The Eucharistic Celebration: The Most Perfect Form of Prayer"

The Holy Eucharist is "the source and summit of Christian life." It is the central celebration of the Church. Pope Paul VI refers to the Eucharistic celebration “the most perfect form of prayer!“ Do you think God sits with an attendance sheet checking off the faithful who attend and taking note of the non-attendees. Irregardless of whether He does or not, we need to realise that Mass attendance and participation is not meant for God, but for us. Attending Mass and actively participating during it nourishes our spiritual growth. In order to for us to maximise the spiritual benefits, we need to attend Mass in a reverent manner. 

The celebration of the Eucharist is the Jesus-instituted, powerful way of healing the broken world that we live in. Attending Mass reverently, frequently and participating constantly increases our spiritual benefits by bringing us closer to Jesus. Commit yourself to attend and participate fully in the Mass and you will not be disappointed. Pray for those who do not realise the value of the Eucharistic celebration and that they too may join in the celebration. Rejoice! For God is good and loves you! Jesus died for you to live and rose to live with you. BELIEVE... CELEBRATE... LIVE the Eucharist.

4 Bad Church Habits:

i) Arriving Late and Leaving Early:

When we arrive late or leave early, we treat the Holy celebration of the Mass like it’s nothing special. As far as leaving early, there was only one apostle who left the first Mass (Last Supper) early and we don’t want to end up like him.

ii) Inappropriate Dress-Code: Dressing inappropriately is very distracting. God has blessed your finances, so praise Him in decent clothing, especially at Sunday Mass. Jerseys and Pjs also fall under inappropriate dressing for Sunday Mass. We would never wear them to a wedding banquet, etc. If we did, we would be lowering the importance of the event. The same goes for Mass. If you have appropriate clothes, wear them!

iii) Non Participation: Mass is a celebration of our salvation and faith; when we don’t participate, we’re not getting the most of out the celebration. When your team wins you fist pump, when you get engaged, you dance with joy. Rejoice at Mass! Christ has won for you salvation! Pray with open hands, sing for joy! “He who sings, prays twice” (St. Augustine of Hippo).

iv) Littering: If you ever get a chance, be the last person to leave your church after Mass and before you exit, walk through the pews and examine the amount of trash left behind by the parishioners. I’ve had the opportunity to do this and it’s nasty! There’s half eaten cookies, used tissues, candy wrappers, torn envelopes, gum under the pews, etc. We need to do a better job with maintaining the sanctity of our church space.

St. Teresa of Avila was overwhelmed with God’s Goodness and asked Him: “How can I thank You, Lord?” Our Lord replied, “ATTEND ONE MASS.”

Dealing With Distractions

It’s been a few weeks since I've written or posted anything on my blog. I have not dedicated and disciplined my needed time to reading and writing due to many other commitments. I need FOCUSED time to do reading and writing. It is easy for us to get distracted and to procrastinate on our tasks. We have so much great work to do every day. In fact, the external forces will place many hindrances and distractions in our way. Some of the distractions may even be a good thing. Let Nehemiah’s words be our words when distractions and hindrances pull us away from our daily responsibilities and commitments. “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” (Nehemiah 6: 2-4 – Dealing with distractions).

 

 

 The most basic content, the book of Nehemiah is an account of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, the dwelling place of God in the Old Testament and the center of life for Israel. Nehemiah is a man who desired to know the plans of the Lord and act upon them; proving himself faithful even during the most trying of times. He teaches us that as individual followers of Christ and as the church collectively, if we keep our hearts and minds fixed on God and yielded to His will, we will experience success with God and will develop a strong and steady faith even amid constant opposition.

 

 

The Chrism Mass

On Wednesday, 20^th March, the Archbishop and clergy of the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese gathered at the Church of Jesus Caritas, Kepong to celebrate the Chrism Mass @ 7.30 pm. This Eucharistic celebration manifests the unity of the priests with their bishop in the renewal of priestly commitments, during which we, priests promise to be faithful ministers of the Church and to remain steadfast in our desires to imitate Christ.

The Chrism Mass is always a special Mass for us priests in our rededication ourselves anew in the Priesthood of Christ. It is a day where we recall in a very personal way the day of our ordination and to renew in our hearts this mysterious and awesome vocation. After the homily, Archbishop Pakiam asked the priests that are present to renew their priestly promises. 

The blessing of oils took place at this Mass too. The Archbishop blessed three oils - the oil of catechumens (OS - oleum catechumenorum or oleum sanctorum), the oil of the infirm (OI - oleum infirmorum) and holy chrism (SC - sacrum chrisma) which will be used in the administration of the sacraments for the year.

Getting the Numbers of the Pope Right

After the announcement of "habemus Papam" (We have a Pope) on 13 March, 2014, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio had taken the name Francis. Many immediately started referring to the new Pontiff as Francis I.

The Vatican clarified that his name is just Francis, and there is no need to refer to him with a number unless or until a future pope takes the name Francis II.

More confusion surrounds references to Francis as the Successor of St. Peter. Is he the 265th, 266th or 267th pope?

Everyone knows St. Peter was the first pope, which means St. Linus (who reigned from 67 to 76) was St. Peter's first successor.

Following that logic and according to some counts, Pope Francis is the 266th pope, the 265th successor of St. Peter.

However, as James Hitchcock, author of "History of the Catholic Church," clarified for ZENIT, "Stephen II in the eighth century died before he was installed as pope. Some lists count him and some do not."

Thus, Pope Francis is considered by some the 267th pope, the 266th successor of St. Peter.

(Abstract from Zenit – March 14, 2013)

We Have A Pope

White smoke signaled from the Vatican's Sistine Chapel at 2.10 am (Thursday). The new Pope appeared at the balcony at St Peter's Basilica within an hour of the vote. "Harbemus Papem" means we have Pope. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (from Argentina) has been elected as the 266th Pope. He takes the name of the new pontiff as Pope Francis I. He is the first South American Pope.

Born: Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Education: Studied at Theological Faculty of San Miguel. Received licentiate in philosophy.

Ordained for the Jesuits on Dec. 13, 1969.

Ordained titular bishop of Auca and auxiliary of Buenos Aires on June 27, 1992.

Became archbishop of Buenos Aires on Feb. 28, 1998.

Received title ordinary for the Eastern-rite faithful in Argentina who lack an ordinary in their own rite on Nov. 30, 1998.
Proclaimed cardinal by Pope John Paul II on Feb. 21, 2001.

Participated in conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005.

He speaks his native language Spanish, Bergoglio and also Italian and German.

He specialises in pastoral work and spends his entire carrier in Argentina. A humble and down to earth man. A Pope for the poor. He was immediately acclaimed as a pope of many firsts: the first Jesuit pope, the first pope of the Americas, and also the first to choose the name Francis.

The Mass for the inauguration of his pontificate is scheduled for March 19, next Tuesday, the feast of St. Joseph, the husband of Mary.