Sandakan Bishop Reminds Faithful To Stay Vigilant During Advent
SANDAKAN(CS Online).- In his first Advent Message released in late October, Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom of Sandakan reminded his flock to keep vigilant for the coming of the Lord.
"The gospel reading on the first Sunday of Advent is sufficient to set the tone of our Advent spiritual journey, and our expectancy for the coming of the Messiah: 'Be on guard, stay awake...' (cf Mk 13:33)" he wrote.
The bishop said these very words of Christ must be taken "seriously."
Firstly, he said, they remind us to be alert and not be preoccupied by commercialised Christmas or taking Christmas as another worldly festivity.
Instead, he continued, we need to set our spiritual preparation for the celebration of Christ's birth on the right track so that Christmas becomes meaningful.
Secondly, he said, Christ wants to remind us to be on guard concerning the Gospel values under the "relentless threat of secularisation."
"Secularisation has succeeded in deconstructing the religiosity in the Western society and as a result, has succeeded in destroying the Christian faith, tradition, culture and family life. It is now invading like a wild fire in every corner of the globe as a result of globalisation," the bishop warned.
He then gave his reflection on Christian family values which "we must uphold."
We must be vigilant because secularism operates under the guise of freedom, human rights, progress and modernism.
Family is recognised as "natural and fundamental group unit of society, entitled to protection by the society and the states" (Universal Declaration on Human Rights - Art 16(3), 1948.
But the term "family" (family in the traditional meaning) is now no longer politically correct especially in the West; it is considered "discriminatory" and has to be replaced by the phrase "the family under all its forms."
It means there are now other forms of family that are culturally, socially and politically accepted: homosexual or lesbian couples (with or without children), reconstituted families, single parent families and so on.
He went on to say that since the time of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, "a cultural and sexual revolution has swept over the Western society."
The bishop observed that the "human rights movements" in the West are "so strong" that they can even "influence governments and lawmakers."
In fact, he noted, they have succeeded in certain countries to obtain "juridical and cultural acceptance" of the following: the right to contraception, the right to abortion, the right to have a child by vitro fertilisation, the right to die (euthanasia), even the "right not to be born," the right to sexual orientation, the right to same sex union (thus the emergence of new forms of families) and so on.
These, he said, are done in the name of "human rights and democratic freedom."
He warned: "It might be possible that these weird and disturbing mentalities are already infecting the minds of some even in our own place. Sooner or later, all these 'values' will also become our way of life."
The bishop said another deceptive term in relation to family is "gender-equality" propagated by the feminists.
He said the feminists' real agenda is not merely to uplift women to equal access to social power as men but it goes so far as to deconstruct the socially constructed "institution" such as motherhood, which they say "delimits women's freedom."
"They want to get rid of the idea that man and woman complement each other as designed by God because such idea would be the main obstacle to 'gender equality'," according to the bishop.
He explained, "Human life devoid of divine influence would allow the individual radical freedom in which the possibilities to choose would be infinite and without being accountable to higher divine being for his/her actions."
The bishop noted that to a certain extent in the West, there is this cultural acceptance that God is "barely alive" (or "God is already dead") and therefore the process of "killing" humanity is already on the way through the process of "secularisation and globalisation of Western culture and values."
Thus, he said, the following facts are worrying: the traditional spouse being replaced by multiple sexual partners, marriage by free sex, complementarity between man and woman by gender contract, the traditional family by family under all its forms, respect for life by the legalisation of abortion and euthanasia (in-vitro fertilisation, sterilisation and contraception can be added), parental authority by children's right to go against their parents, conscience by free choice, truth by right to error...(cf Globalisation of the Western Cultural Revolution, Marguerite Peeters).
In the face of all these, the bishop continued, "we, Christians must be alert and vigilant."
The challenge for Christians over all the world is "to stick to Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life; to promote Christian values in family life," he added.
The Sandakan bishop then quoted Vatican II: "The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life," (cf Church in the Modern World, 47).
He also quoted Benedict XVI in relation to the secularised world:
"For us Christians of today in this secularised world, it is important to joyfully live the freedom of our faith, live the beauty of the faith, and show today's world that it is beautiful to be a believer, that it is beautiful to know God."
The bishop then concluded his message: "...in this holy season of Advent, let us resolve to live our faith, to live the Gospel values that Christ has given us and use the same values to contribute in building up a healthy human family."
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Singapore's Cathedral Choir To Organise An Evening Of Praise In SHC
KOTA KINABALU(CS Online).- The Cathedral Choir of the Risen Christ Singapore will organize an evening of praise at the Sacred Heart Cathedral Karamunsing Dec 3 at 8:00 pm.
Established in 1970 by its founder-director, Sir Peter Low, the choir has served at the Parish of the Risen Christ for 32 years.
It has sung internationally in Australia, England, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Philippines, Switzerland, Spain, Thailand, the United States, Vietnam and Wales. It has performed twice for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1985 and 1997.
The choir has a strong tradition of public performances in aid of worthy causes both local and international. In line with its philosophy that music can also be put at the service of society, it has contributed significantly to promoting international relations through its joint concerts with well-known choirs from other nations.
It was officially installed as the Cathedral Choir in April 2002. Its director, Peter Low, received the National Youth Service Award from the Republic of Singapore in 1979 for outstanding contribution to the local choral music scene.
Low was awarded a government scholarship to major in Choral Conducting at the Royal Academy of Music London. He was conferred the Bene Merenti Award in 1996 for 40 years of service to the local Church, and was made a Knight Commander with Star of the Pontifical Order of St Gregory by the Vatican in 2003.
All are welcome to an evening of sacred music to lift our hearts and minds in praise and thanksgiving to God who made us.
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Vocation Team To Hold Seminar In January
KOTA KINABALU(CS Online).- The Vocation Team, comprising Fr John Wong and Fr Bonaventure Unting, will hold a vocation seminar on Jan 16-18 at the Bundu Tuhan Retreat Centre. The objectives of the seminar are to help young men to discern their vocation and to encourage them to answer God's calling to the diocesan priesthood, and to meet those who have potential to become "aspirants" for 2009.
They encourage those who have passed their SPM or other equivalent academic qualifications and are working or those who have completed their STPM and awaiting results or are now working to join the seminar.
Forms are available at the parish offices and those interested are to complete the forms and return them to either Fr Wong (Catholic Archdiocesan Centre Penampang) or Fr Unting (Tambunan) on or before January 4. A contribution fee of RM10.00 is required.
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Sandakan Diocese Celebrates First Anniversary
SANDAKAN(CS Online).- Sandakan Diocese celebrated its first anniversary Oct 27 with a trilingual Mass at St Mary's Cathedral followed by a simple reception at the parish hall.
Simultaneously the diocese also celebrated the first episcopal ordination anniversary (Oct 15) of Bishop Julius Gitom and his 51st birthday (Oct 14).
More than 1,000 faithful (clergy, religious and laity) from the three dioceses turned up for the celebration.
Bishop Cornelius Piong and four priests from Keningau Diocese, and Msgr Primus Jouil and four priests from Kota Kinabalu Archdiocese concelebrated the Mass presided over by Bishop Julius Gitom.
In his homily and speeches, Bishop Julius Gitom said the thrust of the diocese is on building Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) and the need for more priestly vocations and infrastructure to serve the faithful.
As to their achievements in the past year, the diocese was able to carry out a demographic survey as planned, established the diocesan office and temporary bishop's residence, upgraded the diocesan retreat centre at Mile 28 Labuk Road and organized seminar on pastoral leadership and church governance.
Before Mass ended, the Sandakan clergy led by Msgr Nicholas Ong and representatives from the different parishes (Sandakan, Lahad Datu, Tawau, Telupid) and mission (Paitan) renewed their pledge of commitment and loyalty to the bishop.
The bishop also announced that Tawau will host the 2009 celebration.
After Mass the faithful adjourned to the parish hall for lunch and a short programme.
On the eve of the celebration, a welcome dinner was held at a local restaurant. During the dinner for almost 300 people, a simple yet meaningful ceremony was held in which the bishop lighted a lamp which would burn throughout the meal.
Later, the bishop lighted the lamps held by the parish/mission representatives from this one lamp signifying the need for all (clergy, religious and laity) to "work together with me so that we can move forward as a Church."
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St Simon Likas Marks Its Feastday With First Communicants And Blessing Of Newly Completed Facilities
LIKAS(CS).- October 19 (Mission Sunday) was a red-letter day for the parishioners of St Simon Likas as they celebrated in advance their patronal feastday with 32 first communicants, the blessing of the newly completed renovation and modification of the hall complex and an official welcome to Father Cosmas Lee as the priest-in-charge.
The Mass (of Sts Simon and Jude which falls on Oct 28) presided over by Father Cosmas Lee was concelebrated with Father Thomas Madanan of Tuaran.
In his homily, the presider highlighted the fact that little was actually known of the Apostle Simon the Zealot except that he was one of those who were personally called by Jesus to be one of the Twelve after a night of prayer and that he was martyred (sawn to pieces) for his faith.
Therefore, he said, the qualities to be emulated from this saint are to be prayerful, to be courageous in witnessing to the faith and not to seek the limelight in whatever we do.
The first communicants - 25 from SRS Datuk Simon Fung and seven from the community - took part in the Presentation of Gifts and later received Jesus for the first time as food and drink. They received their communion certificates at the parish hall after Mass.
More than 500 parishioners were present to witness the event.
After Mass, the faithful adjourned to the church hall where Lee blessed the newly completed renovation and modification after he showed the slides on the work done.
All the rooms adjoining to the main hall (three by its side and one on the first floor) have been renovated, air-conditioned and sound-proofed.
On the ground floor of the annex block is the renovated parish general office and the parish priest's office.
On the first floor of the same block is the presbytery (priest's quarters) consisting the priest's study and bedroom, a kitchen, living-cum-dining room and an assistant priest/visitor's room.
In progress are a larger water storage tank and tower, a garage, the outer walkway to meeting rooms of the hall, furnishing and equipment.
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17 Invitees Participate In Vocation Retreat
BUNDU TUHAN(CS).- Seventeen invited young men participated in this year's vocation retreat organised by the Vocation Team comprising Frs John Wong, Michael Modoit and Bonaventure Unting Oct 24-26 at the Bundu Tuhan Retreat Centre.
The aspirants from the Catholic Archdiocesan Centre Formation House and the students from St Peter's College Initiation Year facilitated the retreat.
The retreat began with a concelebrated opening Mass presided over by Fr Wong.
The participants enjoyed the ice breaking held after dinner with some video clips from both formation houses.
The bulk of the activities took place Oct 25. Throughout the day, the participants were exposed to the life of the diocesan priestly calling through the vocation stories of the facilitators.
Between the talks by Fr Unting and Deacon-to-be Rayner Bisius, the participants had time to reflect and discern their own personal calling. Later, the three priests interviewed the participants.
During Mass that evening, Fr Modoit announced that five of the participants were accepted as aspirants next year. The day ended with Taize prayers and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
On Sunday morning, there was a little praise and worship session followed by sharings from the participants. Fr Unting ended the retreat with some final words of encouragement.
A vocation seminar will be held on 16-18 Jan 2009 at the Bundu Tuhan Retreat Centre. It is open to all those who feel they have a calling to the priesthood or are just curious about it.
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La Salle Brother Charles Turns 80
KOTA KINABALU(CS).- Time flies and certainly the years have flown for La Salle Brother Charles O'Leary who turned 80 Oct 15.
The school alumni, past and present teachers would not let it pass without a bash for him on Oct 10 at a local seafood restaurant.
Brother Charles or Charlie as he is known as, is one of the three pioneers who came in January 1958 to take over the administration of the Sacred Heart Secondary School (renamed La Salle Secondary School in May 1958) from the Mill Hill Missionaries at the behest of Bishop James Buis.
Born in Ireland in 1928, Charles Michael O'Leary received the habit of the La Salle Brothers on 8 Sept 1945.
He continued his scholastic and religious education first at De La Salle College, Castletown, Ireland, then at La Salle College Mallow and at St John's College Kintbury England. He graduated as a teacher in 1950 at St Mary's College, Strawberry Hill, University of London.
He arrived in Kuching Sarawak in 1951 and taught at St Joseph's Secondary School until 1957.
The following year he came to Jesselton with Brothers Raphael Egan and Thomas Carney. He was principal of SM La Salle from 1969 to 1985. In 1990 he received his datukship from the state government for his contribution to education.
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Sandakan Diocese Opens Pilgrimage Centre
SANDAKAN(CS).- Sandakan Diocese opened St Paul Ulu Dusun as pilgrimage centre for the Pauline Year Oct 19, World Mission Sunday.
About 600 parishioners flocked to St Paul Ulu Dusun, about 50 km from Sandakan, for the event.
Aside from the opening of the pilgrimage centre, the parishioners took the opportunity to celebrate the first diocesan anniversary and episcopal ordination anniversary of Bishop Julius Gitom.
Twenty-five candidates received their first Holy Communion on this day.
The celebration began with the procession of the statue of St Paul accompanied by the beating of gongs.
Bishop Gitom and Father Thomas Makajil concelebrated the Mass.
In his homily, the bishop touched on how St Paul, one-time persecutor of Christians, encountered God and became the greatest missionary of all times.
He urged the faithful to emulate St Paul by sharing the Good News with others.
The bishop also exhorted the faithful to participate fully in the process of the community and infrastructure development of the diocese.
To mark the opening of the pilgrimage centre, the bishop, assisted by Makajil, Pastoral Committee Chairman William Gabriel and Organsing Chairman Nicholas Molijol, unveiled the two scrolls depicting St Paul's Church as the pilgrimage centre, and beat the gong three times.
A reception was held at the community hall after the Mass.
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CWL Tanjung Aru Turns 40
TANJUNG ARU(CS).- The Catholic Women's League (CWL) is now 40 years old in Sabah and Stella Maris Parish Tanjung Aru bears the distinction of being the first parish to have this women's organisation.
The present CWL under Theresa William commemorated this historical occasion with a Mass presided by Father Fundes Motiung followed by a simple reception at the parish hall Oct 25.
Its history was presented in a powerpoint presentation after the Mass.
The idea of forming the CWL was first proposed in 1967 by visiting monk Father J Vivian De Souza who was then temporarily attached to Stella Maris.
He saw the need to have a group of dedicated ladies to assist the rector in looking after the welfare of the Church and carrying out fundraising activities.
The first formal meeting of the CWL held on 26 June 1968 was attended by 29 ladies.
At this meeting, five ladies were elected as committee members while the others were divided into five groups for duty assignments.
In the early days, at the monthly meetings, a secret bag was passed around and the amount collected would be used for buying flowers for the altar.
The ladies took care of supplying flowers for the altar and when their meagre fund ran out, they donated flowers from their own gardens.
This system of passing the secret bag continues till today.
Record of the second meeting held on 17 Aug 1968 showed that Fr De Souza was the chairman with Shiela D'Souza as president. There were no other office bearers elected.
In the minutes of the 12th meeting dated 1 Oct 1969, there was a list of office bearers: Father George Lampe (adviser), Shiela D'Souza (president), Nancy Ng (vice president), Catherine Sedoman (secretary), A Pyne (treasurer), Father J Vivian De Souza (ex-officio) and Mother Aloysius fsic (ex-officio).
What were the early activities the CWL carried out beside flower arrangements?
They did the cleaning of the church, the polishing of candle stands and crucifixes, the sewing and mending of altar boys' vestments and curtains as need arose.
They also organised jumble sales, bazaars, fun fairs for fundraising and fellowships, children's Christmas parties and First Communicants' breakfasts after Mass.
In the early days, the members had no uniform to identify them but they had badges.
The badge was round in shape with a blue background and made of plastic. The blue colour stood for Our Lady and around the edge of the circle was incribed Catholic Women's League Tanjung Aru 1968.
In the inner circle was attached a small golden Miraculous Medal of Our Lady.
When Mary J Baxter became the chairlady in 1972, she added their motto Love and Serve to the badge.
The CWL quickly took root and spread to all the other parishes after 1971, after the institution of the Pastoral Council of the Catholic Church in Sabah (PAX). Initially, the CWL groups worked independently of one another but since 1987 they have worked and collaborated with each other under the coordination of the CWL Commission. They also follow the set of guidelines issued by the Kota Kinabalu Diocese in 1989.
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CWL Celebrates Archbishop Lee's 75th Birthday
KOTA KINABALU(CS).- Unwilling to let such a milestone pass unnoticed, the Catholic Women's League (CWL) organised a subscription dinner to mark the 75th birthday of Archbishop John Lee Oct 8 at a restaurant in town.
The archbishop has been the spiritual director of the CWL since 1987.
More than 1,000 faithful, including clergy and religious, turned up for the occasion, which made the birthday honouree very happy as, according to him in his address, "it showed your support for me and the clergy."
He said the priests need such encouragement from the faithful.
In her welcoming speech, CWL Commission Head Anita Tunggolou said the commission could not let the occasion pass without celebrating it as the archbishop has been journeying with them as their spiritual director for so long.
This was highlighted by a powerpoint presentation on the CWL journey with the archbishop.
The CWL committees in the various parishes took turns to entertain the diners with songs and dances.
As usual on such occasions, there were the usual cake-cutting ceremony, three toasts and presentation of gifts to the archbishop.
The following is a brief chronology (age) of the milestones in the archbishop's life:
Born: 5 Oct 1933
1956 (23): entered seminary
1964 (31): ordained priest
1970 (37): rector of Tawau
1980 (47): canon law studies in Rome
1983 (50): vicar general
1985 (52): diocesan administrator
1987 (54): episcopal ordination
1992 (59): datukship
2008 (75): archbishop
The archbishop was, according to Msgr Primus Jouil in his address during the Thanksgiving Dinner marking Lee's appointment as archbishop on Sept 1, looking forward to his retirement at the mandatory age of 75, but "God has other plans for him."
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Tawau Marks Parish Priest's Pearl Presbyteral Ordination Anniversary
TAWAU(CS).- Holy Trinity Tawau celebrated the 30th (pearl) presbyteral ordination anniversary of its parish priest Msgr Nicholas Ong Oct 3.
The celebration kicked off with a Eucharistic celebration Oct 3 followed by a fellowship dinner at St Clare's Convent Oct 4 in conjunction with the Memorial of St Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of the Franciscan congregation.
In his homily, Ong recalled how as a young idealistic priest, he thought he could change the world by helping the poor, taking care of the environment and promoting social justice.
He said it did not take long for him to discover that he was nowhere near his goals as he was trying to do it depending on himself alone.
So he advised his congregation to be humble and depend totally on God in whatever they do.
Being an ardent environmentalist, Ong said he found it fitting to celebrate the occasion together with the Franciscan Sisters as the late Pope John Paul II had proclaimed St Francis to be patron of ecology in 1979.
The celebrant then exhorted the faithful to develop a sense of fraternity with all living creatures, making sure that no living species get extinct or letting "our friendly hospitable environment get disturbed."
Ong also expressed his appreciation to the faithful for assisting him in carrying out his pastoral duties without an assistant.
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Sabah Junior Clergy Joins Value Clarification Seminar
TAGAYTAY CITY, PHILIPPINES(CS).- Nine diocesan priests from Sabah attended a value clarification seminar Sept 22-26 at the John Mary Vianney Galilee Development and Retreat Centre for Priests, Tagaytay City, Philippines, under the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.
The participants - five from KK Archdiocese (Frs Edward and Federick Raymond, Jalius Sading, Johnny Raju, Tony Mojiwat), three from Keningau Diocese (Frs Bonaventure Unting, Benedict Runsab, Anthony Mikat) and one from Sandakan Diocese (Fr Simon Kontou) - participated in the seminar facilitated by Msgr Chito and Fr Charles Chiew.
The seminar is a five-year programme with different topics every year for the Junior Clergy (5-10 years in ministry). The topic this year was on authority. The remaining topics to be dealt with in the next four years are celibacy, poverty, spirituality and obedience.
The seminar has helped the participants to identify and respect their own values and capability as far as authority is concerned. The next seminar is scheduled on 21-28 September 2009.
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Tanjung Aru Youth Kept Busy With Workshops, Project
TANJUNG ARU(CS).- The following are a series of activities by the Stella Maris Parish Joyful Weekend Gathering (JWG aka Sunday School) Bible Class (Forms 4 & 5) in September.
I. Workshops: Two workshops were held. The first workshop was held on the following topics:
-Why is the Bible important in my life?
-What is the role of the pope in the Catholic Church?
-What is my role as a Catholic in the community?
-What is the importance of family?
-How do I renew my relationship with God?
The second workshop was on:
-How much do I know about Stella Maris Parish?
-What do I think I as a SMP parishioner can do more for SMP? How can I improve SMP?
-Where have our parish priests failed and can do better?
-What can SMP do for the youths?
-Why is the Bible Class important, what are the benefits and how to build up more interest?
The outcome was better teamwork and understanding about the Church and parish.The participants gave outstanding presentations through powerpoint, charts and quizes.
2. Talk on Sunday Mass:
by Neil Mah who answered questions like "Why can't we pray, give thanks and praise God at home?" and "Why Mass is boring?"
He explained that Mass is all about God's love and a miracle when bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ.
He added that if there is no community worship and prayer there is no church and when there is no church there is no Christianity.
To the complaint that Mass is boring he pointed out that this is because people attend Mass without preparation.
He observed that people go to church like going to a concert show.
"If you do not prepare for exams, you will not get good results, so if you do not prepare for Mass you will get nothing out of it," Mah said.
He then gave some tips on how to prepare oneself for Mass:
a. Read the readings and spend some time on reflection.
b. Fast at least one hour before Mass.
c. Arrive at least 10-15 minutes early to say prayers and give thanks to Jesus for his Body and Blood, surrender one's worries and intentions to Jesus and
d. Go to confession if possible.
He concluded: "How can we inherit the Kingdom of God if we are never present in the House of God?"
3. Car Wash Project: the students carried out this project Sept 28 to raise funds for the class' faith formation programmes and to contribute 10 percent towards the new St Catherine of Siena's Church in Putatan.
The students had fun washing cars and competed to see who washed the most cars - raised about RM1,970.00.
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