William Cardinal Goh The Shepherd's Voice

When we do evil things, our thoughts will come back to haunt us in our quiet moments, and condemn us. Trying to live with a guilty conscience is like trying to live with oneself condemning oneself. When the voice of conscience becomes louder, we live in fear of being found out and of the consequences that will catch up with us for the evil we have done. This is true for a murderer, a molester, an...

As leaders, we must be close to God, listening to Him so that we may be prudent, wise, and acting justly to care for the interests of those under our charge. We need to put on the mind of God in the way we exercise our leadership.

We need to be purified in our service and commitment, otherwise the light of Christ in us will die down. On this Feast of the Presentation, let us ask the Lord for the grace to renew our faith, our commitment to the vocation we have chosen, and to the life of Christian discipleship.

A person is truly happy when he is in right relationship with God, others and himself. He experiences the apex of his happiness when he finds the face of God in man.

A true prophet is motivated purely by the love of God and His people. Such a person is compassionate, patient, and speaks with charity. How can we exercise our prophetic role worthily?

It is important for us to understand the nature of sin and evil. It grows by leaps and bounds once we allow sin to enter our lives. No one becomes evil overnight. Sin begins small. It begins with idleness. An idle mind is the Devil’s workshop. When the devil leads us to one sin, we are led to a string of sins. Sin does not come singly. It has many offspring. To cover up our sin for fear of the con...

The life of King David is a reminder to us all of the necessity to remain humble and grateful for the blessings we have received, and to make the best of them in spite of our weaknesses and human frailty. Our task is to help others make full use of their gifts the Lord has given to them.  We should not display our gifts to the extent that we overshadow and stifle the gifts of others. The gift...

Today's readings reveal to us how Jesus and Saint Paul mentored the disciples of Christ. We too need to be mentored, and in turn, mentor others to become missionary disciples.

God loves us all.  He comes to save sinners. God “desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim 2:4). So, rather than rejoicing when our enemies fall, we should feel sad that we are not able to prevent them from suffering destruction because of their folly. If we rejoice over the downfall of our enemies, it shows that we are vindictive. If we have true love l...

We need to pray for a strengthening of faith for bishops, priests and our lay people. Only faith can help us believe in God's justice and allow us to surrender ourselves into His hands and divine providence. For the Lord knows best.

When we are envious and insecure, we tend to judge incorrectly and misperceive. Blinded by our envy, we tend to think that our friends are our enemies. Like Jesus, let us be confident of ourselves, founded in God's strength.

The truth is that the Sabbath cannot be for man unless the Sabbath is first for God. We are called to make time for God before everyone else. In this sense, we must say that whilst the Sabbath is for man, it is also for God because we are called to honour Him, give Him praise, recognize His presence in our lives. When we put God as the centre of our life, then we need to see the practical implicat...

If we are to be truly reflective of Christ, we must seek to be inclusive, constantly connected to God, and growing in all forms of maturity. May we embody these in our Catholic organisations, especially those involved in humanitarian causes.

If we are confused about life, then all the more we need companions in faith. Together we need to pray, search for the will of God, and discern what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us as a community.

True faith in Jesus demands a personal relationship with God, a conviction in Him. Then, the signs and miracles we receive from Him will make a real difference in our lives.

We must never forget that if He was able to remain focused in His ministry, never suffering burn-out or becoming edgy and irritable, it was because Jesus was a man of prayer. He knew His priority. He spoke to His Father before He spoke to man. He was intent on doing the Father’s will and not His own. That, we must do as well. Listening to the Father through His Son, so that in our ministry, we wil...

Although sinless, Jesus was baptised so as to identify with us. To share and suffer every effect of our sins. He wants us to know He is one with us in our journey and struggles. And that through His Spirit, we can overcome all temptations by the grace and power of God, just as He did.

We must be like John the Baptist, happy to know that we have brought others to Christ by our words and actions. Our great joy is to be the bridegroom’s friend, and hearing His voice should make us feel complete. To know that we have done our part in helping the Church, the bride to deepen her love for the Lord, the bridegroom is our greatest joy. Indeed, the Lord must grow greater and greater and...

For Christians, salvation is through baptism and the reception of the Eucharist. These are two primary sacraments that mediate the divine life of God to man. In both sacraments, the Spirit of Jesus is given to us. Baptism is the entry into the Christian community and the Eucharist makes us a member of Christ’s body. When we are baptized, we receive the life of the Spirit, but we need to be nurture...

Jesus came to proclaim the Good News to the poor, not just the socio-economically poor but those who are receptive to the Good News. Of course, those who are materially well-off, powerful in society, highly educated and self-sufficient do not need God and so tend to be less open to the grace of God at work in their lives. Those who are spiritually poor are receptive to the gospel. Jesus came for t...

We know God loves us and lives within us, when we able to do the following: love unconditionally, do good without expecting rewards, go the extra mile for others, find every occasion to be at the service of people, and face the day of judgement without fear.

Faith is solidarity with each other.  Hence, it is critical that we keep up our study and contemplation of scriptures and the study of theology, and most of all sharing our faith with one another just as the Jewish leaders shared their findings with the Magi. Through faith study and sharing, we support each other in faith, especially when we are going through periods of doubt. We ne...

If we are all children of God, then we must treat our brothers and sisters with deep respect and dignity because they are the face of God. We have a common Father, a common family, a common destiny to be with our Father together with the rest of humanity at the end of time. This is the basis for peace, knowing that we are all called to be one people, one family of God.

As the year comes to an end, let us spend some time before the Lord to read His Word, go through the events of our 2021, and ask Him how we can move forward anew, so that we can find fresh hope and new perspective.

We are possessed by what we seek to possess. When we constantly seek out what the world has to offer, we become slaves of the world. Instead, we need to always seek Christ and His will, while being good stewards of God’s gifts in creation.