Last week was Divine Mercy week. Yippee! Uh, sorry?
Yeah anyway, there were a bunch of people who wanted their divine mercy picture blessed by Msgr. Daniel. It's good to have it blessed you know. Makes it more, holy. Right.
But today we're not going to talk about that. What we're talking about is HRC's PARKING PROBLEMS!
I'm sure many of you are already well aware of the problems we are facing in the parking sector. (that's if you even bother coming to church, you lazy #$@)
Yep, that's right. The ongoing construction work next door practically wiped out a good 60% of parking spots, which I'm sure, caused alot of people to frequent other churches instead.
Parking can be a real hassle too, especially when you've got this whole bunch of people rushing out after church service.
Stampede!! Hey, isn't that Bridget's dad? Hi Uncle! Guess what. You're on camera!
Now there are probably alot of guys like Bridget's dad whose car are more likely to be stucked due to the large amount of cars in the puny church compound.
What to do? So many cars but so little space. Everytime I come to church also tulan because of the parking problems. I'm more likely to end up like these guys here, parking in the middle of the road because of my time innefficiency.
Yes, I like to be fashionably late.
Everybody has to wait for somebody but it's not like anybody would realise that. Some people are real slow in doing their business, but what to do. Must bersabar with them la. This is church ma. You can't possibly ask an old aunty to walk faster to her car right?
Any ideas?
Easter.. a celebration of our Lord's resurrection after being crucified on Good Friday. Though not as commercial as Christmas, Easter and Lent season is pretty much the biggest thing on our spiritual calender.
As usual, the YOUth was on duty to provide music for both the Easter Vigil midnight mass and Easter morning mass.
The alter servers assisting Msgr Daniel with The Service of Light..
The congregation had their candles lighted up to brighten the pitch dark church..
Regina was the cantor for the first Responsorial Psalm during the Liturgy of the Word..
Andrew giving the reading on Moses bringing God's people through the Red Sea..
Then it was Fiona's turn to sing the Responsorial Psalm.. "Alleluia.. Alleluia.."
Baptism of the RCIA candidates who have been through their weekly classes for a year.. We welcome them into our church and community!
We were even treated to some pyrotechnics.. or bunga api.. after the midnight mass which ended at 1am. Street party in conjunction with the F1 race the next day..
Just to share a bit from Msgr Daniel Lim's homily on Easter Vigil.. He told a story of a farmer who owned a small plantation and a horse stable. When his son was old enough to help out in the farming works, the farmer requested his son to feed the horses early in the morning, before the sun rises, when it is still dark. There is a long straight path about 100m that leads from the farmer's home up to the horse stable. Left and right of the path are crops.
So on the first day the boy was to feed the horses, the father and son woke up early in the morning. Standing in the porch of their home, the boy's fear grew as he looked towards the long path that was in total darkness. The little boy then expressed his fear and insecurity to his father. The farmer then handed his son an oil lamp, and asked him how far he could see. "About half way along the path.." said the little boy as he held up the oil lamp towards the dark path. So the farmer encouraged his son to go along, to as far and the light from the oil lamp shined. So the little boy went, slowly fading into the long path.
About half way through the long path, the farmer shouted out to the son," how far can you see now?". "I can almost see the gate of the stable" shouted the little boy in reply. "Go on then, to as far as you can see" encouraged the farmer.
Then as the little boy arrived at the gate of the stable, the boy shouted out to his father, "Father! I am at the gate!". "Go on, open the gate and go into the stable!" replied the farmer to his son.
"I'm in now. What do I do next?" asked the little boy. And the farmer continued to guide his son to accomplish his task.
The moral of the story is.. we do not know what will happen tomorrow. We can only see as far as the light shines before our eyes now. And often, we worry about the future in our decisions we make today, whether it is our studies, career, marriage, family etc. Will I pass my exams? Am I on the right career path for myself? Is the one I am to marry meant for me? Am I able to bring food to the table for my family? These are among the many doubts we face in our daily lives. But the season of Easter brings the message of HOPE. Christ is our Light in our lives and he guides us to where we ought to go. Like how the apostles' faiths were all shattered when Jesus, their leader was crucified on Good Friday. But how triumphant and joyful they were upon knowing their Saviour has risen!
The Holy Week begins.. Palm Sunday.. whereby the Jesus, riding on a donkey, was welcomed by the folks of Jerusalem waving palms in the air..
And as a usual custom for our parish, we have the blessing of palms at the main entrance of the church, followed by a procession around the church compound..
"All Hail King Jesus!!"
And the procession begins..!!
Peeping from inside the church..
See you guys thus coming Thursday, the HRC Youth Ministry is to do Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at 900pm-930pm (can someone confirm if our slot time is correct?)
Holy Week Mass Times:
Holy Thursday (20th March 2008) - 700pm (English & Mandarin)
Good Friday (21st March 2008) - 230pm (Mandarin) / 700pm (English)
Holy Saturday/Easter Vigil (22nd March 2008) - 730pm (Mandarin) / 1030pm (English)
Easter Sunday (23rd March 2008) - 830am (English) / 1030am (Mandarin)
For those who missed out the previous penitential services, more for this week.. taken from Church of the Holy Rosary's 09.03.08-16.03.08 bulletin.
Thousand apologies for not covering the Youth Bible Sharing that took place on 3rd March 2008. Technical difficulties experienced due to political campaigning.. :P
