Wednesday 25 December 2019

BO and MO during Confession?

Among the many challenges a padre has to put up with when it comes to confession, one which is just as potent and potentially pengsan-able (slang in Malay for likely a cause for one to faint) is the whole matter of BO and MO. In case you do not know what those acronyms are, BO is body odour, and MO is mouth odour. At times, the BO and/or the MO could be quite overwhelming, and some of us may need to look away, not because we do not like the penitent, but because direct inhalement of such "perfume" could result in temporary lost of attention and temporary deprivation of senses.

Sometimes, the cocktail of chemicals emanating from the BO and MO is excruciating, almost similar to traces of malathion, or even similar to the stuff used to fog away mosquitoes, and such "fragrance" could remain in the near-surrounding atmosphere for quite a while, necessitating in temporary interruption of operations, before the next penitent could be beckoned.

Seeing how such interruptions could lead to further delays in attending to many other souls looking to "cuci kolam" ("clean the pool," as what a certain "mother superior" likes to say, referring to confession), I implore such persons affected to have a heart and do something to make such scents a little less obvious. A "scent"-free environment would really help enable the process of reconciliation to be carried out smoothly, for the good of all.

Monday 13 May 2019

Mother Tongue

"What's your mother tongue?" I sometimes get this question from friends and others, who are curious as to why I was previously not able to speak Mandarin, and am unable to speak in other Chinese dialects (unless, of course, one wishes to include "flowery language" in Hokkien or Hakka, which I happen to know some - censored, cannot say here wan). Some folks even classified me as OCBC or banana... in case you are wondering what those words mean, OCBC is not the bank, but "Orang Cina Bukan Cina", a not so pleasant way of saying: "a Chinese who cannot speak "Chinese"." Banana means, yellow at the outside, and white in the inside, implying a Chinese who has become westernised and cannot speak Chinese.

Actually, if you look at the word "mother tongue", I believe a better way of looking at the term would be: the language that your mother taught you from the time you were an infant. In that aspect, I would unequivocally and categorically deduce that, given the circumstances, my mother tongue would certainly and definitely be "English" and not just any "English" but "British English."

In case you haven't got the faintest idea what I just wrote, let's put it in Malaysian English: "So aaa... my mother tongue is English yaa... ok? understand? Good... Dei... let's go tapau some nasi lemak and chee cheong fun. Or you prefer to eat in? Either way boleh."

So as you can see, I was previously not able to speak Chinese dialects, including Mandarin, as I had little exposure, coming from a family which speaks English at home. It was only when I went off to Taiwan that I picked up, with some success, Mandarin, not just any Mandarin, but Taiwanese Mandarin (chei wah... action wan ah). Then back here in Malaysia, I came to realise that Taiwanese Mandarin does not jive so well with some of our local folks here, since some words are different in pronunciation. After some challenging adjustments, I learnt to convert, with some mixed success, to Malaysian Mandarin. Of course, there are some side effects to such conversion. My friends in Taiwan tell me that my Mandarin has deteriorated from their level, but at the very least, folks here have some idea what I am saying, if you know what I am saying

So there you have it! My mother tongue has always been English. I learnt Mandarin in Taiwan, and Bahasa Malaysia in school, so be kind ya, if I end up going back to English. Hard disk cannot process and translate to other language so quickly (unless, of course, if I translate to BM, which I am quite ok with). Sekian, harap dimaklumkan (That's all folks!)

Thursday 28 March 2019

O... O... O...?

Sometimes, people come to me and ask whether I belong to a particular religious order, like SJ, CDD, OFM, OFM cap, OCD, CSSR, etc.

For those of you who do not know what those acronyms mean:

SJ - Society of Jesus a.k.a. The Jesuits

CDD - Congregatio Discipulorum Domini a.k.a. Congregation of the Disciples of the Lord

OFM - Ordo Fratum Minorum a.k.a. Order of Franciscans Minor or Franciscan Friars

OFM cap - Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum a.k.a. Order of Capuchin Friars

OCD - Order of Discalced Carmelites

CSSR - Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer or The Redemptorists

I am not from any particular Religious Order as I am a Diocesan priest. That means I serve in a parish in a particular diocese (in this case, Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese).

However, some still ask whether diocesan priests have got some sort of initial like the religious priests, brothers and sisters do. The short answer to this question is NO. But an elderly padre who once taught us in the seminary did share with us that diocesan priests have got a hidden "sort of initial" which we don't normally mention. The padre shared that diocesan priests are known "unofficially" as "OOO" (that's 'oh oh oh' and not 3 zeros).

Anyone knows what "OOO" means?

In case you did not know, "OOO" means: Out Of Order!

Since Diocesan priests do not belong to an "Order" or a Religious Order, they are therefore "Out of Order"

Monday 18 February 2019

Retreat or Formation? 避靜或培訓?

Some folks mix up retreat and formation. They seem to think that retreat is formation and formation is retreat. However, they are not the same. To make it simple, a retreat is time we spend with the Big Big Boss (preferably in silence and solitude) for a certain period, usually a few days, a week, or even a month. Formation, on the other hand, is for our intellectual growth, with hope that this would lead us to spiritual growth. When we are on retreat, we should not be too concerned about receiving input. Rather, we ought to spend more time listening to the Big Big Boss voice. In our world today, we are distracted by so many types of noise. As a result, we may have become less and less sensitive to the promptings from our Big Big Boss.

有些人混淆了[避靜]和[培訓]的分别.他們似乎都認为[避靜]就是[培訓],[培訓]就是[避靜].但它們是不一样的.简单的说,[避静]是我們花一段时间与天主(大大老板)单独沈静地相处,通常会是几天,一个星期,甚至是一个月.但是[培訓]从另一面耒说是增强我們智力的成長.但当我們在[避静]时,我們不要太在意输入,相反的我們应該花多一点时间去呤听天主(大大老板)的声音.在现今的世界里,我們可能已变得越來越少去感受天主(大大老板)的提示.

Tuesday 8 January 2019

Conditional or Unconditional Generosity?

Has it ever occurred to you why some of us are offering our time, talents and wealth to the church? I have observed that in some cases, it is because of the kind of relationship persons are experiencing that some would be more or less generous. For example, a priest or a leader is friendly and caring to the people, and because some experience such friendliness and care, they are willing and happy to offer more. But when a priest or leader is less friendly or caring, then what happens, would people be still as generous?

Relationship is what many of us long for, but I wonder if that should be one factor of how generous one should be. When we speak of offering and being generous to the church, what are we really meaning here? Are we generous with the condition that we would be loved and well-treated in return? Do we expect to get something out of what we give, or could we give unconditionally? Does it mean that being a Christian means there are terms and conditions attached for our benefit?

This is where, perhaps, we need to ask ourselves: God gave us His son Jesus, freely, unconditionally, to save all of us from our sins. Jesus came not to save only a certain few, or only those who are good or kind, or according to certain terms and conditions, as salvation is offered to all. It is up to us to accept or reject this free offer of salvation, and if we reject it, we cannot turn around and say that we did not have a choice. If God’s generosity knows no bounds, then why are some of us generous with bounds, whereby for some of us, generosity is based on what we can get out of it in return?

We must remember that priests and leaders come and go, and that at the end of the day, our generosity ought to be to build God’s Kingdom and to glorify Him, not for our personal gratification or to maintain a feel-good environment. Our generosity is not going to end up only in a certain priest or leader’s pocket, or only for the benefit of a certain priest or leader; but our generosity would be used ultimately for the good of the church. If we are mindful of this, then surely we should ponder how generous we really are, and do what is right and just for the good of the church and to assist in its mission.

Quotes and Anecdotes Throughout Ministry (The Story of our Lives so far)

Having been a priest for several years, I have from time to time come up with interesting quotes from different sources. Some of these quote...