Friday, February 23, 2007

Sainthood for Mother Marie Eugenie not Mother Teresa

For those of you who have received the following SMS:
“Mother Teresa is going to be declared a saint within three hours, in Rome. Your three petitions will be granted in her name, if you pray now. Send this to at least five people."
You may stop forwarding the message now and delete it from your cellphone. Blessed Mother Teresa is not going to be declared a saint anytime soon rather it's Mother MARIE EUGENIE [CLICK HERE FOR THE NEWS] who is going to be canonized. How do I know the message's a hoax? Besides the fact that I looked up Google News for the supposed canonization of Mother Teresa, there are several giveaways in the SMS itself:
  1. If it's genuine you don't have to mention to "Send this to at least five people"; real news spreads fast and will do so on its on initiative
  2. CNN and BBC would have made her canonization the headlines way earlier before anyone could say "Hallelujah!"
Chain messages such as these are one of my pet peeves; I guess I am just annoyed that it promotes superstition among the Catholic faithful... Anyway a point to note: our petitions are granted only through Jesus Christ (John 14:14) and no one else... because ultimately it is God who has the power to grant our requests. But of course, the saints may intercede also :)

That's all for today's public service announcement. Have a good day!

Can't resist but to take the quiz...



... Not sure if the results were sarcastic but whatever. :P

Thursday, February 22, 2007

The Grudge

This evening at a family gathering over at my cousin's place, I was reminded of my mother's grudge against her brother-in-law as I see the two of them (still) not on talking terms for over 20 years. Which triggered an examination of conscience on my part, and I must confess that beneath this "churchy" exterior, I am a very bitter person. I have a chest load of grudges which I am clinging on tightly, although strangely I have mostly forgotten what started the grudge in the first place. But one thing I know for sure, these grudges that I have are devouring me one piece at a time.

As I reflect further, the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 18:21-35) came to mind:
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded.

"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
The parable above is an allegory of what Jesus had done to redeem us from our sins. He who is sinless was crucified by those who in the first place had sinned against Him, yet Jesus bore no grudge (note: even though He had every right to), instead He said "Father, forgive them ..." (Luke 23:34) Therefore what right do we have to bear grudges? If we ask the Lord to be merciful to us, to take pity on us and to forgive our sins, shouldn't we do the same for others who have sinned against us?

I sense a major spiritual overhaul on my end. Pray for me.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Music Review: Shawn McDonald's Live In Seattle

If there's one album that I must recommend, it has to be Shawn McDonald's Live in Seattle: it's live (duh!), unplugged (mostly guitar) and the thing I love most about it is its raw honesty. You can find many Christian songs that sing God's praise and his goodness, but rarely we hear songs about the struggles of the Christian journey - battling sin and seeking redemption - such as Shawn McDonald's; Hold On (one of my all-time favorites) is a song about keeping the faith.

I think what appeals to me most is his lyrics [CLICK HERE FOR THE LIST] which I find to be very close to home as a Christian. Of course, my weakness for unplugged music contributes to my love for the album. *Grins*

If you are Christian, loves unplugged music and lusts for all things acoustic, you will love this album. Why am I so confident? Simply because...


I like my new tshirt. LOL. (OK fine, I like to think I am always right :P) Oh by the way to all my readers...

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!

May the Lord prosper you according to His plans! (Jeremiah 29:11)

Here's a Youtube Lunar New Year treat for all of you :) Cheers!


Wednesday, February 14, 2007

February Randomness

  1. I discovered I have the uncanny ability to tell time accurately without looking at a watch and with an error margin of about 1 minute. Don't believe me? Ask me what time it is, the next time (no pun intended) you see me.

  2. I've thought of (what I believe to be) the most irreverent message to be printed on a greeting card:
    (front) "If we are the Body of Christ"; (inside) "You must be the asshole."

  3. It's 12.03am, my cognitive psych mid-term's is in less than 16 hours and I have one more chapter to study and five chapter's worth of notes to make. (And I am not counting officially revising and doing the online quiz)

    Darn it, I am blogging.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Saturday, February 10, 2007

[STICKY POST] Amazingly Fearless Race 2007

Note: Scroll down for the latest post. Thank you.

Promotional Poster

What is the Amazingly Fearless Race? Click Here and click here to find out.

To register contact John (012 390 9312) / Ignatius (012 385 1023)

Alternatively you may register with me via email, please include your NAME, CONTACT NO., LOCATION, CHURCH (if any) and send to celestinetan@gmail.com. Thank you. :)

---

Credit: All stick figures courtesy of Belinda :D

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Why Jesus had 12 baskets full...

While having supper at a mamak place somewhere in Port Dickson...
Me: Wow, your burger looks good. How much is it?

John: RM1.20

Me: RM1.20! So cheap lah. I wonder if the they had toast the buns. Can I touch them? I wanna know if it's warm.

John: NO!

Me: Why lah?

John: Because your hands are dirty.

Me: Hey, when Jesus multiplied the five loaves He touched them didn't He?

[Pause and thinks]

Me: Then again... come to think about it, it's no wonder Jesus had so much left-overs - twelve baskets full in fact. I guess the people were grossed out having the knowledge that Jesus multiplied the loaves by pinching them with His bare hands.

John: LOL.