WE WILL NOT BE DEFEATED!

Tonight was a moment of revelation for me. It is Family Renewal Week in our retreat centre and over 3500 youth and adult retreatants are in our English Campus. The theme of the 31st National Youth Retreat being held this week is - "Soar High As On Eagles Wings" (Isaiah 40:31) It is a wonderful atmosphere to see tiny tots, little children, teenagers, college students, single adults and married couples of all ages all mingling together to spend a week in prayer and joyous praise & worship!

There are many inspiring homilies that I have heard in Divine – the great blessing of having deeply anointed Vincentian priests and why it is the largest Catholic retreat centre in the world. Yet tonight, I listened to one of the most uplifting and heart-stirring homilies by Fr. Michael Payyapilly V.C., the Assistant Director of our retreat centre. As I was listening, I felt a great stirring of hope and confidence that seemed to flow from my mind to my heart. Fr. Michael based his homily on the Word of God of David and Goliath (1 Samuel Chapter 17) - “We will not be defeated” As he spoke, this was the line that reverberated in me as Father kept emphasizing it, “With Jesus on my side, my family and I will not be defeated” - based on a true experience he had with another young man when they were both attending a youth retreat in Divine as college students in 1996. It was a very touching example of the power of faith.

It made me remember the joyful moments in my life when my friends and I believed that no challenge was impossible to overcome. At college and in my career days, even amongst them, I was often called an idealist as I would never give up if I believed in a cause / a principle / or a project. It was a personal challenge! Now that is a sure way to get into trouble with authority – and I did get into trouble at times. But I learned a valuable lesson. More often than getting into trouble, I realized I can only be defeated if I did not believe passionately in what I was doing or standing up for. It was a matter of faith.

I was pondering about this homily over dinner tonight and even now as I write this post. Why did this homily touch such a deep chord in me? It Is because I remembered vividly once again that faith is a beautiful gift of grace from God. I rediscovered my Catholic faith during my first retreat here in 1998. Despite troubles and difficulties that have been in my life – there has always been inner peace of knowing I will not be defeated and that Jesus will not abandon me no matter what. The bible verses, “If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31) and “With God, all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) are Word of God that inspire me greatly in my life. We should not be afraid to live our dream to achieve our Christian mission.

I am deeply inspired by the courage of some of my friends in answering the Call of God they have experienced in their lives – none of them knows what  lies ahead or how they can carry out the mission they feel called for based in Singapore and Hong Kong. But they are proving one thing to be true – what Fr. Michael so aptly ended his homily with:

WE BELIEVE IN FAITH!

I dedicate this post specially to Fr. Michael – for reminding me of the joy of my Call, the joy of all my friends in answering the Call of God in their lives, the joy of the Call of every priest and lay person who serves in this centre AND of committed Catholics all over the world. We will not waver and we will not be discouraged – “With Jesus on our side, we will not be defeated.”

We will “Soar High As on Eagles’ Wings!” (Isaiah 40:31) . 

The hymn below "I Will Rise" will uplift your heart!

OH...THE JOY OF MALAYSIAN FOOD!!!

Now there is one thing, I am sure Malaysians all over the world agree with me - we MISS our glorious Malaysian food! Eating out is a favourite Malaysian past-time. In fact, with a whole array of  local and international cuisine available in Malaysia, it is not until one leaves our country to live elsewhere that we realize that we MISS our local hawker food the most! It is cheap, wonderfully delicious, and most of all, we miss the friendly chatter of all the other diners of different races around us just having a good time over a meal. It is a snapshot of joy of our daily Malaysian life. There is no need to dress up - it is all a very relaxed affair.

 

HOKKIEN MEE



As a child, I remember how excited I was when my dad would take us out for hawkers' food. There was this evening hawkers' stalls just opposite the Diamond Jubilee Hall in Kluang. I loved having Hokkien Mee KL-style - yes, the dark sauce variety. It took me over two months when I first went to work in Singapore years later to realize Singapore Hokkien Mee is a bland soupish variety. At the risk of all my SIngaporean friends' wrath, I have to say - our KL Hokkien Mee beats theirs hands down. :)    

  



CHILLI CRAB

I am pretty fussy about the type of fish I eat but there is one seafood dish I absolutely crave for because it is over ten years since I have last had it - Chili Crab! Now this is one dish that is also a speciality in Singapore. I have no idea why but for some reason, despite my countless visits  home and to Singapore, I still have not had it. This is not a meal to have in a pastel coloured outfit. This is the finger-licking variety type of food....probably why I have not got around to it. I want to have this leisurely in the confines of my own dining table.  I do not have to worry how messy I get. Chili crab for me is alway associated as a communal meal - it is definitely not for a single diner. Well, ten years is a LONG time and I intend to drag my childhood schoolmate, SY, who has promised we'd have chili crab on my next trip home and that is next month in June! I won't have to worry about my clothes or how I look - we were teenagers together and seen ourselves at our worst already.

BAK KUT TEH

Now this is rather strange.  I have been in India for 7 years and the one dish I miss when it is rainy and cool or when I just feel I cannot face another curry meal is my favourite comfort food  - Bak Kut Teh. The hours I have fantasized about this one dish in India is amazing. To my surprise, I found out on a fantastic food blog, Rasa Malaysia, that there is a great Bak Kut Teh restaurant in my own hometown, Kluang. I never ever knew that! I had to read about it from a 2011 blog post by Rasa Malaysia's author Bee Yinn Low who is based in USA. Talk about not knowing my own hometown! Well, I plan to have a great time when I meet another wonderful ex-schoolmate, Winnie, who has promised to take me there.  Bee Yinn's mouth-watering food photos and posts have really made me miss Malaysian food even more than ever before (sigh). All  the food photos I have used here are from Rasa Malaysia with Bee Yinn's kind permission.

MEE SIAM

I love beehooon (vermicilli noodles). One Malaysian dish I could eat endless plates in a single meal was when my Mum cooked Mee Siam. Just thinking of this childhood memory brings back such warm memories of family meals together and especially of my mother's fabulous cooking. I can only marvel at her great love for all of us - there was my dad and eight of us, kids. It must haver been like feeding a mini army...and all of us expecting  our favourite version of the food. Whenever I read the bible verse - "Better to eat vegetables with people you love than to eat the finest meal where thers is hate." (Proverbs 15:17), I think of my family meals. We did not have lavish meals but there was more than enough and it had the best ingredients  - LOVE & LAUGHTER!  

 

Well, there are so many types of great food, I have just scraped the surface. All of us have our own favourite Malaysian dishes. Yet there is one Malaysian dish that is universally liked by ALL self-respectiing Malaysians...our national dish - NASI LEMAK! I have yet to meet a single Malaysian who does not like Nasi Lemak. It is even better when it is wrapped up in banana leaf. Goodness! If I could have the exquisite ikan bilis sambal here in India right now, I would be halfway to Paradise! Till then the photo will have to do...

NASI LEMAK

On a serious note, it is not so much the food itself that I miss, it is the wonderful memories of meals with family, friends, colleagues filled with joy and love and support that makes me miss my country, Malaysia. The people of Malaysia are truly warm and friendly - and I have heard many foreign friends marvel at the warm hospitality of Malaysians. It is a trait that I hope will always be an intrinsic part of my country - Malaysia.

"But life's joys are only joys if they can be shared."

Ravi Zacharias

(Walking from East to West: God in the Shadows)

   

 



BLESSED POPE JOHN PAUL II - BE NOT AFRAID!

This Divine Mercy Sunday (01 May 2011) will always be one I will remember specially - it is the day Pope John Paul II was declared a BLESSED - the last step before sainthood!

Just to see the outpouring of love and joy of the 1.5 million people who were gathered in Vatican is testimony to the great love Pope John Paul II inspired in millions of people  - young and old alike; Catholics and non-Catholics. No one can dispute the holiness and joy that were so tangible in Blessed Pope John Paul II - he was the "Pope of the People"!

I was studying in Toronto, Canada when my heart was first touched deeply and I felt so proud to be a Catholic! Pope John Paul II truly inspired hope and courage in my heart as he did for millions of Canadians during his 1984 visit.  It was a great thrill as the helicopter that was airlifting Pope John Paul II was flying past the low-rise apartment block I was living in. The route was announced in the paper...there was a great air of expectancy and joy as practically all the residents  came out...and the helicopter flew past at very low altitude slowly in an arc and we all saw Pope John Paul II''s smiling face waving happily at us! First there were jumps of joy and everyone yelling,  "Pope John Paul II, we love you!" 

Then nearly everyone fell on their knees and many people were in tears - just like me! I remember feeling great surprise at the unexpected tears of joy running down my cheeks and for the first time ever, I realized holiness has its own special aura - just seeing the Pope converted my heart in an undefinable way forever. And then I watched the live telecast of the open-air Mass.  I felt deeply the Pope's call to us, the Youth (as I was then) to be the future of the Church. I began reading over the years his teachings and excerpts of the Holy Father's speeches whenever I could. He always struck a deep chord within me.  It was always a call to proclaim the Gospel to the ends of the earth and to love the sick, the poor and especially the Youth - our future! 

That was the first sowing of the seed - for me to one day live my faith actively. I was still engrossed in my studies and then my career but there was a longing for something deeper - something I could not define then. I have read so many accounts of young men inspired to be priests, lapsed Catholics returning to the Church, Youths the world over absolutely loving this joyous and dynamic Pope - whom our Catholic Church has never witnessed before.

Corpus Christi in Rome - May 2002

I also had the blessed experience to be in Rome for the Corpus Christi open-air Mass celebrations outside St. John Lateran's Church in May 2002 with 2 friends. We had no tickets and we wanted so badly to do so - my friend, Lucy, walked up to the security personnel and first asked a young policeman and his answer was a firm "No". Well, for a once-in-a -lifetime experience, we had no intentions of giving up so easily.  So we started praying the Rosary, and then I felt inspired to tell Lucy to approach an older policeman who seemed to be in charge of that section. Amazingly, he spoke to her briefly and she pointed us out - the next thing we knew, we were allowed to get right to the front of the area where the crowds were gathering - we had a great prime view for the mass! We thanked God and Mother Mary for her most loving intercession!  The picture above of Pope John Paul II, frail and suffering, moved everyone to tears from the moment he appeared till he left. No feelings can describe the love and joy that everyone gathered felt for our beloved Pope - in his final years of suffering that he bore with courage and such inner peace. His face was glowing in holiness.

In November 2002, I was blessed once again to attend the annual Holy Mass by Pope John Paul II at St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican, for Seminarians and Priests studying in the Universities in Rome. My spiritual brother, who is a Salesian priest, was studying in Rome then. I had to make a presentation at a conference in Naples and he asked me if I wanted to be a part of of the Holy Mass celebrations. He must be kidding! My non-Catholic colleague and I extended  our trip and flew to Rome without any hesitation! What amazed me was the joy my friend experienced! He actually stood on his chair when the Holy Father was being transported in. After mass, he called all his Catholic friends in USA, Singapore, UAE and the Philippines. I remember his words to me upon seeing Blessed Pope John Paul II - "Now I can die happily, Susan, I have seen the holiest man on earth." That is the huge impact Pope John Paul II had on every one who was in his presence.

This is exactly who Blessed Pope John Paul II was - A Pope who exemplified a great abiding love of Christ; a Shepherd with a great warm love for his flock; and most of all, a holy priest who taught us the power of prayer and the grace to be steadfast in suffering for the salvation of the world. He was the human face of Christ to me and to millions of people.

As a tribute, I have created my first attempt of a YouTube video below of some of the inspiring Quotes of Blessed Pope John Paul II. These are values every human being should live by. It is why God has chosen this Great Pope to be a Saint one day soon.

Blessed Pope John Paul II  - pray for us to live our faith actively!