The month of July has come to an end. We are in the midst of the second half of the year. The remaining months will move fast and we can’t control the passing days. Perhaps you have not done enough in the first half of the year but there is always the opportunity to re-adjust the second half in the light of Christ.
When we look around, there are many things that may cause us to lose hope in life. However, when we look at Jesus and His promises, there is great hope for the future. St Paul says that we should do something each day in order to get closer to our goal of life(cf. Ephesians 5:15-16) so make the best of the present time till the end of 2019!
During the feast of St Joseph, our Patron Saint (1May 2019), our Parish Catechetical Team was meant to declare a day off for the catechism students. However, classes continued on as usual. So in lieu of that, we have carried forward this day off to Sunday, 28 July 2019, so that our students may spend time with their families or go for St Anne and St Joachim’s Feast.
Generally, many Catholics throughout Peninsular Malaysia make their pilgrimage to the Shrines of St Anne and St Joachim either in Bukit Mertajam, Port Klang, Alor Gajah or Semenyih. The devotion to St Anne and St Joachim has always drawn throngs of people from all over. This feast of St Anne and St Joachim falls on 26 July 2019 and their novenas and celebrations go on for 10 days. St Anne and St Joachim are parents to Mother Mary and grandparents to Jesus. Although we know very little about them, they are truly remarkable people because they nurtured a wonderful daughter, Mary - who played a very important role in the work of the Redemption.The Feast of St Anne and St Joachim is well known feast which precedes three other feasts, namely, St Anthony, St Jude and Our Lady in our nation.
Prior to our parish being dedicated to St Joseph, the Worker, it was a chapel named after St Anne – built by Rev Fr Louis Duvelle. In 1908, the chapel was rededicated under the patronage of St Joseph, the Worker. Our neighbour, the Tamil School was named after him too, because the majority of parishioners and its surrounding residents were railways workers. If the name St Anne remained till the present, I believe it would have been another pilgrim shrine in Kuala Lumpur. But it was wise of the priests and parishioners in Sentul to keep the wonderful name of St Joseph, the Worker so as to remember not only railway employees but workers in general, who toil tirelessly everyday.
Last year, we celebrated the 110th anniversary of our Parish, faithfully honouring St Joseph, the Worker as our Patron. It is the only Church named after St Joseph, the Worker in the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese.
Next weekend (3-4 August 2019) we will have a Durian & Mangosteen Fiesta in our Church grounds. We have ordered about 300kgs of durian, including Musang Kingand 150kgs of mangosteen from Raub, Pahang. Prices start from RM10 onwards. If you plan to do a take away, please bring your own containers and bags. This fun-filled event is being organised as form of fellowship among parishioners and of course, the profits from the sale will be utilised for the needy. We invite all durian lovers to join us next week, and if the response is good, we shall have this Fiesta every yummy season!
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