Happy Easter!

Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Happy Easter everyone!

Celebrations galore as STAC held its firstever Easter gift-exchange after mass today, proving that the spirit of giving is not only alive on an over-commercialised Christmas, but during the most important day on our Christian calendar as well!

But the partying didn't stop there! The choir headed over to BBBs' place for a free flow of waffles! Thank you so much for your kind hospitality and great food, BBBs. We all had a wonderful time!

So happy Easter to all Christians and non-Christians alike. Rejoice, for today death has been conquered by our Lord and Saviour. =)

Lenten Session VI

I really loved the last session's community reading, so I've decided to post it up here and do a short conclusion after. Here goes:

"How is it that the people who hail Jesus with branches and song as he enters Jerusalem also revile and taunt him a few days later?

They have an idea of what a messiah or a prophet or a king should be. They have decided beforehand what Jesus should do and be for them. It is not Jesus himself they are welcoming to Jerusalem that day, but rather Jesus as a means to bring about their plans and schemes. For them, messiah means power. They have no use for a messiah who is love. Love does not solve their problems in the way they expect power should. Yet perhaps some of them will later repent and rejoice because love himself has forgiven them from the cross as power never will or can.

Who is Jesus for you? Is he a fix-it man whom you accuse when things are not fixed to your satisfaction? Or are you open to welcome him as he chooses to come? Are you so busy looking for him to show his power that you never recognise how he is showing his love?

We are his welcomers, and we are his revilers. May repentance always bring us to welcome him again. And may each new welcoming be more and more enduring."

As Bernard said, God is always giving. He gives so much, and his blessings for us are in abundance. Yet, in spite of all we have received, we continue to ask for more, and God, in His magnificent love, keeps giving.

Must we wait till we lose our gifts before we realise how much we have been given? As Lent comes to a close, let us be more appreciative of the people and things around us. We are so, so blessed, and let's remember that the next time we attempt to blame God for our shortcomings.

Lenten Session V

After returning the blind man his sight, Jesus' journey towards Calvary continued. This time, however, he got a little sidetracked: a dear friend of his, Lazarus, had died.

The death of Lazarus, as Jesus said, gave him a chance to display God's power. Jesus proved himself greater than death by raising Lazarus from the dead, though he had already been entombed for a few days. Jesus wanted us to know that nothing on this world was more absolute than God, and since God is love, nothing is more powerful than love.

Most of us in this choir are young, and have not yet had to experience the death of someone dear to us. But when we do, or if we did, what would our response be? Would we blame God for taking away someone we loved? Would we mourn a loss, or should we be strong and realise that death is not the end?

Love persists even after one's death, and love ensures that a person does not simply disappear after they have passed from this world. Thanks to God's great love, our lives need not end--we can live on, both in heaven, and in the hearts of those who love us.

As seen on a gravestone in a commercial (or was it an MV?): "We loved him very much, but God loved him more."

Lent Session IV

As he continued his journey towards his death and ressurection, Jesus encountered a beggar whose physical blindness Jesus cured. The significance of this act of kindness was so great that it sparked a rather big controversy amongst the Pharisees and some of the Jews, for Jesus had healed on a Sabbath, an act which was akin to crime in those days.

This story of one of Jesus' many miracles raises two important points. The first comes from the actions of the Pharisees. Many a time we tend to blow things out of proportions. We tend to misread the intentions of others because their actions seem out of the current social norms. Sometimes, we even allow those standards to be our excuse for not doing the right thing; we allow ourselves to be suffocated by social norms, and fail to reach out to the lonely, fail to heal the sick or love the unloved. Jesus proved himself greater than the Sabbath and the laws which the Pharisees had twisted and contorted--we, too, have to be greater than the boundaries this physical world has constructed around us.

The second point stems from the blind man. He showed us a quality that we often overlook: steadfastness. He did not fear the Pharisees, who probably had the power to punish him for defying them. Instead, he allowed himself to revel in the Truth--that Jesus was the saviour of the world, the only Son of God. Jesus is always there, always healing and guiding us through the difficulties of our lives. Yet when he needs us most, where are we? When the Pharisees of our modern world condemn him, do we stand up for the Lord who has returned us our sight? Or do we shy away, afraid of what the blind might do to us?

The road to the cross was not easy for Jesus, yet he never backed away from those who needed his grace. Let us then walk in his footsteps, and allow our blindness to be washed away in his wondrous love.