Great Is Thy Faithfulness

 

 Great Is Thy Faithfulness 

1. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father.

     There is no shadow of turning with thee;

     Thou changest not, thy compassion, they fail not;

     As Thou hast been thou forever will be.   (Refrain)

Refrain:

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see; 

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

2.  Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, Sun, moon and stars in their courses above Join with all nature in manifold witness To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.  (Refrain)

3.  Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide.  

     Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside!                 (Refrain)

    

St Anthony Church

 

Photo of St Anthony Church from far

I took the above picture and the pictures below yesterday.  I wanted to show the present now as compared to the St Anthony of several years back. The signage had been changed also but the words remains the same.  It read: Church of St Anthony: God Knows Your Past and He Offers You A Future

Closer view of St Anthony Church 

Closeup view of the signage of the church

I have stayed in Woodlands for close to 30years.  Over the years I had seen the changes to the church -- the priests, the premises and the eucharistic celebrations.  In the early years the priests were Father John Khoo and Father Eugene Chong.  Now Father Eugene is back.  After that it was Father Vincent Chee, Father Terence and Father Cyril.  Next, it was Father Andrew, Father Gerard, Father John Lau... and now Father Ignatius.  

I am very happy with the present church.  In the past, the speaker was not so good, I could not really hear the homily well from the back of the church.  Now the speaker is good, the priest speak audibly well, loud and clear.  I love to listen to their homily.  

This is the church where Richard had his baptism and confirmation.  Last time it was RCIA.  My 3 children had their baptism in this church also.  They attended catechism classes here, received their First Holy Communion but never finished confirmation. 

Mother Mary

 

Our Lady of Sorrows at St Anthony Church

Today 8 June 2025, I went to church.  It was Pentecost day.  There were incense and the priest wore red vestment.  The vestment was so nice.  There was a white dove on the vestment of Father Eugene.  After mass was over, I walked towards the above image where I saw everytime I went to mass.  Walking over there, I realised that the image was Our Lady of Sorrows.  This is a new addition to the renovated new church.  

Devotion to Our Lady’s Sorrows has existed since the early centuries of the Church. It came into particular focus in the 13th century when Our Lady appeared to the Seven Founders of the Servite Order, giving them a black garment as their habit and asking them to meditate on her Sorrows. In the 14th century, Our Lady revealed to St. Bridget of Sweden seven special graces that she would grant to those devoted to her Sorrows. She spoke at length to St. Bridget about the Passion of her Son and her own Sorrows, and made these promises to those who would say seven Hail Marys daily while meditating on her tears and sufferings: 

1.  I will grant peace to their families. 

2.  They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries. 

3.  I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work. 

4.  I will give them as much as they as for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my Divine Son or the sanctification of their souls. 

5.  I will protect them against the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives. 

6.  I will visibly help them at the moment of their death; they will see the face of their Mother. 

7.  I have obtained the grace from my Divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy. 

 Our Lady also told Marie Claire, one of the three Kibeho visionaries, that with the recitation of her Seven Sorrows Rosary: 

- The hardest hearts will change. 

- They shall be freed from obsessions and addictions. 

- They will find the strength to repent and convert their hearts. 

- They will obtain an understanding of the weaknesses that lead them to sin. 

- Praying it from the heart, they will obtain whatever they ask.

Closer look at Our Lady of Sorrows

Happy Mother's Day

 

Photo of St Anthony church on 6 April 2025, 5th Sunday of Lent

I went to church on 6 April 2025, my first step into the church after its renovation.  My official first mass there.  I went to confession and told the priest I am divorce and he told me I had no sin in this.  I am so relieved.  I am able to receive holy communion again.  

Ever since I started going back to church, beautiful things happened.  It must be God feeling happy for me to go back to church.  My garden has sunbirds flying and chirping.  They came to make nest again.  I had a bird nest outside in my garden now.  I feel so happy.

The beautiful bird nest in my garden

I got a cockatiel bird this Mother's Day!

Clara gave me a bouquet of beautiful flowers too

It was a good month of Happy Mother's Day.  I celebrated with my mother too.  I treated her to Pin Wei Seafood Village for a dinner.  This is indeed a blissful life.  

Come Back To Me

 

Photo taken on 18 March 2024

Photo taken on 28 May 2024

Everytime I cycled passed the church, I would look at it.  I had not been to the church for many years.  I had not stepped into the church after the renovation.  I think I miss the church.  On 18 March 2024, I saw the banner : Come Back To Me.  It is like God telling me to go back to him.  Then on 28 May I passed by again and I see the signboard "Come And Find Peace", it reminded me of last time I went to church with the family.  

January 2024, I had dry mouth.  I prayed to Mother Mary because at the workplace one day, the hymn of Lourdes prayer.  I was not aware of the title of the hymn but I went home to search for it and then I know about it.  

Photo of Mary taken at St Anthony Church: I stood there to pray for a suitable job and to heal my dry mouth

Now then I know this is Our Lady of Lourdes.  And I know that the hymn which originated from my heart is Our Lourdes Prayer.  Now my dry mouth had improved.  Last year, it was totally no saliva.  And when the 'music' came, in the evening, the saliva just come and it feel so good to have saliva.  

The Lourdes Prayer, the song that came to me in January 2024.  

Now I had already gone back to church...  

Roman Catholic

My ex-student and me standing beside the altar of my mum's house

Raised up in the Catholic family, with the altar as shown above, I was curious about my religion.  I asked my parents and my aunt many questions.  My aunt was the one who told me that my religion is Roman Catholic.  I also learned the word "Saint" from her.  My aunt, Teresia Lee, passed away on 18 October 2016.  I also learned the name of our church from her.  

I am proud to be a Catholic after I know more about my faith, especially after Jesus came to save me -- my conversion.  I declared myself to be a real Christian, a real Catholic.  In the past, I did not dare to admit that I am a Christian.  

In the year 2000, Richard left the family.  I was devastated.  Everything came crashing down. I was so stressed that there was not even enough milk to provide for my then newborn baby, Clara.  My mind was not able to think properly too.  I needed help.  I needed people to talk to, to help me.  I managed to got some help from the neigbourhood church and also the lawyer.  The lawyer was coincidentally a Christian.  He asked me "Have you heard of trials and tribulations?"  Then he invited me to his church.  He acted like a friend, but later on when he discovered that Richard came back home, he charged me a four figure sum for lawyer's fee.  I went to his church, and I was left alone to explore.  I did not feel 'homely'.  It was so uncomfortable there.  They wanted me to join their congregation, but I did not join them.  

I went to the neighbourhood church near my house.  Their church was not ready then.  It was at Causeway Point then.  I was invited to attend their service.  I did not feel 'homely' again.  Their receiving holy communion was so different from the Catholic.  They just passed it around and there was no priest, but Pastor.  Still further on, my neighbour came to know that I was alone.  She also invited me to her church at Yishun.  I did not like the environment too.  Finally, auntie Mary came knocking at the door.  She is a Jehovah Witness.  She shared the bible with me.  She told me that she withdrew herself from the Catholic church and she was baptized as Jehovah Witness.  She invited me to her church in Malaysia.  I went with her and I did not join her also, for the same reason as above.  Then She gave up on me.  She stopped coming to my house.  

I was left alone with Richard, together we raised our children.  I thought of teaching the children the right thing.  I sent them to catechism class. We slowly went back to church at Church of St Anthony of Padua.  It was more a comfortable place there, a more 'homely' feeling, a feeling of coming back to somewhere where you belong.  

It was at the church where I got to see Father Terence and Father Vincent the first time.  Going back to the church, I listened to hymns and songs of the church.  It was so nice and peaceful.  Eventually, things started to change and eventually I encountered Jesus...

The old Church of St Anthony of Padua in the year 2008

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People

Photograph of me taken on 1.5.2009 (at Church of St Anthony of Padua), the 9th month I was pregnant...

It is said that the natural resources of Singapore is nothing but People, a human being.

What is a human being?  We asked about how the chicken comes about?  Is it from egg first or from chicken first?  We have many questions about life as well.  However we could not answer them.  Did you really think about our meaning of life at all?  What is the purpose of living in this world even?

I questioned it.  It was my paternal grandmother's death that I had experienced a life lost.  So that was the ultimate destiny of a person!  Singapore, our common destiny, our shared destiny, death.  

But how does people come about?  Though I studied and read on books about the process of pregnancy, I was blinded to think that I can abort the 'heart' (the six weeks old foetus).  That was a precious human being, from the day it was conceived!  How precious it was for people who do not even have a chance to have a baby.  Some people tried so hard for babies and yet they had none.  Yet, I was blinded.  It never dawn on me that I was actually killing a precious life like that!

 

The human life starts from the fertilization of the egg with the sperm.  It slowly develops into more cell division and ultimately the heart is formed and subsequently everything develops slowly in the mother's womb.  The 'making of a human being' takes nine precious months.  So the human lives should be treasured.  

 

Photograph of Isaac and me taken on 1.8.2009

I bared the hardship of pregnancy and successfully gave birth to Isaac.  That is how a life comes about from a tiny egg that met the sperm grow in the womb, and eventually into a full term baby.  Another hardship was the labour pain and eventually all the pushing hard to have the baby come to the world.  So that was the 'making of a people'.

I too was born from my mother's womb.  I grew up, brought up in my mother's house and my parents' are also brought up locally, all within Singapore.  Singapore is a small country and do you really know what is the right way to live our life?  

John 14:6 --  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

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