, let us open our minds and eyes to see the many friends around us in church who have been helping us transform into new people.
Getting out of our “tents” and ditching the pitch to keep moving
4. Analyse our gifts, motives, and desires in light of God‘s purpose for each of us and collectively as a parish community
Sharing the Blessings We Have Received With Others
Zumba Fitness: Come work out a sweat together and taking care of our bodies and health that God has given us. Held every Tuesday in church.
As growing disciples, we learn that the good that we have must also be shared with one another and those in our families and those within our parish boundaries
We are made so unique and there is no one else that is like us whom God has created.
Catechism for Children with Different Abilities: our parish’s very own Church of St Michael’s first class had just kicked off!
Creative Workshop: look out for more workshops on experiential faith learning coming your way
Virtual run to raise funds for SSVP friends: our church of St Michael team hit the 500km target!
Having God in our daily lives and in our decisions is being everything he has made us to be – we can be fun, gregarious, creative, healing, impactful and most importantly, loving.
4. We are created in love
Just like in Psalm 139. We are wonderful in him
If your boss says you are lousy, you are bad, or your best best friend says you are useless. Do we feel bad? Is what they say better than our God who knows exactly how he created us.
Remembering the lies that people had told you or you have told yourself – such as that “You are useless, good for nothing…” and harbouring such words in our thoughts and hearts or anything similar is indicative that we have stopped listening to the good news.
Only when we hear and live the good news, that we can bring the good news to the ends of Boon Keng neighbourhood and to the ends of the earth.
Growing Together With a Community
In dependence on God on our father, we must follow sound judgment, conscience, and convictions, to corroboration to what Scripture says, what the teaching of the Church exhorts us to, and what is confirmed by the Spiritual Directors who have a close relationship with God, and then submit fully to the Will of God.
We must grow to know Him intimately through His Word and His Spirit and learn how to share it with one another in our community through the stories of how we have the many blessings from God is in our daily lives.
Written by: Julianne Danielle Lim