Start of Novena for Tiffany

Dear All

As you know, Tiff is going to have her PSLE this year. Just this week, we have a good talk as to the stress she's going through. We have compromised that she can have her computer breaks over the weekends.

Bert and I had a discussion. With all the secular influence around us, our kids need to be involved more in church, and to have a strong foundation in our Catholic faith. If our kids have a strong moral value and a strong faith and "fear" of God, there'll be less likelihood that they will stray from the right path, the path that would be pleasing to God. So many things seem to be gray nowadays...is it right to allow organ trading?....Over the news tonight, issues highlighted to the Pope in Syndey like why should condoms be condemned? Why condemn homosexuality? These are issues that we cannot protect our kids from forever. They are growing up in a secular environment with friends from different religious backgrounds and different values and upbringing. What's OK in other friends' families are not OK for us. And our kids want to know why. We have decided to bring the girls to attend their very first novena today. I wrote a petition for Tiff's PSLE and Feli's asthma and we waited for 45 min after their cathecism class before novena started.

It has been ages since I had attended the novena, and it brought tears to my eyes. I was so touched by the words of the novena, and by the petitions and thanksgiving. One girl petitioned that her parents would stop their daily quarrelling and not go through with their divorce. One prayed for a job as he desparately needs it to feed his family. One thanksgiving prayer was for a friend who was getting much better from suicidual thoughts and another for recovering health for an ailing father.

I could see the girls, particularly Tiff, (as she was sitting beside me) perk up at the exposure and adoration of the Blessed Eucharist.

We asked them later how they felt about the novena. I was so enlightened and happy to hear Tiff say, she felt so at peace during the novena. She even wants to write her own petition to drop it at the correct shrine! (We inevitably dropped it at the box at the entrance of the church in front of the statues of Jesus and Mary. According to the novena book, it should be at the shrine with the picture of the Our Lady of Perpetual Succour which was at eh SIDE of the church!)

Really, the intercession of our Lady of Perpetual Help has already worked her wonders in Tiffany. It's a peace that the world cannot understand said Jesus in the bible.

Please help pray for Tiffany. She needs lots of prayers for her PSLE. She's quite forgetful and loses steam and momentum in her revision, so we request if you could help pray for her. We will be going for 9 novenas to pray for this intention and that of Felicia's health.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Love Theresa and Albert