PRAYING WITH REVERENCE AND FERVOUR

The entire month of October has been dedicated to the Rosary, and on Wednesday, 31 October 2018, we will celebrate its closing. We will gather at the Church as a community, to recite the Rosary at 7.30pm, followed by the Eucharistic celebration.

Throughout the month of October, many of us have been praying the Rosary individually, as families and as Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) and while we do so, we hold on to Mother Mary’s hand. It can sometimes be challenging for us to get together to pray, and often we are distracted and lose count, occasionally adding an extra Hail Mary to our decade, or perhaps end up not saying enough. Sometimes, we may forget to finish the five decades of the Rosary, or find ourselves giving up halfway. However, in general, most Catholics have a tremendous amount of respect for the Rosary and pray it with reverence and fervour.

“The Rosary is the most beautiful and the most rich in graces of all prayers; it is the prayer that touches most the Heart of the Mother of God… and if you wish peace to reign in your homes, recite the family Rosary.” (Pope Saint Pius X).

Eventhough the month of Rosary is coming to an end, I hope you will continue praying it daily. You will experience transformation in your faith life, as Our Lady of the Rosary prays with you!

November begins with All Saints Day and All Souls Day and they are very much rooted in our Catholic belief. All Saints Day reminds us how we are suppose to live on this earth. We are called to live as saints, so that one day we will be with God and our loved ones in heaven. Just a reminder that the Feast of All Saints is a Holy Day of Obligation and all Catholics are expected to attend Mass.

All Souls Day is a day of reflecting and praying for all souls, and asking God's mercy for them. Throughout the month of November, the Catholic Church invites us to pray for the faithful departed so that they may be free from the punishments of sin and enter into the Communion of all saints in Heaven. It is a good time to dedicate the last decade of Rosary to the dead and the suffering souls in Purgatory, so that they may soon enter into the fullness of life in heaven.

These past weeks, many of you listed down the names of departed souls in the Book of Remembrance, which was placed at the Parochial House. There are approximately 3500 names in the book, and throughout the month of November, The Book of Remembrance will be placed at the altar, where the souls of those we remember and of those who have been forgotten, will be offered up at Mass. We pray for the repose of their souls.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

THE BLIND BARTIMAEUS AND US

As Jesus and His disciples left Jericho, they encountered a blind Bartimaeus who was sitting at the side of the road. We can learn a great spiritual lesson from the story of blind Bartimaeus (MK 10:46-52). The blindness hindered his daily activities. He couldn’t hold a job or earn wages, thus, he was a beggar. He depended on the sympathy and generosity of others.

The blind Bartimaeus heard Jesus would be passing him. He had never met Jesus of Nazareth before but he believed Jesus could help him to see again. Even the crowd tried to keep him quiet he cried out the more – “Jesus, the Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus said to Bartimaeus, “Go, your faith has saved you.” His faith was key to his cure.

Jesus can heal your brokenness, forgive your sin, and save your soul. We must have faith. Jesus is the only way; no one else can provide us healing.

Every day we have the opportunity to lose our blindness but God gives us His grace to see the suffering world with open eyes, to see the beauty of His creation and to see everything through the eyes of faith.

“What marvels the Lord worked for us! Indeed we were glad," (Ps 126).

UNITY AND PEACE THROUGH PRAYER

The Catholic Church refers to Our Lady with so many titles – all given to the same individual named Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ. In the month of October, the month of Holy Rosary, Mary is honoured as “Our Lady of the Rosary” because at her apparitions in Fatima, Portugal, she asked for us to pray the Rosary. Many devout Catholics have made the Rosary their favourite prayer, praying it daily and without fail.

Most of our Catholic BEC families welcome each other into their homes, generally preferring to pray the family rosary instead of praying the NEWBEC reflection papers (NEWBEC is an abbreviation for New Way of Being Church) as praying the rosary somehow brings peace to mind, heart and soul. Furthermore, the Rosary has become a shield and comforter, and a way of expressing and safeguarding their Catholic faith.

On 18 October 2018, The Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has once again invited all children, families, parents, teachers and priests around the world, to pray the rosary for unity and peace. The “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” (Un Milione De Bambini Recita IL Rosario) campaign first started in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, in 2005. It has since become a prayer campaign on a global scale. It is to observe the appeal of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina who said, “When one million children pray the rosary, the world will change.” This prayer campaign shows the world what the power of a child’s prayer can achieve.

The ACN chose 18 October because we are in the month of Our Lady and it is the feast day of Saint Luke, the Evangelist, who handed on to us the narrative of Jesus’ childhood and Jesus was very close to Mary. In addition to this, the Virgin Mary proclaimed to the three visionary children – Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta – in Fatima, Portugal, asking them to pray the rosary every day for world peace. ACN makes available instructional material for “One Million Children Praying the Rosary 2018” in several languages for both children and adults. Unfortunately, the Pontifical Mission Societies’ (PMS) Directors of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei only made these materials available during the Priests Recollection on 17 October 2018, thus it could not be distributed to our catechism children and families on time. However, I did manage to disseminate this information via whatsapp message, so thankfully, most of our BEC coordinators managed to get the children and their families together, to pray the rosary, joining the ‘one million children of the world’ campaign.

All catechism teachers and parents should encourage their children to continue praying the rosary, especially during the month of rosary. The entire world is suffering - due to the effects of terrorism and war - and we can play our part in bringing unity and peace, through our prayers.

This Sunday, 21 October 2018, we will distribute the materials to our catechism children during their catechism class. I hope all our faith educators will be able to organise a rosary prayer session (Joyful Mysteries) with their students, either at the beginning or end of the class. I hope our children will learn to love praying the rosary, finding the strength and assurance they need, to love and trust in God and in their Catholic faith.

THE GREATEST SERVANT-LEADER

James and John came to Jesus, “Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory,” (MK 10:37).

John and James did not want to pay any price or make any effort in order to attain their positions of glory and honour. They simply wanted Jesus to grant them the positions.

Jesus made it clear that those who desire to be the greatest, they should practice humility. Jesus is our model for humilty who emptied Himself on the cross. Jesus also showed us that the only way to be like Him is to become a servant of all. 

A true servant is one who serves without expecting recognition or promoting one self. To become humble servants we need to have God in our lives. Only when we have God, then our emptiness is filled with God-like virtue.

May God help us to develop these qualities of Jesus – to be true and to be the greatest Servant-Leader of all – we fix our eyes on the heavenly Father.

Our refrain teaches today – “Lord, let Your mercy be on us, as we place our trust in You,” (Ps 32).

PRAYING THE ROSARY AS AN OUTPOURING OF OUR LOVE

As we pray the Rosary during the month of October, seeking Our Lady’s assistance, we are reminded about the conversations between Jesus Christ and St. Peter, the Apostle, after the Resurrection of Jesus (John 21: 15-17). Jesus asks him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Jesus asks this question three times and Peter’s answer was, “Lord, you know that I love you.” By asking Peter three times, Jesus emphasised the importance of Peter’s love and obedience to Jesus, as it was necessary for his future ministry.

St. Pope John Paul II, the great modern saint, in his Apostolic Letter, Rosarium Virginis Mariae (Rosary of the Virgin Mary - RVM), which was promulgated on 16 October 2002, emphasised that a prayer and devotion to the Holy Rosary is necessary and important, because it has changed the lives of many. As Peter repeated three times to Jesus’ question, ”Do you love Me?” - we too should not fail in the simple repetition of praying the Rosary, “to understand the Rosary, one has to enter into the psychological dynamic proper to love” and the Rosary is an outpouring of that love. Thus, we are encouraged to recite the Rosary repeatedly and courageously, giving ourselves to Christ, out of love for Him (RVM, no. 26).

In this Apostolic Letter, St. Pope John Paul II strongly encourages us to practice and devote ourselves to the Most Holy Rosary because it is a “genuine training in holiness” that guides us in our contemplation of the great mysteries of our faith (RVM, no. 5). As we pray daily during the month of Rosary, we will be prompted by the Holy Spirit to form and reform our lives much closer to Christ’s heart.

Our lives are challenged by all kinds of temptations and trials, and our personal struggles tire us. Saint Pope John Paul II recommends that we adopt the habit of rolling the small rosary beads through our fingers, and go into the depth of Christ’s mysteries (cf. RVM, no. 36). We may not have immediate answers to our problems or solutions to defeat the devil, but it will give us the “confidence of knowing that God looks with favour on his lowly servants.” Praying the Rosary increases our faith and gives us courage to say “Yes” to our Lord. With the intercession and maternal care of Mother Mary, may we find consolation and peace, discovering a path to life eternal.

Saint Pope John Paul II quoted the late Father Patrick Peyton (1909-1992), who was an Irish Catholic priest, internationally known as the ‘Rosary Priest’. He said “the family that prays together, stays together” and insisted Catholic families pray the Rosary for the sake of their families - which were under attack and in crisis. We have seen and heard of the growing number of separations and divorces in our families and communities. Praying the family Rosary is a way for us to bring these troubled married couples closer to Jesus, and to unite them in difficult times.

Earlier this month, the Holy Father, Pope Francis stated that the devil is trying to divide and attack the Catholic Church with a series of sexual abuse scandals within the clergy. He invited Catholics around the world to pray a special prayer every day during the month of October, for the Church to succeed through the devil’s assault. The clergy should also be men of prayer, and pray for themselves and for the people of God.

Our devotion to Our Lady and the family Rosary can serve the Universal Church, its clergy, married couples as well as our children. Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our time of sorrow and frustration, and be our comfort, joy and strength.

THE RICH AND AND HIS ATTITUDES TOWARDS WEALTH

Jesus gave a wealthy man an invitation to “follow Him and be a disciple.” Jesus said “go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and then come, follow me.” 

Jesus saw his desire and his sincerity, and He loved him. He wanted him to become a follower and gave him that opportunity. After hearing the words of Jesus “went away sad,”(MK 10: 21-22)

This rich man had been successful in his life and earned great wealth. He had everything – power, position, wealth and prosperity. He was a good-living man, he kept all the commandments from his youth upward and he had an interest in eternal life. Yet, he filled the emptiness in his heart and life but he continued to search for something to fill the emptiness that would bring you joy in his life.

We, Christians whose whole purpose in this life on earth is not the accumulations of material goods. We shall learn from this rich man’s mistake and make use our opportunities right now to ensure that our lives leads to life eternal.

“Fill us with your love so that we may rejoice,” (Psalms 90)

GIVING THE ELDERLY THEIR DUE RESPECT

The United Nations designated 1 October as the International Day of Older Persons. The Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur celebrated this significant day last Sunday, 30 September 2018 at St Joseph Church, Sentul during the 6.00 pm Mass. It was the first for the Archdiocese as well as our Church, as host.

About 700 elderly parishioners over the age of 60 from Kuantan, Seremban and other parts of the Klang Valley attended the Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Julian Leow and concelebrated by Cardinal Soter Fernandez as well as Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam.

The theme for this year’s International Day of Older Persons is “Celebrating Older Human Rights Champions”.  The elderly population is growing globally, and people are aware of the serious problems that affect their health and the need for the protection of their rights. They are human too and they need the same dignity and respect as people of all other age categories. Archbishop Julian Leow highlighted that the elderly are experienced and wise, and all other age groups have many things to learn from them. Their ages represent the “wealth of life experiences” and that “wisdom really does comes with age.” Their knowledge and experience can contribute to society.

Many people are worried as they grow older. They worry that their children will not care for them and that they may end up alone and unwanted. Most old people wish to stay in their own homes till the very end, and receive care and support from their families. As they age, they may somehow feel that they are losing value as a significant member of society. Therefore, it is the responsibility of every individual in the family to care for their aging parents and grandparents, and help them feel wanted and included.

In today’s culture, nursing and old folk homes are becoming more acceptable. Due to our work commitments and other family issues, we may sometimes take the option of placing our elderly in proper nursing facilities or care homes. Generally, as Christians, we always try our level best to give due respect towards the elderly. Our Bible tells us to respect elders and treat them as how we would like to be treated ourselves (Lev 19: 32-34) and our obligation is to honour our parents, including the elders, (4^th Commandment – Ex 20:21).

How can we minister to the elderly? The number of elderly people in our parishes are growing. The Church provides a wonderful way to engage with them, even when they find it difficult to come for Mass or other services. We are glad that our Extra-Ordinary Ministers make the effort to go for homebound visits, by bringing Holy Communion. Some of our priests visit the homebound at least twice a year, especially during the Season of Lent and Advent.

During this month of Rosary, we specifically pray for the elderly – asking for their good health and long dignified lives. As we offer a decade or two, let us also pray to be a listening friend to them. They have many stories to share with us. Once in a while offer hope, support and encouragement. Many elderly people may be unable to attend Church due to transportation issues, so if you know of any such person, lend them a helping hand and bring them to Church with you. When that is not possible, perhaps try singing and praying together at home, and read the Bible to them, from time to time.

“Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone,” (Ps 71:9).