CARRYING OUT THE MISSION OF JESUS CHRIST

“It’s time for Christmas shopping!” - this comes to mind the moment we enter into the season of Advent. Advent is “a time of vigilant waiting, conversion and of hope.”The next couple of weeks we will be waiting for the coming of Jesus once again into our hearts and our homes on Christmas Day, and also prepare for His final glorious coming on Judgment Day. 

To welcome the mystery of the Word Incarnate (cf. John 1:1) and to incarnate it in our lives this Christmas, we need to have conversion of our hearts. We ought to tune our mind and heart to live and re-live the spirit of Advent, hoping the Lord will bestow His grace upon us, as we grow in holiness and peace. To come to the true meaning of Christmas - the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus, we should spend time in pray, meditation and daily reading of Scripture throughout Advent. As we are striving to be closer to Jesus, may His Grace free us from sins and from its evil consequences. May the New liturgical year and Advent bring many blessings and graces to you and your families.

To prepare for the new liturgical year 2018/2019, twelve of us from various head of ministries, came together on Saturday, 24 November 2018 to revise our parish mission statements and pastoral priorities. We began with a silent adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour before entering into our discussions and sharing.

First, we discuss why the Church wants the New Evangelisation? The word Evangelisation has a similar meaning to missionary efforts in proclaiming Jesus to everyone. The term New Evangelisation was first used by Saint Pope John Paul II, when he was addressing the Latin American Bishops in 1983. He invited every Christian to make known Christ and His Gospel to everyone, to the baptised who have lost the sense of faith and those who live a life far detached from Christ and His Church.

In the year of Jubilee 2000, Saint John Paul challenged the Church to leave behind the shallow waters by not just maintaining the Church institution, but to go to the deeper waters of Evangelisation. We, as a Church, are invited today to “put into the deep” or Duc in Altum, and lower our nets for more catch (Luke 5:4), which means to carry out the mission of Jesus Christ to every corner of the world and to every culture.

Dear Parishioners, I hope you still remember our parish vision for the year 2018-2020, which is “Committing Ourselves to New Evangelisation” and our parish pastoral priority for the year 2019, which will be on Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue (EIRD). Our discussion on our pastoral priority for 2019 focuses on EIRD and the issues, which arise with our fellow brethren from other churches and people of other faiths as well. Next, how can we guide our various ministries, clusters and parish community and what are the events we may think of, in order to achieve our vision and mission? 

Hence, we want each parishioner to build respectful relationships with everyone, get in touch with each other in the parish and with those whom have distance themselves from our faith, and to communicate with people of other faiths for the common good of all. Let’s work together to set a path of love and fraternity, by promoting ecumenical and inter-faith harmony, mutual understanding and friendship. The Holy Spirit will guide us on our journey, as we work towards our vision and mission in the coming year, 2019.

VISION: COMMITTING OURSELVES TO NEW EVANGELISATION

MISSION: As disciples of hope, we, the Parishioners of Saint Joseph’s Church, commit into the spirit of New Evangelisation by building friendship with EVERYONE, including people of other faiths, respectfully and joyfully

RESET OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE

Advent starts a new liturgical year inviting us to deepen our spiritual perspectives and closeness with God. Advent can be a season of healing through deeper awareness that the Child Jesus desires to be born anew in us once again. Advent is an opportunity to renew our commitment to Christ as Lord of our life.

In preparing for Christmas we have four weeks in Advent season to reset our spiritual life. We worry about the sin of others rather than our own sin.With Christ, we can live in safety, grow in holiness and be prepared for the Christmas. Advent is considered a penitential time with an opportunity to turn away from any darkness of sins in our lives. It is the coming of Christ as the light of the world that dispels our darkness of sins.

Advent gives us a fresh start and we shall use the season wisely.Silence, prayer, Eucharist, Confession and reading the scripturecan lead us to inner healing. Let us prepare well that our joy may be complete when we receive our newborn King, and celebrate His birth on Christmas Day.

“To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul,” (Ps 25).

THE LIGHT ON OUR JOURNEY

2018 marks 110 years since the Church of St Joseph, Sentul was established. In conjunction with that, we scheduled a few spiritual formations, special events and activities in our parish, but the celebration came to a climax on Sunday, 18 November 2018, when we hosted a thanksgiving dinner as well as the 2nd World Day Of The Poor. 

We had throngs of past and present parishioners, families, friends and guests from near and far, as well as migrant families from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India, plus some underprivileged families from around our parish vicinity, who came to celebrate this special occasion with us. The 110th year anniversary dinner and the World Day of the Poor went smoothly, with pleasant weather throughout the night. The fun-filled evening began with prayer, music from a live band, a laser show, performances by various ministries, speeches and lucky draws.

The organising committee and the souvenir magazine committee worked tirelessly to make it a night to remember. They have been gathering, planning, organising, reading archives and collecting parish history details, for over three months, and their efforts really paid off that night, and for that I am truly grateful. I feel honoured to have worked alongside them to make our celebration a reality. Once again, with due respect, let me just say a big THANK YOU to the committee members for the work you have done in making sure this event was successful and memorable. Your hard work and dedication is truly appreciated.

I would also like to say a big thank you to past priests and parishioners who have served in our parish. Over the years, you have stood together to strengthen the Church of St Joseph, the Worker. You have endured many hardships to build a strong faith-community of Catholics able to spread the Good News in extraordinary ways and you have brought blessings to our Parish.

To my dear present parishioners, you are the best!  Your commitment, support and prayer make every spiritual formation, every event and every activity a success! In my past four and a half years of service at this parish, you have been faithful companions and collaborators, bringing our parish to great heights. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all parishioners, families and friends for your love, your prayers and your support.

It is now time for us to renew and re-energise our parish’s mission and vision “Committing Ourselves to New Evangelisation” by building bridges with everyone, including people of other faiths, respectfully and joyfully. Through the example of Mother Mary and our Patron, St Joseph, we shall continue to keep the spirit of evangelisation, and strengthen our mission and vision as we unite for a common purpose to serve Christ and His Church and to complete the mission Christ has mandated to us.

Let us work enthusiastically to build our relationships within the family and parish. Sometimes, when we become too exhausted, and we find ourselves becoming lukewarm in our relationship with God and one other, our life of faith withers. The higher our level of enthusiasm, the more we are living in God then we can redirect our energy to do more fruitful work, in His name.

Let us take the time to thank our Heavenly Father for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us. We thank and praise our Lord Jesus Christ for being the light on our journey these past 110years. May the good Lord be with us always and bless us and our families.

THE LORD IS KING

The Solemnity of Christ the King, which we celebrate today, was established in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. We always celebrate this feast on the last Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Sunday before the beginning of Advent.

We only see one absolute benevolent king in all of history that is the LORD JESUS Himself. He is the Only King. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Christ the King establishes His Kingdom of light upon earth. This kingdom comes first to our hearts when we accept Jesus as Lord of our lives. When we surrender our lives to Him and proclaim Him to be King in our lives then our hearts become an extension of His kingdom on earth.

The empty promises and false hope of wealth and material possessions are hanged in front of us. The King of kings is coming to conquer our true enemies: sin, death, the evil with His kingly power. Be ready, be prepared for His coming!

May the power of the Gospel change our hearts and our lives by Christ the King, who is our Ruler, our Victor and our Redeemer.

“The Lord is King, with majesty enrobed,” (Ps 93).

COMMEMORATING 110 YEARS BY CELEBRATING THE PRESENCE OF JESUS IN OUR MIDST

Sunday, 18 November 2018 will be a very memorable day for us, as we celebrate three significant milestones in our parish’s history. We will be celebrating:

1) Parish 110^thYear Anniversary

This year the Church of St. Joseph, Sentul, Kuala Lumpur is celebrating 110 years, since its establishment. In conjunction with this event, the committee, led by Joe Fernando, Leonard Paiva and Gabriel Moses, will be organising a Thanksgiving Dinnerinviting parishioners, their families and neighbours for this celebration. For the past two months, they have been working hard to ensure this event goes smoothly and successfully. They have sold 1010 tickets (10pax per table) for a delicious 8-course Chinese meal, which will be served by one of the famous seafood restaurants from Sekincan, Kuala Selangor. 

At this event, there will be a live band, laser show, dancing, raffle draws and other entertainment starting from 7.30pm to 10.30pm. It will take place at the Church’s backyard. We shall pray for pleasant weather, so that everyone can have a memorable time that night. 

2) 2^ndWorld Day of the Poor

Last year the Holy Father, Pope Francis invited the Catholic Church to set aside the 33^rdSunday in Ordinary Time each year as World Day of the Poor. This year, the Universal Church will celebrate the 2^ndWorld Day of the Pooron 18 November 2018 with the theme “This Poor Man Cried and the Lord heard him,” (Ps 34:6). The Holy Father, Pope Francis invites us to move with the spirit of human solidarity, and care for the poor by uprooting poverty, which is mainly caused by selfishness, pride, greed and injustice. The Holy Father says that we ought to draw ourselves near to the poor, listen to their cries, build relationship with them, get to know and honour them because they are a real presence of Jesus in our midst.

 

Last year, our Parish marked the First World Day of the Poorby inviting poor and under-privileged members of our community to various activities, a funfair, live band performances and meals together. To mark the 2^ndWorld Day of the Poor, we have invited 350 poor people - locals as well migrants - to come together and join in our Thanksgiving Dinneron 18 November 2018. The committee has managed to raise the sum of money required in order to sponsor tickets for them. We really appreciate for all those who have generously come forward with their donations. It is our way of giving tribute, honour and dignity to these most vulnerable people as we all come together to celebrate 110years since the establishment of our beautiful church.

3) Launching of our Parish Souvenir Magazine

The Parish of St Joseph, Sentul has had a very long, significant and successful history since it was founded in 1908. The 110^thYear Commemorative Magazinewill be launched on 18 November 2018 to mark the establishment of our church. As a community, we treasure every moment of our rich history (the past), we celebrate Jesus’ presence in words and sacraments every day (the present) and we walk in faith for every success (the promise of our future).

I would like to thank the Editorial Committee, led by Neubert Ambrose, the designers and printer, sponsors and well-wishers, for the contribution of articles and advertisements in the magazine. The magazine is available for purchase at only RM10 per book, so please get a copy (or two!) for yourself and for your family and friends.

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all parishioners who have worked tirelessly and unfailingly to support and pray for the success of our projects. You are all superb! Thank you once again and I look forward to working with you on the next one, very soon!