Conversation with Mum & What I have Learnt

Before I left the house, I showed mum who AL is. She is one of the applicant for the bank application. AL was featured in a newsletter some moons ago and I found it while I was packing the room. It has Chinese text with the picture so I showed it to mum who would be able to know who she is, especially AL offered her help with no conditions attached.

Then mum and I had a conversation on a morbid topic - DEATH. When I chat with her about this topic, she would always tell me what she would like for her funeral. Touch wood! She's 67 this year and she's always very liberal to talk about this. She wanted to make sure all her instructions had been made clear. She said that she would rather tell us what she wanted, rather than to second-guess what she wanted.

This time round, she told me that she had 2 cheongsams in the cupboard and she wanted them into the coffin, should she leave. We also discussed about leaving the body at the funeral parlour cos' she knows that bro and I would not be able to handle the overnight vigil at the void deck. She had also told me that she would rather go peacefully in the sleep, rather than a dramatic death. Or she would suffer for a short time, if it's a illness that she's contracted. Hmmm.... You must be wondering why so morbid, right? I think by having such conversations with your loved one, you may be able to deal with it better in times of death. What do you think?

I had an hour to spare so I went to meet my colleagues for lunch at Shokudo in Raffles City. One of my colleague was particularly upset with the boss. She was asking for advice. Another colleague was sorely disappointed that there's some kind of restructuring going on next year and that many of us would not be in the same working environment anymore.

After lunch, I had to rush down to church for a meeting. I finally got to meet B, who would be joining our committee. He seemed like a slow and steady man. It's great to know that God calls and he answers.

At the meeting, someone posed a question "How many times can one receive Holy Communion?". Fr mentioned that once is enough as he said that sometimes it would become too automatic for some. However, I have found a different answer on Catholic Education Resource Centre that one could receive more than once provided one participates fully in the whole mass from the beginning until the very end of the Mass, giving it full attention as best as one could.

On my way home with Charlotte, I was told that bro would want me over at his place for dinner. I dropped C off at her home and went down to bro's home. At his home, I asked my SIL if I could get C to attend mass with me on Friday. The sunset mass on Friday is for All Souls' Day so I thought it would be good for C to attend. SIL gave her consent. Yippee....

Dear Lord, thank you for letting me spend this day with You in church. I am grateful for the times I spent with my family and friends - this morning and evening with family and afternoon with friends. May You bless them with good health. I thank you for giving SIL a generous and open heart, especially when I approached her for permission to get C to attend mass. My SIL said yes without hesitation. I pray that Y would be blessed with good health and may he be safe in your care. Amen.