A SPIRITUAL RETREAT FOR REST AND RENEWAL

Immediately after the feast of St. Joseph on 1 May 2018, a thought came to me about making a silent retreat overseas. After much consideration and prayer, I made up my mind to do my personal directed retreat at the Seven Fountains Retreat Center in Chiang Mai, Thailand. When I wrote an email to Rev. Fr. Paul Pollock SJ., he replied within 20 minutes saying, “the room is waiting for you.” That got me excited and I quickly I applied for my leave.

On 20 May 2018, I left for Chiang Mai but before leaving, I printed a copy of the latest Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father, Pope Francis on “Gaudete et Exsultate” (GE) or “Rejoice and Be Glad” which was published on 19 March 2018, the feast of St Joseph, the husband of Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a document about the call to holiness in today’s world. While I was on the flight, I was glancing at the document and the words of the Holy Father echoed in me, “we leave no room for God’s word,” (GE #68).

As I was entering the retreat center, the words of my retreat master, Fr. Pollock (via email) and the words of the Holy Father from the latest document, were strongly inviting me to reflect a little deeper on the meaning of “room”. For me, room indicated “heart” and I was longing to hear the voice of the Lord in my heart again. Hence, I needed to make room available in my heart for Jesus to speak.

In January 2002, just before beginning of my final year as a seminarian, I did a one-month silent retreat at this center. It was the best and last silent retreat I ever did in my life. Since then, I’ve come to realise that I have been too preoccupied with my ministry and that I’ve hardly spent time in prayer and mediation. I hoped and prayed that I would hear the whisper of the Lord in the room of my heart, as I was about to begin the one-week silent directed retreat. I started it without any expectation from the Lord, but instead I took it as a week of vacation and relaxation with Jesus.

On the first day of my retreat, I met my retreat master, Fr. Pollock, and he was happy that I had come to celebrate 15 years of my priestly life. He didn’t want to set any timetable for me, and instead left it to my own discretion. I made myself available to meet him every morning for at least for 30 minutes, and during the rest of the time, I allowed myself to be led by the Holy Spirit - in silent conversation in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, praying the Word of God, meditating, spiritual reading and walking around praying the Rosary. During the retreat I was so obsessed with the document of Holy Father on “Gaudete et Exsultate” and with a book called “Joy of the Priesthood” written by Fr. Stephen J. Rossetti, 2005.

As my retreat drew to a close, Fr. Pollock asked me to reflect on the story of Jesus cleansing the ten lepers, where only one leper came to glorify at Jesus’ feet from a thankful heart, (Luke 17:11-19). He encouraged me to take time off frequently to be with the Lord, celebrating my life as a priest, with thanksgivings in my heart. As for me, this retreat was a time away from my normal activities, to be solely with God. I gained the strength and joy in my priesthood and I am so thankful to God.

CHRIST IS DIVINELY PRESENT

Today’s celebration of Corpus Christi, the Body and Blood of Christ, is the feast of the very center and heart of our Church, the center and heart of our faith, and the center and heart of the lives of each of us.

On this feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, we remember that Jesus is truly and really presence in the Eucharist. It teaches us that as real food, the Eucharist is the true body and blood of Christ which nourishes our souls. We are fed with the “heavenly food.” It is a concrete way through which Christ is divinely present with us every day and every moment.

When we receive Holy Communion, we also receive a mission to “Go in peace and glorifying the Lord by your life.” When we go forth after the Eucharistic celebration, we grow daily into the Eucharistic Christ who reaches out to all people and who gives Himself fully for the life of the world.

Pope Francis reminds us that the Eucharist is to become what we eat, to be another Christ for the world, to be Eucharistic in our self-giving love, in our reaching out and in our embrace of all people in the manner Jesus showed us.

IN MEMORY OF REV FR JOSPEH PEREIRA

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. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO ‘CHANGE’

After the General Election 14 (GE14), I realised that I am engrossed and caught up in the current political situation of our beloved country. A lot of exciting changes are taking place, now that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad has been sworn in as the 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia by Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Muhammad V, at Istana Negara on Thursday, 10 May 2018. Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been released from prison, after Sultan Muhammad granted him a full pardon last Wednesday, 16 May 2018.

Barisan Nasional (BN) and its coalition parties, who were ruling our country for over sixty years, has lost its credibility. These past 10 years, I was very frustrated and saddened with the power and money politics, and the amount of corruption and scandals, which has caused anger amongst the Rakyat. Thankfully, the voice of the people has been heard, and justice was prevailed at the GE14.

During the GE14 talks, I learnt about a system of government known as “Kleptocracy” which was not something I was familiar with before, during my studies. ‘Klepto’ meaning thief and ‘cracy’ meaning rule, which literally translates to ‘ruled by thieves’. It is generally associated with dictatorships, military regimes, autocracy and nepotism. Malaysia is a democratic nation, which has been corrupted and exploited with kleptocracy these past years. We pray and hope that democracy will be fully practiced, and human rights and freedom will be given to all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion and gender.

We have spent so much time in prayer and have put a lot of effort in making a change for a clean government, and we thank God that the new government is in place now. As Christians, we must continue to pray for our nation to grow in justice and peace, and in cheerfulness and harmony. As citizens, we must commit ourselves to making our nation stronger economically, politically and socially as well as help to build sustainable values in our society. I am anticipating amazing reformation to take place in the months to come, and I look forward to seeing how our new leaders will take our nation towards Vision 2020.

In our Parish of St Joseph, we too have set our three-year vision towards  the year 2020. We have committed ourselves to New Evangelisation, and we focus our pastoral priorities on Youth & Family (2018), Ecumenical & Inter-religious Dialogue (2019) and Embracing The 5Ls – Lost, Last, Least, Little and Lonely (2020). I have a strong feeling that our parish community will be on the move towards this vision and mission with great enthusiasm. We have just recently celebrated the 110th Anniversary of our parish establishment, during the Feast of St Joseph, the Worker. In conjunction with that, we will be organising two more major events in August/September and November 2018, respectively.

On 26 May 2018, our Parish Family Life Ministry will be organising a formation entitled ‘5 Languages of Love’ for married couples. Unfortunately, the response has been poor so far, but I hope this will change. I strongly encourage all married couples in our parish to register for this formation, which will help strengthen your family life. Please don't miss this opportunity.

On the first day of the holy month of Ramadhan, I was casually having a conversation with Mrs Eleanor Benard, Chairperson of our Parish Ecumenical and Inter-religious Dialogue (EIRD) and thought of an idea to perhaps organise a buka puasa with our Muslim friends. I know that a few of you have participated as Polling and Counting Agents (PACA) in GE14, and perhaps you have made some new Muslim friends. Why not invite them to share a meal with us? We could also invite our EduCare students and their families to join the buka puasa, at our Church. Details of this event (should it materialise) will be dispersed in due time. Alternatively, we can always have a gathering during the month of Shawal, to build solidarity and foster a sense of community.

As our Muslim brothers and sisters observe their fast and abstinence, we pray that their lives will be fully nourished with spiritual blessings and closeness to Almighty ALLAH. We wish them a Blessed Ramadhan.

THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. It is the birth of the Holy Spirit.

The disciples were united and they all understood the language the Holy Spirit. The Disciples were united in their mission: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth,” (Acts 1:8).

The true Christian actually involves worshipping and praising God. Worship is an active response to God. Worship is the celebration of God. When we worship God, we celebrate Him, we praise Him and we boast in Him. Our worship must be centered on God.

We should prasie God more and more daily. The more we are filled with God’s Holy Spirit the more we find ourselves praising God. Praise God for the day He has given us and for the job He has called us to do.

On this Pentecost we are called to be a changed person. The power of the Holy Spirit is to change us the way we speak and the way we walk and the way we live our lives.