Obituary: Brother Roger of Taize

I just read on MSNBC about the passing of one of the spiritual giants of the 20th century – Brother Roger of Taize. He founded an ecumenical religious community in the east of France out of the ashes of World War II, and it has attracted millions of young people seeking a spiritual connection.

I recalled my own visit to this small village (so small that it did not appear on my road map) in the year 2001. I was at the end of my stay in Switzerland, a period where I spent little time nurturing my spiritual self. When it came time for me to leave, I sought some quiet time to reflect on my own journey.

In this community, I learned, no, I experienced spirituality in the form of silence, simplicity and scripture. It was presented through regular prayers that were marked by simple chants (also known as Taize prayer), short scripture readings (no sermons here) and a period of silence. It was through that Silence that I first felt the Spirit move. It was a spiritual renewal that I had sought for 30 years.

I saw Protestants and Catholics worship together in the thousands (a miracle in itself); we shared a Communion that Jesus prayed for in John 17. Here, in the midst of secular Europe, thousands of young people still gathered to seek God. Here, I found my faith renewed – I now believed that Christian unity was possible and that simplicity was a gift that would help us transcend our worldly trials.

At the centre of this humble monastic community was Brother Roger, who attended the daily prayers often. He was then already a bent old man, but held in great reverence. He continually wrote letters to urge Christians to seek a simpler spirituality that espoused tolerance and prayer. Most of all, he taught us by the example of his community in Taize.

The world will be poorer without his presence.

Funeral of the Pope

Last night, the television channels carried the funeral of Pope John Paul II live from Rome. It was the most highly publicized funeral I’ve ever witnessed. I’m not sure if its because the American media has deemed this to be of such import, or if the whole world has indeed turned its attention, however briefly, to Rome and the ancient rites of the Church.

I now watch the replay, fascinated by the crowds and the devotion of millions. They surround the plain wooden casket which sits in the centre of St Peter’s square, listening in quiet attention to the Requiem Mass. I’m sure the Pope’s tomb under St Peters Basilica will be frequently visited for many years to come.

The Pope’s last testament was read a few days ago. There was mention of him considering stepping down five years ago when Parkinson’s disease took an increasing toll on his physical health. Instead he chose to continue performing his duty and to endure the trials. His battle with infirmity has been his last lesson – how someone can die with dignity. It was as if he sought to live the values laid out in his encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, a silent witness to the immutable value of life.

At that time, I can recall feeling that yes, perhaps he should step down, and allow someone else of more energy assume this responsibility. I was wrong – his final act was an incredible act of courage that spoke much more than mere words. Today I weep for the loss of Pope John Paul II, and praise God for providing the Church in its darkest hour with a leader of incomparable quality.

Requiem – Pope John Paul II

A few minutes ago, the Internet news sites carried the news that Pope John Paul II had passed away. It seemed appropriate that I should mourn the man who came to personify the Church and its teachings to me.

For most of my life, the Pope was a fixture and an institution we never questioned. But as I grew in awareness of the recent history of the church, I realized that Pope John Paul II was an exceptional figure in many ways. When he was elected, many wondered if a non-Italian could serve as Bishop of Rome. But when he took office, he started to redefine the role of a true leader of a global institution.

He travelled widely (never before had any Pope visited so many countries) and was a prolific writer (books, encyclicals and letters). He reached out constantly to the masses, especially the youth.

To me, his legacy would be that he reminded us (the Church) about the meaning of being faithful. He stood firm in the face of controversy and defended Catholic teachings, even when it ran against popular sentiment. He rallied Catholics around the world and taught us what it meant to be true to the traditions that we have inherited. Yes, he was a true Evangelist, in word and in deed.

Wedding Preparations – The Mass

There’s a thousand things to be done for a wedding! When RD and I first decided to marry, it was July last year – it seemed almost yesterday. Now, the Day is a mere four months away.

After the initial rush of excitement, we booked our hotel, church and priest. Then, I sort committed the whole wedding thing to one corner of my mind. But now, I’ve been gently reminded that time is a-ticking, and I have to start planning and getting things done if I expect a half-decent celebration (you can guess who reminded me).

First on my list is the Wedding Mass. We’ve collected numerous examples of wedding masses (in fact, I still have copies of MH/DF and JR/TK’s wedding masses in softcopy) but it doesn’t really help to resolve any inconsitencies between them. For one thing, some of these are Communion services, while others celebrate the full Eucharist (for those uninitiated, you can visit the Catholic Encyclopedia for more information). Well, there are several guides for those who wish to find out more about the preparing the Rite of Marriage:

• The Rite of Marriage is the most comprehensive source about the form and content of a wedding Mass. Invaluable aid – borrow it from your closest priest.
• The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, translated to English by the International Committee on English in the Liturgy, 2002 – an authoritative guide to how to celebrate the Mass.
• The Catholic Wedding Book contains some advice and guidelines for preparing for a Catholic Wedding.

So far, so good – the draft of the wedding mass is complete. We still need to review the music and finer details with our priest, choir and others. Next task: guest lists!

Diverticulum and Cancer

This weekend, I met two persons in need of healing.

The first was RD’s brother-in-law, who underwent surgery to remove portions of his colon which had been afflicted by diverticulum (a sac portruding from an organ) that was chronically infected. It manifested itself some years ago, and most recently struck just before Christmas.

He is now bedridden in hosipital while he recovered from his surgery. The wounds in the abdomen will take about a month to heal and his physician has assured us that the procedure had gone well.

Even then, I pondered that for all the medical advances in the last century, we still rely on the body to heal itself. The surgeons can removed the damaged organ and fight infection with anti-biotics, but there is little they can do to hasten the healing. Submitting oneself to surgery is to put one’s life into somebody else’s care.

The other person was GY’s brother, who ran NAC with her. He was diagnosed a few months back with stomach cancer, and recently had his whole stomach removed. Still, the prognosis doesn’t offer much hope – the cancer is in the third (advanced) stage and has spread through the lymph nodes. And even barely recovering from his surgery, he must now embark on chemotherapy to combat the disease.

Cancer – the most insidious of diseases. The key to recovery is an early detection, but the symptoms are often too subtle to make a firm diagnosis. In our modern society with increased obesity, cancer has now become an important health factor. It will be prudent to learn more about this disease.

Study of Paul’s Letters to the Thessalonians

Today, we (the Harvesters) started a 4-week study of the letters of St Paul to the Thessalonians. This Little Rock session was advertised in church bulletins and through email.

Given that we have just come out of the Christmas and New Years vacations, the organising team was not wholly prepared. We could have made better preparations for this first session if we planned to welcome new people. We shall see how this turns out at the end of the month.

Thessalonians was one of the earliest writings of Paul, circa 50 A.D. It provides a useful insight into the early theology of the church and how it evolved in comparison to the later Pauline writings.

Philanthropy – Giving with a Reason

Philanthropist isn’t a term reserved for tycoons with more money than they (or their extended families) can ever use in their lifetime. In the spirit of Christmas, we are reminded to remember those who are in need.

Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Lk 18:22

Catholics have never cultivated the habit of tithing, which involves setting aside one tenth of one’s income for the church. Still, the concept is useful – to set apart a certain portion of one’s income. It was an exercise that I embarked on several years ago – to set aside a portion of my income for the Church as well as for worthy causes.

This proved to be much harder than I thought. For one thing, to sit down and calculate a percentage of one’s income of the year makes for a pretty huge figure even if the percentages are small. I “forgot” to make my contribution last year – looking back, perhaps it was an unconcious selfish habit that kicked in. Giving requires a concious effort because it’s all too easy to procrastinate.

Secondly, choosing worthy causes to contribute to is not an easy task for someone who wants to make the most of their contribution. Some people just give to any charity that they know about. But yet, there are different causes, some closer to the hear than others. Do I want to promote education, alleviate poverty, save the environment, cure cancer or fight AIDS?

There are so many causes out there and spending some time to learn about the organisation and its principles is often rewarding because you find out where the money goes and what they need. There are scores of small charities who do not have the profile to attract large donors, but nevertheless need the support that their limited reach can provide them. So go ahead, find a charity and support it. It makes giving more meaningful.

For the record, my charities of the year are the Family Life Society and Action for Aids.

Tsunami

The tsunami that swept countries bordering the Indian Ocean is the tragedy of the year. The body count climbs every day as the extent of the damage is uncovered by the efforts of relief teams. The press in Singapore has pages of coverage and hours of news footage as we try to come to terms with a natural disaster that has hit so close to home.

Christmas Penitential Service

Catholic churches all around the world organise penitential services before major feast days. The intent is that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is an essential part of our preparation to celebrate Christmas.

Confession is invariably the most daunting of all sacraments that Catholics are expected to receive on a regular basis. It requires humility and courage to acknowledge one’s shortcomings before a stranger (or even worse, a priest who knows you) . The penitent is asked to examine their own conscience and to be brutally honest about their actions (or lack of). My subconcious kept telling me that attending the penitential service was an unnecessary chore – why, I had already confessed during Easter. Surely that was enough?

Yesterday, Father Van Giang preached that treating confession as a formula reduces it to a meaningless rite. We were taught how to announce our sins and to recite the Act of Contrition, but that wasn’t all. It was not sufficient to make a short list of our sins and to speak of them in general terms (for example, “I was rude”). A proper confession is an act of sincerity and openness.

I’ve found it useful to be as open as possible – sharing specific details and why I felt it was wrong. It required much more effort to overcome the urge to only skim lightly over my errors and hope for a quick absolution. It was a journey into the emotion of guilt and to understand to roots of why I chose to act according to my faith and to learn from my failures.

Ghandi wrote in his autobiography

A clean confession, combined with a promise never to commit the sin again, when offered before one who has the right to receive it, is the purest type of repentance.

His remark has remained with me because I’ve always felt that the principle behind confession was all about self-honesty and that transcended religious boundaries. Even for unbelievers, psychotherapy itself is a form of confession.

The downside to this is that confessions are normally a very time consuming affair. Even with extra priests in attendance it can take several hours to hear the sins of thousands of the faithful. In previous years, one could expect to queue for hours. It was not uncommon to see people rushing to be the first to confess, then to leave the church after that. At the end of the service, only half the congregation remained.

At Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, tonight’s service was organised a little differently. First, they had THREE services – one in the morning and two at night, to help reduce the number participants in each service. Next, all confessions were done standing up – looks like someone found out about Stand Up Meetings – people are less likely to ramble when they are standing. And finally, the doors were locked during the service to discourage people from abandoning the session after their confession. The last is a little controversial – it smacked a little of enforced discipline. But it worked – this was a much better service than any I’ve attended in the past. The penintential service was over in 1 hour 15 minutes.

Oh, and I found out that walking from OLPS to Aquarius takes a total of 42 minutes. There were only two major roads to cross and much of the path took me through quiet HDB estates and Bedok Town Park – a really nice walk.

Harvesters Retreat 2004

This weekend, the Harvesters (a Scripture study group I’ve been attending) had our annual retreat. It was a preparation for Advent as well as a chance to reexamine what we’ve been doing to see how we could “Welcome Christ into Our Lives”. I prepared some reflections, and so did JL and AT. Our spiritual director, Father AY helped organise a couple of sessions and said Mass for us today.

It was a relatively small group at the retreat so we had ample opportunity to share our views. Our last session was perhaps the most important because we spent some time deciding how we could be better Christians by realizing the mission of the Church to evangelise and to reach out to those in need.

Our first resolution stemmed from the realisation that our support structure has not been well organised to welcome the participants. Even though our Little Rock sessions had been well publicised (and well attended), few of the participants remained with us for subsequent sessions. It was a humble admission of our shortcomings, and we decided to prepare this Advent so that our next outreach (in January) will be better organised.

The next resolution was to continue our outreach to all who did not know Christ. For this year’s Christmas party (26 Dec), all members will be asked to invite a friend, especially one who is not a Christian or has not been active in Church. This will give us a chance to reclaim the true meaning of Christmas and to share its meaning to those who may not experienced Christ.

Our last resolution was to serve those in physical need: our Christmas party this year will not have a gift exchange. Instead we will encourage everyone to contribute towards a charity – over the next two weeks, we will select a charity that the group can identify with, and to introduce this charity to everyone so that we can support them on a regular basis (through monetary or other means).

My, that’s a lot of resolve for this Advent season!

Preparing for Advent

Today’s Gospel reading was Luke 21:5-19, where Jesus foretold the destruction of the Temple. I attended Mass at the Cathedral, and Fr Adrian Anthony explained how the readings following up to the feast of Corpus Christi (the end of the Church Calendar) focus on the passing of this world. This Sunday’s reading was especially relevant because it is a stark reminder that our works are temporal in nature and will pass away no matter how grand or beautiful.

The priest shared about receiving donations made from the belongings of those who have passed away – some of these belongings include gifts that have not yet been opened! Is there anything in my own life that I’m clinging on to? I certainly don’t want to be holding on to things I don’t need.

My material possessions are accumulating, especially since I moved into Aquarius. Its been a while since I cleared out my belongings – the last time was last year when I cleared out my room before my parents moved from Yishun. I’m certain that another sweep is due and Advent is a good time to embark on this exercise. Perhaps its also a good precursor to the Wedding too.

My digital collection has been growing too – photos, music, videos. If anything, I’m guilty of archiving almost everything. Emails from my first job at MG, softcopy of my undergraduate thesis, Emacs scripts dating to 1995 – they are all preserved in magnetic media. I haven’t rationalized any need to clear them yet, but I feel that I’m starting to define myself more and more in terms of the work that I’ve done. Yes, that includes this journal.

Its been a while since I’ve attended a memorable Mass – its good that this Sunday’s sermon has pricked my conscience.