HOLY IN ALL ACTIVITY

The world has become more globalised, and networks are expanding tremendously. Social media platforms can be reliable and at times, not so. Many tend to trust and believe what we read on social media. Now and then, we encounter false and misleading information on social media and in the past month, we were confronted with two fake news within the Catholic Church.

On 4 July 2022, rumours circulated that Pope Francis would be resigning as leader of the Roman Catholic Church. However, the Holy Father discredited this rumour when he told Reuters that he “dismissed the idea of resignation” and that it “never entered” his mind. Another fake news - circulated on social media on 11 July 2022 - caused a stir, as it reported the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. He is still alive in Vatican City at age 95!

 

It seems that fake news travels faster than any other news, so for goodness’ sake, please stop spreading them! Such unverified and untrue messages are detrimental, as it can cause anxiety and stress. This can lead to a deteriorating quality of life and may prevent us from simply seeking out the truth before jumping to conclusions. Adding to the anxiety of rumours and fake news in our daily lives, can be exhausting.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest,” (Matt 11: 28)

. At times, we may want to give up due to fatigue and tiredness. However, amid our daily struggles, we should turn to Him for consolation, joy, strength and hope. Jesus never felt tired when fulfilling His Father’s will and mission on earth. He did everything with obedience and humility. What is lacking in our lives is the virtue of humility and strength to go on in our service for others.

All stress, troubles and hardships should drive us back into the arms of our Lord Jesus. He is in control of our lives, and He can comfort, console and strengthen us. Each experience will deepen our faith in Jesus, who holds all things in His hands and help us to grow closer to Him. When we endure - “Your endurance will win you your lives,” (Lk 21:19) and He will form us, mould us and bring us to greater life in Him.

Many of us have been serving in the Church for many years and sometimes, we may find it difficult and tiring. Perhaps we have thought about giving up, but the Lord says, “do not get tired” (2 Thessalonians 3: 13) but “put yourselves at the service of others” (1 Peter 4: 10) and “be yourselves holy in all your activity” (1 Peter 1:15) “so that in everything, God may receive the glory through Jesus Christ,”  (1 Peter 4: 11).

FAITH LEADS US TO DEVOTION AND PRAYER

Our Parish Feast Day is over, and we are grateful for the many blessings! I would like to thank the Feast Day committee members for their hard work and dedication in making our 9-days Novena Masses to St Thomas, as well as the thanksgiving celebration, a successful and meaningful experience for everyone. I know the workload was heavy for a small community, but together we made it possible! I truly admire and appreciate your dedication and contributions throughout the celebrations.

On Sunday, 3 July 2022, just before we began our 8.30 am Mass, we unveiled and blessed the image of the Divine Mercy near the sanctuary. Many people pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet since its inauguration in the year 2000 by Saint John Paul II, who then announced that the Second Sunday of Easter would also be known as Divine Mercy Sunday. It is an appropriate dedication, as the Gospel reading during that week speaks about St Thomas’ encounter with the Risen Lord eight days after the first apparition (cf. John 20:26ff). We are grateful to Miss Amie Tan Ai Mei who painted this Divine Mercy image.

Miss Amie has also painted and completed portraits of our parish priests, who have previously served and ministered at St Thomas Church, Kuantan since the 1950s, as well as a portrait of the Holy Father, Pope Francis. These portraits are displayed in the canteen recreation area so that we, the Parishioners, as well as visitors, can remember them with gratitude and prayer.

It is common to see the statues of Mother Mary and St Joseph on the left and right wings respectively, of the sanctuary in many churches. There is no hard and fast rule about this, and therefore we recently decided to relocate the carved wooden statues of Our Lady and St Joseph the Worker, by placing them side-by-side. It is to remind us that they are models of married life. We seek their intercessions for all young married couples to take each other as life-long partners by following the example of Mary and Joseph and be faithful and truthful in their marriages.

Traditionally, churches place the statue of their respective Parish’s patron saint either above the tabernacle or within the sanctuary. We have also seen that some churches have removed statues of their patron saint from the main sanctuary to replace it in favour of a crucifix in the center. At our Parish, we have relocated the carved wooden statue of our patron saint - St Thomas, the Apostle - from the main entrance to a more prominent place on the right corner of the Church. This corner of our Parish is now known as St Thomas Shrine. At this shrine, we have also displayed another image of St Thomas’ encounter with the Risen Lord, as well as the newly composed litany to St Thomas, the Apostle.

The significance, beauty and dignity of images and statues of our faith leads us to devotion and prayer. Together, let us keep the traditional practices of our Catholic Church alive!

CONNECTED THROUGH MUTUAL LOVE AND RESPECT

The Pope’s prayer intention for the month of July 2022 focuses on the elderly. He invites us all to pray for them - “We pray for the elderly, who represent the roots and memory of a people; may their experience and wisdom help young people to look towards the future with hope and responsibility.” 

Elderly people can be anyone from our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, to our friends, neighbours and teachers. They have experienced a lot - hardship, pain, sorrow and joy - and their wisdom cannot be watered down or wiped away from our memory. Instead, we need to treasure them. The younger generation must care and be concerned about the well-being of the elderly, especially those within their family. They must not ignore or neglect them, despite their busy schedules and hectic lives.

 

Do youngsters give respect, honour and dignity to the elderly? Do they make it a point to sit with the elderly and pray with them or for them? Do they listen to their stories and enjoy their company? Or are the old people in our community neglected and lonely? We need to teach young people - especially our children - to respect and honour the elderly people in our family and community. We must show them love and support in every way, even with little things such as calling, visiting, helping with chores or assisting them in their pastoral needs.

 

During his General Audience (Wednesday, 23 February 2022) the Holy Father, Pope Francis reminded us that the elderly are not “throwaway material” but “they are a blessing for society.” We realise that there is a lack of encouragement and a lack of education amongst younger people to learn or to discern the meaning and value of old age. The younger generation should take every opportunity to learn from their elders, who have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with them.

UNLOCK OUR HEARTS AND REFRESH OUR FAITH

We are in the midst of a 9-days celebration of novenas in conjunction with the feast of St Thomas, the Apostle. Day One celebration commenced on Friday, 24 June 2022 with the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Throughout this 9-days celebration, we have selected several aspects which focus on faith, the Word of God, the Eucharist, married life, community living and evangelisation. On the last three days, we will contemplate the life of St Thomas and how he was a servant of the Word of God, his loyalty to Christ Jesus and being a saint for our times.

For the past two years, our novenas and feast day celebrations were put on hold, but now we are privileged and happy to be able to gather and celebrate our faith. The feast of our Parish’s patron saint is an opportunity for us to deepen our devotion to St Thomas. It is a time for us to look beyond the here and now, and place God at the centre of our hearts in everything that we do.

The Universal Church commemorates various solemnities, feasts and memorials in the liturgical celebrations. This year, the Feast of St Thomas falls on Sunday, 3 July 2022 and as such, the Parish will celebrate the feast on Saturday, 2 July 2022 as Sunday remains a day of obligation, thus taking on the order of precedence in the liturgy.

Every saint has a unique life story, and each of these stories inspire our own personal faith, taking it to greater heights and giving it a deeper meaning. As we participate and celebrate our Parish’s feast day this year, let the celebrations create a path for us to experience the joy of the Risen Lord within our community. We hope that the celebrations will inspire and kindle in our hearts a greater devotion towards St Thomas. Through his intercessions, may we cultivate our relationship with God. May this feast also unlock our hearts and renew our faith - to grow in better understanding of the virtues of life and enable us to face the challenges of our time.

I was surfing the internet for the Litany of St Thomas, the Apostle, but I was unable to find one. Therefore, for the celebrations this year, we have composed a very special Litany to St Thomas of our own. He is our friend in heaven, and his faith in the Risen Lord has become a witness to the reality of the resurrection. He sacrificed his life for the love of Jesus and led the unbelievers to Christ. He spread the light of Christ in their hearts.

We will pray the Litany throughout the novenas, and we shall add it into our daily prayer as well. The final three days of our Parish feast day celebrations will be live streamed on social media, and we hope that those who are unable to attend the celebrations in person, will join us online. For this and all other information pertaining to our Parish, please log on to our website: https://www.stthomaskuantan.org

We honour God the Father through St Thomas, who has a special place in our hearts. May St Thomas, who humbly confessed, “My Lord and My God” inspire our faith, protect us from all distress and intercede for all our needs, always. St Thomas, pray for us!

AN EXAMPLE OF FAITH AND LOVE

In conjunction with Father’s Day (19 June 2022), I would like to dedicate this article to my friend, Rev Fr Christopher James Lee, who passed away suddenly on 14 June 2022 during the Clergy Monthly Recollection at the Majodi Centre, Plentong, Johor.

Fr Christopher and I met way back in 1992, when we both attended vocation camps at the Church of St Francis Assisi in Cheras and at the College General in Penang. After a period of discernment, we both applied to join the seminary in 1993 and 1994 respectively but unfortunately, his application was rejected and mine was accepted in 1995. It took almost 10 years for Fr Christopher to be accepted into the seminary. He was sent to Beda College in Rome to study Theology by Bishop Paul Tan (Melaka-Johor Diocese). He was ordained as a priest in 2009. He never lost his zeal to fulfill God’s wish for him to become a priest.

When I was ministering at Church of the Visitation in Seremban, I would meet up with Fr Christopher, who often visited his mother who resided in Seremban. He would drop by the Parish office whenever he was in town and would accompany his mother to morning Mass during the weekdays. Occasionally, we would celebrate Mass together. When my tenure in Seremban was over, Fr Christopher and I would meet during our annual retreats and catch up on old times. Several years later, he furthered his studies in Canon Law at St Paul’s University in Ottawa, Canada, together with Rev Fr William Michael.

Fr Christopher was a very soft-spoken, cool and cheerful priest. Like most of us, he went through struggles, obstacles and disappointments in his initial stage of discernment to the Priesthood, but he was a man of perseverance and determination - with deep faith and a strong spirit. His life and light have touched many people especially his Parishioners, and he is in our prayers today and always!

This Father’s Day, we also honour all fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers and spiritual Fathers who have great influence on our families and community. Often fathers are perceived as strong but silent, and many of us will surely have memorable stories of our fathers! I pray that each father here is a living example of prayerfulness and kindness, humbleness and gentleness, as they live their lives with integrity by placing God in the centre of their hearts and homes.

Some fathers may be stern and strict, but that doesn’t mean that they are bad fathers. It could merely be their way of educating and instilling a foundation of discipline and respect - to listen and obey with love. Whatever the case may be, all earthly fathers should strive to be like our heavenly Father, who is full of compassion and kindness towards all his children.

May the Lord bless all fathers, as they care for their families - give them strength, tenderness, patience and guidance to raise happy and joyful children. “Start children off on the way they should go and even when they are old, they will not turn from it.”(Proverbs 22:6).

 

TO ALL FATHERS ─ THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND LOVING CARE, 

ALL THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES. WISHING YOU A VERY BLESSED FATHER’S DAY!