STAY FOCUSED ON JESUS’ LAST JOURNEY

(PALM SUNDAY HOMILY)

We have entered into Holy Week. It is a fresh week inviting us to meditate on the events that happened in the last week of Jesus’s life on earth, who came and fulfilled the will of God and accomplished it. It is a time to evaluate how we have been followers of Jesus all this while. Last year, I still remember suggesting to some of families what to do on Palm Sunday. Many of you decorated beautifully your doorposts and altars, with palm leaves.

This year, we are privileged to raise the palms in our hands and sing hosanna, in the highest and celebrating Palm Sunday in our Church. As we do that, let’s look at Jesus, the Perfecter of our faith who is entering triumphantly into Jerusalem, soon He will be hanging on the cross, and will be crucified and will die on the cross, and we will see Him buried in the tomb and He will victor over death – with the celebration of an empty tomb. 

In the past one year, we have experienced many celebrations that were suspended in our Church, and hopefully, with our prayers together and with hearts full of hope, by God’s will, we are able to celebrate the Holy Week in the Church without much issues imposed due to COVID19 crisis. Let’s pray that we can celebrate His Resurrection on Easter Sunday in our Church.

Most of us are going through a pretty tough time in our lives. There are so many losses, sadness, disappointments and many forms of difficulties, and yet we cannot see an end time for such challenges. We cry out in anguish hoping that the Lord will answer to our pleas and save us.  Our faith is again challenged over and over again, as we see and felt the Lord is just riding along silently not hearing and responding to our cries. The life challenge is still looking back at us, our hearts are tired and sore, thinking and finding ways to go through those challenges. 

On this Palm Sunday, we are reminded of the journey of our Saviour for the redemption of each and every one of us. You just need to believe Him. Jesus wants us to take us from where we are to where we need to be. Let’s stay focused on Jesus during this Holy Week, committed ourselves to others. We pray that we will follow the way of Jesus - “act justly, love tenderly, walk humbly with the Lord,” (Micah 6: 8), as we meet the needs of others and serve others.

A NEW CHANGE AND NEW PHASE OF LIFE

(5^th Sunday of Lent 2021 - Homily)

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit,” (John 12: 24).

 

On the ordination to the priesthood day, there is one part of the rite of the ordination, where the ordinand needs to be in a prostrate gesture (lying face on the ground) on the sanctuary of the Church just before the Bishop lays hands on him to be ordained. The prostration is signifying as a symbol of death - a death to self and to give a rebirth to priestly service.

 

I will never forget myself lying on the ground in 2003 on the Church sanctuary on my own priestly ordination. As for me, after 18 years in the priesthood, I am still germinating or growing, in another word to say that I am still experiencing God’s love and his life in me and it is coming to alive in me as I keep sprouting. The more I am involved in my ministry and expose myself in various areas and people, the more I am like a seed that fall on the ground and produces fruits. Jesus wrote this word on my heart - “To Live a Life of Love - when I prostrate on the ground of the sanctuary and I feel this word or seed is nurturing in my priestly life.

 

“Anyone who loves his life, loses it; and anyone who hates his life in this world keep it for eternal life,”(John 12: 25). Jesus goes on to say that only those die or lose his life through humiliation, suffering, and death to ourselves will experience new life, and life eternal. And only those who let change and transformation come into their lives especially during this Lent, will ultimately experience a new meaning in life which opens a new opportunity for growth and maturity in faith.

 

It is now already 5 weeks into this season of Lent. We may still experience our spiritual life dry and empty. We may attempt to sprout ourselves a few times from this barrenness and dryness in our faith life. There are no changes in our behaviours and attitudes. They remain unpleasant behaviours which they have become hinderances and stumbling blocks for our personal growth to be more like Jesus. We need to challenge ourselves to go through these difficult times of our lives in order to see the new life, new change and new phase of life to emerge in our spiritual life.

DISCOVER THE FULLNESS OF FAITH

We begin our Holy Week celebrations from 28 March – 4 April 2021. Holy Week is the most sacred week of the year in the Church’s liturgical calendar. It is observed in the Catholic Church as a time of commemorating the Paschal Mystery – the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Church invites us to enter Holy Week with solemnly, and make a simple retreat within ourselves to discover our faith and the richness, fullness and the significance of our Liturgy. 

Last year we participated in the Holy Week liturgical celebrations online, from the confines of our homes. This year we have a chance to attend the celebrations in-person in Church, but there will be some alterations made, such as omitting a few rites and rituals in order to comply with certain guidelines to safeguard the safety and health of the faithful, amid the current pandemic. We would like to assure everyone that the Church will provide a fruitful and meaningful Holy Week celebration, even as we adhere to the guidelines and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) set by the authorities.

Holy Week begins on Palm Sunday, or alternatively known as Passion Sunday. It is a time when we journey in Jesus’ footsteps on His final days on Earth. On Palm Sunday, we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. We will take a shorter form of liturgy as the priest enters into the Church while blessing the palms with Holy Water. The congregation will remain seated inside the Church or hall.

 

The Sacred Triduum celebrations begin from Holy Thursday until Easter Vigil. On Holy Thursday (also called Maundy Thursday), Catholics commemorate the institution of the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Priesthood, during the Last Supper. This year however, we will not have the ceremony of washing of the feet as Jesus did to his disciples. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, we encourage our Parishioners to spend some time in silent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (in a ciborium) with your family.

 

We observe Good Friday or Holy Friday, as the day Jesus was arrested, crucified, died, and was buried. It is a day of obligation for penance, fast and abstinence. It is the only day of the year that the Church doesn’t celebrate the Eucharist, but the consecrated host (reserved from Holy Thursday) will be distributed to the faithful instead. This year, during the Veneration of the Holy Cross, parishioners are only encouraged to kneel or bow in the direction of the cross to affirm their faith, but not kiss the Cross. 

 

Holy Saturday is a day between Good Friday and Easter Sunday - the day Jesus laid in the tomb. It is traditionally a day of joy and sadness, as we contemplate the darkness of a world with a future hope of Christ’s resurrection. Then, in the late evening we will have the Easter Vigil Mass - “it marks a transition from dark into light, despair to hope, spiritual emptiness to spiritual newness.”On Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, the faithful will be invited to renew their baptismal promises. This year we will not light an Easter fire, but everyone will remain seated inside the church instead. We will take three readings from the Old Testament and two readings from the New Testament, during the Easter Vigil Mass.

 

Last year we missed celebrating Holy Week in the Church, but this year we have an opportunity to celebrate, albeit with limited numbers. We pray, that as the number of COVID-19 infections seem to be on the rise once again, the Holy Spirit will bring us closer to the Risen Lord this Holy Week. 

 

My best wishes to you and your family as you prepare yourselves 

for this spiritual journey of Holy Week.

LET’S GO TO ST JOSEPH!

About 36 of our St Joseph’s Church Parishioners have been Consecrated to St Joseph, the Spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary, on Friday, 19 March 2021 during the 6.00pm and 8.00pm Masses. They successfully completed a 33-day online program as part of their preparation for the consecration to St Joseph. The program commenced on Monday, 15 February 2021 and ended on the Solemnity of St Joseph, the Spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary (Friday, 19 March 2021). This 33-day program was concluded with the Eucharistic celebration and praying the “Act of Consecration to St Joseph” together, at the sanctuary.

Many of us are familiar with the Marian Consecration - “33 Days to Morning Glory” - written by Fr Michael Gaitley of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception (MIC), which consists of a 33-day Spiritual Preparation, but not many have heard of the Consecration to St Joseph.

Since the Holy Father, Pope Francis announced this year (8 December 2020 - 8 December 2021) as the “Year of St Joseph” Patron of the Universal Church, we initiated this 33-day spiritual online program as a preparation for consecrating ourselves to St Joseph.

Each day the English session was held at 5.30pm and the Tamil session at 9.00pm. We used the book “Consecration to St Joseph – The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father” written by Donald H. Calloway (MIC), as our guide for our spiritual preparation. We spent about 20-30 minutes studying the life of St Joseph - his virtues, his greatness and how he was “at the service of the entire plan of salvation.” This 33-day spiritual journey has given us the opportunity to discover the many titles of St Joseph in the Catholic Church, and the role he plays in the mystery of God’s plan.

We were really inspired by the insights we received and with this understanding, we hold St Joseph in a special place in our hearts. This program has led us to “go to Joseph” (Gen 41: 55) and accept him as our spiritual father. St Joseph, who was silent without a word in the Gospels, has elevated our spiritual lives to greater heights, and as we dedicate ourselves to the Church as St Joseph did, we will continue to carry out the mission of the Church with humility.

During this year of St Joseph, and for our Plenary Indulgence, we make sacrifices and obtain atonement for our sins as tokens or vouchers here on earth, in order to gain rich merits in heaven. We will continue to strive to live the virtues of St Joseph and acknowledge him as our spiritual father, as we entrust ourselves in the work of New Evangelisation. Let’s go to St Joseph for protection, guidance and well-being!

“I would wish to persuade everyone to honour him [St Joseph] with particular devotion. I have always seen those who honoured him in a special manner make progress in virtue, for this heavenly protector favours in a striking manner the spiritual advancement of souls who commend themselves to him” (St Teresa of Avila).

EQUALITY FOR RIGHTS THROUGH SERVICE AND MISSION

International Women’s Day (IWD) will be celebrated on Monday, 8 March 2021 with the theme – “Women in Leadership: Achieving an Equal Future in a COVID-19 World.” The theme for IWD invites all women throughout the world to make every effort in shaping a more equal future, amidst recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. IWD is a day initiated with the motivation to “end harmful workplace conditions, promote equal rights and equal pay as well as end exploitation.” This goal is still in progress, and IWD is celebrated to acknowledge the power of women in society, politics and the economy.

Photo: 2018

Once a year we celebrate IWD to bring awareness towards gender equality and human rights, and encourage moving forward more fervently until we achieve complete equality. It is a challenge faced by all women - individuals as well organisations - to strive for a society and nation without prejudice or discord towards gender equality.

 

In 1908, a total of 15000 women marched the streets of New York City demanding reasonable working hours, equal pay and the right to vote. A year later, the Socialist Party of America declared the first National Women’s Day. IWD is a wonderful way for women to be re-inspired, re-energised and reaffirmed that they are not alone in this battle of discrimination, harassment, inequality and oppression - as there are millions of women across the country and the world who are fighting against injustices and discrimination.

 

Since 1908, the colours purple, green and white were used to symbolise women’s equality. Purple symbolises justice and dignity, green, symbolises hope while white, symbolises purity. Today, purple is the colour of IWD, combined with green which represents the feminist movement.

 

This year the highlights of IWD are a little unique because it invites women to work towards an equal future of combating the deadly Coronavirus. In this challenged COVID-19 world, every nation and individual are “responsible for our own thoughts and actions.” Recent data from UN Women (an entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women) has revealed that “the Coronavirus Pandemic could wipe out 25 years of increasing gender equality” as during this pandemic, more women find themselves solely involved in domestic chores and family care. In several cities and countries, women’s rights are deteriorating and violent threats against women are increasing. Despite all these, every woman must move with courage and determination to fight against the Coronavirus crisis.

 

In our Parish, women are actively involved in the Catechetical Ministry and Parish Integral of Human Development Ministry (PIHDM) namely the Ministry of the Poor, EduCare Ministry, Eagle’s Wing Ministry (Differently Abled) and the Women’s Ministry itself. Their tireless dedication and unceasing willingness to assist and participate in the various activities of the Parish is commendable. Even during the pandemic, they continued with activities and outreach from their homes. Many volunteers their time to be physically present in Church to help with the distribution of food, groceries, clothes and other essentials for the needy. St Joseph’s Church continuously invites and encourages our women Parishioners to participate in the various ministries, as we carry out the mission of our Parish together. 

 

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY!

Photo: 2018