THE UNITY IN TRINITY

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all,” (2 Cor 13:13). 

There are many mysteries in the Christian faith, one of which has to do with the nature of God. How can we understand God who is described in the Bible as both the one true God and the God we know as Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

There is one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits. In this Trinity none is before, or after another; none is greater, or less than another. The whole three Persons are coeternal, and coequal. The Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped and glorified.

We are to baptise “in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” thereby bringing people into a direct relationship with God as we believe in Him:
First, we learn to believe in God the Father, who has created us and all the World.
Secondly, in God the Son who redeems us and the whole world. Thirdly, in God the Holy Spirit, who Sanctifies us and all the people of God.

The Holy Spirit is always with us, so it will help us to fulfill mission of Christ. By His Spirit we can bring the Gospel to everyone and use what the Father gave us for the well-being of others. 

MAY WE BE ONE AS WE JOURNEY AS A PARISH

We have concluded the Easter season last weekend with the feast of the Pentecost. Our Easter spiritual experiences and the Pentecost celebration have made us as disciples of hope and a new people filled with the Holy Spirit. As we continue our journey “Towards Strengthening Our Faith Community” with a new heart we are constantly reminded to live the gospel values of mercy and love, justice and peace.

We have completed half a year of 2017. We shall be journeying for the next six months in the Ordinary Week of the liturgical calendar till we reach the season of Advent in early December. I have completed three years journey in this parish of St Joseph Sentul. I guess I have another three years ahead to accomplish my mission here in this parish.

My three years journey with you my dear parishioners were rough and tough, steep and winding. Frankly speaking, I enjoy ministering here. In doing and being with you in this parish I have learnt much about myself as an individual and as a priest and I am still learning. In these past three years, I admit that there are some areas I still find hard to minister and collaborate especially with our parish youth. I find myself often ‘nagging’ the young people. I know I am sent here for a reason and I hope you appreciate me.

In the coming years, we will see some of you finishing your catechism. Some of you may move into institutes of higher learning, some may be getting married, having kids, getting big jobs, and whatever it may be. The truth is that we all grow with different interests and goals in life. At the end, you are responsible for your own happiness. If you have an interest in something for our ministry, go after it. Time will fly when we are having fun and be actively involved in the parish activities. That is how our time should be in the Church.

Last Wednesday 7^th June, we formed and commissioned the new BECCOT team under the leadership of Mary Bernadette Peters. She and her team have taken their commitment of being the core-team of BECCOT in front of the rest of BEC coordinators for the next three years. They have agreed to give their time and cooperation in assisting and fulfilling the initiatives, which our parish undertakes. We are also grateful to the outgoing BECCOT Chairman, Joe Fernando and his team who made many events and activities into a reality and success. Joe Fernando will take on the leadership of the Parish Fund-Raising Committee soon. On behalf of the Parishioners and BEC coordinators, I humbly request the outgoing BECCOT Core-Team to continue to stay with our parish and to be continuously involved in various activities to fulfill our parish mission and vision. For the New BECCOT Team, we hope that you may prayerfully, reflectively and effectively channel your talents and the gospel values in our 34 BECs and parish at large.

We shall continue to walk and work together and be always on the move in assisting one another in our BECs. It is in progressing forward that we will receive the fulfillment of God’s promises in our life. My wish for everyone is that  “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, and press on toward the goal…” (Phil 3: 13-14).

PREPARING OURSELVES TO BE WITNESSES THROUGH THE SPIRIT

We had some significant celebrations during the time of Lent and Easter season and Feast of St Joseph. The joy that the Risen Lord has prepared for us, “something that no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived,” (1 Cor 2:9). After seven weeks of celebration of Easter we come to an end with the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost - Christ’s Passover is fulfilled in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in us.

“When the day of Pentecost had come they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed as resting upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…,” (Acts 2.1–4).

The apostles received “the power from on high,” (LK 24:49) and they began to preach and bear witness to Jesus as the Risen Christ, the King of glory. This moment has traditionally been called the birthday of the Church.

As the St Joseph parish community, we should be proud when we look back these past three months where we were so intense and busy with many events and formations and even draining for some of us. I believe strongly that Jesus was really working in us through our commitments in various ministries to lead everyone into a deeper relationship with Him. Today we have come to celebrate the birthday of the Church once again with the hope of continuing to build, animate and sanctify our parish life.

We have learned that God’s Spirit is a Spirit of transformation, to bring about a personal change in us so that we could do much better in our lives. As true Christians we must let the Holy Spirit really change us from the inside out. We must grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, (2 Peter 3: 18) and focus on loving one another. As St Paul says, Spirit-filled Christians should be “casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” (2 Cor 10:5). True Christians should obey God from the heart more deeply than ever have before, through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Pentecost!

Every ministry in our parish is working “Towards Strengthening Our Faith Community” by preparing and enabling every parishioner to be active disciples of Jesus Christ, who realised that God calls them to witness to and share their faith. The Spirit of God is working in us and the joy of His work will allow us not to be short-lived but to be renewed in our faith and to grow, glow and go in the Spirit in our ministries. We hope to encourage more parishioners to be involved in all areas of preparation for our vision and mission 2017.

Our parish vision and mission will continue with the next most important event of the year which is the Parish Retreat. It is scheduled to be held in September 2017. The Parish Retreat committee led by Mary Bernadette Peters has started their ground work preparations. They will officially announce the details soon. Let’s pray that God’s plan for all individuals and families may be strengthened to be living witnesses to the Good News.

TEACHERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

On Wednesday, 24^th May, I was invited for the celebration of retirement of Puan Tan Tee Hwa, who is also known as Puan Debbie Yeong at SMK Covent Sentul, Kuala Lumpur. She has served in this secondary school as a Headmistress since 2011. In these last seven years of her career she gave her total sincere dedication to the school. She really lived out her motto of “God has gone ahead of her to prepare the way.” She truly believed that her excellent achievement these past seven years is truly God who went ahead of her in her career to prepare the teachers, students, the school and society in large. When we look back at our SMK Convent School, Sentul, Catholic mission school, we can see how she has brought her school to great heights in the Federal Territory.

I have known her since June 2014 and we have worked hand in hand and through mutual understanding to achieve the needs of the school and students to a certain extend. She is very hardworking and has given the best for her schools and students in her previous schools these past 30 years as a teacher and finally as a Headmistress. Her husband, Jason Yeong, has been very supportive in her teaching career. She has stressed in her speech that all teachers and students should not stop learning at any point of their lives and all the good things should be passed down to the next. Some lessons that pass through our lives can be painful or priceless but somehow, we learn something through someone. Whatever lessons we learn will help us live our lives more meaningfully and surely will make us happy.

Puan Marzita who is from SMK Convent Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur, will be the Assistant Administrator of SMK Convent Sentul until the new appointment, which comes from the Federal Territory Education Department. There were a few Christian teachers whose names have been proposed for the SMK Convent Sentul by the school board but their names have not been accepted yet. We pray and hope through God’s intervention that SMK Convent Sentul will have a Christian Teacher as a Headmistress. This has been the tradition in all our mission schools in our country.

A few weeks ago, Ms Cheryl Ann Fernando, our own parishioner from Sri Gombak, presented me a complimentary copy of her self-published book “T For Teacher: Navigating The School Front, 2017”. I was really fascinated with her writing describing her actual teaching experience which has made a difference in the lives of her students in Sungai Petani, Kedah. Those experiences in school have inspired her to release a Malay movie entitled “ADIWIRAKU”, one of the first few education-related films in Malaysia. Kudos Cheryl!

This month we have been celebrating Teacher’s Day. In Indian culture, a teacher has been given a prominent place above God. If you realise every successful individual always recalls his or her teachers from their schools, colleges or universities. Teachers have played a very important role towards shaping every aspect of the life of their students. In fact, our Catechism teachers in our parish too play a vital role in making their faith and education lessons more effective and interesting as they facilitate students learning. Every teacher should acknowledge his or her vital role in the society and nation.

“HAPPY TEACHERS ARE ALWAYS PRODUCTIVE TEACHERS.”

ONE IN CHRIST

“May They Be One Just As We Are”. This weekend Gospel reading (JN 17:1-11) is part of the high priestly prayer that Jesus prayed the night before he died. He prayed this part of prayer for the unity of the disciples, unity of the Church and unity for His people.

His priestly prayer is for all people to be united in Him, regardless of race, gender, age, nationality, social background, politics or abilities. His focus is on “inclusion” not “diversity.”

Through our faith and continued relationship with him, we might become one with each other. It is His prayer that we might grow in faith to truly care for one another, as he has cared for us.

We are one body in Christ (Cf. Romans 12:5). We are with a variety of backgrounds, abilities, interests, and needs make up Church of Christ. We need let the Lord do His work among us, shaping us and we become part of a strong community.


Do I look to Christ as the source of unity between myself and others?