By Sophie Wun Dear friends, we’re excited to share our new reconciliation series, Homecoming, with you. Inspired by Henri Nouwen’s book, the Prodigal Son, we’ve prepared reflections, invitations, and testimonies
By Sophie Wun In 1 Corinthians 13:1-2, St Paul writes, ‘If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a
By Zachary Tan The parable of the prodigal son paints for us an image of perfect fatherhood with the defining qualities of love and mercy as key to understanding God
Perhaps the most jarring invitation in Henri Nouwen’s “The Return of the Prodigal Son ” is the invitation to ‘become the Father’. It is not enough to just identify with the lustful younger prodigal son or the resentful elder son, and return to the father in reconciliation. The fullness of reconciliation is to claim the fullness of our sonship in God. As children of God (Luke 22:29), we are heirs and have an inheritance to God’s Kingdom. We are called to be “perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is.” (Matt 5:48).
What then are we to make of this? How is it that we who are tainted by original sin and blinded by concupiscence are able to claim this divine sonship?
By Zachary Tan We may have misconceptions surrounding the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Some may think that it is just an “invention” of the Catholic Church. However, an inquiry into the
By Jeremiah Trinidad When I was just returning to the faith, I was constantly met with the phrase “I’ll keep you in prayer”. At that time, I recall being slightly
By Mary John Introduction Prayer is the heart’s resolve to express itself to God and dwell in His presence. Fundamentally, there are 3 main expressions of prayer – Vocal, Meditative
In this second episode on the Gospel of Matthew, we take a look at Jesus’ first preaching in His famous Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes. The bible besties break down this rich yet puzzling text, and explain why and how the Beatitudes instruct the life of a Christian.
This episode is the first of a three-part series on the Gospel of Matthew. Our bible besties take a journey back into Matthew’s time, exploring questions about who wrote the Gospel of Matthew, what makes it special, and why the early Church thought it was so important.
This month, July 2024, has been designated as “Bible Month” by the Regional Biblical Commission. We hope that this four-episode series on scripture will help you better appreciate the beauty of God’s word — the very foundation of our faith!
Join Aldrin, Chloe and Nat as they begin their journey deep into scripture 📖
Imagine walking into a library where shelves of books line its hallowed halls. Many kinds of books furnish the shelves: works of poetry, tomes of history, fiction novels, autobiographies, and
I distinctly remember winning a biblical charades game at a friend’s birthday party when I was in primary school. My team’s representative only managed to gesture “five” and “two” with
Have you ever encountered situations in your life where you’ve wondered: “How do I even make sense of this?” Or in the face of making a decision, thought: “what’s the right thing to do here? What would Jesus say about this?….Why is Jesus so silent in my life?”
by Lauren Lye What is Pentecost and what does it mean for us today? The readings for the Feast of Pentecost not only describes the events that took place many
Pope Benedict XVI encourages us to keep our eyes on the Lord. He writes that the Cross “speaks to all who suffer…and it offers them hope that God can transform their suffering into joy, their isolation into communion, their death into life.” In Christ, the weight of our sin and shame is replaced by His overwhelming, and limitless love. In this very love, we are invited to unite our hearts with Him, to draw close and experience the redemptive, transformative, power of Christ and His sacrifice.
Pope Benedict XVI encourages us to keep our eyes on the Lord. He writes that the Cross “speaks to all who suffer…and it offers them hope that God can transform their suffering into joy, their isolation into communion, their death into life.” In Christ, the weight of our sin and shame is replaced by His overwhelming, and limitless love. In this very love, we are invited to unite our hearts with Him, to draw close and experience the redemptive, transformative, power of Christ and His sacrifice.
This week’s chapters reminded me of the need to constantly seek God’s mercy, and to allow Him to teach us to live a new life of love. In Jesus’s death and Resurrection, we experience the fullness of God’s mercy and are invited into new life.
In the darkness of sin, we fail to see God’s goodness and His promise of new life. But God, in His infinite goodness, sends us Jesus to show us the way of mercy to reveal to us God’s love and forgiveness. This way of mercy is the Way of the Cross that Jesus walked, so that come to share in the promise of new life through His Resurrection.
We experience His joy when we declare Him Lord over our lives. His Lordship is not one that harms. Instead, it loves, purifies and frees us. Pope Benedict XVI writes, “After Jesus has told us of the merciful Father, things are no longer as they were before”. When we come to know and encounter the redeeming love of God, we are transformed in an undeniable way.
In our Lenten journey, true freedom requires total dependence on the Lord. As we entrust ourselves fully into His hands, it is essential to claim the truth of who He is everyday. Pope Benedict XVI writes, “Our God has a heart”. He is not only sensitive to our sufferings, but He is with us in our sufferings. In our brokenness, the Lord blesses us abundantly with His gifts of kindness, mercy, and love. His light cleanses and reconciles us back to Him.