WELFARE AND WELLBEING OF OUR COMMUNITY

The Election Commission has announced that Nomination Day in conjunction with the15th General Election (GE15) will be held on 5 November 2022 and polling day will be on Saturday, 19 November 2022. During the course of the next few weeks, Malaysia will be abuzz with announcements of nominees and number of seats to be contested in the upcoming polls.

Since the last General Election back in 2018, we have seen the collapse of two governments, and resignations of two prime ministers. During this period of time, several parliament members have switched parties for their own convenience and interest. As a result of this, the Malaysian people have been adversely affected. Our GE14 votes were ignored and our voices muted by greedy cronies and irresponsible politicians who betrayed our country, its democracy and its people.

In the previous election, Malaysians voted for change and a new ruling party - to form a new government for the first time in our country since 1955. The rakyat were excited and hoped to experience a change of government when the Pakatan Harapan coalition was voted to lead our country. Unfortunately, they only ruled for two years, as just before the Covid 19 pandemic, the Perikatan Nasional coalition underhandedly took over the government. Since then, the rakyat have been enduring not only the aftermath of the pandemic, but also serious economic and political instability. These crises have escalated day by day, and Malaysians have lost their patience and trust in the governing coalition. 

Sadly, GE15 is set to take place during Malaysia’s monsoon season, and it is going to be rather challenging for the people. Instead of planning and preparing for the floods and other necessary arrangements for the forthcoming rainy season, politicians are wasting resources, campaigning for an untimely election. The haste in which this election has been called seems to telltale the ruling party’s desire to have certain criminal charges dropped on members of their party. Most Malaysians are aware that they are not truly interested in preparing for the dreadful floods which caused havoc in our country last year, nor are they interested in the welfare and well-being of the rakyat.

At our Parish level, we are doing all we can to prepare for the floods. We have formed a Parish Flood Relief Ministry (PFRM) and conducted our first meeting with volunteers on Saturday, 15 October 2022. Urgent matters were discussed and highlighted, and training sessions have been confirmed. We are still looking for more Parishioners to come forward as volunteers. All are welcome to join, including family and friends who may not belong to our Parish. Our first training session will be conducted on Friday, 28 October (online session) followed by an in-person session the following day (29 October 2022) at our Church premises. If you or anyone you know would like to volunteer, kindly contact the Parish office during office hours.

In line with our preparations, we are also organising a Family Day Carnival in conjunction with the 6th World Day of the Poor 2022. For this year, the Holy Father, Pope Francis has chosen the theme, “For Your Sake Christ Became Poor” (cf. 2 Cor 8:9). This event will be held on Sunday, 13 November 2022 within our Parish grounds. There will be food stalls, exciting games, entertainment, stage performances and lucky draws with many prizes to be won. The main objective of this event is to raise funds to help the flood victims and to provide for the poor. 

We invite all Parishioners to participate and support our efforts to raise funds for this worthy cause. The success of this event will benefit those in need of assistance. Coupons for the games and food are already on sale and donations are most welcome. Kindly refer to the bulletin for further information.

WITNESS AND EVANGELISE THE GOOD NEWS

World Mission Sunday (Rerum Ecclesiae) was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1926 with the intention of renewing our commitment to the missionary spirit, and committing ourselves to evangelise Jesus Christ as Saviour of the world. The Universal Church reminds us annually of our fundamental character to be missionary disciples, through the Holy Father’s message on World Mission Sunday.  

This year, the Universal Church will be celebrating World Mission Sunday on 23 October 2022, with the theme: “You Shall Be My Witnesses” (Acts 1:8). The Holy Father, Pope Francis chose the theme from the last words of the Risen Lord with His disciples, before ascending into Heaven. He recalls that Jesus Christ was “the first to be sent as a missionary here on earth” and that He is “the faithful witness” and therefore, it is the Church’s sole mission to bear witness to Him.

 

The Holy Father highlights how the disciples were sent by Jesus to the whole world, to carry out His mission, and to live the mission entrusted to them - to be witnesses and to evangelise the good news. The Church manifests the character of her mission to go forth “to the ends of the earth” and proclaim the message of Christ. The Pope points out that we should be His witnesses, and make known Christ's love to all peoples, cultures and social states throughout generations.

 

All missionaries should “draw energy, strength and stimuli” in their work, through the working of the Holy Spirit – “You will receive the strength from the Holy Spirit.” Each missionary should cultivate a life of prayer, because it is essential in missionary life. On World Mission Sunday, we should proclaim Christ’s message of salvation in every aspect of our daily lives. The Pope reminds us that every Christian should reflect and pray on three foundations - “the life and mission of every disciple”, “the call of every Christian to bear witness to Christ” and “the heart of Jesus’ teaching” to all people.

 

(An Extract from the message of the Pope Francis for World Mission Day 2022)

 

Bringing the gospel of Christ to the world is our mission, and evangelising is the very identity of the Church. Jesus has given every baptised Catholic a mandate to evangelise the Good News to all nations (Mt 28: 18-20). First and foremost - to bring love to our homes, unity in our Parish community and smiles to people that we meet every day in our lives. 

Now is a time for us to render our service, talent, creativity, knowledge and experience, and be fully involved in the work of evangelisation as missionary disciples. As we come closer to the end of the year, let us pray together with the mission of the Church - that we may recognise the essential work of the Spirit, be refreshed and strengthened by it, and have joy in sharing Christ’s life with others. We pray for the grace of God, and for the understanding of what it is to be called My Witnesses.

REACHING OUT THROUGH MISSION

The East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia (Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan) is expected to face some of its worst floods in the coming monsoon season. We have been receiving information from trusted sources on weather forecasts, predicting that this year, we can expect to be badly hit by torrential rain in the coming weeks and months. 

In response to this, the Parish of St Thomas, Kuantan, is in the midst of forming a Parish Flood Relief Ministry (PFRM) under the umbrella of the Parish Integral of Human Development Ministry (PIHDM). The objective of this ministry is to assist flood victims during the upcoming monsoon season, which is expected to start at the end of October onwards.

 

We need to start our groundwork in planning for the floods and the recovery from the aftermath. We encourage Parishioners and friends within our vicinity to volunteer their services for this ministry. We want to plan ahead and organise ourselves as best we can, before any disaster occurs in our areas. Once the PFRM is formed and volunteers secured, we will then conduct training and other activities to prepare them, before the heavy rain and floods begin.

 

We are sure that there will be NGOs, armed forces and individual volunteers who will come forward to assist the flood victims too. However, as a Church institution, we have to be mission-oriented, so that we may able to reach out and make a difference during tough times. I am sure that all our efforts will not go to waste during dire times, when natural disasters occur, so we must strive to keep up our good works and spirits alive.

 

Early this month, we started a Family Day Project to raise funds for the poor and also for the anticipated flood victims. As part of this project, we have planned a Family Day, which will take place on Sunday, 13 November 2022 in our Church premises. This event is in conjunction with the 6th World Day of the Poor. We plan to invite the underprivileged members of our community, regardless of nationality, to celebrate with us as one family. There will be many activities taking place on that day - such as games, food stalls, stage shows etc.

 

Proceeds from the Family Day Project will be distributed to those who truly need it - equally and without prejudice. We hope to receive as much support from our Parishioners and from the community - to work hand-in-hand with the PFRM, so that we are able to carry out the required works.

 

During this month of the Rosary, we continue to pray for volunteers to come forward to join our Parish Flood Relief Ministry (PFRM) so that our preparations and effort would not be futile. Through Our Lady’s maternal care and protection, we pray all would participate in the mission of the Church as a family of God, working together to face all and any difficulties ahead of us with steadfast hearts and unwavering faith.

 

Our Lady of the Rosary, PRAY FOR US!

EVANGELISING MARY THROUGH THE ROSARY

The month of October, the Month of the Rosary has arrived. The best way of celebrating and honouring our Spiritual Mother during this beautiful month is by praying the Rosary in the Church, with families at home and in the religious community.

The Rosary is a powerful weapon and instrument for conversion and armour to protect us from all evil. We are living in a more challenging time. Our sufferings and miseries, trials and tribulations, humiliation and dishonour will drag us towards the end of our tale. They will dissuade us and challenge us to divert us from the path towards God. The evils continuously strike against us in trying to make us betray and abandon Our Lord Jesus Christ. When we persistently pray the Rosary and have unwavering faith in the Rosary, Our Lady will obtain for us our countless graces and blessings through her Son, Jesus Christ in our spiritual life.

 

We use the Rosary as a tool to promote and evangelise Mary’s FIAT (Mary’s YES) to take her footsteps and to follow God’s will in our own lives. (Mary’s Yes – “I am the Servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word,” Lk 1:38). Mary surrendered herself to the will of God and to the salvation plan of God. As we pray the Rosary, her humble trust in God will teach us to say ‘Yes’ to God by submitting ourselves to His will. Each time when we pray the Rosary, we pray that we will respond our ‘Yes’ to God enthusiastically and persevere in our faith following the example of Mary courageously.

 

Praying the Rosary is not an easy prayer and it can be rather monotonous too. We find ourselves distracted by many other things and at times we may doze off the moment we start praying the Rosary. The older generations find it more comfortable in praying this traditional prayer compared to the younger generations. All our families are facing all kinds of crises and we so regret the life of the past and the freedom that we have abused in our family life. Let’s bring our families together to pray the Rosary daily seeking renewal in our families and persevere in all our challenges and difficulties.

 

In this month of October, the Church invites us to unite in prayer, especially through the Rosary in our respective BECs, families or as individuals. Every time we say a Hail Mary, we offer her a pretty rose and when we complete the five decades of the Rosary, we render her a crown of roses. In return, we would receive graces and blessings through her intercessions. Our fervent devotion to her will help us to grow in holiness and peace. Let us together increase our special devotion to her from now.

 

TOWARDS BECOMING SYNODAL PRIESTS

We, the clergy of Peninsular Malaysia have been having our directed annual spiritual retreat on a rotational basis during this month of September for 6 six days from Sunday evening till Friday noon. The retreat is organised over four consecutive weeks throughout the month in three different centres – Cameron Highlands (1st and 4th week), Penang Island (2nd week) and Plentong, Johor (3rd week). During the COVID-19 pandemic, for two years there wasn’t any directed retreat organised for us but we carried it out on our personal level. This year once again we had an opportunity to be physically present in our respective retreat centres.

All clergy (Cardinals, Bishops, Priests and Deacons), religious and seminarians are required canonically “to observe the period of the annual retreat.” We take time off from our parish ministry and administration to attend spiritual retreats not just to fulfil the Canon Law’s requirement but to make time for ourselves to re-energise, re-examine and recharge our spiritual batteries. Jesus himself withdrew from His public ministry and spent time in solitude in the desert for forty days, (Lk 4:1-3). Hence, we are strongly encouraged to step away from our daily routine and hectic schedules and enter into the depths of our souls.

 

Every year in the past, I preferred to attend my yearly retreat in Stella Maris, Penang Island no matter who, the retreat master. I specifically choose to be in Penang Island in the past because of the coastal environment of the retreat centre and furthermore, Penang, is a foodie’s paradise. This year, however, I opted instead to be in MAJODI Center, Plentong for my spiritual retreat due to certain circumstances.  Altogether 30 of us were together in this retreat centre (7 Permanent Deacons and 24 Priests) from 18-23 September 2022.

 

Our Retreat Master was Auxiliary Bishop Midyphil Billones from the Archdiocese of Cebu, Philippines. He obtained his doctorate in Theology from the Loyola School of Theology of the Ateneo de Manila University. His episcopal ordination was on 26 September 2019. He guided us in our retreat with the theme, “Towards Becoming Synodal Shepherds for Renewal in the Church.” He developed the retreat on “synodality of re-awakening”, and “synodality of conversion” towards “presbyteral synodality and sacramental brotherhood.” It is basically about living our priestly identity and journeying together as companions to be in communion as a Church and to work collaboratively in the mission of the Church. He reminded us over and over again that in this process of synodality, we should not push God aside in our priestly ministry but open a doorway to synodality - a greater communion, participation and mission.

 

Bishop Midyphil is a very young, wise, learned, prayerful and spiritual man. His reflections, his personal priestly experiences and sharing were deemed more conducive to obtain in-depth insights. Furthermore, the choicest of his philosophical and theological terms offer lessons worth learning for me. He gave a few scriptural passages including the Holy Father's encyclical texts for my further studies and reflections to engage in prayerful mediations in the future. It was an enriching retreat and I have gained new insights in the depth of my soul. I am grateful to Bishop Midyphil and most of all to God for blessing us with a wonderful and knowledgeable retreat master.