Catholic News Issue 8, 2018

SUNDAY APRIL 15, 2018

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VOL 68

NO. 08

INSIDE

ARCHBISHOP’S EASTER MESSAGE

HOME

Building bridges Catholics, Muslims take part in interfaith seminar  Page 2

cially the Jewish authorities, they proclaimed the Good News with boldness even when under persecution and at the risk of their lives.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Alleluia! The Lord is Risen!

This is the Good News that the Church proclaims to all of humanity. The resurrection is the foundation of Christian joy and Christian hope. With the resurrection of Jesus, we know that He is truly Lord and saviour of the world.

With the resurrection, He shows us that the way to life is through love and service unto death. Most of all, the resurrection frees us from the fear of death as the end of everything in life. Christian hope in fullness of life after death takes away the sting of death.

Consequently, faith in the resurrection of our Lord means that we no longer have to live in our tombs. Many of us are living in shame, in fear and selfcondemnation of our past and our mistakes, like the apostles who were hiding in the upper room.

Many are discouraged in life because of failures and disillusionment, like the disciples at Emmaus when they felt their hopes were crushed with the death of their master. Then there are those of us who have lost our loved ones and unable to let go, as in the case of Mary Magdalene.

Yet there are those of us who live in wonder or bewilderment, as Peter did when he saw the empty tomb, unable to make sense of it. And there are those who doubt the reality of the Risen Lord, like St Thomas who said, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” (Jn 20:25)

Indeed, they could not contain the joy of knowing that Jesus was their Lord and saviour.

They were now capable of living for God and for others. Thus the early Church grew as a community, sharing a common faith, love and resources. They were supportive of each other and the work of the apostles. Together as a Christian community, they pooled together all their resources for the spread of the gospel. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the community used the gifts they had received for the building of the Church.

Are we a community of love among ourselves, welcoming others into our family, reaching out to the poor, non-believers and nominal Catholics or those who have left the Church?

However, for those of us who have encountered the Risen Lord, we no longer need to take refuge in our tombs of unbelief and fears. Instead, we manifest joy, optimism, courage and hope for the future even when it appears gloomy. This was what happened to the disciples of Jesus when they met the Risen Lord. Their whole di-

rection in life changed from hopelessness and discouragement to one of confidence and joy for the future.

Whether it was Mary Magdalene, the disciples at Emmaus, the apostles or even St Paul, their encounter with the Risen Lord set them free from all fears about the future. From being cowards and fearful of their enemies, espe-

What about us as Church? Are we a resurrected Church? Are we risen in faith and in love? These are the two criteria by which we measure ourselves. Has our faith in the Lord increased and strengthened? Is our relationship with the Lord real, intimate and personal?

Are we joyful and hopeful people in the way we look at life and even when we suffer either because of the trials of life or because of injustices? Or do we become resentful, discouraged and vindictive in taking revenge against our enemies?

Are we a community of love among ourselves, welcoming others into our family, reaching out to the poor, non-believers and nominal Catholics or those who have left the Church? Or are we exclusive, parochial-minded and protectionist of our turf, reducing us to mere enclaves?  Continued on Page 19

Laypeople need to support priests Says archbishop at Chrism Mass  Page 6

Cathedral holds Easter Vigil baptisms A result of its first RCIA programme  Page 10

ASIA

China tightens grip on religion Part of overhaul of state bureaucracy  Page 11

Protection of migrant workers Bishops urge ban on deployment to abusive states  Page 12

MOVIE REVIEW Paul, Apostle of Christ

Enjoyable introduction to lives of Sts Paul and Luke  Page 13

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BUILDING BRIDGES

Catholics and Muslims take part in interfaith seminar on life and human dignity B y Christopher K hoo A recent interfaith seminar saw Catholics and Muslims sharing on the topic, “Religion, Sanctity of Life and Human D ignity”.

The whole of the Catholic Church’ s social doctrine “develops from the principle that affirms the in iola le dignity of the human person”, D ominican Fr D avid Garcia told hundreds of Catholic and Muslim participants at the Building Bridges Seminar (BBS).

The moral theologian was quot ing Pope John X X III during the event held at St Joseph’ s Institution on March 24.

Highlighting points from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Fr Garcia explained that man alone is called to share y knowledge and love, in God’ s own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity”. r arcia shared that ecause all people elong to the human species, “we all share the same nature”. e all ha e the asic right to develop our intrinsic potentiality as human persons and society owes us the respect to that right,” he explained.

He also highlighted points from Pope John Paul II’ s encyclical, Centisumus Annus, such as the emphasis on the sanctity of life from conception to natural death, people’ s right to share in ork to freely esta lish a fam

F r D avid Garcia speaking at the B uilding B ridges S eminar as fellow presenter, U staz Mahmoud Mathlub S idek ( far right) , and moderator, Ms Liyana Rosli Asmara, look on.

ily, and to have and rear children through the responsi le e ercise of one’ s sexuality.

Fr Garcia also explained the difference et een rights and li erties. “Not everything we claim today as ‘ rights’ is indeed a true, asic human right. uman rights are more than mere li erties indi viduals can claim for themselves”, he explained in his slide presentation.

For example, “we all have the li erty to take the ut if it closes, we can’ t go to the UN and say that our fundamental rights

W e all have the basic ‘right do develop our intrinsic potentiality as human persons and society owes us the respect to that right.

’

– F r D avid Garcia in his presentation

ha e een iolated said r arcia.

In his talk, Ustaz Mahmoud athlu idek assistant direc

tor of the Asatiz ah Recognition cheme ffice slamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), explained that Islam teaches that “all life is holy and sacred” and that “one life is as alua le as the hole human race”.

“As Muslims, we are instructed to treat others with respect as e ill e judged in the ne t life and thus the sanctity of life makes everyone equa l,” he shared in his presentation.

In Islam, human dignity refers to the in iola ility of the human

person, recognition of a set of rights and o ligations and guar antee of safe conduct y others including the society and state”, he explained.

The seminar was organised y armony entre an initiati e of Muis, in partnership with the Archdiocesan Catholic Council for Interreligious D ialogue (ACCIRD ).

It was the culmination of a series of six interfaith sessions last year which saw six Catholics and six Muslims sharing on the Scriptures from their own faith traditions.

D uring the March 24 seminar, a Catholic participant and a Muslim participant who took part in these sessions spoke a out their experiences.

Ms D esiree Hwang shared that it was “truly an enriching and enlightening experience for all of us” to learn a out the similarities and differences et een oth faiths. sta uhammad Ashraf in Anwar from the Harmony Centre shared that the six sessions led to a deep fellowship among the Catholic and Muslim participants ho ecame good friends at the end of the programme.

The guest-of-honour at the seminar was D r Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of D efence & Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Mayor, South East CD C (Community D evelopment Council).  christopher.khoo@catholic.org.sg

Tracing Jesus’ Passion and resurrection through song and drama B y Christopher K hoo t as illed as the ingapore er sion of the famed erammer gau Passion Play held in Bavaria, Germany, every 1 0 years. And the aster cantata put on y the athe dral Choir of the Risen Christ certainly had its inspiring moments. itled he ri he ross The Crown, the March 24 concert traced musically and dramatically the events in Christ’ s life from Palm Sunday right up to His resurrection.

The concert, produced and directed y the choir s founder di rector, Sir D r Peter Low, unfolded in two parts. he first part hich sa choir mem ers entering the cathedral a ing palm ranches as a selection of sacred choral music oth traditional and contem porary. The songs ranged from Palestrina’ s “Adoramus Te” to

The Cathedral Choir of the Risen Christ waving palm branches ( left) and portraying Christ’ s Passion during their E aster cantata.

Jimmy Owens’ “He D ied For Us”.

The second half of the concert was a dramatic presentation of Christ’ s Passion and resurection and sa choir mem ers dressed

in period costumes. ajor char acters such as Jesus, Mary Magdalene and Pontius Pilate were played y choir mem ers ith tremendous musical and dramatic

support from the rest of the choir, who took on the role of the crowd.

According to Sir D r Low, the choir stages this cantata every eight years.

The concert raised funds for the cathedral’ s social mission programme.  christopher.khoo@catholic.org.sg

BUILDINGTHE THE CHURCH CHURCH OF OFTOMORROW TOMORROW 3 BUILDING

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

sacred and community space

We need to have space to pray, to be with the Lord, and to gather as a community. Lydia Lim, a lay Catholic who helps fellow Catholics discern their vocation and purpose in their spiritual life, shares her discernment and appreciation of the spaces that are and will be coming up in the archdiocese for silence, learning and community.

There are public spaces that are life giving and public spaces that are not.

Sometimes, silence is what a human being needs and what would bring her back to life. Yet the spaces where one can sink into silence, rest and be refreshed, are rare in a city.

Rare too are indoor public spaces where you do not have to buy anything to stay.

As British writer, Zadie Smith, observed in an essay for the conservation of local community libraries, these spaces offer what “cannot be easily found elsewhere”. But libraries are not always quiet.

For example, the National Library on Victoria Street can be quite buzzy with activity. One has to head to its reference section to find peace and quiet.

would know that it is quite lovely – with calm muted colours, a carpeted floor, comfortable chairs and soft stools of different heights, and the Blessed Sacrament displayed in a spectacular gold monstrance.

It is a sacred space in which to pray and give thanks for the blessings we have received.

And one group of people we need to thank are the men and women who made such a space possible, those who worked on the Cathedral’s restoration and extension, those who raised funds and the donors who gave generously.

sacred spaces

building projects

In cities where there are churches though, they are – unless a top pick for tourists – often oases of peace.

Here in Singapore, when I feel a need for silence in the city, I head to the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd’s adoration chapel.

I don’t know if other Catholics go to the adoration room for the silence but I certainly do. It is good to rest in the presence of the Lord, to behold Him and to be beheld by Him. Those of you who have been to the Cathedral’s adoration room

Buildings do not come cheap, and land on this small island is expensive. Yet, I see that the Catholic Foundation is committed to building more such spaces, to provide to the people of the Archdiocese of Singapore what cannot be easily found elsewhere.

One of these is a residence for retired priests called Bethany East, to be located along Changi Road a short walk from the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.

It will be a home for up to eight of our pastors after they retire from decades of

busy parish ministry.

There are also two projects to provide spaces for community and learning.

The first is the St Francis Xavier Seminary building being built on a plot of freehold land in front of St Joseph’s Church (Bukit Timah).

The staff and seminarians have moved out of the Ponggol Seventeen Avenue premises, and will be moving in here sometime in the middle of the year.

The new building will have lecture rooms, a cafe, a chapel and a library. It will provide residential space

Communities need space to come to life, and sometimes spaces can also help create communities. for seminarians and their formators which is essential for the raising up of a new generation of pastors for the future. There will also be office space for the Catholic Theological Institute of Singapore (CTIS) which offers courses in theology to laity.

The second project is an Archdiocesan Hub to be built on freehold land at 49 Upper Thomson Road. It is still in the planning stages but is likely to include a retreat centre, an auditorium, an adoration chapel, rooms for intercessory prayer, a youth centre, a family centre and a larger home for

retired priests. The aim is for this hub to be a one-stop centre for Catholics where they head to for their spiritual formation and other needs.

communities need space Communities need space to come to life, and sometimes spaces can also help create communities.

Another favourite place of mine in the city is Crossings Cafe, on the ground floor of the Catholic Centre at 55 Waterloo Street. The cafe staff, which includes some young people with special needs, are some of the warmest and friendliest people I know. It is such a treat to be served by them, and to experience a slower, kinder and gentler side of our busy, efficient city.

All these projects are being undertaken by the archdiocese through its property arm, the Archdiocesan Land & Properties Singapore (ALPS).

Besides the projects described above, ALPS is also raising money through the Catholic Foundation to create sinking funds which will be used to renew the leases and buildings for the many Church properties.

In land-scarce Singapore, the Catholic Foundation says on its website, the optimal use of buildings and properties is crucial to the Church’s ability to grow unhindered by physical limitation. Yes, space is necessary for growth, and life.

Our archdiocese envisions a more vibrant, missionary and evangelistic Church. As the fundraising arm of the Archdiocese of Singapore, the Catholic Foundation has launched the Giving in Faith & Thankfulness (GIFT) campaign to urge every Catholic to participate in making the vision of the archdiocese a reality.

Gift Now

gift.catholicfoundation.sg

a series contributed by

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Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

CJC holds special Lenten Evening B y Chloe Aw Catholic Junior College students and alumni gathered for a time of prayer and re ection during a Lenten event themed “Come As You Are”.

The Catholic Activities Wing of the college’ s Student Council organised the March 23 Lenten Evening, part of CJC’ s Lenten Project, in conjunction with the ffice for oung eople .

D uring the programme, held at the college, the more than 100 participants were invited to come before the Lord with their strengths and weaknesses, and surrender themselves to His gracious love, forgiveness and grace.

The evening saw CJCians performing an evangelical dance and OYP leading a praise and worship session.

There was also an examination of conscience during which participants were invited to meditate on a particular scene from the ay of the ross and re ect on how it could apply to their lives. hrough structured re ections, they were invited to examine their lives and make resolutions to renew their relationship with God and others.

There was adoration and benediction with the Blessed Sacrament, and participants could approach various priests, such as

college chaplain Jesuit Fr Gregory Tan, Carmelite Fr Ferdinand Purnomo and Jesuit Fr Weyms Sanchez for confession.

They also had their prayer intentions prayed for by the OYP Prayer Ministry.

Many participants said they found the event helpful to their spiritual journey. Many also shared they were moved to tears by their experience of God’ s love during the programme.

Student John Siew, 17, shared that the evening helped him to learn more about himself and his relationship with God, as well as re ect on his sins.

Another student, Clarissa K hor, 18, shared that the Lenten Evening “gave me the opportunity to return to God”.

Apart from the Lenten Evening, the college also observed Lent in a variety of ways. These included staff and students taking part in a special Lenten Instagram photo re ections acti ity and the sharing of enten re ections during morning assembly by students and the college chaplain.

The college also set up a booth at its foyer to e plain the significance of Lent and Lenten practices, and organised an Ash Wednesday Mass, Stations of the Cross and a paraliturgy on the Washing of the Feet during Holy Week for Catholic students. 

S tudents adoring the B lessed S acrament on March 23.

S tudents lighting a candle at an E xam ination of Conscience station ( left) and taking part in praise and worship.

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Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

Archbishop: laypeople have part to play to support priests B y Jared Ng Laypeople need to play their part in supporting the priestly vocation, said Archbishop William Goh during the Chrism Mass on Maundy Thursday. ray for us priests to ha e a renewal of God’ s love and support us even in our weaknesses,” he said during the March 29 celebration held at the Church of the ransfiguration.

The annual celebration saw many diocesan and Religious priests attending. The Chrism Mass signifies the unity of the priests ith their bishop and is an expression of the fullness of the bishop’ s priesthood.

Laypeople need to encourage and “not take priests for granted,” said Archbishop Goh. “There are too many demands, high expectations placed on priests ith little or no gratitude or appreciation in return,” Archbishop Goh said, adding that priests may eventually suffer burnout as a result.

When this happens, the priesthood may become more of “an ambition than a vocation”. riests may look at their office appointments as “a sense of security” rather than as “a ministry

Participants of an AWAK E N retreat pose for a photo with Archbishop William Goh.

of service and love,” he said. riests need to e men of mercy, holiness and compassion,” but most importantly, “be a symbol of Jesus’ presence to the people,” he said. uoting ope rancis he urged all priests to “go out of ourselves to touch people who are hurt and scandalised ... reach to them so they find hope encouragement.

D uring the Mass, Archbishop Goh blessed the oil of the sick to be used for the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and the oil of the catechumens.

He also consecrated the chrism which will be used for the Sacraments of aptism onfirmation and Holy Orders, as well as for consecration of churches and blessing of altars.

The Mass also saw the clergy renewing their priestly vows.

In his closing remarks at the end of the Mass, Archbishop Goh reiterated his support and gratitude to all priests for their work and commitment to the Church and asked for prayers for Fr Eugene V az , who was recovering in hospital after a fall.  j ared.n

g@catholic.org.sg

Archbishop William Goh pouring perfume into the chrism oil at the Chrism Mass. P

hotos: V I T A I mages

Archbishop Goh with priests of the archdiocese during the March 29 celebration at the Church of the Transfiguration.

Last AWAKEN retreat to be held in June The last AWAK EN retreat will be held from June 14- 17.

Organised by the Amplify Ministry, which is based at the Catholic Spirituality Centre (CSC), it is a Conversion Experience Retreat conducted by Archbishop William Goh for young adults, aged 18 -25 years, to be awakened to the love of God. The CSC, in a media release, said that the establishment of the ffice for oung eople in November 201 3 allowed the needs of young people to be met through its many programmes and retreats.

With this in mind, CSC, in consultation with Archbishop Goh and Fr Erbin Fernandez , the centre’ s spiritual director, decided that the June retreat would be the last.

CSC, in its statement, thanked “the diocese for its unwavering support towards the centre all these years, and we ask for your continued prayers that we may remain strong in our discernment with the Lord.”

Ms Marie Wang, 20, from the Church of the Holy Family, who had attended an AWAK EN retreat,

said it “was an opportunity to know God more and to encounter Him personally. It was a powerfully liberating experience of God’ s pure, all-encompassing love.”

Mr John Ong, 23, from the Church of the Risen Christ, recalled that “AWAK EN was where I came ... to know of God’ s unconditional love for me, especially hen it as difficult for me to love myself.”

AWAK EN began in 201 0 under the direction of then spiritual director, Fr William Goh, who wanted to make available to the young adults, the Conversion Experience Retreat (CER) that he was conducting. CER was adapted into AWAK EN to meet the needs of young adults. To date, 1 4 AWAK EN retreats have been conducted.

Registration for the last retreat will be held via ballot on April 14.

D oors will open at 9.30 am and closed at 10 a m for the ballot.

Forms can be downloaded from www.csctr.net or obtained from the office.

F or more information, email amplifyawak en@ gmail.c om. 

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Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

Opus Dei group in Rome for congress, Holy week

The S ingaporean O pus D ei group poses for a photo in S t Peter’ s S quare.

Attending a special congress in Rome was also an opportunity to celebrate Holy Week with Pope Francis for several young Singaporeans active with the Opus D ei.

A group of 18 Singaporean students, led by Opus D ei Fr Joe Lopez , attended the UNIV Congress, held in late March.

The congress, started by St Josemaria Escriva, founder of the Opus D ei, in 1 9 6 8 , is an annual international university congress that takes place in Rome during Holy Week. It is part of a workshop that includes activities such as an audience with the pope, international get-togethers, social projects and historical tours of Rome, according to the congress’ website.

The Singaporean group started Holy Week by attending Palm Sunday Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in St Peter’ s Squa re.

In his homily, the pope encouraged youths not to let themselves be silenced, to keep

shouting their “Hosannah! ” Msgr Fernando Ocariz , the prelate of Opus D ei, seconded Pope Francis’ concern during a meeting with the UNIV Congress participants. He stressed that no one should say “there is no vocation for me”. Rather, everyone has a vocation, which must be discerned not only intellectually but also as an act of love.

The Singaporean group also visited the ancient ruins of Rome and several churches, and prayed at the tombs of St John Paul II, St Josemaria and St Ignatius of Loyola.

V isiting seven churches on Maundy Thursday, the group started at the Church of St Agnes in ia a a ona and finished at Trinita dei Monti, at the top of the Spanish steps.

Universality throughout the visit was demonstrated by the variety of the UNIV Congress participants, with the largest groups coming from Italy, Spain, Mexico and the US. 

8 EASTER STORIES

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

New Catholics share th

Some who joined the Church at Easter tell Jared Ng ab

Led to the faith after passing of their son For William and Angie Lai, their RCIA journey was one of consolation and strength.

In March 201 5, their son, K enneth, passed away from sarcoma, a form of cancer, at the age of 26 .

Mr Lai, 62, said that although his family were Buddhists at that time, his son had already been introduced to the Catholic faith by his girlfriend and peers.

“He had a desire to convert [ to Catholicism] ,” said Mr Lai. K enneth was baptised in hospital before he passed away.

The couple decided to give their son a Catholic wake and funeral and it was then that their interest in the Catholic faith stirred. ur first e perience of atholic] prayer was the rosary during the wake,” recalled Mr Lai. Another e perience later that year affirmed r ai s call to the Catholic faith. Before leaving on a holiday to Rome with his wife, he decided to read the first fe pages of the Bible which his son had left him.

“I read about how God created the world and that He rested on the se enth day. t didn t make much sense to me initially until we went

to Rome ... and ended up visiting the Sistine chapel,” he said.

There, Mr Lai described his “amaz ement” as he saw Michelangelo s painting of the reation of Adam on the chapel ceiling.

For Mrs Lai, 60, the loss of her son took a huge emotional toll on her. o e er her e perience ith rosary prayer during her son s

experience ‘Ourof first prayer was the rosary during the wake.

’

– M r William Lai

wake helped her through that “difficult and dark period of her life.

She began praying the rosary during this time and also cited ary s similar e perience of losing her son as a source of strength for her.

Through the support of her friends, some of whom are Catholic, Mrs Lai picked up the courage to enqui re about the RCIA. The couple said that going through the RCIA programme to-

William and Angie Lai said that the RCIA has given them a different perspective on life and that eveything is ‘ all part of God’ s plan.’

gether at the Church of St Mary of the Angels helped them embrace the death of their son as they started their relationship with God. “We received a grace from God,” said Mr Lai. Mrs Lai said, “I cry happy tears

now because I remember my son as being a big-hearted, loving and generous person.”

They added that the RCIA has given them a different perspective and more positive attitude towards life.

On how they plan to live their faith after baptism, Mrs Lai said she hopes to continue “to enrich herself in Catholic knowledge” while Mr Lai said he would like to volunteer at a hospital to assist with caring for the elderly and dying. 

Her faith helped her overcome family challenges ro ing up e periencing serious family challenges took a huge emotional toll on her even right up to her 4 0s.

In 2014, Ms Angelique Tan went into depression and constantly had suicidal thoughts.

“I was crying my heart out ... whenever I was alone in my room,” she recalled.

In 2015, after seeking help from a psychiatrist, Ms Tan said she was advised to seek the spiritual in her life.

She decided to attend a retreat at the Seven Fountains Jesuit Retreat Centre in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Ms Tan, now 47, said that this

was a big step in her faith journey as she had lived most of her life as an atheist. didn t kno ho to pray or hat to e pect she said.

D uring the retreat, Ms Tan said she encountered the presence of God.

I felt an immense ‘peace within me,

an inner peace I never knew before.

’

– Ms Angelique Tan on her encounter with God Ms Angelique Tan said she plans to attend some courses at the Catholic Theological Institute of S ingapore after baptism.

“I felt an immense peace within me, an inner peace I never knew before.”

After that e perience s Tan said she sought spiritual di-

rection from a nun in Singapore and began her journey towards knowing more about the Catholic faith.

“I learned more about the dif-

ferent prayers and the various ministries in the Church,” said Ms Tan. In 2017, she started her RCIA journey at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd.

Her main challenge was trying to grasp the various teachings of the Catholic Church.

“Learning about things like the magisterium ... as uite challenging so I really had to spend time learning about it,” said Ms Tan. She credited cathedral rector Msgr Philip Heng for his “devotion and dedication” that helped to form her faith.

She told Catholic News that she looked forward to her baptism ecause it ould mark a significant bond with Jesus through the Eucharist”.

As for how she plans to live out her faith, Ms Tan said she has already signed up for a retreat and also plans to attend some courses at the Catholic Theological Institute of Singapore. 

EASTER STORIES 9

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

their faith experiences about overcoming family challenges and finding Mary

RCIA programme led Former Protestant said he initially her to Mother Mary had doubts about pope, confession

As a result of her faith journey, Ms E lsie F oo said she hopes to reach out and help less fortunate children in S ingapore.

After her mother passed away She recalled that during a sesfrom cancer last year, Ms Elsie sion, she felt the presence of Mary Foo, 4 4 , said she felt “lost and so strongly that she was moved to alone” in her life. tears.

“I needed guidance, someone “Maybe it’ s because of the exto hold my hand,” she said. perience with my mother’ s passIt was during this time that she ing that I feel so drawn towards felt called to explore spirituality.

Mother Mary,” she said, adding After attending that she now turns to a few services at a the Blessed V irgin megachurch with her whenever she needs D uring a sister, Ms Foo said a strength and guidsession, colleague introduced ance. her to the Church of last M s F oo felt year,In MsAugust St Mary of the Angels Foo’ s father (SMOTA). the presence had a heart attack and There, Ms Foo was hospitalised. of M ary said she felt drawn “I felt like the to the Mass and felt whole episode with so strongly a “strong sense of my mother was happeace”. pening again,” she that she Attending Masses said. was moved at SMOTA made her However because want to know more of the RCIA, she was to tears. about the Church and able to “better deal she signed up for the with the challenges RCIA. and pull through”.

Over the course of the proAlthough she admits she still gramme, Ms Foo said she met two has a lot to learn about the Cathofriends who were also learning lic faith, Ms Foo said the RCIA about the Catholic faith. “has really helped shape her think“It was really nice to have ing of life, to be a more positive them around for support and en- person.” couragement,” she said.

As a result of her faith journey, A highlight of the RCIA pro- she said she hopes to reach out and gramme for Ms Foo was learning help less fortunate children in Sinabout Mary. gapore. 

In his 30 years as a Protestant, Mr Robin Fong, 4, said he often had “objections and reservations” about the Catholic faith.

These included why the Catholic Church had a pope, the understanding of Purgatory, the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the role of Mary.

It was only in November 2015 that his perception of the Catholic faith started to change.

Shortly before a Catholic relative passed away, Mr Fong was present for the last rites. He also attended the relative’ s funeral Mass at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed V irgin Mary.

Although he had no connection to the Catholic faith, Mr Fong said he “felt God planting a ‘ seed’ in me.”

In October 2016, Mr Fong said he finally decided to re isit ati ity Church after passing the place “many times whenever I cycle”.

Upon entering, “I felt peaceful and the presence of God. There was silence and I could really feel Him there,” he recalled.

He made subseque nt visits to the church after that experience.

Mr Fong soon began attending Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, near where he lived, and it was during this period that his interest in the Catholic faith started to grow.

“I began doing my own research on Catholic teachings,” he said.

He bought “countless” reli-

“I would pour out my worries and fears and I could really feel God’ s grace at work in me,” he said.

Although he had moments of doubt about being a Catholic, Mr Fong said the “presence of God in me was so strong and something I had never experienced before.”

Although his wife and two children are not Catholics, they supported his decision and “attend Mass with me occasionally,” he said.

Mr Robin F ong, 4, said he hopes to share his conversion exp erience with the hope of inspiring others about the Catholic faith.

gious books to read, went online to read about the Catholic Church and attended various talks organised by the Church.

The reservations and doubts he had about the Catholic faith eventually disappeared.

In May 2017, he joined the RCIA at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.

Over the course of the programme, Mr Fong said he was at peace and had little doubt about the Church’ s teachings.

Working in the sales industry, Mr Fong said he faced a period where he was struggling to meet his targets. Nevertheless he took those concerns to prayer.

pour out ‘Imywould worries and fears and I could really feel G od’ s grace at work in me.

’

– M r Robin F ong during his period of struggle

He added that he hopes his conversion experience can be an inspiration to his family to embrace the Catholic faith as well.

On how he plans to live out his faith after baptism, Mr Fong said that he is already attending sessions with the lector’ s ministry at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church and also hopes to give talks in the future about his conversion experience to inspire others about the Catholic faith.  j ared.n

g@catholic.org.sg

10 HOME

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

Cathedral’s Easter Vigil baptisms In a moving Easter V igil Mass, Archbishop William Goh baptised lect from the first A ite of Christian Initiation of Adults) journey at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd.

Alongside them were 10 candidates – baptised Christians – who were fully received into the Catholic Church, together with eight confirmands.

In a special address at the end of the Mass, Archbishop Goh advised the new Catholics to be part of a good faith-sharing group.

“You cannot walk alone ... or in months, you will drop out of the faith,” he said.

“Besides ministries, which is about serving ... you need to have a group you can share your faith with, where you can pray and share the Word of God together.”

Ms Clare Rynn Teo, 43, one of the newly baptised, shared with Catholic News how God worked in her RCIA journey. hen finally told my parents I would like to get baptised, they got pretty upset and refused to talk about the issue,” she recounted. “I prayed hard for their understanding. Exactly seven days before baptism, my mum suddenly told me that she and my sister would attend the Easter V igil.”

She added, “God taught me to be patient, to trust in Him, because He will always make things happen in His time.”

The cathedral’ s RCIA journey also drew participants from other countries who live and work in Singapore.

Ms Emma Hailey K im, 28, a South K orean who was baptised, said she found the RCIA community to be a huge blessing.

od taught me to ‘ be patient, to trust in

him, because e will always make things happen in is time.

’

– M s Clare Rynn Teo, a newly-baptised Catholic

“I have found and built my faith, and I have found a family here now,” she shared.

Englishman Alfred Ben Cross Lewis, 34, a former Anglican, said: “It has been a truly uplifting journey helping me to find peace after a difficult period in my life. look forward to deepening my relationship with God as I strive to become a better man.”

On why he decided to run the

Archbishop William Goh baptising an E lect on March 31. A total of 52 its first C A progra e. hoto I I

RCIA programme after consulting with the archbishop, cathedral rector Msgr Philip Heng said: “There are many people working in this

people were baptised at the cathedral after

city district and the challenges of life can be overwhelming.

“We believe strongly that the RCIA journey will truly help peo-

ple live more wholesome lives in the face of their challenges, with greater strength and faith.”  ubmitted by

I

O

S creengrab of www.S tories.Catholic.sg

New archdiocesan website features personal stories The archdiocese has launched a website featuring stories on how people have experienced the Lord in their lives.

The site, www.Stories.Catholic.sg, was launched on April 3, and contains stories ranging from finding the ord as a result of life’ s challenges to recognising the subtle workings of the Lord amidst one’ s circumstances.

“The Bible is full of stories from the beginning to the end.

That was how the early people of God communicated messages – through stories,” said Archbishop Goh, who came up with the idea of giving more prominence to real-life stories for the new evangelisation.

“Jesus always used parables and stories to talk about God. He doesn’ t give a discourse, but He gives examples from daily life to connect [ with] people. And so if you use stories and testimonies

people are converted, people are touched. Because stories connect people with their inner lives.”

The archdiocesan communications office in a media release noted that “Jesus used parables to engage”.

“We all love stories; we love sharing some of our God experiences as much as we love hearing from others as well. Every person is a story, and it is important for us to take in each story that is shared to strengthen our faith and trust in God.” The website also allows people to share their own faith experiences. “It … offers collaborators within church organisations the opportunity to create more awareness for their programmes and events through the sharing and testimonies of their participants,” said the communications office. o find out more, visit www. tories. atholic.sg 

Members of Roses of Peace ( from second left, Ms Noor Hanisah B inte Noordin, Mr Wan Muhammad F az lan Nordin and Mr Mohamed Irshad) presented Archbishop Goh with a ‘ Letter of Peace’ . Also in the photo are Mr Andre Ahcha director of co unications Archbishop s ffice far left Msgr hilip eng and Mr Gerald ong fro the Archdiocesan Catholic Council for Inter-religious D ialogue hoto I I .

Ambassadors of peace visit archbishop Christopher

hoo

Three members of Roses of Peace, a nationwide initiative which aims to build bridges across faith communities in Singapore, presented Archbishop William Goh with a special “Letter of Peace” on the occasion of Lent and Easter.

Mr Mohamed Irshad, founder and president of the initiative, together with Mr Wan Muhammad Faz lan Nordin and Ms Noor Hanisah Binte Noordin, visited Archbishop Goh at his residence on March 2 and presented him with

a “Letter of Peace to all Christians in Singapore”.

The letter, which was also emailed to Singapore Christian leaders including Catholic priests, conveys the group’ s gratitude to “our beloved Christian friends, leaders, and members of the community ho ha e sacrificed their time and energy to spread the message of love across the nation”.

The letter adds that “we hope, together, we can continue to forge strong relationships across all communities with deeper understanding and confidence so as to

maintain and strengthen our social cohesion and communal peace in the midst of our diversity”.

Archbishop Goh thanked the three visitors, who are among their group’ s ambassadors, for their efforts. “I’ m sure your works will produce lots of fruit among the young people and for the future,” he said.

Roses of Peace, which was started in 2012, has President Halimah Yacob as their patron. The group’ s ambassadors are all below 35 ye ars of age.  christopher.khoo@catholic.org.sg

ASIA 11

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

China tightens grip on religion in bureaucratic overhaul HONG KONG – China’ s ruling

Communist Party has further stepped up control over all religions, dissolving its long-standing State Administration for Religious Affairs bureau and handing its functions to the party’ s United Front Work D epartment.

Asian Church news agency ucanews.com reported that the move was announced on the closing day of the Chinese People’ s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’ s Congress (NPC), both held in March.

The move comes as part of a comprehensive overhaul of the entire Chinese bureaucracy, only seven weeks after stricter new rules on religion were introduced on Feb 1 . he official line from the state-run X inhua News Agency ran like this: “The CPC [ Communist Party of China] exercises overall leadership over all areas of endeavour

in the country, and the reform is meant to strengthen the party’ s leadership in all areas and improve the structure of the party organisation, according to the plan.

“The plan says that some state institutions previously under the leadership of the State Council have been dissolved or integrated into a new agency under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee, such as the State Administration for Religious Affairs, erseas hinese Affairs ffice of the State Council, and Ministry of Supervision and National Bureau of Corruption Prevention.”

Feng Yue, a political science expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said, “The core of this reform is to reinforce and strengthen the Party leadership,

Chinese Catholics pray during Mass in China. The country’ s ruling Communist Party has further stepped up control over all religions. file photo

and adjust the political system of the Party-State management in China.”

Ucanews.com reported that while the United Front Work D epartment – once described by Chinese leader X i Jinping as a “magic weapon” – pr eviously had policy control over religion, it now has day-to-day oversight and direct control over the state-run organisations of all fi e official religions, including the Chinese

pro ect officer at ong ong iocese s ustice and eace commission described the move as a ma or step backwards in religious work.

Catholic Patriotic Association and the Chinese bishops’ conference.

It exercises control over religious appointments, the selection of clergy and the interpretation of religious doctrine.

The move comes at an interesting time for the Catholic Church, which is deep in talks with Beijing about normalising the appointment of bishops to bring together the two China Church communities – the so-called underground and those whose bishops have registered with the government.

Rumours have been swirling that a deal could be announced to coincide with Holy Week, which began on March 25, but it is un-

clear if V atican diplomats were made aware of China’ s wholesale changes to religion management ahead of the announcement. r an an a project officer at Hong K ong D iocese’ s Justice and Peace Commission, described the move as “a major step backwards in religious work.”

“On the mainland it used to be the ‘ government managing religions,’ but now they are not afraid of going backwards and directly showing the outside world it’ s the party managing religion,” she told ucanews.com. She said the move means the Communist Party will not loosen its control over religion and ideology.  CN S

12 WORLD

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

Philippine bishops want ban on workers to abusive states – Philippine Catholic ers to countries that do not offer bishops want a total ban on the good working conditions to mideployment of Filipino workers grants. to countries that do not have laws Philippine Foreign Affairs to protect migrants. officials tra elled to u ait The Episcopal Commission in late March as part of efon Migrants and Itinerant People forts between the two counof the country’ s bishops said on tries to improve the welfare of March 26 that it is “high time” migrant workers in the Gulf the government said no to coun- state. tries where workManila has ers are abused. banned the deT hey should Bishop Ruperto ployment of new not be treated Santos of Balanga, orkers to u ait chairman of the following reports as tools for commission, said of maltreatment profit, nor as a total ban is a and the deaths of preventive measFilipino workslave work ers. ure against human ers there at the – B ishop Ruperto rights violations hands of their emS antos of B alanga, and loss of lives. ployers. chairman of the “Our migrant According to E piscopal Commission workers are not the Philippine Laon Migrants and their properties,” bour D epartment, Itinerant People said the prelate. there are about “They should not 250,000 docue treated as tools for profit nor mented Filipino workers in varias slave workers,” he said. ous parts of the world, 1 0,000 of He said stopping workers them in u ait alone. to these countries would send a he hilippines and ustrong message that the Philip- wait had approved a draft pines cares for its workers. memorandum of understandBishop Santos issued the ing, but Philippine President statement in support of a resolu- Rodrigo D uterte had put it on tion in the Philippine Senate for hold to add more provisions.  a ban on the sending of work- U CAN E W S . CO M

M A NI L A

‘

’

Muslims join Christians in marking Holy Week, Easter J A KA R T A

– Muslims across In-

donesia joined Christians in celebrating Holy Week, providing a welcome boost to those trying to preserve and promote religious tolerance amid growing fears of extremism.

Many photos and videos showing Muslims at churches were posted on social media over Easter.

At St Francis X avier Cathedral Parish in Ambon, in Maluku province, doz ens of young Muslims were present during a procession on Good Friday attended

by Bishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi of Amboina and other religious leaders.

Bishop Mandagi said the presence of Muslims showed a determination among people to maintain a brotherhood among different religious communities.

“This is an example of where religion becomes a unifying tool and this religious celebration becomes a bridge to strengthening relations,” he told Asian Church news portal ucanews.com on Easter Sunday.

Saidin Ernes, from the Ambon branch of the Ulema Council – Indonesia’ s top Muslim clerical body – said they wanted to “show

that there is a strong fraternal relationship between religious believers in Maluku,” especially among Muslims and Christians.

A photo showing Muslim youths at the Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Sentani, Papua, was also circulated online.

They held banners that read “Happy Easter for Christians.

Let us both maintain the integrity of our fellow religious believers.”

In Central Java, students from the State Institute of Islamic Religion in Salatiga sang at the Java Christian Church during Easter celebrations on April 1 .

Meanwhile, in Jakarta, Governor Anies Baswedan attended Easter celebrations with thousands of members of the Indonesia Bethel Church.

Holy Week in Indonesian churches this year focused on maintaining diversity through the national ideology under the theme, “Implement Pancasila: We are D iverse, We are Indonesia.” It was in response to growing intolerance among hard-line groups, especially since the Jakarta governor election last year which was marked by sectarian divisions and hate speech.  U CAN E W S . CO M

F r Teresito S oganub, who had been held captive for months in Marawi, Philippines, cries as Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila washes his feet during the Mass of the Lord’ s S upper in Manila. CN S phot o

Cardinal washes feet of priest kidnapped by rebels M A NI L A – Celebrating the Mass of

the Lord’ s Supper, Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle washed the feet of a priest who had been held captive for months and the parents of a slain Filipino migrant worker.

At the Holy Thursday Mass on March 29, he washed the feet of 12 people, representing Jesus’ aim to teach His apostles to serve. He also washed the feet of migrants and refugees, emphasising Pope Francis’ call to open hearts and

minds to them, and a married couple from the Philippine Navy.

But among the most emotional moments was when Cardinal Tagle washed the feet of Fr Teresito Soganub, vicar general of the prelature of Marawi. The priest was held captive by extremist gunmen for four months while they occupied the predominantly Muslim city of Marawi last year.

The Philippine online news agency Rappler.com reported that

Fr Soganub began crying as the cardinal washed his feet. Cardinal Tagle put his forehead on Fr Soganub’ s forehead at the end of the ritual.

Cardinal Tagle also washed the feet of the parents of Joanna D emafelis. In February, more than a year after she was reported missing, D emafelis’ body was found dead in a freez er in her employer s apartment in u ait.

The body showed signs of torture.

(See story on left)  CN S

Trevi Fountain coins to continue aiding Rome’s needy – While millions of tourists throw a coin over their shoulder into Rome’ s Trevi Fountain hoping to return to Rome one day, the money scooped out of the fountain each week offers more concrete hope to the city’ s poor.

Rome’ s city council extended an agreement on March 29 with Caritas Rome to entrust it with the tourists’ coins to provide food and shelter to the city’ s poor and needy.

Each day countless tourists from around the world squi nt their eyes, make a wish and toss thousands of dollars’ worth of coins into the fountain; the money is then collected by city workers using high-powered vacuums.

According to Caritas Rome, an estimated 1 .4 million euros (S$ 2.2 million) worth of coins were tossed into the famed fountain in 201 6 .

Although the Catholic charitable organisation has been entrusted ith the fountain s profits for 20 years, the city council was considering cancelling its agreement and instead using the money to help fund various projects in the financially strapped city.

However, the city council de-

V A T IC A N C IT Y

Rome’ s city council ext ended an agreement on March 92 with Caritas Rome to entrust it with the tourists’ coins from the Trevi F ountain ( above) to provide food and shelter to the city’ s poor and needy. file photo

layed its decision and the charity will continue receiving the fountain’ s revenue stream at least until D ec 31, Caritas Rome said in an April 3 pr ess release.

The decision was welcomed

by Msgr Enrico Feroci, director of Caritas Rome, saying it “concretely expresses the solidarity of the whole city of Rome towards those who suffer and are disadvantaged.”

By trusting Caritas Rome with the money collected from the Trevi Fountain, he added, the Rome city

council has recognised that the Catholic charity has a special and uniq ue history in the city in “reaching out and encountering the most diverse forms of poverty,” particularly in serving the homeless, the elderly, migrants and struggling families.

“Responsibility, transparency, a spirit of service and witness: These are the attitudes that have guided us in these years in which the city of Rome has entrusted the proceeds of the Trevi Fountain coins to Caritas,” Msgr Feroci said.  CN S

MOVIE REVIEW 13

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

Mixed offerings in St Paul movie B y John Mulderig NE W Y OR K – In the long history of the Church, perhaps no partnership has been more conseque ntial than that between St Paul the Apostle and his disciple, St Luke.

Between them, they account for at least 15 of the 27 books of the New Testament, and Luke accompanied Paul on some of the journeys during which the Apostle to the Gentiles sowed the seeds of faith across the Roman Empire. o the idea of a film e ploring the relationship between these two great figures certainly seems promising. With the drama “Paul, Apostle of Christ” (Sony), however, only part of that potential is realised.

Writer-director Andrew Hyatt s some hat a ed script eshes out the are ones a ailable to us from the canonical sources with believable human details. he story gets off to a sufficiently dramatic start. In the wake of the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64 – which the Emperor Nero notoriously blamed on the followers of Jesus – Christians are being subjected to a massive persecution and Paul (James Faulkner), as their most prominent leader, has been arrested, tried and condemned to death.

T he movie work s better as an easy and enj oyable introduction to its two central figures lives and work s than it does as a piece of cinema.

a es aul ner as aul left and i ‘ Paul, Apostle of Christ.’ CN S phot o

Ca ie el as u e are seen in the fil

Thus Luke (Jim Caviez el) is taking a huge risk when he resolves to return to the Empire’ s capital and visit Paul in his cell at the Mamertine Prison. Fortunately, he has the help of two early Christian leaders mentioned in the Bible, husband and wife Aqui la (John Lynch) and Priscilla (Joanne Whalley).

The spouses are at loggerheads over whether the believers

still under their protection should remain in ome or ee. ome in the community also yearn to take up arms and avenge themselves on the authorities.

Though Paul rejects any notion of violent resistance, he is reluctant to give orders about whether his fellow Christians should stay or go. Instead, he and Luke eventually strike on the idea of recording Paul’ s conversion and their

missionary travels together, along ith other e ents in the te t that will become known as the Acts of the Apostles.

For a different reason, Luke’ s nascent history is of interest to Paul’ s chief jailer, Prefect Mauritius Gallas (Olivier Martinez ).

An essentially humane man torn between the rigour with which he is e pected to deal ith his captive and his vague attraction to the transcendent values of the Gospel, auritius is perple ed y uke s curious behaviour in sneaking into his prison.

Mauritius also is preoccupied by the failing health and possibly impending death of his beloved daughter. But his ambiguous

outlook keeps him wavering on the q uestion of whether to reach out to skilled physician Luke for aid. Though his pagan gods are not answering his prayers, he fears angering them by inviting a Christian into his household.

Mauritius is obviously meant to serve as a foil for the two disciples and as a target for persuasion.

But the dialogue among them is less than convincing and, with at least one e ception poorly calculated to hold the audience’ s attention as well.

“Paul, Apostle of Christ” works better as an easy and enjoyable introduction to its two central figures li es and orks than it does as a piece of cinema. As a valuable resource for catechetical instruction, moreover, the movie makes acceptable and worthwhile fare for teens, despite its unsparing, albeit momentary presentation of the sufferings to which Paul himself and many of his contemporaries in the early Church were subjected.  CN S T he movie is rated P G ( P arental G uidance advised) in Si ngapore.

M ulderig is on the staff of Catholic N ews Se rvice.

14 WORLD

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

New Marian feast should be held this year: cardinal V A T I C A N C I T Y – Reminding bishops, pastors and Catholics around the world that all Latin-rite Catholics should celebrate the feast of Mary, Mother of the Church on the Monday after Pentecost this year, Cardinal Robert Sarah said the celebration should take precedence over any other possible liturgy that day.

The Congregation for D ivine Worship and the Sacraments, headed by Cardinal Sarah, had announced in early March Pope Francis’ decision to add the feast to the Church’ s calendar as an “obligatory memorial”.

The Monday after Pentecost is May 21 t his year.

Although there are a few specific cases in hich the rector of a church or pastor of a parish could choose to celebrate a different Mass that day, Cardinal Sarah said in a note released on March 27 that “all else being equa l, the

Cardinal S arah: The feast of Mary, Mother of the Church should take precedence over any other possible liturgy that day. file photo

obligatory memorial of the Blessed V irgin Mary, Mother of the Church is to be preferred”.

In addition, he said, the list of

Mass readings published with the pope’ s decree “are to be held as proper because they illuminate the mystery of spiritual motherhood”.

The V atican gave two options for the first reading enesis hich recounts od que stioning Adam and Eve in the garden after they had eaten the for idden fruit and Acts which tells of the disciples gathering in the Upper Room with Mary after the Resurrection. he ospel reading is ohn hich recounts esus telling His beloved disciple to take Mary into his home as his mother.

In cases where a local or national Church calendar has another saint or Blessed on the calendar on May 21, Cardinal Sarah said, “Following the liturgical tradition of pre-eminence amongst persons, the memorial of the Blessed V irgin Mary is to prevail.”  CN S

F ile photo of students from the Government Girls S cience and Technical College in D apchi, Nigeria. O ne student kidnapped by B oko Haram was reportedly not released as she refuses to renounce her Christian faith. photo

Bishop urges release of girl who refuses to renounce her faith L A GOS , NI GE R I A – While Catholic and Muslim leaders welcomed the release of schoolgirls captured by Boko Haram, they urged the government to work for the release of the remaining girl, a Christian who reportedly refused to renounce her faith.

The schoolgirls, kidnapped on e ere released on arch 21. Five of them were killed during captivity.

But a March 22 statement from Muslim Rights Concern, a nongovernmental organisation, q uoted one of the freed girls as saying that the lone remaining captive, Leah Sharibu, was not released because she is a Christian and she refused to put on a hijab or convert.

“We reiterate for the umpteenth time that Boko Haram’ s doctrine is heretical, and its methods stand in contradistinction to those of pristine Islam,” Muslim Rights Concern said of the extremist group. “Once again, we reject Boko Haram as an Islamic group. We urge the leadership and members of the group to re-examine its ideological base.”

Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of

Oyo praised the government for ensuring the release of of the girls from a science and technical school in D apchi, but said the litmus test would he the release of Sharibu. He expressed sadness at the death of fi e of the girls in captivity.

Bishop Badejo said Christians were rightly outraged by this blatant encroachment of Sharibu’ s rights. “They will also be proud of the faith of this mere Christian girl who has thus dared Boko Haram terrorists, who are feared by even the entire Nigerian government and people,” he said.

He challenged Nigerians to rise up, pray and take all necessary action for Sharibu’ s release. He also appealed to the international community to pressure the Nigerian government for her release. n oko aram insurgents abducted 276 female students from o ernment econdary School in Chibok, and took them to Sambisa Forest. Fiftyseven girls managed to escape months later, and some others were also released. The rest are still with their kidnappers.  CN S

POPE FRANCIS 15

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

Vatican refutes claim that pope denied existence of hell V A T I C A N C I T Y – The V atican said o uotations in the aforecomments attributed to Pope Fran- mentioned article, then, should cis denying the e istence of hell be considered as a faithful are a product of an talian journal- transcription of the ords of ist s reconstruction of the pope s the oly ather the atican remarks and not a faithful tran- said. script of the pope’ s According to the real ords.

Catechism of the M r E ugenio r ugenio Catholic Church, Sc alfari’ s Scalfari, a co-foundimmediately after er and former editor the souls of article ‘ is the death, of a epu lica those ho die in a fruit of his an talian daily said state of mortal sin ope rancis ith into hell, reconstruction, descend hom he has had here they suffer the se eral telephone punishments of hell, in which the con ersations and eternal fire. precise words face-to-face meethe chief punings in ited him ishment of hell is uttered by to his residence on eternal separation the pope are arch . from od in hom D uring their conalone man can posnot cited.’ ersation r calsess the life and hapA atican state ent fari an a o ed piness for hich he atheist, claims the as created and for pope said that hile the souls hich he longs the catechism of repentant sinners recei e says. the forgi eness of od and go ope rancis has confirmed among the line of souls ho con- the e istence of hell many times template him, the souls of those in his homilies and speeches.  ho are unrepentant and thus CN S cannot e forgi en disappear. ell does not e ist the disappearance of sinful souls e ists r calfari claims the pope said in the inter ie pu lished on arch . he talian journalist has e plained on more than one occasion that he does not take notes or record his con ersations ith the pope; he re-creates them after ards from memory including the material he puts in q uotation marks.

The V atican issued a statement soon after the article as published, saying the pope did recei e r calfari in a pri ate meeting on the occasion of aster ithout ho e er granting him an inter ie . egarding the alleged ords of the pope the atican said hat as reported in r calfari s article is the fruit of his reconstruction in hich the precise ords uttered by the pope are not cited”.

Pope praises policeman who gave his life to save hostage – Pope Francis joined leaders in praising a French police officer ho ga e his life out of a desire to protect people” during a terrorist attack.

Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Arnaud eltrame had con inced the gunman identified as edouane akdim to allo him to take the place of a oman that akdim as holding hostage on arch 23 in a grocery store in Trebes, a small to n in southern rance. akdim dro e to the grocery store and reportedly entered shouting that he as part of the slamic State group. Lakdim killed the store’ s butcher and a shopper.

Although police managed to get Lakdim to let other shoppers lea e he kept one oman ith him as a human shield. LTC Beltrame offered to take her place, media reported. When they heard more gunshots, the police stormed the supermarket and killed Lakdim. eltrame as seriously

V A T IC A N C IT Y

rench police officers are seen on March 2 at a super ar et after the hostage situation in Trebes. CN S phot o

ounded and died later in a hospital.

Bishop Alain Planet of Carcassonne and Narbonne celebrated a memorial ass for the police officer on arch in re es.

According to the BBC, the bishop compared LTC Beltrame to St a imilian ol e ho died at the a i s Ausch it death camp in oland after olunteering to take the place of another prisoner.

Pope Francis sent a message of condolence to Bishop Planet, e pressing his sadness o er hat

occurred entrusting the ictims to God’ s mercy and praying for the families of the ictims. particularly recognise the generous and heroic act of Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame ho ga e his life out of a desire to protect people,” the pope told the bishop. condemn again such acts of indiscriminate iolence hich cause so much suffering,” the pope said, adding that he prays to God for the gift of peace.  CN S

16 POPE FRANCIS

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

A look at Pope Francis’ Holy we

Easter shows the power of love, which renews the world, pope says – Easter makes it clear that not only in the life of Jesus, but also in the lives of modern men and women, “death, solitude and fear” do not have the last word, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.

“The words heard by the women at the tomb are also addressed to us: ‘ Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen,’ ” the pope said as he prepared on April 1 to give his Easter blessing urbi et orbi ( to the city and the world).

“By the power of God’ s love,” Jesus’ victory over death “dispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord and brings down the mighty,” the pope said, quot ing the formal Easter proclamation.

Standing on the central balcony of St Peter’ s Basilica after having celebrated a morning Mass in the squa re, Pope Francis focused on how Jesus foretold His death and resurrection using the image of the grain of wheat, which bears no fruit unless it is put into the ground.

“This is precisely what happened: Jesus, the grain of wheat sowed by God in the furrows of the earth, died, killed by the sin of the world,” the pope said. “He remained two days in the tomb; but His death contained God’ s love in all its power, released and made manifest on the third day, the day we celebrate today: the Easter of Christ the Lord.”

Pope Francis gave a brief homily during the Easter Mass, speaking without a prepared text about how God’ s actions throughout history to save His people have been acts that surprised them, touched their hearts and prompted them to rush to share the news with others.

“The women who had gone to anoint the Lord’ s body found themselves before a surprise” when they reached the empty tomb, he said.

“God’ s announcements are always a surprise, because our God is a God of surprises.”

On Easter, he said, Christians should ask themselves if they have hearts open to being surprised by God and if they feel a need to rush to share with others the good news of God’ s saving acts.

After the Mass, Pope Francis climbed into the popemobile for a qui ck trip around St Peter’ s Squa re and part of the way down the main boulevard leading to the squa re. He then went up to the balcony to give his formal Easter blessing.

In his remarks to the tens of thousands of people in St Peter’ s Squa re, Pope Francis said that Je-

V A T IC A N C IT Y

Pope F rancis greets the crowd during his E aster message and blessing u rbi et orbi ( to the city and the world) delivered from the central balcony of S t Peter’ s B asilica at the V atican on April 1. CN S phot os

sus’ power over death continues today and can bring peace to the world’ s most serious situations of con ict including in yria the Holy Land, Yemen, Congo, South Sudan, Ukraine, the K orean peninsula and V enez uela.

“We Christians believe and know that Christ’ s resurrection is the true hope of the world, the hope that does not disappoint,” the pope said.

In all the “furrows of our history, marked by so many acts of

injustice and violence,” he said, the power of the Resurrection and the acts it inspires in believers “bears fruits of hope and dignity where there are deprivation and exclusion, hunger and unemployment, where there are migrants and refugees – so often rejected by today’ s culture of waste – and victims of the drug trade human trafficking and contemporary forms of slavery.”

Pope Francis included special prayers for “those children who, as

W e Christians believe and k now that ‘ Christ’ s resurrection is the true hope of the world, the hope that does not disappoint. ’

– P ope F rancis

Pope F rancis carries a candle as he arrives in procession to celebrate the E aster vigil.

a result of wars and hunger, grow up without hope, lacking education and health care; and to those elderly persons who are cast off y a selfish culture that ostracises those who are not ‘ productive.’ ”

Easter vigil The previous day, during the Easter vigil in St Peter’ s Basilica, Pope Francis said Easter is “an invitation to break out of our routines and to renew our lives, our decisions and our existence.”

“D o we want to share in this message of life,” he asked in his homily, “or do we prefer simply to continue standing speechless before events as they happen?”

D uring the March 31 liturgy,

Pope Francis baptised eight adults, who were between the ages of 28 and 52. e also confirmed them and ga e them their first ommunion during the Mass.

The Mass, on a very rainy night, began in the atrium of St Peter’ s Basilica with the blessing of the fire and the aster candle. ith most of the lights in the basilica turned off, Pope Francis and the concelebrating cardinals, bishops and priests processed in darkness to ards the altar stopping first to light the pope’ s candle and then those of the concelebrants and the faithful.

“We began this celebration outside, plunged in the darkness of the night and the cold,” the pope said in his homily. “We felt an oppressive silence at the death of the Lord, a silence with which each of us can identify, a silence that penetrates to the depths of the heart of every disciple, who stands wordless before the cross.”

Transitioning from the Good Friday commemoration of Jesus’ death and commenting on the silence of Holy Saturday, the pope spoke of the hours when Jesus’ followers were left speechless in pain at His death, and also speechless at the injustice of His condemnation and at their own cowardice in the face of the lies and false testimony He endured.

“It is the silent night of the disciples who remained numb, paralysed and uncertain of what to do amid so many painful and disheartening situations,” the pope said.

“It is also that of today’ s disciples, speechless in the face of situations we cannot control, that make us feel and, even worse, believe that nothing can be done to reverse all the injustices that our brothers and sisters are experiencing in their esh. 

The pope baptises a catechumen as he celebrates the E aster vigil in S t Peter’ s B asilica at the V atican on March 3 1.

POPE FRANCIS 17

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

week and Easter celebrations

Church offers truth, comfort despite efforts to discredit it – Leading a prayer to God for the grace to feel ashamed and repentant for so many sins in the world, Pope Francis highlighted the hope that always comes from Jesus.

There is hope “because your Church, holy and made up of sinners, continues even today, in spite of attempts to discredit it, to be a light that illuminates, encourages, comforts and witnesses your unlimited love for humanity, a model of altruism, an ark of salvation and a source of certainty and truth,” the pope said.

At the end of the Stations of the Cross in Rome’ s Colosseum on March 3 0, the pope read a prayer he wrote, asking Jesus to help “strip us of the arrogance” of the unrepentant criminal that was next to Him at is crucifi ion and to ecome more like the “good thief” who was filled ith shame repentance and hope when he gaz ed upon Jesus.

In his prayer, which he read from a hillside overlooking the crowds holding candles and a torch-lit cross, the pope listed a number of sins and the shame they

R OM E

cause when one gaz es upon Jesus’ supreme act of love.

There is shame for having abandoned God or mocked Him hen things got difficult choosing power, appearances and money over God; there being so many people, even some clergy, who let themselves be misled by ambition and vainglory; leaving younger generations “a world broken by divisions and wars, a world devoured y selfishness here the young the least, the ill and the elderly are marginalised”; and the shame for having lost all sense of shame.

Repentance comes from recognising one’ s “nothingness” and knowing with certainty that only Jesus can “save us from evil, only you can heal us from our leprosy of hatred selfishness pride greed revenge, cowardice, idolatry,” he said.

Pope F rancis lies prostrate as he leads the Good F riday service in S t Peter’ s B asilica at the V atican on March 3 0 . CN

The meditations for the latenight event were written by 15 current and former students. The pope anted the re ections to e ritten by a group of young people as part of giving them a voice before the upcoming synod of bishops.

Good Friday service Earlier in the day, Pope Francis presided over the Good

T here is hope ‘ because your Church, holy and made up of sinners, continues even today . t o be a light that illuminates, encourages, comforts.’

– P ope F rancis

Friday Liturgy of the Lord’ s Passion, which began with a silent, solemn procession down the central nave of St Peter’ s Basilica.

Two aides then helped the 81- year-old pope down onto his knees as he stretched himself prostrate on the oor efore the main altar of the basilica. His bare head rested on a red pillow, in silent prayer, in a sign of adoration and penance. As is customary, the papal household’ s preacher gave the homily.

Capuchin Fr Raniero Cantalamessa said that while the Church listens to young people in preparation for the synod, the Church must not forget to also help

S photo

them listen to Jesus and discover what He has to offer.

Repeating the pope’ s call for all Christians to renew their relationship with Jesus or at least be open to letting Him encounter them each day, the Capuchin priest said God has a special mission for young people.

Their task, he said, is “to rescue human love from the tragic drift it had ended up – love that is no longer a gift of self but only the possession, often violent and tyrannical, of another.”

The ability to be totally giving and welcoming of love requi res long preparation, whether it be for the vocation of marriage, religious life or service, he said.  CN S

Jesus does not give up on anyone, prisoners told R OM E – Before washing the feet of 1 2 prisoners, Pope Francis told them and hundreds of inmates to remember that Jesus constantly stands before them with love, ready to cleanse their sins and forgive them.

“Jesus takes a risk on each of us. K now this: Jesus is called Jesus, not Pontius Pilate. Jesus does not know how to wash His hands of us; He only knows how to take a risk on us,” the pope said on March 29 during his homily at Rome’ s Regina Coeli prison.

Pope Francis celebrated the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’ s Supper at the prison and washed the feet of a doz en inmates. Eight of the 12 were Catholic; two were Muslim; one was Orthodox; and one was Buddhist.

In his brief homily before the foot-washing ritual, Pope Francis explained to the prisoners that in Jesus’ day, the job of washing feet was the task of a slave. “There wasn’ t asphalt or cobblestones, there was dust and people’ s feet got dirty,” so before they went into a house, the

does not k now ‘J esus how to wash H is hands of us; H e only k nows how to tak e a risk on us.

’

– P ope F rancis

Pope F rancis kisses the foot of an inmate during Holy Thursday Mass on March 29 at Regina Coeli prison in Rome. The pope celebrated Mass and washed the feet of 12 i nmates at the prison. CN S phot o

slaves would wash the person’ s feet.

The Gospel recounts Jesus washing the feet of His own disciples “to give us an example of how we must serve one another,” the pope said.

“The sign that Jesus serves us today in Regina Coeli is that He wanted to choose 12 of you today for the washing of the feet,” he said.

The pope celebrated the Mass of the Lord’ s Supper in the rotunda of the prison, a small central area formed from the intersection of various wings of the jail.

At the end of the Mass, a prisoner publicly thanked Pope Francis for his visit and said the inmates would try to do, at least symbolically, what he recommended at his general audience at the V atican the day before: celebrate Easter by splashing water on their eyes to look at the world with fresh eyes.

The 81- year-old pope responded y confiding in the prisoners

that, like many people his age, he is developing cataracts and will have an operation ne t year to fi them.

But, he said, as life goes on and people get busy or make mistakes, they can develop “cataracts of the soul” that prevent them from seeing the world with the hope that is born of Jesus’ resurrection.

He also insisted that jail time must be a time to prepare a person to return to society and live as good citiz ens and that the penalties for crime must be “open to hope.”

Pope Francis began his visit in the prison infirmary meeting ith prisoners there. After the Mass he was scheduled to visit the prison’ s Section V III, a protected area of the facility for inmates convicted of sexual crimes and other inmates who could be in danger in the general population.

The prison is less than 3 km from the V atican and is no stranger to hosting a pope celebrating Mass. St John X X III visited in 1958, Blessed Paul V I in 1964 and St John Paul II went in 2000.  CN S

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COMMENTARY

Evangelising and witnessing to Easter B y Marcellino D ’ Ambrosio In the teaching of the Second V atican Council and all the popes since, we hear over and over again that evangelisation is the primary task of the Church. hat s more e are also told that all of us, regardless of personality type or skill set, are called to be evangelisers.

The universal call to be evangelisers is nothing new. It comes from Jesus Himself and was issued that first aster morning. e commands the women who are the first to disco er the empty tom to “go tell” the disciples what they have seen and experienced (Mt 28: 10) .

Then it’ s the turn of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who hasten back to Jerusalem to tell the apostles what happened to them (Lk 24) . A few weeks later, the apostles are told by the Lord that they will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1: 8) .

Like Moses, we protest that we are not eloque nt enough. And we point out that we don’ t know theology well enough to refute all arguments and demonstrate the truth of the faith. And we certainly are not saints yet ... our moral imperfections are, in fact, most embarrassing.

Yet Jesus chose witnesses who were uneducated and highly imperfect. It is unlikely that either the apostles or Mary Magdalene had theology degrees from Jerusalem Rabbinical Academy. And, when it comes to sanctity, all but the mother of Jesus fall a bit short.

Yet, Jesus nonetheless commissioned these highly a ed people to take the good news to all nations.

To explain why they as well as we are capable of doing this, let’ s analyse the role of a witness in a law court.

A witness is not charged with making a coherent, comprehensive case for or against someone who is on trial. The witness is

Painting of Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene after His resurrection.

simply called upon to answer a series of que stions of what he or she has seen or heard. The role of witnesses is simply to tell, when prompted, their experience.

Mary Magdalene and the apostles were eyewitnesses of the risen Christ. More than 500 disciples shared in this experience, according to Paul (1 Cor 15) . They could bear witness to seeing Him bodily. e today o iously cannot.

How do we know the resurrection of Jesus is for real? Because we experience its effect in our lives now through the peace and joy brought by the Holy Spirit, our Easter gift. e all ha e e perienced something of the Lord’ s mercy, the power of His forgiveness, the movement of the Spirit. Each one of us has a story of the impact of Easter on our lives.

W e all have ex perienced something of the L ord’ s mercy. E ach one of us has a story of the impact of E aster on our lives.

But the Gospel, the good news, is that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, all sin is forgiven. He, who will be the judge, died to acqui t us all. People have only to accept this forgiveness to experience freedom and profound peace.

Peter, Thomas, Mary Magdalene and all of them knew the sweetness of His forgiveness in the face of the bitterness of their sin. And so do we.

Being witnesses to the good news of Easter means being able and willing simply to share a bit of our story, to give testimony from our experience.

If people can feel from you the genuine interest and affection that the Father has for you and for them, then your testimony will have a great chance of touching hearts and inspiring faith.  CN S D ’ Ambrosio writes from T ex as, U SA .

When time stands still THE theory of relativity tells us that space and time are not what they appear to be. They’ re relative, meaning that don’ t always function in the same way and they aren’ t always experienced in the same way.

Time can stand still.

Or can it? This side of eternity, it would seem not. Ever since the universe started with a mammoth explosion some 1 3 .8 billion years ago, the clock has been running nonstop, like a merciless meter, moving relentlessly forward.

However, our faith suggests that time will be different in eternity, so different in fact that we cannot now even imagine how it will be in heaven. As St Paul tells us in his letter to the Corinthians: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. How will time e e perienced in hea en As e e just affirmed that cannot e imagined now.

Or can it? In a wonderful new book titled “Is This All There Is? On Resurrection and Eternal Life”, the renowned, German scripture scholar erhard ohfink suggests that e can and sometimes do ha e an e perience of time as it ill e e perienced in eternity. or ohfink we experience this whenever we’ re in adoration.

For him, the highest form of prayer is adoration. But what does it mean to “adore” God and why is that the highest form of prayer? ohfink ans ers n adoration e ask nothing more of od. hen I lament before God it is usually my own suffering that is the starting point. Even when I petition God, the occasion is often my own problem. I need something from God. And even when I thank God, unfortunately I am usually thankful for something I have received. But when I adore, I let go of myself and look only to God.” Admittedly, lament, petition, and thanksgiving are high forms of prayer. An old classical and ery good definition of prayer defines prayer as “lifting mind and heart to God”, and what’ s in our hearts virtually at all times is some form of lament, petition, or thanksgiving.

Moreover, Jesus invites us to ask God for whatever is in our heart at a given moment: “Ask and you will receive.” Lament, petition, and thanksgiving are good forms of prayer; but, in praying them, we’ re still focused in some manner on ourselves, on our needs and our joys.

However in adoration we look to God or at some attribute of God (beauty, goodness, truth or oneness) so strongly that everything else drops a ay. e stand in pure onder pure admiration ecstatic a e entirely stripped of our own heartaches, headaches, and idiosyncratic focus. God’ s person, beauty, goodness and truth overwhelm us so as to take our minds off of ourselves and leave us standing outside of ourselves.

And eing free of our o n sel es is the ery definition of ecstasy (from the Greek, EK STASIS, to stand outside oneself.) Thus, to be in adoration is to be in ecstasy – though, admittedly, that’ s generally not how we imagine ecstasy today. For us, ecstasy is commonly imagined as an earthshaking standing inside of ourselves, idiosyncrasy in its peak expression. But true ecstasy is the opposite. It’ s adoration. oreo er for ohfink not only is adoration the only true form of ecstasy, it’ s also a way of being in heaven already right now and of experiencing time as it will be in heaven.

Here’ s how he puts it: “In the miracle of adoration we are already with God, entirely with God, and the boundary between time and eternity is removed. It is true that we cannot now comprehend that adoring od ill e endless liss. e al ays ant to e doing something. e want to criticise, intervene, change, improve, shape. And rightly so!

That is our duty. But in death, when we come to God, that all ceases. Then our existence will be pure astonishment, pure looking, pure praise, pure adoration – and unimaginable happiness.

“That is why there is also a form of adoration that uses no words.

In it I hold out my own life to God, in silence, and with it the whole world, knowing God as Creator, as Lord, as the one to whom belongs all honour and praise. Adoration is the oblation of one’ s life to God. Adoration is surrender. Adoration means entrusting oneself entirely to God. As we dwell in adoration, eternity begins – an eternity that does not withdraw from the world but opens to it utterly.”

Time can stand still! And it stands still when we’ re in pure admiration, in awe, in wonder, in adoration. In those moments we stand outside of ourselves, in the purest form of love that exists. At that moment too we are in heaven, not having a foretaste of heaven, but actually being in heaven. Eternity will be like that, one moment like a thousand years and a thousand years like one moment. hen e adore time stands still and e re in hea en 

EASTER MESSAGE 19

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 F rom Page 1

My dear brothers and sisters, there are many of us who are lacking passion and enthusiasm in the faith. We might go for church services, but our hearts are far from God. We do not have any real relationship with Him. Our practice of faith is reduced to fulfilling o ligations. ome of us have stopped coming to Church because we have been wounded by fellow Catholics, especially Church leaders.

The young and the rationalists are not able to connect with the Church because of the language we use or the way we worship.

Many cannot feel the presence of God in their lives because of a secularist culture where God is absent. Many are overwhelmed with the current ideologies of relativism, materialism and individualism. But deep in their hearts, they feel empty even if they have all the coveted things in life.

As a resurrected Church, like the apostles, it is incumbent on us to go out and proclaim the Good News. The instruction of the Risen Lord to the disciples was, “D o not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers.” (cf Mt 28 :1 0) We do this by recovering our personal relationship with the Lord.

We need to rekindle the faith of our Catholics. We need to reach out to those who are searching for God in their lives or who desire a personal relationship with Him. Faith is not just worship and doctrines. We need to express them concretely as there are many who are seeking for signs of love and welcome, a sense of identity and belonging.

To do this, we must be partners of the archdiocesan vision to be a vibrant, evangelising and missionary Church. All of us must be renewed in our faith and our love for Christ and His Church. We need to be formed in our faith and be empowered through spiritual renewal and growth. We must not forget the 10- year pastoral plan which we ha e launched fi e years ago. e need to revisit and make the plan our own.

We are coming to the halfway mark of this 10- year plan.

It is timely that we take stock of whether our faith has grown o er the last fi e ears. Has our parish community grown in number and in strength? Are there more ministries and services, not just those serving the parish but the larger community, especially the neighbourhood?

As John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, once said, “My parish is the whole orld o too in e ery parish

your pastoral care is not just for Catholics but everyone, believers or not who reside within your parish and even beyond.

What about a deepening growth in doctrinal and moral faith? Have you become better informed in your theological

T he sign that we are truly an anointed Church and a resurrected Church is the fruit of more adult baptisms, priestly and R eligious vocations. faith so that you can defend and explain your faith to the world?

Finally, are you journeying alone in faith or do you have a community to pray with, share the Word of God intimately and be strengthened in your faith? D oes your community take spiritual life seriously, worship fervently and celebrate the sacraments freq uently?

The sign that we are truly an anointed Church and a resurrected Church is the fruit of more adult baptisms, priestly and Religious vocations. We

cannot call ourselves a Church that is ali e ith the pirit if we do not have young people who have fallen in love so much with Jesus that they want to give their lives entirely to His service in the Church and for the community. We cannot claim to be a Church that has encountered the Risen Lord if we keep qui et about Him. Are we evangelising and witnessing to Christ in our lives?

Is the number of adult baptisms growing each year? Finally, the sign of a resurrected Church is when we see more and more young people leading the Church’ s ministries and activities.

Let us not remain in our tombs. et us find strength and hope from the Risen Lord as we move forward in building a Church that is vibrant, evangelising and missionary.

I invite each of you to renew your ardour for the Lord and His mission. Every one of us, young and old, has a part to play in this mission. We can contribute time, resources, talents, leadership and financial resources in our o n way, for the building of His kingdom and the proclamation of the gospel.

Let us not be discouraged by those who oppose our vision and initiatives. Let us pray for conversion of hearts and a renewal of faith of all Catholics. Let us not just remain a maintenance Church but a Church that goes out to the periphery as Pope Francis invites us. Only a Church that is alive and resurrected can attract people to the Lord and give hope to humanity and society.

Happy Easter! 

Most Rev William Goh Archbishop of S ingapore

20

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

By Jennifer Ficcaglia n the first day of the eek ary of agdala isited the tom here esus ody as laid after e died on the cross. ut esus ody as gone. ary rushed to tell eter ho ran to the tom ith another apostle. All they sa inside as esus urial cloths. eter and the other apostle ent home hile ary stayed ehind to eep.

As she as crying she looked in the tom and sa t o angels. hey anted to kno hy she as so upset. hey ha e taken my ord and don t kno here they laid im she snif ed. uddenly a man appeared ehind ary. t as esus ut she did not recognise im at first. hen she did she as so e cited and happy to see im. top holding on to me for ha e not yet ascended to the ather esus

told her. ut go to my rothers and tell them am going to my ather and your ather to my od and your od. ary told the apostles all that she had seen and heard. ater that e ening as some of the apostles ere gathered in a locked room esus appeared in their midst. eace e ith you e said as e sho ed them the ounds in is hands and side.

As the apostles rejoiced esus reathed on them. ecei e the oly pirit. hose sins you forgi e are forgi en them and hose sins you retain are retained e told is friends. homas as one of the apostles ho as not there hen esus appeared. hen his friends told him they had seen esus he refused to elie e them. nless see the mark of the nails in is hands and put my finger into the

SPOTLIGHT ON SAINTS:

St Conrad of Parzham t onrad as orn into a farming family in a aria in . is parents ere ery faithful and onrad al ays had a strong de otion to ary. is parents died hen he as .

After that he ecame a farmer hile also li ing a life of prayer and charity. n he joined the apuchins as a lay rother and made solemn o s in . e ecame the doorkeeper at the shrine of ur ady of Alotting here he counselled pilgrims and cared for orphans. e ser ed in that position for years. t onrad died in and e honour him on April . 

nailmarks and put my hand into is side ill not elie e homas declared.

A eek later esus again appeared to the apostles. his time homas as present. ut your finger here and see my hands and ring your hand and put it into my side esus told homas and do not e un elie ing ut elie e. homas looked at esus. y ord and my od he e claimed.

a e you come to elie e ecause you ha e seen me esus asked. lessed are those ho ha e not seen and ha e elie ed.  Read more about it: John 20

Q & A 1. Why was Mary weeping?

2.

Where did Jesus appear to the apostles?

Wordsearch:  S HO RE

 TO MB

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 B E LIE V E

 AS CE ND

 V IS IT

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 B O RN

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ESSAY: What lessons can you learn from “ doubting Thomas” ?

Bible Accent:

Answer to puz z le: P eter, B artholomew, P hilip, T haddeus

PUZZLE: Circle the na es of the en who were a ong esus first 2 apostles. S ee Matthew 10: 2- 4 f or hints.

Peter

B arabbas

Jonah

B artholomew

Philip

Z ebedee

Thaddeus

S amuel

Answer to W ordsearch

esus appeared to is follo ers a fe more times efore returning to is father in hea en. or e ample in uke e read that t o of esus follo ers ere alking from erusalem to the near y illage of mmaus. As they alked along another man hom they did not kno started alking ith them. his man as esus ut is follo ers did not recognise him. he t o men talked a out esus death and ho is ody as missing from is tom .

After the trio reached mmaus the t o men asked esus to eat a meal ith them. t as not until esus lessed some read and ga e it to them that they recognised im. n ohn esus appeared to se en of is follo ers ho ere fishing in a oat on the ea of i erias.

As the oat as coming to shore they sa a man standing there. t as esus ut they did not recognise im until e called out to eter. eter as so e cited that he jumped into the ater so he could get to shore faster.

After esus fed them fish and read e turned to eter. e asked eter to feed is lam s and tend is sheep hich meant e anted eter to atch o er the faithful after esus returned to hea en. 

WHAT’S ON 21

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RCIA/RCIY

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APRIL 14 AND APRIL 15 RCIA S PO NS O RS TRAINING To provide participants with a better understanding of the role of a sponsor and to equi p them with tools to be an effective sponsor. Who should attend: RCIA coordinators, RCIA core team members,

Crossword Puzzle 1207

ACRO S S 1 V atican _ _ 5 This king allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem 10 Five books of the Bible are attributed to him 14 Architect Mies van der _ 15 Warms 1 6 Together, musically 17 Single 18 Fits of anger onfined 20 Pose 21 “He is _! ”

RCIA catechists, RCIA sponsors and Catholics interested in RCIA process. Time: 9 .3 0am-5pm. The second day will end with a Mass. V enue: CAEC, 2 Highland Rd, S549102. R egister by April 6 vi a this link: https:/ / tinyurl.com/ ycxdxnz l. For more information, W: www.catechesis.org.sg.

APRIL 20 AND APRIL 21 E AS TE R D AY O F Q U IE T Time: 10a m-5pm. Spend time this aster season to re ect on the ord s Resurrection. We are opening our doors to individuals who would like to have some personal space and qui et in their lives.

Prayer and handicraft resources as well as the labyrinth walk will be available.

Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 V ictoria Park Rd. Cost: $60. To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ ED OQ 18; T: 647072.

APRIL 20 TO APRIL 2 HE LO V E S ME , HE LO V E S ME NO T A weekend retreat from April 20 (7pm )April 22 (5pm). This retreat helps you to grow in the conviction of God’ s love. Presented by spiritual directors at Montfort Centre. Cost: $ 3 00. To register: E: anthony@ montfortcentre.org; T: 9 6 3 1 1 9 4 3 .

APRIL 20 Q U E E N O F PE ACE CHU RCH HO U R O F D IS CE RNME NT Time: 8pm . V enue: House of D avid, room 4.1. O rganised by the parish vocation team of Q ueen of Peace Church.

Fellowship thereafter in canteen.

Potluck welcome. For more information, T: 961030 ( Evangeline K wok).

APRIL 21 HO PE IN THE CITY Time: 2pm-4pm . Easter is the reason for our hope because Jesus Christ died and rose again. Experience this hope through stories, music, and sharing! Organised by ffice for the e angelisation.

V enue: Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Annex Building Level 3. F or more information, T: 691 10420; E: enqui ry@ one.org.sg; W: www.one.org.sg/ events.

APRIL 21 TO MAY 19 CLARITY ’ S S E LF -WO RTH INTRO D U CTO RY AND S MALL GRO U P WO RK S HO PS Every Saturday from 10a m-noon. Join us for a four-session workshop to understand self-worth, its importance and impact in your life. Through various activities and exercises, practise ways to recognise and replace self-defeating thoughts. Learn

D O WN 1 Rosary starter 2 Grecian architectural style 3 8t h letter of the Greek alphabet 4 “__ out ! ” said the ump 5 From the Greek word meaning “the anointed one” Affirmati e otes 7 “__ a gainst the dying of the light” 8 K nife and fork 9 Evidence of a leak 10 St. Peter is the patron of this Asian country 1 1 River in central Europe 12 Catholic actress, Bonnie, of “Cheaper by the D oz en” fame 13 Home of The Hague (abbr.)

21 “…a person will _ onl y what he sows” (Gal 6: 7) 22 Morning fare, sometimes 24 Fill up 26 Annual race, familiarly 28 Actor’ s parts

29 Put to sleep 03 Alphabet string 31 Hitchcock’ s window 32 Fraud 3 Floor length vestment 34 Underground part of a plant 38 Altar linen 39 Home of the D iocese of Little Rock 40 Soft drink 42 Church sounder 43 Brother cover 46 The Lord’ s _ 47 Octave 49 Time when Nicodemus visited Jesus 50 Joseph was told in one to ee to gypt 51 Lofty nest ydney s first archbishop, John _P olding 53 Cupid 54 Coll. admissions requi rements 56 Aide (abbr.)

57 Restrain 60 “I’ ve got it now! ” 61 _ l oss for words

Solution to Crossword Puzzle No. 1206 22 “Where were you when I founded the _? ” (Job 38: 4) 23 Major and minor, for example 25 A sacrament is an outward _ 27 A meal, so to speak ign of papal office 29 Cold call?

32 Fragment 35 Auto innovator eet suffi 37 See 43D 38 Companionable 40 Span. lass

41 42 43 4 45 46 47 48 52 55

Armed ser. mail service Basic and simple Second word in the name of a Parisian basilica Encountered Moose Seed vessel Singer with Louis and D uke Republic in central Africa Saintly brother of Gregory D avid married his widow

58 Wrath 59 Cyberz ine 06 Analyz e a metallic compound 61 Teen and new follower 62 “The lady _ protest too much, methinks” 63 Speed 64 Southeast Asian cuisine 6 5 Formerly, formerly arden o er 67 “Hey, don’ t look _! ”

how to love and accept yourself in spite of your imperfections and how to make your life more meaningful. V enue: Blk 854 Yishun Ring Rd. Cost: $15 pe r person.

For more information, T: 675790.

APRIL 2 TO APRIL 28 WE E K O F GU ID E D PRAY E R @ CHU RCH O F CHRIS T THE K ING The Sojourners’ Companions invites you to learn how to pray with Scripture and develop a closer relationship with the Lord.

April 22: 2pm-5pm (taster). April 23 -27 : D aily 30m ins @ home + 30m ins with personal prayer guide at a convenient time between 9a m-10pm . April 28: 2pm5pm (closure). V enue: Church of Christ The K ing. Cost: $ 3 0. To register: W: www. sojourners.sg; W: wogp@ sojourners.sg.

For more information, visit the parish office on the eekend of April and .

APRIL 27 TO APRIL 29 CHO ICE APRIL WE E K E ND It takes that one weekend to inspire you for the rest of your life. Come away for a Choice Weekend – it is by the choices we make that e define hat our life is all a out. enue Choice Retreat House, 47 J urong West Street 4 2, S6 4 9 3 6 8 . For more information: 9 7 9 0053 7 (Hillary); T: 9 7 1 09 6 8 0 (Francesca); W: http:/ / www.choice.org.sg/ ?page_i d= 8.

MAY 3 TO MAY 31 B IB LE S TU D Y D V D PANO RAMA O F THE O LD TE S TAME NT Every Thursday. A four-session D V D programme (no class on May 17) . Time: 8pm -10pm . Come and join us to get a bird’ s eye view of how all the different ooks of the ld estament fit into the messianic coming of Christ. V enue: Church of Christ the K ing Ang Mo K io Ave 8, S t Mary’ s Room Lvl 3. To register: T: 9 8321538; E: ctkbat@ hotmail.com.

Workbook to be purchased – c ost: $25.

MAY 17 CO NNE CTE D PARE NTS , THRIV ING K ID S Time: 7.30pm -9.30pm . Learn how to connect with your children to express understanding alidation and affirmation for who they are becoming. Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 V ictoria Park Rd. Cost: $30. To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl. com/ parentsxkid; T: 647072.

MAY 19 F IND ING GO D THRO U GH WRITING Time: 1 0am-4 .3 0pm. Come and spend a day to connect with God through writing and journaling. Learn to explore and express your innermost thoughts and feelings through activities and writing exercises.

Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 V ictoria Park Rd. Cost: $80. To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ Godwriting; T: 647072.

MAY 25 TO MAY 29 LAB O U RE RS IN THE V INE Y ARD RE TRE AT A stay-in retreat open to Catholics above the age of 21 . Come away and allow yourselves to be encountered by the Lord. Programme

includes daily Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, talks, praise and worship sessions and spiritual counselling. Retreat master: Fr Terence Pereira. To register: W: www.one.org.sg/ events. Organised by ffice for the e angelisation.

MAY 26 TO MAY 29 CO ME AWAY ( B E ACH RE TRE AT F O R Y O U NG AD U LTS ) A Cenacle programme. Take a holiday in a meaningful way in this “play and pray” retreat designed to help us grow and deepen our faith despite our busy lifestyle. Following the pattern of the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, these days offer tips on self-care, daily discernment and a way of finding od in all things and time. or more information, E: cenaclemissionsingapore@ gmail.com; W: cenaclemission.com.

MAY 30 HO W TO MAK E S TRE S S Y O U R F RIE ND Time: 7.30pm -9.30pm . Based on the latest research by D r K elly McGonigal, learn how the handling of stress can either shorten or extend our healthy life span. Facilitator: Fr Matthew Linn, SJ. Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 V ictoria Park Rd. Fee: $ 50 ($ 8 0 if also attending “What is the K ey to Happiness talk”). To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ MattLinn18; T: 647072.

MAY 31 WHAT IS THE K E Y TO HAPPINE S S ?

Time: 7.30pm -9.30pm . Where are the happiest people in the world, and what are their secrets to yielding true happiness?

We will answer this with research from the award winning documentary “Happy.” perience simple processes to daily find happiness wherever it eludes us. Facilitator: Fr Matthew Linn, SJ. Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 V ictoria Park Rd. Fee: $50 ( $80 i f also attending “How to Make Stress Your Friend” talk). To register: http:/ / tinyurl.com/ MattLinn18; T: 647072.

MAY 31 TO JU NE 3 F AMILY CAMP 2018 Come and spend some time away with your family to encounter God in each other. Sessions for children, teenagers, and adults. Cost: $350 pe r adult/ teen and $200 pe r child. V enue: Batam V iew Beach Resort. To register: W: www.one.org.sg/ e ents. rganised y the ffice for the New Evangelisation and Archdiocesan Commission for the Family.

JU NE 1 TO JU NE 3 PE ACE B E WITH Y O U : TRANS F O RMING F E AR INTO GIF T June 1 ( 7.30pm )-June 3 ( 5pm). This healing retreat will focus on how Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to transform the disciples “behind locked doors out of fear” into bold, risk-taking apostles rooted in a deep peace. D iscover how this transformation can happen to us. Facilitator: Fr Matthew Linn, SJ. Organised by K ingsmead Centre, 8 V ictoria Park Rd. Fee: $270 ( non-AC), $30 ( AC). To register: W: http:/ / tinyurl. com/ MattLinn18; T: 647072.

22 IN MEMORIAM

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

F ifteenth Anniversary In loving memory of

AGNE S ANNE PE RE IRA D eparted: Apr 1 7 , 2003 Thirteenth Anniversary In loving memory of

F ourth Anniversary In loving memory of

Twenty-fourth Anniversary In loving memory of

In loving memory of F ifth Anniversary

E leventh Anniversary

ALICE K LY NE NE E K O H April 9, 2013

D O U GLAS K LY NE D eparted: D ec 29, 2007

We think of you in silence No eyes can see us weep But still within our aching hearts Your memory we keep.

D early missed and fondly remembered by loved ones.

OBITUARY

MRS D INNIE O NG NE E D INNIE RO Z E LLS D eparted: Apr 7 , 2014 There is a place in our hearts which is yours alone A place in our lives No one else can ever own We hold back tears when we speak your name But the ache in our hearts Remain the same.

D early missed by Germaine , Eugene, Roberta, Alex, Alexine and Lilo.

D E RE K LIM S E NG CHIU D eparted: Apr 1 0, 1 9 9 4 In our hearts your memory lingers, Sweetly tender, fond and true, There is not a day, dear son, That we do not think of you.

Fondly remembered by mum, dad and loved ones.

Mass offering at Church of St Francis X avier at 6.30pm on Apr 10, 2018.

In loving memory of In loving memory of Our D earest Papa and Mummy

F RANCE S GALIS TAN nee CARV ALHO D eparted: Apr 1 6 , 2005 Even when we close our eyes There’ s an image of your face And once again we come to realiz e You’ re a loss we can’ t replace.

Fondly remembered

by Selwyn, Jacqui and family, Leslie and Iona and sister D oris.

E ighth Anniversary In loving memory of

Y V O NNE Y E O S IE W E NG D eparted: Apr 1 7 , 201 0 We speak your name With love and pride We smile with tears we cannot hide We thank you for the years we shared The love you gave, the way you cared Fondly remembered and dearly missed by your children, grandchildren and all loved ones.

We speak of you Mom with love and pride We smile with tears we cannot hide We thank you for the years we shared The love you gave, the way you cared.

F ortieth Anniversary In loving memory of

In ever loving memory of our dearest sister who touched our lives in a most special way

ALLE N TAN K HO O N K E E D eparted: Apr 20, 1 9 7 8 Time takes away the edge of grief But memory turns back every leaf Gone from our lives one so dear But in our hearts forever near.

Loved and remembered by wife, family and loved ones.

( D aughter of Joseph & Julianal S ilva) Called home to the Lord on 20th April 2004

In loving memory of

“ D o n ot b e af raid , f or I hav e red eem ed y ou I h av ec alledy ou by y ou rn am e, y ou ar em in e.”

With love always by children and loved ones.

Mass will be offered at Church of the Holy Trinity on Apr 17 a t 6pm .

May she rest in peace.

F ourth Anniversary In loving memory of

JO S E PHINE ( LIND A) S ILV A

RO S E LINE PE RE IRA D eparted: Apr 1 9 , 201 4 We think of you in silence No eyes can see us weep But still within our aching hearts Your memory we keep.

May she rest in peace.

Loving Sister Mavis.

S IMO N CHIN K IM CHO Y ( WILLIE ) Born: June 18, 1946 D ied: April 13, 2004 Q uickly and qui etly came the call, Your sudden departure shocked us all.

We who have lost can tell, the loss of our loved one.

With a farewell, we still do grieve, though days have gone by, that you parted from us without a goodbye.

Remembered dearly by your sister, Eliz abeth Chin and loved ones.

T h ir te e n th A n n iv e r s a r y I n l o vi n g m e m o r y o f

M A T T HE W A L E X A ND E R S HE P HE R D S ON D e p a rte d : A p r 1 0 , 2 0 0 5

M. NAZ ARE TH D eparted: March 9, 2018 A loving nature, a heart of gold The very best this world could hold e er selfish al ays kind These are the memories you left behind A silent thought, a qui et prayer For a special person in God’ s care Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

May he rest in peace. Amen.

D eeply missed and always cherished by children, children-in-law, grandchildren and all loved ones.

V ARE E D MANU AL LO PE Z D eparted: Jul 12, 198

MARIAM LO PE Z Apr 12, 2003

Our thoughts are always with both of you, Our hearts are sore with pain, This world would be like heaven, If you were both here again.

Lovingly remembered and cherished by all your children, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law and grandchildren.

T h ir te T h is d a y is r e N o w e F o r yo u , w h Y o u w a lk b U n se e n a n d S o l o ve d , so

e n ye a r s o n , P a p a . . . m e m b e r e d a n d q u i e t l y ke w o rd s a re n e e d e d , s h a ll n e v e r fo r g e t, o m w e l o ve , d o n ’ t g o a w e si d e u s e ve r y si n g l e d a u n h e a r d , b u t a l w a ys n e m i se d a n d so ve r y d e

p t, a y , y . a r, a r.

A l w a sy i n o u r h e a r t s, w i t h m u ch l o ve W e r e m e m b e r yo u . . . a l w a ys

,

M u m m y , hc i l d r e n , g r a n d hc i l d r e n a n d g r e a t - g r a n d hc i l d r e n .

In loving memory 40

th

Anniversary

5

th

Anniversary

Tenth Anniversary In loving memory of

CLASSIFIED THANKSGIVING O Holy St Jude, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in time of need. To you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you, to whom God

has given such great power, to come to my assistance. Help me in my present urgent petition. In return, I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked. St Jude, pray for me and all who invoke your aid. Humbly in need of your intercession.

Amen. Thank you for answering my prayers.

Classified advertisement rates: inimum for the first words.

Additional words: $1.0 a w ord.

P le a s e tu r n to p a g e 2 3 fo r m o r e in m e m o r ia m a d v e r tis e m e n ts .

GAB RIE L A LINNA RO S A D eparted: April 19, 1978 1963

MAIS IE RE GINA CHAND E R D eparted: Apr 14, 2008 Time takes away the edge of grief But memory turns back every leaf Gone from our lives one so dear But in our hearts forever near.

Always cherished and remembered by loved ones.

Lovingly remembered and cherished by all.

Ninth Anniversary In loving memory of

Third Anniversary In loving memory of

GAB RIE L CHU A B O O N TIAN D eparted: Apr 1 9 , 201 5 “ I am going now to prepare a place for you, and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to tak e you to myself, so that you may be with me where I am. ” – John 14 : 3 Always remembered by wife, son, daughter and loved ones.

Mass will be offered on Apr 1 9 , 201 8 at 6 .1 5pm at the Church of Christ the K ing.

Take her in your arms, dear Lord and ever let her be, A messenger of love Between our hearts and thee.

Mass will be offered at Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour on Saturday, Apr 14, 2018 a t 6.30pm .

Rest in peace D ear mom and dad Many years have passed away You are gone But are still living In the hearts of those who stay.

D early missed and remembered by Laz ar & family, Christina & family.

PE TE R S O H PO H MIN D eparted: Apr 14, 2009 Time may heal the broken heart Time may make the wound less sore But time can never stop the longing For the loved ones gone before.

D early missed by wife, Helen and all loved ones.

IN MEMORIAM 23

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

F ourth Anniversary in loving memory of

V ICTO RIA McLE O D D eparted: Apr 1 4 , 201 4 Aged 17 It was His will that she die His will that we should let her go And we must ever bow to it But oh dear God We miss her so.

D eeply missed, deeply loved forever, by all in the McLeod family. pecial than s to t gnatius aturda

oc ers

S eventeenth Anniversary In loving memory of

In loving memory of Twelfth Anni ersar In loving memory of

i th Anniversary

Twent fifth Anniversary

Twent eighth Anniversary

CE CILIA CHE W CHE NG NAI D eparted: Apr 13, 2012

IRE NE LO W GE CK MU I D eparted: Sep 21, 193

JO S E PH LO W NAM HWA D eparted: D ec 7, 190

S O LO MO N JACO B D eparted: April 14, 2001 Not only today but every day we can feel you in our lives.

We know you’ re watching and praying for each of us.

We love you and will always miss you.

Always cherished by your loving wife, children and all loved ones.

F ourth Anniversary In loving memory of

K E NNE TH MAK K E NG K O K D eparted: Apr 21 , 201 4 His life was earnest, his actions kind, A generous hand and so active mind, Wise in all ways, thoughtful to the end, A loving father and faithful friend.

D eeply missed and fondly remembered by his wife, Antonia; his daughter, Louise; and his grandchildren, Sarah and Lauren.

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord, And let perpetual light shine upon them.

May their souls rest in peace. AMEN. Remembered by family and friends.

S TE LLA D ’ CRU Z ( S TALCY ) Who returned to Our Lord on April 18, 2006 We hold you close within our hearts, And there you shall remain, To walk with us throughout our lives, until we meet again, So rest in peace dear Mum And thank you for all you’ ve done, We pray that God has given you, The crown you’ ve truly won.

Sadly missed and fondly remembered by husband John Silva, children and spouses, grandchildren and loved ones.

Twent fifth Anni ersar In loving memory of

ifth Anni ersar In loving memory of

X . F RANCIS F E RNAND E Z D eparted: Apr 1 7 , 1 9 9 3

D AV ID E U WING K E E D eparted: Apr 1 4 , 201 3 Time takes away the edge of grief But memory turns back every leaf Gone from our lives one so dear But in our hearts forever near.

Always remembered by loving wife, children & their spouses, grandchildren and loved ones.

Thank you for the years we shared Thank you for the way you cared We loved you then and we love you still Forget you, we never will.

D eeply missed and always remembered by wife Fernandez Mary Celine, children and loved ones.

Mass will be celebrated in the Church of St Anthony on Tuesday April 17 a t 8pm and Church of Immaculate Heart of Mary at 6.15pm .

P le a s e tu r n to p a g e 2 2 fo r m o r e in memoriam and classified advertisements.

24

Sunday April 15, 2018  CatholicNews

ADVERTISEMENT

You know, Lord, that our family life may be the only gospel that some people will ever read. So we pray, for you to use us in any way you deem fit.

Afterall, the Church holds the family as sacred, modelled after God’s own Trinitarian nature. For this reason, the Archdiocesan Commission for the Family (ACF) was established in 2014.

LET US PRAY FOR OUR FAMILIES TO GROW IN FAITH.

Its mission, to lead and synergise the efforts of 13 Catholic organisations which aim to strengthen, build community and care for families.

Each year, numerous programmes and initiatives, such as retreats to foster deeper relationships, marriage preparation courses, and other services, help address the pastoral needs of families in different situations or statuses in life.

Lord, help us make a larger contribution to these organisations so that they can expand and improve efforts to benefit every family.

“PRAYER AND ACTION MUST ALWAYS BE PROFOUNDLY UNITED.” Pope Francis.

Help answer the call to build the Church of tomorrow. Details at gift.catholicfoundation.sg This community project is funded by Catholic Foundation

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