In appreciation

By Kim Ae-ran

As a facilitator, I recently accompanied an annual retreat of Singaporean and Malaysian sisters.

We were all 17, and I attended to their needs; I prepared breakfast and brought lunch and dinner from the seminary kitchen just in time for eating. Whatever a Filipino interpreter or a Colombian retreat master asked, I was ready to move.

One day, I walked around the seminary and met a priest. I was glad to see him and greeted him with a smile.

“Hi, hello!"

“Hi!"

“May I have your name, please?"

“I'm Goh. William Goh."

“Oh, are you archbishop's coadjutor?"

“Yes, I am."

“Oh, my goodness. I'm sorry I didn't recognize you."

“It's ok."

Even without knowing his face, I remembered his name because I read an article about him in the newspaper. He looked so gentle, humble, kind and friendly.

The other day, I went to the secretariat but the secretary was not in. Coadjutor bishop Goh in his rector’s office said she had been sick for several days. So I couldn't but dare to ask him "if printing several pages and making photocopies are possible."

Then, he replied, "I'm busy now. What is it? Tell me the title in your USB and I'll do it later."

Just at that moment, I couldn't remember the title so I had to hurry to my room to open my laptop. Since he said he was busy, I thought of going back to him later.

What a surprise! After a while, he came to our block to see me. It seemed he had reflected on our meeting and felt sorry for not being able to meet my needs immediately.

At St. Francis Xavier Major Seminary in Ponggol, only four priests and 10 seminarians are living at present: two of them are in their first year of philosophy and three in their 4th year of theology and expecting to be ordained next year. In spite of the small number of seminarians preparing for the priesthood, I could feel the quality and passion of their mission.

Whenever I needed help, all of them were open to assist. To name a few examples, a very cute freshman willingly looked for a way to print a piece of paper; Jude brought two heavy tables for our dining hall; Terence brought a nice looking tablecloth and made photocopies just in time; Anthony was kind and gentle to see if our dinner was hot enough while reserved in the steam machine; Samuel lent me the key to the side door of the seminary; Fr. Ambrose offered a ride to the birthday celebration of Archbishop Nicholas Chia; Fr. Kenson made photocopies of the image of Trinity; Fr. Aloysius Ong, as the celebrant of our daily Mass, was very attentive and patient to meet our needs. Whenever I asked for something, he helped, throughout the retreat.

I asked myself, “They are small in number but they have marvelous gentleness. Where does it come from?"

While observing their lives, I realized they have a strong sense of mission and vision. In Singapore, it's very easy to see the vision, mission and core values on the wall of every organization. Entering the main building of the seminary, the motto “Fidelity to Christ, Passion in response" is seen.

The statement of vision, “A brotherhood of passionate disciples becoming shepherds after the Heart of Christ," and core values to follow such as docility, integrity, sacraments, community, intimacy with God, love, passion, evangelization and scripture are displayed as well.

Their three missions are to deepen the understanding and experience of the mystery of Christ, to share the Christ-experience in a loving community and to challenge and support one another in pastoral and missionary zeal.

Under these strategies, they regard their dispositions as docility and integrity, and their relationships as intimacy with God, love and community. Their mission and vision are realized in concrete and practical ways. Surely, Singaporeans know to get to the point.

Little by little, I'm learning and discovering the positive aspects of a different culture. I really appreciate every moment I breathe and the people with whom I meet and live.

The writer belongs to the Daughters of St. Paul, an international religious congregation. Her e-mail address is mtorchid88@gmail.com.