This will be the last of my guest bloggers for a while. I promise to return to my own postings very soon with a short series on the ministry of spiritual direction. I’ll explore the ministry and its history, talk a little about what it is (and isn’t) and give some insight to my own approach to this caring, sacred ministry.
For now, we return a post from another friend from Malaysia, a beautiful country I had the blessing to visit a few year’s ago, for his reflection on this piece of scripture: “When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place—Who are we that you are mindful of us, and a son of man that you care for us? Yet you have made us little less than a god, crowned us with glory and honor.” Psalm 8:4-6.
He writes:
As I reflected on my life’s experiences, some words and phrases inevitably came to mind. Psalm 139 featured prominently with “fearfully and wonderfully made” (v. 14), “ … knit me … my mother’s womb” (v. 13). With such awareness of God’s immense and amazing love for us mortals, I became drawn toward Psalm 8: “What is man that you are mindful of him … and crowned him with glory and honour?”
Yes indeed, who are we? Who am I? Songwriters Charles Wesley (in 1738) and Rusty Goodman (in 1965) asked these same questions. They penned beautiful words such as “Oh when I think of how He left His home in glory … Came and dwelt among the lowly such as I” … “bled for Adam’s helpless race.”
The answer to such questions will not come easy, hence Henri Nouwen prompts us to “get in touch with the stirrings of our hearts, reflect on our emotions and store the significant events in our memories.” As a consequence, my thoughts descended deep into my memory-banks to my early years when, as a wide-eyed child of 10, I listened, fascinated with Biblical stories, including the Catechism that was taught in my mission school, of which even non-Catholics like me were encourage to attend.
“Why did God make you?” elicited the oh, so simple “to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him, and to be happy with Him forever in the next!” Now, so many decades later, and having discovered the beautiful prayer, Anima Christi, I ask God every time I receive Jesus in my breast, “at the hour of my death, call me, and bid me come to You, so that with your saints I may praise You forever and ever. Amen.”
After my Baptism, at age 15, I was introduced to Catholic Youth activities, through the Legion of Mary (Jr. Praesidium), and the Young Christian Students’ Society, with its maxim of ‘See, Judge and Act’, something that held me in good stead all through my life. Upon my graduation from the Agricultural College, I chose to work in the estates — large plantations of tropical crops such as rubber, cocoa, coconut and oil palm. In my 35 years working on these plantations, I traversed the length of my country, Malaysia, to various towns and villages, interacting with workers and staff of diverse faiths and ethnicity. Unbeknown to me, my inexperience as well as my weaknesses were imperceptibly addressed. This was God’s doing!
Because of frequent transfers, I felt like a nomad, with its downside — I could not seriously plan for the future, nor be wisely invested in sound and worthwhile ventures, as would, a permanent job in the city offer. With the wisdom of hindsight, this unpleasant uprooting at every transfer serves to remind my family and me that our eventual home is Heaven, lest we be opiated to believe that this life here on Earth is permanent, with all the comforts this world offers! Who in this material comfort zone would even remotely think like St. Paul and crave for Heaven when everything is going on so well here on earth? Would anyone then strive to be as bright as the shiny stars in the heavens?
About Anthony Hew
I was born in 1947, the tenth in our family of 11 children (three of whom I did not get to know, as they perished in 1942 during the Japanese occupation of Malaya). My father was a teacher, but he died in a swimming accident when I was 3 years old.
My mother raised us up all by herself, with some family inheritance, until we were all gainfully employed.
My mother was a Taoist/Buddhist but she allowed us to choose our own religion. Two of my sisters became Catholics, and I joined them nightly in the recitation of the rosary. Then at age 10 I was transferred to St. Paul’s Institution, which was run by the De LaSalle Brothers. I loved the Catechism lessons and the Biblical stories. In time I, too, accepted the faith and was baptised on Christmas Eve 1962.
I started to listen to music at an early age — my sisters’ kind of music: the pop songs of the 50s! Then came the great era of pop hits — the incomparable 60s! What a time to be young then! Yes, you’ve guessed it. I have a passion for singing! But whether I can sing well is debatable. In my neighbourhood we have a singing group that meets every Friday. We sing our hearts out from 11 am to 1 pm, and then adjourn for lunch somewhere. Consequently we call ourselves the 1121 singers!
My other passion is playing doubles tennis twice a week with the group that started out in the year 2000 without a break, and with the ambition to play well, as septuagenarians (God willing), in our quest for fun and laughter while keeping dementia at bay.
I have been a commentator and lector in my parish, Church of St. Ignatius, for the past 10 years. Then, at the invitation of the parish priest in 2007, I have been serving as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion.
I do some gardening, repotting, pruning/shaping my trees and plants, (mostly non- flowering, since they are easier to maintain), and occasionally fool around with slow growing plants, hoping to turn them into bonsais with some imagination here and there.
I bought some reflexology books in addition to the couple that was presented to me a decade ago, to practice and coax my thumbs and fingers to bring healing to my ever-ready ‘guinea pig’, my wife Agnes. I married this wonderful lady in 1975, and she bore us four children (two girls, followed by two boys). All four are married and they have children of their own, giving us six grandchildren, with another on the way!
Indeed, God has blessed us abundantly, and it gives us so much pleasure and joy when they are all gathered in our house, and that is almost every day! My daughters and their spouses live nearby, while both sons and their spouses stay with us.
We had planned to celebrate Agnes’ 60th birthday last August but weeks before that she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She bore the brunt of this shocking news and wisely decided to get the operation done the next day. It was third stage cancer that had spread to, but had not affected, the liver and the intestines. Six cycles of chemotherapy were prescribed, thankfully without radiation, and all six have been completed. It is almost five months since the last cycle, yet the major side effects, such as numbness, mental stress, back and joint pains, continue to torment her.
But we have Faith, Hope and Trust in God. We need not know what God’s plans are, but we know it will be for the overall good. What more do we need? So, we continue living life to the full!
