TO LOVE IS TO SERVE AT ST. JOSEPH

My dear parishioners, even though I’m not with you this weekend in the parish, wherever I am you are in my thoughts and prayers. I’m grateful to Rev Fr Clarence Dass and Fr Robert (Myanmar priest) who both agreed to assist me in my absence for the weekend and weekday Masses. We are in the third Sunday of Easter and the Risen Lord invites us to stay faithful and to be His true followers. We are commanded to carry on the work He had begun 2,000 years ago.

I understand your daily tasks and commitments at home and in your work place may cause you tremendous tension and stress. On top of this some of you are pressured and challenged with your commitments in various church ministries. Many are like lukewarm spectators in the congregation, not seeing the need nor have the desire to serve. You may think that you have not been called nor gifted for any ministry in the Church. I want you to reflect on these words of St Peter: “Each of you has received a special grace, so, like a good steward responsible for all these varied graces of God, put it at the service of others,” (1 Peter 4:10). These words refer to the clergy as well as to the faithful. I have my role to play in the church and I invite you to be in service of the church in your ordinary way within the Body of Christ.

There are only a few members in our parish actively involved in the various ministries and in Jesus’ mission. Some prefer to stay comfortably seated in their pews instead of serving. Not all are called to specifically serve in the various ministries but whether you are actively serving or not, we will all do well to encourage our brothers and sisters who are bravely doing their little part to contribute to the running of the parish. They may be lacking or weak in many areas, but your simple gesture of praying for them or your utterance of a word of encouragement will increase their spirit of enthusiasm in their ministries and in their particular mission in our church. I’m sure in return they will pray for you to have a stronger faith and trust in God’s word.

In three weeks’ time we will be celebrating our Parish Feast day – Feast of St Joseph the Worker. Being a priest for the past thirteen years, I have seen many of us being hurt or hurting one another. In a dynamic church, which is fully alive, there is bound to be some “stepping on someone’s toes”. I too may have unintentionally upset or offended you. Let’s not keep grudges but allow ourselves to be healed. “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works,” (Heb 10:24).

LIVING THE SPIRIT OF EASTER IN OUR COMMUNITY

Lent is over. Easter Triduum is over. With these we have completed the important celebrations in the life of the Church and we have moved into Easter season now. We have faithfully journeyed with the Lord during these times and our faith has been enlightened, enriched and strengthen. Today we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and He has conquered the grave of our division and separation, and the root of all sin and violence in our community. The Lent season and Easter Triduum have brought us to spiritual heights as St Anselm says, “the diamond from the muck.”

The Easter season commenced on Easter Sunday and we continue to commemorate the Resurrected Jesus for the next 50 days till Pentecost. It is an opportunity for us to polish the diamond which has been picked up from the muck – dirt of sin so that the living spirit of Easter – “Joy, Renewed Commitments and Living Without fear” concretely define who we are as Catholics.

With faith in the Risen Lord, we are able to cling on to a continuing sense of joy even when faced with sadness and tears in our lives. Joy is a gladness felt deep within us, which cannot be taken away from us, even in the midst of sorrow, pain, failures and tears. With our renewed baptismal promises and commitments, we have reached a sense of newness with positive attitudes and renewed relationships by appreciating and complementing one another.

When the Risen Lord appeared to the women at the tomb and later to His apostles, His first words was “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:21) and “Do not be afraid,” (Mt 28:5,10). These words resonate from the bottom of our hearts, helping us to cope with the fear from the loss of employment, an illness, and breakdown in relationships. Trust in the Risen Lord can overcome our fears and enables us to live in the spirit of Easter.

I would like to say a big thank you personally to the many individuals and ministries who have helped and assisted our community towards spiritual preparations during the Easter Triduum. Now that we have finished, many of you have asked, what’s next? How do I maintain the spiritual momentum, which I developed during Lent and Easter Triduum?

What’s next? Next will be our very own Patron Saint’s feast day celebrations, which will commence from 22 April till 2 May 2016. I invite you once again to commit yourselves in taking part in the upcoming feast day celebrations. In three weeks time we will begin our novena and I encourage all of you to pray at least a decade of the rosary each day, maybe in your car or while you exercise so that our feast day celebrations will be a meaningful one for our families and BECs.

“God bless you during this Easter season!"

Divine Mercy is a Way of Life

Divine Mercy can be an optional devotion; but it is the heart of our Sacred Scripture. Pope Francis stated, “Only mercy can save the world”. 

The human heart is heavy and hardened. God gives mankind a new heart, new spirit on this Divine Mercy Sunday. In the Gospel today begins, "evening of that day he appeared to the Apostles" and “showed them his hands and his side” (Jn. 20:20), that is, the signs of the painful passion with which his Body was indelibility stamped, even after the Resurrection. Those glorious wounds which He allowed doubting Thomas to touch eight days later, reveal the mercy of God who “so loved the world that He gave his only Son” (Jn. 3:16).

This mystery of love and mercy are at the heart of the liturgy today, the Second Sunday of Easter, dedicated to the Divine Mercy. The Risen Lord offers his love and mercy that pardons, reconciles, and reopens hearts to love and unity in our community. It is a love that converts hearts and gives peace. 

Divine Mercy is a way of life to gain a fruit of peace that comes from unity and love of God and our neighbor. Jesus offers us marvelous graces through His Divine Mercy but He also demands of us works of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Him.

REJOICE AND BE GLAD!

“This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad,” (Ps 118: 24)

Today we rejoice and are glad that we have faithfully journeyed during the season of Lent and Holy Week. Today we rejoice and are glad to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, His Triumph over sin. Our preparation during these past weeks has helped us to enter into a spiritual preparation for the great Paschal Mystery. We rejoice and are glad because we have equipped the interior disposition of our hearts and Christ has empowered us, comforted us and snatched us out of the realm of sin.

These past few days have been an emotional one for me. I was saddened to have encountered two little kids who have been admitted for more than 10 days at IJN Kuala Lumpur due to hole in their hearts. One is only a month old baby from Sabah named Aaron Daniel whom I baptised in the hospital on 19 March at 10 pm in the presence of his parents. Another one is a three-year-old girl, Veronica from Jalan Ipoh, KL. Both are in a critical condition and I asked God, why allow these infants to suffer?

During the season of Lent this year, I visited 65 elderly and the sick, who are home-bound. Some of them are really in a state of discomforting illness and just waiting for the Lord to redeem them. I can feel how the family members are juggling their time looking after them, taking them to the hospital for regular medical check-ups, paying the medical bills, etc. It is not an easy task to provide round the clock care for the sick and the elderly. Continuous care-giving can cause depression / stress and prevent us from enjoying life like we used to.

Let’s move on with life. After the Easter celebrations we will be gearing up for our Novena to St Joseph, the Worker, our own parish patron saint. It will commence on 22 April till 1 May 2016. We are in the midst of working out the themes for Novena Masses and inviting priests for the celebrations. We will also be having two major fund raising projects namely “Food and Fun Fair” and “Ladies Day”. The funds raised will be channeled for the refurbishment of our SJC Community Centre.

Thus far, I am very glad to see that a majority of our BECs are progressing towards our parish vision and mission. I invite more parishioners to come forward to play an important role in leadership and to journey together as a community. My prayer for you, my dear parishioners, is that from Easter Sunday onwards we shall commit to continue our mission “Towards Strengthening Our Faith Community” and to bring the BEC members together and make ourselves one as we witness Jesus through corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

May you and your family experience the mercy of the glory of the Resurrection!

Christ is Risen! Truly, He has risen!

Alleluia!

HAVE A BLESSED EASTER!

HOMECOMING FOR A SON OF THIS PARISH

On Tuesday, 15 March, 2016, our KL Archdiocese celebrated the Chrism Mass at Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Puchong. About 50 priests gathered together around the altar to concelebrate the Holy Mass with Archbishop Julian Leow. It was the day when all our priests stood together and renewed our priestly commitments, the promises, which we had made at our ordination to serve the Lord and His Church. With this renewal of promises we felt that we have come a step closer to Christ in serving the Church and His people.

On this auspicious day, we the priests of the KL Archdiocese were filled with joy as we welcomed once again our fellow brother priest, Rev Fr James Gabriel, into our Presbyterium to serve the Lord and His Church. It was a most significant day for him. I believe that this year, the Chrism Mass was one of his favourite Eucharistic celebrations besides his ordination Mass because the whole congregation present there on that day gave him an overwhelming welcome after he had been away for several years. It was really a home coming for him. Fr James Gabriel (JG) has been a priest for the past 27 years and was ordained here in our parish of St. Joseph in 1989 by Archbishop Dominic Vendargon. On the following day after the Chrism Mass, Fr JG celebrated his first Mass with us on the second day of our monthly priests’ recollection.

 

He also celebrated the Eucharist with St Joseph’s parishioners on Saturday,19 March, 2016, the feast of St Joseph, the Husband of Mary. The parishioners welcomed the son of the parish whole-heartedly.

Jesus had not given up on Fr JG these past years and he remained very much rooted in Jesus Christ and in the Catholic Church. That is why Jesus has invited him back in action to serve and to walk with His people as a priest, spiritual leader, teacher, guide and minister of the sacraments. We shall continue to pray for his ministry and his faithfulness to the priesthood.

The Lent season has come to an end. We begin the Holy Week with the Palm Sunday celebration and it will end on Holy Saturday. The final three days of Holy Week are the part of the Paschal Triduum, i.e. Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter vigil. During the Holy Week, I invite every one of you to read the narration on the Passion of Christ, the last days of Christ’s life, which you can find in the last two chapters in every gospel. Do reflect and pray on Jesus’ message. This is a lovely way to prepare for Easter, the greatest feast of the Church.

Blessings and wishes for the Holy Week!