Saturday, July 31, 2004
Neither Death nor Life
One of my fav songs!!! A song to brighten your day anytime anywhere, when you need to hear of the magnitude of God's love.
Fr Erbin's celebrating mass today at holy fam - we've prepared a memorable mass for the congregation and him, not to mention a beautiful card by Gen. We'll be calling him Furbin in the card hehe.
After mass, we'll have our Potluck Bible Quiz under the Stars at 3 Sea Ave... How nice ya... and for this potluck dinner the basses are preparing shepherd's pie, fishballs, sausage cocktails and drinks.
Better get back to studying... won't have much chance to study tomolo thanks to the tennis competition.
Will report more on what transpires tonight.
Neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers,
Nor trials in the
present, nor any trial to come;
Neither height nor depth, nor all of
creation
Can ever separate us from the love of God
Poured out in Christ
Jesus, our Lord.
One of my fav songs!!! A song to brighten your day anytime anywhere, when you need to hear of the magnitude of God's love.
Fr Erbin's celebrating mass today at holy fam - we've prepared a memorable mass for the congregation and him, not to mention a beautiful card by Gen. We'll be calling him Furbin in the card hehe.
After mass, we'll have our Potluck Bible Quiz under the Stars at 3 Sea Ave... How nice ya... and for this potluck dinner the basses are preparing shepherd's pie, fishballs, sausage cocktails and drinks.
Better get back to studying... won't have much chance to study tomolo thanks to the tennis competition.
Will report more on what transpires tonight.
Sunday, July 18, 2004
Come and gather....
Saturday 17 Jul
The life and times of being in GII... =)
Saturday 17 Jul
The life and times of being in GII... =)
Some of us went to watch King Arthur at Suntec (Gen, Gus, Noel, Daf, Pris, Joanna, Shannon, Edmond, Anthony & his friend). I was surprised to see the movie protray Merlin, and nearly every other character so differently from what I've always known them to be. And where's Morgana the witch, and the Lady of the Lake? Excalibur was hardly mentioned! Anywayz, after that we hopped on bus 36 back to the East.
Priscilla thought we were alighting at Parkway, and she confirmed this with a stranger behind her whom she thought was Joanna, so she went off 36, together with Shannon. Should have seen their faces when they realised their mistake and were gesticulating to us in the bus.... LOL!!!
Prior to choir prac, I went to receive the 3 con3s who were gonna be with the choir for 2 months - Justin, Marcus & Samantha. Amidst the initial uneasiness, I spoke to them for awhile and then brought them into the choir room...it was as if i was presenting to them some surprise gift. I was excited about showing them the choir that's been an integral part of the last 10 yrs of my life; yet I was fearful that they'd be bored to death or dread coming.
5pm and the choir room had only 8 pple!!! But as the LATECOMERS started streaming in during practice, a part of me was beaming with pride at the sight of so many Genesians filling out the chairs and taking up their breaking breads to sing.
Mass on Sat 17 July - 16th Ord Sun
We all come to prac and mass, wearied from our own troubles and woes, sometimes hyped up and raring to go. There are days when our singing dips and days when the spirit moves us in such a way that our ministering touches people to tears. We're not expected to always be hyped up and joyful for mass, but whats important is that we know why we are celebrating as a community. Why "All are welcome", regardless of age, social status, emotional state etc... If there was one thing I'd like to be able to do better, it is to share with them (young Genesians) about the mass and its relevance to their lives; and to lend a listening ear always.
We all come to prac and mass, wearied from our own troubles and woes, sometimes hyped up and raring to go. There are days when our singing dips and days when the spirit moves us in such a way that our ministering touches people to tears. We're not expected to always be hyped up and joyful for mass, but whats important is that we know why we are celebrating as a community. Why "All are welcome", regardless of age, social status, emotional state etc... If there was one thing I'd like to be able to do better, it is to share with them (young Genesians) about the mass and its relevance to their lives; and to lend a listening ear always.
After mass, I welcomed back Alvin & Dione (& Gus), and introduced the 3 con3s to the choir. Andrea announced the upcoming Potluck Quiz on 31 Jul, and the basses immediately got together to plan our winning strategy.
Wish we had more time to just sit down and talk, with the new con3s, and with others; rather than being too caught up in the "doing". 10 yrs ago, people were doing this for me....
Come and gather beneath the Tree of Life.
Saturday, July 17, 2004
Hello, there's actually another 1st posting i made on another blog of mine recently... but i can't seem to find it.
Was practising the cantor's part for the new gloria just now in front of my mirror.... and trying to put into practice what Marissa had advised last sat
- forward sound
- brighter
- more gusto
- hit each note precisely, and not to slur esp at "peace to His people on earth"
- crescendo at "earth" and hold for full value of the note
- don't slow down (esp since I'll be singing it acapella initially)
Looking at myself in the mirror, I must have been very uninspiring to the congregation last sat.... expressionless and not confident.... c'mon darren, its the gloria, the words mean so much
"Glory to God in the highest! Sing! Glory to God!"
"Glory to God in the highest! And peace to His people on earth!"
Sister Hazel (from the Cenacle sisters) told us once that the mass is like a rollercoaster, having highs and lows, and the gloria is one of the major highs, after confessing our sins and asking for mercy. After looking closer at the lyrics, the Gloria is one of the ultimate songs of praise and worship! Like the shepherds who first heard the angels proclaim to them, we are joined in communion with all the saints and angels in heaven, and people on earth, as we Sing! Gloria in Excelsis Deo!
I pray for humility and joy when we sing the gloria tomorrow, when we sing together tomorrow, as a people of God.
Was practising the cantor's part for the new gloria just now in front of my mirror.... and trying to put into practice what Marissa had advised last sat
- forward sound
- brighter
- more gusto
- hit each note precisely, and not to slur esp at "peace to His people on earth"
- crescendo at "earth" and hold for full value of the note
- don't slow down (esp since I'll be singing it acapella initially)
Looking at myself in the mirror, I must have been very uninspiring to the congregation last sat.... expressionless and not confident.... c'mon darren, its the gloria, the words mean so much
"Glory to God in the highest! Sing! Glory to God!"
"Glory to God in the highest! And peace to His people on earth!"
Sister Hazel (from the Cenacle sisters) told us once that the mass is like a rollercoaster, having highs and lows, and the gloria is one of the major highs, after confessing our sins and asking for mercy. After looking closer at the lyrics, the Gloria is one of the ultimate songs of praise and worship! Like the shepherds who first heard the angels proclaim to them, we are joined in communion with all the saints and angels in heaven, and people on earth, as we Sing! Gloria in Excelsis Deo!
I pray for humility and joy when we sing the gloria tomorrow, when we sing together tomorrow, as a people of God.
Friday, July 16, 2004
What's that? To date I've met only 2 priests who were doctors before they chose to serve God as a pastor. A priest of Opus Dei from Hong Kong (whose name I cannot remember) and the second I met this Thursday evening at a mass and gathering of doctors and friends, which was celebrated at Justina's beautiful home.
Fr Leon Pereira, Dominican or the Order of Preachers.
Fr Leon left S'pore 15 years ago to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor at the Uni of Leeds. He graduated and started working as a house officer. During his years spent in England, he had come into contact with the Dominicans (no, not the Republic of Dominica) at their various retreat houses, and considered himself akin to the spirituality of this particular Catholic order. Soon into his house officer years, he felt the call to become a religious, and after discernment and nudging from his Dominican friends, he said goodbye to his medical life and took the next step toward becoming another kind of healer.
The Order of Preachers, started by St. Dominic, is as its name implies, an order of articulate and intellectual religious. At a time when the Church was facing one of her greatest heresies; and only Bishop of the diocese was the pre-eminent preacher & homilist, St. Dominic felt the need for all priests to be effective and articulate preachers, so that they could address the questions of their people and provide ample rebuttal to the heretics (sounds familiar? heh).
As Fr Leon and his deacon friend shared their lives and thoughts on spirituality, one would not have thought that this same person used to throng the halls of RJC, or attend to patients at the ED. They describe their spirituality as simplicity, just as God is, ironically, so simple that we cannot understand Him.
We had a sumptous spread for dinner and bantered the night away... abt ward work, ward gossip, church, family and corny jokes. There were only 3 med students, Angela, Ian and myself; the doctors present included Chris Lien, Martin Chiu, Edward, Victor, Alfred, Cat, Adrian, Tim, Madeline, & Justina, our host.
