Apostolic Delegate To Come For The DOPP Launching
PENAMPANG(CS).- The Apostolic Delegate will be coming to attend the launching of the Diocesan Organisation Pastoral Plan (DOPP) next month.
"We have received with joy the confirmation that His Grace will be coming," said DOPP launching organizing chairman John Paujik.
"It is indeed very appropriate that the archbishop will be with us for the Sept 15-16 event because he was here when we started the process of formulating the plan in 1995," he added.
Archbishop Luigi Bressan is the Apostolic Delegate in Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia and Brunei.
The launching will also coincide with the silver jubilee of the Pastoral Council of the Catholic Church in Sabah (PAX), Paujik said.
The chairman said the event will begin at 2:00 PM on Sept 15 with the pre-launching sessions where several talks would be presented at the Catholic Diocesan Centre here.
"The PAX silver jubilee will be at 7 PM on the same day while the launching ceremonies will be held after the Eucharistic celebration at 9 AM at the Sacred Heart Cathedral on Sept 16," he continued.
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Keningau Bishop Urges Faithful To Share Faith
KENINGAU(CS).- Bishop Cornelius Piong of Keningau said a shared faith should exist among the faithful in carrying out activities of the Church recently.
In his homily during Mass in conjunction with Bible Sunday July 13 at the St Francis Xavier's Cathedral here, the bishop said many perceived that faith is restricted to the individual.
"Such perception is totally unfounded because faith is not to be lived by the person alone but to be shared among ourselves if we are to build the Kingdom of God here on earth," the bishop said to some 500 faithful.
During the celebration all the lectors in the parish renewed their commitment while a speech competition was held in the evening. Earlier, some 200 faithful turned up for a thanksgiving dinner at the same venue to commemorate the bishop's 20th sacerdotal ordination anniversary.
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59 Participants Have Enriching Experience At 1st Weekend Camp
SANDAKAN(CS).- Fifty-nine people had an enriching experience during a weekend camp here recently.
Organised by St Mary's Parish Children's Liturgy of the Word Ministry (CLW), the inaugural June 20-22 camp was held at the Desa Talisai Estate, some 84 KM from the church.
Based on the theme Jesus My Best Friend, the participants especially the 35 children "truly enjoyed the outing," said Rosita Chang.
Chang added, "Through games, drawings, group reports, sleeping without their parents, eating and praying together in their rooms until after midnight, they made it an event that will be remembered for a long time to come."
She said the team members headed by Neil Mah of Tg Aru "were constantly kept on their toes but at the end, everybody was touched by the sessions and we experienced a new team spirit, way of caring and God's love."
During the camp the group celebrated the 23rd wedding anniversary of William and Rosita Liaw who pioneered the CLW.
In their speech, they both thanked God for the "tremendous grace showered upon us and our family and especially for the gift of our unexpected and peculiar child called CLW that came into being on 26 Oct 1992."
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KK Diocese Launches Youth Jubilee Cross
PENAMPANG(CS).- Bishop John Lee of Kota Kinabalu (KK) Diocese launched the Journey of the Youth Jubilee Cross and the parish level Youth Festival at St Michael's Church here recently.
The event marked the beginning of the 10th Diocesan Youth Festival (DYF) which will culminate with a big celebration in Sandakan next year.
In his homily, the bishop said the journey reflected the passion of Christ who, in total obedience to his Father's will, died on the cross for the salvation of humankind.
"Therefore, the journey should remind us of our conversion," he said. "It should instill into the youth the spirit and new commitment to serve. It is appropriate time for you as youth of the diocese to look into yourselves the profound meaning of the cross," the bishop added.
Earlier before the Mass, youths from the various communities in and around Penampang parish gathered at the parish hall. A backgrounder on the journey was narrated by main organizing committee secretary of the DYF Sr Terry Loukang.
The jubilee cross was carried into the church during the entrance procession and veneration of the cross was done after communion.
After the launching, various youth groups presented a variety show to entertain the guests and parishioners.
The cross will be carried to St Paul Dontozidon July 26 for a week before it goes to St Thomas Kepayan. The cross will travel from parish to parish throughout the diocese until it reaches Sandakan in September next year.
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Local Sister Says Missionaries' Example Inspires Her
SELANGOR(CS).- A Sabahan sister, who will begin the final stage of her formation in the United States in August told UCA News that the example of missionaries to Malaysia inspired her to enter religious life.
"I was fascinated and inspired by the lives of the Mill Hill Missionaries," Daughter of St Paul Sr Bibianah Dunsia said.
"I admired their courage to leave their homeland and come to our place to serve our people. Silently I nurtured within my heart the desire that one day I too would be a missionary sister who travels to other nations to serve the people," she added.
Attracted to their social communications apostolate which involves working in mass media, Dunsia, who hails from Kg Lokos Tamparuli, joined the Daughters of St Paul in 1986 and underwent initial formation in Petaling Jaya and Manila, Philippines.
She and fellow East Malaysian Sr Christine Sundin, who is from Kuching, will take their "corso," the last six months of initial formation, in Boston, Massachusetts, before taking their final vows next year.
They will be the first ones from Malaysia to go outside the Philippines for their preparation for their final profession as all those who have professed ahead of them had theirs in the Philippines.
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