CLOSING OF THE YEAR OF ST JOSEPH

The amazing season of Advent is in our midst! It is a season for preparation for the celebration of the birth of Christ Jesus. This year we begin Advent on 27 November, with Sunset Mass, and end it on 24 December 2021. Everyone eagerly looks forward to singing the various seasonal hymns such as “O Come, O Come Emanuel”, “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Come O Divine Messiah” to welcome the arrival of Christmas. As we begin the season of Advent, our Parish has initiated a wonderful celebration for the closing of the Year of St Joseph.

The Holy Father Pope Francis announced the Year of St Joseph and the Year of Plenary Indulgence (8 December 2020 to 8 December 2021) in honour of the 150th anniversary of St. Joseph as Patron Saint of the Catholic Church with the theme - “With the Father’s Heart” (Patris Corde). Since 1908, our Parish has been dedicated to St Joseph, and we made a request to Archbishop Julian Leow to officially declare it as a pilgrim centre for the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. He was pleased with our request and made the announcement on 21 December 2020.

 

We tried our best to promote and celebrate the Year of St Joseph despite the Movement Control Orders (MCO) that were declared by the government. We hosted various events, activities and formations online as well as an e-pilgrimage celebration. For the past 10 months, the Year of St Joseph went silently by, oblivious to many of the faithful, due to the pandemic. However, once the authorities lifted the inter-state travel ban and sectors started to open up, many pilgrims throughout the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur came to pay homage to St Joseph, at our Church.

 

As both the Year of Plenary Indulgence and the Year of St Joseph are coming to a close, we have extended invitations to both Priests and the faithful throughout the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur to make a pilgrimage to our Parish. Many have turned up from other parishes in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Seremban and Kuantan to pray and participate in the Eucharistic celebration. Many groups and individuals have planned their trip to our historical Parish, and I encourage those who have yet to do so, to make their pilgrimage soonest possible.

 

During this First Week of Advent, from 30 November 2021 until 8 December 2021, our Parish will celebrate a 9-Days Novena to St Joseph - including Mass - as a closing of the Year of St Joseph. We have extended invitations to several Priests to preside at the daily Eucharistic celebration for our devotees. However, due to the current situation, and requirements with regards to social distancing, we must limit the number of in-person participants to 300 people only. Those unable to register via google forms for in-persons celebration, could always follow the live stream via YouTube. Links for the live streaming of the Novenas and masses during these 9 days can be found on our Parish and KL Archdiocese websites – www.stjosephsentul.org or www.archkl.org. The links will be updated periodically, so kindly check these websites for updates.

 

We have quite an interesting spiritual programme planned for the next 9 days - Evening Prayers (Vespers), Novenas and the Litany to St Joseph as well as Recitation of the Rosary and Mass. We invite everyone to tune yourselves into a more prayerful and solemn manner, as we come to the end of the Year of St Joseph.