Singapore archbishop encourages faithful to spiritual life, faith

In a Pentecost message, the leader of the Catholic Church in Singapore has urged his faithful to be proud of Christ and renew their commitment to society. "We cannot afford to remain as spectators on the sidelines when our faith is challenged, denigrated and ridiculed,” Archbishop William Goh wrote in a pastoral letter for the occasion of Pentecost, on Sunday, May 15. “If the call to be proud to be Singaporean means to stand up for Singapore, so too, is the call to stand up for Jesus if we are proud to be Catholic,” the letter said..  He urged Catholics to make Jesus known and loved by being united in love and truth.  And “the Christian answer to true unity is the Holy Spirit who leads us to Jesus who is the fullness of truth.” Hence, “being proud to be Catholic means that we should be even more patriotic as citizens.” He said Catholics “must be ready to individually speak up and stand up for our faith and Catholic values,” utilizing technologies such as the internet, Facebook, blogs, Twitter, mass media and forums.  But before that, Archbishop Goh, said Catholics need to strengthen their prayer and spiritual life and doctrinal faith.   He lamented the serious limits in the knowledge of faith and spiritual life of Singaporean Catholics, saying less than 10 per cent of the community is actively involved in the service of the Church.  He noted the sadness caused by lay people and clerics who are lukewarm in their faith or betray it for money.  (Source: AsiaNews)