Acts 1 to 5

As I mentioned in my previous post, apart from giving up some things this Lent, I was also taking up the “40acts challenge” to do Lent generously…

Well, we’re on Act#10 right now, and let me tell you – it IS quite a challenge!

I don’t know about you, let’s see how I managed with the first 5 acts…

(In red was what the challenge said to do and in blue was what crossed my mind when I read it…followed by what I actually did do)

act #1: create a giving jar

Consider setting aside a jam jar, and filling it with the money you would otherwise have spent on the things you’re giving up for Lent. At the end of Lent, give the jar to a cause of your choice.

Simple enough. I’ll just get one of those Lenten boxes the Church always gives during Lent & return it to the church before Easter. Except this time, I’m actually gonna have to put some money inside…urm, ok, I’ve accepted the challenge so consider it done!

What I actually did do:

I’m giving up meat & social networks for Lent, but the latter doesn’t use money, per se, and the former is replaced by a non-meat alternative so there isn’t any savings there really…so I decided I’ll just put whatever money saved from declining to stuff I would normally have done instead…and so I declined a movie invite – but that was replaced with grabbing some drinks so in the end, still no savings.

Thus, so far, I’ve only been able to put in RM5 – from the drinks I almost had with a friend in Miri (and this one also was because it was the only RM I had left and I didn’t think RM5 was enough for drinks and thus I declined…)

-.-”

Oh wells. I shall be more determined this coming week!

Verdict: DONE, but could do better!

act #2: cross a social divide

When was the last time you reached out to someone of a different ethnicity, religion, social class or age-group to you? Break down barriers and cross a social divide today. Reach out in friendship to somebody from a different background.

Ok..this is a challenge. Hurm…who?

What I actually did do:

So I didn’t very grandly do this act I must admit…but I did smile more to people and made small talk with some (which is normally not the norm) – so, done?

Verdict: DONE, but could do be more specific!

act #3: share your skills

Spend an afternoon teaching your nephew to knit, or hanging pictures on the walls for your neighbour. Relish the chance to be truly helpful (and, as a particularly fun side-effect, to feel like a know-it-all for a few hours)

Somehow, I think I’ve been doing this for a while now? Albeit not consciously…and not for this Lent…but does that count?

What I actually did do:

I have (to some extent) been serving in Youth Ministry in Church/Groups for a couple of years now but in the context of it being a challenge for Lent, then I take this as an act to be done this Lent, so then that means I haven’t done this yet. Lent just started last week and to be honest, I’ve been sick for the most of it (and still am…) so what are my skills apart from singing (which I currently can’t share as I am voiceless due to this bad cough I’m having)? So, no, not done yet. Hopefully, before the end of Lent, I am back to tip-top condition & am able to…

Verdict: NOT done

act #4: grab a cuppa

Consider taking your tea break with a difference today. Seize the moment and this weekend, “invite some people who never get invited out (for a coffee or to your house for dinner), the misfits from the wrong side of (your) tracks.” Luke 14:13 If they don’t mind, sit with them and have tea together. Instead of ‘tea and sympathy’, try ‘tea and company’. 

Ok…who?

What I actually did do:

Nothing yet to be honest. I didn’t know who qualified as “being on the wrong side of my tracks”…hhhmmm…let me mull over this some more.

Verdict: NOT done

act #5: buy fairtrade

Meaning you can buy the things you love knowing that you’re helping to alleviate poverty, protect the environment and empower communities. Now that tastes good. Why not ensure that you buy one more Fairtrade item in your next shopping basket?

Fairtrade? What’s that??

What I actually did do:

I googled up the word and discovered that it basically meant goods that are sold at a slightly higher price because they help the commuties that make them (instead of getting the rewards due to them from all their hard labour going to middlemen with the “take it or leave it” deals)…I am not sure but in this region, I don’t think we have fairtrade…so I modified this act to mean “buy local goods” instead.

That said, I haven’t done that either cos I haven’t gone shopping yet…

Verdict: NOT done

So there you have it, 2 out of 5 done and not done to the best of my abilities so I am still gonna try and get them up to par before Lent ends. Please pray for me…

Acts 6 to 10 will be published tomorrow so stay tuned!

But in the meantime, if you’re doing 40acts as well, please do share!

40 days, 40 reflections, 40 simple acts…

HAVE A BLESSED LENT!

 

Lent: The Journey Begins!

Lent is here.

It began yesterday with Ash Wednesday and after a the day of fasting and abstinence, it was nice to “break fast” together with Bishop & the VYAs  with soup (mushroom/pumpkin) & bread after Mass…and a bit of Taize practice afterwards as well!

And so began these 40 grace-filled days…

What are you giving up (meat, coffee, TV, etc) or, taking up (go to daily mass, daily rosary, etc) for Lent?

To be honest, I never actually really did much for Lent years ago (beyond the “standard prescription” of attending Stations of the Cross, abstaining from meat on Fridays etc etc) but 3 years ago I decided I’d start taking Lent more seriously, as should be the case if I may add.

So I decided to give up meat, NOT just on Fridays but for ALL 40 days! The first 2 weeks I think was bearable then but as the 3rd week started I was having cravings. Then, just a few more days till I reached the 40th day, I failed to temptation…

I NEVER felt SO bad about eating a piece of chicken before…It felt SO bad, I actually included it in my confession! :O

And so, I resolved I’d give up meat again the following year and was determined to go all the way this time. AND I DID! The “suffering” of my 40 (meatless) days helped me reflect more on how much MORE Christ suffered – to the point of death! What is giving up meat in comparison to Christ dying on the cross for our sins?!

Similarly, when Easter came & I had my first minuscule piece of pork in my kolo mee after 40 days, it truly felt like a celebration! If just that was able to stir such feelings within me, what even more reason is there to CELEBRATE & REJOICE on Easter morn but that Christ rose from the dead and in effect, gave us everlasting life?!

Last year, I gave up meat again but this time I decided to give up something else as well - social networks. Or more specifically, Facebook and Twitter. Verdict: Similar with the first Lent when I gave up meat. For the first few weeks I was SO tempted to just “sign in & see what’s happening”, but knowing how disappointed I was with myself when I succumbed to that delicious hotel-cooked piece of chicken the first year, I was determined NOT to falter.

And I survived!

40 whole days without social netwroks. It IS possible, inspite of the myth that one would “die” if they didn’t log in for a day. I mean, HELLO, social networks only came about in the last decade! And you know what? Because all social networks are somehow connected, I also gave up Foursquare too.

Yeah…I lost a number of Mayorships, but I didn’t care. Nothing trumped the fact I successfully said NO to social networks - on the first try too!

So THIS year, I decided I would still give up meat & social networks but I also wanted to take up something too…I just wasn’t sure what. I was mulling over 2 possibilities:

1) To go to daily mass EVERYDAY for the whole of Lent

2) To go to ALL the Stations of the Cross during Lent (I never really kept track before but I think over the years, I have missed a few…)

And then I found this:

It’s a campaign called “40acts” and what it does is that it will encourage us to do Lent generously…please have a look and if you would like to participate, just sign up on the website: http://www.40acts.org.uk/

By signing up, you’ll receive 40acts emails from 22/2 (yesterday) until 5/4 -these are reflections from guest contributors like Nicky Gumbel, Rob Parsons,etc and ideas and inspirations to keep your challenge going, and a featured act for you to try that day. And don’t worry that you just read about this now, you can still do those “acts” that you “missed”! (Pls just see the website for more details.)

Lent is all about Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving…and this website seemed to give “practical” daily tips & suggested “acts” to do all that! So, I signed up.

Therefore, I shall be updating this blog more frequently (hopefully) during this Lenten Season to reflect on all the “acts”. So, until then, I hope you too will join me (and hundreds of others all over the world) on this 40acts journey!

40 days, 40 reflections, 40 simple acts…

HAVE A BLESSED LENT!

 

Calm Storm: The Aftermath

The Storm hit on 18th February 2012.

The Storm’s name was Life Nite.

It was a Vicariate Youth Event and approx 200 youths gathered together for a night of Praise & Worship and followed by Adoration…

These were the songs we used for the Praise & Worship:

Everlasting God & Blessed Be Your Name

Heart of Worship Here I am

And the outcome?

Friends tell me I did good…

But as for me, I hope at least some people were led into worship…

In the meantime, I STILL shiver at the thought of leading worship…eventhough it’s happened already.

GOD, please be with me…

If it is YOUR will, let it be done…but please help me as I learn to lead others to worship You.

Amen.

 

Calm Storm

There is a known saying (or idiom, if you like) : “The Calm Before The Storm”

It technically implies what it literally means – BEFORE a Storm hits, there is a Calm

Similarly, there is a sense of quiet/peace/tranquility BEFORE a time of busyness/stress etc…

But with what I’m feeling now, it’s more like I am in the middle of the Storm, except there are moments of Calm, as if, I ushered the storm into a closet and closed the doors…

But the door can only hold so long…

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such feeling with such intensity in the past 20 odd years of my life…

…and to think all the mixed feelings of delight and dread, excitement and fear, joy and sorrow happened when I said I’d “try” to do something that deep inside me I’ve always wanted to do, which is, to lead worship…

That was 2 weeks ago…

Now, as the day approaches rapidly - so rapidly the hours have blurred together - I am experiencing this Calm Storm; one moment excited, the other shivering in sheer panic. I think I might just have a Panic Attack! =/

There’s a difference between WANTING to do something and actually DOING it…

I have always WANTED to lead worship, but I have never DONE it before…

And now that I’m actually going to DO it, part of me is questioning if I really WANT to…

Even more important…if I CAN do it…

This will be the first time I’m going to lead worship, so it’s logical that I’m nervous…but to THIS level?

That can only be due to the major factor that:-

I

will LEAD worship

in front of

a CROWD OF 200 people!!!

=O

Talk about being thrown into the deep end of the pool!

Seriously GOD, I have no idea what I’m doing…YOUR will be done tomorrow evening…

 

Halfway through Christmas…

In our office, we have this culture of playing the “season’s tunes”...ie. when it’s a festive season, we would play songs of that festivity so since about 2 weeks into December, we’ve been playing Christmas songs =D

However, when I got back to work on the 27th, I overheard a colleague saying: “You can stop playing Christmas songs now” or rather, “You can start playing (another festivity coming up in January) songs now”.

I was like HELLO! It’s only the 2nd day of Christmas! We still have 10 days left!

A Catholic would (should) know that the official Christmas season starts on Christmas Day and ends twelve days later on the Feast of the Epiphany…thus the song “12 Days of Christmas”…but did you know that that song wasn’t just to remind us that the season is 12 days long? No. Rather, I just found out that “The 12 Days of Christmas is a catechism song that was originally meant to teach the faith to children!” - I’ve Jeff Cavins to thank for sharing this very interesting fact! =D

However, I did stumble across the meaning of the 12 “things” given on the 12 days of Christmas some Christmasses ago, which I’d forgotten until I read it again…but let’s see if you ever thought of them. =)

In summary (for further explanations please visit  Jeff Cavins on his website) they are:

Partridge in a Pear tree: Jesus Christ.

Two Turtle Doves: Jesus’ natures & the Testaments.

Three French Hens: the Trinity/Faith, Hope and Charity.

Four Calling Birds: the Gospels

Five Golden Rings: are the first five books of the Bible

Six Geese a Laying: Six days of creation

Seven Swans a Swimming: the Seven Sacraments/gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Eight Maids a Milking: the Beatitudes

Nine Drummers Drumming: fruits of the Holy Spirit

Ten Ladies Dancing: the Ten Commandments

Eleven Pipers Piping: the eleven Apostles (excl. Judas)

The Twelve Lords a Leaping: the twelve basic beliefs of the Catholic Church

WOW! Kudos to the guy who came up with the song!

For most of my life, I never put a second thought into it, but now I know better – and so do you! =D

So, BLESSED CHRISTMAS EVERYONE & HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012!

 

Farewell Old Translation

Today is Christ The King.

That means it’s the end of this Liturical Year.

Next Sunday will be the 1st Sunday of Advent, the start of the new Liturgical Year.

But this time, it will be more than just any start of any new year. Come next Sunday, 27th November, we will start using the New Translation of the Roman Missal.

Which means today was the LAST Sunday we will be celebrating Mass as we have celebrated it since 1973 – for me personally, the way I celebrated Mass since Day 1! I don’t know about you, but I’m kinda melancholic…

BUT I am excited for the New Translation! =)

And the responsorial psalm today was Psalm 23, one of my fave psalms – The Good Shepherd. And a little girl when asked to recite it hits it on the spot!

“The Lord is my shepherd, that’s all I (need to) know.”

Have a Blessed Week all & see you next (liturgical) year! =)

 

New Translation, I’m ready! =)

Only a little over a week before we start using the New Translation of the Roman Missal. Too bad I don’t have a copy of the new missal yet…anyone know where I can get one?

Anyhow, I bet some people will find it more difficult than others to accept the change!

As for me, I’m excited to be in the times of change.

The New Translation will greatly increase our understanding & appreciation of Mass…how can one not be excited?!

Also, this November 27th, 2011 will be written down in history and I can tell my (future) children & grandchildren that I was there when it happened. =)

 

Handover Meeting

Last night we had our handover meeting ie. for the outgoing committee to “hand over” their roles & duties over to us…

As a normal member, I never realised the amount of effort the committee needed to put in…

I’m starting to sense what my roles are now though we’ll need a proper committee meeting soon to clarify some stuff.

Hopefully, it won’t be too overwhelming. LOL.

God, use me for your glory!

 

When God calls…

Last night was a very interesting night for me personally…

We had our Vicariate Young Adults’ Election for the VYA Committee 2011/2012…

We were only supposed to vote for 3 people and pick the Top 4 to hold the 4 Executive Positions: Chairperson, ViceChair, Secretary & Treasurer…

When the votes were counted though, there was a tie between 2 people for to make the Top 4…

One of them was me.

However, no amount of re-voting between the 2 of us could break the tie, so we were almost made to do the whole “rock-paper-scissors” thingy in a round of “sudden death”…but I guess when He calls, HE CALLS!

In the end, there is now 5 people in the Executive Committee, with another Secretary position made…

So yes…from here on marks my journey as Secretary in the VYA…

Lord, please guide me in this new calling to serve You more. Amen!

 

For there was no room for them at the inn…

Looking back, it was foolish of us to hope against hope…but by God’s providence and the help of God-sent friends, did everything work out…though not quite how we would have liked it but at least better than what might have been the case…

Home is where the heart is…and the family’s heart is still in Seria…which is why, crazy and illogical as it is, they’re insisting that we celebrate Christmas Eve (mass is at 11.30pm!) and Christmas Day (mass is at 9am!) there. By the time we return on the wee hours of Christmas Day, we’ll have to go back again…Home-less for Christmas… :S

And the family is not even complete – 1 bro is still in Seria, staying with friends, absolutely unliking the idea of staying here in Bandar. :/ In consolation, at least we’re all still in the same country and although far, it is still reachable…Praise the Lord for sending me to work here 2 years ago…

And I thank God that inspite of this trying time, at least we still have a roof over our heads…

A HOMELESS CHRISTMAS
Where do you hang your stocking
in your little cardboard home
which you have insulated
with some discarded foam?

Even if you had a chance
and it was given you for free
where underneath your bridge
would you put your Christmas tree?

How does it feel to hold your
“will work for food” sign
as most people drive by
to go home where they dine?

Do you wonder at the people
and think it is so odd
they ignore your desperation
while arguing about God?

Do you know you’re like Jesus
and he was just like you?
There is no room in the inn
so he was homeless too.

- Larry R. Linville

Come to think of it, this might be the closest feeling to Christmas the family would ever experience – very close to feeling what Joseph and Mary must have felt, that first Christmas, when there is no room for them at any Inn…