I attended the Novena tonight and am so glad I forced myself to get over there. Usually, it is a mad rush because I need to prepare dinner and see that the kids get their meals before I can leave the house. I was contemplating not going altogether because the extended sermon is really exxxxxxtended.

The Archbishop of Sarawak John Ha was here tonight. He talked about obedience and discipline.

He said that the covenant or the commandment is like a compass for us. It gives us direction to our destination. We shouldn’t see God’s commandment as a curb to our freedom because without it, we will not be able to find our directions.

I ponder on the commandants and indeed, it does help us to stay on the path and not strayed off to the extremes.

Then, Archbishop John Ha illustrated to us how obedient Jesus is towards the Word of God. He told us about the temptations from Satan to Jesus. I feel so ’smart’ because I could utter in my mind, Jesus’s response to each of them like ‘Man does not live on bread alone’, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’ and ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’

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Archbishop also talked to us about the golden calf. I have never seen the golden calf that way before. I have always associated that golden calf as pure pagan belief. But Archbishop reminded us that it is a symbol of worshipping money and we are sometimes guilty of it too. When he talked about Matthew’s verse ‘A servant cannot serves two masters, i.e. God and money’, I immediately feel glad that I have not been totally neglecting my Bible knowledge. When the priest or in this case, the Archbishop talked about something that I have read, learnt, know and can relate to, I feel happy that I am not totally lost in a sea of extended sermon. Instead, I feel encouraged as a Christian.

I like it when I can spend time in church and come out, feeling not like a moron but part of the church. There were times when I am totally lost in the sermons of confusing history or the distance tale of some prophet that I cannot visualise. I suppose my prayers for Jesus to enlighten me, guide me and empower me to do the Father’s will is slowly taking place.

I hope I will be able to complete the 9-day Novena and be filled with the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.