Thursday, August 12, 2004
After potluck bible quiz! Hungry for the Word!
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Hard at work preparing sausage cocktails for potluck quiz!
GII Rocks!
We the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people...
1pm-5pm: ZZzzz
5pm-11pm: Parkway BK, Gen's place to watch Singapore Idol
Went to BK to study a bit before the rest came for dinner, Marilyn, Marissa and Matthias were already there. So I studied till 6.30pm when the rest of them turned up. Elden started asking for advice on slimming, while munching on the 2nd of his burger bonanza. LOL! Priscilla started speaking in Western-accented Mandarin, to the mirth of Dione the Higher Chinese Queen and the rest of us. And so we talked in Mandarin about how to lose Elden's weight all the way to Gen's place.
1pm-5pm: ZZzzz
5pm-11pm: Parkway BK, Gen's place to watch Singapore Idol
Went to BK to study a bit before the rest came for dinner, Marilyn, Marissa and Matthias were already there. So I studied till 6.30pm when the rest of them turned up. Elden started asking for advice on slimming, while munching on the 2nd of his burger bonanza. LOL! Priscilla started speaking in Western-accented Mandarin, to the mirth of Dione the Higher Chinese Queen and the rest of us. And so we talked in Mandarin about how to lose Elden's weight all the way to Gen's place.
As you can see, I like to name all the people present at events so here goes the list of those at Gen's place:
Daphne, Darren, Dione, Elden, Gen herself, Jared, Joanna, Jonathan, Kelvin, Marilyn, Marissa, Matthias, Michaela, Noel, Priscilla, Samantha, Sandrine.
We reached Gen's place just in time to watch the fireworks from the NDP. And since Gen lives on the 23rd storey and her block has an almost perfect view of the national stadium... we saw all the fireworks, even their launching points! It was amazing, breathtaking, awe-inspiring.... the best I've seen ever. To our joy, the fireworks came on again after a few minutes. The 3 min tribute to PM Goh was touching... Thank you Heavenly Father for the gift of such a great leader.
As we approached the most anticipated moment of the nite - Singapore Idol, we got ourselves ready and comfortable, chips and drinks in hand. This 1st episode showed a dearth of good singers, and was basically a lambasting, laughter-driven episode. We all gasped when we saw Alastair, and how he was totally put down by all the judges for forgetting his lyrics. Besides him, Joy and Shaun had also taken part, both faltering in the 2nd round.
We have 2 Singaporean versions of William Hung so far!! LOL! And in the next episode, they'll reveal to us the Banana man! absolutely hilarious!!! Christopher Michael Lee, one of the main cantors for the Eucharistic Congress and Aileen's son, put on a fine performance and got through, so go Catholics! We rock!
We stayed on to watch another hilarious episode of Friends... the one where Joey "masters" French!
And so ended another wonderful day....
So as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation!
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
One People, One Nation, One Singapore
National Day 09 August 2004
9.30am-1pm: Milestone Anniversary Mass & Lunch
Woke up late! And came late for combined choir practice. But practice under the conductorship of Damian was fun... and when we all stood up to practice the National Anthem, the rest of the congregation who were there early stood up with us to sing too! How sporting! Only later did we inform that the we were merely practising.
41 couples were present with their families and friends to celebrate their anniversaries, the oldest being the Deskers who have been married for 60 years!!! Fr AJ was the main celebrant with the other 3 priests of Holy Family. The theme of the mass was "Love Shines Through" and his homily was interesting, and peppered with many "couple" jokes.
Eg a couple was asked on the secret to a successful relationship after so many years. "Its very simple," said the husband. "We go twice a week to a cozy restaurant, with good food, ambience, and soothing music to relax the senses... She goes on monday, I go on friday."
The mass and celebration of love continued flawlessly =) It's always great to be part of a combined choir (this time we were 50 strong)... ubi caritas, shine jesus shine, the testimonies, national anthem, and a bubbly upbeat conductor-cum-animator called Damian.
After mass, Shannon, Matthias, Joanna, Samantha, Duane and myself went upstairs for our free lunch! Noel and June left early.
National Day 09 August 2004
9.30am-1pm: Milestone Anniversary Mass & Lunch
Woke up late! And came late for combined choir practice. But practice under the conductorship of Damian was fun... and when we all stood up to practice the National Anthem, the rest of the congregation who were there early stood up with us to sing too! How sporting! Only later did we inform that the we were merely practising.
41 couples were present with their families and friends to celebrate their anniversaries, the oldest being the Deskers who have been married for 60 years!!! Fr AJ was the main celebrant with the other 3 priests of Holy Family. The theme of the mass was "Love Shines Through" and his homily was interesting, and peppered with many "couple" jokes.
Eg a couple was asked on the secret to a successful relationship after so many years. "Its very simple," said the husband. "We go twice a week to a cozy restaurant, with good food, ambience, and soothing music to relax the senses... She goes on monday, I go on friday."
The mass and celebration of love continued flawlessly =) It's always great to be part of a combined choir (this time we were 50 strong)... ubi caritas, shine jesus shine, the testimonies, national anthem, and a bubbly upbeat conductor-cum-animator called Damian.
After mass, Shannon, Matthias, Joanna, Samantha, Duane and myself went upstairs for our free lunch! Noel and June left early.
Saturday, August 07, 2004
My Spirit Soars on the Wings of My Lord
All that I am sings of the God who brings new life to birth in me
My spirit soars on the wings of my Lord
The previous entry was the responsorial psalm that I cantored for mass this weekend.
I thank God for guiding me through His psalm for His people. The congregation responded well with the response, and I couldn't help but smile back as I heard them. Some things to take note of in future:
- try not to eat spicy food on fri nite or on sat (haha - excluding Thai express omelette)
- not to put mouth directly into mike
and/or - work esp on words starting with 'p' - bring the sound back, not directly forward
- confidently proclaim the Word of God
- support!
My dad said I looked the most reverent going up the altar with my palms together, while my mum said that it looked Buddhist (!?)
The gospel acclamation was amazing... it was as if someone else had taken over and muttered to Himself : "I'll show them how to do it!" haha, thank you again dearest Father, and thank you to Genevieve for a wonderful psalm and to Jonathan for a wonderful alleluia.
The rest of mass was as beautiful as the previous weeks =), with Jonathan leading the Gloria and Cheryl doing the 1st verse solo for The Lord is My Light. First time hearing the Gloria without singing into the mike, and it was grand. Fr Pat's homily about being busy doing our work for Christ struck a chord with many of us, and also prepared many of us for the retreat the next day.
We're gonna sing David Haas' The Magnificat (which Shannon calls the magnificecat heh - its a magnificent song too!) and the Salve Regina, and Holy is His Name for Assumption of Mary next Sat... can't wait! Vocal chords all itchy already!
All that I am sings of the God who brings new life to birth in me
My spirit soars on the wings of my Lord
The previous entry was the responsorial psalm that I cantored for mass this weekend.
I thank God for guiding me through His psalm for His people. The congregation responded well with the response, and I couldn't help but smile back as I heard them. Some things to take note of in future:
- try not to eat spicy food on fri nite or on sat (haha - excluding Thai express omelette)
- not to put mouth directly into mike
and/or - work esp on words starting with 'p' - bring the sound back, not directly forward
- confidently proclaim the Word of God
- support!
My dad said I looked the most reverent going up the altar with my palms together, while my mum said that it looked Buddhist (!?)
The gospel acclamation was amazing... it was as if someone else had taken over and muttered to Himself : "I'll show them how to do it!" haha, thank you again dearest Father, and thank you to Genevieve for a wonderful psalm and to Jonathan for a wonderful alleluia.
The rest of mass was as beautiful as the previous weeks =), with Jonathan leading the Gloria and Cheryl doing the 1st verse solo for The Lord is My Light. First time hearing the Gloria without singing into the mike, and it was grand. Fr Pat's homily about being busy doing our work for Christ struck a chord with many of us, and also prepared many of us for the retreat the next day.
We're gonna sing David Haas' The Magnificat (which Shannon calls the magnificecat heh - its a magnificent song too!) and the Salve Regina, and Holy is His Name for Assumption of Mary next Sat... can't wait! Vocal chords all itchy already!
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Happy are the people the Lord has chosen as His own
Ring out your joy to the Lord O you just
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts
they are happy, whose God is the Lord
the people He has chosen as His own
The Lord looks on those who revere Him
on those who hope in His love
to rescue their souls from death
to keep them alive in famine
Our soul is waiting for the Lord
the Lord is our help and our shield
may Your love be upon us, O Lord
as we place all our hope in You
Blessed are you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children
Ring out your joy to the Lord O you just
for praise is fitting for loyal hearts
they are happy, whose God is the Lord
the people He has chosen as His own
The Lord looks on those who revere Him
on those who hope in His love
to rescue their souls from death
to keep them alive in famine
Our soul is waiting for the Lord
the Lord is our help and our shield
may Your love be upon us, O Lord
as we place all our hope in You
Blessed are you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Basic Information Before Leaving Earth
- Fr Erbin's final mass & potluck bible quiz - 31 July 04
How lovely on the mountains are the feet of Him
Who brings good news, good news!
Announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness
Our God reigns! Our God reigns!
How lovely on the mountains are the feet of Him
Who brings good news, good news!
Announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness
Our God reigns! Our God reigns!
What an exciting day it was yesterday...
1)was supposed to go the Tan Tock Seng to join in some additional short case tutorial - Didn't go
2)was supposed to practice some tennis at 11am at Ocean Park - rained out
So I just slept in and woke up in time for lunch and some studying. At 3.45pm, Jon Lim and Jeremy Chia came 45 mins late to prepare our sausage cocktails for the potluck, and we ended off by testing our knee jerks with the tendon tappers haha.... Jon is super hyperreflexic! Haha...
We then took a cab down and reached the choir room at 4.40pm (Sorry Gen!). Poor Gen was soooo flustered... understandably so since all of us who were supposed to be there at 4.30pm for our pre-pre-mass-prac-reflection were late! Practice turned out to be super hectic, with Fr Erbin coming in to practice the Kyrie and the Gloria with us for mass later. Should have seen Fr Erb's face after he sang the gloria for the 1st time.... he totally ran out of breath, so we told him to sing it fast and brightly. And our beloved soprano section was reduced to 2 singers (which miraculously ballooned to 7 at the start of mass).
Mass!
We taught the congregation the kyrie and psalm before mass. Melvin gladly told the congregation to imagine him as the priest and respond to him for the kyrie (something which Fr Erb used during his homily to hint to Mel and other young men, that they might wanna consider the priesthood as their vocation hehe).
Fr Erb dedicated his homily and mass to Fr Pierre Barthoulot & for vocations. He shared about his close relationship with Fr Barthoulot as an altar server at IHM (thru' confession of course!), and how Fr Bartholout changed him and inspired him to become a priest. The incident of note was during one confession, after countless others; when a 14-yr old Fr Erb asked Fr Barthoulot why he continued to believe in him and forgive him. Fr Barthoulot said that he was there to give the mercy of God, and at that moment Fr Barthoulot became Christ for him, a sinner. Fr Erbs then exhorted us to always go back to God no matter how much we've sinned and how sinful we think we are. Our crosses may be hard to bear, but combined with Jesus and His greater cross, we can fight the good fight, and run the race. Fr Erbs also called on parents to facilitate the development of their children's spiritual life... that they shouldnt be the ones hindering potential vocations.
The rest of mass was beautiful and overwhelming. Behold the Lamb, Blest are they, Open my eyes, Our God reigns... a masterful selection by Gen =)
Potluck Quiz!
After mass, we prayed as a choir, led by Joanna.
We then promptly proceeded to 3 Sea Ave to spread out our buffet of buffets. And a what a beautiful and grand spread it was! We had an opening prayer, and when Fr Erbs came we said grace and began the feast! Fr Pat also made a nice pop-by to taste the food and meet us. Coincidentally, the youth council was also having a potluck meal at the RCIA room, their Bottom's Up! Follow Up! Go Holy Fam Youth!
At 8.15pm the LeaderSheep - Our Organisers - June, Andrea, Duane, Joanna, Jeremy Oh, Alvin Sr, began the bible quiz; we had already been divided into groups and created our own grp names -
#1 - Marilyn, Adrian Lim, Marcus, Samantha, Anthony Foo, Jasmine
Poh Choo Pills - Daphne, Gen, Jonathan Chia, Justin, Noel, Darryl
Dumpty - Sandrine, Brandon, Cheryl, Dione, Jonathan Lim
The Bold & the Beautiful - Melvin, Priscilla, Gerard, Jeremy Chia, Dominic Setiawan, Jared
5-Star Kitchen Lice - Marissa, Melina, Darren, Elden, Shannon, Alex, Alvin Jr
The 4 catergories were Old Testament, Gospels, Catholic Church Traditions & GII History. After the 1st 3 rounds of grp questions (plus many steals from other groups), we had the speed rounds.... fastest raiser first! We answered questions on the
#1 - Marilyn, Adrian Lim, Marcus, Samantha, Anthony Foo, Jasmine
Poh Choo Pills - Daphne, Gen, Jonathan Chia, Justin, Noel, Darryl
Dumpty - Sandrine, Brandon, Cheryl, Dione, Jonathan Lim
The Bold & the Beautiful - Melvin, Priscilla, Gerard, Jeremy Chia, Dominic Setiawan, Jared
5-Star Kitchen Lice - Marissa, Melina, Darren, Elden, Shannon, Alex, Alvin Jr
The 4 catergories were Old Testament, Gospels, Catholic Church Traditions & GII History. After the 1st 3 rounds of grp questions (plus many steals from other groups), we had the speed rounds.... fastest raiser first! We answered questions on the
1) OT abt Moses, Kings Saul, David & Solomon, Job, Joseph, Samson, Psalms
2) Gospels abt Zacchaeus, the sending of the 72, the Transfiguration
3) Church abt Divine Office, pre-mass fast, Franciscans, Dominicans & Carmelites, respect for the Tabernacle & the Altar
4) history of GII - founders, 18th anniv, website details haha and many many more!
Since this was an open book quiz, some teams prepared notes and brought old GII chronicles, to gain an edge.
We were laughing and enjoying ourselves so much, it felt so much at home. There were many quotable quotes and hilarious jokes. Some examples:
1) Mel's answers to "what have we learned?" = "we lose; the first shall be last, the last shall be first!"
2) Team #1 was led by Poh Choo, but Team Poh Choo Pills was not!?
3) Speed responses: Qtn: Who wrote the book of psalms?
- Gen:"King David"
- Marcus:"But it wasn't entirely written by King David"
- Elden:"Then who else? Must be David Haas!"
NB: Don't ask me why, but we just all laughed in unison after that.
4) Elden to Jeremy Oh:"You're the best, you da marshmallow man!"
Jeremy:"Yes!" (pause) "No!"
Team #1 won (how aptly named!), but since they answered the bonus question too, they were tasked to clean up the food with the losing team (the bOld & the Beautiful) LOL!!!
We ended off a wonderful night under the stars and under the fireworks of the NDP preview with Jeremy's exhortation & prayer:
"For us the bible is not very impoprtant in our lives, due to the fast pace and hectic lfestyle. BIBLE simply means "basic information before leaving earth". It is the guidebook to heaven. God gave us the freedom to choose, so he gave us the ten commandments so we can choose to live the way he wants us to. Thus this guidebook is giving us the freedom to choose our path, which is to choose whether we want to go to heaven. Sometimes the bible can be meaningful, and in this quiz u saw the cool side of the bible and also each one holds a very important lesson for each and everyone of us. We need the bible in our lives, to be better christians and to lead a life that GOD taught us to."
Amen Jeremy! Amen!
