gollysmolly

Okay… I’m bored of the usual blogging style, and I’m pretty sure you are too =P

CONFIRMATION  &  PARTY

Holy?
‘Twas not.
‘Twas not holy.
I did not feel holy.

‘Twas not lacking but
I had anticipated more,
‘Twasn’t what I expected,
‘Twas in fact quite a bore.

‘Twas magic that came later,
but the Oil and Flesh came first,
‘Twas choir music that was great,
‘Twas my concentration at its worst.

‘Twas the Holy Spirit in my friends,
‘Twas in their hugs, in their smiles,
I felt it course through like energy,
‘Twas love’s energy all the while.

‘Twas the Holy Spirit I say,
‘Twas Him through them,
‘Twas nothing but love,
Love from my friends.

‘Twas too ordinary,
‘Twas not magical,
Sparks didn’t fly,
‘Twasn’t radical.

‘Twas love,
I felt it,
Love.

Oh yay, my first poem! Lolz, I need a life…
But seriously, that is true… However, this report on my confirmation for the Church newsletter, isn’t that true, though it is quite informative (or at least more so than the poem…)

Our spiritual journey through Confirmation
climaxed on the 9^th of September, when we were confirmed and fully
initiated into the Catholic Church, after years of Catechism and preparation
for full initiation, having already received the holy sacraments of Baptism and
Communion.

The different Rites signified the end of
each Period, in a way that we would never forget. The Period of Invitation, in which we learnt about
the journey we were going to embark on, ended with the Rite of Welcome, where
we were recognized as candidates for Confirmation, willing to undertake and
carry out this journey of faith with Christ. The Period of Formation, in which we grew in our faith as candidates for
Confirmation in the Holy Spirit, ended with the Rite of Calling, where we were
called to be fully initiated Catholics in the Church, and continue our journey
of Confirmation. The Period of Reflection,
in which we reflected on what we had learnt over the past few years of
Catechism in preparation for Confirmation, ended with the Holy Sacrament of
Confirmation, where all 63 of us were anointed with the Holy Chrism, and our
initiation was sealed in the Holy Spirit, as well as through partaking in the
Body of Christ, marking our full membership in the Holy Catholic Church.

Throughout our journey, we participated in
retreats, such as the annual Confirmation camps for secondary 2 and 3
candidates, enabling us to grow in faith, as well as to get to know our friends
around us better. We forged friendships
while forming a relationship with the Holy Spirit, who would come down on us
during Confirmation, as he did upon the apostles during Pentecost. The camps enabled us to grow spiritually, through
the sessions and the activities planned for us, while making friends with those
around us and basking in the fellowship for the three days we are
together. I’m sure many will remember
Confirmation camp as being a fun time where everyone can get to know one
another, regardless of which catechism class one is in (Saturday or
Sunday). The facilitators guided us
through the camp, as the catechists could not have done it on their own, and
they really helped to bring the mood of the camp to a higher level, as well as
ensure the smooth and efficient running of the camp. They were so good, that most of them were
snatched up as sponsors not long after! The camp as a whole was a truly enriching experience for us as
candidates for confirmation, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

In our last year of preparation for
Confirmation, our catechism classes were mainly focussed on what we were
professing as our faith, and explaining what it meant to be a Roman Catholic. The Nicene Creed was ‘dissected’, and we went
through its meaning, line by line. We
learnt a lot about what our faith really was just by thoroughly studying that
short passage which we all are guilty of reciting mechanically every week at
mass. Other than that, weekly catechism
for us was really a reflection on how much we actually knew about our faith,
and how much we have learnt over the past few years of our lives of catechism.

On the day of our Confirmation mass, we were
dressed in white, to signify our purity in the Holy Spirit, and our cleansing
in the renewal of baptismal vows. With
the support of our family and friends, we processed into the church before
Archbishop Nicholas Chia who celebrated at this special mass. It was an uplifting experience to be in front
of the Archbishop, with his blessings upon you, as you are sealed in the Spirit
by the Holy Chrism put on your forehead. Everyone watches as you are confirmed into the Catholic Church, and you
know they are supporting you fully, and welcoming you as a member of the
Church. All 67 confirmants went through
the Confirmation process smoothly, with their sponsor by their side, showing
his or her support for the newly confirmed. Indeed, it was a high mass, which no confirmant would ever forget. After the mass, we received our Confirmation
certificates and took pictures with His Grace, the Archbishop, and then we were
free to meet up with our family and friends, who congratulated us with hugs and
gifts alike. That was the time in which
I really felt the Holy Spirit, through the love and support that my family and
friends had for me, though I take it for granted every day. To me, that truly was the Holy Spirit; the
love those around me have for me, though I don’t realize it.

The Confirmation party at Paul Lee’s house
was extremely fun, and that was probably the last time we would get together as
a full class (both Saturday and Sunday) of confirmants; after that, it was
post-Confirmation class, and the focus would shift to the new batch of
candidates for Confirmation. Thus, the
party was another experience in the Confirmation journey to remember, as we
gathered for fellowship to cherish the friendships that we have forged over the
past two years, along the path to Confirmation that brought us together. It was a nice conclusion to the climax of
Confirmation, and we were officially ‘graduated’ to post-confirmation class.

The journey of preparation for Confirmation
has ended, but our journey as Catholics has just begun. We are now moving into a Period of Mission,
where we are called to lead holy Christian lives, to be witnesses to the
Catholic faith in everything that we do. Our Confirmation was a milestone in our journey, and it is guaranteed a
place in our hearts and memories forever.

Yes, its long and boring, and that’s why I summarised it in the poem… But here’s where the real stuff begins:

Like I said, the mass was pretty boring, nothing much to talk about… But after the mass, when all my friends came to congratulate and hug me, it was like… Whoah =P

Here’s a pic of me sharing the love all round =)

                                        And here’s a pic of me hugging Julian…

Like I said, there were hugs all round, so it was really nice lor, with all my friends!
And then after that, I took more pics with my camera at the reception, but I haven’t uploaded them yet… That was fun, cuz I was packed in the hall, with all my peeps =)

Then came the party, with all the church ppl gathered together, and that was pretty fun too, went around taking pics like mad… TRIGGER HAPPY =) lolz…  The climax was when they started dunking ppl in the rather small pool, cuz almost everyone got dunked, but a few didn’t (and I was among the few)… Then got so much drama lah, Chris Teo gave his shirt to Germaine to towel off, but she used it and threw it back at him… Lolz (that was before he got dunked btw) and a lot of other ppl also got dunked, including Kathleen (screaming her head off), Ryan (who managed to escape till the very last), Kevin (though I don’t recall him getting dunked), Bryan (he practially could walk home and change), etc.

So it was fun, and I managed to take pics with SOME ppl, though I wish I had taken more… And that pretty much sums up the climax of Catehcism: CONFIRMATION =)

Anyway, this is prob the last blog post for awhile, since I need to settle down for revision… So goodbye, my darling blog, until we meet again =)

lotsa <3.
<GABZ>

PS  There were girls in white shirts =P
PSS   Have I talked about PSF Retreat yet?

Sorry for the previous screwed up post, but this is newer, bigger, and better =P

Anyway, earlier this week, I was studying on Tuesday (cuz Monday was spent resting and relaxing), I met up with Marcus Tan in school to do homework, since Ms Soh wanted to see his A Maths assignment (though I won’t say why)…

I pretty much finished the A Maths assignment, but I am still stuck with Physics, so… GRR!

Anyway, so for the PSF retreat, I was kinda expecting something really fun and interesting, like maybe a planning session for the PSLTC or Orientation Camp… What I got was totally different…

It was more spiritual, cuz we got to learn new stuff about ourselves and others, and how we were going to bring out the best in others, as well as learn about our school mission and values… Other than just having fun, I guess =P

The friends were great, the programmes were interesting, the games/energisers were fun, and the camp was a great success… So I really enjoyed it, but I sorta started to fall sick on day 2, after the morning run, which wasn’t THAT bad, but it was quite tiring…

I made a few new friends, and as usual, rekindled some old friendships… But most of all, it was a very valuable experience that I could cherish as a PSF and as a Josephian (talk about school pride)…

*SIGH*,

<GABZ>

PS EOY exams are coming up…

Here we go again…

Catechism Retreat

It wasn’t as bad as I expected, but it could’ve been a bit more fun… We did a lot of singing, which was fun, but all the songs are too cliched already… Found out Andrew was allergic to seafood, but that was retribution for breaking a blessed candle (MY blessed Easter candle)… Jessica and Kristie were showing off their violin proficiency during lunch break, and attracted quite a crowd of admirers, but the weird guys fooling around drew a bigger crowd (and a thousand times more laughs) cuz they were trying to pull each other’s pants down? Erm… okay, so much for raging hormones…

Still can’t believe confirmation is in a week, but oh well, time flies… Oh yeah, we went for confession, so I’m all holy now… *cough* *cough*  The tea break was good too, but I reminded myself that I had a dinner later on in the evening, so I restrained myself.. (yeah right)

So Mum picked me up early to bring me back to bathe, pack some more clothes, and change for dinner, and they dropped me at SAFRA before going to eat Crab Bee Hoon at some nice place… AND THEY WENT WITHOUT ME (but I don’t eat crab)… lolz

Disclaimer: I was not hungry when I went for the dinner.

SJI NCC Centennial Dinner

For twenty bucks, it was DAMN good of them to give us a full eight or nine course meal, fit to serve the Defense Minister, and true enough, Teo Chee Hian was there…

He’s quite tall, and I didn’t know which one he was in the entrace procession until Li Yang pointed him out… In my defense, a few others also didn’t know which one he was okay…

Anyway, the speeches were very *cough* entertaining, and the food was good, but here’s the rub; there were supposed to be ten ppl at our table, but only six seats were occupied… And the food was served for ten, but only six were eating… No problem, we’ll just eat more…

And true enough, every dish was cleaned…

After dinner, I WAS SO FRIGGING FULL!!! Gosh, I couldn’t even eat dessert properly, I could only drink a bit of it, then I gave the rest to Jefferey, who finished it up cuz his table wasn’t served dessert (poor thing), but he was sitting at the CSM table, which was almost empty…

So I hobbled my way outta there, cuz I was bloated (more than I usually am) all the way to SPS (actually my bro sent me there… lolz)

Disclaimer: I was not hungry when I left the dinner.

LLTC B OT Retreat

I arrived at shower time… What an auspicious moment, especially cuz SPS doesn’t have shower rooms… Wow =P

So yeah, we had to fill these gigantic pails and then use small buckets to pour water… But I didn’t bathe, cuz it was already so crowded, and I bathed before dinner, so there wasn’t much point… So you have about a dozen guys crammed into a small bathroom all showering using buckets and pails, like its some water ration exercise… But if we were rationing water, I don’t think we would be bathing, now would we?

Anyway, that was a very nice welcome ritual specially for me, and after that was a debrief of the day (which I had no clue what was going on), and then it was bedtime… So sianz of playing cards, stay up to do what?

I missed all the ghost stories though… *Haiz* so fun… Especially in a haunted school… -_-

The next day, we went for mass, cuz it was Sunday, and I dragged Belmond along (of his own free will), and there was some weird lady singing very loudly and awfully, but I have to give her credit for singing… lolz =) didn’t stop me from bursting out in laughter…

Then we went for breakfast at some weird hawker centre… Belmond, Matthew, Matthias, and Hansel were at one table, and the others were at another table, and those who didn’t go for mass were at another coffee shop…

Then we cleaned up and went home…

Yeah, that’s pretty much it…

<GABZ>

P.S.GAMBLING IS SO FUN!!! Especially when you do it with adults… Auctions are addictive… lolz

For Teachers’ Day Mass, the MM did their stuff really well (better than expected), with AOC acting out the reading, and QOAS doing the intercessions and altar serving, leaving SOW to set and clear up the mass stuff… I have no idea what OLGC did though…

In case you’re wondering, MM stands for Music Ministry, and I have a story concerning them later on… The four praesidiae of LOM (standing for Legion of Mary, but I’m sure you knew that already…) are as follows;

LEGION OF MARY

Q      O      A     S
u       u      r      e
e       r      k      a
e                      t
n      L      O
        a      f       O
O      d               f
f       y      T
                h      W
A      O      e       i
l        f               s
l               C       d
        G      o       o
S      o       v      m
a      o       e
i       d       n
n               a
t      C        n
s      o        t
        u
        n
        s
        e
        l

So therefore, if you can’t read vertically, they are QOAS (Queen Of All Saints), OLGC (Our Lady of Good Counsel), AOC (Ark Of the Covenant), and SOW (Seat of Wisdom). Now, if you look at the top row of letters comprising LOM, you will see a surprise, as pointed out by a very sharp Jeremy Ng (from QOAS, of course) that no one spotted before…

The MM is another Catholic Society, formed much later on, to showcase their musical talent; from the violin to the electric guitar, of course including singing and playing the piano as well… The other two catholic societies are YCS (Young Christian Society) and SSVP (Society of St. Vincent de Paul), which are not so active in everyday Catholic activities…

Wheeeee…..

So anyway, I was gonna tell my story about the MM… You do know how I was abducted by Alastair and Brian Kua to join their band, cuz they needed a singer for Kindred Spirits, and they didn’t want Fabian anymore… Well, I sorta was dragged in, cuz I didn’t really wanna perform, but I ended up doing it in the end cuz I didn’t wanna let them down…

But this was entirely different, cuz Mr Alvin Chua, the teacher in charge of MM, came up to me one day and asks me if I was okay with doing Teachers’ Day Mass, cuz everyone in the Legion was quite enthusiastic about letting me represent them as the "help" sent to MM to sing/cantor… Yeah, they saboed me =( so I was dragged to the MM on Tuesday afternoon, when Leigon was almost finished, and MM was just finishing up their practise, so that I could LEARN the responsorial song, which I was suppose to SING for mass…

Yeah, I learnt it, and its a nice song, only its so damn fricking hard to sing, and I’m not even supposed to be there, since MM has almost all the Catholic singers =| so I was wondering why they even needed help from the Legion, cuz manpower we can give, but talent?!?!

Well, I guess it made me appreciate my talent, especially after Joseph’s training of becoming a tenor, and all the choir training of stretching your vocie really came in… Thank God I had friends to pull me through, if not I don’t think I would have made it past the practise…

Nathlie sent me the song so that I could practise at home, and yeah, I made sure I knew how to sing it, and even with it transposed down, I still had to strain my voice to reach the high notes, but at least I didn’t kill myself on them, like I would have on the orginial piece…

Yeah, I know I’m rambling…

So on the day of the mass itself, I made sure I was warmed up (FINE, I DID IT IN THE TOILET)
and I was ready to do my thing by the time I got to school… We practised once through, just to refresh our memories, and then mass had to start, so I just had to pray and hope for the best…

It wasn’t that bad, but I couldn’t hear if I was hitting the notes correctly, or if it was my co-cantors who were killing themselves too much on the high notes… Oh yes, that reminds me, I have to give them credit for backing me up, and saving me when I needed an extra breath or whatever…

Ronney and Roderick… Haha, they sound like brothers, but they’re not… They’re two different ppl =P and Ronney is SJAB CSM btw… Javier supported me (GREATLY) on the piano, and Reuben on the electric guitar… And I quote from Gabriel Tan (skinny S2 scout); "The best pianist and the best guitarist with the best singer", and I’m not even in the MM…. LOLZ =P

Well, I survived. Praise and congratulations were offered after the mass by many, thanks to them [espcially Ian Chai =)] hehe…

*Sigh* I should do this kinda thing more often…

The concert wasn’t bad, but it was quite boring (sorry to all those involved) compared to what happened in class… And you don’t wanna know what went on there, so I’ll just live with the secret… For those insiders, a taste of ex-208 fun was relived by the trio; Lennon, Kenneth and Qing Wei… Those three sound familiar?

After the concert, which was okay, but it wasn’t fantastic, I went back to St.Mike’s after wishing teachers and giving them gifts from the mass, where I wished some of the old teachers, and saw some familiar faces there too… Lionel Low, Jeremy Chitty, Justin Chan, Royston, etc. and others like Bradley D’ Cruz, Benjamin Byrne, Michael Sung, Chris Oh, GARRETT ONG*, Marcus Kheng, Navin, and many more… *Garrett used to be the ultimate idiot in P6, and tried to beat me in Science… Dream on, man =P

Stuck around for the concert, but the choir nearly bored me to death (sorry, it was better last time), so we went to eat lunch at Macs, (we being me and Marcus), declining Ernest Wang’s invitation to eat at Pizza Hut cuz of our lack of money… Haha =) That reminds me, I wanna become a member of Macs since I go there so often…

I FINISHED MY MATHS HOMEWORK THERE!!! !Muahaha…. All 29 Questions of Trigonometry Madness…

Anyway, I was so happy cuz the previous day, we were at the Shaw Centre Macs doing our maths homework also, and we did it for like four hours straight… But I only managed to complete 13 questions, so it was about three questions per hour, while Marcus only managed to complete 8 questions, so that was about two questions an hour… (You can see this in the previous post too)

However, the second time round, Marcus was in too much of a holiday mood, so he didn’t do much, but I managed to finish the remaining 16 questions in les than three hours! That means its more then five questions an hour lor =) and that’s why I was so happy… HAHA =P

Yeah, sure I’m done with Maths, but how do I handle physics?  Dieded… Stupid Physics really brain killer man…

Anyway, I should get to bed now… I have a retreat tomorrow for Catechism, or actually today… BUt nevermind, and then I should go fins my dinner ticket too =|

Wish me luck for FYE =),
<GABZ>

P.S. DIE!! I never pack for LLTC retreat yet…