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Apathy

By in Reflections & Meditations on 14 January 2012 at 9:11pm

A blog title caught my attention recently, 'Why young adults leave the church,' which is an extremely relevant issue in our current society. It opens with a young adult aged 31, who was an avid church goer until recently, where she feels God and faith is important, but the church is irrelevant. Primarily, she says  “you don’t want to be judged when you walk in the church. You want to feel God.” Additionally, she suggests that "to get young adults in church, it needs to make them feel welcome, be more open-minded and accept those living worldly lives."

It mentions that a group the Barna group based in California has spent the last five years researching in America why young adults leave church. It revealed that most leave after the age 15 not to return until maybe when they marry again. However, if those who do return, tend to sway towards the evangelical churches.

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Fellowship

By in Catholicism 101, Reflections & Meditations on 20 July 2011 at 9:34am

Through the Bible, God offer's His thoughts on a variety of life issues, in particular the notion of 'fellowship' is pertinent to any Young Adult group. However, perceptions about fellowship have become warped in its biblical meaning, we view fellowship through fellowship halls, fellowship dinners, and fellowship retreats, but very few have real fellowship.

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Extraordinary God

By in Charities & Social Enterprises, Reflections & Meditations on 6 June 2011 at 9:38pm

What happens when an extraordinary God shares an idea with ordinary people? It can bind a community together and make them stronger.

Our small but growing Ministry has seen how one focus, offering Haiti hope can really bond people together. Through each and everyone person we encountered in spreading our mission of helping the people of Haiti, God's graces shines through, in the warmth and generosity of all our supporters.

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Commitment to Reality

By in Reflections & Meditations, Religious Communities & Congregations on 23 May 2011 at 12:49pm

John Main OSB  a Benedictine monk opened the first Christian Meditation Centre in London around the 70's. He had innovated and propagated the simple tradition of meditation, through silence and contemplative prayer, from the teachings of the early Christian monks, the Desert Fathers.

This was soon made clear that this tradition was not only for monks but is especially relevant in today's Modern society. He saw it as a way for the renewal of the church and the world.

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Reflections on Auschwitz & Birkenau

By in Reflections & Meditations on 31 August 2010 at 11:30pm

For most the talk of Auschwitz conjures up fear, death and disgust. It is always a place we hear about but not a place one would want to visit on holiday.  I was able to visit Auswitz and Birkenau when en route to a Youth congress. For me, it was more shocking than how it is portrayed in documentaries and films.

Auschwitz was the work camp. It housed between 13,000 to 16,000 prisoners , once reaching a maximum of 20,000.The concept of this much evil housed in such a relatively small acreage was something I had anticipated to be tangible especially having heard others speak of the place as having an unnatural stillness – even the wildlife seemingly in mourning. I shockingly found the opposite to be the case. Auschwitz for me held a very creepy beauty.

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Chastity

By in Reflections & Meditations on 27 August 2010 at 2:44pm

During an insightful Seeker discussion, the notion of ‘chastity’ became quite an intense topic of debate. As Christians we have always believed that one must remain chaste, namely that of sexual abstinence from pre-marital sex. However, do we really understand what ‘chastity’ really means?

I recall coming across this article in the Singapore Catholic News talking about chastity and how Father Ronald Rolheiser says that ‘chastity needs to be properly understood.’ He refrains from the normal misconception that chastity means celibacy; in fact he says it is not even a sexual concept.

‘Someone can be chaste but not celibate, just as someone can be celibate but not chaste.’

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St Alberto Hurtado

By in Catholicism 101 on 23 August 2010 at 1:37pm

Last August 18th the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast of Saint Alberto Hurtado. This feast is important in Latin America and particularly in Chile, when thousands of people (15000 this year), mostly young people, walk 8 kms to the Sanctuary and Grave of St Alberto, located in the heart of Santiago.  In Chile, that day is known as the “Day of Solidarity”, because that was probably his main legacy.

St Alberto was born in Vina del Mar, Chile in 1901. He became a Jesuit priest after studying Law. He died very young, at the age of 51. The people who were alive at that time say that at the moment of his death, a big cloud with the shape of a Cross was alone in the sky.  He was canonized in 2005 by Pope Benedict XVI.

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Labyrinth

By in Reflections & Meditations on 15 August 2010 at 7:52pm

Did you know that in Edinburgh there is a hidden gem? In the heart of George Square lies a simple labyrinth. A path of prayer and meditation, a peaceful solace amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, why not take some time out to walk the labyrinth?

Labyrinths originate from Greek mythology, yet are still a form of prayer walk used by many Christians today. Although after a cursory glance, a labyrinth could easily be mistaken as a maze, after closer inspection a labyrinth unlike a maze has no multiple paths or dead ends. Instead it consists of one, surprisingly long path, which slowly meanders to its climax in the centre of the design and then back again to the start.

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St Alphonsus de Liguori

By in Catholicism 101 on 3 August 2010 at 2:34pm

August 1st the feast day of St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, proclaimed the ‘Doctor of the Church,’ the founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer or the ‘Redemptorists’ was also an Italian Bishop, theologian, spiritual writer, moralist, missionary and a great propagator for Mariology.

Born, Alphonsus Mary Antony John Cosmas Damian Michael Gaspard de' Liguori on September 27th, 1696 in Marianella near Naples, St Alphonsus was the first born of seven children belonging to a Neapolitan nobility (however, his family’s line of decent became impoverished.)

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St. Bridget of Sweden

By in Catholicism 101 on 23 July 2010 at 9:50pm

Sometimes we only concentrate on ‘celebrity’ Saints, we often hear about their lives, their teachings, books and quotations, however what about the lesser known Saints? I mean they are Saints too, and have a dedicated feast day to their name?

July 23rd, the feast day of a woman called Birgitta Birgersdotter, now St Bridget of Sweden, the Patroness of Sweden. It was the first time I have ever heard of such a Saint, why was I interested? Well because she was married with children, but she still became a Saint!

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