Archbishop John Ha's homily during the Mass

Today is a big day for the local Church in Malaysia as much as it is for Sabah. We have a new Ecclesiastical Province and a new Metropolitan See - coming within less than a year after the creation of the Diocese of Sandakan.

His Grace, the Most Rev Datuk John Lee has been rightly appointed the first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu.

Let me first of all congratulate the Church in Sabah on this great occasion of grace and Archbishop John Lee on his leadership and appointment as Archbishop of Kota Kinabalu.

Today is also a big day for God. For God's presence and God's providence have been at work to bring the Church to this stage of its history in Sabah and in Malaysia. God has worked marvels for us. Indeed, our hearts are filled with praise and thanksgiving to God.

The Liturgy of the Word confirms our faith that God is actively present in our midst. In the first reading (Is 49:1-6), Prophet Isaiah tells us that God's intervention for His people came through a servant whom He had chosen even before his birth.

God formed this servant in the womb of his mother to be a "sharp sword and a sharpened arrow." These two metaphors powerfully describe the effective instrument that God's servant was as He used him to proclaim His word to His people comprising the tribes of Jacob and Israel. The servant God had chosen would also announce His word to "the nations" so that God's "salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."

The second reading (Acts 13:22-26) affirms God's continued care for His people through the servants He raised for them. Taken from the Acts of the Apostles, it is the second part of St Paul's speech to the people of Athens.

Going back to the history of God's people in the Old Testament, St Paul recalled the marvels God worked for His people. Touching on the period of the monarchy, he recounted God's appointment of Saul as the first king. Following that, God "selected David son of Jesse, a man after His own heart" to continue working out His plan of salvation. Behind His choice of David, God obviously had in time the total fulfillment of His plan. For in his speech, St Paul highlighted the fact of God "raising for Israel one of David's descendant, Jesus as Saviour."

From the first two readings of today's Liturgy, it is clear that in every period of the history of His people, God made it a point to raise up servants for them. This was the care God took of His people. The Gospel (Jn 15:9-17) we heard a while ago presents Jesus continuing His Father's care for His people. He told His Apostles, You did not choose me. No, I chose you.

Christ's choice of the Apostles was rooted in and followed the same pattern as His Father's choice of Him. This is clear from Christ's words, As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.

Because the Father loved His Son, He chose Him to be the Christ. In the same way as He was loved and chosen, Christ loved and chose His Apostles. Called later through a conversion experience, St Paul joined the College of Apostles chosen by Christ to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour, wherever they went. Chosen by Christ, all these Apostles truly ranked among the servants whom Isaiah affirmed God had formed even before their birth. Through them, God continued to show His care for His people.

It was in total fidelity to Christ's command to go out and bear fruit that the Apostles proclaimed the Gospel of salvation wherever they went, even to the point of suffering martyrdom.

In this, they were continuing the work God gave to Christ their Lord and Master to take care of His people. In this, they were imitating Him totally. With the authority given them by Christ through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on them, the Apostles appointed successors to carry on their mission. These latter also appointed their successors with the authority of the same Holy Spirit.

In this way, the line of apostolic succession continues down through the ages until our day and will continue until the end of time. Successors of the Apostles in every generation are servants raised up by God for His people.

In this way, God has been taking care of every generation of His children on earth, in every period of the history of His people and the Church. Indeed, if today we are able to be here as the Church in Sabah and in Malaysia, it is because of the servants God raised up for us, the new Israel, the sons of Abraham's race by faith.

Our celebration today is therefore filled not with pride and triumphalism, but with praise and thanksgiving to God. For it is He who is present with us and at work in our midst to bring us to where we are now.

The erection of a third Ecclesiastical Province in Malaysia - the Province of Kota Kinabalu - is undoubtedly evidence of God's grace and care in bringing the Church to its present level of maturity.

In the line of succession from the Apostles, the new Archbishop, Most Rev Datuk John Lee, and the other two bishops, Right Rev Datuk Cornelius Piong and Right Rev Julius Dusin, are servants God has raised up for the Church in Sabah to bring His salvation to more people and thus bring about further growth of the local Church.

Our celebration today is a grateful acknowledgement of God's active presence with us, His choice of leaders for us and His gift of salvation to us - all because He loves and cares for us.

Christ's words in today's gospel follow His metaphorical presentation of the Church in terms of the vine and the branches. He is the vine; we are the branches. United with Christ we are the Church. The bishops are the leaders He has chosen for His Church.

Christ's commission to go out and bear fruit, fruit that will last is meant not just for the Apostles and their successors, but also for the whole Church.

The lasting fruit is the salvation God offers to the whole world. We have now to assume responsibility as the Church in Sabah and indeed in Malaysia to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ known, so that God's salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.

The commission is daunting, especially when we are faced with strong challenges. But we have Christ's assurance that the Father is always there for us: "The Father will give you anything you ask Him in my name."

With this assurance of grace from the Father, we should be confident enough to carry out the task that has been entrusted to us in Malaysia today.

If we are truly filled with praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, we will willingly and readily undertake the mission we receive from Christ to bear fruit that will last. In fact the most genuine and deepest gratitude we show to God who has chosen us is to carry out His will.

May God continue to bless the Church in Sabah and in Malaysia by raising up for us servants after His own heart to inspire, lead and empower us to make Jesus known and accepted as Lord and Saviour.