WELCOMING ADVENT

This year the season of Advent and Christmas is going to be very different from that of the previous years for our parishioners of St Joseph, Sentul. These past three months we have worked hard as one parish community to raise RM150,000 for our “Christmas Get Together 2016” on 18 December. We started with a very good spirit - a spirit of philanthropy and a spirit of reaching out to the poor without looking at any race, religion and nationality. There were so many hiccups in our early planning but now we the committee, have full confidence that we will be able to successfully organise this event because of your great support and prayers.

We have couple of weeks to celebrate the great event by uniting ourselves with the spirit of joy of Christmas with the expected crowds of 2500 – 3000 including the poor children and their families. Many exciting events will be taking place on this Christmas Get Together event such as distribution of school uniforms for 320 poor students, provision of groceries for 250 low-income families, lunch for all comers on that day, raffle draws with more than 200 prizes for the lucky ones, entertainment and thrilling games.

We are at the season of Advent now. I believe you have promised yourselves that this Advent would be different. You may have great intentions to make this Advent season and Christmas celebration very different from the last. We as parishioners must start making it happen now by slowly cutting down on all our busy schedules and embracing the spirit of Advent and more importantly remember its purpose and meaning of preparing for the coming of Christ.

The season invites us to prepare room in our hearts for Christ and not just to sit back and do nothing. Jesus has a time and place for everything and He invites us to prepare for His Coming on Christmas especially in our families, our workplace, our schools and our community. During this season let us stay close to Christ in prayers and deeds and when we do these He takes over our lives little by little. Our selfishness fades. Our heart grows. We die to ourselves. “He must increase; I must decrease”, (John 3:30).

A lot of efforts have been taken to prepare for the Christmas Get Together event. As parishioners and as Catholics, let’s make known our identity by uniting ourselves to entertain our distinguished guests, the poor and needy and also one another who will be coming for this upcoming event. By welcoming these friends of ours we shall see how these experiences will provide us well to our groundwork for this Advent to invite Christ Jesus to dwell within our hearts and our parish community.

Our heart is where Christ wishes to dwell and it is this season is the perfect time to make room in it for His presence. We will have our Advent Penitential service in our parish on 2 December. If our heart is not ready for forgiveness then there is no room for Christ. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an important part of preparing your heart for Jesus.

WATCHFUL IN PRAYER

Advent is a Season of Preparing for the Coming of the Messiah. You may have great intentions to make this Advent season and Christmas celebration very different from the last.

Our Advent Gospel warns us not to get caught in the routine of life and slowly cutting down on all our busy schedules and embracing the spirit of Advent.

The season invites us to prepare room in our hearts for Christ and not just to sit back and do nothing. Advent is not Christmas and we must be careful not to turn our four weeks of Advent preparation into a long celebration of Christmas. Our heart is where Christ wishes to dwell and Advent is the perfect time to make room in it for His presence. If our heart is filled with unforgiveness, it has no room for Christ. Remember that as God has forgiven us, we are also asked to forgive others.

"The Lord is on His way!” The Sacrament of Reconciliation is an important part of preparing our heart for Jesus. We are to be an “Advent People,” vigilant, watchful, be prepared. 

My best wishes and prayers on this Advent. May you have a spirit-filled Advent.

CLOSING OF THE YEAR OF MERCY 2016

Today we have come to the final week of Ordinary Time. Today’s liturgy establishes the titles for Christ’s royalty over humanity. The word “king” is used symbolically in the Bible to signify someone who possesses supreme power.

Christ the King is our Victor, our Ruler and our Redeemer. He is Head of the Church. This solemnity also describes the qualities of Christ’s kingdom. He is Supreme, Universal, Eternal in His kingdom. The Gospel describes the King who seemed powerless and defeated on the Cross, mocked as a fool. 

But Christ the King of the Universe offers us a true leader who is defined by humble service. He is a true leader who rules His Kingdom with truth and life, holiness and grace, and justice, love and peace. 

Who do we choose to follow? Would we follow such a king?

On this Feast of Christ the King, the last Sunday before Advent and the closing of the Year of Mercy, we give praise and thanks to our Lord Jesus for having journeyed with us closely. Throughout the year the Lord has been strengthening our faith and showing us the way to witness Him through the works of mercy.

Since the opening of the Year of Mercy, that is on 8 December 2015, we have been faithfully walking closely with our parish theme: “BEC, Witnessing Jesus Through the Works of Mercy”. During the last BECCOT meeting on 9 November 2016, all BEC leaders stood up and shared their performances and achievements in their BEC areas in this past one-year. You have engaged with each member of your BEC inviting everyone to participate in every event, prayer meeting and celebration, either in your BEC or at parish level. I am really grateful and thankful to all BECCOT teams, BEC leaders and your core teams for organising and coordinating events and activities well in the BEC and parish level.

We have come to the end of the Year of Mercy. We thank Pope Francis for designating this as a special year in which we celebrate God’s mercy to us and to the universal Church. We have experienced and shared the mercy of God with one another. We pray for the grace and strength to witness His mercy especially to those who are poor, sick and marginalised. Let’s not forget to be merciful with our family members, those who are closest to us and the larger society as well.

SAINTS IN MERCY

In this month of November, the Church in Peninsular Malaysia focuses on “Saints in Mercy.” Every Catholic is invited to imitate the mercy of Jesus as we look at the life of Saints during this Jubilee Year of Mercy. The Saints have served as witnesses to Christ and His Church.

Mercy is a virtue and a fruit of charity. It has to be lived every day in our lives. We become merciful when we place kindness, compassion and forgiveness into our practice. Many of Saints of the Church have been disciples of God’s mercy and they stand out as very good examples that can help us to play as models in spreading the mercy of God. The Beatitudes of the Gospel (Mt 5: 1-12) shows how to be people of mercy and to set a part to becoming a saint. This month of November we have an opportunity to look back and celebrate the saints of the Church who have lived the words of the Gospel faithfully.

Let’s have a glance at some of the saints who transformed the corporal and spiritual works of Mercy in action and see how we can draw inspiration and wisdom from them for our own as we come to the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Each year on 1^st January, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. She played an important part in God’s plan of salvation for the whole world. She is our greatest Saint. She helps the miserable, strengthens the discouraged and comforts the sorrowful. She gives maternal care, intercedes for us and brings back the answers to our prayers.

St Maria Domenica Mantovani (1862), whose feast we celebrate on 2^nd February devoted herself to build a strong parish community and cared for the needs of others by serving the poor, visiting the sick and elderly.

St Catherine of Siena (1347) devoted much of her life helping the prisoners and visiting the sick in the hospitals. She touched the life of many people by comforting them with prayers and through her great writings. We commemorate her feast on April 29.

St Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901) is a saint for today’s young people. Pier or Peter Frassati was born into a wealthy family but he donated all his money to people he saw as more needy than him. He dedicated his life to works of social action, charity, prayer and community. His feast day falls on July 4.

St John Mary Vianney (1786), who was spending 16 hours a day in the confessional. He was a priest who displayed a great example on the importance of the spiritual works of mercy, which God extends to us in the Sacraments. He too used his homilies to educate people about the Catholic faith. He is well known as the patron saint of Parish Priests and his feast day is on August 4.

We pray to these spiritual patrons as we continue to grow stronger in our faith and more effectively witnessing Jesus through the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

Few other Saints of the Church who involved very much in the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY:

a) Feed the Hungry: St. Maximilian Kolbe. St. Vincent de Paul

b) Give Drink to the Thirsty: St. Peter Claver, St Marianne Cope

c) Clothe the Naked: St. Martin of Tours

d) Visit the Sick: St. Vincent de Paul, St. Samson:

e) Shelter the Homeless: St. Benedict, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati

f) Visit the Imprisoned:  St. Peter Nalasco, St. Saturus

g) Bury the Dead: St. Joseph of Arimathea, St. Catherine of Siena

SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY:

a) Comfort the afflicted: StThomas Merton, St. Dorothy Day

b) Counsel the doubtful: St. John Vianney, St. Francis de Sales, St Padre Pio,

c) Admonish sinners: St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Thomas Aquinas

d) Forgive offenses willingly: St. Maria Goretti, St. Stephen

e) Teach the Ignorant: St. Francis Xavier, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

f) Bear wrongs patiently: St. Bernadette of Lourdes, St. Maximilian Kolbe

g) Pray for the living and the dead: St. Simeon Stylites, St. Mary of Egypt

We pray to these spiritual patrons as we continue to grow stronger in our faith and more effectively witnessing Jesus through the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy. Let these and other saints be our guide always in living our faith in the way they lived their faith.

Prayer:  Merciful God, your mercy is inexhaustible. Bless Pope Francis for designating this as a special year in which we celebrate your mercy to us and to the whole world. Help us to receive your mercy and to share it with others. In particular, grant us the grace to be witnesses of your mercy – especially to those who are poor or vulnerable, sick or lonely, or marginalised. May we also never forget to be merciful with family members and others who are closest to us. Help us to always live in your mercy. Amen.