JOURNEYING TOWARDS AN “INTEGRAL EVANGELIZATION”

Last week I was in Penang Island for my annual retreat. It was a fruitful retreat and I have learnt one important aspect of my priesthood and prayer life. I realise my prayer life is not deep enough. So far I am unable to truly master my prayer life but it made me realise that prayer is an essential part of my priestly life. Without my daily prayer life and without the celebration of the Eucharistic I would not be able to carry out my priestly ministry.

Jesus prayed so many times. He even prayed the whole night alone (LK 6:12) to show us the face of life in His personal relationship with the Father. Prayer has to be a part of our daily life and it is a breathing of the spirit. Without this breathing of prayer in our life then our spirit dies in us. We should not diminish that spirit that we have within us. St Paul reminds us that “God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline”(2 Tim 1:7).

Many incidents and unfortunate events took place in the month of October in relation to our clergy. We lost two of our  beloved priests (Frs. Philips Muthu and Peter Kim SJ) in our Archdiocese. Fr Jean Claude (a son of our parish) was also hospitalized, but is now back resting in his parish. We the clergy are a little shaken up when we see what is happening to our brother priests in the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur.

This month of the Rosary we priests also pray to Mary to strengthen our priestly ministry and our mission of evangelising the Good News in our nation. We pray that she will make all priests to be courageous in the midst of all the problems either our health, personal crisis or with the community. Mary was there with her Son from His birth to Ascension and she was present and appears in all events of the public life of Jesus. We, priests are also assured that Mother Mary stands behind every priest. St Pope John Paul II has invited all priests “to have an ever firmer and more tender devotion to the Virgin Mary and to show it by imitating her virtues and praying to her often.”

The Peninsular Malaysia Pastoral Convention (PMPC) IV is just over. There were 650 delegates from all over the Peninsular Malaysia who gathered at Majodi Center, Plentong, Johor Bahru from 2^nd – 5^th October, 2016. This is my second convention I have attended ever since I became a priest. The first one was in 2006. The Church in Peninsular Malaysia has journeyed for 40 years since 1976 and has decided to move forward with the new vision and mission: “Intergral Evengalisation” for the next 10 years and beyond.

All delegates, facilitators and presenters felt the movement and intervention of the Holy Spirit throughout the convention. All of us strongly believe that "the Holy Spirit is always the principal agent of evangelisation" in the Church. The Church in Peninsular Malaysia needs more discernment, dialogues, (particularly with the poor, cultures and religions) as well as initiating action plans in order to grow more progressively for the next 10 years. Let us together as a Church “Work for the Lord with untiring effort and with great earnestness of Spirit," (Rom 12:11). 

Mary, Mother of priests and Mother of the Church, pray for us!

Be Gratitude to God

As Christ was heading towards Jerusalem, He met ten lepers cried out to Him for help, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" Jesus had pity on the lepers and He healed them. They went off rejoicing because they were cleansed. But only one leper thought it worthwhile to return and say thanks. "Where are the other nine?” (LK 17: 11-19).

Jesus expressed disappointment at the attitude of the nine who stayed away and forgot to thank and praise God. God too has a heart, which can be hurt by our ingratitude.

We are unaware of our own ungratefulness and at time we fail to express thanks to God for favours granted. Whatever misfortune happens to us, if we thank and praise God for it, sure it turns into a blessing. We are expected to thank God not only for our happy days but for the upsetting days as well. 

We should not let a day pass without thanking and praising God for His blessings, for the good things, the crosses and trials that put us to test.

"The Lord has shown his salvation to the nations"

Honouring Mary in the Month of October

Will you pray the Rosary with your BEC members and families daily in this month of October? The month of October is devoted to Mary and praying the Rosary. It is a month during which we need to increase our Marian spirituality. It is good to get a statue or Holy picture of Our Lady and place it at a prominent place in your home. You can decorate it with a bouquet of flowers or in your own creative way. In our Church we have placed the statue of Our Lady and St Joseph side by side at the sanctuary. You can always bring your kids and your elderly or sick members of your family to pray the Rosary at the Church. You can light up candles at the grotto and pray inside the Church.

Some Protestants have asked me, “What is the purpose of having the rosary devotion in the month of October?” We, Catholics have great respect and great love for Mary, the Mother of God. Many of us have our personal experiences or favorite memories with Mother Mary and those experiences or memories have kept our families and us closer to Her.

Everything the Church teaches about Mother Mary is meant to teach us something about Jesus Christ. She always points us to Jesus, her Son. Only mothers know much about their children, thus Mother Mary too knows Her Son well. She will help us to increase our love for Jesus day by day. Just as our earthly mothers will not let their sons and daughters down, our Heavenly Mother too will never let us down and she will continue to guide us towards the heavenly path.

How did Mother Mary grow so significantly in my spiritual life? During my younger days I didn't have much affection towards her. It all started since 1995 during my seminary days. Every day after dinner we seminarians would gather together either as a class or community to pray the Rosary. We would walk at least 20-30 minutes around our College compound reciting the rosary and end it at the grotto. That is how the Rosary became an important part of my prayer life. I urge all of you to teach your children and others to love the Rosary and to develop a habit of praying it through your example and encouragement.

“The Mother of Christ and of the Church is always with us. She walks with us always, She is with us.” Particularly, in the month of Rosary, we Catholics should honour her. As we begin praying our rosary daily this whole month, we will be able to feel that she is on our side and we shall gain many rewards through her intercession to her Son, Jesus Christ.  As we give honour to her in this month, let us ask her to pray for our needs and the need of others. May she help us in our faith as we treasuring Jesus in our hearts and in our homes ultimately bringing peace to our lives.

Faith Makes Things Happen

In today’s gospel, the apostles come to Jesus and say to him, “Lord, Increase our faith!” (LK 17: t-10). The apostles know that their faith is not adequate. They are men of little faith.

They take steps to improve their faith. What steps have we taken in these past years to develop our faith? How many retreats, formations, seminars and Bible study classes have we attended? How many homilies have we heard? How many books we have read? These are means through which the Lord increases our faith.

Faith makes things happen. Faith makes - Heaven real. God Real. Life Real. We are not in a dream world. Whenever we face crisis in our life we need to pray, "Lord, increase our faith."

We are afraid when we need not be afraid; we are discouraged when we need not be discourage. We do not use the little bit of faith that we have and trust in God to make things come out right. A faith that is rooted in Jesus can achieve the impossible things in our lives.

Celebrating Faith and Culture

Last weekend we had two joyful events during the 9.00 am Sunday Mass - Catechetical Sunday and Mooncake festival. The Catechetical team and the Chinese Apostolate animated the Mass.

The Church in Peninsular Malaysia has designated the third Sunday in September as Catechetical Sunday. It is a day when we specially honour our catechism teachers for being “teachers of faith and truth” (1 Tm 2: 7). The Church invites the community to celebrate and pray for their commitment to teach the Gospel of truth to our children. The catechists are the heart beat of our Church and they play a very important role in the mission of the Church sharing their gift of faith with our children as they deepen their own faith.

On behalf of the community of St Joseph, I would like to thank them for their involvement in the faith education of children and for their rededication to the mission of the Church as teachers of faith and truth. We take a moment to pray in thanksgiving for them for their service to our parish and for being witnesses of the Gospel. May the Lord guide them and inspire them as they continue to go forth to be commissioned for their ministry.

It is said that on the 15^th of the Lunar calendar of each month, the moon is at its roundest and brightest and this is when the celebration of the Mooncake festival (harvest festival) takes place. This festival is held in between the middle of September and early October. It symbolises togetherness and reunion in Chinese culture. It is a time for families get together and dine together to express their family love. Traditionally, the lantern has been used to symbolise fertility, and functioned mainly as a decoration.

Once again our Chinese apostolate celebrated the Mooncake festival with the St Joseph community during the 9.00 am Mass. They distributed mooncakes and lanterns to all our children and adults after the Mass. These past two years I noticed them celebrating and sharing the joy of this cultural celebration together with a larger community in St Joseph’s Church, which fosters great ties within the community.

This weekend our Catechetical team has organised a formation on the Theology of the Body (TOB) for Form 4 students and their parents at our formation hall. This session on TOB leads them to a deeper awareness of human dignity, identity, the beauty of each individual and the purpose of them being made male and female.

The TOB is St Pope John Paul II’s first major teaching assignment for the young people so that they may find joy, hope, freedom, a sense of reverence for oneself and others and to find fulfillment in life. The TOB also offers them to know better about their sexuality, their relationships, their joys and their struggles. I hope they have benefitted from the TOB sessions.

In a week’s time we will be celebrating the Month of the Rosary. Once again we shall have an opportunity to reflect and walk in the footsteps of Mary’s faith, obedient, hope, mercy and love.