Last Sunday, 20 May
2018, we celebrated the Solemnity of Pentecost and with that, the conclusion of
the Easter season.
It has been a week
since we returned to Ordinary Time in the liturgical calendar, and the weekday
readings will continue from the 8th Week in Ordinary Time, Year II (Monday, 28
May) and the Sunday readings will be from Year B, featuring the Gospel of Mark.
Before continuing with the Sunday in Ordinary Time, we will celebrate two
important feasts, spanning two weekends - Feast of the Holy Trinity and the
Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). After which, Sundays
in Ordinary Time will stretch for a period of time, till the end of November
2018.
Just before
concluding the Easter season we lost a beloved priest, Fr Joseph Anthony Pereira.
His funeral Mass was held on Saturday, 19 May 2018 at St Joseph’s Church,
Sentul. Father Joe (as he was fondly known) spent his early childhood in Sentul
and when he was a teenager, his family moved to Petaling Jaya. He was ordained
as a priest in Church of the Sacred Heart, Kuala Lumpur.
Last year, Fr. Joe
was invited as a Celebrant during a novena day to St Joseph, the Worker. He
shared with me about his joy of celebrating Mass in our Church, after a very
long period away from the country. He didn’t expect that our community would invite him for the novena,
and was pleased that we did. There have been other occasions when Fr. Joe
celebrated daily Mass in our parish, when I was away. I usually tell visiting
priests to keep morning mass short, as parishioners need to rush off to work or
school, but he would always seem to extend it a little, asking the congregation, ‘which is your priority - Jesus or work?”
He was a man of
prayer. His homilies and sharing were always rooted in the Word of God. He
highly looked up to the Eucharist. He was a gentle and polite man and a well
respected man. Fr. Joe always kept the Word of God and Sacrament dear to
his heart. In any conversation, he liked to quote the Word of God - even in our
Clergy whatsapp chat group, he would send scriptural texts and video clips
pertaining to our Catholic Church.
Fr. Joe loved
meeting people and having meals with them. I still remember the joy of serving
at his last parish - Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Banting, Selangor. He captured
the hearts the community there, and they looked after him well.
I was glad that his
wake and funeral Mass were held at our parish. His last rites were given
according to the wishes of the family, and I would like to personally thank all
those who have worked tirelessly to organise Fr. Joe’s funeral. We will
continue to remember him in our prayers till we meet him again. May his soul
rest in peace!
On 31 May 2018,
during the Feast of the Visitation Our Lady to Elizabeth, we will conclude the Month of the Rosary by gathering at
Church for Rosary and Mass, at 7.30pm. We remember the words of the Holy Father
Pope Francis, in his latest Apostolic Exhortation, “Gaudete et Exsultate”
(Rejoice and Be Glad), where he invites everyone to “say the Hail Mary whether
we are in distress or anxiety - our Heavenly Mother doesn’t require a flood of
words but all we need to do is whisper, time and time again - say the Hail Mary”
(GE #176). So my dear parishioners, don’t stop praying the Rosary and take Mary
to your heart.
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