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A PA K ISTA N I C H IL D eats a meal provided by the Edhi C haritable F oundation sh elter in K arachi, P akistan, on U niversal C hildren’s Day. On Nov. 20, 1959, the U nited Nations instituted Universal Children’s Day to call attention to the w elfare o f children w orldw ide. There is more than enough food to feed everyone, but UNICEF says 150 m illion children in developing countries are malnourished. □ c n s p h o t o
W h y B B C w a s w ro n g BONO
o f the Irish rock group U2 dances w ith a young w om an , orphaned because o f A ID S, at the C enter for D isease C ontrol in K am pala, U ganda. H e has been sp eak ing out and can vassing public officials frequently to raise aw areness o f T hird W orld debt and the need for A ID S treatm ent. T he church says that publicity, sexual ab stinence and m arital fidelity are the best preventions against A ID S. Science and em pirical evidence support this. ■ c n s f i l e p h o t o
Prepare for Christmas with the Beatitudes TH IS silhouette im age depicts St. Joseph with the expectant Virgin THE M EEK
Mary. T he season o f A dvent b egin s Nov. 3 0 this year. It is a joyfu l period that prepares for the com m em oration o f the Incarnation and anticipates Christ's secon d com in g at the end o f tim e. We can prepare ou rselves during
THE POOR IN SP IR IT
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this period by reflecting on and living the Beatitudes. - page 10
P E N I T E N T I A L S E R V IC E S DATES. TIM ES AND PLACES ON PAGE 18
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By Stephen Steele WASHINGTON - About 842 m illion people worldwide are undernourished, with the number o f chronically hungry people growing at a rate o f nearly 5 m illion a year, according to a report by the U .N . Food and Agriculture Organization. The report, released Nov. 25, said the fight against world hunger was being lost. “FAO’s latest estimates signal a setback in the war against hunger,” the report said. Data com piled from 19951997 and from 1999-2001 showed an increase o f 18 million undernourished people, wiping out decreases attained in the early 1990s. The report said there were 798 million undernourished people in developing nations, with the number o f hungry continuing to rise in sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and the Middle East. The U.N. agency called for an international alliance against hunger.
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participation and to contribute to econom ic and societal developm ent.” The report revealed that 19 countries reduced the number o f hungry people by 80 million by 2001, but those gains were being pressured by econom ic and societal factors, such as a rise in AIDS in poor countries and international agricultural trade tariffs that favor rich countries over poor countries. “If w e already know the basic parameters o f what needs to be done, why have w e allowed m illions o f people to go hungry in a world that produces more than enough food for every woman, man and child?” the report asked. The report also said that while drought and other natural disasters remained the most com m on cause o f food shortages, “an increasing proportion were man-made.” Conflict and econom ic problems were cited as the main cause o f more than 35 percent o f food emergencies from 1992 to 2003, the report said. □ c n s
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The appeal, FAO said, was “based not on a plea for charity but on a demand for justice and an appeal to the self-interest o f almost everyone, recognizing that the suffering o f almost 800 m illion hungry people represents not only an unconscionable tragedy but a threat to econom ic growth and political stability on a global scale.” The report cited a variety o f environmental, econom ic and political factors for the increase in world hunger. “Bluntly stated, the problem is not so much a lack o f food as a lack o f political w ill,” it said. “The vast majority o f the w orld’s hungry people live in rural areas o f the developing world, far from the levers o f power and beyond the range o f vision o f the m edia and the public in developed countries,” it said. It said the “lack o f adequate food threatens people’s very existence and cripples their ability both to benefit from opportunities for education, employment and political
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F IG H T C O R R U P T IO N Pope tells bishops that the Philippines church must fight corruption By Cindy Wooden
POPE John Paul II listens to the cheers o f pilgrims attending his w eekly general audience at the Vatican Nov. 19. He attended a concert at the Vatican Nov. 22 on the feast o f St. Cecilia, traditionally honoured as the patron saint o f m usical performers.
M a r k e ts n eed govern m en t UNITED NATIONS - Relying on a market-based economy will benefit developing countries, but “markets by themselves do not solve every social problem,” the Vatican nuncio to the United Nations said in N ew York Nov. 5. Archbishop Celestino M igliore said that governments, w hile respecting the principle o f subsidiarity, may need to play an important role in the econom y to deal with problems such as poverty and unemployment. “The relationship between government and markets should be view ed as complementary rather than competitive or even antagonistic,” he said. Addressing a committee of the U .N . General Assem bly reviewing trade and development issues, the nuncio said “removal o f artificial restraints” could produce econom ic growth, but might also bring “social distortions.” Those distortions, particularly in less developed countries, may “require government measures” to alleviate the suffering o f the poor, and “international trade rules should not hinder the ability o f governments to adopt such measures,” he said. □ c n s
VATICAN CITY - The Catholic | Church in the Philippines, while not getting directly involved in political battles, must help the country fight corruption by educating people in moral values, Pope John Paul II said. “To eliminate corruption calls for the committed support o f all citizens, the resolute determination o f the authorities and a firm moral conscience,” the | pope said in an Oct. 30 m essage to a group o f Filipino bishops. Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan o f Tuguegarao, speaking on behalf o f the bishops, told the pope, “Graft and
corruption in different levels o f society continue to be our problem.” The bishops, who were making their “ad limina” visits to report on the status o f their dioceses, told the pope they have asked all Filipino Catholics to make a novena to the Sacred Heart on the first Friday o f every month beginning in Novem ber as a prayer for an end to corruption in their society. Pope John Paul told the bishops the church has a major role to play in rooting out corruption because the church “is the primary agent for properly forming people’s conscience.” The church’s function, he
Catholic presence in A sia” and “one o f the m ost vibrant Catholic com m unities in the world.” However, the pope said, too many Filipino Catholics participate in the activity o f “sects which witness only to the superstitious,” too few have a good grounding in Catholic teaching, and too many accept “anti-life attitudes, which include the active promotion o f birth control, abortion and the death penalty.” Evangelization, formation, education and a clear, strong witness o f Christian values are needed, the pope told the bishops.
said, “as a rule should not be that o f direct intervention in matters that are strictly political, but rather that o f converting individuals and evangelizing culture.” The evangelization o f society includes bringing Gospel values to bear on the spheres o f government and public policy, the pope said. “It must be made clear that no office or public service can ever be treated as private property or as a personal privilege,” he said. Pope John Paul also congratulated the bishops on the continuing growth and activity o f the Catholic Church in the Philippines, “hom e to the largest
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ARCHBISHOP GAUDENCIO ROSALES appears outside the Manila cathedral follow ing his installation as the new archbishop o f Manila Nov. 21. The 7 1 -year-old prelate, an advocate for the poor suffering the effects o f globalization, succeeds recently retired Car dinal Jaime Sin who had occupied the seat for more than 29 years. Cardinal Sin retired as archbishop o f Manila Aug. 31 after turning 75. The cardinal suffered a minor stroke in March and undergoes daily dialysis treatment for a kidney ailment. Som e 2,500 people attended the Nov. 21 festivities at the Manila cathedral; guests included President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, church and government dignitaries. O
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STRUGGLING British soccer team Liverpool has been boosted by the news that the Holy Father is a celebrity fan, after the team ’s goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, a fellow Pole, was invited to m eet the pope. The BBC reports that the pope “likes nothing better than cheering on the Reds whenever they are on the box”. Dudek told the Liverpool website: “I spoke to a couple o f guys who are very close to the pope and they told me that he is always watching our games and that he is always thinking o f me when Liverpool play. “I was very surprised by this. They seem ed to know everything about football, about me and about Liverpool.” Pope John Paul II was a goalkeeper in his younger days. He invited Dudek over before the Italy-Poland game. “It was a very emotional moment for me. He was a very keen sportsman in his younger days and when he played football he played in goal, so I suppose we have something in com m on,” Dudek explained. □
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Iraq revisited Has Vatican changed position on Iraq war or has war changed Iraq? VATICAN CITY - Early this year, during the countdown to the Iraq War, Pope John Paul II and his Vatican aides wasted no opportunity to broadcast their opposition to a U .S.-led invasion. They warned that besides being unjust, an invasion would be counterproductive — it would leave many dead and wounded, destroy Iraqi infrastructure, increase the hardships on civilians, increase political pressures on Iraqi Christians, ignite civil strife in the country, weaken the United Nations and foment global terrorism. Fast-forward eight months, and it seem s that m ost or all o f the Vatican’s warnings were accurate, but no one is saying “I told you so.” On the contrary, several top cardinals have warned against a pullout o f U .S. and allied troops from Iraq, especially after deadly
attacks on soldiers there. The Vatican’s own representative in Iraq has said military withdrawal now would be the worst option. To those who would view Iraqi attacks on U.S. and allied soldiers as legitimate resistance to an illegal occupation, the Vatican has offered zero support. After a recent truck bomb at an Italian army headquarters left 19 dead, Italian bishops denounced the attack as terrorism. The pope seem ed to sign on to that definition a few days later when he spoke o f the “wicked work” accomplished by terrorists in Iraq. The pontiff and Italian bishops joined in honoring the dead Italian soldiers, saying they were engaged in a mission o f peace. Has the Vatican changed its mind about the war in Iraq? “It’s not that the Vatican position has changed, but the
situation in Iraq has been com pletely transformed,” said one Vatican official. “The Vatican clearly said ‘n o ’ to the war. But at a certain point, you have to manage the situation that’s been created in the way that does the least damage,” he said. “If the military pulls out o f Iraq now, the country would fall into chaos,” he said. Before the war, Cardinal A ngelo Sodano, Vatican secretary o f state, raised U.S. diplomatic hackles when he warned that the United States might find itself in a Vietnam-like quagmire in Iraq. But today, as the problems mount and the death toll rises in Iraq, Cardinal Sodano has said that “now is not the time for recriminations.” What Cardinal Sodano and others at the Vatican emphasize is the need for Iraqis to govern themselves as quickly as possible and for the United Nations to have a greater say in the interim running o f the country. But with Iraq’s political vacuum, self-governance seem s im possible now. □ c n s
CatholicNews □ Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003
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Dalai Lama visits pope VATICAN CITY - John Paul II received the Dalai Lama, leader o f Tibetan Buddhism, in an “exclusively religious” visit, the Vatican press office reported. After his meeting with the H oly Father, the Dalai Lama, said: “I expressed my admiration to John Paul II for what he has done for peace and religious harmony in the world.” The Buddhist leader said he benefited from “much wisdom and congeniality” during the
meeting. Navarro-Vails limited h im self to a short explanatory statement: “It was a brief courtesy visit, o f exclu sively religious content.” The private character o f the visit - it was not announced in the Holy S ee’s press bulletin - is due to the desire to promote interreligious dialogue, without allowing the latter to be conditioned by political m otives, Vatican sources stated. That the Vatican spokesman
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F IR S T C A T H O L IC U .S . P R E S ID E N T John F. Kennedy, is pictured in the Oval O ffice o f the White House July 11, 1963. In 1961 he became the 35th U .S. president and the first Catholic to hold the office. Forty years ago, on Nov. 22, he was killed by an assassin’s bullets as his motorcade wound through Dallas. In his inaugural address Kennedy offered to the American people this injunction: “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.” □ c n s FILEPHOTO
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - At the Unity Center o f Peace Church, there’s no more excuses about being a little light on cash. There’s now an automatic teller machine in the lobby. Unity, with a congregation o f about 100, may be the only church around to offer members this kind o f chance to give electronically. Unlike a typical ATM machine, withdrawals
emphasized the “exclusively religious content” was intended to avoid touching upon Chinese political issues. The Dalai Lama had to leave Tibet follow ing the 1959 invasion o f the territory by the Chinese army. It is not the first time that the P ope’s audience with the Dalai Lama had a discreet character. The Buddhist leader’s visit May 20, 1996, was not announced either, nor was it published in the Vatican press office bulletin. □
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V isit H o ly L a n d , ca rd in a l u rg es JERUSALEM - Pilgrimages to the Holy Land elevate the understanding o f the Gospel to another level, said Cardinal Pio Laghi, who led a group o f 50 Italian pilgrims on a Nov. 24-27 visit. “In a way, when you just study the Gospel, it remains flat. Coming here elevates your understanding o f what the Gospel says,” said Cardinal Laghi, a former nuncio to the United
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woman can only become pregnant for between five and seven days of her cycle whereas a person can be infected with HIV at any time. Also, while a conception involves the creation of a new life regardless of how the couple considers the child, HIV infection can only ever be a tragedy.
A
RECENT BBC television programme on AIDS prevention failed to note that scientific evidence indicates the Catholic Church is right when it advocates abstinence and marital fidelity. This observation by John Smeaton, national director of the Society for the Protection of Unbom Children, was made in an open letter to the director general of BBC in response to the network’s show “Sex and the Holy City.” The show, which was screened to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II, claims to investigate the Church’s teachings on sexuality. Smeaton shares with ZENIT the scientific and empirical evidence that contradicts the BBC’s statements, which he thinks implies that the pope’s personal views on contraception and abortion are causing misery and death in the developing world.
Q : Could you explain why programs based on promoting abstinence and marital fidelity may be preferable to massive distributions of condoms?
Smeaton: Programs based on abstinence and marital fidelity are always preferable to condom distribution in the fight against AIDS — and it is not just the Church that tells us this. The World Health Organization and the condom companies say so, too. Now, condom companies are not exactly supporters of the “theology of the body,” nor are they guardians of Christian marriage. However, even the makers of Durex condoms say quite clearly that “for complete protection from HIV and other [sexually transmitted infections], the only totally effective measure is sexual abstinence or limiting sexual intercourse to mutually faithful, uninfected partners.” The logic of abstinence and marital fidelity programmes is beautifully simple and straightforward. If a person sleeps around and uses a condom, they run the risk, however reduced, of contracting HIV; yet no one has ever died as a direct result of virginity. It is the same if a man and a woman are faithful to one another in marriage, having abstained beforehand. The Church’s teaching on human sexuality is not the idealistic dream that the Panorama programme claimed. It is the common-sense system by which billions of people have lived over generations.
Q:
What inspired you to write this open letter to the BBC?
Smeaton: The BBC continues to command a great deal o f influence and respect around the world, but it remains accountable to virtually no one. When it makes unsubstantiated and misleading allegations o f this nature, the results are very damaging for all those who work to protect human life. SPUC is not a religious organization, but the Panorama program attacked the Catholic Church’s teachings on abortion and human sexuality that we share. We felt duty-bound as a Society to expose its one-sided and inaccurate coverage of this subject.
Q : What were your main points of contention with the BBC program? Smeaton: From beginning to end, the program presupposed that the Church’s prohibition of abortion and birth control was the major cause of poverty and suffering in the developing world. This view was never once challenged in the course of the program. In the part of the program that dealt with Nicaragua, cheap pro-abortion tactics were used unashamedly, such as the use of unreferenced figures for maternal death through illegal abortion and the portrayal of pregnant child rape-victims as the norm. In the section on Manila, outdated Malthusian arguments were used to present contraception as the magical answer to poverty and homelessness. In the part about Kenya, the program went so far as to suggest that the Church was condemning people to death from AIDS by “peddling rumor and superstition.” We are not saying that the issues do not warrant scrutiny. Our major complaint is that the BBC made no attempt at presenting a balanced, honest and accurate report. Q W h a t are the problems with using condoms as the primary solution to stopping AIDS?
Smeaton: The major problem is that they are not safe. This is not even a contentious point. The condom manufacturers themselves point this out. The issue of viral leakage is certainly open to dispute but, even simply taking into account the danger of a condom’s rupturing or slipping off, the risk of HIV
C H IL D A ID S p a tie n t eats lunch a t a Bangkok home f o r children le ft behind by deceased parents w ith AID S. □ c n s f il e p h o t o
Q l What is the success rate of AIDS prevention or reduction in areas that have abstinence and marital fidelity programs compared with areas where condoms are distributed?
Smeaton: Uganda is perhaps the biggest transmission is very real. Condom use may reduce the risk of transmission, but to spread the message that condom use prevents AIDS is a dangerous lie. It is no good saying that the risk is “only 15%,” or “only 1 in 10” when we are talking about human lives. We have to ask ourselves whether the decision-makers and birth control advocates would be quite so cavalier if we were talking about a terminal condition that was transmitted non-sexually. For example, would health care professionals advise a chain smoker at serious risk of lung cancer to smoke cigarettes with better filters rather than giving up smoking altogether? Worse, would they advise him to give his wife and children masks to reduce the amount of smoke they breath in so that he can smoke freely around the house rather than telling him to act responsibly and not expose them to any risk at all? The second major problem is that condoms encourage irresponsible behavior because people believe themselves to be better protected than they actually are. A paper entitled “Condoms and Seat Belts: The Parallels and the Lessons,” which was published in a UK medical journal called The Lancet, noted that “a vigorous condom promotion policy could increase rather than decrease unprotected sexual exposure if it has the unintended effect of encouraging a greater overall level of sexual activity.” The figures bear this out. Botswana has the highest distribution of condoms, but 39%
of the population is infected with AIDS. However, when the archbishop of Nairobi made the same point in a reputable medical journal, he was accused of talking “scientific nonsense.”
Q j Are there independent scientific studies that back up objections to condoms? Smeaton: Yes there are. First, to reaffirm my previous point, there is not a single scientific study I have come across that promotes condoms as 100% effective. All reputable studies admit a failure rate caused by a variety of factors. Besides the ones already mentioned, latex is a natural substance that can degrade if stored in unsuitable conditions, if exposed to extremes of temperature or if stored for an extended length of time. Condoms are also used incorrectly in many cases. Studies often refer to “ideal” or “consistent and proper” use compared with “typical” use, where the failure rate and associated risks are higher. To give a couple of examples, the U.S. National Institute of Health study on condoms that was cited in the Panorama program gives a failure rate of between 1.6% and 3.6%. It also quotes an estimate from National Surveys of Family Growth that suggested that 14% of couples experienced an unintended pregnancy during the first year o f “typical” condom use. With any failure rate connected with pregnancy, one has to bear in mind that a
P u b lic it y , s e x u a l a b s tin e n c e a n d m a r i t a l f i d e l i t y a r e th e b e s t p r e v e n t io n s a g a in s t A I D S
success story in the fight against AIDS and much of its achievement is because of changes in sexual behavior, particularly emphasis on abstinence and fidelity. Condoms have been promoted as a last resort, but a report by USAID on Uganda found that condoms were not a major factor in the decrease in HIV transmission. In fact, the decline in transmission rates began before the widespread promotion of condoms. Critics of abstinence claim that people are not strong enough to resist, but this is unsubstantiated propaganda. In one district of Uganda, it was noted that fewer than 5% of 13- to 16-year-olds were sexually active in 2001 compared with 60% in 1994, a significant change in sexual behavior achieved in just seven years. Unlike some of its neighboring countries, Uganda has had a decline in HIV transmission for well over a decade and 98% of people with no education are aware of A lD s - one of the highest awareness rates in the world. Q l What are the best ways of changing public attitudes and the conventional wisdom about using condoms to fight AIDS?
Smeaton: We need to circulate honest, accurate information. The facts speak for themselves. Governments and aid agencies need to put aside their anti-family agendas and put their energies into programs that actually make a difference. The public needs to be made aware that abstinence and monogamy are positive and beneficial choices for individuals and for society. No one should be condemned to die because of Western resistance to responsible sexual behavior based on a model of marital fidelity. □ z e n it
CatholicNews □ Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003
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VEHICLES W ANTED .
A n y m o d e l, a n y y e a r
Singapore AIDS ministry continues SINGAPORE - Volunteers o f CARE (Catholic AIDS Response Effort) continue to visit and minister to AIDS and HIVpositive patients at the Communicable Diseases Centre at Tan Tock Seng Hospital. This despite hospital regulations that discourage visits because of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), said Mr Michael Health Yeo, acting president o f the archdiocesan body. Volunteers also befriend and journey with families of the patients to help them to reconcile with each other.
c o m m e rc ia l o r u s e d cars. S c ra p v e h ic le s fo r e x p o rt. C all:
Since last year, CARE has also started housing and caring for patients abandoned by their families. During the peak o f SARS, the organisation started to visit churches to make parishioners aware o f their ministry and to recruit volunteers. Recruitment is still ongoing. An intensive training on ministering to A ID S/ HIV-positive patients is jointly provided by CARE and CDC. For more information contact: M ichael Heath Yeo 6733-7197/ 9746-2297. □
m o re A ID S
A B B IE SHAWA, the head o f C a th o lic R e lie f Services’ H IV /A ID S program m e in M a la w i, A fric a
WASHINGTON - The number of initiatives to combat AIDS in Africa and elsewhere continues to grow. With an expected U S$2.4 billion available next year, religious charities big and small are eager to apply for grants and get to towns and villages to fight the disease. The funding is part of a pledge made by President Bush in last January’s State o f the Union address to deliver U S$15 billion in African AIDS prevention and treatment funding over the next five years. “There’s lots o f new money com ing in,” said Carl Stecker, Catholic R elief Services’ senior technical adviser for HIV/AIDS. Stecker added that CRS, the overseas aid and development arm o f the U .S. bishops, is currently working on AIDS relief efforts in 160 cities and towns in 30 countries worldwide with $45 million in grants from various sources. □ cns Member of
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PASSIONIST Father Kieran Creagh holds an empty vial after he was injected with a trial HIV vaccine in a Soweto, South Africa, hospital Nov. 4. Father Creagh, one of 24 volunteers taking part in trials to assess the safety o f the AlphaVax replicon Vector vaccine, was told there was no possibility o f being infected with AIDS.
just about everyone in the southern African nation o f Malawi, Abbie Shawa knows the face o f AIDS from personal experience. When his brother lay dying from the disease in 1996, Shawa cared for him, bathed him and kept his bedding clean and dry. Today, Shawa’s sister-in-law shows signs o f the disease. Yet the Malawi-born Shawa, who is the director o f Catholic R elief Services’ HIV/AIDS programme there, came to the United States on a five-w eek speaking tour to portray a m essage o f hope. Without hope there is no reason to continue,” Shawa told an audience in Alaska. He said that in the face o f the AIDS pandemic sweeping Africa “the church brings a m essage o f hope - it may be the only institution doing that right now.” □ c n s
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Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003 □ CatholicNews
P tdxl A f te r 5 0 y e a r s o f s e rv ic e , S r A g n e s T a n is s till a b u n d le o f jo y
SHE’S not a doctor, but when Sr Agnes Tan walks into a room at Mt Alvernia Hospital, she brings a formidable medicine of her own - prayer. “I will keep you in my prayers” are familiar words in the hospital’s wards. It is what Sr Agnes says each time she visits a patient. THE 73-year-old sister is part o f Mt Alvernia Hospital’s Clinical Pastoral Care (CPC) Department. Made up o f four sisters from the Franciscan Missionaries o f the D ivine Motherhood (FMDM), their job is to provide emotional support to patients and their family members who may be experiencing trauma in coping with illness, incapacitation, death, and bereavement. Every room Sr A gnes enters holds a different story, but she is often met with anger, frustration and grief. What do you say to a man who is dying? How do you console a young mother w hose newborn is desperately ill? What do you tell the athlete who will never walk again? These are questions many o f us hope w e never have to consider. For Sr Agnes and her team, they are scenarios that crop up from day to day. Said Sr Agnes: “They are always angry with God or someone, and we let them vent it out. Once it’s out, they feel better. We help them realize that it’s okay to be angry.” And even if her words don’t sooth them, prayer often will. “We pray for them and our prayers help them a lot,” said Sister. “We try to help them realize that illness is part and parcel o f life, not punishment for some wrongdoing.” Tempers flare and tears are not uncommon, but Sr A gnes has learnt to take them all in her stride. “We must not take it personally and just let the patient vent,” she said. Sometimes, her work is fraught with complications. Some families refuse to tell the suffering patient his illness is terminal. But dying people always know, said Sister. “Every patient has got a right to know the state o f their own health, but you have to be very diplomatic, very tactful.” But life in CPC is not all tears either. There are happy moments when patients recover and when precious new babies are bom. What sets Mt Alvernia apart from the other maternity wards in Singapore is the special presentation the CPC sisters perform for newborns in the hospital’s chapel. “Upon discharge, w e say a prayer for the couple and the baby in the chapel then send them off,” said Sister. The service is very popular - even among non-Catholics. In fact, most o f the patients at Mt Alvernia are not Catholic. The sisters make no attempt to convert them and they w elcom e the sisters with great respect. The services rendered by the CPC sisters gives Mt Alvernia a unique homely feeling. Sr Agnes spent two years in Ireland learning the art o f clinical pastoral care. She received her Clinical Pastoral Care training in 1991 in Cork University Hospital in
S r A g n e s is a
vow s in the Church o f the Nativity - her parish when she was a girl. It was a proud moment for Sr Agnes, her family, and also for the parish. She and the sister who took her vow s with her that day were the first to do so there. After that, Sr Agnes took on the task o f helping to start the maternity ward at Mt Alvernia. Then, in 1967, Sr A gnes was transferred to Australia. She spent the next 14 years in Bendigo, where she was appointed Local Superior in 1977. When she returned to Singapore in 1981, Sr A gnes took on the position o f Regional Superior o f Singapore and Malaysia.
fu n p e rs o n n o to r io u s f o r h e r d e lig h tfu l sense o f h u m o u r and a jo y a t a n y g a th e r in g
- a colleague describing why "'-wart Sr Agnes is so well loved
A volunteer in war zone
Receiving anger, returning peace Ireland and returned to Singapore and started her ministry at Mt Alvernia in 1993, where she continues to serve today. A pioneer o f the hospital, she has seen it grow from just 60 beds in 1961 to the present 303.
When the call came SR AGNES first heard G od’s call when she was just a girl o f 16. “I just felt I was being called,” she said. “But when I mentioned it to my mum, she nearly hit the roof.” Sr A gnes was her m other’s only daughter - she has three brothers - and her mother couldn’t bear to let her leave. “A s the only daughter, she said God would understand. God w ouldn’t take me away from her,” Sr A gnes said. Faced with her m other’s disapproval, Sr A gnes pushed G od’s call to the back o f her mind and went on with living life like a regular teen. But God w ouldn’t be silenced. When she was 19, Sr A gnes heard G od’s call again. “But I didn’t want to leave without my m other’s blessing,” said Sr A gnes, whose father had passed away when she was 11. The perfect chance came when the FM DM sisters stopped by in Singapore to set up a hospital. “When the FM DM sisters came to Singapore, an idea hit m e,” said Sr Agnes.
“If you were a nurse in those days, you had to stay in the hospital.” It was Sr A gnes’ chance. She hoped staying away from home would help wean her mother o ff having her for company at home. Sr Agnes became the first Singaporean student nurse at the Mandalay Road Hospital. She stayed with the sisters and continued trying to talk her mother into allowing her to enter the convent. “Each time I broached jhe subject, she would cry,” said Sr Agnes. One year later, her mother finally gave her blessing. It was Easter Sunday - a day Sr A gnes still remembers vividly. “She said, if you are not happy, com e back.” Sr A gnes never found a reason to. “I think God had something to do with it,” said Sr Agnes. “She realized she had to let me go.” Despite all her fears, Sr A gn es’ mother was all right without her daughter. In fact, when Sr A gnes entered the order on May 12, 1951, her mother was simply swelling with pride. Sr A gnes left for England where she stayed for eight years. There, she went through general training in midwifery and worked in a hospital. She returned to Singapore in late 1958 and continued nursing in the tuberculosis ward. She made her final profession of
BY 1990, Sr A gnes had been doing G od’s work for nearly 40 years. She was given som e time o ff to rest. But rest was not on Sister’s mind. A war was raging in the Middle East at the time and while m ost o f us watched the horrors o f the G ulf War unfold on TV from the safety o f our living rooms, Sr A gnes Tan took a front seat in Jordan. She volunteered to help at the m ission in Jordan and stayed there for nearly three months. Jordan was flooded by a deluge of refugees fleeing the strife in neighbouring Iraq. It was a jumble of humanity. Everyone spoke Arabic or some form o f Middle Eastern dialect and Sr Agnes couldn’t even make out who had come from where. “I couldn’t tell them apart. The center was always full o f people.” With an interpreter at her side, she tended to the sick and administered care to mothers and their children. After spending her life in Singapore, England and Australia, the marked poverty o f Jordan struck Sr Agnes. “I really experienced stark poverty,” she said. “It’s such a poor country. Day in and day out you see people looking into dustbins to find fo o d ... It was winter, but there was no hot water to bathe in.” She returned to England on Christmas Eve. “The comparison was just beyond belief,” said Sr Agnes. “A s I ran a bath, I thought, this water could be used for so many people in Jordan. It was just a simple bath, nothing extravagant, but there was such a stark difference.”
Time for a rest THIRTEEN years later, Sr A gnes is due for a Sabbatical again. Again, wars ravage the Middle East. Said Sr A gnes with a sigh: “We are always praying for peace, but until you have peace in your heart, you can’t have peace anywhere else. If everyone thought this way, there w ouldn’t be any war. “A lw ays pray to be a person o f peace, then you can pray for peace in the world.” This time, Sr A gnes hopes to spend her rest days with friends and family. Next February, she w ill be going away to England, Ireland, N ew Zealand and Australia, where she has many dear friends and relatives. “And I w ill also be attending some programs,” she added with a smile. After more than 50 years in G od’s service, Sr A gnes is still indefatigable. □
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S u n d a y s D e c e m b e r 7 a n d D e c e m b e r 14, 2003
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SCHOOLBOYS look over
a Nativity scene in a church.
By Bob Blaskey WHAT com es to mind when you think o f the Christmas season? Rushing from parties to shopping to recitals to wrapping, always looking for just a little more time to get everything done . . . not to mention trying to prepare yourself spiritually for this special time? If that’s the case, then I’ve got just the answer for you: go Christmas caroling with your class. ‘Great, just what I need,’ you ’re thinking - ‘something else to take up my tim e.’ The catch is that you ’ll get so much more in return, including a true feel for the season. One o f my favorite childhood Christmas memories was caroling through neighborhoods. Although I only did this once, singing about the birth o f Jesus with other people had a great effect on me. In some ways, perhaps I connected with the shepherds who received the great news and then passed it on to others. Especially outside under the stars, caroling felt like prayer. Years later, I wanted to recreate that experience. I couldn’t find any groups that were caroling, so I started my own. To make this a ministry, we needed to look no further than Matthew 25:35-36 for our audiences . . . w e would carol to the hungry, the outcast, the hom eless, the sick, and the imprisoned. We called ourselves “The Christmas Spirits” and our motto became the four C ’s o f Christmas: “caroling, caring, camaraderie, and Christ.” We aren’t performers but bearers o f the Christmas spirit. We bring enough songbooks for everyone and encourage our audiences to sing along with us. I always included my religious education class in this ministry. Several students continued to join us even when their class was finished. Beth Schill, mother o f three daughters in grades four through seven, reflected on what caroling has meant to them: “They look forward to these events and talk about being able to make som eone happy for weeks after.” Gary Cortez, a long-time member o f the group, appreciates the ministry aspect:
i\ *\S M IN IS T R Y “Being a part o f ‘The Christmas Spirits’ has given me renewed faith in God, m yself and other people that had been m issing within me for quite aw hile.” “Not only do I get more excited about the holiday itself,” said Susie Smith, “but you can see the joy you bring to others.”
Creating special moments A GREAT example o f our caroling being a ministry came one year when we made our annual visit to the pediatrics ward o f our county hospital. As usual, w e sang two or three songs for this particular girl and her mother. We started to leave when they asked us to stay and continue singing. We learned they were nervously awaiting new s from their doctor about a test — w e were helping them pass the time and keep their minds off the possible bad news. We kept singing until the doctor came in, then we visited the rest o f the ward. A s w e were getting ready to leave, I looked for the mother. She greeted me with a tired, relieved sm ile on her face. She hugged me and said ‘Thank you so much - everything’s all right.’ I never saw her before or since then, but the group was there when she needed us and we were able to share in the good news she received that n ig h t. . . isn ’t that what the first Christmas was all about? Another favorite memory was our first visit to a detention center for teenaged girls. We knew this would be different than our other locations. For reasons o f confidentiality, no one under 18 was allowed in. We were instructed not to have any contact with the teenagers and not to let them have metal objects — w e had to count all
the staples in our songbooks and make sure none were left behind. W hile all this was a daunting introduction to a new group, we w eren’t scared off. A s they entered the room where w e would carol, several o f the girls were sullen. They were required to be there and it looked like they had made up their minds that they w ouldn’t have a good time. W hen we started singing, almost everyone had fun. A s we were leaving, one o f the girls said ‘W hy did you com e?’ Perhaps our caroling showed her that others do care about her . . . especially God.
FRANCISCAN Father Declan Madden, better known as Father Santa this time of year, has donned the red-velvet suit every Christmas for the past 51 years to entertain youngsters and seniors alike during the Christmas season.
Tricks of the trade TO carol w ith your class, start by reading Matthew 25:31-40 and let your students decide where they want to carol. Call and schedule your visit and remember to get the name o f the person you talked to. C ollect lyrics to the songs you want to sing and use part o f a class to practice. On the day o f your scheduled visit, reconfirm that you are com ing, then go
have fun! Here are som e “tricks” we learned to make sure your ministry w ill be enjoyable for you and your audiences . . . A lw ays remember that as ministry, y ou ’re primarily performing for your audience, not yourselves. Do songs and routines your audience likes. It’s good to start with a robust song that involves everyone. We now traditionally begin with “Joy to the World,” follow ed by “Deck the Halls.” Both are energetic and we try to alternate between secular and religious songs, and open it up to requests. “D eck the Halls” offers a great opportunity to have fun with different types of “Fa-la-las.” Create contests: who can do it the loudest, most operatic, as Elvis, with an accent, etc. It’s a great ice-breaker, not only because everyone knows the song but because you set the tone and say ‘W e’re here to have fun.’ When w e visit hospitals, we are always conscious o f intruding on the privacy of patients. We sing outside the door and go in only when w e are invited. At a convalescent hospital w e regularly visit, w e go through the entire place room by room, then retrace our steps nonstop while singing “Silent Night,” “W hite Christmas,” and “Rudolph.” These are great for encores because almost everyone knows them. Our elderly audiences always like seeing our younger carolers. If your group includes people o f all ages, put the youngest ones up front where their vitality and spirit w ill be most appreciated. Try to find places for people to solo in a song. For instance, have volunteers solo with the rising “O” part o f “We Three
Kings” just before the chorus. With “The 12 Days o f Christmas,” a particular group solos with “five golden rings.” Speaking o f that calendar song, I bought a book which illustrated the 12 days of Christmas. We put those pictures in protective plastic coverings and pass them out to our audience. Whenever their particular day is mentioned, they have to stand up and show the picture. W hen yo u ’re counting down, going as fast you can, people w ill be popping up all over the room, really a lot o f fun. When the “Frosty the Snowman” lyrics say “they placed it on his head, he began to dance around,” we put Santa hats on volunteers who then start dancing around. The dancers and the audience love this. Speaking o f Santa hats, we have extras and let our audience wear them during the show. We have a collection o f sleigh bells as well. These are distributed and used in “Silver B ells,” “White Christmas,” etc. After-Christmas specials are a great time to build up your collection o f props, getting most o f these items at 50% or less. Finally, you can give certain songs special treatment. We sing a nice, m ellow version o f “W hite Christmas.” This ends with one o f us saying “Swing, 2, 3 , 4 ” and we go into a swing rendition. Since everyone knows these words, it’s fun to do it more than once. We usually repeat the saga o f Rudolph as well. We go through the entire song, then start again halfway through with “But then one foggy Christmas Eve . . . “ A bove all, remember this is a ministry, a sharing o f your faith with others. B y singing about the good new s o f the nativity to others, you w ill make this one o f your most rewarding and spirituallyfilled Christmases ever. □
Quick Tips • •
• •
• •
Organize a songbook familiar to your students. Start with a song known to your class and your audience. Let your audience dictate your song choices. Know that your efforts are appreciated, but don’t always expect open signs o f gratitude. Try to visit places other groups do not. Include your students’ parents.
Bob Blaskey is a video writer/ director. He presents workshops on using m ovies and dramas to teach the Gospel. Contact:
bobblaskey@hotmail.com.
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Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003 □ CatholicNews
r o p u r h i ! ;
fo r
A t C h r is tm a s , th e th e
C h r i s t m a s
B e a t it u d e s
s u ffe r in g s
By Father Dale Launderville, OSB PEACE cannot be won by human efforts alone. The balance necessary to live in right relationship with God and with others is a gift from God. This m essage is found in the Beatitudes, which offer us considerable food for thought at Christmas in these times o f violence and suffering on the world stage. The Beatitudes offer a new way to understand the sufferings and anxieties o f this life. Each o f the eight Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-10 begins with the phrase, “B lessed are ...” Through it Jesus pronounces that the person or group about to be described is “in a good place.” Jesus addressed audiences that included: — The rich and the poor. — The politically powerful and the disenfranchised. — The proud and the humble. — The satisfied and the hungry. — The aggressive and the gentle. — The deceivers and the truth-tellers. — The violent and the nonviolent. — The persecutors and the persecuted. Our w ell-being or happiness depends on how w ell w e are able to balance the opposing forces mapped out by these pairs. Jesus urged his disciples to travel lightly and not to overinvest in this world. He exhorted his audience to “think bigger” about their lives and not simply to imagine life as that which happens between on e’s first and last breaths.
o ffe r a n e w
a n d a n x ie t ie s
JESUS says, “B lessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This mourning could refer to the loss o f loved ones, which often results in a void that other humans cannot fill. But Jesus seem s to refer to mourning over other kinds o f losses as w ell — for example the loss of reputation, o f a job, o f a friendship. In such times o f loss, w e know how fleeting and fragile our lives are.
w a y
u n d e rs ta n d
o f life
this world’s ways o f making us feel important, then w e w ill show that w e are hungering for incorporation into G od’s life. JESUS says, “B lessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” Jesus calls us to live gently with others. — He sets high expectations for us, but calls us to help one another to meet them. — He forbids us to judge one another, by which we would be using G od’s standards to compare ourselves with one another and to presume to declare who is acceptable and who is not. JESUS says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see G od.” Those who long for God and want to do G od’s w ill above all else are pure in heart. They have their priorities straight. Jesus promises that those who commit them selves to God will encounter God.
A good time to meditate on the Beatitudes
JESUS tells his audience, “B lessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom o f heaven.” Those who are poor in spirit recognize that neither they them selves nor others in the world can bring sufficient meaning and depth to their lives. Because they know that something vital is m issing in their experience, they are in a favored position to receive Jesus’ m essage about G od’s rule over heaven and earth. Though they may feel low, Jesus encourages them with the m essage that God accepts them and w ill bless them.
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JESUS says, “B lessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Those who truly see them selves as creatures under the Creator’s care know that they must let go o f earthly sym bols o f power and status. They refrain from aggression and violence, and try to treat others with gentleness and understanding. By relinquishing their efforts to secure them selves, the meek inherit the world, even if only partially, in this present life. JESUS says, “B lessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” To be in right relationship with God gives a person the sense that all is in order and that life is good. Fasting is a practice that helps us understand that we do not live by bread alone. So if w e fast from
JESUS says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children o f God.” Those who make peace are not simply those who avoid unnecessary conflict. Peacemakers actively promote harmony in their relationships with others. Jesus promises that those who strive for justice and harmony w ill be adopted into G od’s family.
JESUS says, “B lessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom o f heaven.” This eighth and final Beatitude in Matthew 5:3-10 echoes the promise o f the first. Those who commit them selves to God and sym bolize by their person a way o f life and a set o f values at odds with those o f the world often provoke the world’s hostility. Jesus assures them that they will inherit G od’s kingdom. JESUS calls his disciples to be little ones who realize that Jesus’ kingdom is not o f this world. To live according to the Beatitudes means to live humbly, nonviolently, gently and attentive to others, but to do so with conviction, self-sacrifice and focus upon God. □ cns
T H I N K I N G OF
A P E A N U TS C H R IS TM A S
By Stanley J. Konieczny FOR 38 Christmases, countless fam ilies have gathered in front o f the television to watch a children’s holiday classic, Charles Schultz’s animated “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It is a real holiday treat, but like so many gifts, the deeper, more profound meaning can be lost. Christ’s Sermon on the Mount echoes throughout this 30-minute cartoon, challenging viewers to find the true meaning o f Christmas. The eight Beatitudes o f Matthew’s Gospel are woven throughout the video. Jesus prefaced each Beatitude with an acknowledgment o f happiness: “How blessed are they ...” And there is an overall happiness about the children in the Peanuts’ cast as they ice skate, dance, throw snowballs and try to catch snowflakes on their tongues. Yet, one little boy, the hapless Charlie Brown, mourns his lack of understanding o f Christmas. He expresses his hunger and thirst for something beyond all the
com m ercialism and consumerism. Now, after more than 38 view ings, w e know that Charlie Brown realizes the Beatitude promise o f satisfaction and comfort. Just as the Beatitudes are a call to Christian action, Lucy, the amateur psychiatrist, encourages Charlie Brown to get involved in order to overcom e his holiday doldrums. Charlie Brown tries his hand first at directing the Christmas pageant and later at buying a Christmas tree for the auditorium. Both projects are seem ingly disastrous, and Charlie Brown gains only the ridicule o f his peers. He concludes that he has absolutely no understanding of Christmas.
L in u s s ta n d s a s a n ic o n o f th e B e a titu d e s
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CatholicNews □ Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003
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The Beatitudes is a description of Jesus’ face to jo y th e B e a titu d e o f A
P e a n u ts ’ h ris tm a s “THE hapless Charlie Brown ... mourns his lack of understanding of Christmas. He expresses his hunger and thirst for something beyond all the commercialism,” writes Stan Knoieczny in his article on how Christ’s Sermon on the Mount echoes throughout Charles Schultz’s animated “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
By David Gibson HAVE you noticed? People will gather around and watch everything a new baby does, endlessly. I imagine that when Jesus was bom it was like this for Mary and Joseph. Yes, the Christmas story is unique in its cosm ic import. Still, I suspect that the visiting shepherds and M agi did what people do: watched the baby, marveled at him. Maybe som eone speculated what he might one day look like. Do w e know what he grew to look like? He looked like a person o f the Beatitudes, Pope John Paul II said. D oes that mean the signs were
least is not far from it. Despite his fear o f memorizing lines for the holiday program, Linus quotes by heart the Gospel story about angels announcing a wonderful birth to shepherds watching their flocks at night. Watch closely. A s Linus recounts how the angels told the shepherds not to be afraid, he loosens his clutch on the ever present, frayed, blue security blanket, which slips to the stage floor. A s together as he seem s, even Linus is called to greater faith by the good new s o f Christ’s coming. Then the cast gathers outside under a starry Decem ber sky. Here Linus proves him self a true child o f God, a peacemaker bringing reconciliation between Charlie Brown and his friends. More important, Linus helps the children reconcile themselves to the season’s real meaning. Linus could w ell have been ridiculed - “persecuted” - by his playmates, but he took the risk to make the kingdom o f heaven more real for his friends. In the end, the children are happy. They even embrace a certain poverty o f spirit in accepting and decorating Charlie Brown’s poor, little tree. N ow they’ve detached from the holiday consumerism that is accompanied by big, shiny, pink-painted aluminum trees. “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown,” says Linus as he concludes his proclamation o f the birth o f a Savior. □ c n s
IS there any way to put the Beatitudes into practice at home this Christmas season? I have five suggestions. 1 . Encourage poverty o f spirit by keeping the focus on giving instead o f getting. Toss out the catalogues that create unrealistic expectations or limit how many your family is allowed to see. Suggest that family members give gifts that don’t cost a lot o f money. An hour’s worth o f labour that can be cashed in when needed is a great gift. As a gift for aged people, the promise o f a visit per w eek or per month is worth a million dollars. 2 . During Christmastime, make a special effort to be in solidarity with those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. One practical way to do this is to cut out newspaper or magazine pictures o f families in refugee camps, migrant workers, recent immigrants and others who do not have the benefit o f such basics as shelter, food, health care or safety. Place the pictures in a prominent place (refrigerator, prayer space, bathroom mirror) and pray daily for these people. Join community, parish or school efforts to alleviate poverty and injustice.
AN ICON o f M a ry and the C h ris t c h ild by contem porary a rtis t K atherine Osenga shows the V irgin receiving the w o rd o f G od both as S cripture and as her son. The p a in tin g is title d “ The M adonna o f the W ord." cns photo COURTESY KATHERINE OSENGA
Living the Beatitudes this Christmas season
By Mary Jo Pedersen
Then enters Linus Van Pelt, bearer o f the original “security blanket.” Linus stands as an icon of the Beatitudes. ) The cartoon tot readily agrees to explain to Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about. His willingness betrays his purity o f heart. There is a great innocence and sincerity in Linus’ w illingness to share Christmas good new s, not to mention his loyalty to his belittled friend. In Linus’ happy purity o f heart we can see God. Linus begins his soliloquy with a simple request, “Lights, please.” It is less stage a command and more a meek prayer asking for gu idan ce and betraying the .^gentleness o f one who already has inherited G od’s kingdom or at
there to be “read” in his face o f peace and mercy, o f a hunger and thirst for righteousness? The Beatitudes, the pope said, “are nothing more than the description o f a face, his face!” The first Christmas, intently focused on this new baby, marked a wonderful story’s beginning, not its end. We know where this child’s story leads. Nonetheless, we can be awestruck year after year. So feel free: Gather around. People do this. Perhaps yo u ’ll experience som e sense o f awe as you imagine the infant’s every m ove - that sense that a new life has begun, and there is so much yet to com e. It’s wondrous! □
3 . Be a peacemaker by resisting the culture’s preoccupation with violence in m ovies, music and games. Consider refusing to buy violent and aggressive Christmas toys for children or adults. Bring
You
about peace in your personal relationships at home and in the workplace. One step is to write a Christmas note to an estranged friend or relative. Extend a peaceful hand to those who are rude or unfair to you. A pologize to those you have hurt; do it without expectations.
4 . Seek righteousness if you want to be satisfied this Christmas. Christianity teaches that nothing on earth ever w ill satisfy us or make us com pletely happy. Only those who hunger and thirst for righteousness w ill be satisfied. Hungering for the perfect purchased gift is surely futile.
a s k w h a t is
the secret to a joyful holiday season?
...t e ll y o u r p a r e n t s y o u
lo v e th e m , h e lp to c le a n th e h o u s e , p l a y w i t h y o u r l i t t l e s is t e r , v is it y o u r g r a n d p a r e n ts , .g iv e y o u r m a id a d a y o f f a w e e k , s in g c a r o ls t o s ic k a n d lo n e ly n e ig h b o u r s , y o u h a v e h u r t, a n d t h a n k j e s u s fo r g iv in g u s th is s e a s o n ...
5 . Christmas is a time for purity o f heart. The pure o f heart try to keep their priorities straight. Their “to do” list looks different at Christmas. It includes daily prayer. It lists clearing some o f the clutter o f life away to focus on how to bring Christ’s presence to others in simple ways such as visiting the sick and lonely, comforting those who are grieving or lending a helping hand to neighbours. The Beatitudes are the secret to a truly joyful and happy holiday season. □
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Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003 □ CatholicNews
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a t C o n g re s s o n L o v e , L if e
WHEN an international panel of speakers met here last month to talk about issues affecting the family their ideas converged on one point: the family is besieged on all fronts by the culture of death: divorce, abortion, pre marital sex, cohabitation, contraception, homosexuality, consumerism, media violence, to name a few. For four days, from Nov 6-9, Human Life International (HLI) gathered the speakers and some 400 participants for the 10th Asia Pacific Congress on Love, Life and
Expressing worry over a survey on the social attitude of Singaporeans, he said, “they signal more casual attitudes towards pre-marital sex and pre disposition of our young to non committal relationships.” Safeguarding the culture o f life “AN URGENT need exists to foster an entirely different vision of the human family - one which is expansive rather than
a n d th e F a m ily
bring the Good News to every nook and cranny. It is the content and not the pipe that is the problem.” The fight against the culture of death begins within one’s own family, the speakers agreed. “It makes no sense for us to ‘change the world’ if we neglect members of our own family... If we fail in this primary responsibility it will make a big mockery of any witness we have outside the home,” emphasised Dr John Hui, master of the Catholic Medical Guild.
PRESERVING S £ THE CULTURE OF LIFE 3
It is the second By Mel-Diamse Lee such congress to be held in Singapore. Affirming the good of marriage and family, the speakers condemned forces that contribute to their destruction. Pro-life and pro-family proponents need to actively promote, preserve R O SA L in d a Valenzona, Joseph Meaney and M a rlo n Ramirez were and safeguard the among the speakers a t the H L I Congress fro m N ov 6-9 a t the RELC. culture of life, they urged. Despite great achievements in restrictive, broad and generous,” Delegates at the congress science and technology “life and observed Mr Ramirez. He included people from Australia, family, as well as sound moral proposed the creation of schemes Japan, Hong Kong, India, values are degraded to a and programmes to Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, magnitude never before Philippines, Thailand and the • expose and oppose the grand experienced by humanity,” noted United States. deceptions and persuasions of the Mr Marlon Ramirez, programme The HLI Congress was anti-life and anti-family forces; director of HLI Asia. organised by Family Life Society • address the needs and “ The pursuit of power, wealth and supported by the Ministry of problems of teenagers and families; and global control in the guise of Community Development and • inform couples and parents ‘development’ despicably Sports and the archdiocese. about their sacred obligation to tramples life and family Human Life International, a defend the sanctity o f life and underfoot,” he declared. non-profit organisation, was promote the dignity of marriage “It is easy to recognize the founded 28 years ago by and family Culture of Death at work. It Benedictine Father Paul Marx. It • empower (organize and prevents life through aims to promote and defend the mobilize) families, schools and contraception, abortion, sanctity of life and family around institutions in the defense and sterilization, population control, the world according to the promotion of life and family. euthanasia. It corrupts the family teachings of the Roman Catholic Speaking on the power of the through divorce, pornography, Church through prayer, service media to destroy or affirm the homosexuality, comprehensive and education. To find out more culture of life, Mr Edwin Arceo sex education,” he warned. visit http://www.hli.org. □ Lopez said, “The same pipe, media, Speaking on the need to that brings filthy garbage into our • See also page 14, actively promote the culture of life, homes is the same pipe that can The Family in Crisis Joseph Meaney, the International Director of HLI, said “There is no threat that a child poses to another person but somehow modem is to be there to provide answers MR Edwin Lopez suggested society has come to see children as and not promises. that parents: threats and burdens.” “We are there as an • Practice co-viewing to Mr Willie Cheng, chairman of alternative media that can make “provide an opportunity to filter Singapore’s Committee On The TV a positive experience in the values shown by different Family, showed local statistics on homes,” said the executive media, reinforcing the good ones, rising divorce rates, declining director and marketing manager rejecting the negative ones.” number of marriages and birth of EWTN for the Asia-Pacific Children must be taught to be rates and the effects of divorce on region. educated media consumers. lowly educated single mothers. • Teach children decision • Look for alternative “We fear that we could be the making. media, such as Eternal Word proverbial frog in the beaker of “Discipline is teaching Television Network (EWTN) water that is slowly but surely children decision-making,” Mr founded by Mother Angelica of being heated,” he stated. Lopez said, adding that the the United States. Families that live in a multipunitive way to discipline robs “When people want to make generational home are becoming children of their self-esteem, selfsense with what’s happening an “endangered species” in the confidence and self-direction. □ around them, our responsibility country he added.
B ecom ing a m edia savvy fam ily
Who should teach our children about
SEX W h a t is a n a p p r o p r i a t e a p p r o a c h t o e d u c a t i n g o u r c h ild r e n a b o u t s e x ? H o w s h o u ld w e te a c h it ? By Mel-Diamse Lee
namely, love, responsibility, joy, respect, cooperation, spirituality, intimacy (verbal and emotional communication), and personhood. Fostering a child’s sexuality includes teaching him or her the biological facts o f reproduction and the skills o f self-discipline, and more. “It really means teaching your children - through word and example - how to be loving, responsible, joyful, respectful, cooperative, spiritual, communicative, fully functioning human persons from the day they emerge from the w om b ...”
PARENTS should not shy away from being the primary educators o f their children, especially in the area o f sexuality education, said Mark and M onica Lim at the Human Life International (HLI) Congress on Love, Life and the Family held N ov 6-9 at the Regional English Language Centre (RELC). The couple were speaking on the topic What Your Child Ought to Know about the Birds and the Bees. Urging their audience to first o f all educate themselves to “prepare as if we were studying for our P h D ... because everything begins there. Good children lead to good adults who become good spouses who then become good parents.” Quoting from the pope’s apostolic M ark and M o nica L im du rin g a break a t the exhortation H L I Congress. Familiaris Consortio, they said, “Sex education, which is a basic right and duty o f parents, must always be carried out under TRUE Catholics do not ignore or their attentive guidance, whether fear sex, but “celebrate it as one at hom e or in educational centres o f the most beautiful and chosen by them. In this regard, profound ‘good s’ God has given the Church reaffirms the law of us, noted the couple who are used subsidiarity, which the school is to be presenting couples at bound to observe when it Marriage Encounter weekends. cooperates in sex education, by “Every time a married couple entering into the same spirit that made love, they were physically animates the parents.” restating their wedding vow s to each other - in fact, they were celebrating the sacrament o f marriage. The Church holds that sex, because o f its power to unite, create, and perfect, actually PARENTS and their children serves a sacramental function in need to realise that sexuality is so the context o f marriage, and that much more than the birds and the by prayerfully contemplating the bees, noted the couple. Catholics intimate union between a man cannot reduce sexuality to “the and a w ife, w e can get a glim pse marital act” nor as merely a o f what it will be like to be united physical thing nor confine their with God when w e go to heaven understanding o f Christian and celebrate our Eternal sexuality “to the bedroom”. Wedding Feast with our D ivine Said Mark, “sexuality is not L o v er...” just something you express Every marital act, when through lovemaking although it offered to God “with the right includes that. Sexuality is a intention, becom es prayer,” ‘construct’- a recipe - made up of remarked Monica. several different ingredients,
A healthy, holy catholic sexuality
Bigger than the birds and the bees
CatholicNews □ Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003
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When do we say what to our children? WHEN educating the children, each child should receive individualised formation, they advised. A parent can adapt the stages o f education to the particular requirements o f each child. However, they caution that “the m ost intimate aspects o f sexuality education must be communicated in a personalised dialogue, therefore one to one.” Parents must also speak the truth. There’s nothing wrong with limiting what told as long as it is true and com plete, they advised. “Otherwise, you are setting your child up to ask som eone else whose answers you may not approve o f.” They must also be prepared to share with their children their own struggles with their sexuality without going into details. Generally speaking, the father is primarily responsible to teach and model healthy sexuality to his sons . Likewise the mother to her daughters. At all times, children must be showered with affection and affirmation to “scotch guard” them, making them resistant to external influences. □
Laying the foundation
GUIDELINES
(Birth - 4yrs)
When and what of sex education
DEVELOP in them: • An appreciation for and mastery over their bodies, like eating up their food and not being fussy. • Trust in God and in others, starting with parents, plus a strong sense o f our trust in them; • Generosity - doing things for the good o f others out o f love eg. Sharing their toys, putting away their toys properly each time after playing, • The knowledge that God is the author o f life, which is a beautiful gift. • Basic physical differences between boys and girls eg. Why do boys and girls look different? Because God made them different; Where do babies com e from? Babies com e from God w ho gives them to mummies and daddies to love and look after. If you see your toddler touching his private part, simply say, “Please stop, w e don’t touch ourselves that way.” • Safe and appropriate ways to express em otions eg. When a child kicks or bites, teach him to use words to express his feelings rather than his body parts. • Obedience - Respect of
appropriate boundaries set by parents. And it is important to teach them, in the right way, to obey the first time.
The years of innocence (5 - 9yrs/puberty) DURING this stage, they are normally at ease with their body and its functions and w ill accept the need for m odesty in dress and behaviour. For example, now is the time to teach that he closes the bathroom door when bathing, not to run around naked in public, that children o f opposite sexes have separate bedrooms. • Formation o f the conscience, em otional and intellectual development. Provide good exam ples o f self-control. • Teach the boys how to behave like gentlem en and the girls like ladies. D on ’t tolerate boys hitting girls no matter what.
The apprenticeship years (Puberty 10 - 14yrs) BE attentive to their Christian formation. Encourage frequent reception o f the sacraments.
• Be attentive also to their physical and psychological development without showing anxiety, fear or obsessive concern. • Educate them about the changes occurring in their body with basic biology. Give them what they need to care for their bodies. Include som e basic information about family planning. • Teach the virtue o f chastity. G ive them an understanding of the context o f procreation, marriage and the family. • Initiate basic discussions about identity and how to find his/her place in the world. D iscuss sexual feelings and appropriate ways to manage them. • Encourage your child to approach you if he has any questions but don’t pry. Look instead for indirect signs that your child needs some guidance eg. Have you noticed stains on your son ’s bedsheets • Rather than sitting the child down to give “the talk” in one go, reveal in bits and pieces at tim es and stages as you see fit and done naturally eg. On a
W i t h s ix k id s a n d a n e x te n d e d f a m ily , M a r k a n d M o n ic a L i m
drive to the supermarket,. • Teach them to pray to St Joseph or the prayer, Blessed Be Your P u rity every morning. • Teach them to mind their language and to speak respectfully o f the opposite sex. Show this especially by your own exam ple and especially in the way mum and dad speak to and o f each other.
The vocational years (Adolescence 15 - 19yrs) TO help the adolescent find his/ her sense o f identity, help them to think about their values, beliefs, characteristics, what they want to be known for at the end o f their life etc. Then ask them to ask themselves if others would be able to tell, just by looking at their answers which are the choices they have made and by the way they organise their lives and the people they associate with. The answers w ill show if they at least have the seeds o f an identity and the strength o f that identity. And if our children should make a mistake despite all the right things w e’ve done? W e’ll still shower them with our love and help them through this difficult period, giving them hope to begin again. □
a r e a n “ e n d a n g e r e d s p e c ie s .”
B u c k in g th e tr e n d By Mel-Diamse Lee CONSIDERING that even Catholics nowadays balk at the notion o f having more than two kids to be “open” to parenting six children sounds like an insurmountable challenge. But not to Mark and Monica Lim. “When w e really discussed all the issues w e were worried about, w e could not honestly classify any o f them as being grave enough to not have more children,” remarked the couple from the parish o f St Ignatius. Mrs Lim said being grounded in the Catholic faith helped them“see each child as a blessing and another opportunity to do better as a person and as a parent. It definitely also helped us make that leap o f faith that w e would be able to provide as God would not leave us alone if w e were doing his w ill.” Quipped Mr Lim who holds a regional position in an IT company, “If w e were not Catholic, our decision would have been almost entirely influenced by material considerations instead.” Mrs Lim, 41, is the director o f Cherrybrook Kindergarten, an establishment they co-founded with several others three years ago. The Lims with their six children are not the only members o f the Lim household though. They belong to a threegeneration, extended home which includes Mark’s 81-year-old mother, his elder sister
A
T H E L im children, clockwise fro m le ft: K atherine, 3 ; Elizabeth, 9 ; Timothy, 10; V ictoria, 14; M atthew, 22 months; and C hristian, 6.
and two house helpers. So rare are such Singaporeans who defy the trend for smaller, nuclear families that Mr W illie Cheng o f the Committee on the Family called them an “endangered species” during his talk at the 10th Human Life International Congress from N ov 6-9. (See main story) While the Lims confess to having less
time for sleep and personal “idle” time and the kids howl for “not having a room o f my own... hardly any quiet moment” and stiffer competition for computer, TV and food, they run a litany o f stuff big families enjoy. These range from having “more happiness, more laughter, more fun on outings, lots o f hands to help out, to more peole to play with.” Not only has the family becom e more
generous in sharing what they have among many members, they have also grown more spiritual. “W e’ve definitely resorted to prayer much more. W e’ve becom e more grateful as w e realise just how much God protects and provides,” said Mrs Lim. With both holding demanding, full time jobs, priorities had to be set right, the Lims agreed. “We have clear priorities that guide our decisions so we know when and what we need to cut back on or give more time and attention to. Working with lists and a planner for each day helps greatly,” volunteered Mr Lim. “M ost importantly,” said Mrs Lim, “w e consider everything before God which gives us the necessary serenity and try to give priority to our spiritual formation.” One o f the priorities is also time for one another. “We are able to catch a meal or do some shopping together once or twice a month. We often keep each other company on trips to work or on the way to ferrying kids so w e take the opportunity to chat then. We also chat when they’ve all gone to bed but not every night as som etim es one or the other o f us has to com plete some work. We also try to go to Mass together,” said Mrs Lim. And yes, there is time for the older children to have one-on-one time with their parents. “We make it a point to try and give each o f them, especially the older ones, individual time with one or both parents,” she added. □
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Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003 □ CatholicNews
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The family in crisis
December is my month of special memories, says Goh Sin Tub. Here’s why. I grumbled to Mother. But she said, “Your father says we never pray together as a family. He says he’s got to seize this chance, or w e’ll never pray as a family.”
By Mel-Diamse Lee SINGAPORE - Divorces and annulments filed under the W om en’s Charter increased from 2,662 to 4,293 from l990 to 2002. Those filed under the Muslim Law Act rose from 972 to 1,532 for the same period. Marriages below 10 years proved more vulnerable with 58% o f them ending in divorce in 2002. According to Mr W illie Cheng o f the Committee on the Family, marriage counsellors name three reasons for divorce: unrealistic expectations about what marriage entails, immaturity on the part o f the couples, and work stress. Maybe, the real reason is the change in attitude in and perception o f marriage, he suggested. Mr Cheng was addressing delegates to the Pacific Congress on Love, Life and the Family at the Regional English Language Centre. “Very simply, divorces are now just too acceptable. A lso, attitudes have m oved from loving the persons w e marry to marrying the person w e love. With all the em phasis on romance in modern society, couples seek to marry the person they love - or think they love -an d at the first sign o f trouble, decide that perhaps they made the wrong decision.” Breakups among mature marriages - those that lasted more than 20 years - are also on the rise, from 11.4% o f all civil divorces in 1990 to 20% in 2002. A s a result o f more divorces, there are now more single-parent fam ilies, 79% o f whom are single mothers. Fifty percent o f single parents did not complete secondary school. Not surprisingly 75% o f these have a monthly household incom e of less than S$ 1,000.
Less families formed, more aged MORE Singaporeans are choosing to stay single so less fam ilies are being formed. When they do marry, these men and women do so later in life and hence have less children. A ll this resulted in a population growth that has “retarded” to 1.37 in 2002 from a Dragon Year high o f 1.96 in 1988. Singapore has one o f the fastest ageing populations in the world today with 7% o f the population comprising the elderly, 65 years old and above. B y 2030 this is expected to rise to 19%. □
By Goh Sin Ttib
I REMEMBER one December for its introduction to the prayer beads o f m y father. It was Christmas Eve o f 1961 and our extended family, threegeneration strong, were at Father’s house for our celebration dinner. We had arrived, all a-twinkle with the dancing lights o f the stores and merry with the jingle o f festive carols everywhere. M y siblings and our fam ilies were primed ready for a fun-filled feast o f a family reunion. I was then very much an achievement-orientated man, well drilled into hurrying through whatever did not have any career impact. I had other programmes to cram into the evening and was therefore counting on a fast gobble with gusto and then a vamoose with vroom, my wife Sylvia and our children in tow. But that was not to be. Instead of the customary onesentence prayer of blessing, executed pronto while seated, which I had expected, Father stood up (an ominous sign!) and solemnly asked us to pray with him as a family. I was about to protest, but Mother shushed me down. I resigned myself to a long-winded petition to God on high on behalf of us people down here below. Father could be tedious in speech especially as he grew older and his health went downhill. But Father said, “I’m not going to make a long speech to God in heaven...” A ray of hope? Quashed immediately! “Instead, let’s say the rosary,” Father announced. I groaned. That was infinitely worse! A rosary was the Catholic version of prayer said on beads. Something many religions have, only we Catholics have got it down to a fine art form. A rosary would take ages. Even the quickie version was at least three whole Hail Marys (our prayer to the Mother of God to pray for us from now right down to our hour of death!), followed by a “decade” of 10 more. The standard rendering would go to 53 Hail Marys. The super-duper, whole-hog marathon called for a heroic 153 Hail Marys - the kind of oblation of substance we stoically offer for our dearly departed at wakes (okay, I suppose, on such occasions since the VIP present was dead anyway).
EVEN as I agonized over the prospect, Father launched into his first decade with introductory words about the agony of Jesus Christ: “He prayed alone in the night on the eve of his death. His family of apostles were either not with him, or not really there already fast asleep or almost asleep...”
I was almost asleep. To me voices in supplication tended to sound soporific. Instead of winding up after one decade, Father went into his second lap. Another 10 Hail Marys, this time prefaced with remarks about Jesus being scourged. He enunciated “scourged” with unusual passion as though he himself felt the scourging... Over-dramatizing? Maybe not. Perhaps, he related better than we did to what he was saying: he too had been scourged - with chronic gastric and heart pains... The decade took him decades to meander through. And now, before the next decade, he talked about Jesus crowned with thorns... Here he suddenly faltered, and his eyes reddened. Mother’s, too. Mine did not. But at that point I said my first honest Hail Mary of that evening. I could sense something going on ... We arrived at the fourth decade. “Jesus is made to carry his cross to Mount Calvary...” Father said. He paused to let that sink in or was it because he felt a weight
he carried. On reflection later I realised that, in an indirect way, Father (who never complained to us about his aches and pains) was telling us he was carrying a cross. And then the last decade. “Jesus dies on the cross,” Father announced in a hush - and lowered his voice in sorrow and respect. Mother’s voice in her prayer response sounded hoarse too. Something was definitely going on. I was missing out something unsaid, I thought. “Perhaps he’s just waxing overly sentimental,” I perished the thought.
THREE weeks after that evening, Father fell critically ill. He was admitted to hospital. Soon he fell into a coma from which he was never to wake up. The family took turns to keep vigil by his bedside. I put aside rushing around on my hyper active concerns. I spent days and nights with him. Father’s last rosary recital began to haunt me. That last prayer session with family was sacred to him. And I had treated it so cavalierly... His rosary recital now revealed its true self in all the pathos of its meaning to him. It
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More SlntpporcM Stories
was his farewell prayer with us. And I, the son of whom he was specially proud and to whom he had been specially good - 1 had been so insensitive, so cavalier about it! Again and again I tried to talk to him at his bedside. He did not reply. He could not. He was already deep into his coma, his sleep for a whole w eek... I was in a panic of confusion and guilt. How to reach him? How to tell him I understood now? How to ask for his forgiveness? A rosary! A rosary recitation would do it, I realised. I could not find his. I searched for and found mine. I said the full rosary at his bedside - 153 desperate and intense Hail Marys. He remained silent. Could he hear me at all? Did he understand - that I understood? How to know for sure? Was there a way to connect with him in his present absent state? Yes, there was one way - a chain both physical and metaphysical, a link that could prove miraculous: my rosary. I cushioned in my trembling fingers the cross of the crucified Christ at the summit of my rosary. I put the crucifix to my father’s lips. “Kiss the cross, Father,” I said. A desperate plea, an impossible son-to-father prayer. An appeal to one already pronounced braindead... Whispered in prayer and faith. And hope. And love. And it happened! Father, deep in his coma, puckered up his lips which trembled and kissed the cross - his last communion with me. No words, no awakening - but without any doubt, a kiss. An act of love passed on through a rosary. From that moment on the rosary came to life for me.
IN a manner o f speaking, Father started to die with the rosary he prayed at his last family dinner. And I started to live with that rosary, although I knew it only later. At first, those beads were my chain of guilt And then, through my father’s kiss, it became a pardon and an epiphany hardly deserved. And in the ensuing years, as I lived with prayers, whether with or without beads, I matured in tolerance towards all who pray, however they pray, whatever their religion or non-religion, whatever This story by words they chant. And Goh Sin Tub however soporific their was first voices in supplication published in might sound... “One Father’s praying at his Singapore 3” last family dinner in 1961 which is became a milestone in my available life. It was a parting gift from Popular from a father in his way Book shops more eloquent than I ever at $9.60 plus allowed for in his lifetime. GST. Yes, I remember that December. □
CatholicNews □ Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003
BRADLEY BIRZER is author o f “J.R.R. Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth: Understanding Middle-earth” (ISI Books). He shares with Zenit how Tolkien grounded the myth o f “The Lord o f the Rings” in Christian reality.
very quickly into heresy; the results o f such false materialism are all around us: the gulags, the holocaust camps and the killing fields are their unholy monuments.
Q : How does Tolkien’s Catholicism impregnate his worldview and his fiction?
Q : Why have you placed Tolkien within the Christian humanist tradition represented by Thomas More and T.S. Eliot, Dante and C.S. Lewis?
Birzer: Tolkien wrote to a close friend in
Birzer: Christian humanism argues for a
1953 that “The Lord o f the Rings” is a religious and Catholic work; unconsciously at first, but consciously in the revision. Tolkien was a devout and practicing Catholic m ost o f his life. According to his son, M ichael, Roman Catholicism “pervaded all his thinking, beliefs and everything else.” Tolkien believed that the true Christian should be an artist, not a propagandist. He argued that one should seek the timeless truths, but put them in a new light. The artist becom es a “sub-creator,’’the idea o f sub-creation being to glorify Creation, never to m ock or pervert it. T Tolkien rejected the idea o f art for art’s sake, or innovation for innovation’s sake. There was a truth, and the artist was especially gifted to tap into that truth.
continuity o f traditions: the Greek into the Roman, the Jewish into the Christian, and the synthesis o f all in the Middle A ges. A true Christian humanist would not only understand Scripture and Tradition, but he would also understand the “greats” of Western civilization: Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, etc. Christian humanism has often arisen as a strong force during some of the most tumultuous times o f the Church: during the Renaissance and Reformation as well as during the 20th century rise of the ideologies o f the Right and Left. Tolkien felt no kinship with the 20th century and its terror regimes, mass genocides and overwhelming, conformist technologies and industries. Tolkien, an Augustinian Christian humanist, believed in the sanctity and individuality o f all life. Each person, as best expressed in Gandalf’s conversation with Frodo regarding Gollum, is bom into a certain time and a certain place. He is bom for a reason. A s Aristotle wrote, “Nature makes nothing in vain.” Everything has a purpose. St. Thomas finished A ristotle’s thought: “Grace perfects nature.” Within Creation, therefore, each person has a role, a set amount o f time, and a number o f gifts. He can choose to fight for God and the com m on good, he can use his gifts for avarice, or he can ignore them altogether. Tolkien’s Middle-earth mythology, powerfully Christian humanist, argues that w e live as a part o f continuity and that every being and time and event is vitally important to the whole, to Creation itself. When Frodo complains o f living in an evil, burdensome time, Gandalf replies: ‘“ So do I ... and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. A ll w e have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” □ z e n it
The religious symbolism
Q : What are som e o f the religious symbols in “The Lord o f the Rings”?
In J.R.R. Tolkien’s world, Frodo, Gandalf and Aragom each represent the different offices of Christ: respectively priest, prophet and king.
Birzer: In “The Lord o f the R ings,” several religious sym bols exist. My personal favorite is the Elvish Lembas, translated as the “way bread” or “life bread.” Even one piece o f the bread can sustain a person for a day. Tolkien wrote that it “fed the w ill,” and certainly without it, neither Frodo nor Sam would have made the journey across Mordor and up Mount Doom. For Tolkien, nothing represented a greater gift from God than the actual Body and Blood o f Christ. “I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the B lessed Sacrament,” Tolkien wrote to his son Michael. “There you w ill find romance, glory, honor, fidelity and the true way o f all your loves upon earth.” Frodo, Gandalf and Aragom each represent the different offices o f Christ: respectively priest, prophet and king. Each o f these characters places him self
in harm’s way for the greater good; each is w illing to lay down his life for his brother. When Gandalf faces the Balrog, he not only accepts death, but he names his master, the Secret Fire. According to what Tolkien told a friend, the Secret Fire was the Holy Spirit. There are also several Marian figures throughout “The Lord o f the Rings.” The most important, I think, is Elbereth, a Vala, or archangel, to whom Sam prays as he thrusts Sting, the Elvish sword, into Shelob. A s Tolkien admitted, the Mother o f Christ provided him with all o f his understanding o f “beauty in majesty and sim plicity.”
Birzer: Only since the so-called Enlightenment have intellectuals en masse turned to studying primarily the material world at the expense o f the spiritual world. But man is the “m etaxy,” the “in between.” He is flesh and spirit. To ignore one at the expense o f the other is to verge
Q : In your book, you write that Tolkien’s mythical world is essentially truer than the one w e think w e see around us every day. Briefly, can you explain your argument?
SAINT NICHOLAS St. Nicholas o f Bari is portrayed in this church window holding a bag o f coins. Nicholas, who lived in the fourth century, is said to have secretly given gold to poor girls for their dowries. This legend gave rise to his patronage o f children and the giving o f gifts in his name at Christmas time. His feast is D ec. 6. □
WARMHEARTED yuletide com edy about a foundling (Will Ferrell) raised by elves in Santa’s workshop who travels from the North Pole to N ew York City in order to reconnect with his long-lost father (James Caan), a workaholic scrooge bereft o f Christmas cheer. Full o f goofy candy-cane humor, director Jon Favreau’s holiday film imparts a strong family-friendly m essage, but uses a secular sieve to filter out any religious references about the true meaning o f Christmas. Minimal m ildly crude language and humor. The US Conference o f Catholic B ishops’ O ffice for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II - adults and adolescents.
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Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003 □ CatholicNews
T H E LA S T W O R D
W e liv e t o g iv e g lo r y t o G o d A FRIEND o f mine likes to tease the Jesuits about their motto: “For the greater glory o f God.” “God doesn’t need you to enhance his glory,” he likes to kid them. Partly h e’s right, but the Jesuits are right too: God doesn’t need our praises, but w e need to give praise, otherwise our lives degenerate into bitterness and violence. Why? Spiritual writers have always told us that w e are either growing or regressing, never neutral. This means that w e are either praising som eon e or dem anding w e be praised, offerin g gratitude or muttering in bitterness, blessing or cursing, turning attention away from ourselves or dem anding it be focused on us, expressing admiration or demanding it, praying a doxology or doing violence. We are always doing one or the other and it’s only by deflecting attention away from ourselves, which is what w e do in essence when w e give glory to God, that w e save ourselves from egoism , jealousy, bitterness, greed, and violence. It’s no accident that when good art depicts som eone as being martyred, it alw ays depicts the victim ’s eyes as turned upwards, towards heaven, w hile the eyes o f those who are doing the killing or watching it are turned in other directions, never upward. A good artist know s that if w e don’t have our eyes turned heavenward we are involved som ehow in violence. U N LESS w e ’re consistently praising som ebody or som ething beyond ourselves w e w ill be con sistently speaking words o f jealousy, bitterness, and anger. That’s in fact our daily experience: w e sit around talking with each other and, invariably, unless we are praising som eone w e ’re “killing” som eone. G ossip, slander, harsh judgem ent, vicious com m ent, are often both the tone and substance o f our co n v ersa tio n s and th e y ’re the very antithesis o f a d oxology, o f offering praise to God. N othing sounds less like a doxology (“Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the H oly Spirit’” ) than many o f our everyday conversations. The main reason our faith asks us to constantly render glory to God is that the more w e praise the less w e slander, g o ssip , or pass judgem ent. O ffering praise to God, and others, is what saves us from bitterness and violence. ®.v Fr Ronald A n d , in th e en d , o v e r c o m in g Rolheiser bitterness and violence is the greatest spiritual hurdle o f all. Much tougher than the Sixth commandment is the Fifth (“Thou Shalt N ot K ill!”). A s Henri N ouw en used to say, w e ’re killing each other all the time. N obody is shot by a gun w ho isn ’t first shot by a word, and nobody is shot by a word who is n ’t first shot by a thought. Our thoughts are too frequently murderous and soon enough get expressed in our words: “W ho does he think he is!” “She thinks sh e’s so sp ecial!” “W hat a hypocrite!” “She hasn’t had an original thought in years!” “It’s all about him isn ’t it!”’ Underneath those com m ents, driving that bitterness, is a notso-subtle anxiety and hurt: “What , about me? W h o’s noticing me? W ho’s giving anything to m e?” I say this sympathetically because it’s not easy to not be anxious in this way, especially for the young, and it’s not easy, after the neuroses o f m id-life and beyond, to not be bitter or not feel cheated. For both the young and the old, it’s hard to simply say to som eone else, God included., “glory be to you ” and really mean it. W E ’RE made in G od’s im age, have a divine fire in us that over charges us for this world, and live lives o f quiet desperation. That desperation, all too often, expresses itself in negative, bitter, and even murderous judgem ents because the divine in us has been ignored and w e feel rage about this slight. But that’s precisely why daily, hourly, w e need to give glory to God, to pray a doxology. Only by focusing ourselves on the real centre o f the universe can w e displace ourselves from that centre. When St Paul begins his Epistles, he usually does so in a rapture o f praise: “B lessed be the God and Father o f our Lord Jesus Christ from w hose great mercy w e all drink!” That isn ’t a throwaway opening, it’s a key part o f the main lesson: Only by praising something beyond ourselves do w e save ourselves from bitterness. A ll the great spiritual writers do the same: they w o n ’t write for long, no matter how bitter or difficult the topic, before they insert som e kind o f doxology: “Glory be to the Father, the Son, and H oly Spirit”. They know a deep secret: Only praise saves us from bitterness and only by blessing others do w e save ourselves from cursing them. D c a t h o u c h e r a l d
Sunday, December 7, Second Sunday in Advent Baruch 5:1-9; Psalm 126:1-6; Philippians 1:4-6,8-11; Luke 3:1-6
Prepare a way for the Lord NEAR the beginning o f his novel, Les Miserables, Victor Hugo writes that he believes that there is no such thing as “little fa cts” w hen it com es to humanity. That statement is hardly surprising, since this unforgettable tale ow es a large part o f its success to H ugo’s mastery o f detail. Within the story o f the convict Jean Valjean, Hugo weaves an im m ense amount o f inform ation about French history and society. Without these details, the story would lack the richness that has brought it to life for so many readers. In a similar way, St. Luke is also concerned with making his story as com pelling and credible as possible, and that is in part why he surrounds his narrative with historical detail. Tiberias, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip: These are all names that a first-century reader would have recognized. Some commentators suggest that Luke may be using historical detail because he is writing to someone outside the church who w on ’t accept the gospel on faith alone but needs outside facts to back it up. D etails such as these are important to us as Christians, because they emphasize that our faith is not theoretical but rooted in actual historical events. Like Luke’s original readers, w e need to see the “evidence” o f Jesus’ birth - the who, what, when, where, and how o f his first coming. This is true not only at Advent but at all times. We may be d e a lin g w ith s ic k n e s s , u n e m p lo y m en t, or relationship problems. Or w e may be doing fine on the outside, but feel spiritually empty inside. We may have even heard the gospel over and over again, but may need it to enter more deeply into our spirits: The Son o f God came into the world as one o f us. I f w e em brace the am azing reality o f the Incarnation, our lives can change. If w e accept that Jesus came as a specific person at a specific time and in a specific place, maybe w e can becom e a
little more expectant that he can com e into the historical “now ” o f our lives as w ell. Jesus is the “author and finisher” o f a masterpiece - our faith and like any great author, he is concerned with the smallest details o f our existence. That’s how much he loves us! □ “Jesus, I know you are the L o rd o f a ll history, and I give you my entire life. M ake me a p a rt o f yo u r p la n ."
St. John the Baptist c. 1542 by Tiziano
A voice cries in the w ilderness: Prepare a w ay for the L ord, m ake his paths straight.
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Sunday, December 14, Third Sunday in Advent Zephaniah 3:14-18; (Psalm) Isaiah 12:2-6; Philippians 4:4-7 Luke 3:10-18
someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals...”
WHAT then should w e do? (Luke 3: 10) With great dramatic flair, John the Baptist taught his listeners that they must reform their lives in preparation for the M essiah’s coming. He called on his hearers to give generously to the poor, and he called on tax collectors and soldiers to put away corruption from among them. John knew that these types o f personal reforms w ould open up their hearts to receive the one who was coming to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire Jesus, our Redeemer. It seem s clear from John’s teaching that he was
drawing a connection between reforming our lives and our ability to receive the Holy Spirit. In fact, one o f John’s favourite exhortations was: “Bear fruit worthy o f repentance” (Matthew 3:8). For John, preparing for the M essiah’s coming involved more than just repenting for sin. It also meant making visible changes to our lifestyle as proof o f that repentance. Surely a tax collector who suddenly came clean in his business dealings would have caused quite a stir in his town. Imagine the look on p eop le’s faces as he went from house to house returning the money he had overcharged. Imagine their further surprise as he announced loudly that he was a changed man, and that he was now waiting for the One who would baptize with the H oly Spirit! H o w ab out y ou ? Can you r frie n d s and neighbours see a change in you as Christmas approaches? D o they see more joy, more generosity, and more love? If they do, then you also can count yourself among those who have heard the Baptist’s call to repentance. The family o f the soldier who reformed his life after hearing John would surely have gone out to see this preacher who caused such a change in their son. Let us pray that our lives too w ill inspire others to seek and find this Jesus, who has so powerfully worked in us. □ “ Jesus. I com m it m yself to liv in g a life that bears f r u it in keeping w ith repentance. F ill me, Lord, w ith yo u r H o ly S pirit, and give me the grace and strength to be fa ith fu l to you. M a y those I meet today see C h rist in me, so that they too w ill be led to ask: ‘W hat must I do to be saved?’ ”
CatholicNews □ Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003
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¥iewpr>itrte C a th o lic N e w s Fortnightly newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore Managing Editor F r Johnson Fernandez Staff correspondent M s. M e l Diamse-Lee Layout M s. Elaine Ong Consultant M r Francis Yeo T O C O N T A C T US Editorial Email: cnedit@catholic.org.sg Please include your fu ll name, address and telephone number. Advertisements: Ms. Elaine Ong Em ail: elong@ catholic.org.sg In Memoriam :Ms. Susan L im Email: suslim@ catholic.org.sg Subscriptions: Richard Paul Email: rpaul@ catholic.org.sg Address: The Catholic News Office 2 Highland Road #01-02 Singapore 549102. Telephone: 6858-3055
J e s u it w e b s ite , e m a il G o s p e l v e ry g o o d I HEARTILY recommend to every Catholic the website w w w .jesuit.org.sg described by Fr Philip Heng, S.J., in his article, Pray daily - U se the Internet! (CN N ov 23& 30). A s Fr Heng promised: “If you follow this prayer method daily, w e assure you that you will experience life in a more meaningful and fulfilling way.” I have been a subscriber for some years and believe me, I have benefited im mensely spiritually. The Gospel Em essage makes me aware o f God and the Catholic faith all the time, o f the need to be positive, patient, tolerant and charitable towards
others, and all the other virtues that w e Catholics should have. The daily ministry is a vital spiritual tonic w e need for keeping our hopes high as we tread through the troubled and confused world w e live in. A ll Catholics owning computers should not m iss the daily spiritual food that enriches our souls. □ A nthon y Oei Singapore 575146 Editor’s note: To subscribe to free Daily Gospel go to www.jesuit.org.sg and at the bottom left of screen (immediately above THE JESUITS) click the “Click here to proceed,” scroll to the bottom o f the page, click the “Click here to Subscribe to the Daily Gospel,” fill in form and send. You will receive email messages the next day.
N o , C h r is tia n s a n d M u s lim s d o n o t w o r s h ip th e s a m e G o d I AM appalled at Sr. Theresa Sanders’ article ‘When Muslims Pray’ (CN July20-27) where she wrote that M uslims and Christians pray to the same God. We must bear in mind that similar external spiritual practices by Christians and M uslims do not necessary mean that w e worship the same God. There is a world o f difference between the two religions. M uslims do not accept the Trinitarian God (Surat 5:73) - he has not begotten a Son (Surat 6:100-101); Jesus is only a prophet (Surat 6:85 ), not Son of : God (Surat 9:30). The faith w e Christians profess is alien to Muslims,
especially the incarnation o f Jesus, his crucifixion and resurrection to redeem our sins. These beliefs are considered by M uslim scholars as errors. If what Sr Sanders said ‘... Christians and Muslims look to the same God as the source o f each person’s life and destiny’ - is true, then w e should wonder at the purpose o f evangelization in line with our church mission to proclaim Jesus Christ as Son of God. Though w e respect the values and beliefs o f other religions, it should not be at the expense o f our own beliefs. C larence Ting Bintulu,Sarawak
Y e s , C h r is tia n s a n d M u s lim s By Father Tom Michel, SJ
w o r s h ip th e s a m e G o d
VATICAN CITY - The Second Vatican Council teaches that Muslims “adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself, merciful and all-powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to humans. They take pains to submit wholeheartedly to even God’s inscrutable decrees”. Pope John Paul II has said the fact that Christians and Muslims worship “the One and same God” is a factor that draws the two communities together and lays the basis for love and cooperation between the two communities of believers. But some Christians and Muslims question whether Allah and God are the same deity. Allah is the name by which Muslims and Arab Christians have for centuries called upon the One God. Ancient inscriptions in the Arabian peninsula seem to indicate that Christians in Arabia already referred to God as “Allah” before the time of Muhammad. The word Al-lah literally means “The God” and is the equivalent of ho theos, the Greek term used in the New Testament to refer to God. In Arabic translations of the Bible, the name Allah is always used to translate ho theos. Over the centuries, Arab Muslims and Christians have disagreed over many issues, both religious and political, but they have never accused one another of worshipping different gods. Moreover, the people of Malta, an almost 100% Catholic country whose language is similar to Arabic, also call God “Allah”, even in the prayers of the Christian liturgy.
SOME Christians have objected that since Muslims’ understanding of God is not Trinitarian, how can the God of Muslims and Christians be one and the same. One could ask
the same question about the great figures of the Old Testament Abraham, Moses, Isaiah or Jeremiah - whose understanding of God was not Trinitarian, or even of figures like John the Baptist and Mary in the New Testament. They all worshipped the one God of “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”) and sought to do God’s will. It was only later Christian reflection that arrived at an understanding of the One God as Trinity. Just as Christians would never claim that Abraham, Moses and John the Baptist worshipped a different God because they did not understand God’s Triune nature, so it would be wrong for a Christian to claim that Allah, worshipped by Muslims, is not the God of Christians. It is not only Christians who question whether the two communities worship the same God. Some Muslims accuse Christians of worshipping three gods. This is based on the view that the Christian doctrine of “one God in three persons’” constitutes a kind of committee, a sort of “division of labour” among three individuals who share in the work of creating, saving and judging humankind. All theologians and Church teachings agree that this is a misunderstanding of Christian faith, yet Muslims may be excused for holding this distorted view, for that is the way the Christian doctrine has often been presented to them. The ancient Councils of the Church like those of Nicea,
Ephesus and Chalcedon actually defined Christian faith as holding 4C one God in three hypostases”. That Greek word is often rendered as 44 persons” but according to Karl Barth, a leading Lutheran theologian of the past century, it means “a way of being”. According to Karl Rahner, one of the Catholic Church’s most important theologians in recent times, it is “a
T W O -Y E A R -O L D H a q is m om entarily distracted w hile p ra y in g alongside his fa th e r a t a mosque.
mode of subsisting” - that is, a way of being and acting. In other words, Christian faith affirms one God who has three essential, eternal ways of being and acting. The one eternal God has an eternal Message, a Message that Christians believe God expressed perfectly in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus “incarnated” that Message in that it became visible in him, in the way he lived and what he taught. But this same God actually lives and moves in all creation. From the smallest subatomic
particle of molecular science to the driving force behind super galaxies, there is always something that is not measurable or “quantifiable”, because it is divine That “something”, that divine spark, is God’s transcendent presence in all things, constantly guiding, teaching, encouraging. Christians call that divine presence the Holy Spirit. The Trinity, then, is a way of affirming that the one God does not remain distant from human history or outside the created world, but has these two “ways” or “modes” of being present and active. In a Trinitarian understanding, God need not have recourse to created mediators like angels or books, for God’s ways or modes are themselves divine. As such, the Christian belief could be said to be the “radicalisation of monotheism”.
DOES this mean that Christians and Muslims are simply saying the same thing in different words? Not at all. Islam and Christianity are two different religions and have different teachings, and God is able to save both Muslims and Christians if they faithfully follow their respective paths. What it means, though, is that both are directing their attention and service and love toward the same merciful and compassionate God. What does it mean, practically
speaking, that Muslims and Christians worship the one and same God? It means, for one thing, that the two communities are not rivals or enemies. When Christians hear Muslims being called to prayer, they should be happy, for it is their God who is going to be worshipped and served. When they see good Muslims performing the prayer, fasting in Ramadan, and doing good works like giving to the poor, Christians should praise God for the fact that so many of their Muslim sisters and brothers are doing God’s will. Similarly, Muslims can regard Christians as fellow monotheists with whom they share some of the most basic orientations to life. They need not regard Christians as kafirs (unbelievers) or mushriks (pagans). Like Muslims, good Christians want to submit their lives to God. Jesus’ preaching revolved about the “kingdom of God” - that is, what a person’s life is like when God rules and governs every aspect of it. Isn’t there a deep point of contact between real submission, true Islam, and the commitment to accept God as the sovereign ruler of one’s life and destiny? Is it this point of contact to which the Quran was perhaps referring when it stated: “And you will find that the closest in affection to those who believe [Muslims] are those who say, ‘We are Christians’, for among them are priests and monks, and they are not arrogant” (Quran 5:82). The one God to whom we submit our lives wants all Christian and Muslim to reject arrogance and to come before him together, so that God can govern our societies according to his will. □ ucan Father Tom Michel is Ecumenical Secretary o f the Federation o f Asian Bishops’ Conferences, and Secretary of the Jesuits fo r Interreligious Dialogue.
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Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003 □ CatholicNews
Y/hmKj On S T F R A N C IS X A V IE R M A J O R S E M IN A R Y 199, Po n g g ol S e v e n te e n th Ave, S in g a p o re 829645 REGISTRATION FOR 1ST SEMESTER CLOSES ON DECEMBER 15, 2003 TERM: JANUARY 19 TO M A Y 28, 2004 1ST QUARTER : JANUARY 19 TO M A R C H 16, 2004 2N D QUARTER : M A R C H 22 TO M A Y 28, 2004
COURSES FOR THE 1stQUARTER
• Scripture: Introduction to New Testament - Fr Lawrence Yeo Wednesday 9 am -10.50 am & Friday 9am- 10.50am (alternate Friday)
• Introduction to Systematic Family Therapy - Fr Charles Sim SJ Monday 11 am -12.50 pm
>History of Philosophy (Ancient) ■ Fr Noel Chin
«Scripture: Introduction to Pauline Letters/ Roman - Fr Ambrose Vaz
Wednesday 11 am - 12.50 pm
Tuesday 9 am - 10.50 am & Friday 11am -12.50pm (alternate Friday)
• History of Philosophy (Modern) Fr Henry Siew Wednesday 11 am - 12.50 pm
«Sacred Liturgy (Liturgical Year) FrTom 0" Neill SJ COURSES FOR THE2ndQUARTER
Monday 11 am - 12.50 pm
»Philosophical Anthropology Fr Henry Siew Tuesday 9 am -10.50 am & Friday 11 am - 12.50 pm
COURSES FOR THE 1SI&2NDQUARTER • Christology- FrWilliamGoh Tuesday 11 am - 12.50 pm & Wednesday 9 am -10.50 am
• Scripture: Gospel of Mark - Fr Lawrence Yeo Wednesday 9 am -10.50 am & Friday 9am-10.50am (alternate Friday)
>Scripture: 1 &2 Thessalonians Fr Ambrose Vaz Tuesday 9 am -10.50 am & Friday 1lam-12.50pm (alternate Friday)
■Sacred Liturgy (History &Theology of the Mass) - Fr Tom O'Neill SJ Monday 11 am-12.50 pm
>Sacrament: Baptism / Confirmation Fr Michael Arro MEP Tuesday & Wednesday 11am-2.50pm
>Fundamental Morals - Fr James Yeo Wednesday 11 am -12.50 pm & Friday 9 am - 10.50 am
Thursday 11 am - 12.50 pm
Tueday9am-10.50am& Friday 11 am-12.50 pm
>Mystery of Salvation - Fr Anthony Ho >Vatican II (Church) Fr Paul Kee CSsR Thursday 9 am-10.50 am
>Missiology - Fr Kenson Koh Monday & Thursday 9am - 10.50am
>Canon Law(General &People of God) - Fr Terence Pereira
>Personal Growth &Relationship Sr Elizabeth Sim FDCC Wednesday 11 am -12.50 pm
>Methodology - Sr Maria Lau IJ
Friday 9 am-10.50 am
S e r v ic e in S in g a p o r e P a r is h e s C IT Y D IS T R IC T Mon. Dec 15:8pm Church ofStBemadette Tues. Dec 16: 8 pm Novena Church Wed. Dec 17: 8 pm Church of St Teresa Thu. Dec 18: 8 pm Church of St Michael Fri. Dec 19:8 pm Church of Ss Peter & Paul N O R T H D IS T R IC T Mon. Dec 15: 10.30 am, 7 pm, 8.30 pm Church of the Risen Christ Tue. Dec 16: 8 pm Church of St Joseph Wed. Dec 17: 10.30 am, 7 pm. 8.30 pm Church of Christ the King Thu. Dec 18: 8 pm Church of St Anthony Thu. Dec 18: 10.30 am, 8 pm Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea Mon. Dec 22: 10.30 am, 8 pm Church of the Holy Spirit
W E S T D IS T R IC T Mon. Dec 15: 8 pm Church of St Mary of the Angels
Tue. Dec 16: 8 pm Blessed Sacrament Church
Wed. Dec 17: 8 pm Church of the Holy
Cross
Thu. Dec 18: 8 pm Church of St Francis of Assisi
Fri. Dec 19: 8 pm Church of St Ignatius
»Introduction to Confucianism Fr Henry Siew
Tueday & Friday 9 am -10.50 am
>Church History (Early &Medieval) Fr Tom Curran OCD
A d v e n t P e n ite n tia l
Thursday 11 am-12.50 pm
E A S T D IS T R IC T Mon. Dec 15: 10.30 am, 8 pm Church of
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Tue. Dec 16: 8 pm Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace Wed. Dec 17: 10.30 am, 8 pm Church of the Holy Family Thu. Dec 18: 10.30 am, 8 pm Church of the Holy Trinity Fri. Dec 19: 8 pm Church of St Stephen
S E R A N G O O N D IS T R IC T Tue. Dec 16: 8 pm St Anne’s Church Wed. Dec 17: 8 pm Church of St Francis Xavier
Thu. Dec 18: 8 pm Church of St Vincent De Paul
Fri. Dec 19: 8 pm Immaculate Heart of Mary Church
Mon. Dec 22: 8 pm Church of the Nativity
Courses are open to religious and laity. For enquiries, call Rebecca Aw Tel: 6 3 8 6 - 7 1 4 0
of the BVM
S im b an g G ab i sa Sin gap ore 2003
Fax:6386-1342
E m a il: s f x m s @ p a c if ic . n e t . s g
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5th Year ‘C’ - Christmas Theme: Our Guardian Angels Eucharistic celebrations start at 8 pm. Fellowship will follow soon afterwards.
Monday Dec 15: Church of St Anthony
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(Faith). Enquiries: Francis Cepe / Tony Odiada (9477-9630, 9671-0597). Tuesday Dec 16: Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea (Hope). Enquiries: Bernard / Arman/Luis (9668-0890 / 9820-9084 / 9694-2796). Wednesday Dec 17: Church of St Francis of Assisi (Charity). Enquiries: Alda Victoriano (9762-1594). Thursday Dec 18: Church of Christ the King (Tolerance). Enquiries: Allan/Cris Sato / Lucy (9654-8467, 9237-2369, 9647-9724). Friday,Dec 19: Church ofthe Holy Family (Forgiveness). Enquiries: Lisa Mayor / Elyn Manzano (9009-5895,6781-8384) Saturday, Dec 20: Church o f St Bernadette (Kindness). Enquiries: Lito / Cecille Henares (6836-2869,98222342) Sunday Dec 21: Church of St Michael (Joy). Enquiries: Fr Angel Luciano, cicm (6392-0592) Monday Dec 22: Church of the Holy Trinity (Happiness). Enquiries: Zap/AP/ Marie Sapiera (6583-6409, 9760-8696, 9105-7720, 94783-985). Tuesday Dec 23: Novena Church (Friendship). Enquiries: Joey Peciller (6453-0559, 9820-1479). Wednesday Dec 24: St Joseph’s Church (Love). Enquiries: Jenny Arancon (67345007).
(a L o y illl M IG R A N T S
Third Anniversary In loving memory of
Second Anniversary In loving memory of
AGNES YEE AH CHEE Departed:Dec 11, 2000 In our home she is fondly remembered, Sweet memories cling to her name; Those who loved her in life sincerely, Still love her in death just the same. Always remembered by children, grand children and great grand-children.
BOBBY YAP TEONG SAN Departed:Dec 17, 2001 A loving, devoted and faithful husband, father, son, grandfather, brother and a friend. We love you. Dearly missed by your mother, wife, children, daughter and son-inlaw, grandchildren and loved ones.
CMI HELP DESKS Hope Haven, service project o f the Commission for Migrants and Itinerant People (CMI) is available for all foreign workers in Singapore. Trained volunteers handle employer-employee crises recruitment agency issues, depression, loneliness, family or marital problems etc. Help Desks operate on Sundays in Lucky Plaza (#04-19) and Kampong Kapor Methodist Church in Little India. Enquiries: 6280-5424 or email: hopehaven_help@yahoo.com.sg
OTHERS
CALLING ALL BOYS TOWNERS OF CLASS '69 Did you attend school at Boys Town English School and left in 1969? I f you did, your classmates are keen to meet up with you. A committee which has been active during the last six months has already contacted some 30 plus class mates. A reunion has been planned for mid-Dec 03. Enquiries: Martin Ng Thiam Teck (6467-1234/9007-7377) martin@pacificutama.com.sg, Edmund Chew Bau Leh (9711-8245) chewbl@singnet.com.sg, Thaddeus Loo (6877-9067/9710-6869) trinithad@pacific.net.sg
Nineteenth Anniversary In everloving memory of
Eighth Anniversary In loving memory of
CONSECRATION TO GOD THE FATHER Every 7th of the month, 7.30 pm. Venue: Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace, Rm 3.3 House of David
HOW TO COOPERATE WITH THE CHURCH IN COMMUNIST CHINA? 1.2 billion people in China, loved by God and called to salvation in Jesus. What are the special problems facing the Catholic Church, and what is our policy of cooper ating with China and with the Church in China? Fr Jeroom Heyndrickx, cicm, who has been working closely with the Church in China for some 25 years, w ill help us address these issues. Mandarin: Thur, Dec 11,8 pm. Venue: Church of the Sa cred Heart. English: Fri, Dec 12, 8 pm. Venue: Church of the St. Bernadette.
CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT GRAND OPENING EVENTS Parish Carnival on Sunday, Dec 7 from 8am to 2pm. Venue: Church of the Holy Spirit. Theme: CatholiCity - Where
GERALD WILFRID PEREIRA Returned to the Lord on Dec 12, 1984 Our thoughts are always with you, Our hearts are sore with pain; This world would be like heaven If you were here again. Dearly missed and always loved by family and loved ones.
GEORGE FREDERICK de SOUZA Departed: Dec 19,1995 I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, even if he dies, shall live, and whoever lives and believes in me, shall never die. (John 11:25-26)
Always remembered by loved ones. In memory of
Fifth Anniversary In everloving memory of
Communities Gather.
TALK ON FORGOTTEN SRI LANKAN REFUGEES Speaker: Fr P S Amal SJ. Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service for South Asia. Two Singaporeans who recently visited the Sri Lankan refugee camps in Tamil Nadu w ill also be sharing about their experiences. Date: Monday, Dec 8, 8 pm. Venue: St Anthony’s Church. Come, Listen and Ask. Take that first step. Or ganised by the Jesuit Refugee Service Singapore. E-mail: jrs@jesrefsg.org
FEAST OF IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Date: Dec 8, 2003 Venue: Church of St Peter and Paul Time: 11.45 am Prayers and Rosary, 1.00 pm Holy Mass celebrated by Carmelite priest.
WIZE KIDZ PROGRAMME A two-day activity-based enrichment programme for children ages 6-12 to learn how to make helpful decisions. Parents w ill also learn how to help their children evaluate their choices and learn from their mistakes. Dates: Dec 12 and 13, 9am to 5pm. Parents to join children on Dec 13 from 1.30 to 5 pm. Venue: Morning Star Community Services. Cost: $50 per child. Includes lunch, morning, afternoon tea, and materials. Enquiries: Kelvyanne Teoh (6285-1377).
SUSAINATHAN JOSEPH Departed: Dec 14,1993 We often think of bygone days When we were together; ANTHONY TAY The family chain is KIA HONG broken Departed: Dec 9,1998 But memories live for ever. In our hearts your memory lingers, Mass will be held at Sweetly tender, the Church fond and true, of the Risen Christ on There is not a day, Dec 14 at 6 pm. dearest daddy, May his soul That we do not think rest in peace. of you. From Dearly loved and Beloved wife Clara, missed by Magdalene, children, sons-in-law, Celena, Michael and daughter-in-law grandson Ian. and grandchildren. Second Anniversary In loving memory of
VIDEO SHOW St. Clare’s Fraternity of the SFO is organising a video show on “ Br Sun, Sr Moon” on Dec 7.2 pm. Enquiries: Pauline 6323-9306 or MaryClaire 9620-7768.
T H A N K S G IV IN G Many thanks to Our Lord and St Jude for answering our prayers. Love, M&A Dear Jesus, Mary, St Jude, I am sorry this thanksgiving is so late. Thank you for prayers answered. Please help me again for my mum’s speedy and complete recovery. Thank you so much and ever grateful. May
PATRICK OVINIS Departed: Nov 24,2001 Deep in our hearts a memory is kept. To love, to treasure and never forget. Deeply missed and always remembered by loving wife, Anna, children, Gerard, Dominick, Nolan, Marie, Theresa and all loved ones.
CatholicNews □ Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003
In L dyin y IVi fi m 0
1 7
Twenty-Second Anniversary In loving memory of
Twelfth Anniversary In loving memory
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ONGCHOONHEE Departed: Dec 1, 1991 God looked around His garden And found an empty place He then looked down upon this Earth And saw your tired face. He put his arms around you And lifted you to rest God’s garden must be beautiful He always takes the best Your presence is ever near us Your love remains with us yet You were the kind o f father Your loved ones w ill never forget. Sadly missed by wife, children and all love ones.
In loving memory of
MARIA THERESA JOHN Mdm Kwok Yew Hoe Bom: Sept 28,1922 Departed: Dec 12,1981 Dearest Ma, You are still so much alive in our hearts Lovingly remembered by your children Kerwin, Nancy, Ranny, Morris, Mary, in-laws and grandchildren. Mass will becelebrated at St Joseph’s Church, Victoria St. on Friday Dec 12,2003 at 6 pm.
EDWARD PHILOMINA CHARLES YAP MADAM SELVAM EDWARD Departed:Dec 13, 2002 MARIA SIOW Departed: Dec 23,2002 Departed: Sep 25,1999 Your memory will (MRS SIMON never grow old. W e do not grieve CHOONG) It was destiny that Departed: Dec 16,1989 made us part like those w h o have no hope. Rest in peace, The sorrow that W e rejoice Dearest Mummy, broke every heart But as time will Our hearts are sore in certain hope o f H eaven. heal all pain As time goes by D eep ly m issed and lovin gly we will miss you more We know we’ll one day meet again. Your loving smile, rem em bered by children, your gentle face Fondly loved and No one can fill remembered by children-in-law , grandchildren your vacant place. your wife, family and all lo v ed ones. and loved ones. Dearly remembered by children, grand-children “ I have done my best in the race, and all loved ones.
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SANTHAMMAL ANTHONY MONA DE CASTRO JOSEPH Departed: Dec 8,1998 ALOYSIUS CHAN Departed: Dec 16,1994 Holy God Holy mighty one Your smiling face Holy immortal one all day we see, Have mercy on us and Your picture in our on the whole world room lovingly With prayers and Always remembered thoughts of you by loved ones. always For the life Fifth Anniversary you now lead In loving memory of with heavenly grace. Deeply missed by children, grand-children and all loved ones. Sixth Anniversary In loving memory of
Departed: Dec 18, 1993
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28) “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” (John 14:2) Dear heavenly Father, grant eternal rest to your servant who has come to thee not in fear and trembling but in simple faith and love. Deeply missed and fondly remembered by loved ones. First Anniversary
Seventh Anniversary
In everlasting memory of a faithful, devoted & dutiful parents & grandparents
DOLORES AMBROSE Departed: Dec 10,1998 The years may wipe out many things. But they will never wipe out, The memory of those happy days IRIS TERESA JOACHIM TAN ANNIE TAN Which we had spent GOMES POHSOON together. Departed:Dec 4,1997 28/7/20 - 7/12/02 27/12/25 - 16/1/97 Deeply missed and Take her in Thy arms, Age: 82 Age: 72 fondly remembered dear Lord, by loved ones. And ever let her be Memories of you both Second Anniversary A messenger of love w ill never grow old. Between our hearts In loving memory of It was destiny that made us part and Thee. The sorrow that broke every heart Loved and But as time w ill heal all pain remembered by We know we’ll one day meet again. husband, Lawrence, children: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, Sheila and Harold, And let perpetual light shine upon them Pamela and Jeffrey, May they rest in peace. Amen Terence and Lucia and grandchildren, Masses will be offered on Sunday Dec 7, Tracey and Fabian, 2003 & Jan 18, 2004 at 9.30 am Lorraine, Jeremy, at the Church of St Michael for the Jamie, Gareth, Kevin, repose of Joachim & Annie’s souls. Melissa, Christopher PATRICK R. and Natalia and all Deeply missed by all your children, ALBUQUERQUE loved ones. grandchildren & loved ones. Departed: 5 Dec, 2001 Only the memory of bygone days And a sigh for a face unseen; A constant feeling that God alone 24-HOURS COMPLETE SERVICES Knows best what • C h r is tia n a n d n o n - C h r is tia n f u n e r a ls - lo c a l / e x p o rt. should have been. • Q u a lifie d E m b a lm e rs . Wife: Jennifer • C o lu m b a r iu m w o r k , e x h u m a tio n , p h o to e n la r g e m e n t e tc . Daughters: • A ir -c o n , n o n a ir- c o n P a rlo u rs , te n ta g e e tc . Myrtle and Patricia • G o o d D is c o u n t o n C a s k e t p ric e !! Grandson: Aloysius and all loved ones. Directors: Philip Tan m b ie , Charles Wan m b ie Pleaseturn to page18 for more “In Memoriam” B lk 3 7 , S in M in g D riv e , # 0 1 - 5 7 5 S in g a p o r e 5 7 5 7 1 1 announcementsand Tel: 6454-8167, 6456-7423 Fax: 6458-2151 classified advertisements.
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Sundays December 7 and December 14, 2003 □ CatholicNews
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Get an X ’mas Log in a Swensen’s Cool Box! Surprise your friends and loved ones with a great ‘sm okey’ effect along with your yummy Ice Cream Log, packed in a special box! For that wonderful visual treat, just add w ater to the dry ice. A t only $48, w e ’ll deliver right to your doorstep. To order, call our C ustom er Hotline now!
►Double Cream Cookies $38 All prices are subject to prevailingGSTand 1% cess ifapplicable O r d e r by 19 D e c 2 0 0 3 . Call S w e n s e n ’s C u s to m e r H o tlin e a t 6 7 8 8 8 1 2 8 , o r v isit any S w e n s e n ’s o u tle t.
S w en sen ’s cafe • r e s ta u r a n ts : Bukit Panjang Plaza • Causeway Point • Changi Airport Terminal 1 • Changi Airport Terminal 2 (Re-opening in December) • ^Chinatown Point • #Crown Prince Hotel (24 Hours) • #DBS Tampines Centre • Funan The IT Mall • #Holland Village • #Jurong Point • #Liang Court • WNorthpoint • #Parco Bugis Junction • Parkway Parade • Plaza Singapura • Thomson Plaza • Toa Payoh Entertainment Centre • West Mall • White Sands • with alfresco dining Homepage: www.swensens.com.sg E-mail: swensens@abr.com.sg P U B LIS H E D B Y A R C H B IS H O P N IC H O L A S CHIA, 2 H IG H LA N D R O AD #01-03, S IN G A P O R E 549102.
PR IN TED BY KHL PR IN TIN G C O PTE LTD, 57 LO Y A N G D RIVE, S IN G A P O R E 508968.