BACK PACKS FROM HEAVEN

Smitten By Faith Issue Number : 000094 29th November 2024

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to attend a Catholic Regnum Christi Retreat in Macau given by a Legionaries of Christ priest from Rome, Fr. Rafael Ducci LC, a wonderful charismatic speaker who was able to reach out to his listeners concisely, cogently, and emphatically. Fr. Ducci drew on our ordinary secular human experiences to illustrate the message God has for us. The title of the Retreat was : ‘The world we come from and are sent to’.

Above : Three little children rushing around with their back packs - without a care in the world. Source : the internet

Which brings me to the title of this month’s article – a simple back pack or tote bag which, at some time or other, each of us own. Usually when we carry a back pack, it is because we are carrying something - a combination of stuff which we need to have conveniently close at hand. When I go on a trip, I usually have a carry-on bag packed with whatever I cannot do without. After I listened to Fr. Ducci’s Talk at the retreat, I was able to see this simple back pack as more than a practical carrier bag. I learnt that as a Christian; in my case - even more so, as a Catholic - my back pack contains very special gifts from God himself. We all travel – but as a Christian – I have an obligation to go out there - to the borders of the world – to the crossroads of existential, social and cultural peripheries - because I have with me, my very own special backpack from God – filled with HIS gifts. And, it’s a BIG Back Pack too !

Above are some examples of some lovely artistic interpretations of God’s back packs.

Source : the internet.

The back pack analogy made me think of a very popular science fiction book series which has sold millions of copies all over the world. ‘The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy’ was written in 1978 by the English author, Douglas Adams. In the book, the Earth is destroyed and the book’s hero, the inter-stellar hitchhiker, Arthur Dent is an ordinary ( but totally wacky ) Englishman who unexpectedly finds himself adrift in outer space ( wearing only his dressing gown and clutching his indispensable towel ), cast away in a universe of galaxies characterized by randomness, absurdity and God-lessness as Arthur struggles to survive after the destruction of Earth. With humour and ( lots of ) cynicism, Douglas Adams tells Arthur ( and his readers ) not to panic. They can do whatever they wish; he tells them to just live and let live. Sadly, for Douglas Adams, it’s merely all about science and technology. Not God. In fact, Adams described himself as a ‘radical atheist’, adding the word ‘radical’ for greater emphasis of his atheism.

So, why do I even bother to mention this book about the God-less hitch-hiker’s adventures in the galaxies of outer space? What was in the back pack which Arthur carried with him ? This is important. Arthur had : postcards, a tin of Greek olive oil ( which by the way ‘saved’ him when the earth was destroyed ), a cricket ball, an inconsequential paperback to read, a swimsuit, sunglasses, the dressing gown and the all-important towel that he seemed to have used for everything ! You can’t help but laugh at the total absurdity of this poor man’s situation.

Above left : A ‘Don't Panic’ back pack inspired by Douglas Adam’s book which was a favourite phrase of his wacky hero, Arthur Dent

Above Right : ‘The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams

BUT, in my case, as a Catholic Christian, what do I have in my back pack? My back pack from Heaven contains no olive oil, towel or cricket ball. There is no need for such nonsense. Instead, there are gifts from God which is in each and every back pack we choose to have when we carry out his mission to go out of our comfort zone and travel to the peripheries of the world. In our back packs, God gives us spirituality and mission, awareness, and love for our fellow brothers and sisters as we go out to the world – two by two – just as Jesus Christ sent out his Apostles.

‘…And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics.’

( Mark 6:7-13 )

James Jacques Joseph Tissot c.1884-96, ‘Christ Sending Out the Seventy Disciples - Two by Two’. Illustration from ‘The Life of Christ’, watercolour gouache on paperboard.

With our back packs from God, we have all that is needed to be his authentic missionary disciples. We certainly don't have to panic like Arthur Dent in his dressing gown and towel as he plummets through the galaxies. How are we able to do this? In our heavenly back packs, we have the experience of God’s love. As Christians, we are able to see the reality which surrounds us with the right heart. With the grace and precious gifts from God, each of us know that we are part of his spiritual family and that we are not alone when we set out in our missionary journey to make a long-lasting apostolic impact.

So, this brings me to a lovely young doctor and artist, my friend, Dr. Melanie Yeoh who ( among other illustrated writings ) has written her own illustrated ‘don’t panic’ - ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Latin Mass’.

Above right – Dr. Melanie Yeoh in a drawing of her by herself

Above left – Mel’s lovely book with her own version of ‘Don’t Panic’

Dr. Melanie Yeoh ( Mel) is a Malaysian millennial, a medical doctor practising in Kuala Lumpur and a Catholic. Mel is a child of the fascinating Chinese global diaspora. Her late mother, also a medical doctor was a British citizen born in Taiwan; her late architect father and his parents were Malaysians from Penang;  her maternal grandmother, from Surinam and her maternal grandfather, an engineer with the British Engineering Corps was from Mauritius who helped build some amazing feats of engineering all over the world. Mel’s parents met at graduate school in the UK and moved to live in Malaysia.

Mel’s mother was a medical doctor, a humanitarian and a Catholic who taught her two daughters not just Catholic values but involved them in active participation with church communities and Sunday School. Her parents gave Mel and her sister Monica a deep compassionate love and regard for their fellow men and a deep missionary zeal. Mel’s mother had her own medical practice in Kuala Lumpur and she never turned away the poor and disadvantaged. She was the reason why Mel went to medical school – to emulate her rare and fine example. After medical school and working at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Mel moved to work as a private doctor at the ARRUPE CLINIC in Kuala Lumpur, a UNHCR sponsored NGO clinic under A.C.T.S (  ‘A Call to Serve’ )  which provides medical consultation and outpatient treatment for refugees .

In 2020, Mel completed her Diploma in Theology at the Vidyajhoti College of Theology in India. Why Theology?  Mel says that she wanted to have a more coherent and organised knowledge of her faith; learning about God at the deepest level. Regarding her missionary zeal, Mel says that it’s  ‘…really cool to be a Catholic because it helps to have a good solid faith when bad things happen in life. I want to be able to share that with people but in a low-key, practical sort of way.’

MEL’S TALENT AS AN ARTIST  

Mel only started drawing in 2017 when she started drawing some fun cartoons based on the Gospel for her little 10 year old cousin Gabriel. Her drawings were an instant success. Mel had discovered her hidden talent and her prolific illustrations just grew from there. In spite of her medical practice, Mel still finds time to draw.

Mel has written for Smitten By Faith a year ago when it first started publishing. Today, I reproduce here, with great delight and joy, an excerpt from one of Mel’s new drawings explaining the subject of Homilies in church. You can see that Mel is funny and eloquent as she lives her vocation and so visibly spreads the good news of Jesus. Should any of you wish to see more of Mel’s illustrated stories, do write to me and, with Mel’s permission, I will share with you - her back pack from God.

THANK YOU AND BLESS YOU DEAR MEL !

HOMILIES

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Editor’s Note :

Dear Reader

Thank you for reading this November edition of SMITTEN BY FAITH.

Apologies for the late publication this month.

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