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Verbum Dei Missionaries Singapore

73 Taman Mas Merah Singapore 128195

Tel: 62740251 Email:

verbumdeispore@yahoo.com.sg Website:

www.verbumdeisingapore.org

Editor Says

Feb/Mar 2013

Death is the final unknown that we will one day encounter As we celebrate the glorious feast of Easter, what does this feast mean for us? What does it speak to us about death as well as about life? Jesus' death was not an end for him, but

a journey to something greater. Jesus,

after his Resurrection, appeared to Mary

Magdalene and told her, ' Go and find my

brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my

Father and your Father, to my God and

your God.'

'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'- Death brings us to more of God. There is nothing to fear because we are certain that God is where we are now, and that he will continue to be where we will be after this life ends. God will welcome us home, and so, all will be well! Here is a short story I read and I would like to share it with you: A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, 'Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side.' Very quietly, the doctor said, 'I don't know.' 'You don't know? You're a Christian man, and don't know what's on the other side?'

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining. And as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. Turning to the patient, the doctor said, 'Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, But I do know one thing... I know my Master is there and that is enough.' For me, death remains a mystery, but a

loving mystery because it is a mere

passage that brings me to God, the one I

love. 'O death, where is your victory? O

death, where is your sting?' (1 Cor 15,55)

However, I do not want to wait for death to

bring me to God, because His presence of

Love is with me right here, right now.

Thus, I want my living to be filled with joy

and peace. I want my every waking

moment to offer the message of hope and

love to others

Let us celebrate Easter with great joy

today because God, our Master, is with us

now and he will be with us forever!

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CD recording!

On 3rd and 10th March, Monika with her group of musicians and singers gathered to

record three songs. These three songs, together with 7 others from our Verbum Dei

Taiwan community, will be compiled into a CD for sale to public.

In Singapore, we will be selling the CD as a part of our fundraising for Project HoPe

(Project House of Prayer)!

Singers for the CD singing their hearts out !

Fundraising

activity

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Recording of

the Instrument

Angela

Abel

Monika

Edric

Kira

Grace Benny

Gerry

Nicholas

Desiree

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Writing down the many gifts that God has lovingly given

Making a gift for God as an expression of love

Game to start the session

Verbum Dei Youth Club

10th march

Group sharing

God loves us so much...

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Verbum Dei 50th Anniversary &

Feast Day Mass

Feast of the Annunciation 25th March

The Annunciation is the Feast day of the Verbum Dei. This year, we celebrated the closure

of our Jubilee year with a mass at our chapel. On this joyful day, we also celebrated the

entrance of another new Singaporean vocation. Her name is Monika Punan. We invited

our Holy Hour friends to join and celebrate with us.

Mass celebrated by Fr. Peter Zhang

The call and response of Monika

Monika praying for faithfulness to Jesus

Praying for Monika as one community

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Sharing of Monika at the end of the Mass

Monika and her father, Berry

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"Today marks the first week of my entrance into the Verbum Dei community as a missionary. I entered on the

feast of St Joseph( which was last Tuesday) and my entrance mass is celebrated today on the feast of Mary’s

Yes. The gospel of today which is about Mary of Bethany breaking the jar of perfume and washing the feet of

Jesus, was really apt, because this is actually my so-called ‘proposal’ passage.

I am the woman, Mary of Bethany, who came quietly with this very precious alabaster jar, full of even more

precious perfume, which is my life. When this woman broke this priceless gift at the feet of Jesus, everybody

cried out, 'Why this waste?'

Many have said to me, 'Why this waste? Why this waste of life, so young, not 30 yet, promising career, iron

rice bowl, pharmacist, will never get out of job, can get married, can have a football team of kids, contribute to

economy, taxes? Why this waste. If you want to do good, why not help the poor, give money, go on mission

trips, but why waste your whole life this way, as a nun?'

In the passage, Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you make trouble for her? She has done a good thing for

me…she has done what she could.” I began to understand that this was not a waste in the eyes of God. I stand

here today because I understood that in breaking my jar of life and in ‘wasting’ this most valuable possession

of mine, at the feet of Jesus, is all that I could do for God.

This breaking of my jar of life, is not a once-off occurrence, but a daily exercise breaking ,emptying it at the

feet of Jesus, and allowing Him to be my only treasure. It is not a huge leap from everything to nothing, but

rather a long series of small, everyday steps in the direction of love. It is to detach from myself so as to be

attached more to God. This is the greatest challenge and the greatest adventure! I want to thank God who

has waited for me so patiently to start this journey with Him. I thank each one of you present here tonight and

I ask you to keep me in your daily prayer because I will greatly need them to be faithful in the days ahead. I

will also keep you in my prayer. "

Monika's Sharing (An abstract)

Monika and her community

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Project HoPe

Meeting with the

Verbum Dei Family

Some representatives from the various groups of the

Verbum Dei Family gathered for a briefing by the Project

HoPe committee regarding the fund raising project for

our Verbum Dei House of prayer.

It was an informative night of updating, discussing and

understanding. A very fruitful meeting!

To date, we have raised $65,777.13 since February 2013.

Irene briefing the community

Joan sharing on how to reach out to people

Representatives from the various groups

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Good Friday/Holy Saturday Verbum Dei Silent Retreat

"With all the negative attitude going on in

today's society, this silent retreat was

needed to recharge & reaffirm our faith in

God and positive outlook in our life.

Thank you Sisters, for feeding us the

“Word of God”. Listening and sharing

with great friends and people also helps us

build a stronger community together!"

~Jeff Yeo

"This retreat was an intense rediscovery of Jesus' longing for us to awaken 'our dry bones'

to the fullness of life. We are reminded that 'just one thing is needed'- that we need to set

aside time; to choose Life by stepping into God's space, listening deeply and digesting His

words daily so that we in turn, can give life to the thirsty and broken amongst us."

~ Nicole Jegathesan

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"Today's retreat reminded me the most important thing in life to do is to listen to God's word and to digest it into our lives, our daily activities. God made me to understand that when I am most worn out by frustrations, despair, pessimism, it is of utmost importance that I should pray instead of 'sleeping', like what the disciples did when Jesus was praying in Gethsemane just prior to his crucifixion. We need to pray so that we can be strong enough to withstand temptation. Sleeping will only renew our physical strength but not our spiritual strength. So LISTEN and PRAY. "

~ Angelia Pay

"This is like my 4th or 5th time coming for Holy Week retreat with Verbum Dei ad I must say that every year, I look forward to it like a year- end holiday with the family. It's not only a time of reflection but also an opportunity to spend quality time with God and just to listen, deeply. This year, Sr. MJ asked us to let ONE particular word touch us and for me it was the words, 'Choose life'. Though it seemed like such common sense, it was a stark reminder to me that I had not been making the decision to choose life, in fact some of my decisions have been more associated with death. Thank you to the missionaries for all your efforts in putting up yet another wonderful retreat to nourish our souls." ~Melissa Yuen