The Catholic News

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we celebrate the Lunar New Year and welcome in the Year of the Dragon, I would like to express my best wishes to all Chinese Singaporeans that this feast may bring about happiness and joy for you and your families.

Joy is an expression of being in harmony with ourselves. To truly be in harmony with ourselves, we must also be in harmony with God, with others and with nature.

The dragon is a symbol of power and good fortune. As we welcome the Year of the Dragon, let us share our success with those less fortunate and use our “power” to look beyond our own needs and serve the greater good.

We are concluding this topic with this last response from Aloysius Cheong. We would like to thank our readers and all who have contributed to this lively discussion. - Webmaster

Dear all, first and foremost, I thank Fr Clement for his kind support and am glad that some share the same views as me. But at the same time, I fully respect the differing views of others. I am sharing what I feel only, so please do not think I am getting personal with the Church or parishoners. At the end of the day, my faith in our Lord is strong and I will still go to Church, even that particular parish too.

But I do wish to re-phrase my points again to prevent any further mis-interpretation for I feel that I have been seriously misunderstood. After which, I hope to make peace and not wish to comment any further. We can go on like this till the “cows come home”.. no, till the “cows fly over the moon” and there will be no end.

The Manna, SFX bulletin, 22 Jan 2012: The Lunar New Year begins tomorrow ushering in the Year of the Dragon – a zodiac sign which is widely believed to buffer the gloomy economic outlook.

As Catholics, we know abundance and prosperity does not come with a “good year” like the dragon year. The richness of mankind's prosperity arrived 2,000 years ago in Jesus Christ who came with the true prosperity message, “The time has come...and the Kingdom of God is close at hand”. (Mk.1:15).

Jesus' idea of prosperity is not limited to money. Rather Jesus' idea of prosperity is having knowledge of God and having eyes that are able to see how God has already so richly blessed mankind through the gift of His life. Everyone, regardless of nationality, social standing or previous religious convictions is welcome into this Kingdom through Baptism. The path to this kingdom is simply a change of heart: “Repent, and believe the Good News.” (v.15).

These two actions of “repent” and “believe” sum up what needs to repeatedly take place in every man's life if he is to enjoy prosperity – the sure knowledge of God's blessings and presence.

This concerns all persons who already have the ashes of their loved ones at a parish columbarium or who have booked a niche for future use.

By now, or at the latest before the Lunar New Year, you should have received a letter from your Columbarium.

If for any reason you have not, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR COLUMBARIUM immediately, or you can call the Hotline at Tel no. 6656-2428, with your details, who will then inform your Columbarium on your behalf.

WASHINGTON – Five former US ambassadors to the Vatican have endorsed Mr Mitt Romney in his campaign to win the Republican nomination for the presidency.

The Romney campaign released the ambassadors’ statement on Jan 7, three days before the New Hampshire primary, customarily the first such primary in the nation every presidential election year.

The former ambassadors, all Catholics, said in their statement they were “united in our wholehearted support for the candidacy of Mitt Romney for the presidency of the United States because of his commitment to and support of the values that we feel are critical in a national leader.”

They called Mr Romney’s “superior understanding of America’s key role in our increasingly interdependent world and his appreciation of the fact that sound economic and social policies must rest on a healthy culture” as the basis for their decision.

JOHOR BAHRU – Catholic couples in the Melaka-Johor diocese renewed their marital vows on Dec 31 and Jan 1 in parishes here.

This is apparently the first time in the history of the diocese in which married couples from all language groups renewed their marital vows during Masses.

In most churches, couples were asked to renew their vows while standing in their pews while in some smaller parishes, priests urged couples to go forward to the altar.

“This was the best thing that ever happened to us in the past 32 years of married life,” one couple, Joseph Teng and Katherine Yong, told CatholicNews.