The Good Shepherd Cathedral
A lesson on commitment at a lunchtime Mass in downtown Singapore.
When I was recently in Singapore, I decided to attend a weekday Mass. The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd was a short walk from YMCA One Orchard, where I was staying.
The lunchtime Mass is always at 1:15 PM Mondays through Fridays. I was surprised by the attendance. The church was almost full, and there were ushers at the doors. I got there at 1:05 and sat at the back half of the cathedral. When I lived in Singapore in the 1980s, I would on occasion attend the weekday Mass at the cathedral. I do not remember it ever being this well attended. It felt like I was attending an obligatory Sunday Mass.
No, the church was not filled with old people. There were attendees of all ages, many of whom were probably using their lunch break to attend Mass. The presence of the ushers led me to assume that many of the people present made it a habit to voluntarily attend daily Mass.
The priest that celebrated Mass however was old. He walked with a cane and had to be helped slowly to the alter by the alter server. While slow and frail, his voice was strong, resonant, and clear. His sermon that afternoon was on personal commitment which I found interesting and impactful.
Intrigued, I googled him after Mass. Msgr. Francis Lau celebrated his 60th Sacerdotal anniversary Mass two years ago. He still actively celebrates Mass at 91 years of age! While researching him and the Diocese of Singapore, I discovered that he served as the Vicar General of the Diocese under Bishop Young during the infamous Operation Spectrum of 1987, when the authorities detained Catholic and human rights workers and accused them of involvement in a Marxist plot against the government. It was a low point for the church in Singapore and many believe Operation Spectrum to be an unwarranted and heavy-handed use of the ISA (Internal Security Act) by the government of Lee Kuan Yew. Msgr. Lau has seen and experienced a lot in his long life. When others would be content with retirement, he still actively celebrates Mass and assists at the Cathedral to the best of his abilities. He was certainly qualified to give that sermon on personal commitment.
The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, built in 1847, is the oldest Catholic church in Singapore. The church was elevated to the cathedral of the then-diocese of Malacca in 1888. A cathedral is the seat of the bishop of a diocese. Today, it is the seat of the Archdiocese of Singapore, currently led by Cardinal William Goh.
In 1973 the cathedral was gazetted as a National Monument by the National Heritage Board. The church underwent major restorations from 1997 to 1999, and from 2013 to 2016. It was rededicated in 2017, 120 years after the original consecration in 1897.
I remember the old cathedral of the Good Shepherd as a young student in the early 1960s when I attended St. Joseph’s Institution, just across the road. The school has since relocated to a new site in Malcolm Road and the old school premises is now the Singapore Art Museum.
It was intriguing and heartwarming for me to return and rekindle a memory of my younger days, and to see so many people choosing to commit time to worship on a work day.
