The St. Francis Xavier (SFX Church's Mini Eucharistic Congress with the theme Get Real with Jesus, culminated with a 5.30pm Corpus Christ Mass and a Eucharistic procession.
An altar was set up in the, church compound, for the faithful to venerate the Body o Christ, and for Benediction during the procession. Parish priest Fr Simon Yong SJ was the main celebrant with Assistant Parish Priest F Albert Tan SJ as concelebrant.
More than 800 people participated in that Mass, which was also the first Holy Communion Mass for 54 children.
To express the parish's love for the Body of Christ, a 24 hour silent adoration began immediately after the first Corpus Christi Mass that is after the first Sunset Mass right through to 5.OOpm on Sunday. All the BECs and parish groups took part in the vigil.
An exhibition on the sacred, vessels and Mass vestment was held at one of the halls in the church complex.

Recently The Actors Studio presented a two-act play Sybil. This is the tale of Sybil Kathigasu, a Catholic, who fell into the hands of the Japanese Military Police and was tortured and interrogated on suspicion of being Resistance Spy
It begins with Sybil, her husband Dr A.C. Kathigasu and the Captain (her Resistance contact) listening to the devastating news of British defeat throughout the peninsula.
Suspicion is rife, Japanese collaborators are in every town, and the feared Kempetai - the Japanese Military Police that is answerable only to itself - is beginning to take an interest in a small town called Papan, in Batu Gajah, Perak.
It is here that tile Kathigasus established a makeshift dispensary to aid refugees. Dr Kathigasu continues to operate his clinic in Jalan Sultan Idris Shah, Ipoh. and frequently brings medical supplies to Papan.
"People must come to see Sybil. She is part of our history," shared Dato Faridah Merican.

June 8 marked a significant day for the Church of' St Francis of Assisi as a day-long carnival which attracted more than 2,000 people was held. Dubbed the Freak-Out Carnival, it was aimed at raising RM 100,000 for the church building fund project. RM6.5 million is needed to build a community centre as well as to renovate the existing church building to accommodate the ever increasing parish population.
An endeavour undertaken by the youth group of the church, the preceding efforts - which began early this year. Aside from this, the youths also appealed to sponsors and local celebrities to grace their event.
Therese Kok, who is also the state Investment, Industry and Commerce Committee chairman, then donated RM5,000 to the cause.
Parish priest Fr Valentine Gompok OFM Cap, thanked the youths who had worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the event.

On June 10, Fr Antoine Henriot MEP, Chaplain to St Francis Xavier Home for the Elderly, was conferred one of the highest decorations of France, De Chevalier de Legion d'Honneur (Knight in the French National Order of the Legion of Honour) by His Excellency, Mr. Alain Boispean, the Ambassador of France to Malaysia.
Fr Henriot's knighthood was in recognition of his life of dedication in caring for the poor, sick and needy without distinction of race, nationality or creed. A true Catholic missionary, a proud French national and now a loyal Malaysian citizen.
His Excellency, the French Ambassador delivered an accolade for his selfless service, when after his ordination as an MEP priest (at the tender age of 23) in Paris in 1947, he was sent half way across the globe to China. There he served and suffered under the Communists for several years before he was expelled and landed on Malaysian soil in 1954.
Fr Henriot's wish is to spread his mother country's motto which is "Liberty, Equality and Brotherhood" which, if-practiced by all nations, would make this world a world of peace, justice, truth and love.

The feast of St Anthony o Padua was celebrated significantly from June 5 to June 15 at the Church of St Anthony (SAC) The celebrations culminated on June 14 when 4,000 worshippers converged for the evening multilingual Mass, with the theme A Mission that was presided over by Fr Phillips Muthu from the Church of the Assumption and concelebrated with SAC parish priest, Fr Jestus Pereira.
In his homily addressed in English and Tamil Fr Phillips quoted from the day's Readings, saying God thinks and feels with His heart am mind, and has plans. In the Old Testament, Go, chose some to bring Good News to the world He chose Abraham, Moses and Israel from small and weak country.
Fr Phillips said God chooses someone and gives a mission, gives him or her service perform. "Just like when 1 became a priest, I didn't expect great rewards but being a priest is call to service,"

Three hundred and thirty-five Migrants, mainly Filipino domestic workers, were jubilant to have graduated in a six-month long St John''''s Cathedral Migrants'''' Capability Enhancement (CAPE) Programme on June l. This is the second graduation since the CAPE programme started in late 2006.
The certificate awarding ceremony was held in Saloma Theatre Restaurant, Pusat Pelancongan Malaysia (MTC) in Jalan Ampang.
Dr Irene Fernandez, the director and CO-founder of Non-Government Organisation (NGO) TENAGANITA was the guest of honour. Also present was St John''''s Cathedral (SJC) parish priest, Msgr James Gnanaprigasam and Philippines Embassy Vice-Consul, Sherline B. Mananquil who represented the Philippines Ambassador to Malaysia. In her speech, Dr lrene spoke about the importance of migrants'''' acquiring skills while working overseas.There are some 16 subjects being taught in the CAPE Programme, and the migrants can choose which subjects to sign up for to attend the weekly courses.

Members from the Bukit Tinggi BEC in Klang, paid a visit to the Hospice Centre for AIDS on June 7.
Upon their arrival, they were greeted by Mr Gomez and Mr Michael who then gave a briefing and took them on a tour of the place.
The visitors were introduced to the staff and patients at the Hospice. They were told that some of the patients from the Sungai Buloh Hospital have been transferred there. There are about 30 patients in this centre including refugees from Myanmar.
The visitors were impressed with the way the patients depended on each other to take care and overcome their sadness, their longing for their families and the pain they are suffering. During tea, the visitors exchanged ideas and opinions. One of the urgent requirements was the need for nurses and daily necessities. The members of Bukit Tinggi BEC are determined to continue their effort to visit this centre in the future.

The Servants of Yahweh Catholic Covenant Community (SOY) conducted WAIT Weekend for over 60 youth at its new centre in SS2, Petaling Jaya recently.
The talks and testimonies drove home the pivotal message that celibacy before marriage is crucial and surrendering to temptation has serious life-long consequences.
Participants were made to understand that their virginity is sacred and that love and lust mark the difference between marital and pre-marital sex.
Ben and Margaret Lye, the seasoned founders of CANA, explained the differences in the sexual make up of boys and girls and declared that attraction for the opposite sex is only natural. "God has a purpose for creation and sex is a beautiful gift of God." They warned participants to be aware of the ruses of the secular world which cheapen the deeper meaning of sex and turn it into a tool for selfish exploitation and sexual gratification. Biblical perspectives oi the subject were also given.

The Chapel of Our Lady of Good Health (OLGH) was a hive of activity on June 7 and 8 with children aged from six to twelve having fun.
It was the Junior Fun Camp III organised by the OLGH Youths for 45 children, 24 from OLGH and 21 from nearby Sacred Heart Church. The theme Kids + Love = Jesus saw 25 youths coming together to help out in the two days to ensure that the children, not only had a great time together but also to get to know Jesus better.
The camp was conducted in three languages, English, Tamil and Bahasa Malaysia and received the encouragement of parents.
The camp was held in the beautifully decorated OLGH double-storey hall, where the children spent the first night; after dinner, ice-breaking, games, Rosary and songs were conducted.
On the second day, OLGH Chapel Administrator, Fr Christopher Soosaipillai spent some time with the children. He praised the good efforts of the youths and their sacrifices in bringing joy to the children.

High Court today (June 9) under a new judge, Justice Datuk Abdul Kadir Musa, after futile attempts to settle the dispute out of court.
The hearing of the application by the Sidang Injil Borneo (Borneo Evangelical Church) Sabah for leave to sue the Internal Security Minister Syed Hamid Albar (previously Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) and the Federal government over the dispute was heard in chambers but was adjourned to Aug 7.
SIB claimed that on August 15, 2007, three boxes of its Christian educational publications from Indonesia to Sabah were unlawfully detained in transit at the Low Cost Car Terminal (LCCT) at Sepang. They also contend that this had infringed upon their constitutional rights and their rights to freedom of religion.

An Interreligious dialogue on the topic of Sexual Orientation was recently organised by th Catholic Students Society (ATOMIC of University College Sedaya International.
ATOMIC, as the main organiser received support from the other religious organisations on campus, mainly Buddhist Youth and the India Cultural Society, as well as its Student Affairs Office and AMEIA, the Archdiocesan Ministry of Ecumenism and Interreligious Affairs, KL.
The three-hour dialogue session which was given the catchy name of Multireligious 3D: Dialogue, Discourse & Discussion, saw four speakers from four different religions sharing the viewpoints from a religious perspective. Prajindra Sankar, who was representing Hinduism, Fr Dr Clarenc Devadass, who represented th Catholic Church, Chua Teck Seon; representing Buddhism and Lana Mohammad who was representing Islam, discussed various aspects of sexual orientations such as alternate sexual orientations, sexual orientations in scripture, the official stance taken by the various religions as we as same-sex marriages and bisexuality.

During the formation for the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocesan Chinese Language Commission (ACLAC), Spiritual Advisor, Sr Theresa Chew, pic, shared on the Spirit of Jesus, to reflect on Jesus' message, dare to change and to serve the community.
She succeeded in showing ways of making it not only easier but fun for participants to share a better understanding of the mission and objective of being a disciple of Christ through serving in communion with other communities in the church.
The formation was to serve two purposes. Firstly, to prepare participants for challenging times ahead and secondly, to craft hearts to Jesus through joyful presentations.
In the last session, Sr Chew spoke on PMPC III - Six Strategies. She encouraged the apostolate to work with the parish, district, archdiocesan leaders and priests to realise the strategies listed in the final document. That is the direction of local church for all to follow.

Archbishop Murphy Pakiam was bestowed the Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM), which carries the Tan Sri title, in conjunction with the
birthday of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin on June 7. Archbishop Pakiam was among 30 persons bestowed with this honour.
Congratulations Archbishop Murphy Pakiam!

The conferment of the `Order of Merit' by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin on national squash queen Nicol Ann David is seen as the country's highest recognition for sports.
With the conferment, Nicol, 24, becomes the first recipient of the award given to Malaysians who are renowned at national and international levels.
Established on June 26, 1975, the award is limited to 10 recipients who have made significant contributions in arts, science and humanity. The award, however, does not carry any title.
"She deserves the award. We in the SRAM (Squash Racket Association of Malaysia) are very proud of her achievement and congratulate Nicol for it.
Penang-born Nicol, from the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, was first introduced to the sport at the age of five and for the following three years, she started to take the sport seriously.
Her successes in the sport include recognition by the Women's International Squash Players Association (Wispa) with the latest success being the Seoul Open title which she just won on June 7.

This year the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was celebrated joyfully from May 28 to May 31 at the Church of the Sacred Heart (SHC) in Jalan Peel, with the theme Sacred Heart and The Eucharist.
The celebrant on May 30, the actual feastday was SHC parish priest, Fr Christopher W. Soosaipillai, who said he was grateful to preside at the multilingual Mass for the feastday for the first time as the new parish priest. More than 1,250 parishioners including many from nearby parishes participated in the Novena to the Sacred Heart, Mass and Benediction.
In his homily in English, Fr Christopher quoted the appearance of Our Blessed Lord to St Margaret Mary in the 1600s revealing His Sacred Heart and requesting the establishment of the Feast, the Friday after Corpus Christi, in order to make reparation for sins, which offend His Sacred Heart.

The Church of the Sacred Heart celebrated their parish Eucharistic Congress on June 1 with a multilingual Mass at 9.OOam.
This was presided by parish priest, Fr Christopher W. Soosaipillai, followed by adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that started from 11.OOam till 6.OOpm. The monstrance was placed on the altar for the parishioners to spend time adoring Jesus Christ truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.
The focus of Fr Christopher's homily was based on the Sunday Readings. He also touched briefly on the Eucharist.
The various groups in the parish, namely Sunday School, Chinese and Tamil Apostolate, Youth Movement, English Community, Multi-Lingual including the Our Lady of Good Health Chapel (OLGH)
Community were allocated an hour each, lead in the adoration.
A Solemn Benediction was conducted by Christopher at 6.OOpm, followed by fellowship for all.

All the people who attended the night's event were high. But there was no alcohol, smoking nor drugs involved. It was the Holy Spirit that brought all to such a level excitement that no rave party could compare.
It was the CKK (Capel Kurnia Kristus) Cultural Night 2008 held on Friday May 9, which saw many people from at least 12 different countries joined together to celebrate our cultural similarities and differences, a fusion of cultural that brought about camaraderie through Christ.
About 120 people crowded the tiny yet cozy CKK Community Centre hall that night. People started trickling in at 7.OOpm and Praise and Worship began 7.30pm led by John Fung.
By that time everyone was there, and the emcee Tiger and Christine, from America and Indonesia respectively welcomed everyone and kicked start the night.

A special multi-lingual Confirmation Mass was celebrated on May 17 evening at the Church of St Anthony presided by Kuala Lumpur Archbishop, His Grace Murphy Pakiam and concelebrated by parish priest, Fr Jestus Pereira.
In his homily in English and Tamil, Archbishop Pakiam said the Catholic Church recognizes One Supreme God who is three Persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This belief confounds or blows our minds - only One God but Three Persons. "We accept this truth because God sent His Son, Jesus Chrisi to tell us about his Father, Himself and the Holy Spirit," Archbishop Pakiam stated.
"We trust what Jesus said is true. However, not everyone can accept this."
Archbishop Pakiam added that we will never be alone as the Holy Spirit is always with us, for Jesus said with great love: `I will not leave you orphans, and I will go to My Father and will send you My Holy Spirit' who will enable you to recognise this truth.

“We need more priests as without priests, there will be no sacrament, no Eucharist," said Fr Andrew Kooi during the parish level Eucharistic Congress at St John''s Cathedral (SJC).
Fr Kooi, ordained on April 3, presided at the special evening Mass on May 25 to commemorate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, with SJC priests, Msgr James Gnanaprigasam and Fr A.Amalanathan concelebrating.
He said that in our everyday lives, we need food to survive, more so water. "We take trouble to purchase quality or delicious food to eat to sustain our bodies. How many of us take the trouble to sustain our souls?" he questioned.
Fr Kooi next thanked all the parishioners saying that he would take with him the sweet memories he had with the assembly here. Fr Kooi left for Taipei, Taiwan on May 27 for two years to further his studies Mandarin.

The Servants of Yahweh (SOY) Covenant Community organized the CANA retreat recently.
Some interesting insights gained from the retreat were the biblical aspect of the husband and wife relationship and a very practical and educative view on the psychological differences between man and woman. Participants were highly amused by some videos on the marriage relationship shown during the weekend.
The CANA programme culminated in a poignant time of ministry and healing as couples participated in the 14 Stations of the Cross with Jesus which was particularly geared to forgiveness and reconciliation.
Fr Francis Tsen from Port Dickson celebrated Mass during the Pentecost weekend. In his homily Father advised the couples not "to just focus on each other, but to stand side by side to face the world together." He urged them to reach out and minister to God's people.
The retreat ended with many couples testifying on how they were convinced to change their marriage relationships.

For the 77 candidates from the various language groups, May 18 will always be cherished as one of the most importance events in their lives as they were administered the Sacrament Confirmation in a multilingual Mass by Archbishop Murphy Pakiam.
The celebration was held in Church of the Sacred Heart, attended by some 1,500 parishioners an well-wishers including family members of the confirmands.
Parish priest, Fr Christopher Soosaipillai proclaimed the Gospel reading that commemorated the Feast of The Most Blessed Trinity.
In his homily, Archbishop Pakiam said as we come together in faith to the altar as a community, as church and despite all our weaknesses we are first and foremost God's children. "God gave us the capability to change and that's wonderful.
PCC Coordinator, Clement Ambrose expressed thanks to the faith formators who had sacrificed their time in preparing the candidates, godparents, parents and congratulated the newly confirmed.

The feast of the Ascension of the Lord into heaven was celebrated joyfully at the Chapel of the Ascension of the Lord in Kampung Tasek Permai, Ampang with the main theme God's Amazing Gift.
The preacher for the Triduum was Chapel Administrator, Fr Jestus Pereira, who is also the parish priest of the Church of St Anthony in Kuala Lumpur.
Four hundred parishioners converged for the feastday celebrations that was preached in Tamil. There were three different sub-themes focusing on the Eucharist and Sacrament, Community and Mission for the three days.
According to the Chapel Chairperson, N.R. John, the chapel had placed a Sacred Heart statue outside the chapel building for personal reflections, for the duration of the feast.
John mentioned that the chapel faithful has expressed their appreciation to their priest for presiding at this year's feastday and they hoped to have Mass celebrated once a month here.

The Eucharistic Congress at the Church of the Holy Family began with the celebration of community Mass on May 25. Joining the Kajang residents were the National Service trainees of two Semenyih camps and students from UKM, UPM, and UCS1, among others.
Assistant priest Fr George Harrison emphasised the sacredness of the Eucharist and the need to honour it. He summed up by reminding everyone present that we have always been getting (Jesus' love, mercy, salvation and the Holy Spirit); now it is time to give back. He asked the congregation if they would give one hour in adoration of the Eucharist.
Adoration was scheduled after hour after Mass until 5.OOpm. There was also a day-long exhibition of the items used to celebrate Mass.
A talk and sharing session was also conducted after lunch to strengthen the understanding above the holiness and sacredness of the Eucharist.

In conjunction with World Communications Day 2008, about
40 Catholic media practitioners from several media agencies gathered for a dinner and discussion on 8 May.
Present at the gathering were Archbishop Murphy Pakiam and three officers of Signis World: Augustine Loorthusamy, president; Peter Thomas, vice-president; and Alvito De Souza, director of the general secretariat. 
Signis is the World Catholic Association for Communication, a non-governmental organization that has members from 140 countries. It brings together radio, television, cinema, video, media education, Internet, and new technology professionals.
In his welcome address, Archbishop Pakiam spoke of the role of the laity and their efforts to increase their spirituality, adding that some lay persons were "outdoing" the clergy in this aspect.
Loorthusamy explained the theme for 2008 - The Media: At the Crossroads Between Self-Promotion and Service. Echoing the Pope's thematic message, he emphasised that the media - through the active role of Catholic media practitioners - should promote and defend the truth.
Lawrence , who is also the president of Signis Asia, extended an invitation to those present to form a media practitioners network.

Two talks specially designed for both the leaders and members of BECs were held on May 8-12 at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre.They were conducted by Dr Jose M. de Mesa who is a married Filipino lay theologian, a University Fellow at De La Salle University of Manila and a Luzbetak Visiting Professor at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.
The first talk was about making Jesus real in the BEC. Articulating the relevance of Jesus and the salvation that Jesus brings, according to its own cultural and historical context is a part of the mission of every Christian community or BEC. Drawing on the experiences of the first disciples of Jesus, Dr Jose charted the process by which the first disciples expressed Jesus' meaningfulness in their concrete situation and how this very same process can serve as a guide for us and our BECs today.

The Church of St Joseph celebrated its feastday, St Joseph the Worker, and also its centenary on May 4, 2008.
Parishioners here have been celebrating their patron saint's feastday since the beginning of the Malayan Railways Sentul workshop where many Catholics worked during the colonial era.
The feastday service was celebrated by the Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, together with Bishop Antony Selvanayagam and several priests who had served the parish in the recent history of the church.
Immediately after the service, parishioners took part in a candlelight procession, taking turns to carry St Joseph's statue, while others sang praises along the kilometer-long route.
"Your active participation at Mass and your strong spirituality have always been an encouragement and strengthened my priesthood calling," confessed Fr Stan also thanked the Centenary Committee for the months of hard work and preparation. In particular he congratulated and thanked the Editorial Team that researched, authored and produce the centenary commemorative book, Know the Story.

Three hundred and fifty parishioners from the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes (OLL) attended the Parish Eucharistic Congress on May 19, in three language groups, namely English, Tamil and Bahasa.
The sessions were centred on the theme Eucharist: Gods Amazing Gift -- A Taste of God. Video clips on various aspects of the Eucharist were presented before the participants engaged in group discussions conducted by the facilitators. The ten topics covered were Hunger, The Quiet Presence of God Called to the Gathering --the Challenge, Called to the Gathering - the Gift, A meal for .sinners, The voice of God, Broken and Poured for Love, I am here for You, Mission and To Say Amen.
The participants benefited from the presentations and group sharing which prepared them for a deeper understanding and appreciation of the Eucharist. It was indeed a very successful session.

After having successfully attended the weekly classes for some six months under the St John'; Cathedral (SJC) Migrant's Capability Enhancement Programme (CAPE) some 150 migrants, mainly Filipinos some Myanmarese, three Indonesian and several local Malaysians graduated on June 1.
On May 18, at the old parish hall of SIC, the migrants were proud to exhibit their products, showing their skills from the Baking & Pastry Class, Western & Oriental Cuisine Class and Creative Art Class. They also took the opportunity to showcase several other exhibits from the Care Giving Class, Beauty Culture Class, Touch Therapy and Ballroom Dancing.
SJC parish priest, Msgr James' Gnanapiragasam was also present to launch the exhibit and evaluation day; He took some time to view the products and evaluate the students' performances.