Christmas Wishes

This Christmas,

I don’t wish for snow to fall
Or bells and hollies to deck the halls
But I wish for Love on our doors to call
& for Compassion and Kindness in our hearts to fall

I don’t wish to ride in a one-horse open sleigh
Or to dash over the hills, laughing all the way
But I do wish for Joy to keep us gay
& for Strength and Courage to be with us through our days

I don’t wish to touch the red nose of Rudolph the Reindeer
Or for Santa to bring me gifts this year
But I wish for friends to be kept near
& for us to fight our battles together, even through tears

I don’t wish for scented candles to be brightly lit
Or for new clothes and shoes that are perfect fits
But I do wish for Laughter to always visit
& for our friendships to grow bit by bit

I wish for sincere Prayer to fill our days
I wish for sorrow and hurt to be kept at bay
I wish for Hope to come our way
& for our gift of Faith to stay

I wish for Unity so together, we may bind
& amidst our trials, Perseverance, we may find
above all, on my Christmas wish list way up high
I wish for Peace and Goodwill to all mankind

Merry Christmas to all...
With Love,
joyce

The Flame in my heart

To my dearest friends...


this Friendship that you guys have given me
this Love that I received
this Advent that I spent with you
It's Meaningful
And Extraordinary which I never had before

THANKS once again....for keeping this flame alive and strong in my heart. I have understood and felt the love & blessings from God.

Merry Mary CHRISTmas...

Love, Jo

Live or eviL

Money is all they have in their mind
Was told this is life of a kind
Questions cloud the spaces in one's brain
Uncertainty tighten the pull of heart's chain

What else can be expected in your lives
In this world where you have to fight to survive
Shamefully swallowing the weeds of the ground
Never considering what is there to be found

How can life be so bitter and cheap
When out there we have to discover loads of heap
Do you sacrifice a happy face to family you show
Where pain comes from the bucket of money that flow

Still unable to comprehend this ungodly human side
Being taken on a wild rollercoaster ride
Screaming and terrified thinking when this will end
Risking lives and safety you are unable to fend

So my advice in life is before you do or move a flick
Is money the only form of consideration you would pick
And one day to our Lord you would ultimately face
No escape for you even if you try and quicken your pace


Joanne

Confirmation

To describe my journey from RCIA as a catechumen to baptism and to return to RCIA as a sponsor as spiritually enriching and growing in faith would be an understatement.

It was more than that. It has given me a new dimension to life, both from within and outwardly.

In this short period of time, I have witnessed that God's love is unconditional and also have no "use-by" date or expiry date.

The Lord's presence was evidence in my giving up of my smoking habits of 35 years. The 'big deal' was not so much about giving up smoking itself. It was the way I was guided and given the strength through prayers by the power of the holy spirit.

I am also blessed to being able to serve. It opens up a whole new meaning of being part of a community, the Catholic community.

My present journey in the RCIA as a sponsor, the guiding hand at work again, has given me the opportunity to share some of the compassion, love and care that I was blessed to have received.

In the final starch towards confirmation, the Sacrament of Reconciliation left me with a deep impression of the meaning of forgiving and to be forgiven.

I think it is appropriate now to record my thanks and gratitude to the RCIA coordinating team and sponsors for providing us the environment for our journey. It was their untiring and unsolicitated sense to serve that saw us through....THANK YOU!

God Bless

Bert
Class of 04/05

Christmas Decor

Each one of us have our own agenda when we went for the christmas decor. I was there for two reasons. First being I asked Peter Chua to come down so I have to be there right? Second is that Kent and I are trying to outdo each other with the most number of nights.

My involvement is even more significant because this will be my first Christmas as a Catholic.

So I am darn proud to be part of this artistic, talented,dedicated, hardworking and sometime confused team.

Have a nice day.

Church Christmas Decor-Day 1

i almost cried this afternoon.

......

yesterday, over lunch, i asked kim to help me send out an email to all at rcia to appeal for more help for the Church decoration. i told her, "we don't seem to have that many people and i think everyone will be burnt out by the time the week is over." it's true because not many people put their names down.

today, a few more people messaged me to ask, "can i come down tonight?", "where do we meet tonight?". when the first sms came in, i thought, "yaayy! one more person..." after a few hours, another came in and i melted a little inside, thinking, "this is good... maybe it won't be that bad after all"... by the time the third sms came in, i really almost choked on an overwhelming emotion, and i thought, "i have such little faith..."

i like to think of myself as someone who likes to do such things but i doubt that i would've volunteered on my own to come help out, unless i have a friend with me or so... yet, people responded, quietly, on their own... there are also those who showed up knowing that we'll be here in church tonight... they just turned up. i know when i walked into the church after my meeting with Fr A, my first reaction was, "wow! so many people!"

if you were not open enough for the Spirit's prompting... what else would have drawn you to say 'yes' so completely? we are all busy people... and we are all more than exhausted enough by the end of the day... yet people responded, people came...

i'm running the risk of someone reading this and thinking, "ah well, they have enough people. no need me anymore..." but you know it's not true. it's like that story of the little boy walking along the beach and picking up washed up starfish and throwing them back into the sea. it might not make much difference in the general scheme of things but it made a big difference to those starfish he returned to the sea. in the same way, one person choosing to be present might not make a difference. but if everyone thought like that, nobody will ever make that difference.

good job tonight! man, will this be a good celebration for christ!

joyce