Today's Catholic Vol. 27 No.8 November 2015

CATHOLIC today’s

A monthly publication of the Archdiocese of Kuching, Sarawak

Permit No PPK 148/01/2013(031378)

Vol 27 No 8 November 2015

Inside...

3rd Asian Apostolic Congress on Mercy

Year of Mercy

P10

P6

“[Christ] will bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.”

Heb 9:28

今日教友 第十六至二十二頁

Discalced Carmelite Sr Marie Pauline makes Solemn Profession

NEW BRIDE OF CHRIST ... (Left) Newly professed Sr Marie Pauline, OCD in her complete, brown habit and veil.

(Right) Sr Marie Pauline lying prostrate during the rite of the Solemn Profession, a sign of her total surrender to God. MIRI — “Our Lord who is always and ever faithful has worked great wonders to make sure that he can fulfil his plan for my life,” said Sr Marie Pauline of the Sacred Heart, who developed a desire to become a Sister or a Nun at a young age but had to put it off due to her responsibility as an eldest child to take care of her siblings and to help provide for her family financially.

She managed to attend her first Commitment Seminar in December 2009, an annual seminar organised for school leavers allowing the participants to learn more about the religious life.

However, Sr Pauline only had the opportunity to meet the Carmelite Sisters after

attending the same seminar again in December 2010. At the end of the seminar, Sr Pauline was among several “who felt they have the vocation to become Carmelite” to meet the Carmelite Sisters. Follow up contacts were made and ensuing arrangements established to facilitate Sr Pauline’s entry into the monastery.

Sr Pauline was born to Justin Ding and Nancy Lungan on 23 September 1965 in Long San, Ulu Baram. She later moved to Long Urun in Belaga with her parents and five siblings.

After completing her secondary education in Miri she worked as a nurse in Kuching and later helped her cousin run the canteen before joining the Carmelite monastery on 5

Website: http://www.todayscatholic.com.my

March 2011.

She is very grateful to the late Fr Matthew Knapan who taught her to live her faith and encouraged her to pray, saying, “however tired, busy or lazy you are, you must speak to God a little before you go to bed. Just say the Our Father or Hail Mary before you do your work”.

Sr Pauline made her solemn profession at the Carmelite Chapel in Miri on Thursday 15 October, the Feast Day of St Teresa of Jesus.

The ceremony took place during an evening Mass presided over by His Lordship Bishop Richard Ng with seven priests concelebrating and in the presence of the lay people, her family and friends.

Continued on p3

V CENTENARY SAINT TERESA OF JESUS

The celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of St Teresa of Avila (1515-2015) began on 15 October 2014 and continued through 15 October. St Teresa was the foundress of the Discalced Carmelite Order. The Carmelite communities in Malaysia recently closed the celebration. See page 3 for photos and news.

Contact us at 082-231164 (Tel), 082-230196 (Fax), todaycat@gmail.com (E-mail), P O Box 940, 93718 Kuching (Post)

NEWS

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EDITORIAL

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

We never walk alone

So it’s officially confirmed. Marriage remains a lifelong bond, an irrevocable covenant between one man and one woman open to having children.

Without denying the dignity of homosexuals or divorced couples, this teaching excludes any concessions or negotiations on ‘allowing’ divorce or condoning same sex ‘marriages’.

The Synod of Bishops, the shepherds of the global Catholic Church have spoken in a 94 paragraph report approved on 24 October (see page 8). Having unequivocally stated the position of the Church on marriage and positively affirmed the role of pastors in supporting familes, the

Synod reminded ‘careful discernment’ is necessary in pastoral care as there is no ‘black and white’ situations for those families in difficulty. No such thing as one size fits all.

Justice and mercy, a delicate balance, a walk of faith on a tight rope. But we never walk alone.

CATHOLIC today’s THE TEAM PUBLISHER The Archbishop of Kuching ADVISOR Fr Felix Au EDITOR Stella Chin ASSOCIATE EDITOR (Chinese) Magdalene Yeo EDITORIAL TEAM Freddy Bohari (BM) Martha Ngui (English) Victoria J Lim

(English Children’s Section) James Lo (Chinese) Margaret Bong

(Chinese Children’s Section) YOUTH PAGE Benedict Lo STAFF Audrey Yu

Children called to be prayer warriors KUCHING — On 2 October, Blessed Sacrament Church celebrated the 13th Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour presided over by the parish priest, Fr Lawrence Chua.

About 600 parishioners consisting of parents, children and other parishioners were present.

The Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour started in 2003 by the World Apostolate of Fatima, USA. It was to commemorate the appearance of our Lady of Fatima to the three shepherd children of Fatima in 1917.

The event rapidly became an international annual agenda, in which children around the world actively participate, praying for peace for the world and for all families.

The Blessed Sacrament Parish has joyfully made this celebration a yearly event since 2010.

YOUNG WARRIORS ... (Left) Children leading the procession; (Right) A young lady placing the crown on the statue of Our Lady The event started with a procession of the statue of our Lady of Fatima from the grotto to the church, led by the Unity Candle bearer, the Choir, and accompanied by 30 children dressed up as ‘angels’, Sunday School students with lit candles, and the Crown bearer while hymns in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary were sung.

As the procession entered the church, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was placed next to the Altar. The Holy Hour proceeded with the placement of the petition basket, followed by the crowning of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima with the singing of the theme song, “We are the Children of the World”.

The apparition of Our Lady of

Fatima to the three children was re-enacted. The children led the recitation of the World Mission Rosary in English and Mandarin. The adoration of the Blessed Sacrament then followed.

In his concluding address, Fr Lawrence Chua, emphasised the importance of the prayer of the

rosary. He encouraged children to own a rosary and pray the rosary every day as what the Blessed Lady told the three little children of Fatima.

The Children Holy Hour concluded with a hymn, “Praise her with a Flower”, in honour of the Blessed Mother Mary. — Jerome Charles

Come forward and help the Church, Bishop Hii to 130 Confirmants MUKAH — 130 parishioners received the Sacrament of Confirmation during the Mass presided over by the Bishop of Sibu, Bishop Joseph Hii at St Peter & St Paul’s Church, Mukah on Sunday, 4 October.

Bishop Joseph said in his homily that the readings of the day was about the indissolubility of marriage. He explained that the bible verse ‘what God had united, man cannot divide’ means divorce are not allowed in Catholic marriages.

In the same way, he added, those who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation are ‘married’ to the Church.

FOR THE ALBUM ... Bishop Joseph Hii and Fr Joseph Sebastian with the 130 who received Confirmation that morning Receiving the sacrament Concelebrating the Mass means the candidates with Bishop Joseph Hii was Fr voluntarily follow Jesus and live Joseph Sebastian, the rector of as Christians in their daily lives. St Peter & St Paul’s Parish.

They ought to come forward to help the Church, he said.

Harapi Charles

TO JESUS THROUGH MARY ... On 1 October, the Holy Mass was celebrated by the rector, Msgr William Sabang at the Chapel of Mother Mary, Stutong to mark the month of October rosary devotion. A procession of the statue of Our Lady then followed.

The programme ended with the recitation of the rosary at the Grotto of Our Lady.

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

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Discalced Carmelites close 500th anniversary celebration of foundress’ birth

St Teresa of Jesus — also known as St Teresa of Avila — was born in Avila, Spain, on 28 March 1515. Thus, it is the commemoration of the 500th anniversary, or Fifth Centenary, of her birth.

The Carmelite communities all over the world remember their Foundress’s birth, above all else, for a rebirth or reinvigoration of her spirit and teaching.

Officially the centenary year began on 15 October and continued through 15 October 2015. 15 October is St Teresa’s feast day in the Church.

In Malaysia, there are four Discalced Carmelite communities, namely Kuching, Miri, Kota Kinabalu and Seremban (West Malaysia). They too joined the Carmelites worldwide in celebration of the closing of the centenary.

In Kuching, Fr Ibrahim Ribeiro OCD, Carmelite friar from Flores, Indonesia came to celebrate the closing of the 5th centenary of the birth of St Teresa with the local Carmelite community (nuns and the Secular Carmelites). On 14 October, he gave a talk on how to live an authentic Christian life according to St Teresa of Avila at the Carmelite Chapel, highlighting the three important qualities: love, detachment and humility. In the evening, a documentary video was shown, featuring the original walking stick of St Teresa being brought around the world in celebration of the fifth centenary. The climax of the event was the Mass presided over by Archbishop John Ha, concelebrated by Fr Ibrahim Ribeiro OCD and Fr Alvin Ng SJ on 15 October, bringing the celebration to a close.

In Kota Kinabalu, the Carmelite nuns and members of the secular order (OCDS) closed the fifth birth centenary of St Teresa of Avila on 15 October at the Carmelite Chapel with a solemn sung Mass. Mgsr Primus Jouil presided at the Mass, concelebrated with Fr Francis Tsen, Fr Felix Chung and current chaplain Fr Rayner Bisius. A triduum of Holy Hours (12-14 October) and a three-day sharing on Teresian spirituality (13-15 October) by OCDS members were held in preparation for the closing celebration. (Catholic Sabah)

In Miri, the closing celebration of the 5th centenary of the birth of St Teresa of Avila began with a Triduum (12-14 October). Fr Jeffrey Athanasius OCD, Carmelite friar from Singapore gave talks on St Teresa. Fr Jeffrey emphasized that the saint’s legacy was not only for the Carmelite family but for the whole Church and that her life and works can only be best understood within and in relation to the Church. The highlight of the event was the solemn Mass presided over by Bishop Richard Ng and concelebrated by seven priests on 15 October.

During the Mass, parishioners also witnessed the Solemn Profession of Sr Marie Pauline OCD.

In Seremban, the Carmelite sisters celebrated the closing of the 500th year of the birth of St Teresa of Avila on 15 October. A triduum, led by Fr Laiju OCD, Carmelite friar from India, was conducted in preparation for that special feast day. Apart from speaking on St Teresa’s many contributions to the Church, Fr Laiju inspired the congregation with a clearer understanding of the prerequisites needed for those who seek to follow the way of prayer. St Teresa of Avila teaches us that it is impossible for anyone to be very contemplative without having these three qualities: Love of God and neighbour, Detachment and Humility.

Archbishop Julian Leow and Archbishop Emeritus Anthony Soter Fernandez were present with several other priests. The congregation was delightfully rewarded with a recessional hymn sung by the sisters in Spanish entitled “Maestra De La Luz”, which means “Teacher of Light”.

Continued from p1

Discalced Carmelite Sr Marie Pauline makes Solemn Profession In his homily, Bishop Richard said that Sr Pauline “has responded to God’s call and now she is ready to give herself, commit herself totally to God and make God the source of her inexhaustible treasure, make God the centre of her life. She will do this within the context of the Carmelite monastery, within their spirituality, especially in prayer and penance”.

As the solemn profession coincided with the 5th centenary of the birth of St Teresa of Jesus, founder of the Discalced Carmelites, Bishop Richard related that “St Teresa is such a person who was totally filled with the spirit of God, who gave herself completely to God to do God’s work”.

During the Rite of Profession, Sr Pauline asked for God's merciful

love, the poverty of the Order and the companionship of the Sisters in the monastery.

During the Litany, Sr Pauline lied prostrate as a sign of total surrender.

Later she knelt down before the prioress and made her Profession promising obedience, chastity and poverty to God, to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and to the prioress. She also

signed a document which was handed to the Bishop to be placed on the altar.

Sr Pauline then received her black veil which Bishop Richard placed on her head as a sign of her consecration and unbroken faith in God. The celebration ended with cakecutting by Bishop Richard and partaking of home-cooked buffet dinner prepared by the lay community. — ­­ Sophia Soo

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TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

Religious encounters Christ in the migrants KUCHING — In conjunction with the Year of Consecrated Life 2015, religious of the Archdiocese of Kuching visited migrant communities on 17 October to gain a first-hand experience of the life of their brethren in Christ.

With the assistance of the Archdiocesan Ministry to Migrants, the group comprising, 13 Franciscan (SSFS) sisters, three Jesuits (SJ) and two seminarians spent time with two migrant communities around Kuching.

One community was located on a construction site while the other was in a sawmill factory.

Bearing simple gifts of food items donated by the Carmelite (OCD) nuns, the group spent time talking to the migrants, listening to their stories and

appreciating the challenges in the face of demanding work and uncomfortable living conditions. Some of the migrants have just settled in Kuching for a few months while others have been here for years.

Their experiences concur with the concern of Pope Francis’ message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2015 which was celebrated on 27 September this year: “Jesus is ‘the evangeliser par excellence and the Gospel in person’ (Evangelii Gaudium, 209). His solicitude, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalised, invites all of us to care for the frailest and to recognise his suffering countenance, especially in the victims of new forms of poverty and slavery. The Lord says: ‘I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave

REACHING OUT ... The religious having a selfie taken with the migrants while enjoying the food prepared by them me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me’ (Mt 25:35-36).”

Franciscan Sisters challenged to be channel of God’s forgiveness

SEMATAN — From 1926 September, eighteen local Franciscan Sisters made their annual retreat at Kem PLKN Putra Sentosa, Sematan conducted by Fr Ignatius Huan, a diocesan priest from the Diocese of Malacca-Johor.

The theme of the retreat was “Deepening our Franciscan Values as Consecrated Women Religious”. The retreat began with the examination of the three areas of the Sisters’ life coordinates: Identity, Relationship and Mission, which are needed to be restored to its proper place in order to be a healthy religious.

According to the retreat master Fr Ignatius Huan, the inner journey towards holiness is expressed by lived values in the four Franciscan Pillars of Conversion, Contemplation, Poverty and Minority (service).

In the process of conversion, the religious are called to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ daily and strive to show the face of Jesus to all, especially to the poor.

GOD’S WILL BE DONE ... (Top) The Franciscan Sisters posing with their retreat master, Fr Ignatius Huan; (Bottom) The Sisters praying together at the retreat In contemplation, the At the service of religious are to live in the reconciliation, the Sisters awareness of God’s presence offered their shortcomings and and action in the world. They weaknesses to the Lord in the are to rejoice in the goodness Blessed Sacrament. Each of and love of God reflected in one them were prayed over and another and in all creation. anointed with the oil of healing.

Poverty calls the religious On the last day, Fr Ignatius to be poor in material goods in summarised the retreat with order to desire God alone. It also a challenge for the Sisters: be means dependency on God to God’s channel of forgiveness to fulfil their spiritual and material others.

Fr Ignatius Huan currenly needs.

The spirit of minority is to be lectures on psycho-spirituality a sister and brother by humbly at College General Seminary serving one another and by in Penang. He also conducts loving and caring for all God’s retreats regularly, in Malaysia creation. and abroad. — SSFS

For the group of religious, encountering migrants is nothing new as they meet up with them regularly during Sunday Masses, but to encounter them in their humble dwellings amidst

tough working conditions puts things in a different light.

It elicits the missionary zeal that underscore all persons of religious calling and echoes the Holy Father’s message that “the mission of the Church, herself a pilgrim in the world and the Mother of all, is thus to love Jesus Christ, to adore and love him, particularly in the poorest and most abandoned; among these are certainly migrants and refugees, who are trying to escape difficult living conditions and dangers of every kind.”

The visit concluded with a prayer service and fellowship between the religious and their generous migrants hosts.

For some of the visitors, it was an eye-opening, Gospel experience of Christ in their midst.

Fr Alvin Ng, SJ

Home of Peace needs a Home Manager

Home of Peace is looking for a home manager to run its premises at Jalan Landeh, Mile 10 Kuching-Serian Road.

It is a full-time job which calls for the applicant to be passionate for quality and compassionate care for the elderly to create a vibrant community.

The Home Manager must: • have excellent leadership and organisational skills in managing a team focusing on the needs of the residents at the Home; • have empathy and good interpersonal skills; • have strong communicating and listening skills; • be committed to promoting and developing the highest quality care standards for the residents; • have customer service skills; • be computer literate; • be good in problem solving.

The Home Manager is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Home of Peace, to oversee all activities in the Home and in fundraising, negotiating contracts and working within a budget.

The Home Manager is also expected to recruit, train and supervise the care personnel and domestic staff working in the Home.

Preference will be given to applicants who have previous knowledge and experience in geriatric care hospital or nursing administration and other related works.

The Home of Peace is a Catholic-run charitable home for the aged. It is a project undertaken by the Catholic Welfare Services of Sarawak as part of its mission to extend love and care to the aged poor. The Home welcomes residents irrespective of race, religion or gender.

Applicants are to submit their resume and expected salary to Catholic Welfare Services Council Sarawak (CWS) at CWS office at the Archdiocesan Curia and Cathedral Pastoral Centre (ACCPC) or send the particulars to PO Box 940, 93718 Kuching, by 30 November 2015.

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015 Be not anxious about what you have, but about what you are.

- Pope St Gregory -

CLASSIFIED

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1ST ANNIVERSARY In ever loving memory of

ELIZABETH LAI MEE LEE

called home on 11 December 2014 A kind soul, loving daughter and sister, and gentle friend to all.

Fondly remembered by mother and all loved ones.

We think of you in silence, we often speak your name.

God has you in his keeping, we have you in our hearts; loved and always dear.

6TH ANNIVERSARY

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In memory of

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6TH ANNIVERSARY In loving memory of

JOSEPH LIM Born: 19 March 1924 Died: 29 November 2009

Another year has gone since you left us. All those precious times with you are special memories we keep deep within our hearts.

With the faith in Christ that we’ve inherited from you, we look forward to being united again someday where the Lord promises eternal life.

17TH ANNIVERSARY In loving memory of God saw you getting tired, a cure was not to be, so He put His arms around you and whispered “Come to Me” It broke our hearts to lose you, But you did not go alone, A part of us went with you, The day God took you home.

In life we loved you dearly, In death we loved you still, in our hearts you hold a place, no one could ever fill.

May your soul rest in peace. Amen.

Lovingly missed by wife, Agnes, children, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.

18TH & 11TH ANNIVERSARY In loving memory of

WINIEFRED LO BINTI DOMINIC ATONG

Departed: 27 October 1998

Deeply missed and forever cherished by all loved ones.

11TH ANNIVERSARY In loving memory of JOSEPH NOBUO IWANAGA who was called to eternal rest on 5 November 2009

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord & let the perpetual light shine upon him, may he rest in peace.

Deeply missed and always remembered by loving daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter, foster daughters, foster son, foster daughter-in-law, foster granddaughters and all loved ones

DOMINIC ATONG BIN SEGUMAL

Departed: 2 October 1997

LOUISA BANUN BINTI LAI

Departed: 12 November 2004

Eternal rest unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May they rest in peace, Amen.

Deeply missed and fondly remembered by all loved ones.

DOMITTILA JACOB JENALAM

Departed: 29 October 2004 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Deeply missed and forever cherished by: All loved ones.

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TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

Delegates challenged to live out mercy and compassion at Asian Apostolic Congress on Mercy MEDAN, Indonesia — From 14-16 October, about 3,000 devotees of the Divine Mercy Movements from the Asia-Pacific and the Oceania countries flocked to Medan to attend the 3rd Asian Apostolic Congress of Mercy (AACOM III).

The Congress is an initiative of the Asia-Pacific and Oceania countries to strengthen and promote the Divine Mercy devotion to all over the continent as inspired by the World Apostolate Congress on Mercy (WACOM).

The delegates of the threeday Congress comprised not only the religious group of 200 priests and nuns, but also a high percentage of laity, both young and old. The Asianbased missionaries from Europe, Africa and the United States also participated.

A delegation of about

CHALLENGED TO LIVE OUT MERCY ... The delegation of Divine Mercy Apostolate Kuching, part of the Malaysian delegation, at a photo call after the Congress 250 Malaysians was led by the Spiritual Director of the Divine Mercy Malaysia, Fr William Poilis from Kota Kinabalu and Fr Peter Mering from Miri.

The delegates pondered on the theme of the Congress: “Jesus Christ, the Mercy of God: the way to reconciliation”. The theme was timely and relevant

to the challenges confronting the Church in our continent today.

The programme included talks on vital topics of how to live the spirituality of the

Divine Mercy and testimonies on real life encounters redeemed by Divine Mercy.

Representatives from each country also shared their respective accomplishments and current evangelisation efforts. The Congress not only provided an opportunity for solemn encounter with Jesus but also enlightened the delegates on the practical way to live out Mercy and Compassion especially in the coming Jubilee Year of Mercy.

In the evening, fellowship and cultural performances by different countries enabled delegates to deepen their prevalent spirit of camaraderie and solidarity.

It was a pleasant bonus when the Holy Father through the “Paenitentiaria Apostolica” granted Plenary Indulgence to all the delegates of the Congress. ­ Vernon Juram

Kuching priest, lay leaders inspired by the Montessori approach to children’s catechesis PETALING JAYA — Fr Patrick Heng and five lay leaders from the Holy Trinity Church, Kuching had a first-hand experience of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) during their 2-day visit to the CGS ATRIUM in the Church of St Francis Xavier, Petaling Jaya, on 24-25 October.

The visit included presentations on CGS by the CGS Team of Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese; observation of the little children in the Atrium during the CGS sessions; and tips on the how to build an Atrium in the church in Kuching.

The Holy Trinity Church Team was impressed when they watched a catechist present a parable from scripture using selected materials in the CGS Atrium. Rather than the dissemination of information to the child, the Montessori

method helps the child reflect on the parable and “calls forth” responses from the child.

The Atrium is a prepared environment which contains age-appropriate materials based on Scripture and the Liturgy.

As the child is too young to read, the materials help them to explore, understand and reflect on biblical passages and the Liturgy. Children enjoy the hands-on approach in that they can see, touch and feel the materials and reflect on.

Originated in Rome in the 1950, CGS is the result of a long period of careful observation of children by two Catholic Laywomen, Dr Sofia Cavalletti, a Hebrew and Scripture Scholar, and her Montessori collaborator, Gianna Gobbi. To date, CGS has been offered to more than 60 countries to children of diverse cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. The Montessori approach to catechesis for

NEW APPROACH ... Lay leaders watching a demonstration and examining the props used in CGS young children has been seen as the Liturgy through the eyes of the best approach to children’s a child. Through the CGS, the catechesis as children can Holy Spirit draws the child to deepen their faith experiences God in ways an adult may not at their own pace. CGS was comprehend. I hope our children introduced into Malaysia by a will be enriched when the CGS group of lay people a few years Atrium is set up in our parish”, ago. stated Fr Patrick.

“The CGS inspires me to see Stephanie Ng, one of the the mysteries of Scripture and lay leaders of the team, said she

Sacerdotal Ordination of Deacon Robert Jissem Date: Sunday, 8 November Time: 4.00 pm Venue: St Joseph’s Cathedral, Kuching All are welcome to pray for and with Deacon Robert!

hoped parents would come forth and help in the Atrium, the way it is done in most countries.

“Parent’s collaboration are indispensable,” she remarked.

CGS Formation for catechists and parents are held yearly in Malaysia. A few lay leaders from Holy Trinity Church will be participating in the formation. Although the CGS Formation Courses are attuned to the religious life of children, they are also very rich and retreat-like formation for parents, catechists, religious educators, clergy, and other interested adults.

Level 1 Part 1 Formation will be held in the Church of St Francis Xavier, Petaling Jaya, from 8-14 December.

Those wishing to participate in the Formation may contact their parish priests, or write to the Malaysian CGS Team at email: cgsteam.my@gmail. com. — Peggy Goh

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

NEWS

Pope establishes new dicastery for laity, family, life VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis announced he is establishing a new office for laity, family and life, which combines the responsibilities of two pontifical councils.

The Pope made the announcement on 22 October during the afternoon session of the Synod of Bishops on the family.

“I have decided to establish a new dicastery with competency for laity, family and life, that will replace the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Council for the Family. The Pontifical Academy for Life will be joined to the new dicastery,” the Pope said.

The responsibilities of the new office will be spelled out in a document being drafted by a commission the Pope said he already has appointed.

Members of the Pope’s international Council of Cardinals have been discussing the move for months. Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, the retired archbishop of Milan, was tasked by the Pope to study the feasibility of creating the new dicastery.

Following a presentation by

Cardinal Tettamanzi, the council made a formal proposal to bring together the current pontifical councils for the laity and for the family and place the Pontifical Academy for Life under the new office's jurisdiction.

Established in 1967 by Blessed Paul VI, the Pontifical Council for the Laity is charged with overseeing the apostolate of the laity and “their participation in the life and mission of the church,” both as individuals and through organisations and movements. It was reformed 10 years later and included among the permanent dicasteries of the Roman Curia. The current president of the council is Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko.

The Pontifical Council for the Family was established on 9 May 1981 by St John Paul II and took the place of the Committee for the Family created by Pope Paul in 1973. The council, which promotes pastoral ministries and apostolates aimed at supporting families and the defense of human life, is headed

by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia.

Although there was no immediate word on who would lead the new dicastery, Pope Francis said that the special commission’s text on its competencies will be presented for discussion to the Council of Cardinals, which is scheduled to meet on 10-12 December.

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St Jude’s feast day grandly celebrated

Photos show St Jude’s statue (top) and Sacrament of Confirmation administered by Archbishop Ha and Bishop Simon (bottom) BUNAN — St Jude’s Parish celebrated their feast day with a series of event and activities.

The celebration started with a talk by Vincent Eddy for the parish youth, prayer leaders and councillors in the evening of 23 October.

On 24 October, 600 parishioners joined the procession of the statue of St Jude from Kpg Bunan Gega to St Jude’s Church. The procession was accompanied with rosary prayer and Stations of the Cross. As the procession arrived in St Jude’s Church, the statue of St Jude was enthroned.

The programme continued with

a talk by Dr Jeffrey Goh. The event reached its height on 25 October with the celebration of the Mass presided over by Archbishop John Ha and concelebrated

by Bishop Simon Poh, Fr Berchmans Rayar CMF and Fr Jerome Juleng at St Jude’s Church. The Mass saw 28 catechumens receiving their Sacrament of Confirmation, installation of parish councillors and renewal of commitment for prayer leaders.

The celebration concluded with a photo call and a lunch fellowship for all.­­- Peter Lai

Cardinal Parolin: Apostolic exhortation on the family could come soon

LADIES GUILD SUNDAY BREAKFAST ... On 25 October, despite the heavy rain, parishioners of the three Masses showed up for breakfast held at the St Joseph’s Parish Gallery. An air of gaeity and fellowship abounds whilst parishioners, their families and friends enjoyed the good spread of delicious food. The Sunday Breakfast was organised by the Kuching Archdiocesan Ladies Guild in an effort to raise fund for the 10th Catholic Women Conference which will be hosted by Kuching in the year 2020.

VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said an apostolic exhortation on the family following the recently concluded Synod of Bishops could be released soon.

“I imagine that it won’t take long because usually these things should be done in a relatively short time, otherwise it loses its strength a bit, its impact,” Cardinal Parolin told Vatican Radio on 28 October.

“I think if the Pope decides to

do it, he will do it relatively quickly.”

The post-synodal apostolic exhortation follows a request made by the synod fathers in their final report.

“We humbly ask the Holy Father to evaluate the opportunity of offering a document on the family, so that in it, the domestic church may ever more shine Christ, the light of the world,” the 24 October report stated.

As in past synods, Cardinal Parolin said that the apostolic exhortation will be based on the synod’s final report.

However, he said the release of the document has not been discussed yet.

“It is the Pope who has to decide what to do,” he said.

“The Pope has already made a decision, which was to publish the final report of the synod that was addressed to him, but he wanted it to be known and disseminated.”

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NEWS

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

Synod report urges ‘accompaniment’ tailored to family situations VATICAN CITY — While not specifically mentioning the controversial proposal of a path toward full reconciliation and Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried, members of the Synod of Bishops on the family handed Pope Francis a report emphasising an obligation to recognise that not all Catholics in such a situation bear the same amount of blame.

The 94-paragraph report approved on 24 October, the last working day of the three-week synod, highlighted the role of pastors in helping couples understand church teaching, grow in faith and take responsibility for sharing the Gospel. It also emphasised how “pastoral accompaniment” involves discerning, on a case-by-case basis, the moral culpability of people not fully living up to the Catholic ideal.

Bishops and other full members of the synod voted separately on each paragraph and the Vatican published those votes. The paragraph dealing specifically with leading divorced and remarried Catholics on a path of discernment passed with only one vote beyond the necessary two-thirds.

Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna told reporters that the key word in the document’s discussion of ministry to divorced and civilly remarried people is “‘discernment’. I invite you all to remember there is no black or white, no simple yes or no.” The situation of each couple “must be discerned,” which is what was called for by St John Paul II in his 1981 exhortation on the family, he said.

The cardinal told Vatican Insider, that although St John Paul called for discernment in those cases, “he didn’t mention all that comes after discernment.” The synod’s final report, he said, proposes priests help divorced and remarried couples undergoing conversion and repentance so that they recognise whether or not they are worthy to receive the Eucharist. Such an examination of conscience, he said, is required of every Catholic each time they prepare to approach the altar.

As Pope Francis said at the beginning of the synod, church doctrine on the meaning of marriage as a lifelong bond

between one man and one woman open to having children was not up for debate.

The final report strongly affirmed that teaching as God’s plan for humanity, as a blessing for the church and a benefit to society.

While insisting on God’s love for homosexual persons and the obligation to respect their dignity, the report also insisted same-sex unions could not be recognised as marriages and denounced as “totally unacceptable” governments or international organisations making recognition of “‘marriage’ between persons of the same sex” a condition for financial assistance.

The report also spoke specifically of: the changing role of women in families, the church and society; single people and their contributions to the family and the church; the heroic witness of parents who love and care for children with disabilities; the family as a sanctuary protecting the sacredness of human life from conception to natural death; and the particular strain on family life caused by poverty and by migration.

The Catholic Church recognises a “natural” value in marriage corresponding to the good of the husband and wife, their unity, fidelity and desire for children.

But the sacrament of marriage adds another dimension, the report said. “The irrevocable fidelity of God to his covenant is the foundation of the indissolubility of marriage. The complete and profound love of the spouses is not based only on their human capabilities: God sustains this

covenant with the strength of his Spirit.”

But human beings are subject to sin and failure, which is why synod members recommend the need for “accompaniment” by family members, pastors and other couples. “Being close to the family as a travelling companion means, for the church, assuming wisely differentiated attitudes: sometimes it is necessary to stay by their side and listen in silence; other times it must indicate the path to follow; and at still other times, it is opportune to follow, support and encourage.”

A draft of the report was presented to synod members on 22 October, and 51 bishops spoke the next morning about changes they would like to see in the final draft. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters that several bishops mentioned specifically a need to improve the text’s references to “the relationship between conscience and the moral law.”

The text refers to conscience in sections dealing with procreation and with marital situations the church considers irregular, particularly the situation of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics.

First, though, synod members promised greater efforts to be with couples in crisis and praised divorced Catholics who, “even in difficult situations, do not undertake a new union, remaining faithful to the sacramental bond.” Such Catholics, they noted, can and should “find in the Eucharist the nourishment that sustains them.”

Those who have remarried without an annulment of their sacramental marriage must be welcomed and included in the parish community in every way possible, the report said.

“They are baptised, they are brothers and sisters, the Holy Spirit gives them gifts and charisms for the good of all.”

Quoting from St John Paul’s exhortation on the family, the report insists that pastors, “for the sake of truth,” are called to careful discernment when assisting and counselling people who divorced and remarried. They must distinguish, for instance, between those who “have been unjustly abandoned, and those who through their own grave fault have destroyed a canonically valid marriage,” in the words of St John Paul.

Priests must “accompany interested people on the path of discernment in accordance with the teaching of the church and the guidance of the bishop,” the report said.

While the report makes no explicit mention of absolution and the return to Communion, it seems to leave some possibility for such a solution by quoting the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s affirmation that “imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified” because of different conditions. Just as the degree of guilt will differ, the report said, “also the consequences of the acts are not necessarily the same in all cases.”

In several places the text praises the teaching of “Humanae Vitae”, the document of Blessed Paul VI on married love and the transmission of life. “Conjugal love between a man and a woman and the transmission of life are ordered one to the other,” the report said.

“Responsible parenthood presupposes the formation of the conscience, which is ‘the most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, whose voice echoes in his depths,’” said the report, quoting from the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. “The more spouses try to listen to God and his commandments in their consciences, the freer their decision will be” from external pressures, the report said.

CNS

Sri Lanka’s first cardinal on road to sainthood SRI LANKA — Catholics in Sri Lanka believe they now have evidence of alleged miracles to proceed with the beatification of the country’s first cardinal.

“We have got evidence of the miracles and once the medical reports have proved that there is a miracle then we will proceed,” said Thaya Nissanka, member of the committee for the beatification of Servant of God Thomas Benjamin Cooray.

“The committee already has several proved cases,” he said while people gathered on 29 October at the National Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka in Tewatta

to honour the Oblate Colombo archbishop and first local candidate for sainthood on the 27th anniversary of his death.

Namalee Anthony, 54, from Ragama, said Cardinal Cooray’s intercession helped cure her daughter of breast cancer.

“Doctors identified breast lumps in my 34-year-old daughter and everyday I prayed to Cardinal Cooray to cure her disease and finally there was a miracle in my daughter’s life,” she said.

“When we went for checkups, doctors couldn’t find the lumps, it was really a miracle from my saint,” she said.

Servant of God Thomas Benjamin Cooray, who in 1965 was made the

country’s first cardinal, served the Colombo Archdiocese first as coadjutor bishop in 1945 before heading it as the first local-born two years later. He retired in 1976 and died 12 years later at age 86.

In 2010, he was declared “servant of God,” the prelude to the formal process by which a candidate can be declared “venerable”, then “blessed” and, finally, a saint. Cardinal Cooray is the first Sinhalese for whom a cause for canonisation was started.

The Colombo Archdiocese had set up a 45-member committee to evaluate testimonies from people who attribute miracles to the intercession of the late

Portrait of the late Cardinal Thomas Benjamin Cooray

cardinal.

For a sainthood candidate to be beatified, a verified miracle must be attributed to the saint candidate’s intercession. A second miracle is necessary for canonisation, or the declaration of a saint. The miracle requirement is waived for martyrs.

UCAN

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

FOCUS

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Year of Consecrated Life This is the series on the Jesuits. It is a continuation of the features on the different religious congregations (Franciscan Sisters of Sarawak, La Salle Brothers, Carmelite nuns, Claretians, Franciscan Friars) in the Kuching Archdiocese in conjunction with the Year of Consecrated Life 2015, 30 November 2014 – 2 February 2016.

For the Greater Glory of God

THE STORY OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS (Part 3)

The Story of the Founding of a New Religious Order

by Fr Francis Lim Chin Choy, SJ The Society of Jesus at its founding in 1540 was very different from other religious They also pronounced a third vow, that was, after two years when their studies orders. All the religious orders until then were either monastic or mendicant. Those were finished, they would go to the Holy Land to live in imitation of Christ and to in the monastic orders, like the Benedictines, had to remain within their monastery, convert infidels. When the Holy Land trip would prove to be not possible, they would secluded from the rest of the world; while the mendicants, like the Franciscans and go to Rome instead and put themselves at the disposition of the pope to go wherever Dominicans, lived among the common people even though in buildings of their own. he, as universal pastor, judged the greatest needs were.

Both kinds have to pray the Divine Office in common several times a day and have Ignatius and his companions were ordained priests on 24 June 1537 in Venice religious habits. while they waited a whole year for a ship to take them to the Holy Land. However, The order that Ignatius had in mind did not have buildings of its own. They were out of a sense of unworthiness, Ignatius only said his first Mass on 25 December 1538 bound more in their common mission to serve God rather than community life. at the crib of the nativity in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

Furthermore, they did not pray the Divine Office in common, because Ignatius felt While waiting and spending that time in Venice, they began some ministry to help that this would hinder the time spent in the apostolates they were engaged in if they souls by tending the sick and helping the poor. In bringing the love of Christ to the were to gather to pray together several times a day. Moreover, the Jesuits do not have poor and sick, while themselves living the simplest of lifestyles, these men found a distinctive habit of their own. profound joy.

They would adopt the local In order to attract an audience to listen to their preaching, they would clerical dress of the area they jump about and throw their hats into the air. These men from Spain, are in.

Portugal and France would also in a hilarious mixture of languages The phrase that Ignatius preach to the Italians. often used with regard to mission Due to the war between Venice and the Turks, no ship sailed for the was “to help souls.” Here he Holy Land. This is the humour in the plan of God. What they had foresaw meant not only the eternal would happen actually did happen and it turned out for the good. spiritual soul of the person, The group then decided that Ignatius, Lainez and Faber should go but also the whole person: to Rome to place the little band at the disposal of the pope as they had the physical, intellectual, agreed upon earlier. A common rule for the group was devised so that it emotional, psychological and could be presented to the pope. social aspects of an individual.

Ignatius declared that as they had grouped themselves in the name of That’s why Jesuits are involved Jesus and under Jesus as their head, the new order should bear the name, in many areas of need. It is “The Company of Jesus.” In Latin, it is Societatis Jesu, which translated because they want to “help into English is “The Society of Jesus.”

First Vows at Montmartre, Paris, 1534 (Image: Jesuit Institute) souls” so that everyone can The name Jesuit started off as a derogatory term for the members attain the full person that God intended him or her to be. of the Society of Jesus. It was never used by Ignatius. Later however, members and friends of the Society adopted the name in its positive meaning.

The Spiritual Guide and His Influence While studying in Paris, the older Ignatius (38 years) lodged at the College St. The Seer and the Affirmation Barbe within the University of Paris with his younger roommates (both 23 years): St. Ignatius had the most significant Peter Faber, a young man from Savoy in the south of France, and St. Francis Xavier, experience for the founding of the a nobleman from Navarre, the eastern end of the Basque country.

Society in the little chapel of La Storta, Faber, being the smart one, helped Ignatius with his studies and in exchange, just outside of Rome. As soon as Ignatius Ignatius helped Faber with the spiritual life. Faber was very impressed with Ignatius’s entered the small and dilapidated chapel, spiritual life. He progressed much in the Spiritual Exercises and later became an he felt a sudden change come over him. expert retreat giver.

In this mystical experience, he saw Xavier, on the other hand, was the harder nut to crack. He was proud and wished clearly “that the Father placed him with to attain high ecclesiastical status in the church. He did not take too kindly to Ignatius, Christ, his Son.” It was as Ignatius had even though Ignatius often came to the financial assistance of Xavier, who, as a always asked insistently of Mary in the student, liked to live as an extravagant nobleman and lived much beyond his means. Spiritual Exercises, that was to be placed He was slowly and eventually won over by Ignatius, and the two would become life with her Son, Jesus. long friends.

He saw God the Father, and Jesus Gradually a small circle of "Friends in the Lord," as they called themselves, who was carrying his cross. Both of them formed around Ignatius. The others were Diego Lainez, Alonso Salmerón, and were looking most kindly on him, and he Nicolás Bobadilla, all three were Spaniards; and Simão Rodrigues, a Portuguese. heard the Father saying to Jesus: “I wish They formed the first group of seven members. Three others joined soon after, you to take this man as your servant.” namely, Claude Le Jay, a Genevan Savoyard; Jean Codure and Paschase Broët, both Jesus then said to the kneeling of whom were French. What bonded them closely together was the fact that one after Ignatius, “I wish you to serve us.” This another they were led through the Spiritual Exercises. was what Ignatius had always wanted in his life.

The Founder and the First Companions Then he heard the Father added, On the Feast of the Annunciation, 25 March 1534, Ignatius and his first seven “I will be favourable to you (plural) in companions went to the hill of Montmartre at north of Paris and pronounced private Rome.” Ignatius then felt confirmed vows in a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady. personally that the Lord would be with Vision of La Storta, November 1537 Faber, who was the only one ordained at that time among them, presided at the him, and felt the group confirmed when (Image: LACMA) Mass. They took the vows of poverty and chastity to work together as a company. It they placed themselves at the service of was an important moment because this band of brothers would soon become the first the Vicar of Christ in Rome.

Jesuits.

To be continued

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FEATURE

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

Jubilee of Mercy MERCIFUL LIKE THE FATHER 8 December 2015 - 20 November 2016

Introduction: Getting r eady to celebr a te the Extr aordinar y Jubilee “I have decided to announce an Extraordinary Jubilee which has at its centre the mercy of God. It will be a Holy Year of Mercy. We want to live in the light of the word of the Lord: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (cf. Lk 6:36).

During the “24 Hours with the Lord” penitential ceremony celebrated in St Peter’s Basilica on 13 March, the Holy Father, Pope Francis announced the celebration of an “extraordinary Holy Year”. This “Jubilee of Mercy” commences with the opening of the Holy Door in St Peter’s Basilica on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (8 December) and concludes with the Solemnity of Christ the King (20 November 2016).

To mark the celebration, two documents were produced by Pope Francis: the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Misericordiae Vultus, and a letter to the

President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation, Archbishop Rino Fisichella.

The Bull of Indication, Misericordiae Vultus, is available for download on the Vatican’s website (www.im.va). Readers of Today’s Catholic are encouraged to read the very rich document, an in-depth reflection of Pope Francis on the theme “God rich in mercy” (Eph 2:4).

The letter, even though addressed to Archbishop Rino Fisichella, is really a message for each one of us. In the letter, Pope Francis talks about how the faithful could celebrate the Holy Year and get the most out of it. The letter is made available below.

Let us kick start the celebration of the Jubilee Year of Mercy by first understanding what it is about and what is in store for us!

Wha t is the Holy Year of Mercy? A letter from Pope Fr ancis With the approach of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy I would like to focus on several points which I believe require attention to enable the celebration of the Holy Year to be for all believers a true moment of encounter with the mercy of God. It is indeed my wish that the Jubilee be a living experience of the closeness of the Father, whose tenderness is almost tangible, so that the faith of every believer may be strengthened and thus testimony to it be ever more effective.

My thought first of all goes to all the faithful who, whether in individual Dioceses or as pilgrims to Rome, will experience the grace of the Jubilee. I wish that the Jubilee Indulgence may reach each one as a genuine experience of God’s mercy, which comes to meet each person in the Face of the Father who welcomes and forgives, forgetting completely the sin committed. To experience and obtain the Indulgence, the faithful are called to make a brief pilgrimage to the Holy Door, open in every Cathedral or in the churches designated by the Diocesan Bishop, and in the four Papal Basilicas in Rome, as a sign of the deep desire for true conversion. Likewise, I dispose that the Indulgence may be obtained in the Shrines in which the Door of Mercy is open and in the churches which traditionally are identified as Jubilee Churches. It is important that this moment be linked, first and foremost, to the Sacrament of Reconciliation and to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist with a reflection on mercy.

It will be necessary to accompany these celebrations with the profession of faith and with prayer for me and for the intentions that I bear in my heart for the good of the Church and of the entire world.

Additionally, I am thinking of those for whom, for various reasons, it will be impossible to enter the Holy Door, particularly the sick and people who are elderly and alone, often confined to the home. For them it will be of great

help to live their sickness and suffering as an experience of closeness to the Lord who in the mystery of his Passion, death and Resurrection indicates the royal road which gives meaning to pain and loneliness. Living with faith and joyful hope this moment of trial, receiving communion or attending Holy Mass and community prayer, even through the various means of communication, will be for them the means of obtaining the Jubilee Indulgence. My thoughts also turn to those incarcerated, whose freedom is limited. The Jubilee Year has always constituted an opportunity for great amnesty, which is intended to include the many people who, despite deserving punishment, have become conscious of the injustice they worked and sincerely wish to re-enter society and make their honest contribution to it. May they all be touched in a tangible way by the mercy of the Father who wants to be close to those who have the greatest need of his forgiveness. They may obtain the Indulgence in the chapels of the prisons.

May the gesture of directing their thought and prayer to the Father each time they cross the threshold of their cell signify for them their passage through the Holy Door, because the mercy of God is able to transform hearts, and is also able to transform bars into an experience of freedom.

I have asked the Church in this Jubilee Year to rediscover the richness encompassed by the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. The experience of mercy, indeed, becomes visible in the witness of concrete signs as Jesus himself taught us. Each time that one of the faithful personally performs one or more of these actions, he or she shall surely obtain the Jubilee Indulgence.

Hence the commitment to live by mercy so as to obtain the grace of complete and exhaustive forgiveness by the power of the love of the Father who excludes no one. The Jubilee Indulgence is thus full, the fruit of the very event which is to be celebrated and experienced with faith, hope and charity.

How to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence: • Make a pilgrimage to the Holy Door • Receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) • Take part in the Eucharistic Celebration (the Mass) • Perform works of mercy • Pray for Pope Francis and for his intentions Furthermore, the Jubilee Indulgence can also be obtained for the deceased. We are bound to them by the witness of faith and charity that they have left us. Thus, as we remember them in the Eucharistic celebration, thus we can, in the great mystery of the Communion of Saints, pray for them, that the merciful Face of the Father free them of every remnant of fault and strongly embrace them in the unending beatitude.

One of the serious problems of our time is clearly the changed relationship with respect to life. A widespread and insensitive mentality has led to the loss of the proper personal and social sensitivity to welcome new life. The tragedy of abortion is experienced by some with a superficial awareness, as if not realising the extreme harm that such an act entails.

Many others, on the other hand, although experiencing this moment as a defeat, believe they they have no other option. I think in particular of all the women who have resorted to abortion. I am well aware of the pressure that has led them to this decision. I know that it is an existential and moral ordeal. I have met so many women who bear in their heart the scar of this agonizing and painful decision.

What has happened is profoundly unjust; yet only understanding the truth of it can enable one not to lose hope. The forgiveness of God cannot be denied to one who has repented, especially when that person approaches the Sacrament of Confession with a sincere heart in order to obtain reconciliation with the Father.

For this reason too, I have decided, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, to concede to all priests for the Jubilee

The Holy Door of St Peter’s Basilica

Year the discretion to absolve of the sin of abortion those who have procured it and who, with contrite heart, seek forgiveness for it. May priests fulfil this great task by expressing words of genuine welcome combined with a reflection that explains the gravity of the sin committed, besides indicating a path of authentic conversion by which to obtain the true and generous forgiveness of the Father who renews all with his presence.

A final consideration concerns those faithful who for various reasons choose to attend churches officiated by priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X. This Jubilee Year of Mercy excludes no one.

From various quarters, several Brother Bishops have told me of their good faith and sacramental practice, combined however with an uneasy situation from the pastoral standpoint. I trust that in the near future solutions may be found to recover full communion with the priests and superiors of the Fraternity.

In the meantime, motivated by the need to respond to the good of these faithful, through my own disposition, I establish that those who during the Holy Year of Mercy approach these priests of the Fraternity of St Pius X to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation shall validly and licitly receive the absolution of their sins.

Trusting in the intercession of the Mother of Mercy, I entrust the preparations for this Extraordinary Jubilee Year to her protection.

From the Vatican, 1 September 2015 Francis

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

FEATURE

PADI SEEDS

On respect A while ago, I went to Singapore to begin radiotherapy. The procedure involved inserting lots of tiny little radio-active beads around the tumour I have, to try to make it shrink so that it can be operated on. It is a very impressive operation, with the doctors slowly guiding the tiny beads into the position they want them, but I want to tell you about the doctor, who led the operation, because I was so struck by the respect and courtesy with which he treated people.

The procedure was a little late in starting, so he came into the room to apologise that there would be a slight delay, as he was helping out a colleague with a difficulty. Then, when he was ready to begin, he came and again apologised and began to talk me through the entire two and a half hour procedure – enquiring, all the time, how I was doing. This courteous attention was not because I was a priest, for he only discovered that towards the end of the operation, nor was it because I was a European, for I noticed he spoke to all his staff in exactly the same way. He was a courteous man and this courtesy – to those, who are sick or in a position of weak dependence – is “healing” and so, whereas I was wheeled into the operating room as a patient – someone in need of treatment – I was wheeled out as someone “healed”; someone, who mattered, no matter what was wrong with me. And it was the doctor’s courtesy that had helped make it so.

There is a difference between being “cured” and being “healed”: to be

Q&A

“cured” is to have a particular ailment or sickness put right, but to be “healed” is to be touched in the deepest part of who we are and be brought into “wholeness”, because by being recognised as a “person” we are given the grace to accept ourselves as we are – even though our sickness or disability remains. We are, in this way, enabled to take up the challenge of living, with all its possibilities and limitations – at peace with ourselves and the world around us.

I remember once visiting the famous Leper Hospital in Carville, Louisiana, USA, and being told of a Doctor Brand, who had worked there. He was a skilled rehabilitation surgeon and rebuilt the hands of his patients, crippled by untreated Leprosy. When he was congratulated on his skill, he would reply: “It is not my skill that heals them, but my heart; my skill can rebuild their hands, but only my heart can give them the courage to use them.” Someone, who has been despised or considered of little worth – or believes him/herself to be of little account – often loses the courage to live. They need someone to believe in them in order to find their own self-worth and accept the challenge of living to the full – and the courtesy and respect given them is often be the sacrament by which God brings us into such healing.

This is not just true of the sick or marginalised, but of all people and all situations in life. I remember, a few years ago, visiting a priest friend of mine in his rural parish and as he did not have a housekeeper, we went next door to a small local café for our evening meal. We

PAGE 11

gave our order to the waitress and chatted while we waited to be served. When the waitress brought our drinks, I thanked her and my priest friend burst out laughing and when I asked him why, he said “You did not see her face when you thanked her; she is obviously not used to being thanked”; he told me to watch, when she brought our meal. It was, however, another waitress, who brought the meal, but when I turned to her and thanked her I saw the look of surprise and pleasure on her face. She was obviously used to being ignored, when she served people and it seemed to me that she walked a little taller and with a little more dignity as she returned to the counter. Such is the power of a word of respect – through God’s grace, it gives life!

We are taught how the Spirit of God moves with his renewing power throughout the whole world, but the way we understand the Scriptures can often obscure this. If we see the Scriptures as a “Sacred Script”, imparting knowledge of doctrine and rules etc., we will not see the wonder of the Holy Spirit’s passage through our world, but if we take Scripture as a “Key” which shows us where the Spirit is at work in our world, then, we will more and more see his finger in all the happenings of our daily life – including the courtesy with which someone like my doctor treats us.

The Scriptures reveals that whenever God approaches us, he does so with infinite courtesy and respect. We see this at the beginning of the History of salvation, when the Lord first spoke to Abraham, and we also see it in the courtesy with

Fr Terry Burke is a Mill Hill Missionary, who has served in Sarawak, Indonesia, India and England.

Currently, he is a resident lecturer at St Peter’s College and also assigned to do formation work in the Archdiocese.

Today’s Catholic thanks him for sharing his rich pastoral reflections in his column ‘Padi Seeds’.

He sends out a blog each week.

If you would like to receive it, please email him at terrylburke@gmail.com. which Christ received and spoke with the outcast and despised, such as the leper, who said, “Sir, if you want to, you can heal me” and Jesus answered: “Of course I want to” and touched the man (Mk 9:23). We have an ancient saying in the Church – that wherever we find love and friendship, there we find God. We can also equally say: that wherever we find respect and courtesy, we can see the Life-giver at work – for courtesy and respect are the beginnings of love.

Forgiving abortion in the Year of Mercy

Q

I’m curious about the fact that to mark the Year of Mercy Pope Francis will allow all priests to absolve from the sin of abortion, “a power usually reserved for bishops”.

Firstly, why isn’t that true already? Before the Pope extended this new authority, what was the procedure a priest was supposed to follow when someone confessed an abortion?

Secondly, are there other sins that are reserved to a bishop to forgive, and what are some examples?

By Fr Kenneth Doyle The Pope’s announcement was not intended in any way to minimise the gravity of abortion, but to highlight the wideness of God’s mercy...

A

Pope Francis’ announcement did prompt some questions – mainly because in the United States it doesn’t change the present practice at all.

For at least the last 30 years, bishops in the United States have granted to their priests the power to lift the automatic penalty of excommunication attached to procuring an abortion.

A key point – lost in some of the reporting – is that Catholic priests anywhere in the world already have the power to forgive the sin of abortion. The penitent walks out of the confessional forgiven and reunited to God’s grace.

The issue here is not the sin itself but the excommunication, and who can lift it.

In the Code of Canon Law that power is reserved to a bishop – unless, as in the US, he has chosen to extend this authority to his priests.

In parts of the world where that power had not been granted, the priest would have forgiven the repentant sinner immediately and then have asked the penitent to return at a later time; during that interval the confessor would have secured his bishop’s permission to lift the canonical penalty. (Anonymity, of course, would have been honored, with the identity of the penitent never disclosed.)

In order to incur the excommunication, the penitent must have known prior to the offense that such a canonical penalty was attached to the sin – which would seem to be true only in a minority of cases.

You asked whether there are other sins for which lifting the canonical sanction is reserved to the bishop, and there are; among such grave offenses are: desecrating the

Photo: CNS

sacred species of the Eucharist, absolving an accomplice in a sexual sin or violating the seal of confession.

Finally, the Pope’s announcement was not intended in any way to minimise the gravity of abortion, which takes a human life, but to highlight the wideness of God’s mercy and his willingness to forgive anyone who is genuinely sorry. — CNS

PAGE 12

Having just returned from a week covering Pope Francis’s triumphant journey to the United States, I can confidently tell you that the news media are in love with the Vicar of Christ.

Time and again, commentators, pundits, anchorpersons, and editorialists opined that Pope Francis is the bomb. They approved, of course, of his gentle way with those suffering from disabilities and his proclivity to kiss babies, but their approbation was most often awakened by this Pope’s “merciful” and “inclusive” approach, his willingness to reach out to those on the margins. More often than not, they characterized this tenderness as a welcome contrast to the more rigid and dogmatic style of Benedict XVI. Often, I heard words such as “revolutionary” and “gamechanging” in regard to Pope Francis, and one commentator sighed that she couldn’t imagine going back to the Church as it was before the current pontiff.

Well, I love Pope Francis too, and I certainly appreciate the novelty of his approach and his deft manner of breathing life into the Church. In fact, a number of times on the air I commented that the Pope’s arrival to our shores represented a new springtime after the long winter of the sex abuse scandals.

But I balk at the suggestion that the new Pope represents a revolution or that he is dramatically turning away from the example of his immediate predecessors.

And I strenuously deny that he is nothing but a soft-hearted powder-puff, indifferent to sin.

FEATURE TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015 Pope Francis and true mercy

by Bishop Robert Barron Just as he reaches out to the materially marginalized in order to bring them to the centre, so he reaches out to those on the existential periphery in order to bring them to a better place.

Photo: CNS

A good deal of the confusion stems from a misinterpretation of Francis’s stress on mercy. In order to clear things up, a little theologizing is in order. It is not correct to say that God’s essential attribute is mercy. Rather, God’s essential attribute is love, since love is what obtains among the three divine persons from all eternity. Mercy is what love looks like when it turns toward the sinner. To say that mercy belongs to the very nature of God, therefore, would be to imply that sin exists within God himself, which is absurd.

Now this is important, for many receive the message of divine mercy as tantamount to a denial of the reality of sin, as though sin no longer matters. But just the contrary is the case. To speak of mercy is to be intensely aware of sin and its peculiar form of destructiveness.

Or to shift to one of the Pope’s favorite metaphors, it is to be acutely conscious that one is wounded so severely that one requires, not minor treatment, but the emergency and radical attention

provided in a hospital on the edge of a battlefield. Recall that when Francis was asked, in a famous interview two years ago, to describe himself, he responded, “a sinner.” Then he added, “who has been looked upon by the face of mercy.”

That’s getting the relationship right.

Remember as well that the teenaged Jorge Mario Bergoglio came to a deep and life-changing relationship to Christ precisely through a particularly intense experience in the confessional. As many have indicated, Papa Francesco speaks of the devil more frequently than any of his predecessors of recent memory, and he doesn’t reduce the dark power to a vague abstraction or a harmless symbol. He understands Satan to be a real and very dangerous person.

When Pope Francis speaks of those on the margins, he does indeed mean people who are economically and politically disadvantaged, but he also means people who are cut off from the divine life, spiritually poor. And just as he reaches out to the materially marginalized in order to

bring them to the centre, so he reaches out to those on the existential periphery in order to bring them to a better place.

In speaking of mercy and inclusivity, he is decidedly not declaring that “I’m okay and you’re okay.” He is calling people to conversion. As my mentor, Cardinal Francis George, said, “All are welcome in the Church, but on Christ’s terms and not their own.”

Nowhere has the confusion on this score been greater than in relation to the Pope’s famous remark regarding a priest with a homosexual orientation, “Who am I to judge?” I would wager that 95% of those who took in those words understood them to mean that, as far as Pope Francis is concerned, homosexual activity is not really sinful. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Pope was responding to a hypothetical involving a priest with same sex attraction, who had fallen in the past and who is now endeavoring to live in accord with the moral law, a sinner, in a word, who has been looked upon by the face of mercy.

So as we quite legitimately exult in the beauty of Pope Francis’s unique style and theological emphasis, let us not turn him into an advocate of an “anything goes” liberalism. As St Augustine long ago reminded us, misericordia (mercy) and miseria (misery) are two sides of the same coin. — CNA Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, USA and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

Finding God in a day’s work

by Effie Caldarola Sometimes you can find inspiration for prayer in surprising places.

Parade magazine is a small publication that’s inserted into many Sunday newspapers. Recently, they profiled Hugh Jackman, the Australian actor famous for his signature role as Wolverine in the “X-Men” movie series, who made some surprising comments about faith and vocation.

Jackman’s mom deserted the family when he was 8, and he admits to working through a lot of anger. He seems to have emerged whole and healthy, with a sound marriage and a strong sense of self.

Raised a Christian, he retains a deep sense of spirituality. He says he reminds himself before each film that his kids are going to watch. I hope that’s true, and I wish more Hollywood actors had that attitude.

As a college student, he discovered that acting, especially on stage, brought him peace and deep happiness.

Jackman is quoted in a recent edition of Parade: “In ‘Chariots of Fire’, the runner Eric Liddell says, ‘When I run I feel [God’s] pleasure.’ And I feel that pleasure when I act. … When I go on stage … I pause and dedicate the performance to God, in the sense of ‘Allow me to surrender’”.

Hugh Jackman stars in a scene from the movie “The Wolverine” (Photo: CNS/Fox) How many of us can describe our vocation in the way Liddell or Jackman describe theirs? How many of us do what we love to the extent that we can feel God’s enjoyment? I began my career as a classroom teacher, and I can remember times when I realised I had started a fire of interest and discernment in a student’s heart.

And as a writer, when I finish writing something that I truly think is good, I experience gladness.

But did I feel God’s pleasure in those moments? We seek God’s approval, we

attribute our success to God’s help. But do I imagine the work I do as something in which God takes delight? Do I surrender my work to God and let God be an active partner in it?

Sometimes, we do our work or we volunteer with a heavy sense of burden or obligation or resentment. Do I sense God’s pleasure in that? If not, perhaps we need to pray over what we’re doing and be open to choosing a new path. Maybe we’re doing the wrong thing. Or perhaps we’re doing the right thing, but with the wrong attitude.

Frederick Buechner, an American theologian, said, “Vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”

Perhaps he might have added that our deep gladness is a sign of divine enjoyment as well.

We’ve all heard stories of people who forsake great-paying careers for some artistic or charitable endeavour that barely feeds the body but nourishes the soul. It takes courage to make big changes, or sometimes even little ones, but it would be worth it to hear God laughing.

Some of us are beyond the age when we’re making significant vocational or career choices. But each of us wakes up each morning to serve God. Each day, we have plenty of decisions to make about how to use our time and what will make us feel creative and good at the end of the day.

Do we spend our workday with our eye on the clock? Do our volunteer activities both help the community as well as contribute to our happiness and growth? Or do we agree to them because “somebody has to do it”?

God is as near to us as our laughter and our tears, and if we listen to each, they provide for us a lesson in God’s will. — CNS

CHILDREN

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

PAGE 13

The greatest commandment

Hi Kids!

November is the month dedicated to the Holy Souls. We celebrate All Souls’ Day on 2 November. Let us remember all who have passed away and pray for them this whole month.

Aunty Jo

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’”

Mark 12:30-31 Read Mark 12:28-34. Complete the crossword puzzle below.

The widow’s offering Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.”

Mark 12:43 Look at the numbered clues, determine the correct word, and write that word in the spiral puzzle.

Each numbered square will begin a new word.

MONEY OFFERING

POOR RICH

TEMPLE WIDOW

And she made a vow, saying, “O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord, for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

1 Samuel 1:11

DOWN 1. A person who lives near or next to another 2. To have a deep feeling of affection or attraction for someone 4. The most important; better than all others of the same kind 6. A spoken or written reply to a question 7. A system of rules or principles LAW LOVE NEIGHBOUR SECOND TEACHER

ALL COINS

Hannah prays for a son

ACROSS 3. Coming next in order after the first one 4. The creator of heaven and earth; The one we worship 5. The centre and source of a person’s emotions or feelings 8. A rule or law; direction or instruction to do something 9. Someone who educates or trains others

ANSWER COMMANDMENT GOD GREATEST HEART

CLUES 1. The official currency issued by a government 2. Having little or no wealth 3. A contribution or gift made at a religious service 4. The entire amount; everything 5. A woman whose husband has died and who has not remarried 6. A building used for worship 7. Having great material wealth 8. A small piece of flat, circular metal, used for money

All Souls’ Day

Enter the correct words in the boxes based on the shape of the letters.

answer birth children crying family give morning prayer priest worship

1.

6.

2.

7.

3.

8.

4.

9.

5.

10.

Hannah desperately wanted a son. She even promised that if God gave her a baby boy, she would dedicate him to doing the Lord’s work. And God heard her prayer. It must have been difficult for Hannah to keep her promise, but she did by presenting Samuel to Eli the priest.

This feast day is one of the most loving celebrations in the Church’s liturgy.

It is the day that we especially remember all those who have passed from this life into the next.

Today we stop to remember all who have died especially our relatives and friends.

We pray for those who taught us good things and made sacrifices for us.

We pray for those who prayed for us while they were on this earth.

We pray for the most forgotten souls.

We pray for those who had great responsibilities while they were on earth.

We think of those holy souls in purgatory and we realise that they are saved. Now they wait, being purified, until the moment when they can be with God, face to face.

We can offer the sacrifice of the Mass and pray for these suffering souls in purgatory to hasten their journey to God. Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

PAGE 14

SRI AMAN - Kursus Alpha Belia telah julung kali diadakan di Gereja Our Lady Queen of Peace (OLQP), Sri Aman pada 24 hingga 27 September lalu.

Seramai 27 orang peserta termasuk lebih 10 orang belia dari paroki tersebut telah terlibat di dalam kursus yang dianjurkan khas untuk golongan remaja Kristian dari sekitar kawasan Sri Aman, Saratok dan Betong.

Kursus tersebut dihadiri remaja daripada pelbagai latar belakang. Yang paling istimewa sekali, di antara mereka adalah orang yang baharu hendak menganuti agama Kristian.

Pasukan pendukung Alpha Belia dari Kuching yang diketuai Father Lazarus Swinie telah bertandang ke Sri Aman untuk menyampaikan ceramah, membimbing dalam sesi perbincangan dan juga untuk sesi pelayanan. Pelbagai aktiviti selingan seperti nyanyian dan permainan turut diadakan semasa kursus tersebut.

Tetamu yang hadir telah memberikan komitmen dan penglibatan yang penuh dalam kesemua sesi ceramah serta sesi perbincangan yang dijalankan sepanjang program empat hari tiga malam itu. Mereka turut membina hubungan yang erat antara satu sama lain.

Dalam homili Misa Kudus, Fr Lazarus turut mengingatkan agar hubungan erat yang dijalinkan semasa kursus Alpha Belia tidak seharusnya berhenti

YOUTH

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

selepas kursus tamat malah hubungan erat itu harus dikongsikan bersama rakan-rakan lain. Beliau turut menasihatkan belia agar meneladani sifat Yesus yang sentiasa berdoa dan taat kepada Allah Bapa.

Acara kemuncak Kursus Alpha Belia ialah semasa sesi pelayanani. Semasa sesi itu, yang diselit dengan nyanyian dan doa kepada Roh Kudus, semua tetamu telah diberikan peluang untuk berdoa bagi rakan mereka di dalam kumpulan masing-masing. Mereka turut mendapat peluang untuk didoakan oleh rakan-rakan mereka.

Pada malam terakhir, Malam Talenta diadakan di mana semua tetamu serta pembantu dari Gereja OLQP telah mempamerkan bakat mereka dalam persembahan nyanyian dan tarian.

Kursus Alpha Belia di Sri Aman telah diakhiri dengan Misa Kudus pada Hari Ahad, 27 September, dan sesi testimoni oleh tetamu. Tetamu turut berkongsi perkara yang mereka telah pelajari dan fahami dalam kursus tersebut dan juga sesi yang paling menyentuh perasaan mereka.

Antara ulasan daripada tetamu adalah mereka kini lebih mengenali Tuhan Yesus dan kini mereka lebih mengerti tentang Roh Kudus. Mereka turut berharap agar kursus Alpha Belia boleh diteruskan lagi pada masa akan datang. - Mabel Salin SERIAN - ‘Yesus Penyelamatku’ (Yesaya 43:11) ialah tema bagi ‘outreach’ Perkumpulan Guru Katolik Sarawak (Sarawak Catholic Teachers’ Guild) Cawangan Serian yang telah diadakan di Kampung Reteh Mawang pada 23 September yang lalu.

Dibantu oleh belia Persatuan Pelajar Katolik SMK Serian dan Pergerakan Belia Katolik (Catholic Youth Movement) Kpg Reteh Mawang, program ini telah disertai seramai 100 orang dari enam buah kampung sekitar kawasan Serian, iaitu Kpg Rayang, Kpg Riih Daso, Kpg Riih Mawang, Kpg Pichin, Kpg Ampun-

gan dan Kpg Reteh Mawang.

Objektif ‘outreach’ ini adalah untuk mendedahkan peserta, terutamanya belia, kepada cabaran yang mungkin mereka hadapi apabila berhijrah ke kawasan bandar.

Antara aktiviti-aktiviti yang telah dianjurkan termasuk seminar mengenai isu-isu dan cabaran agama lain oleh Cikgu Anthony Taguk; bengkel membaca dan membuat renungan Al-Kitab; perkongsian testimoni penyembuhan oleh Puan Martina Ida, dan doa Kerahiman Illahi yang dibimbing oleh Cikgu Kuchang.

Dalam Misa Kudus yang dirayakan oleh Father Paul Herry, beliau meluahkan rasa

gembira kerana aktiviti tersebut mendapat sambutan yang baik daripada penduduk kampung yang telah memberi kerjasama sepenuhnya.

Program diakhiri dengan sukaneka untuk merapatkan lagi persaudaraan dan jalingan hubungan keagamaan antara peserta dari pelbagai kampung.

Keratan ucapan Ketua Kampung, Jerry Ambrose Ambol: “Program seperti ini pertama kali diadakan di kawasan ini.

Ia banyak memberi manfaat kepada belia. Diharapkan golongan belia sentiasa berdoa, mendekatkan diri dengan Tuhan dan sentiasa memperkukuhkan iman masing-masing.” - Cornelia Kent

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

LUNDU - Pada 4 Oktober yang lalu (Ahad), seramai 68 orang belia yang terdiri daripada pelajar Katolik sekolah menengah sekitar daerah Lundu telah menerima Sakramen Penguatan di Gereja Roh Kudus, Lundu.

Sakramen tersebut telah dirayakan dalam Misa Kudus oleh Uskup Agung John Ha yang dibantu oleh Paderi Paroki, Father Lazarus Swinie.

Pada Misa Kudus tersebut, Uskup Agung dalam homili beliau menekankan kepentingan keluarga dalam komuniti asas Katolik di mana keluarga telah diwujudkan oleh Allah pada permulaan penciptaan.

KUCHING - On the evening of 30 October, the EMPOWERED Ministry hosted the Empowered Family Nite at the Mater Domini Auditorium, ACCPC. The Empowered Family Nite is an initiative by the present Empowered Council Leaders as an evening of community building and fellowship, a ‘meet and greet’ session between the Parish Youth Ministry and the parents of teenagers in the community.

With approximately 31 sets of parents and more than 100 youths in attendance, the evening started with an introduction to Empowered Ministry, followed by praise and worship before the Spiritual Director of Empowered Ministry, Fr Felix Au exhorted on the importance of families.

The Empowered Creative Arts Ministry later gave a skit presentation entitled “Wait for You to Come Home”, inspired by the story of the prodigal son (Lk 15:11-32), relating that regardless of what we have done, we should return to our families who are waiting for us with great love.

Besides that, newsletters were handed out and a video presentation was screened to update parents with the youth ministry’s activities that occurred throughout the year of 2015.

Thereafter, parents went to a separate room to have a meet and greet

Beliau juga memetik katakata Paus Fransiskus (Pope Francis) mengenai keluarga bahawa tiada keluarga yang sempurna, tetapi untuk memastikan keluarga tersebut kekal kukuh, setiap anggotainya harus saling memaafkan antara satu sama lain..

Pada akhir homili, Uskup Agung menyeru kepada setiap calon untuk bersedia menghadapi cabaran di luar dengan berani dan sekuat iman yang diterima melalui sakramen tersebut.

Perayaan Misa Kudus diakhiri dengan penyerahan sumbangan ikhlas daripada setiap wakil gereja kepada Uskup Agung. Danison Manium

session with the Empowered Council of Leaders, where both parents and the youth ministry interacted and dialogued on issues and concerns faced by youths and families today, of raising a Family of Faith in the 21st Century.

While the parents were having their session, the youths had a simple arts and craft project in which they wrote words of affirmations for their parents. The evening concluded with family prayers – where the youths were led to pray for their parents and the parents prayed for the youths and families throughout the world.

After that, the parents and youth ministry continued to network with each other over refreshments.

The evening was a wonderful occasion for parents and the youth ministry to know each other better, to form stronger ties and partnership in providing an avenue for youths to grow in faith and acknowledge that the involvement of parents in the lives of youths is essential in their growth and development. The Empowered Youth Ministry is very encouraged by the support and affirmation of parents in this community and together, we look forward to sustaining and growing this relationship and partnership in the future. - Catherine Lee

YOUTH

KUCHING – On 11 October, the EMPOWERED Ministry hosted their annual Youth Fun Day Out 2015 (YFDO) entitled ‘bRACE YOUrself Challenge’. Eager participants gathered at Le Park, Civic Centre to start the first of its kind,’ race around Kuching challenge’ before reaching the finishing line at St Peter’s College Field.

As part of Empowered Ministry’s recreational activity for youths, the aim of YFDO is to simply have fun and enjoy each other’s company. The ‘bRACE YOUrself Challenge’ was well-received where 80 participants signed up in teams of 5 members to form 16 groups in total, consisting of youths from lower-secondary school to young working adults.

From 8am to 1pm, each team had an exciting and enjoyable time travelling around Kuching to complete a whole range of challenges.

Each team had to utilise a variety of Godgiven talents – from bible trivia to singing and dancing along the waterfront, tasting Kuching’s local delicacies including the sago worms, getting wet in swimming and with water balloons

PAGE 15

as well as embracing Kuching City’s uniqueness and culture as they visited several popular streets and landmarks of Kuching such as Carpenter Street and Fort Margherita.

This YFDO provided youths of this community an avenue and opportunity to foster friendship, teamwork and community building. It is also an opportunity for new youths to join and meet the youth community of St Joseph’s Cathedral Parish. Overall the youths thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The organisers of this YFDO would like to thank the sponsors and supporters who have contributed towards this event, all the participants for making it an unforgettable experience and Daddy God who made it all possible. - Catherine Lee

YFDO TESTIMONIES “Thanks to the organising team for the fun day where so much effort was put into planning the games that brought much laughter to our team throughout the day! It was a very interesting and enjoyable experience. We were very delighted to join this event, which even gave us the opportunity to meet new friends and share the joy from God. We hope there will be more activities like this in the future. God bless!” ~ Emily Lim (Team Carpe Diem) “YFDO is super great and we didn’t expect to have so much fun!

We are very happy to be part of this YFDO with our team and we had a really great time!” – Team Bring It! “I feel so challenged, so refreshed and had such a great time today. It was such a good and unforgettable experience.” – Kelvin Chan (Team Air Asia) “Despite all the unexpected challenges and frustrations I personally faced, the grace that I experienced was greater! God gave me friends in my team who are very understanding and supportive all throughout the race and it was them who kept me going! Experiencing each other’s weaknesses and strengths shows how little or much we know of each other and I really thank God for this experience!” – Karen Lijong (The Swag Team) “Everything was fantastic, wellplanned and thank God for everything. Looking forward to next year’s fun day out!” – Victoria Sharon (Team Minions) “One of the craziest Youth Fun Day Out ever! It was tiring but really fun. We went places where we don’t normally go and do things we don’t normally do and at the same time, get to know the beautiful sights of Kuching.” – Team Cheetah Lions

PAGE 22

FOKUS

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

TahunJubli Kerahiman BERBELASKASIHAN SEPERTI BAPA 8 Disember 2015 - 20 November 2016

Pengenalan: Bersiap sedia untuk mer aikan Jubli Luar Biasa “Saya telah membuat keputusan untuk mengumumkan Jubli Luar Biasa yang mengetengahkan kerahiman (belaskasihan) Tuhan. Ia adalah Tahun Kerahiman Suci.

Kita mahu hidup dalam cahaya firman Tuhan: “Hendaklah kamu berbelaskasihan, sama seperti Bapamu adalah berbelaskasihan” (Lukas 6:36).

Semasa upacara pertaubatan “24 Jam Bersama Tuhan” di Basilika St Peter pada 13 Mac lalu, Bapa Suci, Pope Francis mengumumkan perayaan “Tahun Suci yang luar biasa”. “Jubli Kerahiman” ini bermula dengan pembukaan Pintu Suci di Basilika St Peter pada Perayaan Maria Dikandung Tak Bernoda (Immaculate Conception) (8 Disember ini) dan berakhir dengan Perayaan Kristus Raja (20 November 2016).

Untuk menandakan perayaan itu, dua dokumen telah dihasilkan oleh Pope Francis:

Pernyataan Rasmi (Bull of Indiction) bagi Tahun Jubli Kerahiman, Misericordiae Vultus, dan sepucuk surat kepada Presiden Majlis Kepausan bagi Promosi Penginjilan Baharu, Uskup Agung Rino Fisichella. Pernyataan Rasmi Misericordiae Vultus boleh dimuat turun dari laman sesawang Vatikan (www.im.va).

Surat itu, walaupun ditujukan kepada Uskup Agung Rino Fisichella, sebenarnya adalah pesanan bagi setiap daripada kita. Dalam surat tersebut, Pope Francis menyebut tentang bagaimana umat dapat meraikan Tahun Suci dan memperolehi sebanyak mungkin manfaat daripadanya. Surat itu diterbitkan di bawah.

Marilah kita memulakan perayaan Tahun Jubli Kerahiman dengan terlebih dahulu memahaminya dan apa yang bakal kita lalui!

Sur a t Pope Fr ancis: Apakah itu Tahun Suci Ker ahiman?

Menjelang Jubli Kerahiman Luar Biasa, saya ingin memberi tumpuan kepada beberapa perkara yang saya percaya memerlukan perhatian untuk membolehkan perayaan Tahun Suci menjadi waktu untuk benar-benar mengalami kerahiman Tuhan bagi semua umat. Ia sememangnya hasrat saya agar Jubli ini menjadi pengalaman yang hidup bagi keakraban Bapa, yang memiliki kelemahlembutan yang hampir dapat dirasai, supaya kepercayaan setiap umat boleh diperkuatkan dan dengan demikian kesaksian kepadanya boleh menjadi jauh lebih berkesan.

Saya pertama sekali memikirkan tentang semua umat yang akan menikmati rahmat Jubli, sama ada di keuskupan masing-masing atau sebagai penziarah ke Rom. Saya berharap Indulgensi Jubli dapat dinikmati setiap orang sebagai satu pengalaman yang tulen bagi kerahiman Tuhan, yang datang untuk bertemu dengan setiap insan dalam Wajah Bapa yang mengalu-alu dan memaafkan, dan melupakan sepenuhnya dosa yang pernah dibuat. Untuk mengalami dan menikmati Indulgensi, umat diseru melakukan ziarah yang ringkas ke Pintu Suci, yang dibuka di setiap katedral atau di gereja-gereja yang dipilih khas oleh Uskup Diosis, dan di keempat-empat Basilika Kepausan di Rom, sebagai tanda keinginan mendalam untuk benar-benar bertaubat.

Demikian juga, saya menetapkan bahawa Indulgensi boleh diperolehi di tempattempat keramat di mana Pintu Kerahiman dibuka dan di gereja-gereja yang dikenali sebagai Gereja-gereja Jubli. Ia adalah penting agar waktu ini dikaitkan, pertama sekali, dengan Sakramen Pengakuan Dosa dan perayaan Ekaristi Suci disertai renungan menangani kerahiman atau belaskasihan. Ia adalah perlu untuk mengiringi perayaan-perayaan ini dengan pengakuan iman dan dengan doa bagi saya dan bagi niat-niat yang ada di dalam hati saya demi kebaikan Gereja dan seluruh dunia.

Selain itu, saya memikirkan tentang mereka yang, atas pelbagai sebab, tidak dapat memasuki Pintu Suci, khususnya orang sakit dan warga emas yang tinggal bersendirian dan terhad kepada kehidupan di rumah sahaja. Bagi mereka, ia pasti amat membantu untuk menanggung penyakit dan penderitaan mereka sebagai satu pengalaman bagi keakraban Tuhan yang dalam misteri Kesengsaraan, Kewafatan dan KebangkitanNya menunjukkan jalan diraja yang memberi makna kepada kesakitan dan kesepian. Menjalani waktu pencubaan ini dengan iman dan harapan yang gembira, menerima komuni atau menghadiri Misa Kudus dan doa jemaat, malah menerusi pelbagai kaedah komunikasi, adalah kaedah-kaedah untuk mendapatkan Indulgensi Jubli bagi mereka. Saya juga memikirkan tentang mereka yang berada di dalam penjara, dengan kebebasan yang terhad. Tahun Jubli selama ini sentiasa memberi peluang bagi pengampunan am yang amat bagus, bertujuan untuk merangkumi ramai orang yang, walaupun sewajarnya menerima hukuman, sudah menyedari tentang ketidakadilan yang mereka telah lakukan dan dengan ikhlas ingin menyertai semula masyarakat dan memberi sumbangan mereka yang ikhlas kepadanya. Semoga semua mereka disentuh dalam cara yang nyata oleh kerahiman Bapa yang mahu mendekati mereka yang mempunyai keperluan yang paling tinggi untuk menerima pengampunanNya. Mereka dapat memperolehi Indulgensi di chapel penjara. Semoga amalan mengarahkan fikiran dan doa mereka kepada Bapa setiap kali mereka melintasi pintu sel mereka menandakan laluan mereka menerusi Pintu Suci, kerana kerahiman Tuhan dapat mengubah hati dan juga dapat mengubah penjara menjadi satu pengalaman kebebasan.

Saya telah meminta Gereja pada Tahun Jubli ini untuk menemui semula kekayaan yang merangkumi amalan-amalan berbelaskasihan yang bersifat rohani dan duniawi.

Sesungguhnya pengalaman belaskasihan menjadi sesuatu yang dapat dilihat dalam kesaksian tanda-tanda konkrit seperti yang diajar Yesus sendiri kepada kita. Setiap kali salah seorang umat secara peribadi melakukan satu atau lebih daripada amalanamalan ini, dia akan pasti menikmati Indulgensi Jubli. Oleh itu timbul komitmen untuk hidup berlandaskan belaskasihan supaya dapat menikmati rahmat pengampunan yang sepenuhnya dan lengkap menerusi kuasa kasih Bapa yang tidak mengecualikan sesiapa. Maka itu Indulgensi Jubli adalah penuh, hasil daripada peristiwa itu sendiri yang akan diraikan dan dialami dengan keimanan, harapan dan kasih.

Selanjutnya, Indulgensi Jubli juga boleh diperolehi untuk mereka yang sudah meninggal. Kita terikat kepada mereka oleh saksi keimanan dan kasih yang mereka sudah tinggalkan kepada kita. Maka itu, apabila kita mengingati mereka dalam

Bagaimana memperoleh Indulgensi Jubli: • Melakukan ziarah ke Pintu Suci • Merayakan Sakramen Pengakuan Dosa • Menerima komuni dan menghadiri Misa Kudus • Melakukan amalan belaskasihan • Berdoa untuk Pope Francis dan niatniat beliau Pintu Suci di Basilika St Peter, Rom

perayaan Ekaristi, kita dapat, dalam misteri agung Persatuan Para Kudus, berdoa untuk mereka, agar Wajah Bapa yang Maha Rahim membebaskan mereka daripada setiap sisa kesalahan dan merangkul mereka dengan kuat di dalam kebahagiaan yang tidak berkesudahan.

Salah satu masalah serius yang jelas pada zaman kita adalah perhubungan yang berubah terhadap kehidupan. Mentaliti yang berleluasa dan tidak sensitif telah membawa kepada kehilangan sensitiviti sosial dan peribadi yang betul untuk menyambut nyawa baharu. Tragedi pengguguran dialami segelintir orang dengan kesedaran yang cetek, seakan-akan tidak menyedari tentang kemudaratan ekstrim yang disebabkan oleh perbuatan itu. Sebaliknya, ramai lagi, walaupun mengalami waktu ini sebagai satu kekalahan, percaya mereka tidak ada pilihan lain. Saya khususnya memikirkan tentang semua wanita yang telah memilih untuk melakukan pengguguran. Saya amat menyedari tentang tekanan yang telah mendorong mereka untuk membuat keputusan ini. Saya tahu bahawa ia adalah satu pengalaman eksistensi dan moral yang pahit. Saya sudah berjumpa dengan begitu ramai wanita yang menanggung parut daripada keputusan yang menyakitkan dan menyeksakan ini di dalam hati mereka. Apa yang telah berlaku amat tidak adil sama sekali; namun dengan hanya memahami kebenarannya sahaja dapat membolehkan seseorang itu untuk tidak berputus asa. Pengampunan Tuhan tidak boleh dinafikan kepada seseorang yang sudah bertaubat, terutamanya apabila orang itu menerima Sakramen Pengakuan Dosa dengan hati yang ikhlas untuk mendapatkan perdamaian dengan Bapa. Atas sebab ini juga, saya sudah memutuskan, walau apa pun perkara sebaliknya, untuk menyerahkan budi bicara kepada semua paderi sempena Tahun Jubli ini untuk membebaskan daripada dosa tersebut mereka yang pernah melakukan pengguguran dan, dengan hati yang menyesal, memohon pengampunan untuknya.

Semoga paderi memenuhi tugasan yang hebat ini dengan menyuarakan kata-kata alu-aluan yang ikhlas digabung dengan renungan yang menjelaskan keseriusan dosa yang dilakukan, selain menunjukkan laluan bagi pertaubatan yang tulen untuk menikmati pengampunan yang tulen dan murah hati daripada Bapa yang memperbaharui segalanya dengan hadiratNya. Pertimbangan terakhir melibatkan umat yang atas pelbagai sebab memilih untuk menghadiri gereja-gereja yang dirasmikan oleh paderi-paderi dari Persaudaraan St Pius X. Tahun Jubli Kerahiman ini tidak mengecualikan sesiapa. Dari pelbagai pihak, beberapa Saudara Uskup telah memberitahu saya tentang niat baik dan amalan sakramental mereka, walaupun digabung dengan situasi yang tidak selesa daripada sudut pandangan pastoral. Saya percaya dalam masa yang terdekat, penyelesaian boleh dicapai untuk mencapai kesatuan sepenuhnya dengan paderi dan ketua Persaudaraan itu. Sementara itu, didorong oleh keperluan untuk membalas kebaikan jemaat ini, menerusi kuasa saya sendiri, saya menetapkan bahawa mereka yang pada Tahun Kerahiman Suci ini pergi kepada paderi-paderi Persaudaraan St Pius X untuk meraikan Sakramen Perdamaian akan secara sah menerima pengampunan bagi dosadosa mereka.

Dengan kepercayaan kepada doa perantaraan Bonda Kerahiman, saya menyerahkan persiapan bagi Tahun Jubli Luar Biasa ini kepada pelindungannya.

Dari Vatikan, 1 September 2015 Francis

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

IMAN DAN HIDUP

PAGE 23

Menemui Tuhan dalam kerja harian Oleh Elfie Caldarola Kadang-kadang kita dapat menemui inspirasi bagi doa di tempat mengejutkan.

Majalah Parade merupakan penerbitan kecil yang dimasukkan ke dalam banyak akhbar hari Ahad. Barubaru ini mereka menulis tentang profil Hugh Jackman, pelakon Australia yang terkenal kerana watak yang sinonim dengannya sebagai Wolverine dalam siri filem ‘X-Men’, yang membuat beberapa kenyataan mengejutkan tentang kepercayaan dan panggilan.

Ibu Jackman meninggalkan keluarganya ketika dia berusia lapan tahun, dan dia mengakui merasai banyak kemarahan. Dia kelihatan seperti sudah muncul dalam keadaan yang sempurna dan sihat, dengan rumah tangga yang bagus dan rasa diri yang kuat.

Dibesarkan sebagai seorang Kristian, dia mengekalkan rasa kerohanian yang mendalam. Dia berkata dia mengingatkan diri sebelum setiap filem bahawa anak-anaknya akan menonton filem itu. Saya harap ia benar, dan saya harap lebih ramai pelakon Hollywood memiliki sikap itu.

Sebagai seorang pelajar kolej, dia mendapati lakonan, terutamanya di atas pentas, memberi ketenangan dan kebahagiaan yang mendalam kepadanya.

Jackman dipetik dalam edisi Parade baru-baru ini: “Dalam filem ‘Chariots of Fire’, si pelari Eric Liddell berkata, ‘Bila saya berlari, saya merasai keseronokan (Tuhan)’. Dan saya rasa bahawa keseronokan itu ketika saya berlakon.

Berapa ramaikah daripada kita melakukan apa yang kita amat sukai sehinggakan kita dapat merasai keseronokan Tuhan?

Apabila saya naik ke atas pentas, saya jeda dan mengabadikan lakonan itu kepada Tuhan, dalam segi ‘Izinkan aku untuk menyerah diri’.”

Berapa ramaikah daripada kita yang dapat menggambarkan panggilan kita dengan cara Liddell atau Jackman menggambarkan panggilan mereka?

Berapa ramaikah daripada kita melakukan apa yang kita amat sukai sehinggakan kita dapat merasai keseronokan Tuhan?

Saya memulakan karier saya sebagai seorang guru bilik kelas, dan saya dapat ingat waktu apabila saya menyedari saya telah memulakan api minat dan kearifan di dalam hati pelajar.

Sebagai seorang penulis, apabila saya selesai menulis sesuatu yang saya benarbenar fikir adalah bagus, saya mengalami kegembiraan.

Tetapi adakah saya merasai keseronokan Tuhan dalam waktu tersebut? Kita mencari restu Tuhan,

kita mengaitkan kejayaan kita dengan bantuan Tuhan. Namun adakah saya membayangkan kerja yang saya buat sebagai sesuatu yang menggembirakan Tuhan? Adakah saya menyerahkan kerja saya kepada Tuhan dan membenarkan Tuhan untuk menjadi rakan yang aktif di dalamnya?

Kadang-kadang, kita membuat kerja kita atau kita menawarkan kerja sukarela dengan rasa benci atau wajib atau beban yang berat. Adakah saya merasai keseronokan Tuhan di dalam kerja itu?

Jika tidak, mungkin kita perlu berdoa mengenai apa yang kita buat dan terbuka untuk memilih laluan baharu. Mungkin kita membuat perkara yang salah. Atau mungkin kita membuat perkara yang betul dengan sikap yang salah.

Seorang ahli teologi Amerika, Frederick Buechner, berkata, “Panggilan adalah tempat di mana kegembiraan kita yang mendalami bertemu dengan

keperluan dunia yang mendalam.”

Mungkin dia telah menambah bahawa kegembiraan kita yang mendalam adalah tanda keseronokan illahi juga.

Semua kita telah mendengar cerita tentang orang yang meninggalkan karier lumayan untuk melakukan usaha kebajikan atau artistik yang tidak menguatkan badan tetapi menyuburkan jiwa. Ia menuntut keberanian untuk membuat perubahan yang besar, atau kadang-kadang perubahan kecil juga, tetapi ia pasti berbaloi untuk mendengar Tuhan ketawa.

Ada di antara kita sudah melepasi usia di mana kita membuat pilihan karier atau panggilan hidup yang signifikan.

Namun setiap daripada kita bangun setiap pagi untuk melayan Tuhan.

Setiap hari, kita ada banyak keputusan untuk dibuat mengenai cara untuk menggunakan masa kita dan apa yang akan membuatkan kita rasa kreatif dan bagus pada akhirnya.

Adakah kita menghabiskan hari kerja kita dengan sebelah mata yang melihat jam? Adakah aktiviti sukarela kita membantu masyarakat selain menyumbang kepada kebahagiaan dan perkembangan kita? Atau adakah kita menyetujuinya kerana “seseorang perlu melakukannya”?

Tuhan dekat dengan kita sama seperti ketawa dan tangisan kita, dan jika mendengar kepada kedua-duanya, ia memberi kita pengajaran tentang kehendak Tuhan.

CNS (Terjemahan)

Hati ke hati...

dari pena penulis jemputan,

Fr Lazarus Swinie

Pesta Semua Orang Kudus dan hari Memperingati Para Arwah bukan hanya dua perayaan penting dalam kalendar liturgi kita tetapi juga adalah tentang peralihan riwayat kehidupan manusia.

Pesta Semua Orang Kudus adalah pesta pembakar semangat kepada semua pengikut Kristus.

Kita telah dijanjikan oleh-Nya kehidupan yang kekal dan pewaris kerajaan syurga.

‘Sabda Kebahagiaan’ (Mat 5:1-12) adalah garis panduan untuk kita dan Yesus berjanji, “Berbahagialah kamu, kalau diejek, dianiaya atau difitnah kerana Aku; bersuka cita dan

bergembiralah, sebab besarlah ganjaranmu di syurga” (Mat 5:12).

Tuhan tidak pernah memungkiri janji-Nya. Pesta Semua Orang Kudus adalah bukti kesahihan janji Tuhan. Di dalam Kitab Wahyu, Yohanes telah menulis apa yang telah dilihatnya di dalam syurga di mana sekumpulan besar manusia yang memakai jubah putih sedang menyembah dan memuliakan Tuhan. Jubah mereka berwarna putih sebab telah dicuci dengan darah Anak Domba. Mereka telah keluar dari kesusahan besar. Pesta Semua Orang Kudus memberi maksud dan tujuan kehidupan

Pesta Semua Orang Kudus adalah pesta kemenangan di mana setiap orang diberi ganjaran yang besar oleh Tuhan. duniawi kita. Kehidupan yang lebih sempurna sedang menanti kita. Walaupun demikian kita hanya dapat ke sana setelah riwayat kehidupan duniawi kita berakhir. Kita akan bergelar arwah.

Hari memperingati Para Arwah mengingatkan tentang peralihan riwayat kehidupan.

Kita harus mati namun kita percaya bahawa kematian bukanlah bermakna kehidupan dilenyapkan tetapi diubah.

Pengembaraan kita di dunia telah berakhir dan kehidupan syurgawi bermula. Walaupun demikian, kita percaya bahawa tidak semua orang akan menduduki kerajaan syurga.

Kita memohon rahmat dan belas kasih Tuhan agar mereka

Foto: CNS

yang ‘separuh jalan’ diterima memasuki kerajaan syurga.

Menurut kalendar liturgi, Pesta Semua Orang Kudus adalah lebih meriah daripada hari Memperingati Para Arwah.

Pesta Semua Orang Kudus adalah pesta kemenangan di mana setiap orang diberi ganjaran yang besar oleh Tuhan.

Walaupun demikian, jika kita teliti pada setiap tahun, hari Memperingati Para Arwah lebih meriah di mana sanak saudara berkumpul di kubur sambil membawa bunga dan lilin.

Ada juga juga yang membawa makanan untuk dipersembahkan kepada sanak saudara yang tersayang yang telah meninggal dunia. Hari Memperingati Arwah seolah-olah pesta

kubur. Ada yang mengatakan hari tersebut adalah hari sembahyang kubur. Liturgi yang diadakan di gereja-gereja pada hari tersebut seolah-olah tidak berapa penting. Kubur lebih penting daripada arwah.

Kita percaya bahawa tubuh kita berasal dari tanah dan kembali kepada tanah namun roh kita berasal dari Tuhan dan kembali kepada Tuhan. Menziarahi makam saudara mara kita adalah satu amalan yang baik.

Ianya boleh memupuk rasa hormat dan cinta kasih abadi terhadap mereka yang sudah meninggal dunia. Bak kata pepatah ‘jauh di mata dekat di hati’. Walaupun begitu, sebagai orang Kristian kita patut juga memahami tujuan setiap perayaan yang kita rayakan. Hari Memperingati Para Arwah adalah hari untuk mendoakan para arwah agar mereka diterima ke dalam kerajaan syurga.

2 November adalah hari Memperingati Para Arwah bukannya sembahyang kubur.

Semoga Tuhan melaui rahmat dan cinta kasih-Nya menerima kesemua sanak saudara kita yang sudah meninggal dunia ke dalam kerajaan syurga.

BERITA

PAGE 24

Pope Francis: Sinod mengesahkan keluarga, perkahwinan yang kekal KOTA VATIKAN — Pada penghujung Sinod Keluarga 2015, Pope Francis menegaskan bahawa perhimpunan itu bertujuan untuk menerima hakikat bahawa masyarakat dibina berasaskan keluarga dan perkahwinan sebagai kesatuan kekal di antara seorang lelaki dan seorang wanita.

Sinod itu, kata Paus dalam perutusan penutupannya, “bertujuan untuk menggesa semua orang agar menghargai kepentingan institusi keluarga dan perkahwinan di antara seorang lelaki dengan seorang wanita, berdasarkan perpaduan dan kekekalan, dan menilainya sebagai asas masyarakat dan kehidupan manusia yang asas.”

Sinod Keluarga pada tahun ini, yang berlangsung dari 4-25 Oktober lalu, merupakan perhimpunan kedua yang lebih besar daripada dua perhimpunan sedemikian yang berlangsung dalam tempoh

setahun.

Seperti sinod pada 2014, fokus Sinod Uskup-uskup 2015 adalah keluarga, kali ini dengan tema: “Panggilan dan misi keluarga dalam Gereja dan dunia moden.”

Paus menjelaskan perhimpunan itu “bukan bertujuan untuk mencari penyelesaian yang menyeluruh bagi semua kesusahan dan ketidakpastian yang mencabar dan mengancam keluarga, tetapi untuk melihat kesusahan

dan ketidakpastian ini dalam cahaya Iman, dan dengan teliti mengkajinya dan mendepaninya tanpa takut, tanpa menyembunyikan kepala kita di dalam pasir”.

Sebaliknya, katanya, ia mengenai mendengar suara keluarga dan paderi, dan melihat realiti menerusi mata Tuhan untuk memberi harapan dan galakan dalam dunia dengan krisis dan pesimisme yang semakin meningkat.

Bersambung di ms28

‘Home of Peace’ memerlukan seorang Pengurus Rumah

‘Home of Peace’ sedang mencari seorang pengurus rumah untuk mentadbir premisnya di Jalan Landeh, Batu 10, Jalan Kuching-Serian.

Ia adalah jawatan sepenuh masa yang menuntut pemohon menitikberatkan kualiti dan penjagaan yang prihatin terhadap warga emas untuk mewujudkan komuniti yang bersemangat dan bertenaga.

Pengurus Rumah itu mesti: • memiliki kepimpinan yang cemerlang dan kemahiran organisasi dalam mengurus sebuah pasukan yang fokus kepada keperluan penghuni Rumah; • memiliki empati dan kemahiran antara manusia yang baik; • memiliki kemahiran mendengar dan berkomunikasi yang cemerlang; • komited untuk mempromosikan dan memajukan standard penjagaan berkualiti tertinggi bagi penghuni; • memiliki kemahiran melayan pelanggan; • celik komputer; • mahir menyelesaikan masalah.

Pengurus Rumah bertanggungjawab untuk mengendalikan urusan harian ‘Home of Peace’, menyelia semua aktiviti di Rumah tersebut dan

usaha mengutip dana, membincangkan kontrak dan bekerja menurut bajet.

Pengurus Rumah juga dijangka akan merekrut, melatih dan menyelia kakitangan penjagaan dan kakitangan domestik yang bekerja di Rumah ini.

Keutamaan akan diberikan kepada pemohon yang memiliki pengalaman dan pengetahuan sebelum ini di hospital penjagaan geriatrik atau pentadbiran kejururawatan dan pekerjaan lain yang berkaitan.

‘Home of Peace’ merupakan sebuah rumah amal kebajikan Katolik untuk warga emas. Ia adalah projek yang dijalankan oleh ‘Catholic Welfare Services of Sarawak’ (Khidmat Kebajikan Katolik Sarawak) sebagai sebahagian daripada misi untuk memberi kasih sayang dan penjagaan kepada warga emas yang daif. Rumah ini menerima penghuni tanpa mengira kaum, agama atau jantina.

Pemohon boleh mengemukakan resume atau biodata mereka dan gaji jangkaan kepada ‘Catholic Welfare Services of Sarawak’ (CWS) di pejabat CWS di Pusat Pastoral Katedral dan Kuria Keuskupan Agung (ACCPC) atau hantar butir-butir ke Peti Surat 940, 93718 Kuching, sebelum 30 November 2015.

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

Hong Kong mengesyorkan paderi sebagai ‘mubaligh kerahiman’ HONG KONG ­— Keuskupan Hong Kong akan merahsiakan identiti paderi yang secara sukarela menjadi “mubaligh kerahiman” – paderi yang diberi hak istimewa untuk membebaskan umat daripada dosa-dosa yang biasanya berada di bawah bidang kuasa Takhta Suci.

Uskup Hong Kong akan mengesyorkan “seorang atau dua orang paderi” untuk mendaftar diri sebagai mubaligh kerahiman, menurut satu notis canseri yang dikeluarkan pada 12 Oktober lalu.

Ia merupakan reaksi kepada rancangan Pope Francis bagi Jubli Kerahiman Luar Biasa yang akan datang.

Pada Ogos lalu, Paus mengumumkan bahawa semasa tahun suci itu, yang akan bermula pada 8 Disember, beliau akan memberi hak-hak kepada paderi

terpilih “untuk mengampuni dosa-dosa termasuk dosa-dosa yang berada di bawah bidang kuasa Takhta Suci”.

Notis canseri pada 12 Oktober lalu menyatakan “seorang atau dua orang paderi dari keuskupan kita, yang akan disyorkan oleh uskup kita, akan mendaftar diri sebagai mubaligh kerahiman”.

Canselor keuskupan, Father Lawrence Lee Len, memberitahu ucanews. com bahawa proses itu akan dijalankan secara sulit.

“Identiti mubaligh ini akan dirahsiakan, walaupun selepas mereka dipilih,” katanya.

“Jemaat yang memerlukan bantuan boleh meminta uskup untuk mengatur agar seorang mubaligh kerahiman dapat mendengar pengakuan dosa dan mengampuni dosa-dosa mereka. Bersambung di ms28

Pelancaran Kad Sumbangan Keluarga KOTA PADAWAN — Jawatankuasa Paroki Kecil St Michael Teng Bukap di bawah naungan Paroki St Ann telah melancarkan projek mencari dana yang dinamakan “Kad Sumbangan Keluarga (KSK)” oleh Rektor St Ann, Friar Gerard Victor OFM pada 6 September semasa perayaan Misa Kudus Hari Minggu di Dewan Serbaguna Teng Bukap.

Pelancaran Kad Sumbangan Keluarga ini adalah inisiatif untuk membina sebuah chapel baharu yang boleh dijadikan sebagai pusat ibadah bagi jemaat Katolik dalam Zon Teng Bukap.

Kad Sumbangan Keluarga ini adalah untuk tempoh dua tahun iaitu mulai dari bulan September ini dan berakhir pada bulan Ogos 2017.

Sumbangan yang dibuat adalah berdasarkan kepada setiap ahli keluarga yang bekerja di dalam sesuatu isi rumah dengan sumbangan minima RM40 sebulan.

Sasaran yang ingin diperolehi melalui projek ini adalah sebanyak RM 500,000.00.

Paroki Kecil St Michael Teng Bukap merangkumi 13 Komiti Gereja Kampung (KGK) yang terlibat dalam Kad Sumbangan Keluarga ini iaitu KGK St Jude, Kpg Stabut, St Anthony, Kpg Peraya, St Joseph, Kpg Gayu, St Agnes, Kpg Serumah, St Clare, Kpg Payang, St Francis of Assisi, Kpg Bidak, St Martin De Pores, Kpg Sira, St. Emily, Kpg Kerian, St Rita, Kpg Pesang, Chapel Lady of Grace, Kpg Subang, St Sharbel, Kpg Begu,

St James, Kpg Tatuk dan St Teresa, Kpg Semeru.

Pengerusi Jawatankuasa St Michael Teng Bukap, Kevin Jindes di dalam ucapannya menyeru kepada jemaat di Zon Teng Bukap supaya lebih menumpukan pemberian sumbangan kepada projek pembinaan Chapel St Michael ini melalui projek mencari dana Kad Sumbangan Keluarga.

Beliau juga ingin merayu kepada bekas-bekas pelajar Sekolah St Michael Teng Bukap untuk turut membantu dan menyumbang kepada projek chapel baharu ini. Ini adalah peluang keemasan bagi mereka untuk mengingati dan menghayati semua kebaikan dan kemajuan yang telah diberi sebagai anugerah daripada Tuhan semasa mereka menerima pembelajaran di Teng Bukap, katanya.

Pada waktu yang sama, Fr Gerard Victor turut menyerahkan Kad Sumbangan Keluarga kepada setiap pengerusi KGK mengikut jumlah keluarga di kampung masing-masing.

Dalam ucapan penggulungannya, beliau berharap serta menyeru agar jemaat di Zon Teng Bukap mempunyai tanggungjawab dan kesedaran untuk menyumbang derma kepada pembinaan chapel baharu Paroki Kecil St Michael Teng Bukap.

Sumbangan

BERITA

TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015 Dari meja pengarang

Kita tidak pernah berjalan bersendirian

Ia sudah disahkan secara rasmi. Perkahwinan tetap satu jalinan seumur hidup, satu perjanjian yang tidak boleh ditarik balik antara seorang lelaki dengan seorang wanita yang terbuka untuk melahirkan anak-anak.

Tanpa menafikan maruah golongan homoseksual atau pasangan suami isteri yang sudah bercerai, ajaran ini tidak termasuk sebarang konsesi atau rundingan tentang ‘membenarkan’ perceraian atau menerima ‘perkahwinan’ sejantina.

Sinod Uskup-uskup, gembala-gembala Gereja Katolik di dunia, sudah bersuara dalam satu laporan 94 perenggan yang diluluskan pada 24 Oktober lalu (lihat halaman 8 dan 24).

Selepas menyatakan tanpa berbelah-bahagi pendirian Gereja tentang perkahwinan dan dengan positif mengesahkan peranan paderi dalam usaha menyokong keluarga, Sinod mengingatkan ‘pengertian yang berhati-hati’ adalah perlu dalam penjagaan pastoral kerana situasi ‘hitam dan putih’ tiada bagi keluarga yang menghadapi kesusahan.

Tiada perkara seperti satu jawapan yang betul untuk semua.

Keadilan dan belaskasihan, satu imbangan yang rumit, satu perjalanan iman di atas tali tegang.

Namun kita tidak pernah berjalan bersendirian.

(Terjemahan)

44 Sekolah Minggu berjaya diwujudkan di Serian

SERIAN — Jawatankuasa Sunday School Peringkat Kampung (JSSPK) Paroki St Theresa Serian telah meraikan Hari Ahad Kateketikal dengan tema “Faith in Christ – to know him, to love him and to serve him” (Kepercayaan kepada Kristus – mengenaliNya, mengasihiNya dan melayaniNya) sempena ulang tahun pertama penubuhan JSSPK pada 19 September yang lalu.

Sambutan tersebut dimulakan dengan sembahyang Misa Kudus dan pemberkatan guru-guru Sekolah Minggu oleh Father Stephen Lim. Dalam homilinya, Fr Stephen menyatakan rasa sangat gembiranya dengan penubuhan 44 Sekolah Minggu Peringkat Kampung sekitar Paroki St Theresa Serian. Beliau menyeru agar semua pihak meneruskan usaha tersebut.

JSSPK sudah ditubuhkan sejak 2014 sebagai satu usaha untuk mendekatkan lagi anakanak kepada ajaran agama Katolik. Penaung JSSPK adalah Father Joseph Liew

PAGE 25

CATHOLIC today’s THE TEAM PENERBIT Uskup Agung Kuching PENASIHAT Fr Felix Au EDITOR Stella Chin EDITOR BERSEKUTU (B Cina) Magdalene Yeo SIDANG EDITOR Freddy Bohari (BM) Martha Ngui (B Inggeris) Margaret Bong (Halaman Kanak-kanak B Cina) James Lo (B Cina) Margaret Bong (Halaman Kanak-kanak B Cina) HALAMAN BELIA Benedict Lo STAF Audrey Yu

Lawatan Komuniti Kristian Asas

ERATKAN HUBUNGAN ... Aktiviti hari minggu itu mengeratkan lagi hubungan dalam ahli Komuniti Kristian Asas CUKUP MENGGEMBIRAKAN ... Pemotongan kek ulang tahun penubuhan JSSP yang dibantu oleh Katekis Lina Sabang sebagai penyelaras manakala pengerusi adalah Jenner Menggu. Misi seterusnya JSSPK adalah mewujudkan Sekolah Minggu di semua gereja kampung Katolik di bawah seliaan Paroki St Theresa.

Program pada hari tersebut telah dimeriahkan lagi dengan beberapa program seperti acara pemotongan kek ulang tahun JSSPK dan persembahan daripada pelajar-pelajar Sekolah Minggu Kampung.

Ibu bapa yang turut hadir menyatakan rasa gembira

mereka kerana dapat bersamasama menyaksikan persembahan anak-anak mereka.

Dalam pada itu Katekis Lina Sabang dan Jenner Menggu amat berpuas hati dengan penglibatan serta kehadiran semua pelajar dan ibu-bapa yang amat memberansangkan.

Mereka berharap program tersebut adalah satu permulaan yang baik bagi memastikan lebih banyak lagi kampung menubuhkan Sekolah Minggu di kampung masing-masing di bawah seliaan Paroki St Theresa. — Walter Angan

SERIAN — Pada 19 September yang lalu, Hari Sabtu, Komuniti Kristian Asas (BCC) ‘Tangga By Pass’, di bawah naungan Paroki St Theresa, Serian telah mengadakan lawatan ke Kampung Sematan.

Sebanyak 13 keluarga yang terdiri daripada 75 jemaat turut serta dalam lawatan tersebut.

Tujuan lawatan itu adalah untuk mengeratkan hubungan antara jemaat BCC

serta mewujudkan suasana kemesraan dan sikap saling menyayangi sesama jemaat seperti yang diajar oleh Tuhan Yesus.

Walaupun mereka baharu sahaja kehilangan seorang penaung tercinta, iaitu mendiang Richard Damping, mantan Ahli Parlimen Serian, namun program lawatan tersebut tetap diteruskan juga.

Roderic Gaok Ambud

Kaunseling Krisis Kehamilan Kumpulan Pro-Life menyediakan: + Kaunseling Krisis Kehamilan - Secara peribadi atau melalui telefon - Sulit dan rahsia + Maklumat berkenaan kehamilan dan jahat pengguguran + Tempat berteduh + Sokongan satu dengan satu semasa dan selepas kehamilan + Bantu mengatur pengambilan anak angkat sebagai satu alternatif kepada pengguguran Hubungan kami Telefon: 082-413454

E-mel: kprolife@gmail.com

Atau datang ke Pejabat Pro-Life: Christian Ecumenical Worship Centre, 1st Floor, Lot 2500, Jalan Stampin, 93350 Kuching Laman web: http://www.prolifegroupkuching.org

PEMBAPTISAN BAYI ... Seramai 68 bayi telah dibaptis pada 10 Oktober lalu di Gereja Saint Ann, Padawan. Pembaptisan bayi pada jam 2:00 petang ini diketuai Rektor Paroki Father Gerard Victor OFM yang dibantu oleh Diakon Oliver Tham OFM.

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TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

Mengenai Sikap Hormat Tidak lama yang lalu, saya telah pergi ke Singapura untuk memulakan rawatan radioterapi.

Prosedur itu melibatkan usaha memasukkan banyak manik radio-aktif yang sangat kecil sekali di sekitar ketumbuhan yang ada pada saya, untuk cuba mengecutkannya supaya ia dapat dibedah. Ia adalah pembedahan yang sangat menarik, dengan doktordoktor yang perlahan-lahan menolak manik-manik kecil ke dalam posisi yang mereka inginkan, tetapi saya mahu memberitahu anda mengenai doktor tersebut, yang mengetuai pembedahan, kerana saya begitu terkesan dengan sikap hormat dan kesopanan yang dia tunjukkan kepada orang lain.

Prosedur itu bermula agak lewat sedikit, lalu dia memasuki bilik untuk memohon maaf kerana ia akan lambat sedikit, kerana dia sedang membantu seorang rakan sekerja yang ada masalah. Kemudian, apabila dia bersedia untuk bermula, dia datang dan sekali lagi memohon maaf dan mula bercakap dengan saya sepanjang prosedur selama dua setengah jam – dan bertanya bagaimana keadaan saya. Perhatian yang sopansantun ini bukan kerana saya seorang paderi, kerana dia hanya tahu mengenai itu pada hujung pembedahan, dan ia juga bukan kerana saya orang Eropah, kerana saya perhatikan dia bercakap kepada semua kakitangannya dengan cara yang sama sekali. Dia adalah seorang lelaki yang bersopansantun dan kesopanan ini – kepada mereka yang sakit atau dalam kedudukan kebergantungan yang lemah – adalah “penyembuhan” dan

Fr Terry Burke ialah seorang mubaligh Mill Hill yang pernah berkhidmat di Sarawak, Indonesia, India dan England. Buat masa sekarang, beliau adalah pensyarah di Kolej St Peter selain ditugaskan kepada kerja pembentukan di Keuskupan Kuching.

Today’s Catholic ingin mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Fr Burke kerana membahagikan renungan dan pengalaman pastoral yang kaya di dalam ruangan ini yang bertajuk Benihbenih Padi.

Kesopanan serta sikap hormat selalunya adalah sakramen yang digunakan oleh Tuhan untuk membawa kita ke dalam penyembuhan. oleh itu, walaupun pada mulanya saya ditolak ke dalam bilik pembedahan sebagai seorang pesakit – seseorang yang memerlukan rawatan – saya telah ditolak keluar pula sebagai seseorang yang “sembuh”; seseorang yang penting, tidak kira apa pun yang salah dengan saya. Dan ia adalah kesopanan doktor ini yang telah membantu menjadikannya begitu.

Ada perbezaan di antara “dipulihkan” dan “disembuhkan”: untuk “dipulihkan” bermaksud untuk membetulkan penyakit tertentu, tetapi “disembuhkan” bermaksud untuk disentuh pada bahagian paling mendalam dalam diri kita dan dibawa masuk ke dalam “kesempurnaan” (wholeness), kerana dengan diiktiraf sebagai seorang “insan” kita diberi rahmat untuk menerima diri kita seadanya – walaupun penyakit atau kekurangan upaya kita kekal. Kita, dalam cara ini, dibolehkan untuk menyahut cabaran hidup, dengan segala kemungkinan dan batasannya – tenang dengan diri sendiri dan dunia di sekeliling kita.

Saya ingat bagaimana saya sekali melawat Hospital Pesakit Kusta yang terkenal di Carville, Louisiana, Amerika Syarikat, dan diberitahu tentang Doctor Brand, yang pernah bekerja di sana. Dia merupakan seorang pakar bedah pemulihan yang mahir dan membentuk semula tangan pesakitnya, yang dilumpuhkan oleh penyakit kusta

yang tidak dirawat. Apabila dia menerima ucapan tahniah di atas kemahirannya, dia akan menjawab: “Bukan kemahiran saya yang menyembuhkan them, tetapi hati saya; kemahiran saya dapat membentuk semula tangan mereka, tetapi hanya hati saya yang dapat memberi mereka keberanian untuk menggunakannya.” Seseorang, yang telah dihina atau dianggap tidak bernilai – atau percaya dirinya tidak penting – selalunya hilang keberanian untuk hidup. Mereka memerlukan seseorang untuk percaya kepada mereka supaya mereka dapat mengetahui tentang nilai diri sendiri dan menerima cabaran untuk hidup sepenuhnya – dan kesopanan serta sikap hormat yang ditunjukkan kepada mereka selalunya adalah sakramen yang digunakan oleh Tuhan untuk membawa kita ke dalam penyembuhan sedemikian.

Ini bukan sahaja benar bagi orang sakit atau orang terpinggir sahaja, tetapi bagi semua orang dan semua situasi dalam hidup. Saya ingat, beberapa tahun lalu, saya telah melawat seorang rakan paderi di paroki desanya dan oleh kerana dia tidak ada pembantu rumah, kami pergi ke sebuah kafe tempatan yang kecil di sebelah paroki untuk makan malam.

Kami memberi tempahan kami kepada pelayan dan berbual sementara kami menunggu untuk dilayan. Apabila pelayan tadi membawa minuman kami, saya mengucapkan terima kasih

Belia memanjatkan doa untuk Malaysia SARATOK — Pada 16 September yang lalu, program ‘Sepetang Dalam Doa’ yang dianjurkan oleh belia St Ignatius telah diadakan di Pusat Katolik St Ignatius, Saratok.

Program ini bermula pada 2.30 petang dan berakhir pada 4.30 petang.

Acara bermula dengan Doa Kerahiman Illahi pada jam 3.00 petang. Ini diikuti oleh ‘Adoration of the Picture of Jesus’ (Sanjungan kepada Gambar Yesus) dan diakhiri dengan Doa Rosari pada jam 4.00 petang.

Acara pada petang itu juga diselit dengan lagu pujian serta doa peribadi oleh jemaat.

Kira-kira 25 jemaat

BENIH-BENIH PADI

Doa Kerahiman Illahi sedang dijalankan menghadiri program pada iman sesama jemaat melalui doa terutamanya anak-anak petang itu.

Antara tujuan program ini yang akan menerima Sakramen diadakan adalah sebagai satu Komuni Kudus Pertama dan program gereja sempena Hari Sakramen Penguatan.

Malaysia. Di samping itu, ia Rossita Guang bertujuan untuk menguatkan

kepadanya dan rakan paderi saya ketawa dan apabila saya bertanya kepadanya kenapa, dia berkata “Anda tidak melihat wajahnya apabila anda mengucapkan terima kasih kepadanya; dia ternyata tidak biasa diberi ucapan terima kasih”; dia menyuruh saya membuat pemerhatian apabila pelayan itu membawa makanan kami. Bagaimanapun pelayan lain pula yang membawa makanan kami tetapi apabila saya menoleh kepadanya dan mengucapkan terima kasih kepadanya, saya nampak kekejutan dan kegembiraan pada wajahnya. Dia ternyata biasa tidak diendahkan, apabila dia melayan orang dan bagi saya, dia nampak seperti berjalan lebih tinggi sedikit dan dengan lebih bermaruah sedikit ketika dia kembali ke kaunter.

Demikianlah kuasa kata-kata hormat – menerusi rahmat Tuhan, ia memberi kehidupan!

Kita diajar bagaimana Roh Tuhan bergerak dengan kuasa pembaharuanNya di seluruh dunia, tetapi cara kita memahami Al-Kitab selalunya boleh pengaburi perkara ini.

Jika kita melihat Al-Kitab sebagai “Skrip Keramat” yang memberi pengetahuan tentang doktrin dan peraturan dan sebagainya, kita tidak akan melihat keajaiban Roh Kudus yang bergerak dalam dunia kita, tetapi jika kita mengambil Kitab sebagai “Kunci” yang

menunjukkan kepada kita di mana Roh bekerja di dalam dunia kita, maka kita akan semakin kerap melihat jariNya dalam semua perkara yang berlaku dalam kehidupan seharian kita – termasuk kesopanan yang ditunjukkan oleh seseorang yang melayan kita seperti doktor saya.

Al-Kitab memberitahu setiap kali Tuhan mendekati kita, Dia berbuat demikian dengan kesopanan dan penghormatan yang tidak terhingga. Kita melihat ini pada permulaan Sejarah Penyelamatan, apabila Tuhan pertama kali bercakap kepada Abraham, dan kita juga melihatnya dalam kesopanan Kristus ketika Dia menerima dan bercakap dengan orang buangan dan dihina, seperti pesakit kusta, yang berkata, “Tuan, jika tuan mahu, tuan dapat menyembuhkan aku” dan Yesus menjawab: “Sudah tentu Aku mahu” dan menyentuh lelaki itu (Mk 9:23). Kita ada satu pepatah purba di dalam Gereja – iaitu di mana sahaja kita menemui kasih sayang dan persahabatan, di sana kita menemui Tuhan.

Kita juga boleh berkata: iaitu di mana sahaja kita menemui sikap hormat dan kesopanan, kita dapat melihat Pemberi Kehidupan bekerja – kerana kesopanan dan sikap hormat adalah permulaan kasih sayang.

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Pemberkatan tapak Chapel St Joachim

KOTA PADAWAN — Pada 14 Oktober yang lalu, pemberkatan tapak Chapel St Joachim telah dijalankan di Batu-12 oleh Rektor Paroki St Ann, Friar Gerard Victor OFM. Ahli komuniti Chapel St Joachim bersama arkitek Patrick Tan berkumpul pada 14 October lalu untuk menyaksikan upacara pemberkatan bagi membaik pulih bangunan dan persekitaran Chapel St Joachim.

Dalam ucapannya sebelum pemberkatan, Fr Gerard mengingatkan komuniti St Joachim supaya sentiasa bersatu bukan sahaja di dalam projek baik pulih chapel ini malah dalam semua aktiviti yang dijalankan.

Chapel St Joachim yang terletak di dalam kawasan Rumah Sri Kenangan di Jalan Kuching-Serian dibina pada 1984 di atas tanah yang dimiliki Keuskupan Agung Kuching.

Sebanyak 50 buah

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St Ignatius tutup bulan rosari

UNTUK BONDA MARIA ... Umat St Ignatius berdoa bersamasama sempena penutupan bulan rosari BERSATU PADU ... Komuniti St Joachim bersama Fr Gerard OFM selepas pemberkatan tanah keluarga telah mendaftar di bawah naungan chapel ini pada akhir 2014 dan kini semakin berkembang.

Chapel St Joachim yang terletak di bawah naungan Paroki St Ann, Kota Padawan merupakan pusat untuk beribadat bagi jemaat Katolik, pelajar dari sekolah dan institusi berdekatan, pesakit dari Rumah Sri Kenangan (RSK) dan belia St Joachim.

Oleh yang demikian, chapel ini haruslah dikekalkan dan

dijaga untuk kegunaan umat Katolik.

Pihak jawatankuasa komiti Chapel St Joachim menyeru untuk sumbangan ikhlas bagi membantu dalam projek pembinaan dan baik pulih Chapel St Joachim.

Penyumbang boleh menghubungi Pejabat Paroki St Ann di talian 082-611757 atau hubungi Patrick Anyain (0142073941), John Nuga (0138168252 dan Robert Umping (016-8544866). - Mabel Salin

SARATOK — Pada 31 Oktober lalu, kira-kira 40 jemaat Pusat Katolik St Ignatius Saratok telah berhimpun untuk penutupan Bulan Rosari.

Program pada malam itu dimulakan dengan sembahyang Rosari bersama-sama pada jam 7.30 malam.

Selesai sembahyang Rosari, aktiviti diteruskan dengan upacara memotong kek hari

jadi untuk jemaat yang lahir pada bulan Oktober serta sesi fotografi. Setelah itu jemaat sama-sama menikmati makam malam ala ‘potluck’.

Sepanjang bulan Rosari, Pusat Katolik St Ignatius Saratok telah mengadakan program sembahyang Rosari ke rumah jemaat.

Rossita Guang

Perayaan dua dalam satu

Lukisan pelan 3D pandangan sisi kanan chapel baru St Joachim

Hari memperingati kemangkatan St Francis dan pemberkatan haiwan peliharaan KOTA PADAWAN — Pada 2 Oktober lalu iaitu Hari Jumaat, majlis makan malam telah diadakan untuk memperingati kemangkatan Saint Francis dari Asisi di Gereja St Ann, Kota Padawan.

Transitus bermaksud kemangkatan Saint Francis ke dalam “kehidupan kekal”, maka ia merupakan suatu kebaktian doa bagi perkumpulan Fransiskan di seluruh dunia.

Pada malam tersebut, Rahib Fransiskan telah menganjurkan Transitus dan dibantu oleh perkumpulan ‘Franciscan Sisters of St Francis of Sarawak’ (SSFS), dan lebih 200 jemaat Paroki St Ann menyertai kebaktian Transitus.

Pada malam Transitus, jemaat telah dijemput untuk sam-sama berdoa kepada Saint Francis keamanan dan kesatuan sebagai satu komuniti yang damai.

Harapan Saint Francis pada saat terakhir sebelum

MENGIKUTI JEJAK ST FRANCIS ... Fr William Lee memberkati anjing peliharaan seorang umat St Ann beliau menghembuskan nafas oleh Friar Gerard Victor OFM, terakhirnya telah diceritakan.

Friar William dan Diakon Selepas itu, Friar William Oliver Tham OFM. Lee OFM memberkati “roti Ramai jemaat menyertai tidak beragi” yang diagihkan pemberkatan ini dengan kepada jemaat dan seterusnya membawa haiwan-haiwan penyerahan lilin dijalankan peliharaan mereka, antaranya sebagai tanda penghormatan anjing, kucing dan kura-kura. kepada kemangkatan Saint Pemberkatan haiwan Francis ke dalam “kehidupan peliharaan juga merupakan kekal”. salah satu kebaktian golongan Pada 4 Oktober lalu Franciscan kerana Saint (Ahad), Pemberkatan Haiwan Francis terkenal dengan kasih Peliharaan telah berlangsung sayangnya kepada haiwan dan pada jam 4:30 petang. Upacara alam semula jadi. pemberkatan itu dikendalikan Sumbangan

Perarakan patung Bonda Maria ke dalam chapel diikuti Father Joseph dan jemaat untuk merasmikan bulan rosari MUKAH — “Kita majlis makan malam ala sepatutnya seperti seorang ‘potluck’ yang turut dihadiri kanak-kanak kecil yang Ahli Dewan Undangan bergantung sepenuhnya kepada Negeri (ADUN) Balingian, ibu bapanya,” kata Rektor Yussibnosh Balo dan isterinya, Gereja St Peter & St Paul, Elizabeth Nelson, ahli-ahli Father Joseph Sebastian, dalam Majlis Paroki Pastoral St homilinya semasa sembahyang Peter & St Paul, ahli-ahli Misa di Chapel Sacred Heart Jawatankuasa Chapel dan pada 1 Oktober lalu ketika dermawan. merasmikan bulan rosari.

“Jawatankuasa Chapel “Seperti kanak-kanak kecil telah menerima geran kerajaan yang bergantung kepada ibu sebanyak RM120,000.00 bapa mereka, demikian juga kita selain sumbangan individu harus bergantung kepada Tuhan untuk membina dewan Maha Kuasa dalam kehidupan serbaguna ini,” kata Pengerusi harian kita,” tambah Fr Joseph. Jawatankuasa Chapel Sacred “Apabila kita lemah, kita harus Heart, Alexander Hanipah bin bergantung kepada Tuhan Ubing. dengan setia supaya kita akan Beliau menambah menjadi kuat di dalam minda jawatankuasa itu masih dan semangat kita” memerlukan dana untuk Acara bermula dengan meneruskan pembinaan dewan pemberkatan dewan baharu bagi fasa seterusnya. berkenaan oleh Fr Joseph.

Dewan baharu bernama Jemaat kemudian berarak Dewan St Angela Mericci ke dalam chapel. Sempena terletak bersebelahan dengan perasmian bulan rosari, doa chapel. Ia adalah nama chapel rosari disebut dalam chapel sebelum ia ditukar kepada sebelum sembahyang Misa.

Chapel Sacred Heart pada Selepas Misa, jemaat 1987. — Harapi Charles berkumpul dalam dewan untuk (Terjemahan)

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TODAY’S CATHOLIC NOVEMBER 2015

Seminar transformasi iman ketiga menyentuh ramai jiwa KLANG — Seramai 950 peserta dari 16 paroki di bawah naungan Keuskupan Agung Kuala Lumpur, yang turut disertai buat pertama kalinya oleh anggota dari Gereja Holy Redeemer, Tanjung Malim Perak dan Gereja St Aloysius Mantin, telah menjayakan Seminar Transformasi Iman Ke-3 (STI-3) anjuran badan Tim Pelayanan Keuskupan Agung KL (Archdiocese Service Team) pada 14 Oktober lalu di Dewan Dominic, Paroki Our Lady of Lourdes Klang dengan tema “Roh-lah yang Memberi Hidup”.

Jumlah penyertaan kali ini mencatat rekod penyertaan yang paling ramai, berbanding STI-1 (tahun 2012) dan STI2 (tahun 2013), masingmasing disertai 550 dan 700 penyertaan.

Buat julung kalinya dalam sejarah seminar itu, jemaat BM Keuskupan Agung KL telah menganjurkan satu sesi berasingan untuk kanak-kanak (seperti Sekolah Minggu) supaya ibu bapa dapat mengikuti seminar dalam Dewan Dominic dan ia telah dihadiri kira-kira 70 orang kanak-kanak berumur 3-8 tahun.

Penceramah untuk sesi

(Kiri) Para peserta semasa sesi puji dan sembah. (Kanan) Sesi anak-anak di bawah bimbingan Sr Lucia, Sr Irene dan Sr Micky pertama dan kedua STI-3 kali ini adalah Joseph Masri, seorang pewarta dari Jakarta yang tidak asing lagi di kalangan jemaat BM di keuskupan agung ini, manakala sesi ketiga telah dikendalikan oleh Father Justin Joannis SJ. Setiap sesi dimulakan dengan sesi puji sembah yang sungguh hidup dan bertenaga yang telah dibawakan oleh empat tim pelayanan dari Paroki OLL Klang/SPP Banting, SFA Cheras, SAC Pudu dan CDM Shah Alam.

Sesi ceramah pertama iaitu “Tujuh Langkah Mundur dari Tuhan” yang menerangkan bagaimana seorang Katolik perlahan-lahan mundur dari Tuhan tanpa disedarinya. Tujuh

langkah mundur tersebut adalah “Yakin dan pandang rendah” diikuti “Sombong rohani dan jasmani”, ketiga “Jenuh atau rohani tertidur”, keempat “Kekerasan (tajam lidah/ kasar)”, kelima “Malu terhadap Injil”, keenam “Masuk dalam pergaulan buruk”, dan yang terakhir “Menyangkal”.

Sesi ceramah kedua berjudul “Langkah Iman”, yang menerangkan tentang bagaimana iman kita berkembang daripada seorang yang tidak percaya kepada seorang yang percaya terhadap ajaran Yesus Kristus.

Pengalaman dari Kitab Suci diambil sebagai contoh bagaimana iman kita bermula daripada iman dasar (Tidak tahu siapa dia, Yoh 9), meningkat

Bersambung dari ms24

Sinod mengesahkan keluarga, perkahwinan yang kekal

“[Sinod] bertujuan untuk menggesa semua orang agar menghargai kepentingan institusi keluarga dan perkahwinan di antara seorang lelaki dengan seorang wanita, berdasarkan perpaduan dan kekekalan, dan menilainya sebagai asas masyarakat dan kehidupan manusia yang asas.” - Pope Francis Sepanjang sinod, kata Pope Francis, luahan pendapat yang berbeza memberi peluang kepada “dialog yang kaya dan rancak” dan “menawarkan imej jelas akan sebuah Gereja yang tidak hanya ‘mengecop’ tetapi mengambil air yang hidup daripada sumber kepercayaannya untuk menyegarkan semula hati yang kekeringan”.

“Ia bertujuan untuk menunjukkan tenaga Gereja Katolik, yang tidak takut untuk menggerakkan hati nurani yang tumpul atau mengotorkan tangan dengan perbincangan yang jujur dan rancak mengenai keluarga.”

Kewajipan Gereja adalah untuk mewartakan kasih dan kerahiman Tuhan, dan memanggil manusia kepada pertaubatan dan penyelamatan, kata Bapa Suci.

Bagaimanapun ini tidak mengurangkan kepentingan formula, undang-undang dan perintah illahi, katanya.

“Sesungguhnya ia bermakna lebih menegakkan undangundang dan perintah yang dibuat untuk manusia dan bukan sebaliknya.”

Pope Francis turut merujuk kepada Sinod 1985, dan bercakap mengenai keperluan bagi “pembudayaan” yang mengubah nilai-nilai budaya dengan menyerapkannya ke dalam agama Kristian.

Pembudayaan sedemikian, katanya, “tidak melemahkan nilai-nilai sebenar, tetapi menunjukkan ketulenan dan kekuatannya yang sebenar, kerana ia menyesuaikan diri tanpa berubah: sememangnya ia dengan senyap dan perlahanlahan mengubah budaya yang berbagai.”

Selain itu, pemimpin gereja itu menyebut tentang “persoalan dogmatik yang ditakrif dengan jelas oleh Majisterium Gereja” dan bercakap mengenai kepentingan untuk “mempertahankan keluarga daripada semua serangan ideologi dan individualistik”.

Sebagai kesimpulan, beliau memetik kata-kata St John Paul II dan Pope Benedict XVI yang menekankan peranan belaskasihan dalam Gereja.

“Sebenarnya, bagi Gereja untuk menamatkan Sinod bermakna untuk kembali kepada ‘perjalanan bersama’ kita yang sebenarnya dengan membawa ke setiap pelosok dunia, ke setiap keuskupan, ke setiap komuniti dan setiap situasi, cahaya Injil, pelukan gereja dan sokongan daripada kerahiman Tuhan!”

CNA/EWTN (Terjemahan)

kepada menganggap Yesus itu adalah nabi (Yoh 23:10-12), seterusnya mengakui Dia Allah, dan pengalaman berjumpa dengan Yesus (Yak 4:17).

Sesi ceramah yang ketiga dan terakhir berkait rapat dengan tema seminar, iaitu “Roh-lah yang Memberi Hidup”. Pemahaman peserta terhadap Tuhan dan Roh Kudus ternyata lebih mendalam apabila didedahkan tentang bagaimana Roh Kudus wujud dan memimpin, mempengaruhi serta hidup dalam kehidupan Kristiani.

Penerangan bermula dari kitab Kejadian di mana Tuhan mula menciptakan bumi dan alam semesta, meniupkan RohNya untuk mencipta

manusia, melalui Kitab Ayub yang menyatakan bahawa Roh Tuhan yang memberikan kehidupan kepada manusia dan akan terus hidup dan kekal selamanya bersama kita.

Sebelum Misa Kudus penutupan, sesi penyembuhan dan eksposisi Sakramen Maha Kudus telah dijalankan dan ternyata ia telah menyentuh dan menjamah ramai peserta.

Seminar diakhiri dengan Misa Kudus yang telah dirayakan oleh Father Justin Joannis dan ucapan penutup serta penghargaan telah disampaikan oleh Terence Zavier, selaku Pengerusi Penganjur STI-3 di bawah badan AST, sebelum lagu penutup misa. Eryang George

Bersambung dari ms24

Hong Kong mengesyorkan paderi sebagai ‘mubaligh kerahiman’

Kes itu kemudian akan dilaporkan kepada Takhta Suci.”

Suruhanjaya Liturgi Keuskupan sudah menyenaraikan 13 dosa yang boleh dikenakan hukuman pengucilan (excommunication).

Tujuh daripadanya menyebabkan pengucilan automatik; hak untuk membebaskan daripada lima dosa ini biasanya dipegang oleh Takhta Suci sahaja.

Ia termasuk “menyerang paus secara fizikal”, “melepaskan seorang rakan subahat dalam dosa seksual secara sakramental”, “mentahbis uskup tanpa kebenaran”, “secara langsung melanggar kerahsiaan pengakuan dosa” dan “mencabul spesies suci”.

Walaupun “seseorang yang melakukan pengguguran lengkap” juga dikenakan pengucilan automatik, paus berkata pada September lalu bahawa semua paderi diberi fakulti untuk mengampuni dosa khusus ini semasa Tahun Kerahiman Suci akan datang.

Menurut laman sesawang Vatikan bagi tahun jubli, calon berpotensi yang berharap untuk

menjadi mubaligh kerahiman mesti mengisi borang permohonan dan mendapatkan surat perakuan daripada uskup tempatan mereka atau ketua religius.

Paus mencari paderi dengan ciri-ciri tertentu termasuk “pengkhutbah kerahiman yang memberi inspirasi” dan “pendengar pengakuan dosa yang berbelaskasihan, penyayang dan mengalualukan”.

Father Lee berkata setiap wilayah mungkin ada syarat tambahan termasuk keupayaan bahasa yang relevan.

“Jika seseorang itu tidak memahami dan bercakap dalam bahasa tempatan, bagaimanakah dia dapat mendengar pengakuan dosa?” kata Father Lee. Uskup di diosis lain dalam negara yang sama dapat mempelawa paderi pilihan untuk membantu mereka, tambah Father Lee. Pope Francis mengumumkan Jubli Kerahiman pada Mac lalu. Dia akan secara rasmi mengutuskan mubaligh yang baharu ditauliahkan pada Rabu Abu pada Februari 2016.

UCAN (Terjemahan)

Published by: The Archbishop of Kuching, 118 Jalan Tun Haji Openg, 93000 Kuching. Tel: 082-231164 Printed by: Bahagia Press Sdn Bhd (86546-K), Lot 225, Section 49, Jalan Padungan Utara, 93100 Kuching. Tel: 082-238900