RESET OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE

Advent starts a new liturgical year inviting us to deepen our spiritual perspectives and closeness with God. Advent can be a season of healing through deeper awareness that the Child Jesus desires to be born anew in us once again. Advent is an opportunity to renew our commitment to Christ as Lord of our life.

In preparing for Christmas we have four weeks in Advent season to reset our spiritual life. We worry about the sin of others rather than our own sin.With Christ, we can live in safety, grow in holiness and be prepared for the Christmas. Advent is considered a penitential time with an opportunity to turn away from any darkness of sins in our lives. It is the coming of Christ as the light of the world that dispels our darkness of sins.

Advent gives us a fresh start and we shall use the season wisely.Silence, prayer, Eucharist, Confession and reading the scripturecan lead us to inner healing. Let us prepare well that our joy may be complete when we receive our newborn King, and celebrate His birth on Christmas Day.

“To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul,” (Ps 25).

THE LIGHT ON OUR JOURNEY

2018 marks 110 years since the Church of St Joseph, Sentul was established. In conjunction with that, we scheduled a few spiritual formations, special events and activities in our parish, but the celebration came to a climax on Sunday, 18 November 2018, when we hosted a thanksgiving dinner as well as the 2nd World Day Of The Poor. 

We had throngs of past and present parishioners, families, friends and guests from near and far, as well as migrant families from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India, plus some underprivileged families from around our parish vicinity, who came to celebrate this special occasion with us. The 110th year anniversary dinner and the World Day of the Poor went smoothly, with pleasant weather throughout the night. The fun-filled evening began with prayer, music from a live band, a laser show, performances by various ministries, speeches and lucky draws.

The organising committee and the souvenir magazine committee worked tirelessly to make it a night to remember. They have been gathering, planning, organising, reading archives and collecting parish history details, for over three months, and their efforts really paid off that night, and for that I am truly grateful. I feel honoured to have worked alongside them to make our celebration a reality. Once again, with due respect, let me just say a big THANK YOU to the committee members for the work you have done in making sure this event was successful and memorable. Your hard work and dedication is truly appreciated.

I would also like to say a big thank you to past priests and parishioners who have served in our parish. Over the years, you have stood together to strengthen the Church of St Joseph, the Worker. You have endured many hardships to build a strong faith-community of Catholics able to spread the Good News in extraordinary ways and you have brought blessings to our Parish.

To my dear present parishioners, you are the best!  Your commitment, support and prayer make every spiritual formation, every event and every activity a success! In my past four and a half years of service at this parish, you have been faithful companions and collaborators, bringing our parish to great heights. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all parishioners, families and friends for your love, your prayers and your support.

It is now time for us to renew and re-energise our parish’s mission and vision “Committing Ourselves to New Evangelisation” by building bridges with everyone, including people of other faiths, respectfully and joyfully. Through the example of Mother Mary and our Patron, St Joseph, we shall continue to keep the spirit of evangelisation, and strengthen our mission and vision as we unite for a common purpose to serve Christ and His Church and to complete the mission Christ has mandated to us.

Let us work enthusiastically to build our relationships within the family and parish. Sometimes, when we become too exhausted, and we find ourselves becoming lukewarm in our relationship with God and one other, our life of faith withers. The higher our level of enthusiasm, the more we are living in God then we can redirect our energy to do more fruitful work, in His name.

Let us take the time to thank our Heavenly Father for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. We thank and praise our Lord Jesus Christ for being the light on our journey these past 110years. May the good Lord be with us always and bless us and our families.

THE LORD IS KING

The Solemnity of Christ the King, which we celebrate today, was established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. We always celebrate this feast on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Sunday before the beginning of Advent.

We only see one absolute benevolent king in all of history that is the LORD JESUS Himself. He is the Only King. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Christ the King establishes His Kingdom of light upon earth. This kingdom comes first to our hearts when we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives. When we surrender our lives to Him and proclaim Him to be King in our lives then our hearts become an extension of His kingdom on earth.

The empty promises and false hope of wealth and material possessions are hanged in front of us. The King of kings is coming to conquer our true enemies: sin, death, the evil with His kingly power. Be ready, be prepared for His coming!

May the power of the Gospel change our hearts and our lives by Christ the King, who is our Ruler, our Victor and our Redeemer.

“The Lord is King, with majesty enrobed,” (Ps 93).

COMMEMORATING 110 YEARS BY CELEBRATING THE PRESENCE OF JESUS IN OUR MIDST

Sunday, 18 November 2018 will be a very memorable day for us, as we celebrate three significant milestones in our parish’s history. We will be celebrating:

1) Parish 110^thYear Anniversary

This year the Church of St. Joseph, Sentul, Kuala Lumpur is celebrating 110 years, since its establishment. In conjunction with this event, the committee, led by Joe Fernando, Leonard Paiva and Gabriel Moses, will be organising a Thanksgiving Dinnerinviting parishioners, their families and neighbours for this celebration. For the past two months, they have been working hard to ensure this event goes smoothly and successfully. They have sold 1010 tickets (10pax per table) for a delicious 8-course Chinese meal, which will be served by one of the famous seafood restaurants from Sekincan, Kuala Selangor. 

At this event, there will be a live band, laser show, dancing, raffle draws and other entertainment starting from 7.30pm to 10.30pm. It will take place at the Church’s backyard. We shall pray for pleasant weather, so that everyone can have a memorable time that night. 

2) 2^ndWorld Day of the Poor

Last year the Holy Father, Pope Francis invited the Catholic Church to set aside the 33^rdSunday in Ordinary Time each year as World Day of the Poor. This year, the Universal Church will celebrate the 2^ndWorld Day of the Pooron 18 November 2018 with the theme “This Poor Man Cried and the Lord heard him,” (Ps 34:6). The Holy Father, Pope Francis invites us to move with the spirit of human solidarity, and care for the poor by uprooting poverty, which is mainly caused by selfishness, pride, greed and injustice. The Holy Father says that we ought to draw ourselves near to the poor, listen to their cries, build relationship with them, get to know and honour them because they are a real presence of Jesus in our midst.

 

Last year, our Parish marked the First World Day of the Poorby inviting poor and under-privileged members of our community to various activities, a funfair, live band performances and meals together. To mark the 2^ndWorld Day of the Poor, we have invited 350 poor people - locals as well migrants - to come together and join in our Thanksgiving Dinneron 18 November 2018. The committee has managed to raise the sum of money required in order to sponsor tickets for them. We really appreciate for all those who have generously come forward with their donations. It is our way of giving tribute, honour and dignity to these most vulnerable people as we all come together to celebrate 110years since the establishment of our beautiful church.

3) Launching of our Parish Souvenir Magazine

The Parish of St Joseph, Sentul has had a very long, significant and successful history since it was founded in 1908. The 110^thYear Commemorative Magazinewill be launched on 18 November 2018 to mark the establishment of our church. As a community, we treasure every moment of our rich history (the past), we celebrate Jesus’ presence in words and sacraments every day (the present) and we walk in faith for every success (the promise of our future).

I would like to thank the Editorial Committee, led by Neubert Ambrose, the designers and printer, sponsors and well-wishers, for the contribution of articles and advertisements in the magazine. The magazine is available for purchase at only RM10 per book, so please get a copy (or two!) for yourself and for your family and friends.

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all parishioners who have worked tirelessly and unfailingly to support and pray for the success of our projects. You are all superb! Thank you once again and I look forward to working with you on the next one, very soon!

THE END TIMES

The readings for the 33^rdSunday in Ordinary Time focus on the theme of living with the “end of the world.”

Jesus has given much details to the disciples regarding the end times and the signs. Jesus concludes with a challenge for the disciple and for us to be aware of the time, while diligently watching for His return.

No one has the knowledge to discern all that Jesus said about the end times and it remains “secret and sealed until the time of the End.” One thing is certain that His return is very near and we are supposed to watch and wait for His return.

We need to spend the rest our days and years on earth proactively seeking to do good works, keep a good conscience and do our best to live without spot or stain so that the Lord will find us at peace when He returns. We must be persistent in our work of evangelisation presenting Jesus to ALL as we continually watch for His return.

Are we living out our faith and fulfilling the work that the Lord has given us? How is your relationship with Christ?

Keep watching, working, waiting in prayers and stay close to Jesus!