Half-way mark.....

Have you gone to work in the morning, knowing that the smell that will greet you at the workplace is the smell of excrement? Well, this is what nurses experience almost every other day. Things that we often take for granted.... like the clean residents at an aged home, the sanitized smell of the place etc... if only people know the work that the staff do behind the scene.

How fast, it is already pass the halfway mark for my pastoral exposure at St Joseph's Home. I am really edified by the staff and residents here. First the residents...... there are many who are disadvantaged (in moving about, eating on their own, passing motion etc) and yet they still have a bright outlook in life, accepting their conditions and choosing to make the best of it. Every morning when I report for 'work', I am always greeted by warm smiles and wishes of "Good Morning!" from the residents. This really perks me up and makes a fantastic start to the day.

The dedication of the staff here is also commendable. I was told by one of them, "the old uncles and aunties here need to go for their exercise every day. Even if we are busy, we must still help them." What commitment! I feel the hardest thing about being in the home is not the manual work but understanding the different habits of the residents and helping to make their time here a little better. (Some like a glass of water after their meals, some prefer their juice in between the spoonfuls of porridge you feed them, etc). Remembering their names and their habits. My greatest challenge... and mind you, there are some with 'interesting' habits :-P


Today is also a significant day. It is the funeral of one of the three founders of the home. Mother Elisabeth Yeo was called home with the Lord on Sunday morning and the funeral was this afternoon at the home. Fr Bill Heng preached a beautiful homily about cherishing the memories of our dear ones and it is these bits of memories that we keep in our heart. Hearing the stories that some of the other sisters shared with me, I can understand why she is so special to so many of them.

So many significant moments..... so many lessons learnt...... so many frends made.....
Really looking foward to the time remanining...... now for some rest and it is another busy day tomorrow......

He ain't heavy, he's my.... brother, sister, father, mother, grandpa, grandma... (all of the above)...

Thanks to Bro Jude for the update! Yup! We have finished our 1st semester examinations and out of the 8 Singaporeans, 4 of them are on their 30-day retreat. This June, Bro Edward and myself will be on our pastoral attachment, Bro Edward in Church of St Francis Xavier, and myself at St Joseph's Home.

I have just finished my 3rd day here and what a learning experience it has been so far. I really admire the passion and commitment the staff here have for the residents, especially in coping with the more "hard to handle" ones.
Simple things that we have often taken for granted like standing up and eating are not so easy for some of the residents to do.
Well, with 27 day more to go, I continue to pray that the staff will continue to persevere in this vocation of being a care-giver and may the Lord protect them, especially in this H1N1 time. May the Lord also watch over the residents here and all the dependent people all over the world.
Now to get some rest and looking forward to another day...... :-)

Supporting Our Brothers in Prayer

Its been almost 6 months since I last contributed to our blog here at Kampung Punggol. How time flies...

I am currently on my Regency Year at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Upper Thomson Road and its been a wonderful time of grace living and working with God's People. That explains why I have been unable to contribute very much to our blog in recent times... :)

Nevertheless, I figure that this would be an appropriate time that I make a little contribution to Kampung Punggol blog because half of our Singaporean Seminarians have started their 30-day retreat today which would mean that there wouldn't be many people to man this site.

Bro Samuel Lim, Bro Alphonsus Raj, Bro Benedict Chng & Bro Jovita Ho have just begun their 30-day retreat today. That means 4 out of the 8 Singaporean Seminarians will be out of action for the next one month so I seek your understanding if you do not find our blog updated as frequently as we would like to. Bro Joseph Zhang CDD will also be making his 30-day retreat with the 4 of our brothers and we urge all of you our readers to keep these 5 brothers of ours in your prayers.

The 30-day retreat is a defining moment in the life of each seminarian and it is the time when we enter into a time of intense prayer to seek God's affirmation of our vocations and I am sure our 5 brothers would be very appreciative of your prayers for them in this time.

Thank you very much.....Let us pray....

Visit of His Excellency Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio to Kampong Punggol.

Hi readers,

Easter greetings to you. Finally my brudders twisted my arm in penning down my thoughts after “taking cover” for such a long time. I had to agree under duress ‘cos this kampong ain’t big enough for me to hide anymore. Lately, the forest that surrounds our turf are been removed, making way for urban development and hence the insects and other forest creatures are migrating to our homeland. Hey, do let me know your thoughts after reading my post ok?

A week before the “nuncio” visit, we were informed by our Rector that His Excellency Salvatore Pennacchio will be visiting the seminary the day after celebrating the anniversary of the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI on the 19^th April at the Cathedral. Needless to say, our brothers were excited and thus put our voices together in welcoming “the nuncio” on early Monday morning. He seems very well pleased with our Latino number “Vivat” ( Which means “Long live to him!” ).

After celebrating the Eucharist with us, the “nuncio” had the pleasure in sinking his teeth into our standard Kampong breakfast spread ie Loti-kaya toast with choice of eggs and our home made Kopi-tarek with option of orange juice on the side to flush down the kaya which may have difficulty sliding down. If you are around our premises, you may want to swing by and Kopi is on us. ( Please call prior to visit ). I found the “nuncio” a very friendly warm person whom you can be yourself… really! He left after breakfast and class resumed.

O yeah, just in case those who are wondering the meaning of nuncio. Well, he a diplomatic representative of the Pope having ambassadorial status. Nuncio is an ecclesiastical diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word, Nuntius, meaning "envoy”. His mission is general, embracing all the interests of the Holy See; his office is permanent, requiring the appointment of a successor when one incumbent is recalled, and his mission includes both diplomatic and ecclesiastical powers. Nuncios, in the strict sense of the word, first appeared in the sixteenth century. The office, however, was not created at any definite moment or by any one papal ordinance, but gradually developed under the influence of various historical factors into the form in which we find it in the sixteenth century. I think I may have gone a little overboard on the “defi” of nuncio…

Till my next post, may the peace and love of Christ remain with you always.

Shalom my friends,

Benster

Meeting my first Malaysian Fellow-Seminarian

Above: Br Greg and Johnston;

Below : Br Greg with a Patrician Alumni Shaun Koh and present student Russell.

In the late morning of 7 January 2009, I packed my luggage and checked into the St Francis Xavier's Major Seminary here in Punggol, Singapore. The place was quiet as most seminarians were not back from their End-of-the-Year vacation. As I entered the Seminarians' Residence, the first seminarian I met was Br Gregory Chan. As soon as I introduced myself to him, I was touched by his brotherliness. First, he offered to help me carry my luggage even though he was new here having arrived the night before. Next, he made the connection with me by informing me that he is an alumni of two Lasallian Schools in Malaysia and was among the first batch of students Br. Michael Kum [a La Salle Brother now teaching in St Francis Institution, Malacca] taught in La Salle Petaling Jaya in Malaysia.
Since then I waited for the opportunity to bring Br Greg to visit Lasallian Schools in Singapore and thank God the opportunity came recently on Easter Monday. Being a staunch supporter of St Patrick's School, I could wait no longer to bring him there besides introducing him to our beautiful and unique Katong area. Yes, we tried Katong Laksa and I mean the original one. But our Original Tau-Kwa Pau stall was closed on Monday and so was Chin Mee Chin coffee shop. Saving the best for the last, we entered St Patrick's School. The best part of St Patrick's was the good will and friendliness of the students. It was nice to see the connections so easily made between the Patricians and our visiting Lasallian Seminarian. Br. Greg then inspired interests in music among the students when he put his hands on the piano.
I thank Patricians for their good will and to Br Greg for his inspiring and passionate Brotherhood.
The Lord has risen, it is true! Live in Him need all we do, Alleluia!

Dear brothers,

Grace, Peace and Joy our Risen Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

Our Annual Vocation Retreat 2009 is about a month away (15th to 17th May 2009) and registration is now open. This is the main Vocation Discernment event for the year and we hope that you will be able to join us. The details of the Retreat is as mentioned in the poster attached. As places are limited, please do register with us as soon as possible so as to avoid disappointment.

You are encouraged to sign up through the priests of your parish but if you have your reasons for preferring not to do so, you may also sign up directly with us by emailing us your details and we will forward you the application form.

Please also help us forward this message to your single, male, Catholic friends aged 18 years old and above who you think may also be interested in exploring the possibilities of a priestly call in their life. Registration closes on 10 May 2009 so we look forward to hearing from you before that.

Thank you very much. We are certainly praying that you will be able to join us and that we will all have a grace-filled time with the Lord together.

The Lord is Risen!!

After 40 day of fasting, prayer and alms-giving,

the day awaited is here.
They praised, and condemned and crucified
our Lord Jesus, our dear.
But now he is in the tomb no more
suffered and died for us he did.
Death he has conquered, our sin washed clean
by his passion, his selfless feat.
Now resurrected, and at the Father's right
victorious and in majesty he stands.
With us always, to the end of time
watching over us. Amen! Amen!

A Blessed Easter to all !!!