Left turn, right turn 向左转，向右转

Left turn, right turn！

Tangkak is no longer a place for my return visit.

I was attracted by Tangkak beef noodle ... but no longer so. The beef noodle has changed from big bowl to smaller bowl; full bowl of tasty soup has been reduced to half bowl; junky beef meat has been chopped to small cube, like the Rubik's cubes... the beef noodle there attracts me no more, and I do not see the need to be at Tangkak. （See old post)

But the Holy Spirit has called on me today:"go to Tangkak...".

Has the Spirit found a new beef noodle stall that serves original Tangkak beef noddle?!?

No. The normal stall that I went was on the right, whereas the Spirit called me today to turn left!

At about 11:15 am this morning (Friday 23/09/2011), my wife and I arrived at the traffic junction in the middle of Tangkak Town. I did not turn right as usual to the Tangkak beef noodle stall ... instead, following the prompting of the Spirit , I turned left....

After traveling for about half a kilometer, I reached my destination on right : The Church of St. Matthew, Tangkak.

There a kind looking elder and a bearded man (not St.Matthew, but a learned man）were waiting for me!

This was my first ever one-to-one encounter with the elder, and first time with the bearded man after a 3-year absence.

Yes, I was there to meet up with the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. John Yu and the immediate past Superior-General of CDD, Rev. Fr. Stephen Ng.

The Spirit works in a mysterious way ... never mind why I was at the St. Matthew's Church, and why Fr. Stephen was there too... What was important : The Name of the Lord has been manifested ... Alleluia!!

Fr. Stephen has completed his terms as the Superior-General of CDD last year and returned to Malaysia from Taiwan about 5 months ago. Currently he is on Sabbatical leave and residing at the CDD House in Pulau Gadung, Melaka.

Shedding fair skin of northern hemisphere, he is now tanned and radiant, looks younger and rejuvenated by the tropical sun. And this is the familiar Fr. Stephen I used to know!!

He was here on the invitation of Fr. Yu to celebrate the Feast of St. Matthew, patron saint of the parish.

I was honored and blessed to meet Fr. Yu, a respected and well-loved senior priest in the Johor-Melaka Diocese. I had the opportunity to lunch with him and acquaint him through his sharing, thus deepened my respect and admiration of this loyal servant of Christ.

I was impressed by his agility, and moving up steps with ease. I asked him what was his secret of health.

Besides sharing his daily regimented healthy life style, he presented me a few words of wisdom:

1. Rise early daily,
2. Exercise daily,
3. Eat moderately and
4. Don't worry

Fr. Yu rises everyday around 5:00 am and follows by exercise. He has formulated his own exercise routine and doing them without fail for more than 50 years.

He serves the Lord with joy and peace in his heart. He is one of the very few priests who conduct Catechism classes for young children. He reckoned the initiation of religious instructions to young children (pre-Communion) is a an important phase and foundation of faith education.

He also shared on the touching faith journey of his own father. And because of his father, he became priest.

Fr. Yu came from a staunch Buddhist family in the North-Eastern province of Jilin in China. He vividly recalled his experiences of chanting Buddhist prayers during his childhood days. His father converted secretly to Catholicism without the knowledge of his parents and family. He faith was tested severely, just like Job in the old testament. He courageously persevered, his faith stood firm and solid. God blessed him, God rewarded him later .... And he managed to pursue his auntie to enter a religious order, and sent 0his son (Fr. Yu) to the seminary!

I was not able to detail his sharing but hope that his story of faithfulness and courage, services to the people of God would be broadly publicised, as a great example to younger generation, to promote priestly and religious vocation.

Fr. Yu later brought us to view the newly open church (open on 9-10-2011) and its facilities.

It is a spacious, practical and comfortable church. There are classrooms, meeting rooms, a small library and a hall. It is very suitable for organising youth activities.

The church is situated at the center of town, with peaceful and quiet surroundings.

With a joyful heart but reluctantly, we bid goodbye to Fr. Yu and Fr. Stephen at about 2:00 pm, and continued our journey to .... Johor Baru!

I shall return !

(More pictures in Facebook )



东甲不是我再要去的地方。

我去东甲，是因为那里的牛肉面吸引了我 。。。。但现在不然了。那里的牛肉面，从大腕变小碗；满碗的热汤，减成了半碗；大块的牛肉，切成了小方块， 好像鲁比魔方块般。。。。那里的牛肉麵，不再吸引我了，我也没有需要在东甲停留。（看旧帖子）

但是，圣神却在今天，呼唤我：“你来东甲吧！”

难道圣神发现了新的，回归原本的东甲牛肉麵档？！？

不是。我去的麵档是在东甲大街的右边，今天圣神却叫我去大街的左边！

在早上十一时十五分，我和太太到了东甲的大街，第一个交通灯前，我没有像以往般的向右转，因为那是牛肉麵档所在，不值得我去了。。。而我听从了圣神的安排，向左转。。。。。

向左转后的大约半公里，我向右望，见到了目的地：东甲圣玛窦堂！

那里，一位慈祥的长者，和一为留着长胡子的。。。看起来好像是位高人 （不是圣玛窦）。。。在那里等着我了。

这是我第一次一对一的和这位长者见面；而长胡子的高人，是三年来，第一次再见面。

是的，我是来东甲圣玛窦堂拜会慈祥的长者，俞怀仁神父，和三年没见面的刚卸任主徒会总会长黄进龙神父！

圣神的操作，奥妙难理解。。。我为什么会来到东甲圣玛窦教堂，黄进龙神父为什么也会在这里，都不是很重要。重要的是：天主的名受到了显扬，阿肋路亚！

和黄神父倾谈了他最近的动向及情况。卸任了主徒会总会长之后，回到马来西亚已经好几个月了。见到了现在的他，也卸下了北国白晰的皮肤，换上了南国健康日晒的肤色，更加年轻及有活力，这也是我较熟悉的黄神父！

黄神父目前是在马六甲浮罗加东主徒会修院，进行灵修Sabbatical （不知中文的翻译为何？）。他是受本堂余神父之邀，到来共庆圣玛窦主保节。

非常荣幸及感恩，能够拜会俞怀仁神父。我见过他一两次，但没有和他交谈。这次能够和他一起共用午餐，又听他分享了本身一些故事，让我更认识及更尊重这位为主奉献的牧者。

我见到了这位高龄83岁的长者，身体健康，上梯级毫不费劲，就请教了他的养生之道。

除了分享了他有纪律的生活，在主内的喜悦，他赠给了我数句真言：

每天起早，
天天体操，
吃莫太饱，
莫须烦恼！

俞神父每天早上五点左右就起床，数十年如一日的做晨操。那是一套自己摸索出来的运动操，已经用了超过五十年了。

他非常喜乐的为主奉献，他的信念是：神父是为教会及教友服务。他是亲自教导幼童启蒙要理班的极少神师之一。他认为孩子启蒙要理是非常重要的一段时期，所以神父能够亲自教导，对他们信德的奠基，会有很大的作用。

他也分享了他的父亲接受天主教的感人故事，也因为父亲，他进入了修院，成为神父。

俞神父来自中国东北的吉林，祖先都是虔诚的佛教徒。俞神父还清楚的记得小时敲钟念佛经的情景。爸爸三十多岁时勇敢的接受了基督，瞒作父母及家族，独自一个人领洗，成为教徒。往后发生了好多事情，情节与约伯有点相似，挑战了父亲的信德，但他依然的坚守，毫不动摇，还成功的感动了小姑成为修女，自己的儿子也进入了修院。。。。。。天主没有放弃他，天主垂顾了他，天主奖赏了他。。。

我不能详载他的谈话，希望会有对他多认识的教友，能够提供更完整的资料及记录，以表扬这位勇敢，奉献的牧者，也给下一代立个好榜样。（神父有一本晋铎周年特刊，但本身没有收藏）

俞神父也带了我们参观这间在2010年10月开幕的新教堂及设施。这是一间实用，简单但舒适的教堂。它也备用课室，会议室，小图书馆，礼堂，非常适合年轻人活动。

教堂就坐落在东甲的市区范围内，交通方便，环境安静和安全。

怀着愉快及不舍的心情，我们在下午二时左右，告别了俞神父和黄神父，继续我们的路程 - 往新山去。

东甲，我会再来！

余神父说：“我爸爸非常尊重当时的本堂神父，赞赏No. 1的表样， 所以要把我送进修院，当好像他一样No. 1 的神父 "
Fr. Yu said:" My father sent me to seminary to become No 1 good priest like the then parish priest"

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