On Saturday, 7 December 2019, we had our Parish Pastoral Assembly (PPA) for the year 2019 at the Formation House. There were approximately 65 attendees, which was a slight decrease compared to previous years. Nevertheless, the PPA went well, with the presence of Archbishop Julian Leow, together with Monsignor Mitchel Anthony and his Pastoral team.
The Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur Pastoral Team led by Msgr. Mitchel had earlier on given us survey forms to discuss three of eight cluster findings, actions, plans and strategies in our Parish. The three clusters are – Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC), Ecumenical and Inter-religious Dialogue (EIRD) and Parish Youth. First of all, I would like to thank the three clusters for taking the time to come together to discuss, reflect and share before the PPA 2019. I believe you would have been enriched, and learned more about your areas of concerns which included your strengths and weaknesses.
The Archdiocese Pastoral Team divided the participants into 10 groups, and gave us four questions related to missions – i) Mission on Relationships, ii) Mission on Outreach, iii) Mission on Unity and iv) Mission on Social Media. The purpose of the group discussions and sharing was to find out what our Parish, as well as the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, need to focus on, for the coming year. Nine out of the ten groups chose to discuss the need of Mission on Relationships.
On the 1st Sunday of Advent 2019/2020, we, as parishioners of St Joseph’s Church decided our strategies for our Parish mission with focus being on the 5Ls (Lost, Little, Last, Least and Lonely). We have geared ourselves on mission for the year 2020 with the 5Ls, and we will strive to build relationships with them without qualms. At every mass during the weekends, we recite our mission statement: We as parishioners of St Joseph’s Church are sent forth joyfully to embrace, to care for and to heal the 5Ls. In this statement we clearly state the three “verbs” as our “values” to embrace, to care for and to heal in building strong and successful relationships with the 5Ls. Our ultimate goal is to ensure our parishioners build ties and foster healthy relationships with people of 5Ls.
In his speech, Archbishop Julian Leow highlighted that the various ministries and clusters should work collectively and take their roles seriously in the Parish. He invited us to engage with everyone, to have dialogues with people of other Faiths, and for the youth and leaders to be rooted in community life and use social media wisely. His Grace was quite happy with the various outreach programs we had in the past, particularly the success of the Third World Day of the Poor.
This past one year, I realised that our Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) and Parish Council Coordinators (PCC) together with the leaders from the various ministries in our Parish, chose to be actively involved in the life of our Parish. I admire the characteristics of our leaders and committee members because whenever I assign them specific tasks, they do it wholeheartedly and with full commitment. Thank you for your time, effort and desire to serve in our Parish. Once again I would like to thank our PPC and PCC for all the preparations made in ensuring a successful and enriching PPA 2019.
Let us strive to build our Parish with shared leadership and feelings of connectedness with one another, as we build our Mission on Relationships, keeping in mind the 5Ls.
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