An hour long guided vigil for the release of the ISA detainees was held at the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Puchong on Sept 18. It was a prayerful vigil and the guided vigil concept managed to get everyone present to participate in the multi-lingual hymns and prayers.
"We are gathered here today to ask God to abolish the ISA so that all detainees will be released," said parish priest Fr Leonard Lexson in his opening message. "We recognize that this Act ought to be repealed and abolished. As Christians, we together pray for our nation, our government, our opposition, our society, for democracy to be upheld, for freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of dignity of the human being, and of course freedom of religion."
Fr Leonard Lexson then went on to highlight the history of the Internal Security Act and its relevance when the Act was enacted. The vigil began with an opening prayer by the parish priest and followed by the intentions

The Parish of the Visitation in Seremban was recognized recently for its regular annual collective blood donation to the blood bank of Seremban's Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital.
It was conferred the Sumbangan Penghargaan at a special ceremony in conjunction with Hari Penderma Darah Sedunia 2008 held in the hospital premises.
On hand to receive the award was Parish Pastoral Council Chairman John Lim representing Parish Priest Fr Michael Chua and the parish of the Visitation. The award was presented by the Hospital Director Yang Berbahagia Dr. Ja'afar Che Mat.
The parish was among other religious institutions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), groups and individuals to have been recognised for their humanitarian contributions to the blood bank.
The conferment was seen by parishioners as a fitting credit for the parish's faithfulness and consistency in its commitment over many years to its annual in-house blood donation campaign for the hospital blood bank.
Though no records were available at the time of this report, it is known that the blood donation campaign had originated in the mid-1990s. It began as a response to a call from the then Parish Priest Fr Anthony Thomas encouraging parishioners to, as a  personal Lenten sacrifice, consider giving a ‘gift of life’.

The annual Installation Mass of the Catholic Society of St John's Institution under the guidance of Bro Lawrence Spitzig, FSC and Mr Jesu Iruthayanathan, and the Catholic Society of Convent Bukit Nanas (CBN) was held recently.
The Eucharistic Celebration took place in he CBN School Chapel and was attended by around 150 people.
The Installation Mass was held in order to mark the handover of the executive committees of both Societies. After a year of service of their respective Societies, the committee members were stepping down, and it was time for the new board members to take up their mantle.
Fr Michael Raymond, OFM Cap, was the celebrant for the Mass. The IJ Sisters of CBN along with the Christian Fellowship, Buddhist Society and Hindu and Sikh Society of St John's Institution joined in the celebration. It was a wonderful experience that they could witness and be part of the Mass.
Indeed, it was a testament to our ability to live together in peace, respecting each other's faith.

Suffering is the vale of soul searching Teresa Kok, Seputih Member of Parliament, came away from her recent 7 day detention under the Internal Security Act with a sharpened understanding of this truth, much touted by Christian divines and others acquainted with what St John of the Cross meant by the "long dark night of the soul."
"Caught up with my responsibilities as a Member of Parliament and as Selangor state executive councilor, I had found it difficult to keep up with my religious observances in the prelude to my detention," said Teresa, who made time to talk to HERALD amidst the swirl of speaking engagements and press interviews in the immediate aftermath of her release on September 19.
Teresa, an otherwise regular Mass-goer, was slipping in her religious observances but on the day of her detention on September 12 (a Friday), found herself in St Xavier's Church in Petaling Jaya, half an hour before Mass started at 6.30pm.
Little did she know she was being tailed the whole day by Special Branch officers who arrested her at about 11.1Opm after her return to her condominium from a dinner in connection with Malaysia-China business relations.

The Nativity of The Blessed Virgin Mary was celebrated joyfully at the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Health (OLGH) on Sep 8. Some 850 Catholics from far and near converged for the evening Eucharist that was presided over by F Mari Arokiam, the parish priest of the Church of St John Vianney, Tampin and concelebrated by OLGH Parish Administrator, Pr Christophei W Soosaipillai.
At the beginning of Mass, Fr Mari informed the congregation that Mary', birthday today also marks his 16th anniversary as a priest and invited all to pray for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life and to pray for one another.
In his homily, in English and Tamil. Fr Mari touched on the theme Listening To God's Word and spoke at length about Mary, who listened from her heart to the Word and responded.
The diocesan priest urged the assembly to look into the life of Mary. She surrendered to the will of God in humility and responded positively in various situations.

The first ever Lifeline Conference, ‘Act1v8' was held at the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre over the weekend of Aug 30 to Sept 1, with the theme; You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses. A total of 153 participants signed up for the Lifeline Conference. Participants were largely from Lifeline Saint Francis Xavier, Lifeline Chapel Kurnia Kristus and Lifeline Kota Kinabalu and included youths from Singapore, Indonesia, Botswana and Swaziland. 
The World Youth Day theme on the Holy Spirit naturally invited the organizers to consider that youth come with different giftings and interests. As such, the Conference offered participants a choice of two workshop streams which were run concurrently throughout the conference. In Supernatural, Jude Antoine explained how the charismatic gifts of prophecy, word of knowledge, discernment and healing can be a way of evangelisation, especially in building up the Church.

Malaysian Catholics holding candles went on bended knees in a show of solidarity and to seek divine intervention over the Sept 12 ISA arrests - which some described as another blimp in the nation's history.
The arrests of controversial blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, (Released on September 19th. 2008) and Sin Chew Daily journalist Tan Hoon Cheng (Released on September 12th. 2008) caused unease among not only ordinary Malaysians, human rights groups and members of non-governmental organisations but several Federal Ministers and heads of political parties - both from the ruling coalition and the opposition as well.
Resonant of Operation Lallang of October 1987, the Sept 12 unexpected arrests also saw the issuance of' show cause letters to three newspapers – the Sun, Sin Chew Daily and Suara Keadilan for allegedly publishing articles that authorities claimed could destabilize racial harmony and national security. All three newspapers have been given a week to reply to the show cause letters.
Although journalist Tan was released a day after her arrest on September 12 - candle light prayer vigils are continuing in churches for blogger-activist Raja Petra and Teresa Kok with the Petaling Jaya St Francis Xavier’s Church organising the first sunset to sunrise silent adoration on September 13.
The Democratic Action Party also held a solidarity vigil at its national headquarters in Petaling Jaya on the same day. A similar gathering planned the same night Released on September 19th 2008 at the national police headquarters in Bukit Aman by the Anti-ISA Movement (GMI) fizzled out when police ordered the dissidents to disperse after allowing a 15-minute sit in.

There will be an SPM Bible Knowledge Teachers' Course from Nov 25 to Nov 29 at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre in Kuala Lumpur.
This stay-in course is specially designed to cater for would-be teachers, parents and church leaders who wish to teach Bible Knowledge to Form 4 and Form 5 students in the respective parishes.
The two books to be mastered are the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles (Good News Version).
The course includes text content, spiritual input, methodology, exam questions and answers, written assignments and organization of new classes.
A day's programme will run from 7.OOam till 1O.OOpm and include morning and evening prayers.
The course costs RM300 and participants must read and master both books before attending the course.
Those without books may purchase them at RM15 each. If interested, please send in your full name, parish, contact number together with the cheque / money order to St John's Cathedral, No 5, Jalan Bukit Nanas, 50250 Kuala Lumpur. The cheques should be crossed and made payable to Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese Bible Apostolate.
For further enquires, do contact G Anthony at 0126666246 or Josephine Clara at 03-20266466 (office hours).

In conjunction with the 51st Independence Day celebration, a Family Day was held for the parishioners of St Paul the Hermit on August 31.
Organised by the Parish BECOT Committee, the Family Day started off with Mass and continued with the raising of the Jalur Gemilang and the singing of the national anthem.
The event was officiated by Fr Terence Thomas, the Parish Priest. There were games and performances during the celebration. Games were held for all age groups ranging from one-year-old to the oldest in the community. Prizes were given to the winners by Fr Terence.
The climax of the event was sadu kudu (Indian traditional game) between youths and the elders. It was won by the elders. Everyone had a wonderful time during the event. Light refreshments were served to everyone at the end of the celebration.

It was an evening of fun, games, motivation and music for some forty young Catholic, mainly teenagers who converged at Dewan John Hsiong of the Church the Holy Rosary (HRC) on Sept 6, to listen to and participate in a motivational talk and workshop on dealing with everyday stresses.
The event was organised by HRC youth Team Ministry, where ten members (Youth Team) were also present to ensure the evening was exciting, hip and happening! A few parents were so present.
Franklin Morias, who is a lecturer and trainer counselor from the HELP University College was the guest speaker. His one–and-a-half hour talk entitled Why So Stressed? was very encouraging, educational and enlightening to the participants as it focused on the stresses faced by them in school, exams, relationships at home and with others. He also provided certain solutions on how to cope with the stresses and to a certain level on how to eliminate or reduce stress.

Three shouts of Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! reverberated in the old parish hall of St John's in Bukit Nanas, as 150 homeless and poor people gathered to celebrate the 51st birthday of our beloved nation.
It was truly a stirring moment indeed as the multi-faith and multi-racial group sang the national anthem, Negaraku with gusto and pride. They were all treated to a sumptuous western meal complete with ice-cream and cake by the dedicated volunteers and staff of the AOHD (Archdiocesan Office for Human Development).
Carl d'Cunha, the AOHD Welcome Feeding Programme coordinator shared, "Lately, we have seen a steady increase in the number of people coming to eat at our feeding programme, as they just cannot cope with the steep increase in the prices of fuel and food. As the country becomes more and more developed, it is my wish that Malaysians would also grow in compassion for the poor as they are really undergoing tremendous suffering."

The opening ceremony of Wisma Lourdes on Sept 1, also saw the launch of Lourdes Treasure (Religious Articles Centre) - the first of its kind in the Klang district. It was officially declared open by OLL's Parish Priest, Fr Dr John Gnanapiragasam, who blessed the Centre as he opened its doors to all.
Available for sale are Religious items, picture frames, Greeting Cards (Thank You and Memorial), Wedding Bulletins, Stickers, Plaques and CDs, VCDs and DVDs. In addition there are ready-made Altars, Statues, Crosses and Crucifixes as well as much inspirational reading material sourced from Philippines, Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Taiwan and Malaysia.
The Centre operates Mon - Fri from 9.00 am - 12 noon and on Sundays from 8.30 am - 2.00 pm. For further information kindly call the Parish Office at 03-33713053 or contact Mrs Jenny Sam directly at 017-3188485 for inquiries and placing of orders.

Despite of the absence of any VIP representatives from the Federal Government for this year's Merdeka Mass, in contrast to previous years, nonetheless the annual Merdeka Mass at the Cathedral of St John, which was held on Aug 31 was celebrated meaningfully to mark the nation's 51 anniversary of Independence.
The Thanksgiving Eucharistic celebration was presided over by parish priest, Msgr James Gnanapiragasam.
The cathedral facade was decorated with three large Jalur Gemilang with buntings and many small flags as well. Five large Jalur Gemilang flags were also hung as backdrop against the sanctuary wall.
The special Mass was held to pledge our patriotism to the country once again and to thank God for all the blessings bestowed on our nation.
A Jalur Gemilang flag was carried in procession at the beginning of Mass from the entrance to the sanctuary.
In his homily, Msgr James read out Archbishop Murphy Pakiam's 2008 National Day Message to the congregation.

The community of Bagan Hailam Orang Ash Settlement had one the best Merdeka ever as their plea was finally heard. The parishioners of Anne's took on this Orang Asli community as a pet project and began a charity drive towards helping this community improve their standard of living.
As a start, they donated a boat as most of the members of the community are fishermen. A 17ft fibre boat, with a 15 Yamaha Engine worth RM6,800 was
presented to them at their settlement in Bagan Hailam on Aug 31. The boat also a symbol of their new found freedom to finally have the opportunity to go to sea in their own boat.
The Stella Maris1 is the first boat promised to them by the parishioners St Anne's. This is truly a Merdeka gift as with the boat, they will be somewhat liberated from the bonds of exploitation of having to deal with the restaurant owner.

"Explore the international Catholic websites and the Visitation parish website as well and be familiar with the releases and updates on the journey and mission of the Church," said Fr George Packiasamy, Assistant Parish Priest of the Visitation Church in his closing remarks at the end of the ReFocus Media Camp for the students of the parish's 2008 Confirmation Class at the Seminari Theologi Malaysia.
Held during the recent August school vacation, the camp was animated by a team from the Cahayasuara Communication Centre. This was the fifth consecutive media camp to have been held in this parish.
Parish Catechetical Ministry Pastoral Assistant Sr. Theresa Chua, IJ said, "The participants this year were more open and their sharing very inspirational. This is certainly a sign of maturity. Personal and group involvement in the planning, preparation and in the final production of Public Service Announcements (PSA) that usually culminate the weekend camp each year saw optimal participation and depth.

The various major religions in Malaysia agree that good governance is crucial to the wellbeing of the nation. This notion was affirmed when representatives from these various religions came together on Aug 22 at the P.H. Hendry Hall of the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Brickfields.
The interreligious dialogue was organised by the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with the second memorial programme for the Late Ven. Dr K. Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera, former Chief High Priest of the Buddhist community in Malaysia.
It was graced by representatives from various religions, namely, Harcharand Singh representing the Sikh community, Dr Amir Farid Dato Ishak representing the Muslim community, S. Subramaniam representing the Hindu community, Dato' Dr Victor Wee representing the Buddhist community, Sherman Kuek representing the Catholic Church.
This dialogue was enlightening for all its participants as all religions represented there had an opportunity to share their perspectives on good governance.

St Paul is a figure that has been extremely crucial to Christians of every tradition because of the effects of his missionary journeys and the letters which he wrote to the early Christians. He is arguably the most prominent personality of the New Testament, apart from Jesus himself.
A substantial proportion of the doctrines and liturgy of the Church today are founded upon the teachings of St Paul. We can know about Paul and his teachings through 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament which bear his name (all of them being letters) and the Acts of the Apostles (in which he figures prominently in the second half).
The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has declared June 2008 to June 2009 the year of St Paul in celebration of the 2,OOOth anniversary of the saint's birth. In conjunction with this, Fr Michael Chua and Sherman Kuek (Parish Priest and Pastoral Associate of Church of the Visitation in Seremban respectively) are in the process of conducting a six-week long series of talks on the life and mission of St Paul.

Beyond all the political rhetoric pervading the public sphere in Malaysia, it is more urgent and pressing for Malaysians to gather together to engage in deeper reflection. What kind of Malaysia do we hope to see? What does it mean to be Malaysian, and what does it mean for us to live together in this common space?
This was the resounding call of Tricia Yeoh in a talk jointly organised by the Negeri Sembilan chapter of the Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST) and the Parish Ministry for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (PMEIA) of the Church of the Visitation.
Held on Aug 22, this well-attended talk in the Parish Hall of the Visitation Church came at a very crucial point in Malaysian history, just the week before the Permatang Pauh by-election. This by-election would have a very deep impact on all Malaysians, as it would determine political trends in Malaysia in the subsequent months.

Members of BEC St Joachim recently organized an evening with Fr Christopher Wilvaraj, the parish administrator of the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Health, Kampung Pandan. The objective of this gathering was to get an understanding and get to know Fr Chris who has been serving the parish since February 2008.
BEC members including the youths and the children of St Joachim gathered together with the family of Madam Theresa Muthukrishna who hosted the gathering to welcome Fr Chris. The evening began with an opening remark by the zone leader Arokiam Rayapan followed by a sharing session. Fr Chris shared his views about BECs and why BECs are important and how we splurge time on leisure but God often takes a back seat in our lives.
The gathering ended beautifully with children doing their bit to keep their so called `HERO' entertained. Little George Santhanam excitedly sang a number of songs and ended the day with Happy Birthday to Fr Chris.

The society of St Vincent De Paul will be celebrating the feastday of its Patron Saint Vincent De Paul on Sept 27. This year the Society has planned a two week celebration comprising Liturgical and Eucharistic celebrations; social service activities and fellowship activities. Kicking off the celebration will be a Eucharistic Celebration on Sept 13 at 6.30pm at St Anthony's church in KL.
The celebration this year will have a special meaning for Vincentians of Malaysia, as their International President General of the Society (GIC), Bro Jose Ramon will also be visiting Malaysia for the first time. Jose Ramon will join Vincentians from all over Malaysia for the Eucharistic Celebrations at St Anthony's, after which, he will attend a subscription/fellowship dinner hosted by the members of the Society at the nearby Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre.
During his three-day stay in Malaysia, Bro Jose will be able to witness first hand the works of the Society in Malaysia.

One hundred and twenty parishioners attended the eight-hour long recollection conducted by Fr Eugene Benedict, parish priest of the Church of St Thomas in Kuantan. Most participants were either members of the various ministries or BECs.
Fr Eugene started the recollection in the cathedral, inviting all to ponder, Who am I as a person. He spoke about the relationship with God and others, for God wants us to know ourselves.
"Do we know ourselves fully? Who am I?" He invited the parishioners to reflect personally to thirty minutes with the guidance of the Holy Spirit on `Who am I?' in order to discover their true selves.
The sessions then continued in the old parish hall. While sharing the Gospel text of the Annunciation, Fr Eugene said Mary was deeply troubled and God, through the angel Gabriel uttered one word to Mary, `Listen ...the Spirit of the Most High will hover over you and you shall be holy'...Fr Eugene said that God also speaks it our hearts and we need to `listen'.

It was a joyous occasion for the family members, relatives and friends of Maiker bin Langkap and Junenah when the couple was wedded at the Kampung Belihoi chapel on Aug 17 in the presence of Fr Michael Chua, parish priest of the Visitation Church.
This event, being a part of the Mass celebrations on that day, was well attended by friends and relatives of the orang asli from surrounding villages as well as the Visitation parish. Together with the wedding of Maiker and Junenah was also the marriage ratification of four other orang asli couples.
Upon entering the chapel of Kampung Belihoi, one would have noticed the platform which had 1 prepared for the bride and the groom.
 Several minutes before the Mass began, the couple splendidly dressed for their wedding, entered the chapel. They were extremely pleased that awaited day had arrived for them to confer upon each other the divinely instituted sacrament of marriage. We are Church, united in our differences.