Honouring our elderly parishioners

Senior Citizens Day was celebrated at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (NBVM) on October 12 in conjunction with the Universal Senior Citizens Day. The Mass was coordinated by the senior citizens and the fellowship was organised by the Family Life Ministry.

In his homily, Fr Dominic Santhiyagu repeated the first line from Psalm 110: “I will thank the Lord with all my heart.” He asked the senior citizens, “What do you want to thank God for?” Old age is the time to be calm and lead a saintly life. It is the time to be loving, gentle, kind and peaceful instead of being grumpy and hateful. He asked the senior citizens to make life beautiful for their grandchildren and their children. “Thank God for all that you have for ‘great are the works of the Lord.’ Many of our friends have left us and what we have now can also be taken away. So be grateful for what you have.”

After Mass, the Chairperson of the Family Life Ministry thanked the priests and all the sponsors for the event. She hoped for such celebrations to continue for many years to come.

Fr Dom thanked all the donors and assured them that the donations would be accounted for and the accounts would be published. He also encouraged six senior citizens to volunteer as part of the Family Life committee to plan and arrange more activities for the senior citizens on a regular basis to build companionship in the winter years.

During the fellowship, some of the senior citizens shared their journeys and experiences at the parish. Francis Heng proudly shared how his students from the Assumption School entered the priesthood: Fr Michael Sinappan, Fr Arulnathan and Fr Andrew Manickam OFM Cap.

Gomes shared how he began his married life at the parish. Mary, Patricia and others too had their joyful and sad moments at the parish. Both Fr Dominic and Fr Louis Loi also shared that they were happy to be part of this church.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online