Eternal rest

I was at the Saturday Novena at St Alphonsus Church at Thomson Road yesterday. Fr Simon Pereira preached at the service. He had just returned from Malaysia where he celebrated the Feast of St Anne.

His homily was about grandparents and how they always seemed to be the oasis of calm, support and peace for the grandchildren, as opposed to parents who, in comparison, are usually made out to be the boogeyman. His homily in part was due to the fact that St Anne was the mother of Mary, vis-a-vis, the grandmother of Jesus.

His words brought forth memories of my own grandparents, especially now being less than a week ago that I attended to the re-interring of my grandparents remains.

My maternal grandmother, Mary Lee, was exhumed from CCK cemetery, while my grandfather, Louis Goh, together with an uncle Sylvester  who passed even before I was born, were exhumed from St Joseph Church cemetery. They were re-interred at the Franciscan Columbarium at my parish Church of St Mary of the Angels on 4the August 2010.

The Franciscan Columbarium is one of the best designed I've seen anywhere. The atmosphere here is one of calm and serenity throughout. I have already reserved a niche for myself and my wife. This was part of the fundraising effort towards the re-construction of St Mary. Sounds a bit morbid, but here in a typically Singaporean manner, it's planning for the future as well and doing your part for society.

When my time comes, I'll be at St Anthony #6022. My grandparents are just a room away at St Bonaventure #4132.