THE RICHNESS OF MANY YEARS OF LIFE

Every 4th Sunday in July, we celebrate World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly and this year, it will be celebrated on 25 July 2021, in anticipation of the Feast of Sts Joachim and Anne (grandparents of Jesus). During the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Elizabeth (31 May 2021), the Holy Father, Pope Francis, released a pastoral care letter for the first World Day of Grandparents and Elderly with the theme - “I am with you always,” (MT 28: 20). It was the last words of Jesus to His Disciples before He ascended into heaven.

In the letter, Pope Francis emphasises that the vocation of the elderly which is “to preserve our roots, to pass on the faith to the young and to care for the little ones.” It is also a “new invitation” to the older generations in our families and communities to deepen and discern their “richness of many years of life, experience and history behind them.” The Holy Father affirms that grandparents and the elderly have an essential role in God’s salvation plan. He added “there is no retirement age for the mission of proclaiming the Gospel, of transmitting traditions to the grandchildren.” 

 

There is no age criteria to proclaim the Good News to all people but the Lord is always “close to us with new possibilities, new ideas, and new consolations.” Each one of us represents the present and future of the Church and we “have a place in God’s plan” and are “actors in a pastoral evangelising ministry, privileged witnesses of God’s faithful love.” In this time of global pandemic, the Holy Father sympathises with the elderly, especially those who are sick and those who experience the death of spouses or loved ones, as well as those who are lonely and depressed.

 

At this time of difficulty, the Holy Father expresses his deep care and concern for people who are unable to leave their homes or unable to visit their elderly parents, grandparents and old folks’ home due to the pandemic restrictions. Therefore, it is important for us to stay connected with our grandparents, elderly friends, the poor and the needy through various social networking services - to read the Scripture to them, to pray the Psalms and the Rosary for them. In his letter, the Holy Father invites us to reflect on these few questions:

 

a)    How can this be possible when my energy is running out and I don’t think I can do much?

b)     How can I begin to act differently when habit is so much a part of my life?

c)    How can I devote myself to those who are poor when I am already so concerned about my family?

d)     How can I broaden my vision when I can’t even leave the residence where I live?

e)     Isn’t my solitude already a sufficiently heavy burden?

 

The world needs grandparents and the elderly in order to build a stronger foundation for all our tomorrows. Grandchildren need their grandparents for their wisdom and knowledge, for their experience, advise and unconditional love, and especially for their stories of the past that root them together in faith, tradition and family.

LIVING FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

In this time of global pandemic, many people in our country are facing trials and tribulations. COVID-19 cases are spreading like wildfire every day, especially in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negeri Sembilan. Many individuals and organisations have promptly stepped forward, to reach out to those in need throughout the nation. Each parish has a special Ministry of the Poor, under the umbrella of the Parish Integral Human Development Ministry (PIHDM) which reaches out to the poor and destitute who seek protection, assistance, mercy and love.

Earlier this week, my Form Six classmates started a small online collection for a neighbourhood family in need. Everyone chipped in whatever amount they could, and within a few hours, we managed to collect a substantial amount for that family with three children. Taking a lead from that initiative, I then decided to do the same for the 300 Myanmar families in our Parish. These families are desperately in need of help, as the majority of them have lost their jobs and livelihood due to the pandemic, and are struggling to make ends meet. As a Parish, we are responsible to care for our own needy Parishioners.

Ever since the first lockdown in March 2020, we have provided cash aids to the Myanmar families in our Parish. However, our Myanmar Fund was running a deficit and thus the Ministry of the Poor started a collection campaign called “Adopt a Myanmar Family” which encouraged Parishioners to contribute a minimum of RM50 to our Parish account. An appeal letter was circulated to Parishioners and close friends earlier this week, and within 2 days, we managed to adopt and provide for 150 families.

The “Adopt a Myanmar Family” campaign will run till the end of this weekend, and all proceeds will be distributed to the respective families by Tuesday, 13 July 2021. This method of crowd-funding has proven to be the most effective and efficient way of assisting the Myanmar families in this time of need.

 

Besides the Myanmar Zomi community, we have quite a number of migrant and refugee families from Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India who live within our Parish vicinity. About 100 of these families receive provision of groceries from our Ministry of the Poor on a monthly basis. Our Parish has been providing aid to them well before the global pandemic, including tuition classes for the children by our Parish Educare Ministry, every Monday and Tuesday. Classes are currently being conducted online. 

During this COVID-19 pandemic, our Parish continues to remain true to our mission of reaching out to migrants and refugees who need our support. We will continue to play our part and make every effort in reaching out to as many individuals - adults and children alike - during this pandemic. Let us embrace them with joy and generosity, living for the glory of God.

BUILD YOUR SOCIAL FRIENDSHIP

The first half of 2021 has passed us by, with many pleasant and unpleasant events having taken place during this unprecedented pandemic. We pray and hope for the best in the second half of the year, as we continue to move forward in cautiousness.

Photo: 2018

The Holy Father, Pope Francis’s prayer intention for the month of July 2021 is on Social Friendship. He invites us to pray for this intention and at the same time to be more “courageous and passionate architects of dialogue and friendship” in the midst of social conflicts, economic downturns and political crises. His intention is to solve or avoid conflicts that cause constant division and social enmities in so many relationships which exist within our families, amongst individuals and in society at large. He yearns for all of us to focus on bridging our differences through dialogue and building up our friendships as a “path to seeing reality in a new way, so we can live with passion, the challenges we face in constructing the common good” with one another.

 

Pope Francis said, “We come from distant lands; we have different traditions, skin colour, languages and social backgrounds; we think differently and we celebrate our faith in a variety of rites. None of this makes us enemies; instead, it is one of our greatest riches,” (Homily, 19 November 2016). His saying reminds me about the variety friends that I have gained over the years. They are of various races, cultures, beliefs, faiths, practise different traditions and speak different languages. It saddens me to say that I have lost five close childhood friends since. May the Lord grant them eternal rest. I have also lost contact with school friends for years, but I do keep in touch with my college friends and we do communicate with each other via social media. Ever since I joined the seminary in 1995, and after being ordained a priest, I developed friendships with a different group of people, mainly from the circle of priests and parishioners. 

Many of us have friendships which has somehow lasted since our childhood and school days. Some of us find camaraderie in friendships with colleagues, neighbours and other people we meet in our daily lives. Some friends have moved overseas, but we somehow find ways to keep in touch with them through social media, as their friendship means something to us. Wherever they are, whoever they are, we are still in contact with them. Besides our family members, we need friends to talk to, to listen, to understand or to be companions on our journey of life - in good, as well as difficult times.

Photo: July 2021

Pope Francis, in his encyclical on “Fratelli Tutti” (Fraternity and Social Friendship, October 2020) has dedicated chapter six to “Dialogue and Friendship in Society.” He pointed out that “giving priority to dialogue means abandoning the logic of polarisation and replacing it with respect, without wanting to destroy others.” I believe we have developed a variety of richness in building up friendships through dialogue with one another, even though we have differences and interests. We have to take every opportunity in building up healthy relationships, rather than be hostile or pose as threats to others. We don’t want to lose our friends or to have enemies around us. Jesus says, “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends,” (John 15: 13).

Early this week we heard about the White Flag (Bendera Putih) campaign. It is a noble and good spirit of outreach, in helping those who are not able to meet the basic food needs of their family during this difficult times. In this month of July, let’s keep a look out for those in need in our neighbourhood - families and friends who are in need of basic necessities and help, in order to assist them during this difficult period. It is time for us to work for the common good of our community as we rebuild our nation through fraternity, dialogue and social friendship.

EVOLVING DURING THESE UNPRECENDENTED TIMES

On 28 June 2021, we come to the end of our FMCO 3.0 in our country. However, the number of Covid-19 cases has not declined drastically as hoped for. Instead, the figures are still fluctuating in the thousands daily, and we don’t see a steady decline either in cases nationwide.

In some parts of the world, we have noticed a curb in the rate of infections, as they have speeded-up the vaccination process and ensured compliance of the SOPs. Some countries, such as Belgium and the United Kingdom, have stated that they have vaccinated approximately 50%-60% of their total population, and life has slowly started to return to normal again. After some consideration, and taking into account the drastic decline in the daily infection rate, the Euro Cup 2020 organising committee decided to proceed with the tournament from 11 June till 11 July 2021. This tournament was supposed to have been held during the summer of 2020, but was postponed due to the surge of Covid-19 cases worldwide.

 

In Malaysia, statistics indicate that 1.6 million people have been fully vaccinated, and 4.1 million people have received their first dose (The Star, 21 June 2021). By end of June 2021, the respective vaccination centres hope to administer at least 400,000 doses per day. Initially, Malaysians were hesitating to sign up for the vaccination program after hearing and reading about the many negative reviews and its side effects. People have however come to a better understanding of the vaccine and realise the importance of getting vaccinated, in order to break the infection chain throughout the country. Hopefully, once we have the majority of our population vaccinated, the number of Covid-19 cases will decline drastically.

 

I was recently reading an editorial column written by Bishop David, J. Bonnar (The Priest, June 2021), who mentioned that the Merriam-Webster has added 520 new words to its dictionary. A few new words that captured my attention include those related to the pandemic, such as “Covid-19” and “long hauler” as well as the term “second gentleman”.

Covid-19: a word that is already planted in everyone’s head since the beginning of the pandemic.

Long-hauler: a person who experiences one or more long-term effects following initial improvement or recovery from serious illness such as Covid-19.

Second gentleman: was added after the United States election in January 2021. When Kamala Harris was appointed Vice President, her husband was addressed as the second gentleman. This term refers to the male partner of the vice president.

 

Language is constantly evolving and from time to time, new words are introduced into our vocabulary. These new words help us to communicate and express a language better. If you’re curious to find out more about the new words that were added into the dictionary, you can always surf the internet for the full list of 520 new words.

 

Since the start of this year, we have not only learnt new words and terminologies, but we have also gained new experiences in facing the challenges during this new-normal way of life. Due to this deadly virus, many of us are undergoing emotional, physical and financial crisis. We have been persistently praying as families and communities, for an end to this pandemic, and every individual should strive to become a “Good Samaritan” - to be a source of comfort and support through our works of mercy by reaching out to those who are seeking assistance.  Let’s be united as a family of God and “be challenged to grow, pray together, live side by side, and serve one another” during this unprecedented times.

FATHERS, HELP YOUR CHILDREN GROW

This weekend (20 June 2021), we celebrate Father’s Day with the Full Movement Controlled Order (15-28 June 2021) still in effect. This will be the second year in a row that we celebrate Father’s Day on a smaller scale, due to the pandemic. Father’s Day was inaugurated in the early 20th Century to complement Mother’s Day. On this day we honour all fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and spiritual fathers, as well. They have greatly influenced individuals, families and society.

When I was growing up with my four siblings, my father was very much concerned about our studies. Entertainment, in any form, was not allowed. In fact, we didn’t even have a television set at home till the early 1980s! My father was so strict in disciplining us and I was often whacked with a stick for causing a ruckus. As I look back today, I appreciate the fact that my father paid so much attention to my personal growth and studies. Today, I thank him for relentlessly disciplining me, and ensuring that I was properly educated in academics, morals and faith.

Very often, fathers are seen to be strong and unemotional men. However, they are the pillars of our family and we must appreciate them for their silent commitment and dedication to their families, especially to their children. I am very sure that every one of us has memorable stories of our childhood, and of our respective father’s teaching us the importance of prayer, mutual respect, honesty, integrity, forgiveness and placing God in the centre of our lives. We all want and need good fathers to provide unconditional love and care, and to ensure that the basic necessities of our lives are met.

Fathers who are stern and strict are not necessarily bad fathers. Their methods may be a little outdated in these modern times, but we must appreciate that they too want the best for their children – raising them on a foundation of discipline and respect, to listen and to obey with love, instead of fear. Self-discipline and respect for others are makings of a good and upstanding person.

We have God, the Father - who is loving, kind, generous and approachable - and all earthly fathers should be like Him, in order to build healthy relationships with their children. Fathers need to encourage and motivate their children in their education, including religious and moral studies. They should also express their unconditional love and care to their children, freely and without hesitation.

Fathers, you are chosen to be the head of your household and spiritual leaders of your family. It is your responsibility to educate and teach your children, and to help them grow psychologically, emotionally, morally and spiritually. In the Bible, Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel and he proclaimed with one voice, “As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15). In the midst of all kinds of challenges in our lives, fathers are entrusted to ensure that their home honours Jesus Christ, as the Head of families.

 

Happy Father’s Day! Be courageous, supportive and loving to your children!