William Cardinal Goh The Shepherd's Voice

Most of us who encounter a tragedy, such as discovery of a terminal illness, an accident or retrenchment from our job, would ask, “why me?” It is natural for us to want to make sense of our suffering. Even though we might never understand why we have to suffer, yet, we can at least situate suffering in the context of God’s plan for the salvation of humanity.  The death of Jesus was God’s plan...

If we spend more time talking about structures and administration of our parish and dioceses, rather than on how we can grow the mission and extend the gospel, we are on the wrong track. Our focus needs to always be on the greater good of the mission. All structures must change to meet the challenges that lie ahead of us. How can we, by our actions, respond and support such changes instead of main...

The individualistic, materialistic and relativistic values of the world are in contradiction to the gospel that Christ teaches. Not just the world but even our own believers are subscribing to the secular values of the world, destroying marriage and family life, promoting the culture of death and leading the world into ecological disaster, besides the military, technological and space wars among c...

Just as there is a right to civil disobedience, there is also a right to religious disobedience. How, then, do we handle civil and religious disobedience? Right from the outset, we must state clearly that there are valid grounds for civil and religious obedience. This is particularly so when the legitimate authority is not acting for the common good, or when there is an illegitimate authority impo...

Just as God raised Jesus from the dead and freed Him from the pangs of death and decay, God too will raise us up if we continue to stand up for the culture of life and most of all, for eternal life which is the basis of our Christian Hope. How can we, then, challenge ourselves to continue to proclaim the truth, even if we are persecuted; to bring life, true love and freedom to our brothers and sis...

We must identify with the Crucified Christ in His suffering Church and in humanity. This is why we need to practice mercy in our lives from the mercy we have received from Christ. This is the reason for celebrating Divine Mercy so that we can show ourselves to be merciful and forgiving towards those who have offended us or have failed in their lives. Can we do as the Lord told Thomas, to put our f...

Why were the disciples reluctant to believe in the resurrection of their master when the Lord had been forewarning them and hinting to them about His passion and resurrection? If the disciples who had walked with the Lord for the last three years themselves were incredulous and cynical in believing the good news of the resurrection of our Lord, what can we expect from those who had no personal kno...

Many of us give up easily in witnessing for Christ or serving Him when we are opposed and challenged. But sometimes we give up our mission and ministry because of the mistakes and follies we have committed. Many of us cannot forgive ourselves for the mistakes we have made, and the sins we have committed. How can we release forgiveness onto ourselves, just as God is ever-ready to forgive and heal u...

Our faith in Christ is well founded not just in continuity with the Old Testament but strengthened by His death and resurrection. Faith in Christ is all that is required to find salvation. We must strengthen our faith by reading the Bible so that we can appreciate the beauty of God’s plan of salvation in Christ. Will we, then, make this act of faith?

Like the two disciples of our Lord in today's readings, all of us have experienced disillusionments in life. All of us have been downcast, crippled by life’s events. In such situations, how can we recover our lost hope in life and in God? Firstly, we need to talk about our pains to our friends. The second step involves seeking direction from a wise and holy person, and of course from our Lord Hims...

As we celebrate Easter Vigil, we also participate in Jesus' resurrection. The resurrection is not something of the past but continues to happen when we allow Christ to transform the world through us. All we need to do is to hold on to Jesus and experience the power of His resurrection. By ourselves, we are weak but with Him, we will be strong enough to change the world, to enlighten the world, giv...

We are on trial today, just like Peter and the apostles, the Chief priests, Pilate and the Jews. Are we like them, evasive of the truth, unwilling to stand up for our beliefs, running away like the apostles when we are called to stand up for what we believe? Indeed, like Pilate and the apostles, we have no guts to do the right thing. Surely, we are all guilty in different ways as we stand before o...

What we celebrate on Maundy Thursday must lead us to a deeper contemplation of His sacrificial death of us, His unconditional love and mercy on Good Friday. It is the Church’s desire that by contemplating on His love and mercy, we will be motivated to give ourselves in charity, especially in forgiveness of our brothers and sisters. How should we then imitate Jesus in emptying ourselves; voluntaril...

All of us have experienced betrayal in our life. What is amazing about Jesus' betrayal by Judas is that, He knew He was going to be betrayed even before it happened. Yet He did not retaliate, or take refuge and seek safety. Instead, He handed Himself to His enemies. Jesus came to a clear consciousness of God’s plan for Him. He was able to surrender His life into the hands of God, and do the Father...

To be the oil of gladness, is to give people hope; praise in place of despondency. This is the task of not just the ministerial priesthood but the laity - royal priesthood - as well. How can we be the oil of gladness to a world that is suffering and losing hope?

One of the dangers our world faces today occurs when truth is decided by the consensus of a few who articulate loudly, making it seem like the voice of the majority. This was the case in the trial of Jesus. It was a townhall trial. A trial by the mob. The question is, where do we stand at the end of the day? Will we allow the mob and the manipulators to decide the course of human society, or will...

This year we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of St Joseph as the patron of the universal Church. The Church sees him as the model of fatherhood. What is the secret of the spiritual fatherhood of Joseph? It is rooted in his faith in God. He was a man of deep prayer and contemplation. He was faithful to God and trusted in God’s plan completely. How can we imitate Joseph's example...

Christians proclaim the uniqueness of Christ as Savior of the world. But in a world of relativism and multi-religious climate, such a claim would be challenged in many ways. As St Peter told the Christians, “in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and res...

God’s love for us is unconditional and faithful regardless of our response. He never abandons us. The truth is that we have abandoned Him; He permits us to, out of love and respect for our freedom. How ought we to respond to God's loving and life-giving ways today?

For many of us, our faith in Christ is laidback. To find strength to commit ourselves further to the Lord, and for those catechumens still unsure of the love of Christ, we are called to contemplate on His passion, death and resurrection. It is from this paschal mystery, that we find strength, forgiveness and healing from our sins and wounds of life.

One of the most dangerous sins that can destroy our spiritual life is that of presumption. The sin of presumption can manifest in two extreme ways: (1) presuming God’s unconditional forgiveness for our sins, and (2) presuming that we are not in need of mercy and forgiveness. Both of these extremist positions will lead us away from God, either to the sins of the world or to the sin of pride. How ca...