YYYWednesday, October 04, 2006
Today I went for pam's grandma's funeral with Sarah after pharm chem. It was really lucky that Mr. Colman Chua was on MC today! (:
It was a really beautiful funeral mass. The church was nice and brightly lit by the afternoon sun and even though everyone was sombre, the mood was cheerful overall because we all knew that she was in a better place (:
The priest gave a very beautiful homily on death, on how death is not something to grieve about, and how it should be instead, celebrated. After death the person is not gone forever. We should not dispair at the loss of this person. Rather, this person has gone to heaven, which is also the place we should be aspiring towards (:
The priest also said that to God, a thousand years is but one second. It really occurred to me then that life is short and we must make full use of it to do God's work. And all through this short life, we should be living in anticipation of and preparation toward eternity, which will come to us quicker than we feel right now (:
Ah life would seem so bleak and meaningless with only a dead end to work towards and no eternity to look forward to!
Today when I took communion I suddenly realised that it had been so long since I had thought properly about what the eucharist truly meant. I always go up, take it, eat it and then hurry back to the pew to continue my prayers. Today it dawned on me that I was actually, to put it quite crudely, eating the body of Jesus, since we believe that the host and the wine is 'changed' to His body and blood during the mass. Jesus loved us so much that He gave Himself up so that we might go to heaven, because only through His death (our killing of Him on the cross/ our eating of Him during communion) can we be in communion with God.
I always felt that I could not fully understand the sacrifice Jesus made when He gave Himself up on the cross. I always said that I felt closer to God instead (although yes, they are one person in the Holy Trinity). But now I think I am slowly being able to appreciate the ultimate sacrifice He made to save our souls from eternal damnation. Thank you Jesus for saving us (:
Thank you God for making it possible for me to attend the mass today (:
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9:18 PM
