A Mentor And A Friend - REV FR IGNATIUS HUAN (1941-2018)

On 3 December 2018, after morning Mass, I received a text message from my Clergy group about the demise of Rev Fr Ignatius Huan Kin Kwang, a priest from the Melaka-Johor Diocese of Malaysia. I was saddened by the news, but I understood that he was cancer stricken suffered very much as a result, for a year, and now his suffering has ended. He returned to the Lord at 3.28am on 3 December 2018, which is also the feast of Saint Francis Xavier.

Fr Ignatius was born on 23 November 1941. Prior to joining the seminary, he was a secondary school Science teacher in Segamat and Kulai, Johor. He started his seminary formation when he was 35 years old, and was ordained as a priest on 28 March 1985. After serving for a couple of years in the Melaka-Johor Diocese, he was sent to further his studies, in Rome.

Upon completing his Licentiate in Sacred Theology in Rome, Fr Ignatius was assigned to teach Spirituality and Psycho-Spirituality at the College General Major Seminary, Penang in 1995. He was also appointed as an Initiation Year Director (1stYear) for my class, during my first year in the seminary. He was a professor and Spiritual Director of College General Major Seminary in Penang (1995-2007) and St Francis Xavier Major Seminary in Singapore (2008-2010).

During my seminary life, I had a personal Spiritual Father, but I met with Fr Ignatius for spiritual direction and advice, at least two or three times a month. While I was completing my eight-year journey in the seminary, we established a relationship of mutual respect and appreciation, especially as I was the only one who survived the 1995 batch, while four other classmates dropped out within the first three years. Fr Ignatius was a source of guidance, as he mentored in the seminary.

When I was ministering in Kuantan and Terengganu, I was going through a tough time in my priesthood. I drove to Penang to seek spiritual directions from Fr Ignatius and I spent three days in silent retreat staying in the College General. Fr Ignatius told me that I was facing a mid-life crisis and he assisted and enlightened my priesthood and my life’s journey. He also recommended books for my spiritual reading and they were really helpful in my soul-searching.

The last time I met Fr Ignatius was during our Malaysian Clergy Convention in Plentong, Johor in July 2018. During this convention I purchased a copy of his book “The Mass: We Remember, We Celebrate, We Believe”published in 2018. Eventhough I have not started reading it, the book is precious to me because Fr Ignatius signed and wrote on it, “Dear George Packia, Shalom, by Huan”, dated 18 July 2018.

Fr Ignatius always showed special affection for people. Everyone looked up to him because of his simplicity. He spent most of his time praying, reading, preparing lectures, sessions and formations. He valued time and spent most of his priestly ministry lecturing in the seminaries forming priests. He also directed many priests, religious, seminarians and lay people through retreats and formations. He was always available if anyone wanted to meet him for spiritual guidance. He was a great preacher. 

There were almost 60 bishops and priests from Peninsula Malaysia and Singapore who attended his funeral on Wednesday, 5 December 2018 at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Johor Bharu. He will be missed dearly and he will never be forgotten. May God rest his soul in peace.

REPENT, GET READY AND BE PREPARED

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,” (Luke 1:4).

John Baptist’s message today, “Repent!” He is asking the people of his time, and us as well, to “repent, get ready, prepare the way of the Lord.” 

How do we prepare to meet our God? We face sins and we need to repent from sins. Repentance is not a once in a lifetime event, but through our daily action to stay closer with God.

A spiritual preparation is necessary for the coming of Jesus into our hearts. Sins need to be made clean by repentance. “Winding roads” and “rough ways” need to be “made straight” and “made smooth.” It is also our work in Advent, a season for our own preparation as we await the coming of Jesus this Christmas.

Advent reminds of our need for spiritual preparation in the midst of our busyness with decorating our homes, shopping for Christmas gifts and planning parties. 

Advent can be the time when we, as individuals, as a family of God, should turn away from our sins and balance our busy schedules with prayers, mediation and reflection because it allows us to rise up in our hearts. 

“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” (Ps 126)

CARRYING OUT THE MISSION OF JESUS CHRIST

“It’s time for Christmas shopping!” - this comes to mind the moment we enter into the season of Advent. Advent is “a time of vigilant waiting, conversion and of hope.”The next couple of weeks we will be waiting for the coming of Jesus once again into our hearts and our homes on Christmas Day, and also prepare for His final glorious coming on Judgment Day. 

To welcome the mystery of the Word Incarnate (cf. John 1:1) and to incarnate it in our lives this Christmas, we need to have conversion of our hearts. We ought to tune our mind and heart to live and re-live the spirit of Advent, hoping the Lord will bestow His grace upon us, as we grow in holiness and peace. To come to the true meaning of Christmas - the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus, we should spend time in pray, meditation and daily reading of Scripture throughout Advent. As we are striving to be closer to Jesus, may His Grace free us from sins and from its evil consequences. May the New liturgical year and Advent bring many blessings and graces to you and your families.

To prepare for the new liturgical year 2018/2019, twelve of us from various head of ministries, came together on Saturday, 24 November 2018 to revise our parish mission statements and pastoral priorities. We began with a silent adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour before entering into our discussions and sharing.

First, we discuss why the Church wants the New Evangelisation? The word Evangelisation has a similar meaning to missionary efforts in proclaiming Jesus to everyone. The term New Evangelisation was first used by Saint Pope John Paul II, when he was addressing the Latin American Bishops in 1983. He invited every Christian to make known Christ and His Gospel to everyone, to the baptised who have lost the sense of faith and those who live a life far detached from Christ and His Church.

In the year of Jubilee 2000, Saint John Paul challenged the Church to leave behind the shallow waters by not just maintaining the Church institution, but to go to the deeper waters of Evangelisation. We, as a Church, are invited today to “put into the deep” or Duc in Altum, and lower our nets for more catch (Luke 5:4), which means to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ to every corner of the world and to every culture.

Dear Parishioners, I hope you still remember our parish vision for the year 2018-2020, which is “Committing Ourselves to New Evangelisation” and our parish pastoral priority for the year 2019, which will be on Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue (EIRD). Our discussion on our pastoral priority for 2019 focuses on EIRD and the issues, which arise with our fellow brethren from other churches and people of other faiths as well. Next, how can we guide our various ministries, clusters and parish community and what are the events we may think of, in order to achieve our vision and mission? 

Hence, we want each parishioner to build respectful relationships with everyone, get in touch with each other in the parish and with those whom have distance themselves from our faith, and to communicate with people of other faiths for the common good of all. Let’s work together to set a path of love and fraternity, by promoting ecumenical and inter-faith harmony, mutual understanding and friendship. The Holy Spirit will guide us on our journey, as we work towards our vision and mission in the coming year, 2019.

VISION: COMMITTING OURSELVES TO NEW EVANGELISATION

MISSION: As disciples of hope, we, the Parishioners of Saint Joseph’s Church, commit into the spirit of New Evangelisation by building friendship with EVERYONE, including people of other faiths, respectfully and joyfully

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.