Catholics at Home podcast had an interesting guest recently in the person of Sr Gerard Fernandez, a Good Shepherd sister recognised for her ministry with death row inmates. Sr Gerard had co-founded the Roman Catholic Prison Ministry in 1977 in Singapore and worked as a death row counsellor for 40 years during which she accompanied 18 inmates to the gallows. In 2019, Sr Gerard became the first Singaporean to be listed in BBC’s annual list of 100 influential women from around the world. Now at 83, she has retired from prison ministry. One of Sr Gerard’s first experiences working with death row inmates was with the infamous Toa Payoh Ritual Murder Trial that took place in Singapore in 1981. In that case, Adrian Lim, who was a temple medium, together with his wife Catherine Tan Mui Choo and his mistress Hoe Kah Hong were charged for murdering two children as part of ritualistic offerings to the Hindu goddess Kali. The trio were sentenced to death in May 1983 and sent to the gallows in November 1988. Sr Gerard was emotionally connected to that particular case as Catherine Tan Mui Choo was one of her students at Marymount Centre in Singapore, a home run by the Good Shepherd Sisters. “When I read in the papers about what Catherine had done, it tore at my heartstrings and I wanted to reach out to her,” says Sr Gerard who visited and counselled Catherine every week for 7 years before her execution. Sr Gerard had sent Catherine a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and during one of her visits, Catherine had told her, “When I look at Jesus, He seems to look at me lovingly, but sometimes He seems to be chiding me.” Catherine had asked where was God when she murdered the children, to which Sr Gerard responded, “He was right there in your heart, just waiting for you to call on Him, but you didn’t.” Sr Gerard testifies that she lives by the motto of Saint Mary Euphrasia, foundress of the Good Shepherd Sisters, “One person is more precious than the whole world.” “Saint Mary Euphrasia tells us that every human life is precious, and that is what drives me when I reach out to these residents at Changi Prison,” says Sr Gerard. “I wonder at the beauty of God in death row. God’s presence there is something we don’t understand. It’s a place where He loves. Sr Gerard recalls sharing with Fr Terence Pereira that when someone walks their final journey to the gallows, the prison was like a community sending someone off. “As they walk to their deaths, the rest of the inmates in their cells are happy. They are praying with them and are singing with them. This place has so much joy and yet we’re sending someone to be killed,” she had shared with Fr Terence. “Fr Terence said to me, “It is because good has triumphed over evil”. There is no fear of death as they walk to the gallows because God takes over.” Sr Gerard describes her experiences at an execution. “They’re usually handcuffed when they go to the gallows. I’ll put a rosary in their hands so that they can touch it to the end. When the bodies are taken down, they’re still warm. Their eyes are closed and their tongue sticks out a bit. And when they go, they’re peaceful. “This is the way God works. He doesn’t abandon them when they’ve done something wrong like murder. He is there for them till the very end. When they open themselves to His presence and to His love, they go peacefully,” she says. To watch this podcast, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crJUMPb-PGU

As the world recovers from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis has invited the whole Church to embark on a journey with him towards the Synod of 2023 by questioning itself on synodality, a decisive theme for the life and mission of the Church especially in post pandemic times. Speaking about the Synod of 2023 during a recent episode of Catholics at Home podcast, Rt Rev Sebastian Francis said, “The theme of the synod is, ‘For a synodal Church: communion, participation & mission’ which means what kind of Church are we going to have in 2023 and beyond.” Bishop Sebastian is the Bishop of Penang Diocese and President of the Catholics Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei (CBCMSB). “The word, ‘synod’ is a Greek word which means ‘meeting’, ‘counsel’ or ‘gathering’. However, over the years, ‘synod’ has taken on a meaning of ‘journeying together’ in the English language,” he explains. “The word, ‘synod’ only came into use in 1965 after Vatican Council II when Pope Paul VI established an instrument called the Synod of Bishops. This means whenever the Pope feels the need to bring the Universal Church together, he has the freedom to call us. The Pope is the only person who can call for a Synod of the entire Church.” Bishop Sebastian notes that the handbook of the Synod of 2023 is called ‘vademecum’, a Latin word which means ‘walk with me’. “Pope Francis is telling each one of us, “I want you to walk with me in this journey towards the Synod of 2023”. So, we’re going to walk together with Pope Francis, and he is going to ask for your comments, your feelings and your insights on a certain number of things,” he says. There are 10 areas or thematic topics that the Pope wants to consult the faithful about, some of which includes the quality of our listening; the need to speak out on freedom, truth, charity and on things that are important for the Church; ecumenism and the need for formation in order to become a participatory synodal Church. The Synod of 2023 will be launched by Pope Francis on 10 October 2021 from St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. One week later on 17 October 2021, bishops throughout the world will launch the synod in their respective dioceses. Bishop Sebastian revealed that he will launch the synod in the Diocese of Penang with 9.00am Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. He has also prepared a pastoral letter for the diocese and beyond. After the universal launch, the synod will move into consultation phase, followed by discussion phase and lastly, the implementation phase. The synodal journey will culminate in October 2023 with the Assembly of Bishops at the Vatican. “In previous synods, much of the three phases only involved the bishops. This time Pope Francis has come up with simple ways in which the consultation phase is able to reach the rock bottom of the Church. He wants everyone to be involved,” explains Bishop Sebastian. He added that an 11-member Central Committee has been formed comprising one member from each Diocese working together with the CBCMSB to facilitate the synodal process. “The task of the Central Committee is to help the eleven Dioceses in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei bring this message to the grassroots, i.e. to everyone in the Church. “By February 2022, the Central Committee will collate findings from the Dioceses and present it to CBCMSB who will then finalise and submit it to the Vatican by April 2022,” says Bishop Sebastian. He notes that there may be those who wants to contribute, participate and say something about the Church that is close to their heart, but don’t have the opportunity to participate in the survey. They may email their feedback to the CBCMSB Executive Secretary at exesec@cbcmsb.org or directly to the Vatican at synodus@synod.va For more information about the Synod of 2023, visit https://cbcmsb.org/synod-of-bishops-2023/ To view this podcast, go to https://youtube.com/watch?v=cDLsNF8XGBk

The story of Fr Rob Galea is one of bad boy turned Catholic priest. His music has touched the hearts of thousands around the world and he had the privilege to sing for two Popes. Fr Rob was a guest on a recent episode of Catholics at Home podcast. When not singing about the love of God, Fr Galea serves as assistant parish priest at St Kilian’s Catholic Church, Bendigo in the Diocese of Sandhurst in Victoria, Australia. He is also founder of FRG Ministry, a not-for-profit Catholic organization that develops relevant and engaging resources to bring the love of Jesus to people of all ages across the world. Whilst growing up in Malta, his native country, it never came across Fr Galea’s mind to become a Catholic priest. In fact, he had a rebellious period in his early teens when he ran away from home, became an addict and mixed with gangs. By the time he was 16, Fr Galea wanted to end it all by taking his own life. However, an encounter with God changed everything. “I reached the end of where I was, the end of myself, and God encountered me in that place of desperation. And I discovered joy, hope, a love that changed my life forever,” he shares. After encountering God’s love, Fr Galea started playing the guitar. He eventually wrote a song for a friend who had died of sickness. The parents of his deceased friend asked Fr Galea to record the song which went on to become Malta’s best-selling album. He started receiving record deals in the United Kingdom and signed up with an American record label. Fr Galea’s musical career was progressing rapidly. “I used to pray that I will sing and tell the world about God’s love, but I put one condition for Jesus – I’ll do whatever you want, but please don’t let me become a priest,” says Fr Galea. The two main reasons are because he did not have a joyful model of the priesthood, and he wanted to get married and have a family. Fr Galea’s calling to the priesthood started in Italy when he was performing at a concert. “I was playing music when this priest walked in and he was full of joy – my first role model of joyful priesthood. In the middle of the concert, I prayed that I still don’t want to become a priest, but if I could be anything like this guy, I’ll consider it,” he recalls. Fr Galea soon decided to join the seminary and had to end a four-year relationship with his girlfriend. It was a difficult moment but she had to let him go. Years later, she met someone else and had asked Fr Galea to preside at her wedding Mass. In 2015, Fr Galea had auditioned for X-Factor Australia and was rapidly rising in the talent show, but pulled out after he has had enough of the limelight. “It’s not about the fame, but about giving Jesus to the people. I want to be known as someone who’s in love with Jesus and who shares the love of Jesus,” he says. “Music has the power to transcend the mind, to go beyond our circumstances and go straight to the heart. Music is a beautiful instrument to allow people to encounter the Gospel – the message of God’s love for them.” Fr Galea is also an accomplished author and his book, Breakthrough is being made into a Hollywood movie. To view this podcast, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0BhtdiLzeQ

Little is mentioned about the Virgin Mary in scripture, yet she has a special place in the hearts of many devotees. In a recent episode of Catholics at Home podcast, Fr Joseph Stephen, CSsR, spoke about Mary and her role in the life of the Church. A Redemptorist priest, Fr Joseph is based at the Church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Ipoh, Perak. “In the early church when the disciples meet anyone who wanted to learn about the faith, they will invite the person to join them. This is because the community in the early church believed, practiced and passed on valuable information and faith formation to its followers. That is where we begin to see the importance of the Virgin Mary,” said Fr Joseph. He said that Catholics are brought up with two kinds of teaching, i.e. Scripture and Tradition. The word, ‘Tradition’ is not everyone’s favourite word as it connotes holding on to old ways and old ideas. However, he explained, “Tradition simply means passing on what we believe and what we love. That is what the early church did – they passed on to us what is great value for our faith formation and what is important to us as we try to embrace the person of Jesus Christ. In that way, they passed on the person of the Virgin Mary as a special person, as a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ and later on, as Mother of the Church.” “The early Fathers of the Church started putting these Traditions down in writing and soon it becomes an official teaching of the Catholic Church. That is where the Virgin Mary started playing a prominent role in our Catholic way of life.” Fr Joseph commented that Mariology is a course that is seldom offered in seminaries and in formation for priests and religious. As a result, there is a tendency amongst certain priests and religious to make the Virgin Mary minimalistic by removing her statues, holy pictures and limiting anything that is related to her. On the other extreme, there are certain laity who sees the Virgin Mary in everything because they inherited this devotion from their parents. “The missing link is that good and sound teaching is needed, and unless you’re formed in proper Mariology, you’re going to float between these two extremes,” said Fr Joseph. “The role of the Church is to encourage Mariology and to teach sound Mariology to the people so that we’re able to place the Virgin Mary in her rightful place as we venerate her as our Blessed Mother.” In this ongoing education, Fr Joseph observes that there are positive signs emerging as there are many online Mariology programmes available these days where people are engaging themselves and learning from it. “Faith doesn’t grow in the same way amongst all of us. It takes on different shapes and forms with different people. We hope we’ll get that balance in our teaching and in our understanding,” he said. To view this podcast, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qjQ5vN8t1o

“Every moment is an opportunity to encounter God,” said Fr James Martin, SJ on a recent episode of Catholics at Home podcast. He was speaking about finding God in all things." “The key is to notice where God is and to pay attention to it. It could be something as simple as the laugher of a child, or receiving a funny text message from a friend, or having a good meal. Most of our prayer life and spirituality is noticing these things. If we are not attentive, we may overlook and miss them. Fr Martin is an author and editor at large at America Magazine. He writes mainly on spirituality and religion and has written more than 15 books. In 2017, Pope Francis had appointed Fr Martin as Consultor to the Dicastery for Communication. Apart from writing, Fr Martin has experiences in the entertainment industry too. He had a small role (as a Catholic priest) in The Irishman, a movie by renowned director, Martin Scorsese. He had also worked on Comedy Central and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. A native of Philadelphia, Fr Martin had studied Finance at Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He had worked with General Electric for 6 years before joining the Jesuit novitiate in 1988. He was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1999 and has been working with America Magazine ever since. Being based in New York City, it was only natural for the conversation to touch on the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Drawing parallels and contrasting that crisis with the current pandemic, Fr Martin said that both incidences may seem like negative events. However, God offers two kinds of parables. In the 9-11 crisis, the parable was the great love shown by firefighters who ran into the World Trade Centre to save lives. Similarly, during the pandemic, God’s love is seen in doctors or nurses who treat patients selflessly despite putting themselves at risk of infection. Fr Martin describes both incidences as two evils. He says that the 9-11 terrorist attack is a moral evil that happened as a result of people’s evil choices. The pandemic, on the other hand, is a natural evil such as cancer and natural disasters. “Moral evil is easier to grasp because it is a result of bad decisions made by certain people. On the other hand, natural evil is more difficult for people to grasp particularly when children fall sick. In this pandemic, it is difficult to come up with satisfactory answers,” said Fr Martin. “The invitation is to continue believing and trusting in a God that we may not understand. It is about our relationship with God even though we don’t understand God’s ways.” When asked what would St Ignatius of Loyola say when dealing with pain and suffering, Fr Martin said, “St Ignatius would encourage us to place ourselves in the presence of God and ask to be led into conversation with Jesus in prayer. To view this podcast, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I83u7Mw60mY