Author Archives: Ken Wong

Pope Francis had reminded us that “the poor are our passport to paradise.” Pope Francis declared 2018 as the year for us to “Be Disciples of Hope for the Poor.” In line with this calling, the Church of St Anthony celebrated Christmas Joy with the Poor, other Christians and Religious sisters within the space of one week.

Christmas Joy with the Poor was celebrated immediately after the 9.15am English Mass on Dec 17. Carols were sung followed by fellowship lunch and 25 hampers were given away to the poor.

On Dec 21, 420 people from 12 Christian churches in Hilir Perak took part in a Combined Churches Christmas celebration organised by the Lower Perak Pastors Fellowship in Han Cheng Restaurant, which was graced by Dato’ Seri Mah Siew Keong, MP of Teluk Intan, Gerakan President and Minister of Commodities and Plantations. St Anthony’s Church sang two carols in English and Tamil.

On Dec 23, there was the Christmas Joy with the IJ Sisters at the Sisters’ home. We began with Midday Prayer (Vespers), followed by exchange of Christmas gifts and ending with fellowship lunch. Parish Priest Fr Francis Xavier, Fr Peter Bataona and Fr Paschalis (both from Indonesia) were present.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online

A heavy downpour in the evening did not dampen the spirit of some 1,000 residents of Kampung Cempaka and parishioners of St Ignatius Church (SIC) at the Solstice and Christmas Party on December 22.

Held at the Kampung Cempaka covered basketball court, this was the first-ever big-scale party organised by SIC in one of its closest neighbourhoods. The date was just days away from Christmas and also coincided with the Winter Solstice Festival celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians.

A group from SIC’s Bahasa Malaysia-speaking community kicked off the double celebration at 7.00pm with some popular Christmas hymns. Then followed various song and dance items performed by ministries and groups from SIC’s English and Mandarin- speaking communities, as well as other groups. Representatives from the Tamil-speaking community performed a play on the Christmas story.

Amongst the delicacies served were six roasted pigs and tang yuen (glutinous rice balls in sweet ginger syrup). Attendees had participated by rolling the dough into round shapes for volunteers to cook and serve.

A particularly meaningful activity took place when cotton wool was passed around for all present to make toys which will be given to poor children in countries overseas as Christmas gifts or sold to raise funds for them. Attendees were also given the opportunity to bring the toys home if they wanted to.

The event ended at 10.30pm with attendees bringing home door gifts and, hopefully, the joy and spirit of Christmas. Besides SIC Parish Priest Fr Andrew Wong CDD and Br Joseph Lim CDD, the VIPs in attendance included Yeo Bee Yin (Member of the Selangor State Assembly for Damansara Utama), Daniel Lee, Councillor, Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ), Theresa Lim (Kampung Cempaka Village Head) and Pastor Gilbert Wee (Sidang Injil Borneo Kuala Lumpur).

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online

The senior citizens of Sacred Heart Church (SHC), the Evergreens, celebrated a Christmas with a Dinner on December 10, 2017.

KUALA LUMPUR: The senior citizens of Sacred Heart Church (SHC), the Evergreens, celebrated a Christmas with a Dinner on December 10, 2017.

The invited guests were Fr Edwin and Bro Joseph. The dinner began with a prayer song, followed by a speech by Fr Edwin. Entertainment was from our own Evergreen singers, (The Legend) belting out songs from Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, the Beatles and the Carpenters, making it extremely easy for all to sing along. Fr Edwin also contributed a number, singing Teresa Teng’s classic, The Moon Represents my Heart, which was applauded by all!

Besides the festive entertainment, there were also games, and a lucky draw event with many prizes. The best dressed female prize went to Datin Rani (she was elegantly dressed in Christmas colours — red, green and gold), and the best dressed male prize went to Jacob Chiam (he wore a reindeer headband).

As the band continued to play, the seniors took to the floor and boogied to songs like Proud Mary, The Young Ones, The Last Waltz and many more classics. This Christmas dinner gave the Evergreens an opportunity to have fun. The finale was the Conga line dance where everyone joined in, accompanied by the song Feliz Navidad. It was indeed a happy and memorable occasion.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online

Msgr Leonard Lexson celebrated the English Mass with 3,000 faithful on Dec 24.

In his homily, Msgr Leonard said that the peace that we have, the world cannot give, only God can give. He has given us His peace that has no end; but why are we not living in peace? No matter what happens in the world, we must recognize this peace like Mary and Joseph and the shepherds did. We are today called to recognise, once again, His everlasting peace.

A married couple carried the icon of the Infant Jesus, followed by Msgr Leonard and the altar servers who proceeded to the left wing where the Nativity scene had been setup by the Migrants Concern Ministry.

The couple placed the icon in the manger, followed by Msgr Leonard incensing and blessing the Nativity scene.

Many of the faithful venerated the icon of the Infant Jesus later.

On December 25, the two morning Masses saw a total of some 4,500 faithful participating.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online

JOHOR BAHRU: Bishop Bernard Paul celebrated the Christmas vigil Mass for the Orang Asli at Kpg. Tanah Gembor, Bekor and a few Indonesians, who joined the villagers.

After the vigil Mass the orang asli had a fellowship with the villagers.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online

Close to 1,000 Myanmar Catholics celebrated Christmas at the special 1.15am Mass on Christmas Day at the Cathedral of St John the Evangelist.

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PETALING JAYA: Every year, thousands of people from the Pope to Queen Elizabeth receive Christmas cards from an unlikely sender: a British imam seeking to highlight the significance of Jesus for Muslims.

Mohammed Fahim of the Qur’ani Murkuz Trust in east London told UK news channel Sky News that Muslims also believed in Jesus’ miracles, as well as his second coming.

“Muslims believe in all the prophets and messengers of God without making any distinction between any of them – as stated by God in the Quran.

“So if they believe in Muhammad and Jesus, why do they celebrate the birth of Muhammad and not the birth of Jesus? To celebrate I mean to emulate, to study the lifestyle of these messengers, the great sacrifices they made and the legacy they left behind,” he was quoted as saying.

According to the report, Fahim prints some 4,000 cards every year, which he sends to members of the royal family, MPs, churches, neighbours, colleagues, the Pope and European Union leaders.

The cards, which he designed himself, feature scenes of Jerusalem and verses from the Quran about Jesus and his mother Mary.

Fahim has been doing this for almost 10 years now, and receives many positive responses, including from the queen, the prime minister and the Pope.

Through his work, he hopes to dispel misconceptions about Islam and encourage more Muslims to study and celebrate the Christmas story, Sky News said.

“Every year, British Muslims are missing two golden opportunities (Christmas and Easter) to propagate the message of Islam, a message of peace, tolerance and justice. To show how do they integrate into the British society without losing their religion or watering it down,” he was quoted as saying.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online

KUALA LUMPUR: Jerusalem should be shared by both Palestinians and Israelis, several Church leaders said on Dec 25.

Council of Churches of Malaysia general secretary, Rev Dr Hermen Shastri said the Churches agree with the position adopted by the United Nations on this issue, which is to allow both sides to have access to the controversial religious area.

“Most Churches follow the position of the UN, where Palestinians have the right to their homeland and where Israelis have the right to their homeland.

“Jerusalem is a place that all religions are interested in. It should be a city of peace. It should be a shared capital,” he told reporters when met at the sidelines of a Christmas high-tea event, Dec 25.

He added that, instead of attending rallies and protests, all parties should work together to find an immediate solution to the issue.

Hermen explained that even several Church leaders of Palestinian origin have been affected badly by the Jerusalem issue.

“Any nation should not stall the peace initiative. Look for the path of peace within the framework of justice.

“We do not go for those kinds of rallies. We go for rallies within our Church movement, in solidarity with Christian leaders, many of whom are Palestinians,” he said.

Fr George Harrison, a Catholic priest from Seremban, said despite their respective religious beliefs, people should be more tolerant and less aggravated by the situation.

“Well, we have to use the wisdom that comes from God, and sacred scriptures to find a peaceful solution for this.

“I think we can always find an answer by seeking for wisdom and the right thing to do, instead of looking for a quick response to a situation. We can always have some other way,” he said.

Malaysia has staunchly opposed the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, in solidarity with Palestine, as it was an insult to Muslims worldwide.

Recently, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak led a rally in front of Masjid Putra to show solidarity for Palestinian Muslims and opposed US President Donald Trump’s announcement vehemently.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online

The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit’s (CHS) Parish Pastoral Assembly was conducted very differently from previous years. This time it focussed on the organisation of the pastoral formation of the parish from 2018 onwards. The preparation started on Sept 9 with the Study Day conducted by the Diocesan Animating Team (DAT) to dialogue, discern and see what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church today.

The DAT reviewed the proceedings of the Penang Diocesan Synod at the Church of St Anne, Bukit Mertajam and the PMPC IV at Plentong, Johor in 2016. A breakout session provided feedback.

On Nov 3, Parish Priest, Fr Joachim Robert, held separate dialogue sessions with the various ministries and social groups under five Cluster groups to see how the parish could be more creative, inclusive and bridgebuilding.

On Dec 3, after the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament more than 200 parishioners went to the Dewan Holy Spirit for the Parish Pastoral Assembly. With Fr Fabian Dicom as Chairman, the Parish Assembly began with a prayer by Fr Francis Anthony, Assistant Parish Priest.

PPC Chairman, Pedro Geronimo, in his welcome address expressed his appreciation for the continued patience of the parishioners throughout the 16 months while the new building was under construction. He then reviewed the events that were celebrated during the year 2017.

Iruthayadas, PAT Chairman, presented feedback from the Study Day, as well as the discussions held with the five Cluster groups.

Fr Francis spoke of the wisdom, maturity and resilience of the parish and how it had progressed since the year 2005 when he came in as parish priest. Certain structures were missing but, once put in place, everything picked up and there was oneness.

Fr Joachim said that when he came as parish priest in May this year, he was amazed by the diversity and enthusiasm in the Parish. He then reflected on the Pentecost backdrop in the sanctuary of the Cathedral, depicting the Holy Spirit coming down in tongues of fire upon the disciples, with Mary leading the Church to go out and evangelise.

Later in the Acts, the Apostles prayed and broke bread. There was fellowship and brotherhood and they grew in numbers day by day and set a direction. With this inspiration, Fr Joachim urged the assembly to revisit the memory of that mystery. He also urged everyone to look back to the humble beginnings of the parish, saying, “If we want to chart the future, we first have to look back at our history.

“In 1950, the parish took shape at the Greenlane Convent canteen. It became a parish in 1969 and was elevated to cathedral in 2003. We will soon celebrate our 50 years as a parish and 15 years as cathedral. He spoke of the many diversities within the parish, such as languages, talents, gifts and charisms. We can use these diversities to move forward. As the Holy Spirit has inspired us, we can look with confidence to God. However, when there is too much diversity there will be challenges. Too much uniformity is also not good. We have to strike the right balance with a lot of give and take.”

He proposed Unity in Diversity as the parish theme for 2018. The one year celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the Parish will be a good opportunity to adopt this theme and put it into practice.

Fr Joachim proposed that the parish thrust be based on the following:

1. Teachings of the Apostles
2. Fellowship
3. The breaking of bread
4. Prayer

Fr Joachim concluded saying, “As we move forward we should strive to be missionaries of hope. We strive to be creative, inclusive and bridgebuilders through unity in diversity.”

There was a Q & A session with Fr Fabian as moderator. The main comment was about Masses in Bahasa Malaysia. The senior citizens felt they could not manage with Masses in BM and needed some alternatives. Sunset Mass on the third Saturday of every month is in BM at CHS. However, the youth felt it was a necessary move, as they are more fluent with BM than with English. They also felt that Catechism should be conducted in BM in future.

The Assembly ended with Fr Fabian calling for consensus on the theme Unity in Diversity as the thrust of the parish for 2018.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online