Relaxed Sunday...

I woke up and found 2 messaged on my mobile. I was wondering who could be the one who messaged me so early in the morning. It's my friend who was afraid that he could not wake up on time for mass and bible sharing today. He texted me to call him till he wakes up and that message was at 4.06am. I guess he must be out playing MJ.

Met SG at the bus-stop near to our place so that we could go to church today. It's the first Sunday of the month and we had bible sharing after mass. I told SG about my friend who neede morning call and she commented that it seemed like I am his Personal Assistant. I was a bit disturbed by that comment though but I kept it to myself. 9am mass was not over yet when we reached church so I popped over to the bookshop to look for books and CDs while SG went over to the canteen for some light breakfast.

Mr T was late for mass because the earlier mass had ended late and he could not get a lot in time. Left him a seat in the pew when I was. In the end, he sat next to me. He could be quite a darling at times with his small eyes and cheeky grin but... There were some nudging here and there which I quite enjoyed. Oops... In the house of the Lord.

The mass was conducted by Fr. R but the gospel was shared by Fr. S. Today's gospel sharing was what I had shared on Monday. Fr. S gave an analogy of the ant and their friends. The ant while walking around, do not walk past each other blindly. They always stop and "greet" before moving on to where they are supposed to go. It's true. You should observe the ants the next time you see them. Moreover, the ants usually have teamwork because if they had found a rice grain, they usually wait for help so that they could help each other out. We should emulate what the ants and be like them.

Fr S also talked about we should stopped at one point or another so as to smell the roses. By STOPPING, he means:

• S - Have SIMPLE hearts to identify with people's feelings
• T - Be THANKFUL always
• O - Have OPENNESS in the way we think
• P - Be PRAYERFUL

As Fr S was saying that sometimes we love the other person so we speak to them privately about their faults and what we feel, hoping they would change for the better. It brought up a memory that happened in June. A situation made me quite uncomfortable so I had to bring it up to the friend who was involved. Another friend did ask me why should I say it when we knowing the friend might not change. The rationale I had then was at least I did my part as a friend to tell the person the faults. Not that Fr S mentioned that at mass, I am not sure if it's true love or really friendship love.

Anyway, we should always have the courage to speak privately to the other party if there's some conflict. Be open to what they have to say and say a prayer for the other party if she/he refused to resolve the disagreement.

After mass, I went up to the room, wanting to prepare the room for bible sharing. However, I could not find the key to the room and there were no records of the key being taken. I went up to the room to check and found out that the room was used by another group and they actually locked the door! I went down to the office to check and they did not book the room at all. I told J, the office clerk about the situation and he handed me the masterkey to unlock the door and chase them out. I didn't felt good chasing them out so we used another room instead. I took the opportunity to explain to the lady that she needs to book the room before using but she kept insisting that she had booked. I did not want to argue with her anymore so I left and went back to the office.

J was extremely upset too because he had checked the schedule and that lady did not booked the room at all. Seems like to her, she merely signed out the key but did not book the room with the office clerk. Even when she signed out for the key, she didn't write down the key that she took. She merely wrote her particulars! What kinda accountability is that? I shall left the issue to be settled by J and her.

The sharings by the group was done in 4s and I was grouped with Fr S again. I, somehow do not know if I should talk more as the facilitator or let Fr. S be the one. Somehow, he has more insights and I do not want to limit his sharing.

After the class, Mr T and I intended to go and have lunch near to his grandpa's place. His grandpa is not feeling too well so he would be buying lunch for him. As we were leaving the church, we saw SG. We picked her up and sent her to her workplace which is near to Redhill market. We then decided to eat there as well. On our way there, Mr T noticed that SG was holding the handrail above the window tightly. Mr T teased her if she was afraid of being in the car. We had a good laugh.

As we were eating, she walked past with her lunch. We told her to join us instead of bringing it back to the shop to eat.

After lunch, I told Mr T that if he needs to spend time with his grandpa, it's alright if he does not send me home. I could always catch a bus home on my own. He was nice enough to send me to the bus-stop before going to his grandpa's place. Mr T could be nice sometimes but I just do not like his indecisiveness at times.

I went home to rest till 6 plus before proceeding to bro's place for dinner. We usually have dinner at the coffeeshop near to his place. We had the dinner so as to celebrate bro's birthday which is in the coming week. When I met my bro and his family, my sis-in-law didn't seem too happy. Not sure if they had a tiff before that. The helper apparently did not know anything.

Anyway, the night had almost come to an end. It's back to work tomorrow. I am dreading it.

Dear Lord, let me be an instrument of Love to show the others that You love them. Help me to open my heart to accept my colleagues and friends whom I could not work with. Please help them to open their hearts when I need them to see the way to work. I also pray for my family and bro's family to be filled with love and joy. Amen.