DO NOT WORRY

Jesus says: It’s God or Money. It’s one or the other. It is a difficult choice. You cannot serve both God and Money (MT 6: 24-34). If we don’t show love and concern for people who were created in God’s image, we are not serving God. We might be serving money.

If you have loved the heavenly Father, your wealth is worry free. Loving God eradicates worry. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

God wants us to trust Him and follow Him. God wants us to discover the worry-free treasure of loving and trusting Him. Love and trust go hand in hand. Trust is an important part of any close relationship. Our heavenly Father already knows us and He knows what we need. He promises to provide for us.

Just leave behind all those attractions that keep us from putting God first. It is a struggle but the Lord will help us to put Him first, above all else in our lives so that we may truly strive for the Kingdom of Heaven.

LET US PRAY FOR OUR NATION

Before ending the year 2016, the 13^th Malaysian Parliament sat for the last time on 24 November 2016. The 5^th session of the 13^th Parliament will commence again on 6 March 2017 (Monday) - 6 April 2017 (Thursday).

The Parliament of Malaysia will automatically dissolve the 13^th Parliament before or on 24 June 2018, and it will elect its members for the 14th Parliament of Malaysia before 24 August 2018.

The Church in Malaysia has set a Day of Prayer for Malaysia this coming Friday, 24 February starting from 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm. The Church invites us to participate in this liturgical celebration beginning with recitation of Rosary, the Eucharistic celebration, Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, Evening Prayer, a time of silent prayer and listening to the Word of God, etc. The Church has taken special readings and prayers for this Eucharistic celebration. The composed prayers and the prayer of faithful will be focusing on the situation in the country and its people.

As the Malaysian Parliament is preparing to sit with its elect members on 6 March 2017, the Church invites every Catholic to gather in the Church in prayer so that the coming 14^th General Election will be conducted peacefully and justly. The Church with great hope expects every parishioner to gather in prayer for the common good of our nation and for the country’s economic growth, political stability, fair education and decrease in social issues such as corruption and violence.

In this time of economic downturn and crisis, Malaysians are struggling with a high level of personal debt, reduction in public investment in various sectors and our currency, the ringgit, is sliding rapidly. Malaysia's economy is growing more slowly and will continue to remain unstable. Our top political leaders are the cause of this loss of confidence in Malaysia’s economy. The political scene has been equally unsettled and many are worried about which direction the country is heading.

Corruption and violence have become a major issue in our country. Now our country is one of the top in the list of corruption. At one time Malaysia was considered one of the safest country in South East Asia but now it has become one of the most dangerous countries in this region especially Kuala Lumpur City, which has become a center for criminal activities.

We also realise that Schools and education systems hardly serve as channels for the development of peaceful societies. The poor quality of the school education system also causes our economic, political and social skills to weaken. Why is our education system failing our students? Is it because of bad parents, bad teachers or bad administration? It is time to solve the problems within our education system to enable our students to succeed in the future and to bring the nation to success.

Let’s come together next Friday evening to pray for our nation to enjoy true peace, justice and love. We too pray for ourselves to hold firmly to our Christian faith and to courageously and generously serve our country.

“Be perfect as your Father is perfect,” (MT 5:48).

We agree with to say, “nobody is perfect”, meaning every one is “imperfect”. Jesus tells us that our Heavenly Father is the greatest of all because He is perfect. 

So as we seek to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect, we can take Jesus as our model. We should struggle to be like Jesus in both character and outlook.

The call to “be perfect” shouldn’t discourage us instead it should motivate us. As we seek godly perfection or godly character in our lives, we will develop habits of virtue – patience, kindness, generosity, humility, courtesy, unselfishness, good temper, gentleness, and sincerity.

When we stumble on the way to perfection, Jesus will always be there to pick us up, forgive us, and set us on our way again. He understands and He gives grace. We just need to trust God to help us to live it by faith.

LET THE SPIRIT LEAD US

Since 1960s, Vatican II has called for the renewal of the spiritual life of Catholics which resulted in the Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS). Since then, the Catholic Church has for more than 40 years, been organising the LSS which has helped millions of people all over the world. The two main objectives of the LSS are for renewal and rekindling the power of the Holy Spirit that we received through the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.

We will be starting the LSS in our parish. Our programme is designed for once a week and it will be conducted over a seven-week period. The LSS provides teachings, guidance, group sharing, testimonies, and prayers, which will lead you to experience a new and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. It leads us to a way of learning more about living in the Spirit as we grow in faith. It helps the church members to have an ongoing personal conversion and to renew their baptismal commitments in order to experience a fuller life in the Spirit.

The LSS committee is inviting ALL our parishioners to participate in these sessions. The theme which they have chosen, is “Behold I Come to Bring Fire…” (Lk 12: 49). 

There are 5 things the organising team wants to accomplish through this LSS:

• ·     Rekindle your first love of God
• ·      Open yourself to His healing
• ·      Restore any area of brokenness in your life
• ·      Rediscover the purpose of life
• ·      Living it to the full through the Grace of God 

The LSS committee has set the above tasks as objectives to bring conversion, renewal and transformation in our parish. The committee intends every parishioner to make a first commitment in enrolling in this event. Some of you may think that this is only for those who are in the prayer group ministry and for those who are deep in their prayer life. The LSS is not just solely on prayer and healing.

We invite all of you to come with an open-mind and fully participate in this. Come and experience the sacramental graces and empower yourself with a new and fuller relationship with Jesus Christ. Your active participation in the session, Eucharist and reconciliation will enhance and strengthen your faith. We hope too the gift of the Holy Spirit will fill your life and change you so that you may experience His love abundantly, “I came that they might have life and have it to the full,” (Jn 10:10).

As one community let us pray:

• ·      For the LSS committee and all other sub-committees, in time of discouragement, that they may remain humble before God and have confidence that He is at work bringing our church together.
• ·     Pray for the participants to continually submit to God’s will and become filled with a zeal for Jesus and His Church.
• ·     Pray for the presenters to faithfully preach the Word of God and to grow in the wisdom and knowledge of Christ.

The LSS is for everyone. We invite you to come and join. Please do register soon.

PURIFY OUR MINDS

We are still with a sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gave His followers extended instructions about life in the kingdom of God. In this Sermon (MT 5: 17-37), Jesus reveals that God’s law always aimed at the heart. The law in the Old Testament says, “You shall not commit adultery.”

Jesus affirms it when He says, “if a man looks on a woman lustfully,  he has committed adultery with her in his heart,” (MT 5:28).

Our motives and desires determine the sin. It is in our minds that sin is developed. Therefore, we need to control our minds. The root is at our mind. We need to purify our thoughts and actions daily.

Lord, help us to see our brothers or sisters as you see them. Help us to love them as you have loved us, with humility and generosity, without counting the cost.