Social Mission Mass at Church of St Michael. At the Social Mission Mass organised by Caritas Si ngapor e and CHARIS on 17 January, celebrated by Cardinal William Goh, one message rang out with clarity and conviction: mission is not about appearances, titles, efficiency, or visible success — but about the condition of our hearts.   Many people quietly disqualify themselves from mission. I’m too old. Too young. Too busy. Not skilled enough. Too comfortable.   Cardinal Goh addr

GEBIRAH's Women's Health Workshop in Thai Nguyen We just returned from our mission to Thai Nguyen , and as I read Pope Leo XIV’s recent address to the Neocatechumenal Way, it felt almost as if he were describing what we had just lived. The Holy Father reminds us that authentic evangelisation is never separated from the Church, never detached from love, and never imposed. It is lived quietly, patiently, and faithfully—through charity, communion, and presence. That truth came

Sacks of rice for about 1,000 people in ethnic minority village in Thai Nguyen. Last evening, the message finally came in: “ The rice has arrived in Thai Nguyen.”   To my own surprise, I felt something I hadn’t experienced in a long time —a sudden rush of excitement and relief—almost a childlike joy.   The kind I used to feel when my favourite toy arrived as a kid. The kind that makes your heart leap.  I found myself smiling. Deeply, quietly happy.  Because this joy wasn’t ab

It was still dark when the village began to stir. A mother wrapped her shawl tighter around her child. An elderly couple sat quietly outside their wooden hut, waiting for the day to warm their bones. In the distance, the mountains of northern Thailand stood silent—beautiful, remote, and unforgiving.  No clinic.  No paved road.  No one coming—at least not usually.  And yet, this is precisely where the Church belongs.  There is something deeply Gospel-shaped about going to plac

It begins with fear.  A poor village. The kind of place most people pass over without a second thought. Empty granaries. No walls strong enough to protect them. The bandits will return after harvest—it’s only a matter of time. The villagers know they cannot fight back. All they can do is wait… and hope.   Hope that someone, somewhere, will come to their aid .  When I last watched Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai , I didn’t expect it to linger with me the way it did. It’s often

The new year rarely begins with fireworks in the soul.  More often, it arrives quietly—carrying the fatigue of the year just ended. We step into January still holding unanswered prayers, lingering worries, and the uneasy sense that life somehow keeps moving faster than our hearts can keep up.  And so, we make resolutions. Not just to be more productive or disciplined, but to be calmer . Happier. Less anxious. More present—to our families, our work, and ourselves.   We long fo

Advent is never meant to be comfortable. It is a season that gently — and sometimes uncomfortably — invites us to look inward, to examine our hearts, and to ask difficult questions about how we live, what we value, and whom we love. In this sense, A Christmas Carol is far more than a festive tale. It is, as many have observed, a profoundly Catholic Advent story — one of conscience, conversion, and concrete acts of charity.  Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey mirrors what Advent asks

Advent is often described as a time of waiting—a quiet, expectant season in the Church’s life. But the deeper truth is this: Advent is not passive.  It is an active preparation, a spiritual awakening, a call to make room for Christ by making room for those who need help. In the Gospels, the coming of Jesus always prompts movement: Mary sets out in haste to help Elizabeth, Joseph rises from sleep to protect his family, the shepherds leave their fields, the Magi journey across

After returning from a 3-week mission in Hong Kong working with refugees and the marginalised, I had a ton of emails to clear from my inbox. Scanning through the headers for urgent ones, something caught my eye. It was a notification that carried significance for a small Catholic humanitarian organisation like ours.  Gebirah had been invited from a global search to join the 2025 QBE AcceliCITY Humanitarian Challenge — and selected as a semi-finalist .  There was no sense of

I still remember the moment I first read about the tragedy — a small wooden boat, overloaded, drifting in dangerous waters between Thailand and Malaysia. Dozens of frightened families, carrying nothing but hope, had clung to one another as the waves rose. They had set out because staying behind meant persecution or death. But the sea, indifferent and merciless, claimed them. And for many, the world barely noticed.  A Tragedy Unnoticed  In early November 2025, a boat carrying