“Change is the only constant in life,” said Heraclitus, and indeed the new year marked a change for many friars in our Custody. For example, there is a new parish team at St Mary of the Angels, and Friar Joseph Lee, the first in our Custody to reach 70 years of age, will be in Manila for a few months for a sabbatical programme.
I, however, continue as Custos, and I am hoping to deepen my intention for the Custody towards greater authenticity as Franciscans, as friars minor. Our Minister General, Friar Massimo Fusarelli, exhorted us during our Chapter last September to focus on strengthening fraternal life. As this is concretely expressed in having at least three friars in each community, we have had to suspend our presence in Penang because we do not have enough Malaysian friars for four communities in Malaysia.
This difficult decision has spurred my desire for our fraternal life to become more intentional. St Francis of Assisi espoused a fraternal life where brothers mutually care for one another and grow in their affective and spiritual maturity personally and communally. To encourage this in our communities, Friar Aiden Peter, as the new Moderator for Ongoing Formation, is considering fresh ideas to stimulate some change in the way we live out our community life.
This year, we are also grateful for our Custody’s spiritual heritage. On 26 January, we celebrated the 50th death anniversary of Blessed Gabriele Allegra, whom our Custody adopted as our co-patron together with St Anthony of Padua. Without Blessed Allegra, we Franciscan Friars might not be in this part of the world. It was his vision to set up the St Anthony Franciscan Sociological Centre in Singapore to offer a Catholic alternative to the Communist ideology that was gaining ground in the 1950s. Whilst tirelessly translating the Scriptures from the original Hebrew and Greek to Chinese and directing the Blessed Scotus Franciscan Biblical Institute in Hong Kong, Blessed Allegra still found time to come to Singapore in the early 1960s.
Turning back the clock several hundred years, we come to the time of St Francis of Assisi. This year we remember 800 years of his Transitus, his return to the Father by welcoming Sister Death. In Assisi, the Friars of the Basilica of St Francis will hold a month-long public display of the mortal remains of St Francis from 22 February 2026. I expound on this exciting event in the Feature article.
As I write this, I have just returned from a week-long meeting, from 5 to 8 January 2026, with the Religious Superiors from Malaysia and Singapore. We also had a joint meeting with the Bishops in our Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Speaking about change, I can see the deepening of friendship and trust among us Superiors in my six years as Custos. The level of cooperation and collaboration has been taken up a notch. This kind of change is not revolutionary; rather it is secure and organic, the kind that I know comes from an authentic space which can be sustained and is life-giving. I find this truly heart-warming.
I pray that all of us may experience this sort of change this year, especially in our spiritual life. May our Lenten experience be a graced opportunity to ground ourselves further in our Lord. Please pray for us friars as we continue to grow and strengthen our Franciscan presence and service of God’s people. May the Lord bless you and your loved ones!
Parishioners of the Church of the Risen Christ marked New Year’s Eve with a prayerful celebration that included Eucharistic Adoration, a Thanksgiving Mass, and a farewell for their parish priest, Friar Esmond Chua, OFM, who has served the parish since 2023.
Friar Esmond receiving a souvenir from Nicholas Chin, the PPC chairman.
Parishioners of the Church of the Risen Christ marked New Year’s Eve with a prayerful celebration that included Eucharistic Adoration, a Thanksgiving Mass, and a farewell for their parish priest, Friar Esmond Chua, OFM, who has served the parish since 2023.
The evening began with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, led by Friar Esmond, featuring periods of silent reflection alongside Scripture readings and litanies of adoration, mercy, thanksgiving, trust and supplication. This was followed by a Thanksgiving Mass, with Friar Esmond as main celebrant, and Fr Michael Raymond, OFM Cap, Friar Crispus Mosinoh, OFM, and Friar Cosmas Francis, OFM, concelebrating.
In his homily, Friar Esmond reflected on the transition into the new year, calling on the faithful to “pause, praise and press on” as they move from 2025 into 2026. He encouraged parishioners to reflect on God’s presence and faithfulness before looking ahead.
Referencing the First Reading from 1 Kings 8:55–61, he highlighted King Solomon’s blessing of the people and his emphasis on God’s unfailing faithfulness. The Responsorial Psalm from 1 Chronicles 29:10–12 reinforced this theme, proclaiming God’s greatness and sovereignty over all creation. In the Gospel reading from Luke 17:11–19, Friar Esmond drew attention to the healing of the ten lepers, noting that only one returned to give thanks to Jesus, underscoring the importance of gratitude in the life of faith.
Following the Mass, Parish Pastoral Council chairperson Nicholas Chin paid tribute to Friar Esmond’s leadership, describing him as a warm and dedicated pastor who played a key role in reviving parish ministries. He noted Friar Esmond’s emphasis on serving with zeal and humility, often reminding parishioners that Church service is voluntary and rooted in faith, not obligation.
During his nearly three-year tenure, Friar Esmond was actively involved in several parish development projects, including the construction of Our Lady’s Grotto, St Joseph’s Centre, Fr Peter Shyu Hall, the installation of solar panels, and The Oak Tree, a special room for catechism children.
In his farewell remarks, Friar Esmond expressed gratitude for the strong support he received from parishioners and thanked his fellow friars for their prayers and assistance.
Friar Esmond will assume his new role as parish priest of St Mary of the Angels Church in Singapore. Friar Crispus Mosinoh will continue as parish priest of the Church of the Risen Christ, assisted by Friar Cosmas Francis, with Friar John Soh appointed as pastoral assistant.
The celebration concluded with a parish dinner and a countdown to welcome the New Year 2026.
The request Christ made from the crucifix to St Francis 800 years ago came up repeatedly at the 6th Asia-Oceania OFS-YouFra Congress in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The simple phrase – Go and repair my Church – resonated with the Secular Franciscans (OFS) brothers and sisters of Asia and Oceania as they sought greater clarity and depth in their identity and mission.
In the Holy Mass that opened the congress, Kota Kinabalu Archbishop John Wong told all gathered that it is important to invert “Go and repair my Church”, to begin with “church” as a community of believers that needs constant conversion, then “repairing” oneself through repentance, and finally “go” and share what you have received from the Lord.
Over the six days, 23-29 October 2025, the 72 Franciscans (61 Seculars and 11 Clergy/Religious) spoke the common language of love and fraternity, despite hailing from several countries, including Australia, Korea, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Timor Leste, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Fraternity is the fundamental call for all Franciscans – Secular and Religious. This is responding to Jesus’ call for all his disciples to be in communion, “that they may be one” (John 17:21) and this deep union is coming from Jesus’ acknowledgement that “the Father and I are one” (John 10:30).
Collective discernment saw the Congress members unanimously voting to conduct formation for leadership – local councils, ministers and formators – to help them understand what they have been called to do and to do it in a Christian and Franciscan way.
Whilst formation was a priority during the congress, other areas of importance discussed included Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) and vocation promotion. Much was said about engaging youths and YouFra in particular. The many entities seriously considering establishing a YouFra fraternity had the chance to learn from the rich experience of entities like Philippines and Vietnam which have YouFra numbering in the thousands.
With the Asia-Oceania delegates were Tibor Kauser OFS General Minister and Francis Park OFS Asia-Oceania Councillor, who helped steer the direction of the conversations and provided clarity on many matters. Tibor Kauser spoke of what it means to repair the Church, “Repair a fraternal life within self and others – but avoid repairing what is not even broken”. He also spoke about the role of the OFS fraternal animator for YouFra and the sense of belonging and responsibility in OFS and YouFra.
If you feel an inner prompting to explore the Secular Franciscan Order, do reach out to Singapore National Minister Janet Lim OFS (janetsfo@gmail.com) or Malaysia National Minister Marina Anjuman OFS (marinaanjuman7284@gmail.com).
