MAUNDY THURSDAY

Thursday, 5th April 2007

The most complex and profound of all religious observances, saving only the Easter Vigil. It celebrates both the institution by Christ himself of the Eucharist and of the institution of the sacerdotal priesthood (as distinct from the 'priesthood of all believers') for in this, His last supper with the disciples, a celebration of Passover, He is the self-offered Passover Victim, and every ordained priest to this day presents this same sacrifice, by Christ's authority and command, in exactly the same way. The Last Supper was also Christ's farewell to His assembled disciples, some of whom would betray, desert or deny Him before the sun rose again.

On Holy Thursday there is a special Mass in Cathedral Churches, attended by as many priests of the diocese as can attend, because it is a solemn observance of Christ's institution of the priesthood. At this 'Chrism Mass' the bishop blesses the Oil of Chrism used for Baptism and Confirmation. The bishop may wash the feet of twelve of the priests, to symbolize Christ's washing the feet of his Apostles, the first priests.

The Holy Thursday liturgy, celebrated in the evening because Passover began at sundown, also shows both the worth God ascribes to the humility of service, and the need for cleansing with water (a symbol of baptism) in the Mandatum, or washing in Jesus' washing the feet of His disciples, and in the priest's stripping and washing of the altar. Cleansing, in fact, gave this day of Holy Week the name Maundy Thursday.

The action of the Church on this night also witnesses to the Church's esteem for Christ's Body present in the consecrated Host in the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, carried in solemn procession to the flower-bedecked Altar of Repose, where it will remain 'entombed' until the communion service on Good Friday. No Mass will be celebrated again in the Church until the Easter Vigil proclaims the Resurrection.

And finally, there is the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament by the people during the night, just as the disciples stayed with the Lord during His agony on the Mount of Olives before the betrayal by Judas.

courtesy of http://www.catholic.org/

Remember to keep those days free :)!!

This Sunday 1st April 2007 is Palm Sunday

The Sunday before Easter is known as Palm Sunday. It is the beginning of Holy Week. It celebrates Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. Great crowds of people thronged the streets waving palm branches to welcome Him. The people shouted "Hosanna" and laid their cloaks and palm branches from the nearby trees in His path.


Scripture Reading
Matthew 21:1-11,14-17

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: "Say to the Daughter of Zion, 'See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.' " The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed their cloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them.

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!" When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, "Who is this?" The crowds answered, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee." The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, "Hosanna to the Son of David," they were indignant. "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read," 'From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise'?" And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

After this week comes

Maundy Thursday

Good Friday

Holy Saturday

Easter Sunday

Look out for the stories about these days coming up on this blog!!

Lenten Penitential Services 2007

CITY DISTRICT
CHURCH OF ST BERNADETTE - Monday, March 26: 8 pm
CHURCH OF SS. PETER & PAUL - Tuesday, March 27: 8 pm, Sunday, April 1: 1.30 pm (Chinese)
CHURCH OF ST. MICHAEL - Wednesday, March 28: 8 pm
CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES - Thursday, March 29: 8 pm
NOVENA CHURCH - Monday, April 2: 8 pm
CHURCH OF ST. TERESA - Tuesday, April 3: 8 pm

EAST DISTRICT
OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR - Monday, March 26: 10.30 am & 7 pm, 9pm
CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY - Tuesday, March 27: 10.30 am, 7 pm & 9 pm
CHURCH OF THE HOLY FAMILY - Wednesday, March 28: 10.30 am, 7 pm & 9 pm
CHURCH OF OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE - Thursday, March 29: 8 pm
CHURCH OF ST. STEPHEN - Friday, March 30: 8 pm

WEST DISTRICT
CHURCH OF ST. MARY OF THE ANGELS - Monday, March 26: 8 pm
CHURCH OF ST. IGNATIUS - Tuesday, March 27: 8 pm
CHURCH OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI - Wednesday, March 28: 8 pm
CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS - Thursday, March 29: 8 pm
BLESSED SACRAMENT CHURCH - Friday, March 30: 8 pm

NORTH DISTRICT
CHURCH OF THE RISEN CHRIST - Monday, March 26: 10.30 am & 8 pm
ST. JOSEPH’S CHURCH - Tuesday, March 27: 8 pm
CHURCH OF CHRIST THE KING - Wednesday, March 28: 10.30 am & 8 pm
CHURCH OF OUR LADY STAR OF THE SEA - Thursday, March 29: 8 pm
CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - Friday, March 30: 10.30 am & 8 pm
CHURCH OF ST. ANTHONY - Monday, April 2: 8 pm

SERANGOON DISTRICT
CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY OF THE BVM - Tuesday, March 27: 8 pm
CHURCH OF ST. FRANCIS XAVIER - Wednesday, March 28: 8 pm
CHURCH OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY - Thursday, March 29: 8 pm
CHURCH OF ST. ANNE - Monday, April 2: 8 pm
CHURCH OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL - Tuesday, Apr 3: 8 pm

Courtesy of Veritas

haha this is a long awaited and overdue post but anyhow here goes =D!! haha and i shall let the photos do most of the talking la hehe :)..

RCIY HIKE 2007 - 04.03.2007

firstly, BIG THANK YOU to the hike I/Cs Daryl, Freddie, Daphne and of course, by default Jasmine :)..

Start of hike at Bishan Park

haha as you can see, all of us look so refreshed and energized hahaha.. then we slowly made our way to our next pit-stop: SHELL STATION.. along the way we got randomly paired up and we had to interact and get to know each other better.. and we got quizzed about our partner after that HAHA!

(and MUAHAHA i ace-ed the quiz la wheeheehee =P)

short cam-whoring session :)... doris was really excited about borrowing simon's cap to pose and take pictures hahaha..

more walking and getting-to-know-each-other-better =D

at our 2nd pit-stop (Casuarina Road Junction), we got handicapped! some of us were tied at our wrists, while wee seng and eugene had their arms tied together haha..

and after a while, we got handicapped further!! poor doris and alastair got blindfolded =X.. but no worries cos iggy and i were there to guide them along :).. along the way we were also asked to look around and pick out an item that would represent us, and we were to share about it later.. (so as u can see, iggy is posing very lame-ly with his leaf HAHA)

at the gate of Upper Pierce Reservoir, we took a very short break as we each shared on why our chosen item represented us, afterwhich all the inquirers had to individually and silently walk to the next junction so that they could do some quiet reflection on their own..

(some of the inquirers were distracted by the numerous cute little monkeys at the second half of the journey though hahaha)

the next pitstop was at the carpark of Upper Pierce Reservoir, where we had yummy--licious chicken rice and ice-cold sugarcane juice for lunch, courtesy of joy and jasmine :)!!

the next activity for the day was the very tiring but fun TREASURE HUNT!! it was conducted stations-of-the-cross style, and we either said a short prayer, or had a sharing question at each station..

but obviously, we first had to source for the clue based on the photo that we got from the previous station, and our Mister Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson of the day was WEE SENG and ALASTAIR =D!!! wahhhh they could find the clues at all the ultimate hidden places la haha :))..

and the photo below shows THE HORRIBLE AND TIRING slope that we had to climb up and down TWICE!! it isnt as easy as it looks, especially under the hot and scorching sun which literally drains you of all your energy!!!!!!! haha..

To wrap up the hike experience, here is the summary of the day and some self reflections:

When we decided to proceed with the hike, I’m sure all of us had doubts as to whether we could do it, where we’d go and what we’d be doing. Some of us may even be thinking about what if I needed to pee, what if I got injured, what if it rained? Many many “What ifs” would have come to our minds.
But we still tried and persevered.

I’d like to draw your attention to how we kicked off the journey from Old Upp Thomson Road. By that time, I’m sure we’d be thinking how far we are going to go. We started to talk to each other, in an attempt to distract ourselves from the difficult journey that is to come. Some of us chose to keep quiet and distract ourselves with other thoughts.

Unknowingly, when we had arrived at the Casuarina Rd Junction, It got worse. Some of us got blindfolded, crippled and handicapped. This was going to be a long day.

Reaching the Lower pierce Gate, Some would have already wanted to give up. Silently walking up and down the slopes really took the breath out of us. Who was going to help me? I need to talk. I need to vent myself. But I can’t!!! HOW LONG MORE!?!?!

Finally we reached the lunch point. It was so so so tiring..

What we had to go through was just a little taste of what Jesus had to go through. Think of the time when he was humiliated, slapped, tortured, laid with a heavy burden, thirst, fell and didn’t have anyone to talk to except God.

Think of this: Did anyone of you think of praying to God during this journey?

The treasure hunt was made so that we can understand what Jesus went through before he died. And to allow us to be able to relate to his sorrow with our troubles.

Sharing with each other is the way that we have been taught. We are a community, and a family of God. Sometimes, I won’t be able to see God or feel him. But when I share, another person may have a similar experience and was guided by God in his / her after-actions. Sometimes, Listeners may even be inspired by God with a message for the sharer.

It is when we are the weakest, Jesus is there.
It is when we are the most tired, that Jesus is there.
It is when we are sad, Jesus is there.
It is when we listen, that we can feel him.
That does not mean that Jesus isn’t there at other times, but we need to be empty. To empty ourselves of our troubles, worries, thoughts, then we are able to listen.

Hence, Let us, during this period of Lent, repent on our wrongdoings and lift our worries to God. So that Jesus can be there for us and to lead us and comfort us.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED :)!! EVERYONE MADE IT =D!!

even though we cldnt finish the last few stations as the rain was quite heavy towards the end, i feel a sense of accomplishment for completing the hike :).. haha and im sure everyone who attended the hike share the same sentiments as me =D!!!

Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Lenten season. On this day all the faithful, according to ancient custom, approach the altar before the priest, dipping his thumb into ashes previously blessed and marks the forehead with the sign of the cross, saying the words: "Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shalt return." The ashes used in this ceremony are made by burning the remains of the palms blessed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year.
In the blessing of the ashes four prayers are used, all of them ancient. The ashes are sprinkled with holy water and fumigated with incense.

There can be no doubt that the custom of distributing the ashes to all the faithful arose from a devotional imitation of the practice observed in the case of public penitents. But this devotional usage, the reception of a sacramental which is full of the symbolism of penance

In the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten season.

RCIY07 Yahoogroups

The RCIY07 Yahoogroups has been created
If you haven't received the invite yet, sms Daryl @92739592!!
OR leave a message in the Tagboard.

Session on Communication with God

On Sunday, We started off with a game of Drawer and Describer...

Then we shared and learnt about:

Different levels of communication
Level 1 – Clichés (How are you?)

Level 2 – Facts (So hot lately…)

Level 3 – Opinions (I think you draw very well..)

Level 4 – Feeling (I feel proud of you for being brave)

Level 5 – Heart (These are things I find hard to open up and talk about)

Concluding Sunday's session:

Communication with God is necessary. And the best thing is that GOd Listens to us all the time. It doesn't matter who you are, where you're from or what you need. God Listens......

Prayer is a gift of God. "Gift" is a good word to describe prayer, because praying is not something we can do of ourselves. " We do not know how to pray as we ought," scripture says. Prayer is a gift God must give.

And God gives that gift generously, without consideration of our worthiness or our unworthiness. Sinners as well as saints can pray. People of every religious tradition receive the gift. In fact, every human being is able to pray. The Catholic Catechism reminds us of that by entitling its opening section on prayer The Universal Call to Prayer. (2566-2567)

Yes, all are called to pray. All receive the gift. And, surprisingly, sometimes those thought to be "ungifted" pray best and are graciously heard. That's the lesson Jesus taught in his parable about the Pharisee and the Publican who together went up to the temple to pray. The Publican, an outsider who thought himself unworthy of approaching God in prayer, was found more pleasing by God than the Pharisee, a professionally religious person, who prayed so effortlessly.

Prayer, then, is God's gift to the strong and the weak, to the smallest child and frailest of the old. It's given to those who say, " I'm not really religious; prayer is beyond me." It's given to everyone, no matter who you are.
That's not to say we can't refuse to pray or we can't neglect it. Like any gift, prayer must be received. If someone gives you a beautiful piece of clothing, you may use it or not. You may take it and wear it. Or, you can throw it in the back of your closet and never look at it again. The piece of clothing becomes a gift unused. "If you knew the gift of God," Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well. A Gift was there before her eyes, but she was blind to it.

How tragic to go through life leaving the gift of prayer unused!

How to Pray?

1. The Sign of the Cross

2. Thank God

3. You Prayer intentions or what you want to say to God

4. Thank God

5. The Sign of the Cross

* We also learnt to pray the prayer that Jesus taught us and the Hail Mary. See the links below to what the prayer means:

The Prayer Jesus Taught Us

The Hail Mary and the Rosary

Glory Be
Glory Be To The Father,
And To The Son, And To The Holy Spirit,
As It Was In The Beginning,
It Is Now And Ever Shall Be,
World Without End. Amen.

Jeri Appreciation Day



O God, our times are in your hand: Look with favor, we pray, on your child, Jeri, as she begins another year. Grant that she may grow in wisdom and grace, and strengthen her trust in your goodness all the days of her life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This is dedicated to our Birthday Auntie Jeri!! heeheee
No la.. She's still YOUNG... AT HEART....
hee!!! We still love you no matter what!!!


For all the hardwork you have done for us.....


And the friendships we have.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JERI!!!!

yest's session had less sponsors than usual cos some went to attend a very special day for MR VINCENT CHAN hehe! BIG CONGRATS TO YOU AND CORRINE!!! (and the monkey is so so so so so so cute la =D!)

but nonetheless the rest of the sponsors and inquirers in church still had loads of fun!! special thanks to Session I/Cs bernard and elaine :)!!

aft watching a touching and sweet korean mtv which had a reallllly sad ending, we broke up into groups and shared on how much we would sacrifice for our loved ones :).. haha some honest pple admitted "not much" while some others were really wei da and said that they would go all out and give up their pair of eyes, like the guy in the mtv :)..

following this it was game time!!!! haha all of us were supposed to get to the other end of the room, but we couldnt move our chairs, and neither could our feet touch the floor! HOW CAN RIGHT! ya so we were all sitting there racking our poor brains and aft a while bernard decided to offer us some chairs which led to the other end of the room..

i felt the most heartwarming thing was that EVERYONE was willing to take off their shoes and step across the chairs to reach to the end of the room despite the initial unwillingness of some :).. SPORTSMANSHIP AND TEAM SPIRIT ALL THE WAY :))!

haha then bernard explained briefly on the rationale of the game and video and brought out the theme of the session: WHY DID JESUS DIE FOR US?

and during one of the bible readings there was the ultimate UNINTENTIONAL JOKE OF THE DAY hahaha!! maybe everyone who was not present yest shld ask doris what happened exactly hehe but in short our God is one happening and cool God!! YO! YO!

HAHAHA =P!

i think this was a really exciting and enriching session HIPHIPHOORAY :)! i hope the inquirers managed to learn that, in a nutshell, the presence of sin brings us further away from God, and due to His unconditional love for us, He sent Jesus his only son to act as a "bridge" between Man and God :)..

btwbtw there were three more new inquirers yest :)!

***********

Disclaimer: Before reading on, the following entry may sound absurd, loserly, unpractical, the most unrealistic, bimbo-ish, drama and superly random nolink outofpoint diskernect but PLEASE BE UNDERSTANDING hahaha..

YESTERDAY WAS THE ONE OF THE HAPPIEST MOMENTS IN MY LIFE =D!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha aft class and lunch a few of us (elaine, freddie, ilona, philip, michelle) decided to go to somerset to do some shopping, where we walked from john little to taka.. AND THEN my friend msged me to tell me that MY FAV STAR OF ALL TIME was going to appear at centrepoint for some roadshow!!

and i got REALLLLLYYYY excited, so though they were initially intending to go to paragon starbucks for a drink, they decided to be nice and follow me all the way back just so i could see MY FAV STAR OF ALL TIME :)..

when we arrived at centrepoint, we all went to coffeebean where i had perfect view of the stage cos of the higher platform there :)... then aft a while they left elaine and i at coffeebean to star-watch while the rest of them went window shopping..

THEN towards the end of the roadshow they invited the public to go up and shake hands with the cast of the new show! ahh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh!!! but i was really shy and didnt dare esp since elaine couldnt acc me as she had to take care of the bags =X.. then freddie called me to ask me to hurry GRAB MY CHANCE but i was really not planning to go up and embarrass myself hahaha..

but then they specially came down again all the way just so elaine and ilona could acc me up on stage! how sweet was that right!! I WAS REALLY REALLY REALLY TOUCHED by these gestures cos though they may seem very insignificant IT MEANT ALOT TO ME! and i really went up TO SHAKE HIS HAND VERY TIGHTLY AND FOR QUITE LONG!! hahahahaha...

(and he said happy new year to me!! HAHAHA!!)

if that wasnt enough, freddie and philip still sacrificed their image to stand in the crowd to help me take photographs hahaha :)..

and prob cos it felt as if everyone went so out of the way to help me i actually felt crazy and mad enough to wait for them to come out of the backstage aft the roadshow and i actually walked up to him and asked if i could take a photo with him la ohmygosh ohmygosh!! but too bad the usher didnt allow it =( hmphh.. so this was the best that elaine could take (DONT LAUGH!) :

but just in case everyone thinks im some crazy person living in daydreams I AM NOT OKAY! haha just that since i dunno how long ive just been wanting very very much to take a photo with him (photoshop edits not counted -_-) but i nv made an effort to specially attend any of the roadshows or whatever haha..

but yes.. this experience really did make me feel that strong rciy community spirit and no matter what crazy or random thing you really wanna do, these pple will still do it with you.. THANKS EVERYONE ALOT ALOT :).. actually this feels more than just a star-chasing thing la im really really touched and really really happy =D..

some of us on our way to Botak Jones for dinner and to watch spore-thailand match :)!!

GOD BLESS :))!!

A Special Occasion for Vincent & Corrine

Today is the 4th day of February in the Year 2007.
Our Sponsor, Vincent, has signed the papers to be officially Man and Wife in the eyes of the law in the Republic of Singapore... The rings were exchanged and the papers were signed. This was held at the Seletar Springs Condominium, where the couple will build there nests in time to come.

Corrine looked fabulous with all her make up and stuff.. As for Vincent, As usual, LAZY PIG.... with just a little tinge of makeup.... A serious little tinge. Take a look.... NO TIE!!! hahaa..... Nonetheless, the happy couple happily proceeded on with the ceremony.



And so it was complete............

Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Vincent Chan. May God Bless you both and guide you and shower his blessings on both of you. May He let his light shine on both of you and give you peace. CONGRATULATIONS to the new couple!

we had our first "official" session last sunday :)... the theme was "WHO IS JESUS?" and we had our first ever rciy puppet show!! it was a really innovative and special way to get a very short and summarised glimpse of the Jesus's life journey... view the videos to see for yourself how much fun we had hehe =D!!

"These below videos were posted up by the girl with artistic flair.. Thanks Gal!
Also for providing the videocam and digitising e vid, our fav Vincent."
----> Daryl Posted here.

BIRTH OF JESUS
by Vincent, Daphne, Jasmine, Jonathan, Aaron


FINDING IN THE TEMPLE
by MELISSA, Greg, Moarie, Elaine, Iggy


Wedding at Cana
by SHERMAN, JUDY, Arthur, Ben, Eric, Philip


Crucifixion
by ALASTAIR, WEE SENG, Ilona, Stella, Aston, Simon, Lois


Death on the Cross
by SHELLY, DORIS, JOSEPH, Joy, Michelle, Daryl, Meli


Resurrection!
by Jonathan, Jasmine, Daphne

***

woots we had a great time displaying our creativity and watching the "special" ways of presenting the puppet show hahaha..

special mention to all the newbie inquirers who were so open, creative and funny hahaha :)!! and of course to the session I/Cs VINCENT and JASMINE! im sure we could all witness the tremendous effort in making the puppets and painting of the background scenes :) "WEI DA SPONSORS" =P!!!!!!

yay and im glad that there were more inquirers than last sunday =D!

07.01.07 & 14.01.07: RCIY Exhibition :))

Cool Slideshows

posing with our exhibition pieces (:

(haha this is totally *OUT OF POINT but we sound so pro cos we have our pieces on exhibition HAHAHA.. and dont you think the spinning thing thing is SO SO SO SO SO SO SO COOL=D)

i like the aluminum foil wrapped "RCIY" lettering =D.. let's use it for all future events that we have hahaha!!

Also special THANK YOU to iggy and rachel who specially attended 530pm mass today so that they could help us man the booth during 1130mass =D..

14.01.07: Spiritual Prep before Commissioning of Sponsors

hahaha i shant divulge exactly how the session was being carried in case of future re-using hahaha.. but anw today we learnt about TRUST and ACCOUNTABILITY.

so, Do you trust each and every sponsor in RCIY?

and for yourself, Are you accountable for your own prayer life during the week?

LET US ALL GROW AND MOVE ON AS A COMMUNITY :))!!!

14.01.07: Rite of Commissioning during 1130mass

we were given a prayer card aft the rite and all sponsors rem to pray this often! even NOW!! :)..

Cathechistes Prayer

Lord Jesus,

Having been called to be a cathechist by my parish, I turn to you for help in accomplishing this important task.

Give me the patience to treat each person with the dignity and respect I have for you.

Help me to study, understand, and apply Sacred Scripture and Tradition more fully in my own life.

Fill my heart with love for you and allow me to feel that same love for those I teach.

Knowing that you are beside me, I will have the strength to face every situation and the courage to speak the truth in love.

Help me to give glory to God O Father, Son, and Spirit O in all I do and say.

Amen.

everyone have a blessed week ahead and all who's excited for opening day next sun say AMEN!!

Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen :)!!

(i really typed that out okay! i didnt use cheapo copy-paste method! haha XD!!)

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION AT SIMON'S HOUSE :))

playing pictionary and taboo till 7am was the best best man! haha :).. i really thank God for introducing me to the big family of RCIY!

MERRY BELATED XMAS AND NEW YEAR EVERYONE!


love yall lots and lots :)..