Journey with Mary and Joseph in the Month of May

We have come to the end of our Novenas in conjunction with the Feast of St Joseph the Worker. I noticed the overwhelming crowds throughout the novenas compared to that of last year. All preparations towards the feast of our Patron Saint, St Joseph the Worker went smoothly without any hiccups. All our Presiders for the Novena Masses were from our Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur namely Fathers Surain Raj, James Gabriel, Peter Anthoney, Michael Chua, Mari Arokiam and David Arulandu. We too have a special guest priest from India, Fr. Stephen Jayarad to celebrate with us our patron saint’s feast day.

All our invited priests have made us realise the importance for us to be exemplary of Christ in our community. In this year of Mercy, we as true Catholic Christians, are constantly reminded to be merciful to those with whom we were not patient and to those who showed less patience with us. The priests too have highlighted to us about our duty as Christians in spreading this ongoing “gospel of mercy and love” to one another. As we were listening attentively to their homilies there were few other words which have touched us such as, care, gentleness, tenderness, compassion, listening, friendliness, justice and peace. These words have inspired and motivated us to turn ourselves away from hatred and to become truly merciful and loving persons towards our community.

Today, it is our duty to spread this ongoing good news, the good news of mercy and love every day, everywhere and always. This message of mercy and love can help to give testimony to Christ, to his Church, and to our beautiful Catholic faith, as it transmits the joy and hope of the Gospel.

We are in the month of May, a month that is specially dedicated to Mary and St Joseph as well. The Church encourages us to walk with Mary and Joseph during this month of May and invites us to make time for the Rosary with our BECs or with our families or as individuals. When we pray the Rosary, let us include the litany and novena to St Joseph the Worker. You can get the novena prayer to St Joseph from your BEC leaders or from our parish office. Do give our Lady and our Patron Saint a place in your heart and in your home. In this month of the Rosary, let’s us without fail pray together with Mary and Joseph. 

For those people who don’t seem to pray the Rosary, do carry a rosary with you and get into a habit of reciting at least one or two decades in a day with your friends or families. Let’s not allow this beautiful devotion to fade away like so many other things in our lives. Dear young people, do not let your day pass by without reciting at least one or two decades of the Rosary daily. Mother Mary and Joseph can assist you to get closer to Jesus our Lord.

In your homes where possible place a statue of Mother Mary and St Joseph at your altar and pray together the Rosary and Novena to St Joseph the Worker.

“Call on Mary with devotion, and She will not leave your needs unattended since She is merciful, indeed, the Mother of Mercy,” (St Bernard of Clairvaux).

TO LOVE IS TO SERVE AT ST. JOSEPH

My dear parishioners, even though I’m not with you this weekend in the parish, wherever I am you are in my thoughts and prayers. I’m grateful to Rev Fr Clarence Dass and Fr Robert (Myanmar priest) who both agreed to assist me in my absence for the weekend and weekday Masses. We are in the third Sunday of Easter and the Risen Lord invites us to stay faithful and to be His true followers. We are commanded to carry on the work He had begun 2,000 years ago.

I understand your daily tasks and commitments at home and in your work place may cause you tremendous tension and stress. On top of this some of you are pressured and challenged with your commitments in various church ministries. Many are like lukewarm spectators in the congregation, not seeing the need nor have the desire to serve. You may think that you have not been called nor gifted for any ministry in the Church. I want you to reflect on these words of St Peter: “Each of you has received a special grace, so, like a good steward responsible for all these varied graces of God, put it at the service of others,” (1 Peter 4:10). These words refer to the clergy as well as to the faithful. I have my role to play in the church and I invite you to be in service of the church in your ordinary way within the Body of Christ.

There are only a few members in our parish actively involved in the various ministries and in Jesus’ mission. Some prefer to stay comfortably seated in their pews instead of serving. Not all are called to specifically serve in the various ministries but whether you are actively serving or not, we will all do well to encourage our brothers and sisters who are bravely doing their little part to contribute to the running of the parish. They may be lacking or weak in many areas, but your simple gesture of praying for them or your utterance of a word of encouragement will increase their spirit of enthusiasm in their ministries and in their particular mission in our church. I’m sure in return they will pray for you to have a stronger faith and trust in God’s word.

In three weeks’ time we will be celebrating our Parish Feast day – Feast of St Joseph the Worker. Being a priest for the past thirteen years, I have seen many of us being hurt or hurting one another. In a dynamic church, which is fully alive, there is bound to be some “stepping on someone’s toes”. I too may have unintentionally upset or offended you. Let’s not keep grudges but allow ourselves to be healed. “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works,” (Heb 10:24).

LIVING THE SPIRIT OF EASTER IN OUR COMMUNITY

Lent is over. Easter Triduum is over. With these we have completed the important celebrations in the life of the Church and we have moved into Easter season now. We have faithfully journeyed with the Lord during these times and our faith has been enlightened, enriched and strengthen. Today we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and He has conquered the grave of our division and separation, and the root of all sin and violence in our community. The Lent season and Easter Triduum have brought us to spiritual heights as St Anselm says, “the diamond from the muck.”

The Easter season commenced on Easter Sunday and we continue to commemorate the Resurrected Jesus for the next 50 days till Pentecost. It is an opportunity for us to polish the diamond which has been picked up from the muck – dirt of sin so that the living spirit of Easter – “Joy, Renewed Commitments and Living Without fear” concretely define who we are as Catholics.

With faith in the Risen Lord, we are able to cling on to a continuing sense of joy even when faced with sadness and tears in our lives. Joy is a gladness felt deep within us, which cannot be taken away from us, even in the midst of sorrow, pain, failures and tears. With our renewed baptismal promises and commitments, we have reached a sense of newness with positive attitudes and renewed relationships by appreciating and complementing one another.

When the Risen Lord appeared to the women at the tomb and later to His apostles, His first words was “Peace be with you” (Jn 20:21) and “Do not be afraid,” (Mt 28:5,10). These words resonate from the bottom of our hearts, helping us to cope with the fear from the loss of employment, an illness, and breakdown in relationships. Trust in the Risen Lord can overcome our fears and enables us to live in the spirit of Easter.

I would like to say a big thank you personally to the many individuals and ministries who have helped and assisted our community towards spiritual preparations during the Easter Triduum. Now that we have finished, many of you have asked, what’s next? How do I maintain the spiritual momentum, which I developed during Lent and Easter Triduum?

What’s next? Next will be our very own Patron Saint’s feast day celebrations, which will commence from 22 April till 2 May 2016. I invite you once again to commit yourselves in taking part in the upcoming feast day celebrations. In three weeks time we will begin our novena and I encourage all of you to pray at least a decade of the rosary each day, maybe in your car or while you exercise so that our feast day celebrations will be a meaningful one for our families and BECs.

“God bless you during this Easter season!"

Divine Mercy is a Way of Life

Divine Mercy can be an optional devotion; but it is the heart of our Sacred Scripture. Pope Francis stated, “Only mercy can save the world”. 

The human heart is heavy and hardened. God gives mankind a new heart, new spirit on this Divine Mercy Sunday. In the Gospel today begins, "evening of that day he appeared to the Apostles" and “showed them his hands and his side” (Jn. 20:20), that is, the signs of the painful passion with which his Body was indelibility stamped, even after the Resurrection. Those glorious wounds which He allowed doubting Thomas to touch eight days later, reveal the mercy of God who “so loved the world that He gave his only Son” (Jn. 3:16).

This mystery of love and mercy are at the heart of the liturgy today, the Second Sunday of Easter, dedicated to the Divine Mercy. The Risen Lord offers his love and mercy that pardons, reconciles, and reopens hearts to love and unity in our community. It is a love that converts hearts and gives peace. 

Divine Mercy is a way of life to gain a fruit of peace that comes from unity and love of God and our neighbor. Jesus offers us marvelous graces through His Divine Mercy but He also demands of us works of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Him.

REJOICE AND BE GLAD!

“This is the day that the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad,” (Ps 118: 24)

Today we rejoice and are glad that we have faithfully journeyed during the season of Lent and Holy Week. Today we rejoice and are glad to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, His Triumph over sin. Our preparation during these past weeks has helped us to enter into a spiritual preparation for the great Paschal Mystery. We rejoice and are glad because we have equipped the interior disposition of our hearts and Christ has empowered us, comforted us and snatched us out of the realm of sin.

These past few days have been an emotional one for me. I was saddened to have encountered two little kids who have been admitted for more than 10 days at IJN Kuala Lumpur due to hole in their hearts. One is only a month old baby from Sabah named Aaron Daniel whom I baptised in the hospital on 19 March at 10 pm in the presence of his parents. Another one is a three-year-old girl, Veronica from Jalan Ipoh, KL. Both are in a critical condition and I asked God, why allow these infants to suffer?

During the season of Lent this year, I visited 65 elderly and the sick, who are home-bound. Some of them are really in a state of discomforting illness and just waiting for the Lord to redeem them. I can feel how the family members are juggling their time looking after them, taking them to the hospital for regular medical check-ups, paying the medical bills, etc. It is not an easy task to provide round the clock care for the sick and the elderly. Continuous care-giving can cause depression / stress and prevent us from enjoying life like we used to.

Let’s move on with life. After the Easter celebrations we will be gearing up for our Novena to St Joseph, the Worker, our own parish patron saint. It will commence on 22 April till 1 May 2016. We are in the midst of working out the themes for Novena Masses and inviting priests for the celebrations. We will also be having two major fund raising projects namely “Food and Fun Fair” and “Ladies Day”. The funds raised will be channeled for the refurbishment of our SJC Community Centre.

Thus far, I am very glad to see that a majority of our BECs are progressing towards our parish vision and mission. I invite more parishioners to come forward to play an important role in leadership and to journey together as a community. My prayer for you, my dear parishioners, is that from Easter Sunday onwards we shall commit to continue our mission “Towards Strengthening Our Faith Community” and to bring the BEC members together and make ourselves one as we witness Jesus through corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

May you and your family experience the mercy of the glory of the Resurrection!

Christ is Risen! Truly, He has risen!

Alleluia!

HAVE A BLESSED EASTER!