It was a lovely Saturday evening, the 25th April, and I was at St Mary of the Angels Church with the OFS members to participate in the installation of the Custody of St Anthony. I met Srs Elizabeth and Teresa Lee at the Mass. The parish was abuzz with excitement as this was the first time they were witnessing such a ceremony. Also there were old and significant friends that were present like Fras Philip Miscamble and John Wong. All the Friars from Malaysia and Singapore as well as representatives from Australia and India were present. It was for them a ‘coming of age’ as a Province with Fra Derrick Yap as Custos. The Eucharistic celebration was truly solemn with the certain rituals of passing-over that caused emotions to surface specially for Fra Philip Miscamble as he looked at the young men he had formed now all grown-up and ready to take on the resposibility of being in charge of the future of the mission founded 70 years ago. 
 
I stayed back for the dinner after Mass with the members of my fraternity of St Margaret of Cortona. Of couse there were some photo hungry members who took many significant moments. It was as we were leaving that I glimpsed Fra. Massimo Fusarelli. I, who am in no way enamoured of photo-taking, pulled at Martina, crazy-for-taking-photos, towards him asking to take a photo. What I will never forget is the beautifully lit-up face, the huge smile of Fra Massimo as he recognised my symbol and almost cried out loud as he stepped forward, “FMM!” It was as if the whole Institute was in me! He obliged so readily and then asked for one to be taken on his phone. “For Sr Eufemia!” I felt myself caught in a moment of grace! 
 
Reflecting after on my deep joy at this unexpected blessing, I realised how deeply it resonated with my love for St Francis. Fra Massimo is his representative, down through the ages and I came in touch with history – the history of Maman and her deep desire that we be Franciscan.... her encounters with Fr Raphael and Bernardino of Portogruaro came alive in my mind..........the words of Grandfather that we need to be small to fit under his mantle......  
I really felt so blessed.......and awed. Even if I went for a meeting in Rome, I don't think I would have got this blessing! What I really found awesome was the way he came forward with such joy when he realised I was FMM! I can still see his face lighted up with joy. How much he must love us! Then to take a photo to show Sr Eufemia.....it seemed they are good friends. Sr Eufemia won't know me but will be happy I’m sure that he met one of us here in Singapore. 

The gift of “Being A Living Candle” began four years ago in Tun Tan Cheng Lock College of Nursing, Assunta Hospital. The blessing came in the form of being a registered counsellor under the Lembaga Kaunselor Malaysia (LKM) for both the female and male nursing college students. Counselling laid the groundwork for the students to play a key role in asserting their potential in being a committed and skillful nurse in the clinical setting.
Students that actively participates in the process of counselling are able to dive deeper into the emotional and psychological aspects of their experiences they encounter throughout their college years. With this, the students learn to handle their aptitudes of the academic stages and clinical practices in the hospital environment.
As I reflect, I have enriched myself and benefited by learning from students as well as my colleagues in the college. From the numerous counselling experiences, my great deal of connectedness and collaboration with them had led to many effective therapeutic alliances. Overall, I have learned to develop my flexibility and ability to communicate empathetically, as well as to advocate and patiently facilitate student nurses’ resolution of issues by themselves. And yes, with these abilities, I have developed the passion in helping them to make choices and to shape a better life.
Therefore, my constant reminder was to be an EFFECTIVE living candle rather than a great living candle for the students. Part of being effective was to create awareness among students on taking action and understanding the meaning and benefits of counselling. There were times where I personally encountered difficulties and challenges when students perceived counselling as a taboo or some sort of punishment and thus this made counselling sessions to be more tough and hindered students’ progress on personal development. As such, it depends a lot on the willingness and openness of the students to make counselling sessions more successful. The importance of voluntary participation of the students especially in disclosing their personal issues are crucial to achieve a breakthrough. Otherwise, the students may not have a clear pathway to move on instead they may face difficulties during their studies or in their future. Nevertheless, being aware of and accepting my own vulnerabilities integrated with honesty has strengthen my connection with the students. 
At times, I found the value in my clinical intuition that has aided majority of the student nurses. Meaning that, I have learned to put apart what I have been taught and went with my gut feelings. I am confident through the intervention of psychoeducation on counselling process, it will enhance a positive mental mode and improve the well-being of the student nurses. Finally, though it was just a short moment, but it was indeed a great blessing and joy in “Being A Living Candle” for the student nurses in the college. The various counselling experiences has led them to develop therapeutic alliance. My passion to help has aided me in being an effective living candle which in turn has enhance the positivity of the students and their well-being through counselling.
I believe God through His grace and wisdom has used me as an instrument for the student nurses who seeks for direction and healing. Be assured of my resounding “Yes” if God wills and the opportunity arises again for me to “Being a Living Candle” for the student nurses of Tun Tan Cheng Lock College of Nursing, Assunta Hospital. 
Sr. Angela Wong Chin Chin, Fmm
Registered Counsellor (K.B.;P.A.)

​I began the life God gave me in a wonderful family of 10! I was the 7th. By the time I was 10 two of my elder sisters had already become Religious. Was I influenced by their decision?
I believe what influenced ​them to take the step was also mine – a very deep Faith that nurtured and nourished a love for God and his people from a very young age. My parents lived the Faith intensely, with their weaknesses. At 6 years old Mum began the ritual of daily Mass before school. By 13, I was playing the organ and participating in activities in Novena Church.
The life spent there was a healthy wholesome mix of relationships –no holy-moly stuff – but the Australian Redemptorists, despite their fire and brimstone homilies, filled our young lives with fun, laughter and blended the strict religiousity at home with a sense of a God who loved us.
My attraction to the religious life came when I was in my final year of school. There were two sets of nuns with whom I had contact. Which one was I called to? The Redemptorist I spoke to asked me to complete my studies and then decide. So, the decision confronted me again 3 years later, when a rather comfortable relationship with a boy had begun. There was also a new Congregation of Sisters I had beome involved with –simple, funny and Franciscan. We used to say we smelt them before we held their hand! Standing in the choir loft one Saturday, waiting for the Novena to begin, I looked at the crucifix hanging in the sanctuary. With the ears of my searching heart, I heard, “ There will be no one who will love you more than Me!” A sense of peace came over me despite my fear. In the challenging moments of these 53 years of FMM religious that moment has been my touchstone of rootedness.

​

The purpose of my life and mission is to serve God by reaching out to the marginalised.
From helping latched-key children and youths-at-risk, rendering aid to domestic migrant women from developing Asian countries, to countering human trafficking in the red-light district of Geylang, it never occurred to me that this is my ‘work’.
All my life, I have been called to serve the marginalised, those at the edge. It is a joy to be able to be among the poorest of the poor and bring God’s light and hope to them.

The Prompting
What has prompted this calling? My only answer is God has loved me ever since I was born. He has loved me much through my family and friends. I cannot but offer my life in return, even my life is from God, the giver of life!
I am called to share His love, my end is love. The poor, the marginalised, are closest to my heart. Wherever they are, when I am called to them, I would always say “Yes!” and be sent, for I believe God is in their midst.

Making a difference
An encounter that showed me deeply the power of God’s love was on a street outreach years back. That night was hot and stuffy, and it was past 1am when Pastor Gerry and I sat down at one of the narrow, dark Geylang lanes with a young sex worker from China who was forced into prostitution.
She was hurting and had asked, “Is there a God? Where is God and does He even exist? If God is real, why are all the bad things happening to me. My life is full of pain, sorrow and grimness…how can I believe that a God of love exists?”
At that moment, Pastor and I fell silent. The young lady then continued.
“Yet, having seen and experienced this much on the streets, you have been accepting and loving us without judgement; Perhaps, God does exist!”
In the wee hours of that morning, we truly believe that God’s love and light, His powerful presence of a ‘God-with-us’ shone through us to touch her heart.
 
Sharing His love Wherever I Am Called
As a Franciscan Missionary of Mary the past 43 years, I have travelled much to bring the love of Christ to communities. In May 2018, I was sent on a new mission to the United States of America (USA). Since then, I have been based in El Paso, Texas, near the border of Juarez, Mexico.
My mission here is with the homeless, the refugees and the immigrants living in slums, in the streets and in temporary shelters.  They arrive from the Northern border of Mexico to the Southern border of El Paso, USA, as well as from Central America, namely El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Cuba, Brazil, and Mexico.
Many of these brothers and sisters are often unseen and unheard, because they are the ‘minority’ race. There are those who don’t even realise they exist. I endeavour to bring God’s healing love, joy, light, justice, and new life to them.
It has not always been a smooth path. All through the ups and down, believing in and experiencing God’s many miracles working in and through my life give me strength. The tears of the suffering teaches me to trust in God.
“God’s constant and faithful love and presence,
God’s grace is enough for me.”

​Sr Mary Soh,fmm
 

I was a ‘recluse’ child and teenager in my growing years where my daily movements can be summed up in 2 steps…from my kampung home in Hougang to a nearby school and back home…and on weekends to the nearby Nativity Church. It was a comfortable, familiar routine…boring maybe if compared to our present hustle and bustle way of life, but it didn’t seem so to me at all then.
During those mundane but contented slow pace of life…someone made himself known like a mystery puzzle taking shape…GOD. Honestly I wasn’t looking for Him, neither was I intentionally searching for Him….in short, I wasn’t interested. However I am a Catholic so going to Church for Mass was a ritual and an obligation I had to fulfil, not for God, but for Mum, otherwise I feared being nagged to death by her!
HE…found me through the books I loved to read and made Himself center stage in a short span of time where I became intrigue with who and what I was discovering about my Faith.
Fast forward to more recent years as an FMM Sister, where I found myself having to travel all over in India, Africa, Rome, Philippines just to name a few for either mission or for formation, usually alone..  and I often wonder in awe how life takes a turn when God is the Planner. This is especially true when I ponder on all the varied, colourful landscapes of Mission in the form of witnessing to how God led the way into ….the lives of Youths at risks where the FMM Poverello Centre became the turning points for many from vulnerable and disadvantaged families…the Aids patients and poverty stricken but most resilient people I have ever ministered to in West Africa in the 2 years stint I was missioned there…the massive Typhoon destructed villages I volunteered with 16 other Religious in a most obscure state in India, while as a Theological student …where I experienced GOD in the despair of devastated lives, homes and environment. I tasted fear… and embraced God’s Providence as never before….and then back in the backyard of our Geylang home ground in Singapore, where I encountered weekly, young lives that brings out my utmost empathy and at the same time challenged my stance on moral…justice and unconditional love without judgement….and finally where I encounter the lives of displaced persons in my present ministry with Migrants who seek for Welcome…Protection…and some form of integration where they have been planted, in foreign soil where they struggle daily to sustain for the sake of their love ones waiting for sustenance.
In all of these mysterious and kaleidoscope ways in life’s moments, God has instil in me a gradual sense of awe and trust in His Providence. I somewhat thinks I can find no better way in all my imaginations to deepen my Faith in HIM and grow holistically…What a Blessing, indeed!
 
Sr Sylvia Ng

Becoming a Franciscan led to my discovery of my natural relationship with Nature.  I was 39 years old  and on the third day of prayer before my entry as a pre-novice,  I was asked by my spiritual guide Sr Mary Peter to simply choose to look at an object of nature , a flower or leaf or stone and gaze at it with complete attention. I chose a little white chrysanthemum in the chapel. Guess what? As it came close to  the end of the hour a wave of energy I can only describe as love , entered into me.  After 3 weeks  my new community left for Camerons  where I experienced my first retreat. We were encouraged by our retreat master to go out into the neighbouring forest parks and enjoy the beauty of the waterfalls rocks and wild  vegetation; guess what? I would come back filled with exhilaration! I was high  and drugged with joy!
​On the serious side of gospel living, I mean community living, I had to struggle with my limitations and the limitations of my dear sisters. As Francis said  “The lord led me among sisters/brothers” and I would resolve the tension and find healing in soil, shrubs and flowers. Not for me the exotic blooms just simple ordinary  flowers like the hardy periwinkle ixora and snap dragon. Nature could heal  and  revive my passion for mission.
We are now celebrating the Care of Creation month after a year of forest fires floods landslides volcanic eruptions. What’s happened to my Mother and Sister Earth? She has become a stranger. I cannot deny my share in humanity’s indifference carelessness and ingratitude . I want to bring  about  reconciliation in my own small way-- Help Her to  be a Home to All. I turn to Francis blind and sick when he wrote the Canticle of the Creatures:

​Blind Man,
Sitting in your tiny garden
Staring  into your infinity of velvet black
Where every flower is a flame on taper
Every tree a torch………..
You walk between the buds and the leaves
Never ceasing to discover
And to wonder
And recognizing all the time
New brothers and new sisters.
(Poem by OFM Christopher Coelho)

God does work in mysterious ways. As soon as I complited high school, I had wanted the religious life. Being educated in the Infant Jesus Convent School,that was the only congregation of sisters I knew of. The superior had an eye on me and I was sure I was going to join them. Due to the tears and pleadings of my non Catholic siblings, I gave in to their pleadings to give up religious life.
I signed up for a Teachers’ Training Course of 3 years and I gave myself wholeheartedly to the works of the Legion of Mary. In the meantime, I went shopping secretly to study life of other congregation….was not attracted to any of them. Towards the end of my 3rd year in Teachers’ Training in 1954, many MEP priests and some FMM sisters who were expelled from China came to Malaysia. An MEP priest, the Spiritual Director of my Legion of Mary Presidium learnt of my interest of the religious life. He recommended me to visit the FMM newly founded Convent about 40 miles away from my home in Petaling Jaya.
It was love at first sight; down to the earth simplicity of the sisters ( from China, Ireland, Canada, France and Australia ), made a very strong impresion on me. A sister on duty adoring the Blessed Sacrament every half hour, their friendliness and their strict rule. I was told of not taking ever a holy picture not saying a goodbye, showed me the seriousness of their commitment.
Taking time to discern while preparing for my final exams, I decided this was the congragation for me. My spiritual director gently helped my family to accept my call to religious life. He also told the IJ Superior of my change of congregation to her great dissapointment. Three months later in December 1955 I entered the postulancy, the 1st FMM Vocation in Malaysia.

We celebrate Environment’s Day every 5th June. We are so lucky to get the air, water, earth and the sunshine without cost. The environment doesn’t need us but as a human being we need the environment in order to survive.  Our duty is to take good care of what God has entrusted to us. We are sharing the common gifts.
 
During this time of pandemic, many activities has been temporary terminated and in this time too we can see the creatures of God coming out freely and the colour of the flowers getting brighter each day. Perhaps this is the time for us to renew our relationship with our environment. Once we have destroyed our nature it is hard to heal and even though we can heal the nature but it will not be the same anymore because what we use to see with our eyes before and now we only can hear it by our ears.

​While we are still receiving the four basic needs let us also contribute our gratitude to thank the mother earth. Be friend to the nature then only we will discover the precious gifts that nobody can give you. In our community we begin to create our hobbies, one of these hobbies is gardening. Let us put our hands on the soil and discover the joy of gardening and we too will discover the small creatures of God.
 Conversion of humanity necessary to heal the earth … Pope Francis, Vatican News
 
Let us answer the invitation from our Pope ‘to heal our earth’ to live, to care and to pass it on to the next generations. Our mission is to be one with nature because wherever we go, we cannot run away from nature.