William Cardinal Goh The Shepherd's Voice

What does it mean to celebrate the 200th Pentecost in Singapore? Although the Church has grown in number, most members have not grown in depth in their love for God. Indeed, something is missing in the lives of many baptised Catholics. More than ever, we need to be reignited in the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to receive the Holy Spirit anew, like the early Christians in the Acts of the Apost...

To speak of hope is to have a vision for the future. We might be tempted to give up because we have so many constraints in the work of evangelisation as society seeks to marginalise Christianity and religions from public space. We must do what Paul did, which was to do what he could. He never complained about the situation he was in. He would work and proclaim the gospel within the constraints he...

In today's Gospel passage, Jesus asks Simon Peter three times whether he loves Him. This process of asking was both redeeming (for the three times Simon Peter denied Him prior), and purifying. Like Peter, we too are asked if we really love the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul. If we do, then we should not be too preoccupied with success and achievements. Loving the Lord should come first, be...

Sometimes when we look back at the decisions we have taken, we wonder whether they were the best and right decisions, or whether our judgements were flawed. In today's first reading, we see the shortcomings of St Paul in his trial before the Sanhedrin. Nevertheless, human mistakes will not hinder the divine plan of God being fulfilled. As we read in Romans 8:28, “we know that all things work toget...

If the Church is in disarray today, it is simply because we have failed to take heed of the advice of St Paul to be on guard for ourselves as leaders of the Church. We must have a deep relationship with the Lord, spending time with Him just as our Lord spent time with His Father in close intimacy when He was on earth. Can we follow the example of St Paul by living a holy and exemplary life in trut...

The theme, "Come and See" means that we ourselves must first be witnesses of Christ, of His resurrection, which is the first condition for the apostolic ministry. The capacity to be effective communicators of truth and love presupposes that we are immersed in the Word and are consecrated to Jesus. We must know the gospel and our doctrines well, so that we can give a reasonable account for what we...

When we have not encountered the Holy Spirit personally, our witnessing tends to be on the level of intellectual conviction which can change quite easily in the face of harsh realities, trials and challenges in life. Quite often, we find such people so active in church one day, but within a few months they have changed their religion or given up the faith or active involvement in the church. The w...

After going through the external forum of assessing a candidate for a leader, we must find the internal forum, for our discernment cannot be merely on the external qualities alone. That was why they prayed and trusting in Jesus, drew lots asking Jesus to make the choice known. This would mean in today’s terms, after all the deliberation and prayer, each one must vote from his or her heart to see w...

In today’s gospel, the Lord said to the apostles, "Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all mankind. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Like the disciples, the Lord has chosen us not for ourselves but for mission. We must be clear what this mission is: to continue the mission started by Christ in extending the Kingdom of G...

Deep in the heart of every man, man is looking for fulfillment, meaning and purpose. All of us seek love, truth and meaning, besides comfort for our body as well. This is because we are made of body and spirit. Unless the Spirit of truth enlightens our minds and touches our hearts, no amount of reasoning can lead a person to find faith in Christ. How can we allow God’s Spirit to touch our hearts s...

The foundation of Christian love is the prior love of God given to us in Christ Jesus. Christian love, unlike that of the world, does not originate from the human person but from God Himself. It is our experience of God’s unconditional love and mercy for us that gives us the capacity to imitate Him in loving one another, including our enemies. Is my love exclusive, or do I share it generously with...

Being a Christian is to follow Christ, which means, to take up our cross daily and follow after Him. In today’s gospel, Jesus in no uncertain terms warned His disciples, “if they persecuted me, they will persecute you too.” Indeed, we will face trials, opposition and persecution from within and from without. As Christians, we do not belong to this world. The world in this sense means the worldly v...

Very often many who are engaged in the ministry cannot sustain their programs or their mission; they start well with great enthusiasm, but such excitement and euphoria do not last. Whilst all the disciples loved Jesus and had the common desire to bear fruits for the Lord’s vineyard by bringing more disciples to the Faith, yet between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile Christians there were tens...

To find complete joy, our joy must be that of Jesus’. His great joy was to be one with the Father in everything, as a beloved Son desiring to give glory to His Father. His first secret was to bask in the love of the Father.  The second secret of Jesus’ joy was to pour out the joy that He received from His Father to us; “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.” How can we imitate His...

To remain in the True Vine of course means to be in union with our Lord. It means to let His Word live in us, that we share His mind and His heart. It is only when we allow His word to live in us, that we can dwell in Him. We must be founded on the Word of God. If we want to remain in the Vine, we must also listen to the Magisterium; the Pope and his college of Bishops. At the end of the day, the...

When the Lord called Saul, it was not simply for his salvation but he was called to be the apostle to the Gentiles. This was true as well for all the apostles called by the Lord - all of them were called to be fishers of men. Similarly, we are called not just for ourselves but we are called for others. The only way to save ourselves is to save others with us. The best way to grow in faith is to ev...

Today, we are called to be the Sacrament of Jesus in the world, just as Jesus was the Sacrament of the Father. So that when people see us, they will come to know Jesus. But we must be like St Paul, be courageous and proclaim Jesus explicitly, as the Son of God. Unfortunately, many Catholics do not dare to proclaim Jesus as the Son of God. Although they are willing to take part in humanitarian work...

Like the disciples after Jesus' death, our hearts can be troubled when we lose a loved one. Faith in Jesus and His promises to us though, can give us confidence in our journey. We can be consoled with the knowledge of our definite future: being in the Father's house in heaven when we return to the Lord. We can also be consoled knowing that when our hearts are united with Jesus here on earth, we to...

Sometimes, we see that what is happening in the world or in our lives is beyond our control. Things fail, the planet is under threat, families and marriages are going to the dogs, the culture of death is promoted... but even in all of these, let us remember that God is in charge of this world. He is faithful to us regardless of the situation we are in. God’s grace will prevail at the end. Let us d...

Evangelisation requires us to sow the seeds of faith. But unless our Catholics grow in discipleship, we cannot speak of evangelisation or mission as they would not be ignited or filled with the Holy Spirit enough to desire to bring the gospel to others. We cannot be an evangelising Church, unless we take discipleship seriously. For the Church to grow, we need to have a desire to reach out and spre...

A true shepherd is one who lays down his life willingly for his sheep. Today, as we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday, all of us, priests, religious, lay leaders and corporate leaders are all called to be shepherds after His own heart. In a special way, we need to pray for more holy and dedicated priests to serve the shepherds of God in the market place. Unless we form our laity and imbue them with f...

We are all called to be God’s healing hands and mouthpiece. The effectiveness of healing is also dependent on whether the healer is one with God in his life, words and deeds. It is the Lord who heals and the Lord who heals through us. In all the healing miracles of our Lord, as in the case of the paralytic, physical healing is but the expression of spiritual healing and faith of those who asked fo...

When we receive a deep encounter of the Lord, we are always given a mission. God does not just grace us with a deep religious encounter with Him but He has a mission for each one of us. After a religious experience, we must discern the call of God. Like St Paul, can we, after a deep religious experience discern what God is calling us to do for His Church and for the world?

Mass evangelising is one way to announce the Good News. We use this method when we hold mass rally, worship services, outreach programs, exhibitions, mass retreats and seminars and today, with on-line preaching and masses. But mass evangelising cannot replace personal evangelising.  In today's first reading, we see Philip personally reaching out to the Ethiopian Eunuch. Philip was able to do...

Our faith is tested when we are challenged. How often have our Catholics been persuaded to join other Christian churches when challenged in their faith, because they know so little of their faith and so are easily shaken and won over. Even the scandals in the Church apparently weakened her credibility, but in truth, these are the instruments that God uses to purify the Church, the hierarchy, and t...