 |
Firstly, a thousand apologies (in the slang of Ali Nadim of Mind Your Language, an old British comedy series I thoroughly enjoyed as a child) for not blogging so long and to break my promise that I would do so by mid February.
So as promised, the details which made January truly exciting was first - it was the beginning of the Gregorian calendar and to all people around the world, includng of course yours truly, a brand new start.Then there was a brand new project which I was enrolled into for our parish fund-raising activities - to come out with exclusive commemorative items for our soon to be opened brand new church building ... the mere thought of it sends shivers through my spine due to sheer excitement.
Come on, how many people who belong to old and established churches ever experienced being part of its building process from scratch. I'm sure their very first memories of celebrating mass inside their church, whether as a child (Cradle Catholics) or an adult (Converts) was that the church building was already set up, with no memories whatsoever of how it was first thought of and then built.
That's why to me the privilege and blessing to see my new church building conceptualised from an artist's impression and slowly how the bricks, concrete and all other building materials used, start to rise higher and bigger with each passing month ... and also to be part of a team helping to raise funds for it.
I thank God for the entire experience, as it truly gives me an increased sense of ownership and belonging to my parish. For those who don't know and who just accidentally stumbled upon my blog, my parish has been celebrating mass in a rented badminton court in a private school for years. Every Sunday morning, extremely dedicated parishioners come as early as 6am to transform a bare hall into a beautiful church.
The other exciting event was when my husband informed me that Fr Simon Labrooy our parish priest has envisioned a musical to be staged for the opening celebrations of our new church and has entrusted the Music Ministry to produce it.Somehow, I ended up with the responsibility of drafting a script for it. At first I was apprehensive because it seems like too daunting a task, especially when I'm a stay home mom with a baby and household chores. But like all things divine, God just opened up some time for me and inspired me during my research about Thomas More.
I'm so glad He did, that cos' now I know who St Thomas More is, to the extend I feel he is like a friend. Someone I can relate to him too well.
How? Well, firstly his simplicity in food and beverage - is really something I live daily. When I read how he would kinda pretend to drink wine, by just letting it touch his lips, or how he just drank very light beer or sometimes even pure water from a beer mug to socialise with his friends, hit home close to me.
Even, his preference for eggs, corned beef and milk and other simple food instead of fine cuisine - is shockingly me. I used to have friends ridicule me cos' to them, I'm missing out in life, but too me I just say to them I don't need special substances or food to give me a high, I'm simply high on life.
I cherish the fact that he is a family person who spends time enriching the lives of his children through education and lotsa of time playing with them. As a stay home mom, it gives me encouragement when it gets tough looking after little Mary who is a bundle of pure energy, if you catch my drift....He has also given me hope that despite the extra effort, it truly is worth bringing up our children to know the Faith. And being a blurr Cradle Catholic, it gives me a push to learn more in order to teach it to her.
Please pray for me as I continue to write the script.... I know so much about him but to put it down as a story within a timeframe of 90 minutes is a true challenge for a person as interesting and as unique as Thomas More....
Writer's block is setting in especially after the long Chinese New Year holidays.
Bye for now....
