Mary Isabellle celebrates her first year as a Cradle Catholic

It has been a full year today since my beautiful daughter was baptised. It is also my husband's birthday today. So it's a double celebration of sorts.

She is indeed God's little favourite - as He has given her really great days in her life thus far. Firstly, she was born on 31 May 2009 - which happened to be Pentecost Sunday (the Church's birthday). It is also the yearly feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - which explains why her name is Mary.

She came into our lives as our daughter on 7 July 2009 - my mother's birthday and became Roman (Cradle) Catholic on 16 Aug 2009, her papa's birthday. We didn't actually planned it. It was just the Sunday that Patrick's home parish sets for infant Baptism.

Although just 14 months old, she has been an active church going Catholic (no choice, or rather best choice as recommended by her parents), an active choir member (same reason as earlier one), attends regular BEC gatherings and seem to be a little celeb after mass when her weekend "fans" visit her for some cheek pinching or just simply to say "hi" to her.

Our challenge is now of course to teach her by example the reverance we offer to God during mass as our little toddler is learning to run. Thank God we had experience some success with the help of the Holy Spirit and our stroller for blocking her route to a free sprint down the church aisle. She also can be quite noisy - speaking especially during the homily. She seem to think our parish priest is having a conversation with her or something... hmmm. If you are or have been a parent of very young children, you'd understand what I'm sharing here, right? So please pray for us that we may soon find the best way to help her appreciate mass as a special time set aside for God and that we worship as a family in reverance.
My ardent prayer and dream is that she will change the meaning of what a Cradle Catholic would be into the future - a person who truly LOVES and UNDERSTANDS her Faith and encounters GOD in everything she does, and NOT the norm now which is generally a blur follower of Christ whose Faith is easily shaken due to lack of knowledge and understanding of our own Faith.

This blog was started with my Cradle Catholic eyes' view of my world. I see and feel that soon it will be shared by my little Cradle Catholic Mary Isabelle, whose eyes are oh so precious to us all and especially to our Lord.

Amen!

First major St Thomas More Feast Day celebrations in Subang Jaya (2010)

More in DVD

This year 22 June 2010 was special. How and Why? Well, it's the first time our parish celebrated in a big way our Parish Feast Day.

Although, we did it last year with Fr OC celebrating mass a day earlier on Sunday (as the actual feast day fell on a Monday on 2009), it was a Sunday mass. The homily was of course powerful as Fr OC himself, a qualified lawyer, had always been a fan of the saint.

My vivid memory was about the part when he said (Fr OC) - in not so many words that if it came down to it, we should "hate" even our family members if they will prevent us from loving our God. Sounds harsh right? Well, if you don't already know the story ... his most beloved daughter Meg begged her father Thomas More to take an oath that would declare an earthly king, head of the Church instead of Christ's appointed successor the Pope.

True to his Faith and conscience, Thomas More rejected even his most loved daughter's pleading request, and ended up with his head chopped off. How many of us can do this? Perhaps, (in shame) not even me, when cornered to such a point.

This year, again, we invited yet another lawyer Fr Michael Chua. He gave a powerful and long homily reminding us how important TRUE JUSTICE AND PEACE is, especially in Malaysia and that when we are challenged as Catholic-Christians (remember the hoax SMSes to take down your Rosary or risk having your windscreen smashed), we should remind ourselves how St Thomas More responded.

Apart from the resounding message from this saint which is absolutely apt for Malaysia today, we also treated our eyes to two beautifully painted Stations of The Cross by our very own artist Christie Das. In fact, all fourteen stations will be her masterpieces. At this point of the post Fr Simon Labrooy told us after mass that all 14 stations had been successfully sponsored as part of the church's fund raising activities.

For me personally, it was indeed a great milestone in my journey of being a parishioner of this church. Those of you following my blog would have read earlier that I've somehow gotten the job of script writer for a play which will be staged on the life of St Thomas More as part of the opening celebrations of our new church building.

After almost two months of research and writing, the script was finally completed just before March ended and auditions and rehearsals started early April. As there was another major play being staged, most of the talent pool had gone there...

Due to God's great providence, we still ended up with a team that would do quite a good job, we felt. Then, three weeks into the rehearsals, our Music Director whom, we depended a lot upon, due to his vast experience in this field, decided to quit the team due to personal reasons.

As this a volunteer project, his departure was beyond our control. In desperation, I prayed one night that God will truly help us out of this terrible situation as we needed a few very important songs to complete the tale of Thomas More in the next few days when the rehearsal resume.

The most remarkable thing then happened. It was about 11pm then. My husband, who was quite worried about the entire situation had retired to bed. Out of the blue, I felt like penning some thoughts down. And then it happened ... a tune for the St Thomas More theme song came to me. I know it is truly divine inspiration, cos' on my own strength - I have no such talent.

I then reflected his life and the different aspects of who Thomas More was ... to cut a long story short by about 2.30am I had the theme song roughly recorded. Then I looked at the other important part which needed to be expressed and it was that  heart wrenching moment when Margaret, fondly known as Meg to Thomas More, wrote to her father, begging him to change his mind and take the Oath of Supremacy.

That, my research showed, was one of the most, if not the most painful moment of Thomas More's life- that his daughter, whom he considered his kindred spirit, could not understand what she was asking of him.

And so from 2.30am to about 4.30am, Meg's Letter was composed. It was roughly recorded by 5.30am, by 6am I was so dead tired I slept. However, the moment I heard Patrick waking up, I was up, excited to share my new songs and yet not knowing whether he would approve of them (he's got high standards).

Somehow he felt the songs and we started calling friends who played the piano to play for us and thank God, Christine Das (yes, she's my earth angel) answered the call. Yes, besides being an artist, she is a great pianist. She brought the exact emotions to Meg's Letter.

What affirmed me that God had truly inspired the song, as some people later told me (including Christine) - the song reminded them of their relationship with their own father and it touched them deeply (some to the point of tears).

Back to the feast day... it was indeed a proud moment when my joint composition with God - Hymn to St Thomas More was played in church. What confirmed for me that it was from God was that it coincided with Fr Michael Chua's homily and it felt like it was a summary of what he had preached.

I really can't wait for the play to open when we move into our new home. As Erasmus (STM's best friend) would say, it would be my pleasure to tell the tale of my friend Thomas More.

Come join us spread this message of Thomas More to all Malaysians... May Allah's name be praised always!!! Amin!

(At this point of writing ... God has continued to send the right talent to help us ... slowly but surely. He sent us a really creative set designer who happens to be Christine's husband, a talented tailor, a swell sound engineer/technician, a fabulous choir master, a very efficient secreatary, a innovative creative designer, a very dedicated co-producer, who is also our backbone when we are busy with other areas. Dedicated cast who are internalising their lines and taking on important characters with an important message for all. Our team is getting better despite some minor hiccups along the way .... if you are reading this post, please continue to pray for us.... we definitely need it... Amen)

WOW! I can't believe this blog is a winner ... ;-)

I was really happy this morning to receive an email informing me that my blog is now one of the top 40 Catholism blogs of 2010. Seems unreal that my personal ramblings could lead to this...

According to Emma Lee of AwardingTheWeb, who initiated the award, winners were chosen through a scoring system led by internet nominations,which came from my reader base!

Well, I know from my blog traffic that I do get lotsa visitors and I sometimes wonder whether they do come back to read updates (which I must confess are few due to my crazy schedules these days). So this nomination and scoring thingy kinda gave me a little tap on the shoulder though I know it is also an advertising campaign (of onlinephdprograms - who may be one of AwardingTheWeb sponsors that keep what they do alive).

Whatever it is ... this has given me new vigour and energy to blog again (this post included). I've experienced so many God-led miracles since March and they are shouting to be told and heard, so watch out for them soon.

My only hope is that if you are my reader and hopefully follower too, please make it official by clicking on the FOLLOW button on the right. To me, it means a lot and is like a personal hello, I like your sharing, or I can identify with that.

I'm so happy that one of the other winner is a local blog for our young adult ministry STM Lifeline. Click this link to see who the other top 40 winners are: http://www.onlinephdprograms.com/top_catholicism/#Cradle_Catholic_Eyes

May God's choicest blessings be upon all of you,
Hazel

What happened in January and February...

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....

Truly exciting month

Before Jan ends, I just have to say it has truly been a busy and exciting month in my life as a Catholic. In short, I'm exhausted but happy.

Details will definitely follow at least by second week of Feb. God is indeed a most amazing being... my treasured Creator how I love thee.

Over and out for now...

I've been a Catholic for 37 years...

I can't believe it. It's 37 years since I became a Catholic. I recently celebrated my Baptism anniversary on 17 December. In fact, it's the first time I ever did. No big deal. Actually I didn't even announce it to anyone except my husband Patrick.

To me, it was a day I remembered all things dear to me that my Faith had brought into my life.

There's too many to list - but definitely one major one this year had been Mary Isabelle Archibald - my beloved daughter.

Just a sharing - God really spoke to me through the 3rd Advent week and reassured me that barren women had a special place in his heart. One such reading especially was on the First Reading on Thursday of the 3rd Week of Advent (btw, 17 Dec 2009 was that Thursday).

Although that reading were not read in church as from Dec 17 till 24, because special masses are given and there are specially assigned readings read instead (well something I just discovered while reflecting the daily readings from the daily + Sunday missal - remember my new Liturgical Year resolution - for those following my blog), from that reading, I really felt that God wanted me to know that I'm special and he will love me even when there are times my husband seem not able to or when the "disgrace" of not being able to have my own children became too difficult to bear.

The readings through the Dec 17 to 24 period also that showed me that miracles do happen to barren women - one was the mighty and strong Samson's mom - Manoah's wife (19Dec - 1st Reading) and of course the other more famous one - St John the Baptist's mom Elizabeth (19Dec - Gospel).

These are messages of hope. And even if God has not awaken my womb as he did for these other people - he sent me and Patrick, Mary in the most amazing way (read my earlier post).

As time is running out as we are rush to go for mass (followed by a full day of fellowship and Christmas carolling in my BEC), I shall have to stop now.

My wish to all is to rejoice and have hope this coming 2010, blessed Christmas to one and all,
Hazel

The Misconception of the Immaculate Conception

Today marks the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A mouthful? Well, isn't that the signature or trademark of most things Catholic. And I'm beginning to love it.... yup, yup, yup.

Back to this post. Now I'm definitely NOT going to write volumes about what the feast day is about. You can easily google it. Instead, this feast brings back to mind a very funny memory from my teenage years.

I think I should be about Form 2 or 3, which means about 14 or 15 years-old. We were in our Catechism class in my school (sadly, a thing of the past. These days there are no more public missionary schools in Malaysia) and the topic of the day was Immaculate Conception.

Mrs Connie Chan (our teacher) decided to ask a class of cradle Catholics: "Who can explain what Immaculate Conception means?"

As usual, total silence (you can hear a pin drop, and girls start to look down in case they get called). What do you expect from a class of cradle Catholics. I think mostly the silence was because of indifference and of course ignorance. This round I think ignorance scored close to 100%.

Well, that day my friend Sophie Chen and I were feeling pretty brave, so she put up her hands and tried to answer. Out of her mouth came these words: "I think it is Mary becoming pregnant with Jesus, but she still remained pure (hehehe... think she was trying to use a word other than virgin, you know la, all girl-Catholic Convent school vocabulary in front of the teacher)."

Mrs Chan immediately said that it was not the answer. I did not know what spirit possessed me (I'm sure it was not the Holy Spirit, cos' it would have given the right answer) but I then blurted out that: "Mary was still a virgin although she had conceived Jesus."

And I could see some heads nodding in agreement but still silence loomed in the class, till Mrs Chan opened her mouth again, this time with a smile or perhaps even a little laugh.

What she said next I could not remember clearly, but this experience has definitely cured me of the misconception of what the Immaculate Conception is all about.

It is definitely not about Mary's virginity. Rather it's about Mary herself being conceived without original sin as she was already chosen to be Jesus' Mommy. So the Ark of the Covenant definitely needed to be a spotless vessel. That's what our Church believes and so should we.

And that's that.

Now why did I choose to share this embarassing blast from my past. Well, reason being many Catholics that I meet today still use the term Immaculate Conception to describe themselves or others getting pregnant without the presence of some sperms in the picture.

I do not know whether they do it because they were like me and Sophie many years ago or that they just came out with their own teachings (hmmm). Just kidding.

As a cradle Catholic myself I understand completely if you have been confused all your life about this or just know vaguely about most teachings of the Church.

However, having said that, perhaps this new Liturgical Year, you might CHOOSE to make a change? If your answer is YES, then great... I will have one more friend to journey with as I stumble upon many truths about this Faith I inherited from my grandparents and which now I cherish more with eash passing day.

P.S. Happy Birthday Marie... you are one Catholic who taught me much in my walk. Btw, she was named Maria Conception Valerio (hoped I got that right) - no brownie points for guessing why, right?

Time flies.... as always

I can't believe it. What seems to be a blink of an eye to me and already we have gone into the second week of Advent. I thank God, I'm still holding on to my new resolve to read the week day mass readings and reflect upon them (not just the Sunday readings - which we do as a team during our Music Ministry practice for Sunday mass).

This exercise for me has proven beneficial since it gives me a glimpse of heaven (especially from the first readings), a promise of things to come (amid the 2012 type of prophecy). A space where enemies on earth are friends on that plain... the new Jeruselam. Ahhh.....

I really needed this spiritual boost because of many reasons.

One is I have been suffering from this never ending cough and flu for the past week. The type that keeps you coughing till you're breathless. Worse, I can't enjoy most of the sweet smelling aroma from my neighbour's awesome cooking. Bummer,rite?

Well, that's why reading something uplifting like the Word of God and doing my best to prepare my heart for Jesus is my theraphy. I pray I can keep the momentum going (in the background now is Mary Isabelle wailing for some attention... hold that thought. Okay I'm back after putting her to bed.)

What I'm doing is to keep improving on my faith journey... willingly... without pressure from family or ministry, just my own freewill kicking in. It's the best way to learn....

Second, is it gives me the sweet assurance that after this life, we have a new and definitely much better one waiting for us. With so many people dying recently from disasters, accidents and diseases and old age, it's really good to know that heaven is a place call home.

Enough of rantings from me. For those of you who have popped by, pls do leave your mark by clicking FOLLOW or a comment. Just say hi or give me some feedback.

Looking forward to some of that for this new year, okay? Deal?

Happy New Year Everybody!!!

New Year signifies new beginnings... a new chance at life. I'm so glad I'm Catholic cos' I can now start my new year resolutions and when they don't work out so well, I have another shot at them come 1 Jan 2010... just kidding.

Yes, today marks the new Liturgical Year. Ah huh, Advent has started. Turn your Sunday Missal to Cycle C and Daily Missal to Cycle II....if what I'm saying all sounds like Greek to you, no worries. It was to me till very recently (almost 4 years ago and I've been Catholic for 37 years. Btw, Greek is one of the languages of our Faith, so if you thought Greek, it's a good sign..*wink*)

Looking back at last year, I had my shares of blessings + misgivings which I'm sure are there to teach + test me.

Major blessings:
Expanding our family unit with the arrival of Mary Isabelle Archibald, our beloved daughter
Experiencing motherhood with all its joys + pains.
Having a once in a lifetime experience to help + see the building of a brand new Catholic Church - which is my own parish.

Losses:
Lost two local spiritual leaders and friends from Servants of Yahweh Covenant Community - one was Ralph Curzon, who passed away earlier this year and just a few hours ago Benedict Lye. May their souls rejoice together with the saints + angels in the presence of our Blessed Trinity.
Lost my dog Rusty girl on 2 Oct. She died of a broken heart (since Mary Isabelle came home).

There's much more I would love to share. My new dreams, hopes and aspirations, but it's getting late and I need to sleep before mass in the morning.

Once again Happy New Year to all my fellow Catholics wherever you are....

Christmas With CrisKroz - A Family Heartbeat

Last year's Christmas Battle Of the Bands champion CrisKroz is once again making waves during this Yuletide season. This time, they are launching their very first album entitled A Family Hearbeat on 3 Dec.
The official launch will be held in Wisma MAA at 3pm.

In line with the spirit of season, the album showcases 10 tracks of Christmas songs, of which two (Emmanuel and Peace He Will Bring) are original numbers written by the band's vocalist and song writer Cecelia Biggs.

CrisKroz was born as a result of the members' decision to take part in the Christmas Battle of the Bands competition held at the Central Market open arena last year.

Besides Cecelia, the group consist of Ravi Kana, who is not only keyboardist and vocalist, but also her beloved spouse. Then there's Aaron Ravi, their son and guitarist of the band. Other members are Aloysius John, who plays bass and Christopher Felix on drums.

With the RM10k competition cash prize in hand, and adding some personal savings, the group embarked on this album project, which they have dedicated to all families (thus the title of the album).

After winning the Christmas Battle Of the Bands, CrisKroz had also performed live for the Church Of Divine Mercy in the Families United concert.

Known for their unique style of Christian Praise & Worship music, their genre is classified under Contemporary Christian Gospel.

Why You Should Own This Album

Firstly, it gives a fresh prespective or twist to some golden oldies. Guess that was the element that won them the championship last year.

Second, there are not many creative Malaysian Catholics who release albums. So when they do, support them so that more talent will emerge and we will have a great pool. For so many years we have been always buying foreign and Prostestants, right? Nothing against that, but Belilah Barangan Malaysia, especially Katolik Malaysia. Isn't it fantastic?

Third, they are promoting good family values.

Fourth and most importantly, they are also supporting some charities - especially since one of them is the St Thomas More building fund... ha... ;-)

On a personal note, I'm also proud to say that two of the members are parishioners of St Thomas More and in fact one of them - the cute drummer Christopher is from our Music Ministry (girls I'm not sure if he's still available though. You gotta do some research yourself - sorry).

I've seen Chris grew up from a little boy into a young man whom God has blessed with the ability to play several instruments (drums, guitar, bass, piano... to say the least).

Aloysius is also a good friend, whose life testimony on God's providence will shock you into the faith if not anything. Besides that Aloy is also another one who plays several instruments well.

I don't really know Ravi's family that well but I'm sure they too have a compelling Faith story to share with us.

So if you guys want to know more - first get the album and then perhaps one day they might have a concert in a parish near you.

To order the albums, email: hazelong888@gmail.com

If you are from abroad (outside Malaysia), you can pay through PayPal. You can either have it shipped to you or you can buy it for someone you know in Malaysia as a Christmas present. We can include a card with your personalised message for them.

With that said, it's off to my own Christmas mass practice soon, not forgetting mass for tomorrow.

To all of you Catholic Christians out there - Have a fantastic Advent and a wonderful Christmas!!!

A challenge I can't resist

Click to order

My sister-in-law Bridget recently visited me at home and found on my sofa a book entitled "The One-Minute Apologist". She asked whether I could do a talk about Apologetics some day for her Sunday school students or something like that.

I couldn't believe my ears. Me to a talk on Apologetics? Well, I told her I've done testimonies and sharing about other topics but so far none on Apologetics though it is now my favourite Catholic subject.

So since it has become my new favourite topic, I told her that I'll take up the challenge. She said I might try to perhaps do some simple tracts on it for starters. I thought that it was a good suggestion.

Well, as long as God can use me as His instrument in any way, I shall be open to it. Please do pray for me....

Anyway, here is a link to Catholic Answers radio station and an interview with one of my favourite apologist Patrick Madrid.

Enjoy and learn...

With that I continue to pray for Pat's grandson Killian who's still fighting for his life - with God's help of course.

Goodnite my fellow Catholics and those coming Home soon... wherever you are.

(My all time favourite apologetic works. I'm a fan of Pat Madrid and Scott Hahn. Click below to find out more...)

Creative Catholics - that's the new name for my online shopping blog

Yes! A little advertisement for my other blog - which showcase creative Catholics with something interesting to offer.

So far, I've only managed to put up my own Cradle Creations knotted Rosaries, but very soon, we will have other things available for your Christmas shopping, I pray.

One, will be very beautiful crafts from a charming lady from my BEC. Won't reveal too much till I release it officially on Creative Catholics (formerly, actually very recently - known as The Creative Catholic Centre).

Second, I hope will be a new Christmas album by a group of brillant Malaysian Catholic musicians and singers, comprising both adults and youths. Proud to say I know at least two of them personally cos' they come from my parish (St Thomas More).

I'm extremely excited. Life is full of surprises. I'd never guess that one day, I'll actually be doing craft for sale and to top it off - one with a spiritual and religious twist to it. Guess God is teaching me creative ways of evangelisation.

(Spreading the Catholic Faith to the ends of the earth thru craft...cool, rite?)

Enough said for now, have to catch up on my sleep...

Please pray for Killian Patrick - a very premature grandson of Patrick Madrid

Killian and His Daddy Timothy holding hands

Killian after the delivery

Before I blog any further, I just wanted to first offer a short prayer for Killian Patrick: "Abba Father, may you strengthen little Killian with his every breath. Heal him, build him up, this tiny cradle Catholic. May every single day of his life be a testimony of your amazing love for us. Amen!"

It has been ages since I had time to blog or read other people's blog, not to mention Facebook and Twitter after the arrival of my dear little Mary. However, I had to do some important thing on my other blog (Creative Catholic Centre) and that was when I chanced upon Killian Patrick's story on Patrick Madrid's blog.

As a premature baby myself (and so is Mary), Killian's continuing battle to stay alive touches me deeply. I thank God that both Mary and I were strong enough to breathe without the incubator.

You can follow Timothy Madrid's blog (Killian's dad) for the full story and updates.
http://timothymadrid.blogspot.com/2009/10/hopsital-update.html

Join me in prayer for this cradle Catholic. May he grow up to be a mighty man of God! Amen!

Through The Eyes of a soon-2b-Catholic

Hi all, I'm so excited now. My two month old baby girl Mary Isabelle is going to baptised in the next few hours.

As a mom, I'm overjoyed. The greatest gift my parents gave me was that they baptised me into the Catholic Faith.

Now relearning and rediscovering what I misunderstood and now understand about being Catholic, I've already started imparting my faith to little Mary. It's just so much better knowing soon she'll officially join this great big universal family of ours.

Come back in a next few days and read about Mary's own account of her Faith journey. Yes, even as young as she is, she already has a grand tale to tell and share. I hope it will inspire you already full-grown Roman Catholics to be in awe of our Faith once again.

See ya soon. We got to get ready now.

Please welcome Mary Isabelle Archibald

It has been said that God works in mysterious ways ... actually in our case it was not so much the mystery but the many signs and wonders that have me in awe of Him - as always.

There have been many miracles in my life but the most recent one was how speedily and unexpectedly He sent my husband and I our beautiful and beloved daughter Mary Isabelle Archibald.

For those of you who do not know Patrick + I, we have been married for almost 8 years now. From the start we have been open to life, but of course, the first two years, we prayed that God will give us a natural honeymoon.

We were indeed happy that what we learnt during our BOM class proved helpful. Then our 3rd anniversary came, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th... and we both felt that the honeymoon has been extended a wee bit too long.

I must say that I was even ignorant that the Catholic Church was against IVF till I attended a talk in St Ignatius Church, Kelana Jaya, perhaps about 2-3 years ago. I'm glad because I had to admit that I was seriously considering it as an option prior to that.

Even after knowing, the temptation was very great to give into to the persistent persuasion of many, including Catholics, who believed IVF, was one of God's ways of helping couples conceive.

I'm glad that after lots of soul searching, Pat + I very recently (about a month ago) resorted to the final Catholic channel of having children - that's through adoption.

The moment we made that decision, I felt peace in my heart. We then started talking to the various Catholic-run adoption centres and made known our desire. We were given the usual thick application forms that enquired many questions at length about our biodata and reasons for adoption.

Not only that, with it comes the usual script about waiting for a period of time before a child may be available for adoption. From many of them and our friends' stories, it may take up to years sometimes.

So in my mind, I thought it may be good, to help us prepare emotionally, spiritually and definitely financially. Also logistic wise and who will assist me in looking after the child and so on and so forth.

I remember sharing our decision to my mom one day and she said: "What if God suddenly bless you with a child and by Chinese New Year, you will join the ranks of parents who will receive angpows because they have children,". She was saying it in jest and as encouragement that things will work out for us. Little did I know it was indeed a prophetic message.

Patrick was really very very "rajin" (diligent) and meant business after our decision. He was the one who had actively gone to the many centres to collect their forms and let them know we want to adopt both in West Malaysia and East Malaysia (where we travel regularly for work).

Just two weeks ago, I received a call from him while he was in Miri saying: "Are you sitting down," I said yes and the next few words that he spoke sounded so unreal..."They have a baby girl for us.

I can't believed it because only two days prior to the call, Patrick walked into the Human Life Service in Miri and they gave him the usual thick forms and script about waiting....
To cut a long story short, wee hours of Monday morning (6 July) we flew to complete the paperwork to officially turn Mary Isabelle into an Archibald. We went for mass on Tuesday morning and by about 11.30am on 7 July 09 it was done. Her birth certificate with us as parents would be ready for collection next month.
Patrick + I were overjoyed. Then the moment came to meet her for the first time... yes, we adopted the baby without knowing how she looked like. We just trusted the Lord's providence and proceeded despite some initial concerns from family members who knew about our decision.
Indeed, the Lord knows what is best. I was pleasantly surprised to find a baby who looked similar to me when I was a baby. That is definitely no coincidence - just God's plan, and His Plan is perfect.

Other things that made us know God's plan is perfect are:

Mary Isabelle is supposed to be due on 10 July, but she decided to come out early, so that Pat could walk right through the door of the Human Life Service Centre and become her daddy.

She is also a premature baby just like mommy Hazel.
Mary Isabelle was born on Pentecost Sunday this year (31 May 09). Definitely, the Holy Spirit's work. What a great day to be born - on the Church's Birthday!
Her natural mother only wanted Catholic parents for Mary Isabelle. When Pat walked in to apply, there were many other parents who were in queue before us. Since the criterion was Catholic parents, HLS called down and discovered the Catholics before us had changed their minds for different reasons and other potential parents were non-Catholics. So Pat's name was next in line, leading to that surprise phone call just within 2 days of our application. Boy, am I glad to be Catholic!!!
Our application and approval of adoption was on 7 July 09 which falls on my mother birthday. So officially Mary Isabelle became an Archibald on grandma Gladys' birthday. According to my mom, it's her greatest birthday gift.
I must say the first night as parents really made me appreciate my mother and grandmother for their patience in bringing me up. Mary Isabelle was up from midnight till 4am before sleeping.
According to my mom, Mary Isabelle is just like me when it came to crying till she turned red and shivering whenever she urinated, passed motion and was hungry. She sure has pipes for a cantor in church... fortunately, there were no complaints from other guests about her consistent screaming cries throughout the night.
I'm glad the second night she slept more and last night was much better as she only woke up twice to drink milk, then it was off to dreamland. Thank you Lord, we sure needed the rest.
I pray that God will continue to give us strength and enough rest to get through the sleepless night phase.
I'm sure He will continue to equip us with the right skills to bring up Mary Isabelle as a mighty woman of God - just like the two women she has been named after (Mother Mary and St Isabel of France).
Do come back and check the blog for more updates of baby Mary Isabelle ... As of now here are some of the many photos we took of her (just click on the word "her" - will lead you to her photos.
For those who have prayed for us all these years and especially the last few days ... thank you very much. God indeed answers prayers.

(You may want to prepare yourselves by reading up on what adoption is all about. Below are some recommended reading...)
 

Gosh I'm back...

Hi all who follow my ramblings as a Re-learning Catholic of the cradle kind,

June was such a crazy month, in terms of work, travels and fund raising activities... and the inconsistent internet connectivity I faced at home. Indeed challenging.

Methinks, July might just be another similar month, if not worst in magnitude. But you know what, God is my strength and I shall survive and thrive in this journey call LIFE because of the Blessed Holy Trinity.

I was very happy last night that I delivered my very first handmade knotted Rosary which was ordered online (through gmail). It was so cool.
The person who ordered my Rosary actually blogged about my creations... I'm so happy about it. Thanks Suzanne. Check out her piece on my St Thomas More Rosary keychain (St Peter's keychain collection).

I'm also very happy that a couple from St Ignatius parish actually chanced upon my blog when researching St Thomas More, my parish patron saint. The great news is they saw my announcements about the two musical concerts and have shown interest to come for it with their friends....

Please Pat + Richard bring your friends and family... strangers... whoever. We need all the help we can get to build our new church.

From one Catholic to another - THANK YOU!

I truly enjoyed the choir camp I just returned from.... didn't manage to take many significant photos, but thanks to my other choir members, I get to savour the sweet memories when I see their photos of the event on Facebook.

I've so much to share today and yet time is running out.

Please pray for me and Pat. Pat and I are preparing ourselves for another phase in our walk as a couple. Will update you all soon.

May God bless you all abundantly in all areas of your life.....Amen!

Happy St Thomas More Day!

More in DVD

I'm so happy that we are celebrated our very first feast of St Thomas More yesterday (a day earlier cos' it was a Sunday).

St Thomas literally lost his head for his faith when he was not in favour of his friend King Henry VIII's decision to divorce his queen and later to take an oath to renounce the Pope as head of the Church.

Fr OC Lim, who is a great fan of this saint, was aptly invited to celebrate mass.

May St Thomas More continue to pray for all the politicians and lawyers of our country. We surely need his prayers and intercessions especially for politicians in Perak (very sad that my homestate has become infamous due to a new species called the Perak frogs).

God bless!

P.S. In conjunction with this feast day, yours truly has specially designed a red Rosary keychain which doubles up as a wrist band (for those with small wrists - usually women + children). Check it out by visiting: http://creativecatholiccentre.blogspot.com/

Unplanned "pilgrimage" up North

Hi everyone who follows me here.... I've been away on the road last week and even this week. Last week, Patrick and I went up north, all the way to Jitra, Kedah, for work.

The amazing thing was, along the way, we stopped at the St Anne's new church in Bukit Mertajam. Although, I've been a regular pilgrim to St Anne's, BM when I was a child growing up in Ipoh, that annual family trip to the extremely packed feast day ended when I grew up and left the nest.

My father said the reason we used to go to St Anne's yearly was because he prayed for a baby after I was about 6 years-old. That was of course followed by the conception and birth of my brother Nicholas Ong aka Point Blanc. Thus, the annual pilgrimage to St Anne's old church to fulfil a vow or promise he made.

I usually enjoyed the car ride, but things always got too intense for my liking when we entered the smaller old church which thousands throng. We packed ourselves like sardins with long candles burning and sometimes you can see people accidentally burn the hair of the person in front of them as they processed into the church.... painful, not to mention the odd smell. Sometimes people faint due to immense stuffiness of the extremely crowded space.

The old church which is just beside the new one

Besides that, you have all these devotees (my guess is almost half are non-Catholics, and could be Hindus and Buddhist - unofficial inter-religious thingy going on) begging outside the church with their handkerchieves - as fulfillment of the vow they made when their prayers were answered through the intercession of Jesus' grandmother (St Anne la - in case you are suffering from Cradle Catholic syndrome when reading this post).

A carnival atmosphere permeates the air as hundreds of stalls will be set up selling religious items necessary for prayers like candles and flowers. Of course, there'll also be a variety of food and drinks, toys and all sorts of everything.... which later leaves a trail of plastic bags littered all over the sprawling grounds.

The other thing I look forward is the climb up a small hillock where the grotto of St Anne is located at the peak. Well, usually a joy when it doesn't rain. The years when it did rain, my shoes and sometimes my clothes get covered in mud - yucks (guess you know now, I'm not much into jungle trekking and that sort of thing, usually). I shan't mention or describe the queue to the toilets now, would I?... guess not.

Hmmm.... am I painting a negative picture here? Well, the point I'm trying to make is that despite all the discomforts, I treasure the moments of deep prayer together with the thousands who converge in Bukit Mertajam every year.

Most people have their personal miracle stories to tell after their visit to this church and that's why St Anne's BM is such a popular site as pilgrims from around the Asian region are drawn to it.

It can also be because in the past, a few people, including Hindus had witnessed St Anne's appearance. Some who were very poor had prospered and now are diehard believers, coming every year to fulfill their vows. These stories were related to me by Patrick's uncle who is a local boy of mainland Penang.

So last week, when Pat, my mother-in-law and I were passing through this area enroute to Jitra, I suggested we stop and go check out the new church (which is built just next to the old one) so that I can pray a little while.
It was indeed a great decision. I felt such peace when I arrived outside the new church. It is a magnificent architecture. I felt like I was transported back to ancient churches in Europe. The brown stone walls, the bell tower (especially with the peeling, gives it an authentically old look), the lush greenery.... ahhhhh..

So if you can't afford a pilgrimage to Europe yet, a visit here gives you a foretaste of it, minus the cool weather unfortunately.


What a sight for sore eyes. Makes my soul sing for joy. If you haven't already guessed, it was my first visit to the new church. They had life-size Stations of the Cross and beautiful angel statues, not to mention mosaic art around the church.

























No excuses not to go for Confessions, as they have so many Confessionals.... waiting for you....










I took many pictures and surveyed the grounds (it seems to never end) but most importantly I spent some quiet time with St Anne, asking her to put in a good word for me. I just didn't have anything specific to ask... in fact I wondered why. Just put in a good word for me to Jesus and that He knows what's best for me was my ardent prayer.*shrugs*

Anyway, I thank my Abba, Jesus and of course the Holy Spirit for leading us there for such a sweet and gentle experience. It was btw, Trinity Sunday weekend (though we passed through on a Friday morning).

I look forward to coming back to this parish for mass.... I'm not sure whether it would be during the feast day stretch of 17July-26July 2009 due to the "madness" of the crowds, but I'll definitely be back.

Some more pictures for you to cuci mata (your viewing pleasure).

Starting Them Young

Nak meluntur aur biar dari rebungnya...(if you want to shape a bamboo tree, it must be done when it is still a shoot - or something like that).

Bottomline of this malay proverb is, if we want our kids to learn the faith, please teach them when they are young - when learning is quick and easy.... before the karat (rust or bad habits and baggages) sets in.

Or as this proverb is taught, if you want to shape or bend it when it had become an adult bamboo plant, it can break... meaning it is harder for our children to change or learn when they have grown up (at least not so easy la hor). I'm still praying for a miracle in this area...

Which explains why Patrick (my husband) has memorized the Rosary prayers including the mega-lengthy Litany of the Blessed Virgin, the Angelus, Morning Offering, Divine Mercy chaplet, etc, etc, etc....

This is all thanks to the good ole Bukit Nanas Convent training of my dear mother-in-law Clara Archibald. She made sure the whole family had their family prayers every day no matter what - meaning sibling war or otherwise - family prayers continues.

Anyway, this little clip above was captured during BEC (Basic Ecclesial Communities) Rosary prayers which was held almost every other night in the homes Catholic families residing in our residential estate in Putra Heights.

God has really used the little ones and the younger ones to speak to me this May.

I'm so glad that my BEC decided to include the children during the Rosary prayers. A smile just forms on my face everytime they recite the Hail Marys... Starting them young is a very good strategy. It will surely increase their chances of memorising the Hail Holy Queen, Let Us Pray and Memorare and of course the Litany of the Blessed Virgin. But more than just parroting the prayers, at least I know they will know who to turn to and what to say in times of trouble and panic.

I'm grateful that I'm surrounded by good Catholic parents who will support Pat and I in raising more strong Catholic children in Putra Heights when our time comes.

Btw, I just found a teenager who also memorised the Litany. Anne Marie Tan (from SS19A+SS17 BEC) and my husband were trying to challenge each other to see who could say it faster. Me, I was just lost and all I could remember was - Ark of the Covenant somewhere in the list...phew!

Then there were the teenagers from Lifeline, a youth ministry for college and single working adults who inspired me so much.

Since falling in love with making Knotted Cord Rosaries, I had offered classes to groups for a fee to help my parish St Thomas More raise RM9.5mil for our new home (meaning church building. Now we worship every week in a badminton hall) which we pray will be ready by Easter 2010.

The Lifeliners from Sunway college invited me to share this craft with them, but in the process they truly touched me. These young students mainly from Indonesia and East Malaysian would meet almost every day in May to share the Gospel Reading of the day and pray the Rosary.

It put me to shame, but in a good way, cos' it has challenged me to raise my standards in my faith journey.

A big thank you all the children in my BEC and also to the Lifeliners of Sunway and also a few from the Angels of Yahweh, for enriching my Rosary experience. Amen!

Catholic Communication in a hi-tech world

Last Sunday, we celebrated World Communications Day and our Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam launched the HERALD's new website at the Church of the Divine Mercy, Shah Alam.
HERALD is a Malaysian Catholic weekly, which recently got controversial when it challenged the Federal Government's ban on its usage of the word Allah.

As a parishioner of St Thomas More which had been under the care of the Jesuits until very recently, we were used to Fr OC Lim's (a former lawyer) fiery sermons that we should fight against any form of subtle religious persecution which one of it is the stop on our usage of the word Allah in our publications and Bibles.
Fr OC Lim was recently interviewed by BBC (I wanted to link you to that video clip, which seems to be replaced by an advertisement now. Pat my husband managed to watch the clip on the BBC website yesterday) on the issue.

Since I started blogging, I've discovered so much creativity that Catholics have employed to evangelise our own and others. Below is such a funny one on the promotion of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, just before Easter.


In fact, Patrick Madrid is the one who taught us to reach out to ex-Catholics or soon to be Catholics through technology. He walks his talk. Visit his blog and website and you'll see how he maximises new media to reach out to a modern world.

You can download his podcast, mp3s and what nots. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

In fact, Pat Archibald (my husband) taught me how to download the daily and Sunday missal through Avantgo (universalis.com). Hmmm... don't seem to be working now? Anyone has any idea why?

Last year, I really benefitted a lot from EWTN personalities like Fr Benedict Groeschel. There's also a famous Sister Angelica but somehow I've not downloaded her mp3s before.

We also have a pocket PC version of the Bible in our ipaqs, so that the Word of God is always with us. It's especially helpful now, that I'm in my thirsting for knowledge phase.

Recently through the blogs, I've found so many inspiring conversion stories of people from anti-Catholic families. They just blew me away. I really see how the Holy Spirit moves in amazing ways.

If you've read my first posting you'd know what a katak di bawah tempurung (a sheltered ignorant fool) I have been, to think it's mainly a one-way traffic of Catholics leaving the Church. Praise God, Hallelujah!

Anyway back to communication using technology, I'm so proud of my parish St Thomas More (STM), we are the first I think (pardon me if we are not) in Malaysia to raise funds through sms (text messages via handphones/mobile devices).

If you are currently reading this (in Malaysia) and feel a sudden burst of generosity, pls type STM (donates RM10) or STM5 (donates RM5) and send it to 36655, to help us build our new church brick by brick.

Maybe STM should put those PLEASE DONATE sign like these on its website quickly so that Catholics around the world (especially those Malaysian ones who are working or are now living abroad) can help us build our new home - a permanent and visible place of worship:

May Your Will Be Done (or in Latin Fiat Voluntas Tua) in our cyberworld...



It's Cool 2B Catholic, isn't it ?

God bless all those who visits this blog!!!!