Today's Catholic No.29 Vol.6 September 2017

CATHOLIC today’s

A monthly publication of the Archdiocese of Kuching, Sarawak

Permit No PPK 148/01/2013(031378)

Vol 29 No 6 September 2017

Inside...

Rest in Peace Fr Terry

KAPA

P6

P3

“Love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Rom 13:10

今日教友 第十六至二十二頁

MERDEKA DAY AND MALAYSIA DAY 2017 Message from Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As Christians, we are called to be good people, for we have a shared humanity, with one another and with God himself in the person of Jesus Christ. It is this shared humanity that underpins our responsibility for the good of our neighbour, of society, and of the world. This is our Christian hope – that in being good people we will show that God is good because “God has no hands except ours” (St Teresa).

So, it is that we must build bridges of peace, unity, and harmony between people of all races and religions.

And nowhere is the call to goodness more urgent than in societies like our own, made up of diverse races and religious affiliations. Our Malaysia will only ever be ours if we love it into being. Today we celebrate 60 years of independence. For many of us, the first exuberant cries of merdeka are something we have only seen in history books and documentaries. The joyful hope of the people of a new nation risks becoming nothing but a relic of the past, as our collective memory fades from generation to generation, and our freedom becomes detached from that first hope. On this auspicious day, it is timely that we reignite the aspirations of our nation’s founding fathers and examine our use of the freedom we have been given. It is ultimately a freedom to love, and together to build a nation through which the love of God flows, to unite all in regard for each person’s

Independence means little if we remain enslaved by pride, jealousy, anger, greed, and apathy, which feed the polarisations that are so injurious to unity.

— Archbishop Julian Leow, President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia

God-given dignity, to care for the least among us, and to work in service of each other for the common good. How far have we come these last six decades as a nation and a people?

It is a love that sacrifices self for the good of the other, which prompts us to set aside our personal agendas and the temptation to prioritise selfish desires, in order to build a just society, a nation that favours all over the interests of a few. It is a love that acts first, emboldening us to seek out dialogue and common ground upon which we may build the foundations of national peace, stability, and growth.

It is a love that teaches by example, so that future generations, seeing the way we work for good, will never lose sight of our aspirations, and will be equipped with the skills and conviction to continue our work. It is a love that is benevolent, which replaces utilitarian sentiments with those of genuine care, especially for our migrant workers who have joined their hopes to ours and work in often unappreciated ways to help achieve our aspirations. It is a love generous in its giving to those most in need, ensuring that the rewards of growth

Visit us at http://www.todayscatholic.com.my

and development are felt all the way to the margins of society. It is a love that is blind to anything that would tempt us to love less, and recognises the inherent dignity of each individual regardless of race, religion, political affiliation, status, or any of the weak human distinctions by which we divide rather than unite.

As we celebrate the commemoration of these great events in our shared history, Hari Merdeka and Hari Malaysia, let us take the opportunity for a personal examination of conscience: how far do my values and attitudes towards my country and all the people in society reflect the good news of God’s love for me and all mankind? In the words of His Holiness, Pope Francis, to the US Congress in 2015, “Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility.”

Independence means little if we remain enslaved by pride, jealousy, anger, greed, and apathy, which feed the polarisations that are so injurious to unity. Let us look first at the communities that make up our own churches. Do we divide ourselves along lines of race, language, and social and economic background, which are

ultimately invisible in God’s eyes? In remedying our own divisions, in love and humility, so that Christ’s prayer may be fulfilled, “that they may all be one” (John 17:21), let us also never forget our mission to our nation, to adopt a multi-pronged approach to buildingup society beginning with a change in our own mind-set and attitudes that will effect a change in our behaviour.

We must then educate others from the youngest to the eldest in our society and promote efforts that seek unity in the diversity of races and religions that make us uniquely Malaysians.

And may God’s blessings be poured out upon us, that our celebrations may extend well beyond the parades, parties, and public holidays, and become a lived reality that sees us berganding bahu (standing united) in love to build an even greater and more prosperous Malaysia.

SELAMAT MENYAMBUT HARI MERDEKA DAN HARI MALAYSIA! Most Reverend Julian Leow Beng Kim, D.D. Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia On behalf of the Arch/bishops of Malaysia See p6 for Harmony Walk 2017

Contact us at 082-231164 (Tel), 082-425724 (Fax), todaycat@gmail.com (E-mail), P O Box 940, 93718 Kuching (Post)

NEWS

PAGE 2

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

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) STAFF Audrey Yu

The White Rajah of Sarawak - A musical portrayal of Sarawak’s history

KUCHING — “Here comes a tale that you must know, a tale of long ago; a land so beautiful, a land with much to show; there run the rivers which will sing the song of love, swiftly they flow and tell of God who dwells above; great are the people who are sons and daughters whom he greets and they all live serenely, where the rivers meet.”

So began the opening lines of the original musical production entitled “The White Rajah of Sarawak” produced and put up by St Joseph’s Private School on 3, 4 and 5 August at the ACCPC of St Joseph’s Cathedral, Kuching.

It was very well received by the school community and members of the public. Tickets for every performance were sold out.

Thunderous applause

WHITE RAJAH MUSICAL ... (Left) Firing of cannon at the battle of Siniawan; (Right) Installation of Brooke as the Rajah followed each of the excellent scenes and acts of the musical.

From script writing and choreography to musical composition, the audience enjoyed the best talent the students had to offer. The audience was feted to stories of adventure, intrigue, romance and comedy. They were particularly entertained by the comic antics of Lau Chek Kong, the Chinese goldsmith, Haji Mohd Wahid,

the cloth seller and Empawi ak Entalang, the Iban farmer.

Balancing historical accuracy and artistic creativity, this musical chronicles the life journey of James Anthoni Brooke, an English adventurer who left the shores of his native Bath, England for the shores of Sarawak, an outpost of the Sultanate of Brunei. Together with his interpreter, Thomas Williamson, James’ many

adventures led him to fall in love with the land and her people, ultimately becoming the first White Rajah of Sarawak and the start of the hundredyear-old Brooke dynasty that continues to live in the memory of Sarawakians today.

One member of the audience confessed that the musical and its songs evoked the deep sense of patriotism in the beloved Sarawak as in the days gone

past.

The highlight of the musical was the catchy original song, “Kamek Orang Sarawak” which describes the harmonious living of Sarawakians in the land of the hornbills.

The lyrics of the song include usage of Sarawak Malay: “Kamek orang Sarawak (We are Sarawakians); makan ‘kat satu meja (We eat at one table); Gineh dapat dipisah (We cannot be separated); kamek sigek bangsa (For we are one nation)”.

The other well received song was “Dum spiro spero” which was the motto of the old Brooke government which means “While I breathe, I hope”.

DVD recording of the musical is available on order at the school office.

Fr Francis Lim, SJ

Celebrating St Theresa’s feast day SERIAN — St Theresa’s Parish will celebrate the feast of St Theresa, the parish’s patron saint on 30 September (Saturday) with a procession round the Serian Bazaar. In addition, entertainment items, lucky draws, sales of food, drinks and handicrafts etc at SRK St Theresa car parks near St Theresa’s church have been lined up for the occasion.

The Holy Mass for the feast day will be celebrated at 8:30 am on 1 October (Sunday), the actual Feast Day at the church.

The celebration, which is the only annual fundraising project of the parish council, will be launched by Archbishop Simon Poh on 30 September.

Members of the Special Function Committee after meeting The objectives of the celebration are varied: to foster better relationship among fellow parishioners and the friends around; to raise fund for the maintenance and development of the main church and the chapels in the Parish and for the physical and spiritual activities

and projects of the Parish Council.

Dennis Edwin, the chairman of the Special Function Committee of the parish council said that the donation envelopes and lucky draw tickets are now available at St Theresa’s Parish Office. They will also be

available during the celebration events. He urged all wellwishers to support the event and to donate generously. Funds collected from the Feast will be utilised for the projects of the parish council.

Dennis Sung, the chairman of the parish council said that

the annual event to celebrate the Feast of St Theresa is the only annual major fund raising activity of the Parish.

He hopes that donors and well-wishers will continue to support the celebration as the parish council is still short of funds for its proposed projects, including the upkeep and development of the main church and the chapels under the jurisdiction of the Parish (Serian and Simunjan), and for activities.

All the lucky draw winners can claim their prizes until 31 October with their winning tickets from the parish council office during office hours.

Joseph Then

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

NEWS

PAGE 3

Clergy, lay leaders identify fears at archdiocesan pastoral assembly

LET’S TALK ... Delegates from St Joseph’s Cathedral Parish with their parish priest Fr Jerome Juleng during the workshop KUCHING — The Kuching Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly (KAPA) held over the weekend on 18 - 20 August at the Archdiocesan Curia and Pastoral Centre (ACCPC) is not the end. It marks the beginning of the process of reviewing, reevaluating and renewing of the implementation of the ACTS of the Congress for the past five years.

More than 300 lay leaders from all parishes in the Archdiocese of Kuching, including parish priests showcased their commitment and love for the local church as they attended the three-day assembly, representing the voices of the lay faithful in their respective parishes.

Archbishop Simon Poh in his keynote address recalled the vision of the Archdiocese under the leadership of

Archbishops Emeriti Peter Chung (1976 - 2003) and John Ha (2003 - 2017). Throughout the years, the two Archbishops Emeriti, in collaboration with the lay faithful, have shaped the Archdiocese of Kuching to what we are today.

“KAPA is God’s gift to our Archdiocese at this opportune time so that together, we can come up with a renewed vision for our Archdiocese,” said Archbishop Simon. “We will be building on the foundations that have been set forth by Archbishops Emeriti Peter Chung and John Ha, so as to respond to new realities and situations that have arose since then”.

“I acknowledge that pastoral realities may be different between urban and rural parishes,” said the prelate. “But I believe that together we can

SUMMARY ... The synthesis team made up of (left to right) Joyce Ting, Benedict Lo, Fr Felix Au and Perpetua Phang presenting the summary of the parish reports

set the pastoral direction for our Archdiocese... Let us invoke the same Spirit to speak to each of us and guide us towards a renewed Vision-Mission for our Archdiocese”.

Since March, the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council has sent out survey questionnaires, which were made available to every parish in the Archdiocese to collect feedback from parishioners. The feedback collected helped in the evaluation of how effective the pastoral programmes carried out in the parishes were and to reassess the challenges confronting the local church.

From the survey, the major issues of concern for most parishioners were Islamisation, religious freedom, and broken and dysfunctional families.

Drawing from the story of Abraham and his family

Prayer workshop on Lectio Divina how-to

KUCHING — Carmel Missionaries of Prayer (CMP) conducted a Prayer Workshop on the Lectio Divina on 26 August which was facilitated

by Cynthia Lim, a Carmelite.

The participants were taught how to build a closer relationship with God through prayer of the Lectio Divina.

“I learnt about the foundations for building a relationship with God and for prayer,” shared Olivia Chen, a participant at the workshop.

Lectio Divina (Latin for “Divine Reading”) is a traditional Benedictine and Carmelite practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer.

The Lectio Divina, where the Word of God is read and meditated, becomes a prayer.

In his address to participants

Participants in one of the discussions during the workshop of the International Congress organised to commemorate the 40th anniversary of The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine revelation “Dei verbum” in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI said, “I would like in particular to recall and recommend the ancient tradition of ‘Lectio

Divina’: the diligent reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer brings about that intimate dialogue in which the person reading hears God who is speaking, and in praying, responds to him with trusting openness of heart” (cf. Dei Verbum, n. 25). — CMP

(Gen 11:31 - 25:11) during his scriptural input, Archbishop Emeritus John Ha highlighted God’s blessings upon both Isaac and Ishmael and how God’s plan is inclusive and focused. He also encouraged the people that through faith in God and sound reason, we are able to face the challenges confronting the church and communities today.

Fr Varghese Lopez, SJ, the in-house psychologist at St Peter’s College Major Seminary, who through the use of Christian psycho-spirituality, identified that “fear” as the core issue underlying the concerns raised in the survey. In his sessions, he shared the process as to how to identify fear and properly deal with it so that one would be able to respond to personal or collective fears in ways that are life-giving.

Fr Varghese reminded the participants that human survival instincts desire big successes and there is the tendency to

seek recognition from the outside. The characteristics of life giving and empowered reconnecting fear, on the other hand, are where we are grateful for small growth and improvements. Small growth is valued because there is an “encounter”, where we are able to appreciate our limitations and weaknesses and hence can tolerate other peoples’ weaknesses where even the enemy is treated as a friend.

Fr Varghese added, “There is always something lifegiving in every challenge, every fear, look for it. Learn to listen for it.” He encouraged the participants to help the communities bring about “empowered reconnection” and indicated that there is “empowered reconnection” when we “do not strive to achieve a goal” but we are doing “because that is the call of a good and faithful servant (Mt 25:23).” Continued on p7

LORD, LISTEN! ... On 24 August, over a thousand Christians from various denominations attended the joint National Day prayer service at the Christian Ecumenical Worship Centre. This year, the prayer service was hosted by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church (SDA). Focusing on the theme “For Your Great Name’s Sake”, the President of SDA Church Sarawak Pastor Denney Nebor urged all Christians to pray fervently for the welfare of the country as God always listens to the plea of His people.

Photo shows Msgr William Sabang doing the First Reading during the service. Also present were Archbishops Simon Poh and Savio Hon from Hong Kong.

NEWS

PAGE 4

Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention for September

For Parishes: That our parishes, animated by a missionary spirit, may be places where faith is communicated and charity is seen.

Significant increase in Lenten appeal collection for 2017

KUCHING — The Catholic Welfare Services Council Sarawak (CWS) is pleased to report a total collection of ITEM

With Compliments PALM-SPIRIT SDN BHD

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

RM712,308.48 for its Annual Lenten Appeal this year.

The amount is a twenty per cent (20%) increase

AMOUNT 2015

SOURCES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

FROM CHURCHES Holy Trinity Church, Kenyalang St Peter’s Church, Padungan St Joseph’s Cathedral, Kuching St Stephen’s Church, Bau Blessed Sacrament Church, BDC St Theresa’s Church, Serian St Ann’s Mission, Kota Padawan Sacred Heart Church, Kota Sentosa St Jude’s Church, Bunan Gega Holy Spirit Church, Lundu St Mark’s Church, Batu Kawa Carmelite Chapel, Kuching Chapel of Mother Mary, Stutong Queen of Peace, Sri Aman St Peter’s College

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

FROM SCHOOLS St Joseph’s Private Secondary School St Joseph’s Private Primary School SMK St Joseph Secondary School St Joseph’s International School Catholic English Primary School, Kuching St Theresa’s Kindergarten, Kuching SK St Teresa Primary School, Kuching Tadika Juara SJK Sam Hap Hin, Kota Sentosa SMK St Teresa Secondary School, Kuching SMK Sg Tapang, Kota Sentosa SK St Paul, Kuching Lodge Group of Schools SK St Joseph Primary School St Jude’s Kindergarten TOTAL

(668356-U)

Yoshi Square, Blk A, Unit A4-3F, No 4, Jalan Pelabuhan, Pending, 93450 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia Tel: +6 082 484789 Fax: +6 082 483789 Email: jklrufus@yahoo.co.uk

1ST ANNIVERSARY In ever-loving memory of

MARGARET DESSI ANAK NYULIN (Mama, Joshua) Departed: 30 August 2016

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let your perpetual light shine upon her.

May she rest in peace. Amen.

Dearly missed and always remembered by loving husband John Kenty ak Dismas Gintir, children: Joshuastevenson John, Josephine Mary John, Joshanes Marinus John, family, relatives, friends and all loved ones.

from last year’s collection of RM592,710.35.

The breakdown of the collection is as shown below.

CWS would like to thank all the contributors of its Lenten Appeal for their generosity and support in caring for the poor and needy.

To-date, a sum of RM240,000.00 has been disbursed for the running of Home of Peace and another amount of RM358,570.00 channeled to the poor and needy through the five Conferences of St Vincent de Paul namely, St Ann’s Kota Padawan (RM45,000.00), Holy Spirit Lundu (RM60,000.00), St Joseph’s Kuching (RM50,000.00), St Stephen’s Bau (RM127,330.00) and St Theresa’s Serian

(RM76,240.00).

The other parishes are also expected to submit their requests for welfare grants later this year.

A further sum of RM39,484.00 has been spent on the Catholic Services Centre (CSC) at the Catechumenate which was set up as a onestop centre for church welfare assistance and contacts. With its strategic location at Jalan Budaya, Kuching, the centre will also serve as a Bethany place for visitors from rural parishes who need a place to rest during the day.

CWS also disbursed RM36,000 to the CWS Samaritans and RM54,000 to

AMOUNT 2016

67,803.00 88,446.60 127,513.20 80,000.00 35,009.00 36,082.20 34,078.90 11,408.00 17,623.10 13,000.00 13,919.00 6,135.00 12,155.00 8,000.00 1068.50 552,241.50

150,249.33 89,397.00 88,893.70 85,000.00 61,745.05 52,515.00 38,458.30 20,396.00 17,350.00 14,026.00 12,661.00 12,638.00 11,251.70 9,000.00 1,376.00 664,957.08

10,164.00 9,518.65 2,318.00 2,122.00 1,475.00 1,871.00 2,510.00 1,326.00 1,098.50 1,437.00 999.50 2,510.00 769.00 2,350.20 40,468.85

11,210.00 11,141.00 3,360.00 3,223.00 2,969.00 2,818.00 2,346.00 2,210.00 1,760.05 1,607.00 1,332.00 1,013.00 896.00 47,351.40

592,710.35

712,308.48

the parish of St Stephen, Bau to assist in the construction of houses for poor families.

As in previous years, ten per cent (10%) of the total Lenten Appeal collection will be set aside for disaster relief and this will be disbursed upon the discretion of our Archbishop.

For the past two years, the Lenten Appeal collection was barely enough to cover the number of appeals for financial aid. However, CWS had been able to provide for all the requests, thanks to the generosity of individuals and companies.

CWS

Sacerdotal Ordination of

GALVIN RICHARD NGUMBANG Date: 22 September (Friday) | Time: 9.30 am Venue: St Joseph’s Cathedral, Kuching Come and pray for and with Deacon Galvin!

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

CLASSIFIEDS NEWS

PAGE 5

1ST ANNIVERSARY In loving memory of

FR RICHARD KHOO CHOON PHOE 22 March 1940 - 19 September 2016

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let your perpetual light shine upon him.

May he rest in peace. Amen.

Dearly missed by brother priests, family, relatives, friends and all loved ones.

1ST ANNIVERSARY In loving memory of

AUGUSTINE WEE KHENG HEE

18 August 1954 - 18 November 2016 Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, And let your perpetual light shine upon him.

May he rest in peace. Amen

Dearly missed by beloved Shirley, loving children, Stephen and Kelly, Elizabeth and all loved ones.

Franciscan Friars Some are priests, all are brothers …

Do you feel called by God to do something more than the routine in your daily life?

Write / call us: St Francis of Assisi Friary PO Box 1291 93726 Kuching Tel: 082-613929 Email: stann10kotapadawan @gmail.com

15TH ANNIVERSARY In loving memory of

JOSEPH YAP

whom the Lord called to rest on 11 September 2002 Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord may your perpetual light shine upon him.

May he rest in peace.

Dearly missed by wife Doreen, children, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, grandchildren and all loved ones.

Tomb Maker

10TH ANNIVERSARY In loving memory of our beloved

Simon Sim See Huat 15 Nanas Road 93150 Kuching, Sarawak Tel: 082-617616 / 0138117616 Fax: 082-627616 Specialise in: Construction & Cleaning of Grave Monuments Manufacturing Gravestones imported from China, Italy

CATHOLIC COVMUNITY BOOKSHOP

(329947-X)

Lot 4.08, Wisma Saberkas Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg 93000 Kuching Tel: 082 - 231741

GEOFFREY JOSEPH PAWI CHUA

whom the Lord called home on 23 September 2007.

Your death was the saddest and darkest day of our lives. Since it was the Good Lord’s decision so may his divine will be done.

Eternal rest grant unto our beloved Geoffrey, O Lord, and let your perpetual light shine upon him and may he rest in peace.

Crucifix Rosaries Divine articles Bibles Music Gift ideas Status Altars Holy pictures

Lovingly remembered and missed by parents, brothers and sisters and all loved ones.

6TH ANNIVERSARY In ever-loving memory of

TEMENGGONG DATUK MICHAEL BEN AK PANGGI PGBK; JMN; PBS; PPD (Perak)

OPEN

Mon - Sat/Public Holidays 10.00 am - 6.00 pm Sun 11.00 am - 5.00 pm

26TH ANNIVERSARY

59TH ANNIVERSARY

In ever-loving memory of

6 December 1935 - 15 September 2009 His weary hours and days of pain, His troubled nights are past; And in our aching hearts we know He has found sweet rest at last.

We still remember. And always will.

We miss and love you always and forever.

By loving wife, children, in-laws and grandchildren

MARY TAN NGO LANG

Departed: 4 January 1991

JOSEPH KUEH ENG HIOK

Departed: 18 September 1958

Dearly and lovingly remembered by all loved ones.

NEWS

PAGE 6

What it takes to be an effective leader

FOR THE ALBUM ... Bread of Life servant leaders at a photo call with Archbishop Simon Poh (centre) KUCHING — On 17-18 June, Archbishop Simon Poh conducted a retreat for the servant leaders of the Bread of Life Covenant Community at Greccio Retreat House.

The Archbishop pointed out that it was the same Holy Spirit that started the ministry of Jesus, the early church through Pentecostal experiences (Acts 2) and the Charismatic Renewal at the present time.

God empowered his chosen shepherds with the gifts to guide the Church, to proclaim the truth and to convert the wayward sinners back to the Kingdom of God. Archbishop Simon provided guidelines as to how to choose capable leaders for the community based on 1 Tim 3:1-13, 2 Tim 2:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9.

The participants then were led to reflect on and to build up

trust in Jesus, focusing on the 4Cs – Commitment, Conviction, Competence and Character.

The Archbishop also reminded the participants to resist the three temptations which were faced by Jesus in the desert (Mt 41:11). They were ‘seeking after my own comfort’, ‘asking God to follow our will’, and ‘seeking position’.

All these temptations would lead individuals to focus on themselves, for their own ego, own gain, fame and pride.

Last but not least, the servant leaders were reminded to build the community by observing the principles of the four pillars: prayer (Eucharist), fellowship, studying the Word of God and giving service. All these four pillars must be lived out in totality so that the community is kept alive and living healthily.

Allan Tan

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

The passing of Fr Terry Burke, MHM

Terence Laurence Burke was usually known as Terry. He was a Londoner, born in Barnes, South London on 24 March 1944 to Richard Burke and Mary (neé Hogben). He had one brother and one sister. He was educated at St Edward Secondary Modern School, Richmond from 1955 - 57 and Kingston Technical College from 1957 - 64, followed by a year at Campion House, Osterley. Terry studied Philosophy at Roosendaal from 1965 - 67, and Theology at Mill Hill College from 1967 - 71.

He took his Perpetual Oath on 1 May 1970 and was ordained to the missionary priesthood on 12 June 1971 by Gerald Mahon who was the Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster. Terry had spent a short time as a student in Kuching and in 1971 after his ordination, he was appointed to serve there as a missionary priest. He was very pleased when, many years later after a lifetime of mission work in several countries he was reappointed to Kuching in 2007.

Academic work and studies came easily to Terry and this ability was recognised and followed up early in his career.

After four years in Kuching he was appointed to Rome to study when he gained an STL Magna cum Laude in Moral Theology, after which he returned to Kuching in 1977 where he continued his pastoral ministry. In 1980, Peter Chung Hoan Ting, at that time the Bishop of Kuching, told Terry that he had seven young men who wanted to be priests. He had an old building and he had Terry and he wanted him to start a seminary. And so he did.

However the main ingredient missing was teaching staff. So after the first year during which he had the help of another Mill Hill priest, Terry went home to try and find teachers. He spoke to the Irish Missionary Union

The late Fr Terry Burke Born: 24 March 1944 Departed: 31 August 2017 and asked them for help in sourcing priests who could go to Kuching for a few months at a time. Due to a very cold winter night in Ireland a priest on sabbatical from New Orleans offered to go and so was born a connection which continued for many years. In 1984 Terry had to leave Kuching because of a Government law that said all expatriate missionaries had to leave after ten years. He was appointed to the British Region for APF work, but first he went to New Orleans for further study – a Master of Arts in Religious studies where he met the priests who had been supporting Kuching Seminary financially as well as with teaching staff.

From 1986 to 1993 Terry worked in Formation within the Society in Roosendaal and Mill Hill College – Missionary Institute London. In 1995 Terry had a very brief appointment in India, then returned to the British Region where he spent the next ten years back in the academic world as a chaplain in Reading University.

In 2007 Terry was given a joint appointment – dividing his time between the Seminary in Kuching and as chaplain to the expatriate community in Bali, Indonesia, as well as working in the prison there. He was very happy with the contrasting

worlds for three years; then a new Bishop in Bali didn’t renew his appointment. Terry was disappointed for his own sake but more so for the people he served in Bali as there were few English speakers among the priests there. But it did mean that he was back in his beloved Kuching. During his time back in Kuching Terry served the Society in many ways – as Recruitment coordinator, Group Leader, Society Representative and in 2017 when he no longer had responsibility for the Society Members he was officially appointed to a position which he had already filled unofficially for many years – that of Society Bursar.

Towards the end of 2015 Terry became seriously ill with cancer and during the next two years he exhibited the same courage he had shown at other times in his life when he struggled with personal difficulties. He travelled to Singapore when necessary for treatment and still carried on working. In June 2017 when the doctors told him they could do no more for him medically he returned to England where he was cared for lovingly by his sister, Margaret in Reading.

Terry was admitted to the Duchess of Kent Hospice in nearby Tilehurst on 21 July.

He died there peacefully yesterday, 31 August, at 3.00 pm. May Terry rest in peace.

Obituary prepared by Mill Hill Missionaries Editor’s note: Fr Terry Burke has been blessing us with his insightful reflections in the Padi Seeds column since 2007 Drawing from every day events that cross his path and mind, he lifted the veil of ordinary circumstances to enable us to see something more.Eternal rest grant unto you Fr Terry, thank you for all your good work and intentions.

Calling for participation in

Harmony Walk 2017

HARMONY WALK 2017, jointly organised by the Islamic Information Centre, the Association of Churches in Sarawak, the Bahai and the Buddhist, Hindu and Sikh Associations, is an expression of Sarawakians’ desire for unity and to live in harmony with each other. It seeks to demonstrate that religions can and ought to unite rather than divide us. This 5 km walk around the heart of Kuching will take place at 6 am on Saturday, 23 September, starting from the Kompleks Islam Sarawak (Jalan P Ramlee). Do take part in this walk also as a way of promoting inter-religious relations so needed in our country. Registration can be done at the church (during weekends) or your respective parish offices.

Registration form can also be downloaded from the Archdiocesan website: http://bit.ly/harmonywalk17 PLEASE NOTE: All participants should be at least 13 years of age. Wear white t-shirts and carry the Sarawak and/or Malaysia flags (try to bring your own flags as organisers will supply limited numbers only. See also p8 & 9 for flags). Wear good walking shoes and get ready umbrellas or raincoats in case it rains. Drinks will be provided by sponsors. Greet and be friendly to all participants of the walk who share our desire to build a better Sarawak and Malaysia.

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

NEWS

PAGE 7

Connection with Loves (CVL) pilgrimage a success

PENANG — In conjunction with the annual St Anne’s feast day, Connection with Loves (CVL3) made their third pilgrimage to St Anne’s Sanctuary Church, Bukit Mertajam from 28 July - 1 August.

The 55 pilgrims were parishioners from St Stephen’s Parish (Bau), St Joseph’s Catheral, Holy Spirit Parish (Lundu), St Ann’s Parish (Kota Padawan), Sacred Heart Church (Kota Padawan) as well as non-Christians. Some of the pilgrims have even gone on the CVL pilgrimages for three consecutive years.

Fr Benard from St Stephen’s Parish, the group’s spiritual director was on the pilgrimage with them.

The participants visited and attended Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Church of

FOR THE ALBUM ... Pilgrims posing for a photo at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit the Holy Name of Mary, Risen flowers and candles as a sign Christ Catholic Church and of thanksgiving for the saint’s Church of St John Britto before intercession. Fr Benard led them taking part in St Anne’s feast day to pray the Stations of the Cross celebration. They were warmly at St Anne’s hill. Then, they received by the parish priests went for Confession before the and the committee members of feast day Mass. the respective churches.

The climax of the pilgrimage On 29 July the feast of St was the Eucharistic celebration Anne, the pilgrims entered presided over by Bishop St Anne’s Shrine, bringing Sebastian Francis in the evening

Holy Cross Ministry conducts practical faith formation sessions

SELANGOR — On 29 July, the Practical Sessions for the ministry’s Faith Formation Programme themed “Walking & Growing in the Love & Power of Jesus” was held at St Thomas More Church, Subang Jaya. Alexius Bong and another leader from Holy Cross Ministry of Deliverance and Healing conducted the sessions.

The Faith Formation Programme consists of 16 weekly sessions. Each session will last 45 minutes with DVD presentations. The topics covered centralise on: The Holy Spirit, Different aspects of walking with Jesus, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual

Jeff said CVL is now three years old and have visited a total of 10 churches in the Penang Diocese. “We would like to thank the leaders and our CVL family [pilgrims] for their contribution and support during the pilgrimages,” he said.

The fourth CVL pilgrimage to St Anne’s Novena and Feast 2018 is scheduled on 27 - 31 July. Enrolment for the said pilgrimage is now open.

Those interested may contact Jeff (WhatsApp / call: 0163278868), visit their Facebook page (connection with loves) or send an email enquiry to connectionvloves@gmail.com for more information.

Contributed

COME and EXPERIENCE the GOOD NEWS of JESUS’ LOVE & POWER Brother Stephen Bong from the Holy Cross Ministry of Deliverance & Healing will be giving the first teaching for this year on “Jesus’ Love and Power”.

The teaching will be followed by a deliverance and healing session.

Date: Friday, 27 October 2017 Time: 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm Place: Christian Ecumenical Worship Centre, Lot 2500,

Block 10, Jalan Stampin, KCLD, Kuching Entry is free. All are welcome.

ALL EARS ... Faith formation session in progress Warfare and Deliverance, and Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The participants who attended the sessions which were held on Saturday morning and afternoon experienced and witnessed for themselves the

gifts of the Holy Spirit. All the 20 participants received the gift of tongues.

The programme concluded with a healing session for all who were present.

Augustine Tan

Clergy, lay leaders identify fears at archdiocesan pastoral assembly • Continued from p3 Where there is empowered reconnection, the yoke is easy and the burden light.

With these inputs, the delegates grouped together according to their parishes to reflect and discuss ways to enable members of their community to acknowledge and to be empowered to address their fears. They identified the strengths in their community and suggested creative and concrete actions in response to the fears and concerns.

Some of the actions proposed include the necessity for the building of small groups rooted on friendship, love, trust and confidence

of 29 July at St Anne’s Sanctuary.

Concelebrating with the Bishop of Penang were Bishop Olivier Michel Marie Scmitthaeusler from Cambodia, priests from west and east Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. The CVL3 pilgrims joined in the procession and the burning of petitions which followed after the Mass.

The pilgrimage also included sightseeing to The Bird Park and The Heritage Botanical Garden, where pilgrims experienced God’s wonderful creation.

“It was very touching to see the pilgrims are loving, caring, and they served and helped each other patiently, especially the sick and the senior citizens,” Jeff Ng, the organiser and founder of CVL, told Today’s Catholic.

to enable communities to share and empower them to address their concerns, the use of homilies to address issues pertaining to the congregation, encouragement of involvement in politics as a vocation for the common good, and the use of multimedia and different modes of communication for effective dissemination of information.

Through the use of Christian psycho-spirituality process, the participants came to a better appreciation of the need to understand the underlying reasons for their concerns, to acknowledge such “fears”, to examine their strengths and respond in a manner which is creative and life-giving.

The participants were

reminded that it is the Archbishop, clergy and laity who formed the Church and they were all encouraged, at the end of the Assembly, to ask the question “What is it I can do?” and not “What can others do?”. Each one should continue to take whatever small steps in the Acts of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Congress 2012 with the enhancement recommended during the Assembly and to go to a deeper level to help bring about “empowered reconnection”.

A synthesis of the responses to the workshop questions made by each parish and commission has been presented to Archbishop Simon Poh to assist him to chart a new pastoral direction for the Archdiocese.

For more information please contact: The Holy Cross Centre No 681, Lorong 1, Jalan Bayor Bukit, Tabuan Jaya, 93350 Kuching.

Tel: 082-363945 Fax: 082-364923 Email address: holycross.deliverance@gmail.com Website: www.holycross-ministry.org

*Note: For non-Muslims only

PAGE 8

NEWS

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

Women empowered at Catholic Women’s Conference

WHAT AN HONOUR ... Ladies who received the Appreciation Awards for nine continuous attendance at the Conference PAPAR — The 9th Catholic consumerism are promoted. Archbishop Women’s Conference Of East Malaysia John Wong also shared the Emmaus Story Cum 25th Anniversary held from 26 - and urged all present to share this joy of 30 August at Pace Bene Retreat Centre, the Lord constantly, to reach out with Kpg Purak, Papar, Sabah brought kindness, tenderness and compassion. together 226 delegates (from two The Holy Hour in the programme Archdioceses and four Dioceses) to allowed the delegates quiet time and share and deliberate on the theme “the encounter with the Lord. challenges of the Catholic family in the On Day 3, the speaker was the present time”. distinguished and eloquent Anthony The Conference started with a Mass. Lim who is an Elder of The Covenant A Day of Recollection was conducted Community and also the chairman of the

by Archbishop John Wong who spoke Archdiocese Pastoral Council. Anthony on the “Common Priesthood” wherein Lim shared the many challenges and all are called to live in holiness and the ills facing the Catholic family and the need for the Holy Spirit to meet the many need to look carefully as these attack challenges where traditional family our faith. Hence Christian witnessing values are constantly replaced by media is compromised and the mind is and society, and where materialism and “cooked into” the world of materialism,

OVER TO YOU ... Handing over the Banner to Chairlady Mildred Yii of the next host of the 10th Conference in 2020 consumerism and secularism.

In Talk 2, Catholics are called to “paddle upstream”. The Speaker shared with the delegates the closing speech of Pope Paul VI at the II Vatican Council on 8 December 1965 the important exultation on the place of women.

Anthony reiterated that God entrusts humanity to women and we need to be imbued with the Holy Spirit to “recover our feminity”. Talk 3 centred on the role model of Mother Mary and the openness to God’s grace. Anthony Lim in conclusion asked the participants to take the path of conversion through encounter with Jesus, to build up sisterhood to support and encourage one another in our Women’s Leagues / Ladies Guild.

On 29 August the participants visited

Harmony Walk 2017 SATURDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2017 | 6.00 AM

CUT ALONG THE DOTTED LINES

(Kindly refer to P6 for information, and P9 for instructions.)

Holy Family Residence Purak and attended Holy Mass and feted to lunch at Fr A Amandus Parish Hall, Limbahau.

The Conference concluded with a grand dinner at Putra Grand Ballroom in Kota Kinabalu with handing over of Banner to the chairlady of Archdiocese of Kuching, the next host of the Conference in Kuching in 2020.

There was also presentation of Appreciation Awards to nine continuous attendance at the Conference Catholic Women of East Malaysia since its inception in 1993. Archdiocese of Kuching recipients are Catherine Liom, Rosetta John, Rose Iwangawa-Khoo, Janet Brodie, Rose Benit and Carolina Ting.

Janet Brodie

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

FOCUS

PAGE 9

ON APOLOGETICS

Is Jesus really God?

by Deacon Dr Sherman Kuek, OFS

Thus far, we have covered substantial ground in demonstrating Jesus’ selfawareness pertaining to his own divine identity. While he did not openly announce his being God, in order to avoid being incriminated before the appointed time, he also did nothing to really hide his divine qualities.

In the following passage, we see how Jesus is actually utterly conscious of the power he has on his own hands: “Jesus came up and spoke to them. He said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Matthew 28:18, New Jerusalem Bible). Confidently, he declares himself as possessing supreme authority over creation. It is precisely this power that becomes the basis for his sending out of his disciples for the mission of disciple-making.

Not only does Jesus make such a claim about his authority, for in relation to this, he even attributes to himself an even more specific role as Judge of the world which, strictly speaking, is a role exercised only by God himself: “For the Son of man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each one according to his behaviour.”

(Matthew 16:27, New Jerusalem Bible) In relation to that, Jesus also speaks of the judgement people will face on Judgement Day as a result of their choice of words: “So I tell you this, that for every unfounded word people utter they will answer on Judgement Day…” (Matthew 12:36, New Jerusalem Bible)

(Part VII)

Had Jesus not been the Son of God, or had he not been aware of his own identity as the Son of God, repeatedly making such allusions would mean he was rather out of his mind.

However, it seemed quite clear that he meant this rather differently from the way in which he understood God to be his own Father. When he spoke of his own relationship with God, he constantly used the term “My Father”. But yet, when he taught the prayer of the Kingdom to his disciples, despite teaching them to call God “Our Father”, he clearly never united himself with them in this formula. A rather clear distinction remained in the “fatherhood” of God towards Jesus and towards his disciples. We can say that as his disciples, we can call God our Father only because he truly is the Father of Jesus. Our sonship is a sonship of adoption in the light of Jesus being God’s eternal Son. When questioned about his identity in the presence of the Sanhedrin (i.e. the ancient Jewish court system that comprised an assembly of men appointed in every city of ancient Israel), Jesus unapologetically admitted to his divine identity, which consequently led to his condemnation by the council of men who could not accept his claim:

“And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the upright to eternal life.”

(Matthew 25:46, New Jerusalem Bible)

“The high priest put a second question to him saying, ‘Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’ ‘I am,’ said Jesus, ‘and you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.’

The high priest tore his robes and said, ‘What need of witnesses have we now?

You heard the blasphemy. What is your finding?’ Their verdict was unanimous: he deserved to die.” (Mark 14:61-64, New Jerusalem Bible)

Certainly such a claim cannot be made by a man who is oblivious about his own standing in the order of creation. Had Jesus not been the Son of God, or had he not been aware of his own identity as the Son of God, repeatedly making such allusions would mean he was rather out of his mind.

The fact is, the Gospels are replete with passages that demonstrate Jesus’ implicit consciousness of his being the Son of God. That there was never an occasion for his making a lengthy speech to explain his divine status only points to how he already conveniently assumes this fact without having to apologise for it.

This was true even from the days of his youth. If we recall the time when the young boy Jesus was left behind by his family in the temple after the feast of the Passover, taking for granted that he was already in their travelling party, and when they subsequently found him three days later only to express just how worried they were that he had been missing, he involuntarily responded, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house?” (Luke 2:49, New Jerusalem Bible). In other words, he never left home!

Indeed, it is true that Jesus taught his disciples that God was also their Father.

Elsewhere, in the Gospel of John, Jesus makes claims such as “The Father and I are one” (John 10:30, New Jerusalem Bible) and “… the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:38, New Jerusalem Bible). Truly, such statements can hardly be interpreted with any measure of doubt about how Jesus understood himself.

To put into perspective just how absurd Jesus’ claim would have been had he not actually been divine, let us consider another passage from John 8:58, wherein he states, “In all truth I tell you, before Abraham ever was, I am”, a sentence spoken which caused him to nearly be stoned at the Temple because he was claiming to be the Ancient of Days himself!

We can approach all this Scriptural evidence about Jesus only with the solemn confession of Saint Thomas, “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28).

While we have explored in great depth from the Gospels evidence of Jesus’ selfawareness of his own divinity, there is still much to be said on providing further evidence that he truly was and is the Son of God. More on that in the upcoming articles.

(To be continued)

Accordingly, he declares that it is also he who will be there on the Day when those who are bound to enjoy the glories of heaven are to be distinguished from those who will experience eternal anguish:

FEATURE

PAGE 10

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

Persevering in prayer

by Greg Erlandson The daughter of a good friend of mine died this week of a drug overdose.

I had been praying for her for at least two years.

I keep a list of people I pray for. I always hated the idea of saying, “You are in my prayers” and then that not being so. I started keeping track, and if the person passes away, I keep praying for them.

Praying for the dead, for the souls in purgatory, is a spiritual work of mercy.

We don’t pray expecting a certain result, for it is all beyond our vision.

We simply pray that God’s mercy will envelop our beloved dead and that, as the prayer says, his perpetual light will shine upon them.

But for my friend’s daughter, I wasn’t praying for the dead but for the living. I knew she was in a serious fight. I barely knew her personally, but I wanted her to come out victorious in this cage match with addiction. I wanted it for her father and her mother, for her siblings.

As a father myself, I could imagine – if but a little – my friend’s pain. No parent is more vulnerable than when it comes to his children. We are wired to protect them, even when it is impossible to do so.

There was so little I could do for him, for her, other than pray. And yet she died. Hearts were broken. An emptiness

that will surely last a lifetime opened up in the hearts of her family.

And there was a small, angry part of me that said, “God, I was praying for her. Others were praying for her. She was loved despite all. Couldn’t you have stopped this?”

Jerome Lejeune, the great French Catholic geneticist, once said, “God always forgives, man sometimes forgives, nature never forgives.”

That is one reason we believe desperately in miracles: That even in

nature’s remorseless grip – the deep cavity of addiction, the rot of disease, the frightening mercilessness of drought and floods – God’s mercy and healing can triumph.

St Paul in the stunning 12th chapter of his Letter to the Romans, exhorts us: “Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.” When it is another who is afflicted, our hope resides in prayer, hoping that the Almighty can work miracles.

Jesus healed the leper. Jesus brought

Lazarus back to life. Couldn’t he have done the same for this young woman?

The entire fourth pillar or section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is an extended reflection on prayer.

In language we don’t often hear, it describes “the battle of prayer,” part of which is against “erroneous notions of prayer”.

One of these notions is when we are disappointed that we have not been heard according to what our will is. In Matthew Kelly’s wonderful line, too often our attitude is “Listen Lord, your servant is speaking.” We want God to do our will, to implement our wishes.

Instead, St Augustine says it is God’s will “that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be able to receive what he is prepared to give.”

And what he is prepared to give is not always what we are asking for.

And so, in a few days we will gather at a funeral liturgy. We will find ourselves praying once again.

We will pray for God’s mercy on this broken daughter of the Lord. We will pray for her grieving family. We will endure this new affliction. We will persevere in prayer.

And our hope will remain in the Lord, knowing even now that he will not abandon us.

CNS

Harmony Walk 2017 SATURDAY | 23 SEPTEMBER 2017 | 6.00 AM

In conjunction with the Harmony Walk 2017 (please see P6 for detailed information), Today’s Catholic has provided the flags of Malaysia and Sarawak (on P8) for readers who are participating in the Walk. As mentioned, participants are encouraged to bring their own flags.

You may cut out the flags and attach them to a stick, or use them in the most creative ways during the walk.

CUT ALONG THE DOTTED LINES

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

FEATURE

PAGE 11

A response to fear Sometimes it seems as if the world, and especially our nation, has gone mad.

And the anxiety that many of us feel isn’t helping matters. Yet somehow, we feel not just a compulsion to be anxious, but an obligation, as if worrying can hold back the apocalypse.

So many things are going wrong, from nuclear fears with North Korea, to white supremacists and neo-Nazis in our streets, to environmental degradation. And how about that Russia investigation? And fears of future Russian interference. The White House staff seems to exit through a revolving door faster than we can learn how to pronounce “Scaramucci” (Anthony Scaramucci is an American financier and political figure).

On social media, we are beset by activist friends who have article after article they want us to read. It’s almost as if people are screaming their fears at us.

Here’s something you need to worry about – a national park in peril, a dangerous pesticide suddenly removed from regulation, an iceberg the size of Connecticut being cut loose somewhere, civil rights protection collapsing.

Do something!

Or at least, that’s the subliminal – and not so subliminal – takeaway.

We’re asked to sign petitions, call our representatives, attend a rally.

Activism, of course, is necessary for

Q&A

by Effie Caldarola Start with God. And then move to what most calls you to action.

the triumph of good.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men (or people) do nothing”. The origin of this quote is debatable, but Edmund Burke, John F Kennedy and a host of good people used it often enough to convince me that in times like these, we can’t sit around, shake our heads and do nothing.

However, in times like these, sometimes our biggest temptation is to “do” anxiety.

The publication The Atlantic weighed in on the subject on 17 August in an article

titled, “Constant Anxiety Won’t Save the World”. It acknowledged what we’re all noticing: People are increasingly on edge, sleepless, scared.

But being aware is one thing. Simply caving in to anxiety is quite another.

Here’s my modest proposal, one you won’t find in secular journals and in many Facebook postings. I believe the place to begin is prayer. Not just prayer for this weary world and nation, although that’s needed, but a deeper place of prayer to align us with God, whose Son promised a peace that the world cannot give.

Of course, we don’t just turn our problems over to God and walk away.

As St Teresa of Avila told us, we are God’s hands and feet on this earth. We need to be activists, but healthy ones.

We begin in prayer. We also end there.

One of my favourite quotes is from the Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer, martyred by the Nazis for opposing fascism in World War II. I’ve quoted him before, but it bears repeating: “Prayer does not replace any deed. But it is a deed that cannot be replaced by anything”.

So, start with God. And then move to what most calls you to action. I have worked in opposition to the death penalty, so I frequently write letters and make calls on behalf of death row inmates.

I have my senators’ and congressman’s numbers in my phone contacts, and call their offices frequently. I’ve attended rallies and stood up for refugees. I’ve contributed money to new causes this year. Do what you feel God is calling you to do.

Then relax. Exercise. Socialise.

Laugh. Don’t become addicted to social media, political websites, cable news.

I try to do my part to be an involved citizen, and then I try – oh, how I try – to leave the anxiety to him who told us “my yoke is easy, and my burden light”.

CNS

Annulment needed first?

by Fr Kenneth Doyle

Q

I need some clarification on the church’s marriage laws. I am a Catholic currently married to a divorced non-Catholic whose first marriage was not in the Catholic Church.

I tried to arrange to marry him in the church, but a parish priest told me that my husband-to-be would need to get his previous marriage annulled first. My husband does not believe in the annulment process, so we did not go through with it.

Later, I happened to go to confession at a Catholic chapel in a mall, and the priest there told me that I can, in fact, get married in the Catholic Church; he said that, since my husband is a non-Catholic, since his prior marriage was not in the Catholic Church and since he is now divorced, he would be free to marry me in a Catholic ceremony.

That priest in confession said he himself would not be able to perform the ceremony because he is assigned to a chapel, but that I should reach out to a priest at a parish. So I did that, and to my disappointment that parish priest told me the same thing the priest had said originally -- that my husband would first need an annulment granted by the Catholic Church.

I am getting conflicting information, and I am hoping that you can help me to understand what it is that I need to do.

A

The parish priests were right, and the priest at the mall was wrong. In all likelihood, your husband’s first marriage was presumed by the Catholic Church to have been valid at the time, and a formal annulment process would be required to have that earlier marriage annulled before the two of you could be married in a Catholic ceremony.

(Two non-Catholics have no obligation to have their pending marriage approved by the Catholic Church, and it would be hugely unfair – not to mention, an ecumenical disaster – if the Catholic Church were to say that such a marriage “does not count” in the church’s eyes.)

You and your husband should sit down with a priest and have the annulment process explained: In annulling a marriage, the church is not saying that he was never really married to his first wife – or, that any children of that marriage were illegitimate -- but only that some essential element was lacking that would have made it a permanent and binding commitment in the church’s eyes.

Two non-Catholics have no obligation to have their pending marriage approved by the Catholic Church, and it would be hugely unfair if the Catholic Church were to say that such a marriage “does not count” in the church’s eyes.

Often, such grounds involve emotional immaturity or instability on the part of one or both parties – or a flawed understanding of what the marriage commitment involved.

The annulment process, with the necessary paperwork and testimony, can normally take upward of a year. (If it happened, however, that your husband’s first wife was a Catholic and they were married without church approval, that is a simpler process. It is called, technically, a “declaration of nullity for absence of canonical form” and can often be completed within a few weeks.)

CNS

PAGE 12

FEATURE

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

Season of Creation 2017 (1 September - 4 October)

A time to pray and take action Introduction In 2015, Pope Francis established 1 September as an annual World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, inspired by the example of the Orthodox Churches who have observed this day since 1989.

This 1 September 2017, Christians all over the world come together to celebrate the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, uniting with one purpose: to steward the Earth. This will launch the “Season of Creation” which will last from 1 September to 4 October (Feast of St. Francis of Assisi). Major Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and

Anglican organisations are joining to encourage the 2.2 billion Christians worldwide to pray and act on ecological issues during this time.

Pope Francis wishes to remind us that: “Christians are called to “an ecological conversion whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them.” Thus, “living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” (Laudato Si’, 217).

Pope Francis And Patriarch Bartholomew Joint Statement on World Day of Prayer for Creation The story of creation presents us with a panoramic view of the world. Scripture reveals that, “in the beginning”, God intended humanity to cooperate in the preservation and protection of the natural environment.

At first, as we read in Genesis, “no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up – for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground” (2:5). The earth was entrusted to us as a sublime gift and legacy, for which all of us share responsibility until, “in the end”, all things in heaven and on earth will be restored in Christ (cf. Eph 1:10). Our human dignity and welfare are deeply connected to our care for the whole of creation.

However, “in the meantime”, the history of the world presents a very different context. It reveals a morally decaying scenario where our attitude and behaviour towards creation obscures our calling as God’s co-operators. Our propensity to interrupt the world’s delicate and balanced ecosystems, our insatiable desire to manipulate and control the planet’s limited resources, and our greed for limitless profit in markets – all these have alienated us from the original purpose of creation.

We no longer respect nature as a shared

gift; instead, we regard it as a private possession. We no longer associate with nature in order to sustain it; instead, we lord over it to support our own constructs.

The consequences of this alternative worldview are tragic and lasting. The human environment and the natural environment are deteriorating together, and this deterioration of the planet weighs upon the most vulnerable of its people. The impact of climate change affects, first and foremost, those who live in poverty in every corner of the globe.

Our obligation to use the earth’s goods

responsibly implies the recognition of and respect for all people and all living creatures. The urgent call and challenge to care for creation are an invitation for all of humanity to work toward sustainable and integral development.

Therefore, united by the same concern for God’s creation and acknowledging the earth as a shared good, we fervently invite all people of goodwill to dedicate a time of prayer for the environment on September 1st. On this occasion, we wish to offer thanks to the loving Creator for the noble gift of creation and to pledge

commitment to its care and preservation for the sake of future generations. After all, we know that we labour in vain if the Lord is not by our side (cf. Ps. 126127), if prayer is not at the centre of our reflection and celebration. Indeed, an objective of our prayer is to change the way we perceive the world in order to change the way we relate to the world. The goal of our promise is to be courageous in embracing greater simplicity and solidarity in our lives.

We urgently appeal to those in positions of social and economic, as well as political and cultural, responsibility to hear the cry of the earth and to attend to the needs of the marginalized, but above all to respond to the plea of millions and support the consensus of the world for the healing of our wounded creation. We are convinced that there can be no sincere and enduring resolution to the challenge of the ecological crisis and climate change unless the response is concerted and collective, unless the responsibility is shared and accountable, unless we give priority to solidarity and service.

From the Vatican and from the Phanar, 1 September 2017 Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

What can we do?

1. Sign the Laudato Si’ pledge Go to http://livelaudatosi.org. The Laudato Si’ Pledge is a global campaign by the Global Catholic Climate Movement (GCCM) and its member organisations to raise awareness of the encyclical’s message and to encourage the Catholic community to take action with the urgency required by the climate crisis.

2. Join the “World Day Of Prayer” Facebook event: Join Pope Francis in this special day and invite friends and family: https://www. facebook.com/events/1784015521738513/ 3. For individuals: • Begin your day by praying with one of the prayers that Pope Francis composed for his Laudato Si’ encyclical: A Christian Prayer in Union with Creation or A Prayer for our Earth.

• Continue to pray throughout the day: could be a Guided Rosary on Caring for Creation, the Canticle of Creatures of St Francis, or any other creation care prayer.

• Attend a special service in your parish and/or ask the parish to celebrate the World Day of Prayer.

4. For Parishes, Dioceses & Communities: • Host an Eucharistic Adoration service: use this official prayer resource from the Vatican. (https://goo.gl/W6hN7V)

• Incorporate creation prayers during your daily Mass: you could simply pray the Christian Prayer in Union with Creation and include special Prayers of the Faithful.

• Host an ecumenical event, however big or small: Pope Francis invited ecumenical collaboration on 1 September so that “this World Day can become the sign of a path along all believers in Christ walk together.” You can utilise this Ecumenical Celebration guide from the Franciscans for Ecology, or the Ecumenical Celebration guide from the Columbans.

5. For small prayer groups: Utilise this guided prayer resource developed by Fr Terrence J Moran.

Download from: https://goo.gl/rjWQgS6.

6. Other actions for everyone: (See http://catholicclimatemovement.global/act/) • Complement your prayers with climate action: Sign the climate petition • Help your parish go green • Live simply: reduce your carbon footprint • Ask your institution to divest from fossil fuels • Join Meatless Fridays and monthly fast • Volunteer to save people and planet. Help grow the movement for creation justice.

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

CHILDREN

PAGE 13

Gathering manna from heaven

Hi Kids!

8 September is the birthday of Mother Mary who was the only person born without original sin. Let us praise and thank Jesus for making Mary our mother too.

Aunty Jo

The parable of the two sons “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.

MATTHEW

21:31

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.

BELIEVE FATHER MAN SONS

THINK TRUTH TWO WORK

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

To perform a job or task To have an opinion or an idea about something An adult male To think that something is true or correct A male parent A statement proven or accepted as accurate A person’s male children The number following one

The parable of the workers in the vineyard When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.

‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

Matthew 20:11-12

This maze is based on Matthew 20:1-16.

Can you find the right path to the vineyard worker?

When someone hurts you “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.”

MATTHEW Read Matthew 18:15-20.

Complete this crossword puzzle.

18:15

Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.”

Exodus 16:15 Colour the picture above.

St Jerome

Jerome was a Roman Catholic who was born at Stido, Dalmatia.

His father taught him his religion well, but sent him to a famous pagan school where Jerome grew to love pagan writings and lost some of his love for God. Then he became great friends with a group of holy Christians, and his heart was turned completely to God. Later, this brilliant young man decided to live alone in a wild d esert. He was afraid that his love for pagan writings would lead him away from the love of God. He welcomed the hard penance and the burning hot desert.

But even there, he suffered terrible temptations. Jerome did not give in, however. Instead he increased his acts of penance and wept for his sins. He also went to study Hebrew with a monk as his teacher.

He did this to get rid of the bad thoughts that kept attacking his mind. He became such a great scholar of Hebrew that he could later translate the Bible into Latin. Many more people were then able to read, learn and enjoy it.

St. Jerome spent long years of his life in a little cave at Bethlehem, where Jesus had been born. There he prayed, studied the Bible, and taught many people how to serve God. He wrote many letters and even books to protect the faith from non-believers.

St. Jerome had a bad temper, and because of his sharp tongue he made many enemies. Yet he was a very holy man who spent his life trying to serve Jesus in the best way he could. And so, despite his temper, he became a great saint. He died in 419 or 420. Saint Jerome is the patron of Librarians, Scholars, Students and Abandoned children.

ACROSS 3. A statement proven to be accurate 4. To pay attention; to make an effort to hear something 6. A spoken or written statement that something is true 8. All followers of Christ as a group DOWN 1. A member of the same race, church, religious group,

or organisation 2. A person who sees an event happen 5. A quality in a person that shows that they are not perfect 7. Breaking a religious law

“Help me to forgive others as you have forgiven me.”

BROTHER CHURCH FAULT LISTEN

SIN TESTIMONY TRUTH WITNESS

YOUTH

PAGE 14

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

Looking back on the road to

Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Day 2017 A retreat for Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Day Servants

BAU – On 16 - 18 June, a total number of 84 Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Day 17 (KAYD17) servants from various Parish Youth Ministries (PYM) and Youth Groups gathered at CMPC, Mount Singai for a retreat. This retreat was to help the servants to prepare themselves for the upcoming KAYD17 which will be held from 31 August - 3 September. It was organised by Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Commission and assisted by KAYD17 coordinators.

Fr Varghese Lopez, SJ was the retreat master. He shared meaningful inputs on how a person can deepen one’s relationship with God through

the art of dancing between one’s true self and false self. The retreat helped the servants to have a better understanding on this year’s KAYD17 theme, “The mighty One has done great things for me and holy is his name” (Luke 1:49).

The empowering retreat ended with Corpus Christi Mass presided over by Fr Varghese at the chapel.

The ending of the retreat is the beginning for the servants to look forward to KAYD 2017.

Ellisha Iling KAYD17 Coordinator

Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Day 2017 Roadshow

BUNAN — On 8 July, about 30 youths from St Jude’s Bunan gathered at Leopold Missionary Centre for an introduction to KAYD17.

The introduction was done by Ellisha Iling who was one of the coordinators for Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Day 2017 (KAYD17). She briefly explained on the focus of this year’s KAYD17 and the exciting activities lined up for the event. The gathering later proceeded to the village nearby to witness the highlights of the Roadshow.

The KAYD17 Cross, Mother Mary’s Icon and Bible for youth were handed

over by Parish Youth Ministry St Theresa, Serian to Parish Youth Ministry St Jude Bunan in a procession at the service in St Leo, Kpg Mujat. The service was presided over by Deacon Galvin Ngumbang. It was attended by more than 100 youths, among them parents.

PYM leader of St Jude’s Bunan, Walter thanked everyone for their presence and support, especially the youths from different villages and KAYD17 Promotion and Marketing Ministry for leading the Roadshow.

The day ended with a small fellowship prepared by Ladies Guild from St Leo, Kpg Mujat. — Dina Firuana

Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Run 2017 (KAYR17) a great success KUCHING — On 15 July, a total of 100 participants and servants from the Archdiocese of Kuching took part in the Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Run 2017 (KAYR17).

The jogathon was held to raise fund for the upcoming Kuching Archdiocesan Youth Day (KAYD17), which is scheduled on 31 August - 3 September this year.

All in all KAYR17 was a success given that promotional period for the jogathon event was short coupled with time taken for the the distribution of the cards. It showed God’s abundant blessings upon his youths.

The day started with a Zumba warm up, followed by flag off by Sr Uming Takim, SSFS. After the run, there was photo-taking session and

cooling down dance. The participants also received a surprise visit by Archbishop Simon Poh, who presented the medals and gifts for the top three runners. He later gave a speech, said a concluding prayer and blessed the youths.

The KAYR17 organisers would like to take this opportunity to thank St John’s Ambulance, PDRM Traffic Police, RELA, Cyclist and sponsors who were also present at the run to support the youths.

“We are only the earthenware jars

that hold this treasure, to make it clear that such an overwhelming power comes from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

Jason Kho KAYD17 Coordinator

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

YOUTH

PAGE 15

Pope Francis sends message of encouragement to imprisoned youth VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Thursday sent a video message to youth in a prison in Argentina who are part of a programme helping them attend university while in jail, praising the programme and speaking words of encouragement for their futures.

Those in prison “are serving a penalty, a penalty for a mistake committed,” he said on 24 August. “But let us not forget that, for punishment to be fruitful, it must have a horizon of hope, otherwise it is enclosed within itself and is only an instrument of torture, it is not fruitful.”

Though “there are problems and there will be problems,” he continued, “the horizon is bigger than the problems, hope goes beyond all the problems.”

Pope Francis sent the four and half minute message to students in Argentina’s Ezeiza Federal Penitentiary who are attending university while in prison.

Located some 20 miles from where he used to live in Buenos Aires, the prison was once visited by the Argentine Pope when he was a cardinal.

As the message reveals, the Pope has stayed in contact, still making weekly

Sunday phone calls to the jail. He sent the message to mark the occasion of the opening of a musical course for inmates, carried out in cooperation with the University of Buenos Aires.

“I am aware of all your activities and it gives me great joy the existence of this space, a space of work, of culture, of progress, it is a sign of humanity,” Francis said.

“It is a breath of life that is happening in the prison, among you.”

The Pope listed several people who were influential in the formation of the new music course, thanking them for their work.

This course, along with the rest of the education they are receiving, provides a beacon of hope in its preparation for life after imprisonment, he said, and is the only way for punishment to be truly fruitful.

Punishment must have hope for “social reintegration,” he continued, which requires social formation, such as the programme found in this particular prison.

“With this new music course you are looking at social reintegration, now you are already reintegrating with your studies, with the University of Buenos Aires,

you are looking at social reintegration. It is a punishment with hope, a punishment with a horizon.”

This doesn’t make life easy, he was careful to articulate, and though it is a gift, he said, it’s one that is not easy to preserve, “that you must conquer every day.”

It’s given to us, but “we must conquer it at every step of life,” he said.

“A gift that is not easy to preserve. Have courage every day.

There are a lot of difficulties, we all have them, however we care about this gift and we make it grow, we care and we make it flourish,” he encouraged.

Concluding, he told the students he prays for them and keeps them close to his heart, asking them “not to forget to do it for me.”

“May God bless you and you continue on, with a smile. At the next call!”

CNA/EWTN News

PAGE 22

FOKUS

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

MENGENAI APOLOGETIK

Adakah Yesus sebenarnya Tuhan?

Oleh Diakon Dr Sherman Kuek, OFS

(Bahagian VII)

Setakat ini, kita sudah mengemukakan banyak bukti untuk menunjukkan bahawa Yesus sendiri sedar tentang keilahian identitiNya. Walaupun Dia tidak secara terbuka mengumumkan DiriNya sebagai Tuhan, untuk mengelak daripada dibabitkan sebelum masa yang ditetapkan, Dia juga tidak berbuat apa-apa untuk benar-benar menyembunyikan kualiti-kualitiNya yang ilahi.

Dalam petikan berikut, kita melihat bagaimana Yesus sebenarnya amat menyedari tentang kuasa yang ada dalam tanganNya: “Yesus datang dan bercakap kepada mereka. Dia berkata, ‘Semua kuasa di syurga dan di bumi sudah diberikan kepadaKu’.” (Matius 28:18). Dia dengan yakin mengisytiharkan Diri sebagai memiliki kuasa tertinggi ke atas penciptaan. Kuasa inilah yang menjadi asas bagiNya untuk mengutuskan murid-muridNya bagi misi untuk membentuk murid lain.

Bukan sahaja Yesus membuat dakwaan sedemikian mengenai kuasaNya, kerana sehubungan ini, Dia malah memberikan kepada DiriNya sendiri satu peranan yang jauh lebih khusus sebagai Hakim dunia yang, sebenarnya, adalah peranan yang dilaksanakan hanya oleh Allah sendiri: “Kerana Anak Manusia akan datang dalam kemuliaan BapaNya bersama malaikat-malaikatNya, dan kemudian Dia akan membalas setiap orang menurut tingkah lakunya.” (Matius 16:27) Sehubungan itu, Yesus juga bercakap mengenai penghakiman yang akan dihadapi orang pada Hari Penghakiman disebabkan oleh kata-kata yang mereka gunakan:

Jika Yesus bukan Putera Allah, atau jika Dia tidak sedar tentang identitiNya sendiri sebagai Putera Allah, berulang kali membuat alusi sedemikian bermakna Dia agak tidak waras.

“Sesungguhnya Aku memberitahu kamu ini, iaitu bagi setiap perkataan tidak berasas yang orang sebut, mereka akan jawab pada Hari Penghakiman.”

(Matius 12:36) Demikian juga, Dia mengisytiharkan bahawa Dia jugalah yang akan ada di sana pada Hari itu di mana mereka yang bakal menikmati kemuliaan syurga akan dibezakan daripada mereka yang akan mengalami kesengsaraan abadi:

awan langit.’ Imam tinggi mengoyak jubahnya dan berkata, ‘Apa perlunya kita ada saksi sekarang? Kamu sudah dengar kekufuran itu. Apakah penemuan kamu?’ Keputusan mereka sebulat suara: Dia sewajarnya mati.”

(Markus 14:61-64)

“Dan mereka akan pergi kepada hukuman abadi, dan golongan lurus kepada kehidupan abadi.” (Matius 25:46) Sudah tentulah dakwaan sedemikian tidak dapat dibuat oleh seorang manusia yang tidak sedar tentang kedudukannya sendiri dalam urutan penciptaan. Jika Yesus bukan Putera Allah, atau jika Dia tidak sedar tentang identitiNya sendiri sebagai Putera Allah, berulang kali membuat alusi sedemikian bermakna Dia agak tidak waras.

Hakikatnya ialah Injil penuh dengan petikan-petikan yang menunjukkan kesedaran Yesus yang tersirat tentang DiriNya sebagai Putera Allah. Hakikat bahawa Dia tidak pernah sekalipun menyampaikan ucapan yang panjang lebar untuk menjelaskan statusNya yang ilahi menunjukkan bagaimana Dia mengandaikan hakikat ini tanpa perlu memohon maaf baginya.

Ini memang benar malah dari zaman mudanya lagi. Jika kita ingat waktu Yesus ketika muda tertinggal di bait setelah perayaan Paska, selepas keluargaNya menyangka Dia sudah menyertai rombongan perjalanan mereka, dan apabila mereka pada akhirnya menjumpaiNya tiga hari kemudian hanya untuk menyuarakan betapa bimbangnya mereka bahawa Dia telah hilang, Dia tanpa sukarela menjawab, “Kenapakah kamu mencari Aku? Tidakkah kamu tahu bahawa Aku mesti berada di rumah BapaKu?” (Lukas 2:49). Dalam erti kata lain, Dia tidak pernah meninggalkan rumah!

Sesungguhnya, ia adalah benar bahawa Yesus mengajar murid-muridNya bahawa Allah juga Bapa mereka. Bagaimanapun, ia nampak agak jelas bahawa maksudNya agak berbeza berbanding cara Dia memahami Allah sebagai BapaNya sendiri.

Apabila Dia bercakap mengenai hubunganNya sendiri dengan Allah, Dia sentiasa menggunakan istilah “BapaKu”. Namun, apabila Dia mengajar doa Kerajaan (Allah) kepada murid-muridNya, walaupun mengajar mereka untuk memanggil Allah “Bapa Kami”, Dia jelas tidak pernah menyatukan Diri dengan mereka dalam formula ini.

Perbezaan yang agak jelas kekal dalam “kebapaan” Allah bagi Yesus dan bagi muridmuridNya. Kita boleh katakan sebagai murid-muridNya, kita dapat memanggil Allah Bapa kita hanya kerana Dia benar-benar Bapa Yesus. Kita diangkat menjadi anak kerana Yesus adalah Putera Allah yang abadi.

Apabila ditanya mengenai identitiNya di hadapan Sanhedrin (iaitu sistem mahkamah purba Yahudi yang terdiri daripada himpunan lelaki yang dilantik di setiap kota di negara purba Israel), Yesus mengakui identitiNya yang ilahi, yang seterusnya mencetuskan kecaman terhadapNya oleh majlis lelaki tersebut yang tidak dapat menerima dakwaanNya itu: “Imam tinggi mengajukan soalan kedua kepadaNya dengan menyatakan, ‘Adakah kamu Kristus, Putera Dia yang Berkat?’ ‘Ya,’ kata Yesus, ‘dan kamu akan melihat anak manusia duduk di tangan kanan Kuasa dan datang dengan

Di bahagian lain, dalam Injil Yohanes, Yesus membuat dakwaan seperti “Bapa dan Aku adalah satu” (Yohanes 10:30) dan “… Bapa di dalam Aku dan Aku di dalam Bapa” (Yohanes 10:38). Sesungguhnya, kenyataan sedemikian tidak mungkin dapat ditafsirkan dengan sebarang keraguan mengenai bagaimana Yesus memahami Diri sendiri.

Untuk memberi perspektif betapa tidak masuk akalnya dakwaan Yesus jika Dia benar-benar tidak ilahi, marilah kita menimbang satu lagi petikan dari Yohanes 8:58, di mana Dia menyatakan, “Dengan segala kebenaran Aku memberitahu kamu, sebelum Abraham hidup lagi, Aku adalah Aku (I am)”, satu ayat yang diucapkan sehingga menyebabkannya hampir direjam dengan batu di Bait kerana Dia mendakwa Diri sebagai Allah (Ancient of Days) sendiri!

Kita dapat menangani semua bukti dalam Kitab ini mengenai Yesus hanya dengan pengakuan Saint Thomas yang serius, “Tuhanku dan Allahku” (Yohanes 20:28).

Sementara kita sudah menerokai bukti dari Injil dengan amat mendalam tentang kesedaran Yesus bagi keilahianNya sendiri, masih ada banyak lagi yang perlu diperkatakan mengenai bukti selanjutnya bahawa Dia dahulu dan sekarang adalah benar-benar Putera Allah. Lebih banyak mengenai perkara itu akan dikemukakan dalam artikel-artikel akan datang.

CATHOLIC MUTUAL BENEFIT SOCIETY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF KUCHING Tingkat Bawah, Archdiocesan Curia and Cathedral Pastoral Centre, Batu 1, Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg.

Tel: 082-244493

Khidmat Pengebumian Katolik — ‘The Catholic Mutual Benefit Society’ di bawah Keuskupan Agung Kuching memberi nasihat dan bantuan dalam semangat kasih sayang dan sokongan Kristian kepada keluarga berkabung pada masa suatu kematian. Perkhidmatan mereka termasuk menasihat mengenai ritual Kristian, plot perkuburan, keranda, pengangkutan, pengurusan bagi Misa pengebumian, doa berjaga untuk orang mati dan lain-lain.

Untuk maklumat lanjut mengenai keahlian atau dalam masa keperluan, anda boleh hubungi yang berikut:

Pejabat: Beatrice Mary Goh (Tel: 082-244493) ‘On-call’: Christopher Chin (Telefon bimbit: 019-8563438)

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

IMAN DAN HIDUP

PAGE 23

Jawapan kepada ketakutan Oleh Effie Caldarola Kadang-kadang dunia seakan-akan sudah gila, terutamanya negara kita (Amerika Syarikat).

Dan keresahan yang kebanyakan kita rasai tidak membantu. Namun kita merasai bukan sekadar kecenderungan untuk merasa gelisah, tetapi juga kewajiban, seakan-akan merasa bimbang dapat menahan hari kiamat.

Begitu banyak perkara yang salah, daripada kebimbangan mengenai senjata nuklear Korea Utara, kepada aktivis ketuanan orang putih dan neo-Nazi di kalangan kita, selain kemusnahan alam sekitar. Dan bagaimana pula dengan siasatan mengenai Russia? Dan kekhuatiran tentang campur tangan Russia pada masa depan.

Kakitangan White House seakanakan keluar menerusi pintu berputar lebih cepat daripada kita dapat belajar bagaimana untuk menyebut “Scaramucci” (Anthony Scaramucci merupakan seorang tokoh politik dan pembiaya Amerika).

Dalam media sosial, kita diganggu oleh rakan-rakan aktivis yang mempunyai artikel demi artikel yang mereka mahu kita baca. Ia hampir seakan-akan orang menjerit kepada kita tentang ketakutan mereka.

Di sinilah sesuatu yang kita perlu bimbangi – taman negara dalam bahaya, racun serangga bahaya yang tiba-tiba tidak lagi dikawal, aisberg sebesar negeri Connecticut yang sedang hanyut, kegagalan pelindungan hak sivil.

Buat sesuatu!

Atau sekurang-kurangnya, itulah perkara mulia – dan tidak begitu mulia – yang kita fahami daripadanya. Kita disuruh menandatangani petisyen, menghubungi wakil-wakil kita,

menghadiri perhimpunan.

Aktivisme sememangnya perlu untuk kejayaan kebaikan.

“Satu-satunya perkara yang perlu bagi kejayaan kejahatan ialah jika lelaki (atau orang) baik tidak berbuat apa-apa.”

Asal usul ungkapan ini menjadi bahan perdebatan, tetapi Edmund Burke, John F. Kennedy dan ramai orang baik menggunakannya dengan cukup kerap untuk meyakinkan saya bahawa pada waktu seperti ini, kita tidak dapat duduk diam sahaja, menggelengkan kepala kita dan tidak berbuat apa-apa.

Bagaimanapun, pada waktu seperti ini, kadang-kadang godaan kita yang terbesar adalah untuk “menerima” keresahan.

Penerbitan The Atlantic menyentuh tentang subjek itu pada 17 Ogos lepas dalam satu artikel bertajuk ‘Sentiasa Rasa Resah Tidak Akan Menyelamatkan Dunia’. Ia mengakui apa yang semua kita perhatikan: Orang semakin gelisah, tidak

Hati ke hati...

dari pena penulis jemputan,

Fr Lazarus Swinie

Segelintir daripada umat Kristian menganggap setiap sesuatu yang berlaku terutama yang kurang baik adalah ujian ataupun hukuman dari Tuhan.

Sejauh manakah kesahihan fahaman yang sedemikian?

Sepertimana yang kita selalu dengar bahawa kehidupan kita di dunia ini adalah sebuah perjalanan.

Setiap perjalanan sudah tentunya mempunyai pelbagai cabaran. Dari bayi lagi kita telah mempelajari cara-cara berjalan dengan betul. Dalam proses tersebut kita rebah, lutut kita berdarah, kepala

kita luka namun kegigihan telah membolehkan kita untuk berjalan dengan lancar. Cabaran dalam perjalanan kehidupan kita kian bertambah dari hari ke hari. Setiap peristiwa sepatutnya dapat mendewasakan kita.

Patutkah kita menyalahkan Tuhan di atas segala sesuatu yang berlaku?

Pemikiran yang positif boleh membantu kita untuk menghadapi cabaran di dalam kehidupan.

Salah seorang contoh yang dapat saya fikirkan di dalam Alkitab ialah Ayub. Dia pernah mengalami malapetaka yang sangat dashyat

dapat tidur, takut.

Namun menyedarinya ialah satu perkara. Tetapi tunduk kepada keresahan adalah perkara yang agak berlainan.

Inilah saranan saya yang mudah, saranan yang kita tidak akan temui dalam banyak paparan Facebook. Saya percaya tempat untuk bermula adalah doa.

Bukan hanya doa unuk negara dan dunia yang keletihan ini, walaupun ia diperlukan, tetapi juga tempat doa yang lebih mendalam untuk menyelarikan kita dengan Allah, Bapa kepada Putera yang menjanjikan kedamaian yang tidak dapat diberikan oleh dunia.

Sudah tentulah kita tidak hanya menyerahkan masalah kita kepada Allah dan membiarkannya begitu sahaja.

Seperti apa yang dinyatakan oleh St Teresa Avila kepada kita, kita adalah kaki dan tangan Allah di bumi ini. Kita perlu menjadi akivis, tetapi aktivis yang sihat.

Kita bermula dalam doa. Kita juga berakhir di sana.

Salah satu ungkapan kegemaran saya ialah dari pastor Lutheran, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, yang dibunuh kerana Kristus oleh kumpulan Nazi kerana menentang fasisme dalam Perang Dunia Kedua.

Saya pernah memetik beliau dahulu, tetapi ia wajar diulangi: “Doa tidak menggantikan sebarang perbuatan.

Namun ia adalah satu perbuatan yang tidak dapat digantikan oleh apa-apa.”

Maka itu, bermulalah dengan Allah.

Dan kemudian beralih kepada perkara yang paling memanggil anda untuk bertindak.

Saya telah menjalankan usaha untuk menentang hukuman mati, maka itu saya kerap menulis surat dan membuat panggilan bagi pihak banduan yang menunggu pelaksanaan hukuman mati.

Saya ada nombor senator dan ahli Kongres dalam senarai nombor telefon saya, dan kerap menelefon pejabat mereka.

Saya pernah menghadiri rapat umum dan membela pelarian. Saya telah menyumbang wang kepada kempen baharu pada tahun ini. Buatlah apa yang anda rasa Allah suruh anda buat.

Kemudian bertenang. Bersenam.

Bersosial. Ketawa. Jangan menjadi ketagih kepada media sosial, laman sesawang politik, berita kabel.

Saya cuba memainkan peranan saya untuk menjadi warga yang terlibat sama, dan kemudian saya cuba – ya, saya cuba sedaya upaya - untuk menyerahkan keresahan kepadaNya yang memberitahu kita “gadaKu mudah, dan bebanKu ringan”.

CNS (Terjemahan)

Tuhan tidak pernah menguji umat-Nya di luar dari kemampuan mereka namun Dia membenarkan sesuatu itu berlaku supaya kita dapat belajar menghargai rahmat dan belas kasih-Nya. di dalam kehidupannya namun kepercayaannya terhadap kuasa dan kebijaksanaan Tuhan telahpun membuahkan hasil.

Pandangan dari rakan-rakan dan sanak saudara yang yang menganggap penderitaan yang dialaminya akibat dari dosanya adalah tidak benar. Malah Tuhan telah memberi Ayub harta dan kekayaan yang berlipat ganda setelah dia pulih dari kesengsaraannya.

Melalui pengelaman Ayub ini kita dapat menilai bahawa Tuhan tidak pernah menguji umat-Nya di luar dari kemampuan mereka namun Dia membenarkan sesuatu itu berlaku supaya kita dapat belajar menghargai rahmat dan belas kasih-Nya. Dia tidak akan menghukum kesalahan kita kerana Dia adalah cinta kasih.

Kita diciptakan “seperti dan menyerupai” Tuhan (Kejadian 1:26).

Kata Yesus, “Jika seseorang itu mati bagi sahabatsahabatnya, hal itu menunjukkan bahawa dia orang yang paling mengasihi mereka” (Yoh. 15:13). Oleh yang demikian, jika kita masih lagi menganggap segala peristiwa yang buruk itu sebagai ujian atau hukuman dari Tuhan maka kewafatan Yesus di kayu salib adalah sia-sia. Dalam masa yang sama, secara tidak langsung kita telah memutuskan hubungan persahabat denganNya. Kemerdekaan yang diwartakan-Nya pada pagi Paska hanyalah berita biasa sahaja.

Tahukah kita betapa laparnya Yesus ketika di padang pasir selama 40 hari 40 malam tanpa makanan, betapa sengsara dan hausnya Dia ketika menantikan saat-saat kewafatan-Nya di salib? Tidak cukupkah itu untuk mencairkan hati kita untuk mengakui bahawa Dia sangat

mengasihi kita? Kata-Nya, “Aku tidak akan meninggalkan kamu sendirian seperti yatim piatu” (Yoh. 14:18). Dia akan mengiringi kita di dalam segala bentuk perjalanan kehidupan kita.

Jika kita masih lagi percaya bahawa setiap peristiwa buruk itu adalah godaan atau ujian maka kita tidak perlu takut. Tuhan tidak pernah menggoda atau menguji umatNya. Pengoda adalah syaitan.

Walaupun demikian Yesus telah mengalahkan syaitan bagi pihak kita, pertama di padang pasir dan kemudian di atas salib. Selain daripada itu, Allah Bapa telah mengutus Roh Kudus untuk memimpin kita dalam menempuh kehidupan di dunia ini. Maka marilah kita menangani setiap peristiwa dengan menggunakan jalan Tuhan.

PAGE 24

IMAN DAN HIDUP

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

Father Terry Burke MHM meninggal dunia Terence Laurence Burke biasanya dikenali sebagai Terry. Beliau seorang warga London, dilahirkan di Barnes, London Selatan pada 24 Mac 1944 kepada Richard Burke dan Mary (nama keluarga Hogben). Beliau mempunyai seorang saudara dan seorang saudari.

Beliau dididik di Sekolah Moden Menengah St Edward, Richmond dari 1955-57 dan Kolej Teknikal Kingston dari 1957-64, diikuti masa setahun di Campion House, Osterley. Terry belajar Falsafah di Roosendaal dari 1965-67, dan Teologi di Kolej Mill Hill dari 1967-71.

Beliau melafazkan Kaul Kekal pada 1 Mei 1970 dan ditahbis menjadi paderi mubaligh pada 12 Jun 1971 oleh Gerald Mahon yang merupakan Uskup Auksiliari Westminster ketika itu.

Terry pernah menjadi pelajar bagi waktu yang singkat di Kuching dan pada 1971 selepas pentahbisannya, beliau dilantik untuk berkhidmat di sana sebagai seorang paderi mubaligh.

Beliau sangat gembira, dan bertahuntahun kemudian selepas menjalani kerja misi sepanjang hayat di beberapa buah negara, beliau dilantik semula untuk berkhidmat semula di Kuching pada 2007.

Pengajian dan kerja akademik adalah perkara-perkara yang mudah bagi Terry dan keupayaan ini disedari dan menyusul awal dalam karier beliau.

Selepas empat tahun di Kuching, beliau dilantik ke Rom untuk belajar apabila beliau memperolehi STL Magna cum Laude dalam Teologi Moral, dan selepas itu beliau kembali ke Kuching pada 1977 di mana beliau meneruskan pelayanan pastoral.

S&J

S

Pada 1980, Peter Chung Hoan Ting, ketika itu Uskup Kuching, memberitahu Terry bahawa beliau ada tujuh orang pemuda yang mahu menjadi paderi.

Beliau ada sebuah bangunan lama dan beliau ada Terry dan beliau mahu Terry memulakan sebuah seminari. Dan beliau pun memulakannya. Bagaimanapun ramuan utama yang tiada adalah kakitangan pengajar. Maka itu, selepas tahun pertama di mana beliau mendapat bantuan dari seorang lagi paderi Mill Hill, Terry pulang ke tanah air untuk cuba mencari guru.

Beliau berunding dengan Kesatuan Mubaligh Ireland dan meminta bantuan mereka untuk mencari paderi yang dapat pergi ke Kuching selama beberapa bulan pada satu masa.

Disebabkan oleh malam musim salji yang sangat sejuk di Ireland, seorang paderi yang sedang cuti sabatikal dari New Orleans menawar diri untuk pergi dan dengan demikian lahirlah jalinan yang berterusan selama bertahun-tahun.

Pada 1984, Terry terpaksa meninggalkan Kuching disebabkan oleh undang-undang kerajaan yang menyatakan semua mubaligh asing mesti meninggalkan negara selepas 10 tahun. Beliau dilantik untuk berkhidmat di Wilayah British bagi kerja APF, tetapi terlebih dahulu beliau pergi ke New Orleans untuk melanjutkan pengajian – Ijazah Sarjana Sastera dalam pengajian agama di mana beliau berjumpa dengan paderi-paderi yang telah menyokong Seminari Kuching dari segi kewangan selain dengan kakitangan pengajar.

Dari 1986 hingga 1993 Terry bekerja dalam ‘Formation’ di dalam Persatuan di Roosendaal dan Kolej Mill Hill – Institut

Mubaligh London.

Pada 1995, Terry menerima pelantikan yang sangat singkat di India, kemudian kembali ke Wilayah British di mana beliau menghabiskan tempoh 10 tahun seterusnya dalam dunia akademik semula sebagai seorang chaplain di Universiti Reading.

Pada 2007, Terry telah diberi dua pelantikan – dia membahagikan masa di antara seminari di Kuching dengan tugasan beliau sebagai chaplain kepada masyarakat ekspatriat di Bali, Indonesia, selain bekerja di penjara di sana.

Beliau sangat gembira dengan dua dunia yang berlainan itu selama tiga tahun; kemudian seorang uskup baharu di Bali tidak memperbaharui pelantikan beliau.

Terry kecewa bagi diri beliau sendiri tetapi lebih kecewa lagi bagi jemaat yang

Obituari disediakan oleh Perkumpulan Mubaligh Mill Hill.

(Terjemahan)

Pemansuhan diperlukan terlebih dahulu?

by Fr Kenneth Doyle

Saya memerlukan beberapa penjelasan mengenai undang-undang perkahwinan Gereja. Saya seorang Katolik yang kini berkahwin dengan seorang lelaki bukan Katolik yang sudah bercerai dan tidak berkahwin sebelum itu dalam Gereja Katolik.

Saya cuba mengatur untuk mengahwininya dalam Gereja, tetapi seorang paderi paroki memberitahu saya bahawa bakal suami saya perlu terlebih dahulu memansuhkan perkahwinannya sebelum ini. Suami saya tidak percaya kepada proses pemansuhan, jadi kami tidak menjalaninya.

Kemudian, saya kebetulan membuat pengakuan dosa di sebuah chapel Katolik di sebuah pusat beli belah, dan paderi di sana memberitahu saya bahawa saya sebenarnya dapat berkahwin dalam Gereja Katolik; dia berkata, memandangkan suami saya bukan Katolik, memandangkan perkahwinannya dahulu bukan dalam Gereja Katolik, dan memandangkan dia kini sudah bercerai, dia bebas untuk mengahwini saya dalam upacara Katolik.

Paderi yang mendengar pengakuan dosa saya itu berkata dia sendiri tidak dapat menjalankan upacara berkenaan kerana dia ditugaskan ke sebuah chapel, tetapi saya harus berjumpa dengan paderi paroki. Maka saya pun berbuat demikian, tetapi saya kecewa apabila paderi paroki berkenaan memberitahu saya perkara sama yang disebut oleh paderi pertama – iaitu suami saya perlu terlebih dahulu mendapatkan pemansuhan yang diberikan oleh Gereja Katolik.

Saya mendapat maklumat yang bercanggah, dan saya berharap anda dapat membantu saya memahami apa yang saya perlu lakukan.

J

The late Fr Terry Burke Born: 24 March 1944 Departed: 31 August 2017

beliau layani di Bali kerana di kalangan paderi di sana, tidak ramai yang fasih berbahasa Inggeris.

Namun ia bermakna beliau kembali ke Kuching yang beliau sayangi.

Selama beliau kembali ke Kuching, Terry berkhidmat untuk Persatuan dalam banyak cara – sebagai penyelaras Pengambilan Rekrut, Ketua Kumpulan, Wakil Persatuan, dan pada 2017, apabila beliau tidak ada lagi tanggungjawab bagi Ahli-ahli Persatuan, beliau dilantik secara rasmi ke jawatan yang beliau sudah isi secara tidak rasmi selama bertahun-tahun – iaitu Bursar Persatuan.

Pada hujung 2015, Terry menghidap penyakit kanser yang serius dan dalam masa dua tahun seterusnya, beliau mempamerkan keberanian sama yang beliau tunjukkan pada waktu lain dalam hidup beliau apabila beliau bergelut dengan masalah peribadi.

Beliau pergi ke Singapura apabila perlu untuk mendapatkan rawatan namun tetap meneruskan pekerjaan.

Pada Jun 2017, apabila doktor memberitahu beliau, mereka tidak dapat lagi berbuat apa-apa untuk beliau dari segi perubatan, beliau pulang ke England di mana beliau dijaga dengan penuh kasih sayang oleh saudarinya, Margaret, di Reading.

Terry dimasukkan ke Hospis Duchess of Kent di Tilehurst yang berdekatan pada 21 Julai lalu. Beliau meninggal dunia dengan aman semalam, 31 Ogos, pada jam 3.00 petang. Semoga Terry bersemadi dengan aman damai.

Kedua-dua paderi paroki itu betul, dan paderi di pusat beli belah itu salah. Ada kemungkinan besar, perkahwinan pertama suami anda diandaikan oleh Gereja Katolik sebagai sah ketika itu, dan proses pemansuhan rasmi diperlukan untuk memansuhkan perkahwinan itu sebelum kedua-dua anda dapat berkahwin dalam upacara Katolik.

Dua orang bukan Katolik tidak diwajibkan untuk mendapatkan kelulusan bagi perkahwinan mereka dari Gereja Katolik, dan ia pasti amat tidak adil jika Gereja Katolik menyatakan perkahwinan sedemikian “tidak sah” pada pandangan Gereja.

(Dua orang bukan Katolik tidak diwajibkan untuk mendapatkan kelulusan bagi perkahwinan mereka dari Gereja Katolik, dan ia pasti amat tidak adil – dan satu kesalahan ekumeni – jika Gereja Katolik menyatakan perkahwinan sedemikian “tidak sah” pada pandangan Gereja.)

Anda dan suami anda harus duduk dengan seorang paderi untuk mendapatkan penerangan mengenai proses pemansuhan: Dalam tindakan memansuhkan perkahwinan, Gereja tidak menyatakan bahawa dia sebenarnya tidak pernah berkahwin dengan isteri pertamanya – atau anak dari perkahwinan itu tidak sah – tetapi ia kekurangan beberapa elemen asas untuk menjadikannya satu komitmen yang kekal dan mengikat pada pandangan Gereja.

Selalunya asas sedemikian melibatkan ketidakstabilan atau ketidakmatangan emosi pada pihak satu atau kedua-dua pihak – atau kefahaman yang cela mengenai komitmen perkahwinan.

Proses pemansuhan, dengan keterangan dan kertas kerja yang perlu, biasanya memakan masa selama setahun.

(Bagaimanapun, jika isteri pertama suami anda adalah seorang Katolik dan mereka berkahwin tanpa kebenaran Gereja, ia adalah proses yang lebih mudah. Dari segi teknikal, ia dipanggil “deklarasi pemansuhan/pembatalan kerana ketiadaan bentuk kanun (undang-undang)” dan biasanya dapat selesai dalam masa beberapa minggu.)

CNS (Terjemahan)

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

BERITA

PAGE 25

CATHOLIC today’s THE TEAM

Fikirkanlah perkara ini (Phil 4:8)...

Kita tersandung dan kerap terjatuh walaupun ketika kita paling sedar.

Tetapi apabila kita benar-benar dalam kegelapan rohani, kita malah tidak tahu bahawa kita sudah terjatuh.

- Thomas Merton

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) Victoria J Lim (Halaman Kanak-kanak B Inggeris) James Lo (B Cina) Margaret Bong (Halaman Kanak-kanak B Cina) STAF Audrey Yu

Pesan para Uskup Katolik sempena Hari Kemerdekaan dan Hari Malaysia 2017 Saudara dan Saudari dalam Kristus, Sebagai orang Kristian, kita dipanggil untuk menjadi orang yang baik, kerana semua berkongsi kemanusiaan antara satu sama lain dan dengan Tuhan sendiri dalam diri Yesus Kristus. Kemanusiaan yang dikongsi bersama inilah yang menuntut tanggungjawab kita demi kebaikan orang-orang di sekeliling kita, masyarakat dan dunia.

Inilah harapan Kristian kita — bahawa sebagai orang yang baik, kita akan memperlihatkan bahawa Tuhan itu adalah baik.

Oleh itu, kita mesti membina jambatan perdamaian, perpaduan, dan keharmonian di kalangan semua kaum dan agama.

Dan tidak ada panggilan yang lebih mendesak selain melakukan kebaikan di dalam masyarakat kita sendiri, yang terdiri daripada pelbagai kaum dan gabungan agama.

Malaysia hanya akan menjadi milik kita jika kita menyayangi negara ini.

Pada hari ini kita

merayakan 60 tahun kemerdekaan. Bagi kebanyakan daripada kita, laungan pertama merdeka adalah sesuatu yang hanya dapat kita lihat dalam buku sejarah dan dokumentari.

Harapan yang menggembirakan bagi rakyat sebuah negara baru berisiko tidak membawa apaapa makna melainkan hanya sebagai peninggalan masa lalu, memandangkan ingatan kolektif kita berubah dari satu generasi ke generasi, dan kebebasan kita tidak lagi berkaitan dengan harapan yang mula-mula.

Pada hari yang amat mulia ini, tepat pada masanya bagi kita menghidupkan semula aspirasi bapa-bapa negara kita dan memeriksa semula penggunaan kebebasan yang telah diberikan kepada kita.

Pada akhirnya kebebasan untuk mencintai, dan bersamasama untuk membina sebuah bangsa di mana cinta kasih Tuhan mengalir, untuk menyatukan semua kepentingan martabat insan yang diberikan oleh Tuhan kepada semua orang, untuk menjaga sekurangkurangnya di antara kita, dan

bekerjasama demi kebaikan bersama. Sejauh mana kesatuan kita selama enam dekad ini sebagai bangsa dan rakyat?

Cinta yang mengorbankan diri demi kebaikan yang lain, yang mendorong kita untuk mengetepikan agenda peribadi kita dan menolak godaan yang mengutamakan keinginan mementingkan diri sendiri, untuk membina masyarakat yang adil, sebuah negara yang memberi kebaikan meskipun kepada golongan minoriti.

Cinta itu yang menggerakkan kita, memupuk kita untuk mewujudkan dialog dan landasan bersama di mana kita dapat membina asas keamanan, kestabilan, dan pertumbuhan negara.

Ia adalah cinta yang diajar melalui teladan, agar generasi akan datang dapat melihat cara kita bekerja dengan baik, tidak akan pernah kehilangan cita-cita kita, dan akan dilengkapi dengan kemahiran dan keyakinan untuk meneruskan karya kita. Ini adalah kasih sayang yang baik, yang menggantikan sentimen mementingkan diri dengan keprihatinan tulus, khususnya bagi pekerja asing kita yang juga mempunyai harapan sama dengan kita dan bekerja mencapai aspirasi kita meskipun usaha sering tidak dihargai.

Kasih yang tulus dalam memberikan kepada orangorang yang paling memerlukan, memastikan bahawa ganjaran pertumbuhan dan pembangunan dirasakan sampai kepada masyarakat yang terpinggir.

Cinta yang buta terhadap apa pun yang akan mendorong kita untuk tidak mementingkan diri dan mengakui martabat setiap individu tanpa mengira kaum, agama, gabungan politik, status, atau apa-apa kelemahan manusia yang membahagikan daripada bersatu .

Jom jalan untuk keharmonian HARMONY WALK 2017, yang dianjurkan bersama oleh Pusat Penerangan Islam, Persatuan GerejaGereja Sarawak, Persatuan Bahai serta Persatuan Buddhist, Hindu dan Sikh, merupakan gambaran bagi keinginan rakyat Sarawak untuk bersatu dan hidup dalam harmoni dengan satu sama lain. Ia mahu menunjukkan bahawa agama-agama dapat dan sepatutnya menyatukan dan bukannya memecahbelahkan kita. ‘Walk’ sejauh lima kilometer ini di sekitar pusat bandar raya Kuching akan berlangsung pada jam 6.00 pagi Sabtu, 23 September 2017 bermula dari Kompleks Islam Sarawak (Jalan P Ramlee). Sila ambil bahagian juga dalam ‘walk’ ini sebagai satu cara untuk menggalakkan hubungan antara agama yang amat diperlukan di negara kita. Pendaftaran dapat dibuat di gereja (pada hujung minggu) atau di pejabat paroki masing-masing. Borang pendaftaran dapat juga dimuat turun dari laman sesawang Keuskupan Agung: http://bit.ly/harmonywalk17 SILA AMBIL PERHATIAN: Semua peserta harus berusia sekurang-kurangnya 13 tahun. Pakai kemeja-T putih dan bawa bendera Sarawak dan/atau Malaysia (cuba bawa bendera sendiri kerana penganjur menyediakan bekalan terhad). Pakai kasut berjalan yang bagus, dan sediakan payung atau baju hujan bagi sebarang kemungkinan hari hujan. Minuman akan disediakan oleh penaja. Sapa dan beramah mesralah dengan semua peserta ‘walk’ yang mempunyai keinginan yang sama dengan kita untuk membina Sarawak dan Malaysia yang lebih baik.

Dalam kita meraikan perayaan peristiwa penting ini dalam sejarah yang dikongsi bersama, Hari Merdeka dan Hari Malaysia, marilah kita mengambil peluang untuk memeriksa hati nurani kita: sejauh mana nilai-nilai dan sikap saya terhadap negara saya dan semua orang dalam masyarakat menggambarkan berita baik cinta kasih Tuhan bagi saya dan semua manusia?

Seperti kata Bapa Suci kepada Kongres Amerika Syarikat pada tahun 2015, “Setiap anak lelaki atau anak perempuan dari negara tertentu mempunyai misi, tanggungjawab peribadi dan sosial.” Kemerdekaan tidak membawa makna besar jika kita masih diperhamba dengan keangkuhan, iri hati, marah, tamak dan sikap tidak peduli, yang memberi kesan kepada polarisasi yang membawa kemudaratan kepada perpaduan. Marilah kita melihat dahulu pada masyarakat yang membentuk gereja kita sendiri.

• Bersambung di ms 26

Pencobaan hanyalah api yang menyucikan jiwa daripada ketidaksempurnaannya.

- St Mary Magdalen de’Pazzi

MMS since 1981

MARKET MANAGEMENT SERVICES SDN BHD

- THE EDUCATION CONSULTANCY www.mms.com.my

Block E, No 32-34 (1st Floor), Taman Sri Sarawak Mall Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman (Opposite Hilton Kuching) 93100 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia Tel: +6082-246 795 / +6012-808 5112 / +6016-823 9112 +6016-870 6112 Fax: +6082-428636 Email: market@mms.com.my

BERITA

PAGE 26

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

Bagi orang Kristian, kehidupan ada makna – walaupun susah, kata paus

KOTA VATIKAN — Pope Francis berkata menjalani kehidupan dengan muram, seakan-akan ia tidak ada makna, bukanlah sikap seorang Kristian yang memiliki jaminan bahawa harapan baharu sentiasa ditemui dalam Kristus walaupun keadaan kelihatan suram.

“Ia bukan sikap Kristian untuk berjalan dengan mata yang melihat ke bawah, tidak memandang ke hadapan.

Seakan-akan seluruh laluan kita berakhir di sini, dalam langkah beberapa meter,” kata paus pada 23 Ogos lalu.

Untuk hidup “seakan-akan dalam kehidupan kita, tidak ada destinasi dan tidak ada tempat mendarat, dan kita dipaksa berkeliaran selamalamanya, tanpa sebarang sebab bagi usaha kita yang banyak; ini bukan sikap Kristian,” katanya.

Sebaliknya sebagai orang

“Dia mencipta kita kerana Dia mahu kita gembira.”

- Pope Francis Kristian, “kita percaya dan kita tahu bahawa kematian dan kebencian bukan kata-kata terakhir yang disebut dalam perumpamaan kewujudan manusia”, katanya, dan menambah, untuk menjadi orang Kristian “bermakna satu perspektif baharu; tatapan yang penuh dengan harapan”.

Pope Francis bercakap kepada penziarah dalam Dewan Paul VI di Vatikan pada perhimpunan umum mingguan beliau, dalam katekesis beliau yang berterusan mengenai harapan Kristian.

Dalam ucapan beliau, Francis memberi tumpuan kepada bacaan pada hari itu dari kitab Wahyu, di mana Allah, yang duduk di atas takhtaNya di syurga, berfirman “Aku akan menjadikan semua perkara baharu”.

Petikan ini, kata beliau,

merupakan satu peringatan bahawa “harapan Kristian didasari kepercayaan kepada Allah yang sentiasa mencipta kebaharuan dalam kehidupan manusia, dalam sejarah dan dalam kosmos. Kebaharuan dan kejutan.”

Merujuk kepada beberapa muka surat terakhir dalam Al-Kitab, paus berkata ia menunjukkan matlamat terakhir bagi semua orang percaya kepada kita, iaitu Yerusalem syurgawi, digambarkan sebagai “sebuah khemah yang begitu besar, di mana Allah akan mengalu-alukan semua manusia untuk hidup bersama mereka buat selama-lamanya”.

“Inilah harapan kita,” kata Francis, sambil memerhatikan bagaimana Al-Kitab seterusnya menggambarkan bagaimana Allah akan “menghapuskan setiap air mata dari mata mereka,

dan kematian tidak akan ada lagi, tiada juga pengabungan mahupun tangisan atau kesakitan lagi, kerana perkaraperkara lama sudah berlalu”.

Beliau menggesa hadirin untuk merenungkan petikan itu “bukan dengan cara yang abstrak” tetapi bersuluhkan semua berita sedih yang diterbitkan kebelakangan ini seperti serangan pengganas di Barcelona dan bencana alam – berita “yang berisiko menjadikan kita ketagih kepadanya”.

Mengenai ramai kanakkanak yang menderita akibat peperangan, belia dengan impian yang selalunya musnah serta pelarian yang melakukan perjalanan berbahaya dan kerap kali dieksploitasi, Pope Francis berkata “malangnya ini juga adalah kehidupan”.

Bagaimanapun, kembali kepada bacaan kitab pada hari itu, beliau menegaskan “ada seorang Bapa yang menangis

dengan tangisan belakasihan yang tidak henti-henti bagi anak-anakNya”.

“Kita ada Tuhan yang tahu bagaimana untuk menangis, yang menangis bersama kita,” katanya, dan menambah Dia juga adalah Bapa “yang menunggu untuk menyenangkan kita, kerana Dia tahu penderitaan kita dan sudah menyediakan bagi kita masa depan yang berlainan”.

Allah, kata paus, “tidak mahukan kehidupan kita secara silap, memaksa diriNya dan kita untuk mengalami malam kesengsaraan yang panjang”.

Sebaliknya, “Dia mencipta kita kerana Dia mahu kita gembira. Dia adala Bapa kita, dan jika kita di sini, sekarang, mengalami kehidupan yang bukan Dia inginkan untuk kita, Yesus memberi jaminan kepada kita bahawa Allah sendiri sedang mengusahakan penebusanNya.” - EWTN News (Terjemahan)

Konsekrasi altar dan pemberkatan Gereja Santa Maria SERIAN — Jemaat memenuhi Gereja Katolik Santa Maria, Kampung Baru Mawang, kira-kira 10 km dari sini, untuk menyaksikan pemberkatan dan konsekrasi altar oleh Uskup Agung Simon Poh pada pagi 31 Ogos lepas.

Di kalangan jemaat yang begitu ramai adalah Rektor Paroki Serian, Father Paul Herry, Father Joseph Chai, Father Arockyaraj, pengerusi jawatankuasa penganjur, Allan Lanyeh, pengerusi Majlis Paroki St Theresa, Dennis Sung, bersama ahliahli, ketua kaum Kampung Baru Mawang, Topil Matai, penasihat jawatankuasa gereja Kampung Baru Mawang, John Awan, pengerusi jawatankuasa gereja Kampung Baru Mawang, Larry Ruben, ahli-ahli organisasi awam di Gereja Katolik Santa Maria, pengerusi Persaudaraan Warga Emas Katolik Paroki Serian, Alphonsus Naming bersama ahli-ahli, pembesar tempatan,

SAH … Uskup Agung Simon Poh menandatangani plak peringatan warga Katolik dan rakan jemaat.

Dalam ucapannya, Uskup Agung Simon Poh memberitahu jemaat bahawa gereja itu adalah harta milik jemaat dan bukan untuk mana-mana individu.

Maka itu, ia perlu dipelihara dan dimajukan secara bersama.

Beliau menggesa hadirin untuk bersedia menangani pembangunan pesat di kawasan

berkenaan.

Mereka mesti menghargai dan menyimpan tanah mereka supaya mereka tidak menjadi penyewa di atas tanah mereka sendiri.

Mereka juga digesa untuk mendidik anak-anak mereka bagi masa depan yang lebih cerah kerana mereka mempunyai banyak sekolah rendah dan

menengah berdekatan.

Uskup Agung menekankan kepentingan untuk merancang perkembangan dalam pendidikan anak-anak, contohnya: merancang setahun untuk menanam padi, 10 tahun untuk menanam durian tetapi 100 tahun untuk pendidikan anak-anak.

Dalam ucapan beliau, Rektor Fr Paul Herry menasihatkan ibu bapa untuk menggalakkan anakanak mereka agar menyahut seruan gereja untuk memasuki Kolej Seminari dan menjadi paderi atau sister yang bersedia untuk melayani umat Allah.

Dalam ucapannya terdahulu, pengerusi jawatankuasa penganjur Allan Lanyeh bercakap mengenai sejarah dan perkembangan gereja.

Gereja bermula dengan hanya 20 buah keluarga sahaja, dengan usaha gigih oleh ketua sembahyang Daniel Kuntang dan Sylvester Matai untuk menyampaikan Berita Baik Allah dan membawa orang

kepada Tuhan.

Mereka bersembahyang dalam sebuah chapel sederhana yang diperbuat dengan daun palma pada 1978.

Sekarang populasi Katolik di sana sudah meningkat kepada 82 buah keluarga dengan bangunan konkrit sebagai tempat ibadat.

Gereja selesa yang berharga RM300,000 itu dapat dibina dengan berkat Allah, geran kerajaan dari ahli-ahli Dewan Rakyat dan Parlimen, penderma yang murah hati dari jauh dan dekat selain masyarakat tempatan.

Ia turut melayani jemaat dari Kampung Bunga, Kampung Taee dan Salcra.

Bagaimanapun beliau berkata gereja itu masih memerlukan bantuan bagi menara loceng, gerigi keselamatan untuk tingkap, pagar dan tembok penahan dan sebagainya.

Joseph Then (Terjemahan)

Pesan para Uskup Katolik sempena Hari Kemerdekaan dan Hari Malaysia 2017 Kemerdekaan tidak membawa makna besar jika kita masih diperhamba dengan keangkuhan, iri hati, marah, tamak dan sikap tidak peduli, yang memberi kesan kepada polarisasi yang membawa kemudaratan kepada perpaduan.

• Bersambung dari ms 27 Adakah kita membahagibahagikan diri kita berdasarkan bangsa, bahasa, dan latar belakang sosial dan ekonomi, di mana semua ini tidak dipandang oleh mata Tuhan? Untuk memperbaiki pembahagi-pembahagi dalam diri kita sendiri, dalam kasih

dan kerendahan hati, agar doa Kristus dapat dipenuhi, “supaya mereka semua menjadi satu” (Yohanes 17:21), janganlah juga kita lupa misi kita untuk bangsa kita, untuk mengangkat pelbagai pendekatan demi membina semula masyarakat bermula dengan mengubah cara berfikir dan sikap kita yang

akan mempengaruhi perubahan tingkah laku kita.

Kemudian, kita harus mendidik orang lain dari yang termuda kepada yang warga tua dalam masyarakat kita dan menggalakkan usaha-usaha yang mencari perpaduan dalam kepelbagaian bangsa dan agama yang menjadikan kita rakyat

Malaysia yang unik.

Semoga berkat Tuhan dicurahkan kepada kita agar perayaan-perayaan ini tidak hanya dibalas atau dirayakan dengan perarakan, majlis dan cuti umum, melainkan menjadi realiti hakiki yang melihat kita berganding bahu dalam cinta demi membina Malaysia yang

lebih gemilang dan makmur.

Selamat menyambut Hari Merdeka dan Hari Malaysia!

Rev Julian Leow Beng Kim, D.D. Uskup Agung Kuala Lumpur Presiden, Majlis Uskup-uskup Katolik Malaysia

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

BERITA

PAGE 27

Apakah perbezaannya?

KUCHING — Lazimnya pelbagai soalan mengenai kepercayaan Katolik diajukan oleh saudara-saudari dari mazhab Kristian yang lain.

Perbezaan wujud di antara mazhab-mazhab Kristian, tetapi soalansoalan yang diajukan boleh membingungkan kita jika kita kurang ilmu pengetahuan tentang kepercayaan kita.

Seminar berciri kateketikal ‘Apakah Perbezaannya?’ yang diadakan di sini baru-baru ini, iaitu di Paroki St Theresa, Serian dari 18-20 Ogos lepas, dan Gereja St Ann, Kota Padawan, Kuching dari 2124 Ogos, bertujuan untuk menjawab soalan-soalan berkenaan.

Sambutan amat menggalakkan apabila 260 orang datang dari kampungkampung berdekatan untuk menyertai seminar ini.

Persoalan mengenai perbezaan di antara

INILAH PERBEZAANNYA ... Diakon Sherman Kuek membantu peserta memahami perbezaan di antara mazhab Kristian kepercayaan boleh mengelirukan apabila timbul salah faham dalam pengetahuan terutamanya apabila maklumat berkenaan kurang penyelidikan yang teliti dan tepat.

Diakon Sherman Kuek menjawab soalan-soalan berkenaan dengan logic, dan merujuk kepada latar belakang serta sejarah yang berkembang

sejak beratus-ratus tahun.

Pada asalnya Gereja ditubuhkan oleh Yesus Kristus sebagai Satu, tetapi pelbagai perpecahan telah berlaku sehingga muncul beberapa aliran utama dalam agama Kristian seperti Ortodoks dan Protestan.

Salah satu soalan terkenal dalam aspek ini yang juga

230 jemaat St Anna terima penguatan Roh Kudus

KOTA PADAWAN — Paroki St Anna, Kota Padawan telah mengadakan Seminar Calon Penguatan pada 5 - 6 Ogos lalu di Chapel St Francis Xavier, Kampung Seratau.

Seramai 230 calon dari pelbagai kampung dan taman dalam Zon Siburan, Zon Penrissen dan Zon Semeba serta Zon Taman di bawah naungan paroki ini menghadiri seminar tersebut.

Antara objektif program ini adalah untuk memberi pendedahan kepada calon dan menyediakan mereka untuk menerima Sakramen Penguatan.

Pembahagian dan sesi yang disampaikan adalah mengenai Kepentingan Doa, Pemberian dan Buah Roh Kudus.

Peserta juga berpeluang mengambil bahagian dalam Doa Kerahiman, Puji dan Sembah serta Penyembuhan Memori (Luka Batin) selain

DATANGLAH ROH KUDUS ... Para calon penguatan mengambil bahagian dalam sesi puji dan sembah bernyanyi dan berdoa. Calon juga berpeluang memohon untuk didoakan agar menghasilkan Buah Roh Kudus.

Seminar ini diakhiri dengan Perayaan Misa Kudus yang disempurnakan oleh Friar Don Don Ramerez bersama Rektor Paroki, Friar Gerard Victor.

Dalam khutbahnya, Fr

Don Don menegaskan tentang kepercayaan yang teguh kepada calon.

Master Seminar adalah Friar Don Don Ramerez yang dibantu oleh katekis, Kumpulan Pembentukan Iman (FFC) serta Kumpulan JC One, Chapel St Francis Xavier, Kampung Seratau. — Sumbangan

Niat doa Pope Francis untuk bulan September Untuk Paroki: Agar paroki kita, dihidupkan oleh semangat mubaligh, menjadi tempat di mana kepercayaan disampaikan, dan kasih kelihatan

tumpuan utama kebanyakan agama adalah mengenai matlamat rohani seseorang manusia, iaitu topik mengenai penyelamatan.

Bagi umat Katolik, penyelamatan adalah suatu perjalanan; bagi orang Protestan, penyelamatan adalah suatu acara; dan bagi jemaat Ortodoks, penyelamatan adalah theosis, iaitu kesamaan atau kesatuan dengan Tuhan.

Perbezaan amalan dan kepercayaan ini disebabkan oleh pemahaman yang berlainan tentang peranan dan identiti Gereja. Oleh kerana itu, tidak hairanlah bahawa kita mempunyai pemahaman dinamik di antara mazhabmazhab Kristian daripada cara penyembahan hingga kepada cara kepimpinan.

Meskipun terdapat perbezaan, perpaduan antara mazhab-mazhab Kristian adalah keutamaan penting bagi Gereja Katolik. Gereja Katolik sentiasa

berusaha untuk mengenalpasti dan mencari cara agar mazhab-mazhab Kristian untuk bersatu lagi.

Oleh itu, Gereja Katolik menjemput semua umat Kristian untuk berdoa bagi perpaduan antara mazhabmazhab Kristian serta melibatkan diri dalam dialog yang berterusan.

Seminar ini adalah anjuran kerjasama oleh Splendour Project (www. splendourproject.com) dan para katekis untuk seminar di Serian dan kerjasama bersama Legion of Mary untuk seminar di Kota Padawan.

Splendour Project adalah satu komuniti rakan yang mempunyai misi sama dalam menyahut seruan Gereja Katolik untuk mewartakan Injil dalam dunia moden melalui pengisytiharan kebenaran, keindahan dan kebaikan.

Jennifer Chong

Gereja di Pakistan isytihar Tahun Ekaristi MULTAN — “Kita mahu menjadikan Ekaristi pusat dalam kehidupan Kristian kita, keluarga kita dan rumah kita”: dengan semangat ini, Gereja Katolik di Pakistan meraikan 2018 sebagai ‘Tahun Ekaristi’ yang istimewa: inilah apa yang disebut oleh Uskup Benny Travas, selaku ketua diosis di Multan, kepada Fides.

Uskup itu merupakan presiden Suruhanjaya Liturgi bagi Persidangan Uskup Pakistan.

Seperti yang dijelaskan kepada Fides, idea itu lahir daripada penyertaan delegasi Pakistan di Kongres Ekaristi Antarabangsa yang disambut di Cebu, Filipina.

“Ia adalah satu pengalaman yang menyentuh hati,” kata uskup itu. “Dan kita mahu menghidupkan semula semangat ini di Pakistan.”

Semua uskup dalam persidangan tersebut meluluskan idea untuk mengisytiharkan 2018 sebagai ‘Tahun Ekaristi’.

Tema itu dari Injil Yohanes: “Aku adalah roti kehidupan” dan pembukaan rasmi akan diadakan dari 24-26 November di Karachi, dengan Perayaan Ekaristi di Katedral St Patrick.

Selain itu, program dan inisiatif akan dijalankan pada peringkat diosis.

Majlis penutupan akan berlangsung di Lahore dari 21 hingga 24 November 2018.

Sebuah jawatankuasa penganjur, yang dianggotai wakil dari setiap diosis, sedang

menyediakan program pastoral dan sokongan pastoral.

Contohnya, Bishop Travas mencadangkan “Adorasi Ekaristi di setiap paroki, pertemuan, dan katekesis bagi orang muda, keluarga, sekolah dan kanak-kanak”.

Kehidupan orang Kristian di Pakistan, rumus Msgr.

Travas, “sudah pun kehidupan Ekaristi yang berdepan dengan penderitaan, keganasan atau diskriminasi yang tidak ada kewajaran, kita bersyukur dan memuji Allah. Namun kekuatan dan semangat ini hanya dapat diperolehi dengan meletakkan Ekaristi sebagai sumber dan kemuncak dalam kehidupan peribadi setiap orang percaya yang tinggal di negara kita yang tersayang”.

Seperti yang disahkan kepada Fides, bulan Ogos menyaksikan pembunuhan tiga orang Kristian di Pakistan, disebabkan oleh pertikaian mengenai perkara pemilikan hartanah tetapi juga bersifat keagamaan.

“Bila berdepan dengan setiap bentuk keganasan, sikap kita adalah sikap Ekaristi: kita tidak membalas dengan kejahatan tetapi dengan menyerahkan penderitaan kita kepada Allah, menerima kehendakNya, memberkati dan memanjatkan kesyukuran, berdoa untuk keamanan,” kata Uskup Travas.

Agenzia Fides (Terjemahan)

PAGE 28

BERITA

TODAY’S CATHOLIC SEPTEMBER 2017

Perhimpunan pastoral keuskupan agung kenal pasti kebimbangan

KUCHING – Perhimpunan Pastoral Keuskupan Agung Kuching (KAPA) yang diadakan pada 18-20 Ogos lalu di Pusat Pastoral dan Kuria Keuskupan Agung (ACCPC) bukan penamat. Ia menandakan permulaan bagi proses untuk meneliti semula, menilai semula dan memperbaharui pelaksanaan ACTS Kongres bagi tempoh lima tahun yang lalu.

Lebih 300 ketua awam dari semua paroki dalam Keuskupan Agung Kuching, selain paderi paroki, membuktikan komitmen dan kasih mereka kepada gereja tempatan apabila mereka menghadiri perhimpunan selama tiga hari itu, mewakili suara jemaat awam di paroki masing-masing.

Uskup Agung Simon Poh dalam ucaptama beliau mengimbau wawasan Keuskupan Agung di bawah kepimpinan Uskup Agung Emeritus Peter Chung (1976 - 2003) dan Uskup Agung Emeritus John Ha (2003 - 2017).

Dalam tempoh tersebut, kedua-dua uskup agung emeritus, dalam kerjasama dengan jemaat awam, telah membentuk Keuskupan Agung Kuching untuk menjadi seperti sekarang.

“KAPA adalah pemberian Allah kepada Keuskupan Agung kita pada waktu ini supaya bersama-sama kita dapat menghasilkan wawasan baharu bagi Keuskupan Agung kita,” kata Uskup Agung Simon.

“Kita akan membina di atas asas yang sudah diletakkan oleh Uskup

Agung Emeritus Peter Chung dan Uskup Agung Emeritus John Ha, untuk menangani realiti dan situasi baharu yang sudah muncul sejak itu.”

“Saya mengakui realiti pastoral mungkin berbeza di antara paroki bandar dengan paroki luar bandar,” kata ketua gereja itu.

“Namun saya percaya iaitu bersama, kita dapat menentukan hala tuju pastoral bagi keuskupan agung kita. Marilah kita menyeru kepada Roh yang sama untuk bersuara kepada setiap daripada kita dan membimbing kita ke arah Visi-Misi baharu bagi keuskupan agung kita.”

Sejak Mac lalu, Majlis Pastoral Keuskupan Agung telah mengedar borang kaji selidik tinjauan, yang disediakan di setiap paroki dalam keuskupan agung untuk mengumpul maklum balas dari jemaat paroki.

Maklum balas yang dikumpul membantu dalam usaha menilai keberkesanan program pastoral yang dijalankan di paroki dan bagi menilai semula cabaran yang dihadapi gereja tempatan.

Dari tinjauan berkenaan, isu-isu utama yang dibimbangi bagi kebanyakan jemaat paroki adalah Islamisasi, kebebasan beragama serta keluarga bermasalah dan porak-peranda.

Mengambil pengajaran daripada kisah Abraham dan keluarganya (Kejadian 11:31-25:11) dalam input kitab beliau, Uskup Agung Emeritus John Ha mengetengahkan berkat Allah

ke atas Ishak dan Ismael dan bagaimana rancangan Allah bersifat inklusif dan fokus.

Beliau juga menggalakkan hadirin bahawa menerusi kepercayaan kepada Allah dan pemikiran yang munasabah, kita dapat mendepani cabaran yang dihadapi Gereja dan jemaat pada hari ini.

Father Varghese Lopez SJ, pakar psikologi di Seminari Utama Kolej St Peter, yang menerusi penggunaan psiko-spiritualiti Kristian, mengenal pasti “ketakutan” sebagai isu teras yang menggarisi kebimbangan yang dibangkitkan di dalam tinjauan.

Dalam sesi beliau, beliau membahagikan proses bagi mengenal pasti ketakutan dan menanganinya dengan betul supaya kita dapat menangani ketakutan peribadi atau kolektif dengan cara-cara yang memberikan kehidupan.

Fr Varghese mengingatkan peserta bahawa naluri ‘survival’ manusia mahukan kejayaan besar dan kecenderungan untuk mencari pengiktirafan dari luar, sedangkan sifatsifat ketakutan yang memberi kehidupan dan memperkasakan membuatkan kita rasa bersyukur bagi perkembangan dan penambahbaikan kecil, di mana perkembangan kecil juga dihargai kerana terdapat satu “pertemuan”, di mana kita dapat menghargai batasan dan kelemahan kita, dan oleh yang demikian dapat menerima kelemahan orang lain di mana musuh juga dilayan seperti rakan.

“Dalam setiap cabaran, setiap ketakutan sentiasa ada sesuatu yang memberikan kehidupan, carilah ia.

Belajar untuk mendengarnya,” ujar Fr Varghese.

Beliau menggalakkan peserta untuk membantu jemaat mewujudkan “jalinan semula yang diperkasa” dan menyatakan “jalinan semula yang diperkasa” wujud apabila kita “tidak berusaha untuk mencapai matlamat” tetapi kita melakukannya “kerana itu adalah panggilan seorang hamba yang baik dan setia” (Matius 25: 23).” Di mana ada jalinan semula yang diperkasakan, gada adalah mudah dan beban ringan.

Dengan input ini, wakil-wakil berkumpul menurut paroki masingmasing untuk merenungkan dan

membincangkan cara-cara bagi membolehkan anggota jemaat mereka untuk menerima dan diperkasakan bagi menangani ketakutan atau kebimbangan mereka.

Mereka mengenal pasti kekuatan dalam jemaat mereka dan mencadangkan tindakan yang kreatif dan konkrit dalam reaksi kepada ketakutan dan kebimbangan.

Beberapa tindakan yang disarankan termasuk keperluan untuk membina kumpulan kecil yang didasari persahabatan, kasih, kepercayaan dan keyakinan untuk membolehkan jemaat berkongsi dan memperkasakan mereka bagi menangani kebimbangan mereka; penggunaan homili bagi menangani isu yang ada kaitan dengan jemaat; galakan untuk terlibat dalam politik sebagai panggilan bagi kebaikan umum; penggunaan multimedia dan pelbagai mod komunikasi bagi penyebaran maklumat.

Menerusi penggunaan proses psiko-spiritualiti Kristian, peserta lebih menghargai keperluan untuk memahami sebab-sebab yang menggarisi kebimbangan mereka, mengakui “ketakutan” sedemikian, meneliti kekuatan dan respon dengan cara yang kreatif serta memberikan kehidupan.

Peserta diingatkan bahawa Gereja dibentuk oleh uskup agung, paderi, religius dan jemaat awam, dan semua mereka digalakkan, pada hujung perhimpunan, untuk menanyakan soalan “Apakah yang saya dapat buat?” dan bukan “apakah yang orang lain dapat buat?”.

Setiap peserta harus terus-menerus mengambil apa jua langkah kecil dalam ‘Acts of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Congress 2012’dengan penambahbaikan yang disyorkan sewaktu perhimpunan dan pergi ke tahap lebih mendalam untuk mewujudkan “jalinan semula yang diperkasakan”.

Sintesis jawapan kepada soalan bengkel yang dibuat oleh setiap paroki dan suruhanjaya telah dibentangkan oleh Uskup Agung Simon Poh untuk membantu beliau melakar hala tuju pastoral baharu bagi keuskupan agung.

– Sumbangan (Terjemahan)

Published by: The Archbishop of Kuching, Batu 1, Jln Tun Abang Haji Openg, 93000 Kuching. Printed by: Bahagia Press Sdn Bhd (86546-K), Lot 225, Section 49, Jalan Padungan Utara, 93100 Kuching. Tel: 082-238900