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!

THE TRUE WONDER OF THE CROSS!

I have had the great blessing to be a part of the beautiful celebration of Holy Week in Divine for at least 6 years now- I have only been away home in Malaysia twice in the years I have served here. The Holy Week this year has had a profound effect on my heart. I feel a great change has begun within me since late December last year - in understanding and embracing the crosses in my life instead of trying to push them away.  Somehow the whole Catholic teaching of learning to love the Cross and to share in the suffering of Christ for the salvation of my loved ones and the world was not too easy to accept with an open heart. I now realize it is because I was still focussed on myself - a case of "ME! ME! ME!" instead being able to really love God more than myself.

Living in Divine is by itself an 'EASTER EXPERIENCE' - I have no regrets choosing to give up my career to serve here fulltime. When I look back, I know that there are many areas in my life that I have been pruned and moulded for the better.  That did not come the easy way - there was pain but many, many more moments of pure, inner joy of tangibly feeling God's Love. I am learning to carry the crosses that come my way and not to struggle and try to throw these crosses away for hopefully smaller ones! Rather, it is to trust that  "with God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26)

All I have to do is to learn to live joyfully each day and to leave everything in God's Hands. I am finally learning to embrace the Cross.  My faith and my Joy comes from the Wonderful, Victorious Cross of Christ! The song above - "The Wonderful Cross" by Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin is perfect for Easter!

May God bless all of us with the grace to love generously and to live humbly...Below are some 2011 pictorial memories of the Holy Season of Lent & Easter in Divine. Wishing all of you a Glorious & Blessed Easter!

JOY IS THE MYSTERY OF LOVE - MOTHER TERESA

Mother Teresa

The first day I was back in my office in India last Thursday, I received a video of Mother Teresa. It was a hectic day for me and I wanted to put off watching the video. Yet something in my heart prompted me to make the time  to watch it. So I did, watching it in 'instalments' - as the video had different subtopics. The first few minutes of just listening to Mother Teresa's message reminded me once again of how inspirational Mother Teresa has been to the world even today - all because of her incredible capacity to love and her deep faith. Later that night, I watched the video in its entirety feeling a great sense of peace and tranquility in my heart and mind.

For Christians, this is the last week of Lent as we begin Holy Week today with Palm Sunday mass celebration.  The Holy Season of Lent is a time when each of us is called to reflect upon our lives, to repent and to live a life pleasing to God. 

Mother Teresa's message is very simple but incredibly powerful and pierces one's heart. I have always been inspired by Mother Teresa - how this small-sized nun with a huge heart revolutionized the world to love the poor. She epitomizes "Love In Action".

One point that really touched me was her message that "We need lots of love to forgive; lots of humility to forget. It is not complete forgiveness if we do not forget also. As long as we do not forget, we have not forgiven fully. And this is how we hurt each other...We need humility to forget." 

I have found the wisdom of Mother Teresa's words to be true. It is not easy but our hearts are only free when we can let go of hurts and pains and have no feelings of anger and hatred towards any person - no matter what. We will be given the grace and it becomes easier and easier to focus on the good in others.

The inspiring video of Mother Teresa below - "JOY IS THE MYSTERY OF LOVE" is truly worth watching - her message is timeless and cuts across all barriers to speak to every person's heart. It will make us really take a deep look into our lives. Mother Teresa is like a gentle and powerful voice of "Conscience". 

FRIENDS ARE QUIET ANGELS...

Well, I am off today for 15-day home break - and my heart is filled with great joy! It is just a wonderful feeling to be back home with my mum and loved ones and to also get a chance to catch up with friends who I really miss.

The older I get, the more I appreciate how blessed I am with so many thoughtful, genuine. down-to-earth friends in my life. I have actually found that even in the most difficult situation, God always sends a couple of friends who suddenly remind me I am not alone. In this past week, I was once again reminded of this great blessing - of four friends who showed they cared in their own special ways. It was a difficult week for me and just these little loving, cheerful notes, smses and skype calls reminded me - life is beautiful and what am I worrying about? They did not really know what was happening but they were just there suddenly this past week for me. To me, they were God-sent.

When I watched this music video, "FRIENDS ARE QUIET ANGELS" below, I thought it is most apt of all the good friends I have in my life - from kindergarten until today. Through Facebook and Internet, I have reconnected with some lovely friends again who bring a lot of sunshine and cheer throughout the year through their emails, calls and the few chances when we get to meet up.  I do not know about how you feel but friends are like rainbows in my life - being there  for me at the most unexpected of times. What more could I ask for? As one of my dearest friends wrote - "Go do what you have to do. We will always support you." To my friend who shall remain nameless - thank you for believing I would choose to do what is right without asking any questions... 

   "But what is the good of friendship if one cannot say exactly what one means? Anybody can say charming things and try to please and to flatter, but a true friend always says unpleasant things, and does not mind giving pain. Indeed, if he is a really true friend he prefers it, for he knows that then he is doing good.”

Oscar Wilde

FOR A GRACE-FILLED WORLD!

This year has started with many natural disasters - floodings in Brazil and Australia; earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan; and  man-made disasters - people fighting for their freedom from oppressive regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Libya where violent clampdowns are taking place. All these made me reflect - "What is happening to our world?"

These past few weeks, a couple of friends overseas asked me the question - "Are these signs our world is coming to an end?  We better get ready for it."  I have been getting emails about the signs of the End Times and prophecies. Well, my answer was that I am not too worried about the world ending - it probably will one day. What I have been very conscious of is to try to live every day as if it is my last. After all, anything can happen to me suddenly and I will not be around anymore! Even if the world does not end, my life on it would have! Am I ready to meet my God?

I shared with my friends my deeply-felt belief - "I cannot live in fear or worry. I have to continue to live with hope and to ensure my life has a "divine" purpose." I cannot do much to reach out to the millions of people suffering. In fact, I do not watch too many of the videos on the Internet on these disasters because I find it numbs my senses - and it becomes unreal. But I read a lot of what is happening online.

The one thing I do is to pray. I pray for the innocent children and families and animals who have faced incredible tragedies and trauma  - people who have lost everything and no one knows when or where they can rebuild their lives. I pray for my fellow brothers and sisters in these countries to have faith and not to despair and give up all hope. May all who can lend a helping hand reach out in love as we are world citizens and we must care. Every little bit helps - in acts of love or in prayers for them every day.

We must look beyond ourselves - it is no point worrying only about what our future is. Frankly, our future is what we human beings make of it. Now is the time for each of us to take a deep, hard look at our lives - "Is my life superficial? Am I just running after material wealth, success and status OR am I doing something tangible to make a DIFFERENCE in this world?"

I believe now is the time for each of us to stop waiting for someone else to make the difference in this world. Why not me? Let us be people who love and respect our fellow men and women of all races and faith. Let us live to do good - by learning not to have prejudices or suspicions of people and cultures we do not fully understand. It is time we look at each person and know we are all childen of God and learn to live in love and harmony. We must also stand up for what is right - every human being has the right to live in freedom.

This is my dream for what our world could be...and I refuse to believe it is impossible to achieve. I will continue to pray for love, peace and understanding. I will pray that God will first and foremost make the 'CHANGE" to begin with me. I cannot expect others to change while I remain the same.

Please do take a few minutes and listen to the music video, "THE PRAYER"  a hauntingly beautiful duet by Celine Dion and Josh Groban.

Let us live in faith, let us pray for each other and may God's Grace be upon the world! 

"Never get tired of praying, and never miss a chance to give to the poor."

(Sirach 7:10)