The first Peninsular Malaysia Conference

Our Archdiocesan Ministry of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (AMEIA) has organized the first Peninsular Conference in hopes that it will be a common platform to bring together Catholic organizations and individuals who are already engaged in or are interested to start interreligious and ecumenical programmes, activities and ministries within the three Roman Catholic arch/dioceses of Peninsular Malaysia. The speakers and presenters are Rt Rev Bishop Antony Selvanayagam DD., Rev Fr Michael Chua, Rev Fr Jojo Fung SJ., Dr Sherman Kuek, Dr Asma Abdullah, Dr Claude F. Jacobs, Dr Patricia Martinez, and Rev Fr William Larousse, MM. More details:

"Peninsular Malaysia Conference on Ecumenical & Interreligious Ministry"

This will be held at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre (APC)
from the 10th to 11th of October!
RM 60 (non-stay in) and RM 90 (stay in)
Click here for more info on the programmes and such.
Here's the brochure. (outside) (inside)

"World Religions in Metropolitan Detroit" Exhbition
which they have brought all the way from Michigan, US. The exhibit is a collection of photographs mapping world religions in metropolitan Detroit called "The Pluralism Project".
Date: 6th - 11th October
Time: 9.00am to 5pm
Venue: Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre (APC)
OPEN TO PUBLIC
Admission is free!
For further, inquiries, please contact Ms. Anglin Anthony at Tel: 03-20266466

Here's a sneak peak.

Mandean - Al-Masbatta ("Baptism Ritual") Before a Wedding
Kensington Metro Park, Michigan

“Photography and Religious Space” Workshop
Date: 9th of October
Time: 2.30 to 4.00 pm
Venue: Dewan Dominic, Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre, Kuala Lumpur .
OPEN TO PUBLIC
Admission is free!

Ideal for photography enthusiasts, both amateur and professional. Religious space presents some of the most dramatic and interesting themes for photography. The director of the Pluralism Project in UM-Dearborn, Dr. Claude Jacobs and William McNeece, the director of photography will be present at the workshop to share their wealth of experiences in this special area of photography and religious space. Participants would find opportunities to learn aesthetic and technical skills as well as necessary protocol.

I would encourage all to go and find out a little more about photography in sacred places and learn a few more things about your faith and what opportunity to have religious from the US! Awesomeness! Please inform Suzanne or your Cell Group leaders and then we'll see if we can arrange some transport if not go there pilgrimage style! :D

The Catholic stance on the many faiths

Hey peeps!

Come next Central Gathering, we're having Dr. Sherman Kuek over at St Thomas More! WooOT! It so happens that he is around and we have gotten him to do a session for us about the three main faiths in our country and what is the stance of the Catholic Church about them.

Some of the questions that you might have already asked yourselves like:
What is the Catholic Church's position on people of other faiths?
How we should relate with them?
What evangelisation means in this context?

The place to be is at the STM Community Centre on the 2nd of October 2009, Friday at 8.30pm. All are most welcomed to attend and of course please bring along a friend. =D

Anselm - Theologian and Defender of Church Freedom

VATICAN CITY, 23 SEP 2009 VIS - St. Anselm, one of the most outstanding figures of the Middle Ages, was the subject of the Holy Father's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall.

St. Anselm of Canterbury, also known as Anselm of Aosta and Anselm of Bec, was born in the Italian town of Aosta in 1033. The eldest child of a noble family, his mother gave him a careful human and Christian education. During his youth he went through a period of moral dissipation and excess during which he abandoned his studies. He then travelled to France in search of new experiences and eventually reached the abbey of Bec, drawn there by the fame of its prior, Lanfranco of Pavia. There, at the age of 27, he embraced the monastic life.

Three years later Lanfranco was appointed as abbot of Caen and Anselm became the prior of Bec. In his new role he "revealed gifts as a sophisticated teacher. He did not care for authoritarian methods and, likening young people to saplings which develop best if not closed in a greenhouse, he granted then a 'healthy' measure of freedom. He was very demanding with himself and others in monastic observance, but rather than imposing discipline he sought to make people follow it by persuasion", the Pope explained.

When Lanfranco of Pavia was appointed as archbishop of Canterbury, England, he asked Anselm to help him in educating the monks and in dealings with the ecclesial community, which was facing difficult circumstances in the wake of the Norman invasions. On Lanfranco's death in 1093, Anselm succeeded him as archbishop immediately entering "into an energetic struggle for the freedom of the Church and courageously supporting the independence of spiritual from temporal power. He defended the Church from undue interference by the political authorities, especially King William Rufus and Henry I". His faithfulness to the Pope caused him to be exiled in 1103.

Anselm died on 21 April 1109 having dedicated the last years of his life "to the moral formation of the clergy and intellectual research into theological questions", whence Christian tradition has bestowed upon him the title of "Doctor Magnificus", said the Holy Father. He went on: "The clarity and logical rigour of Anselm's ideas always sought 'to raise the mind to the contemplation of God'. He made it clear that anyone who intends to study theology must not rely only upon his own intelligence but must also cultivate a profound experience of faith".

"In St. Anselm's view, then, a theologian's work is divided into threes stages: faith, God's gratuitous gift to be welcomed with humility; experience, which consists in incarnating the Word of God into daily life; and true knowledge, which is never the fruit of sterile reasoning but of contemplative intuition".

"May the love for truth and the constant thirst for God which characterized St. Anselm's life be a stimulus for all Christians tirelessly to seek an ever more intimate union with Christ", said the Pope, and he concluded: "May the courageous zeal which distinguished his pastoral work and which sometimes brought misunderstandings, bitterness and even exile, be an encouragement for pastors, consecrated people and all the faithful to love the Church of Christ, ... never abandoning or betraying her".

You can view the video here.

YOUTH SPONSORED MASS

Yo! Just to let you guys know, we're gonna start sponsoring Mass at St Thomas More's Church every month. So we need people to step up to serve for Mass. We need people for the choir, offertory, projectionist, and hospitality ministers. So as you can see there are a lot of vacancies!

So don't be shy! Come and SERVE GOD!

Just inform your CG leaders and likewise leaders please get back to me by the end of the month. For those of you who wants to be in the choir, Mass practice starts next week, Tuesday (22nd Sept) at 8.00pm at the STM Community Centre!

'Allah' Case: Court to hear Church suit on Oct 14

KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here will hear on Oct 14 the Catholic Church’s bid to prevent several Islamic bodies from interfering in its ongoing suit against the home minister’s ban on the use of the word “Allah” in its newspaper.

Judge Lau Bee Lan made the decision in chambers today.

Lawyer for the church, Porres Royan, told reporters that the church had filed an application at the High Court here to recall and set aside its earlier decision allowing some 10 state Islamic Councils as well as the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association (Macma) to intervene in the case.

Judge Lau had on August 3 ruled that the state Islamic councils could intervene in the church’s suit against the home minister on the basis that their legal rights as advisers to the rulers, who sit as heads of Islam in their respective states, would be gravely affected by any decision taken by the court.

But Royan said the Federal Court, headed by Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi, had on Sept 3 ruled to bar the Selangor Islamic Council (Mais) from entering as an interested party in a dispute between the Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) and Bong Boon Chuen, together with 150 landowners, over Islamic burial land in neighbouring Selangor.

The top court’s most recent decision in Bong’s case sets an example for the High Court here to keep interveners out.

Lawyer for Mais, Abdul Rahim Sinwan, said the state Islamic councils would challenge the church’s second bid to remove them from intervening in the “Allah” case.

He pointed out that the Federal Court had made two conflicting rulings on whether or not interveners could be allowed in.

Abdul Rahim noted that the Federal Court had ruled to allow bodies to intervene in an earlier case.

...read more

Exaltation of the Cross

"How great the cross, through which we have received a multitude of blessings, because, against all reckoning, the miracles & sufferings of Christ have been victorious! How precious, the means of God's suffering, & his trophy of victory! On it of his own will he suffered unto death. On it he won his victory, wounding the devil, & conquering death, & shattering the bars of the underworld. The cross has become the common salvation of the whole world." (from homily of St Andrew of Crete)

Monash Annual Mass 2009

Calling all youths around Sunway area, today (yes, today, Saturday) Monash Catholic Society is having their Annual Mass at Auditorium 2, Monash University. It starts at 3.00pm with Father listening to confessions prior Mass. There will be dinner served afterwards for students only.

So come and dine and fellowship with the Lord and the students of Monash as we gather to celebrate Mass in union with the entire Catholic Church. Amen.

JMJ2011 Madrid

MADRID, Spain, JULY 30, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The logo for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid was presented today: The image reflects youth of the world beneath the cross, united to form the crown of Our Lady, patron of Madrid.

The upcoming World Youth Day is scheduled for Aug. 16-21, 2011.

The logo designer, José Gil-Nogués, explained that the image symbolizes "youth of the whole world united to celebrate their faith together with the Pope, at the foot of the cross, and they form the crown of Our Lady of Almudena, patron of Madrid."

The crown, Gil-Nogués added, forms the "M" of Mary and of Madrid. And the cross, symbol of Christianity, presides over the event.

The message of the logo, the designer continued, is "a catechesis, an opportunity for evangelization: The quick and sure path to reach Christ is the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and of mankind. In Mary's faith, youth have the example and model for reaching Christ and fulfilling the primary goal of World Youth Day: to bring their message to the world."

"The logo has a firm and spontaneous stroke," Gil-Nogués suggested, "like youth of the 21st century. It is close, friendly, open. Joyful, carefree and positive."

"The use of a palette of warm colors -- red, orange and yellow -- transmits unmistakable warmth and friendliness, symbols of the identity of a city like Madrid, a nation like Spain. These colors also reflect the 'divine warmth' of Trinitarian Love."

The logo was selected after a competition among professional graphic designers.

The World Youth Day logo is out! I feel excited about going. What say you? I say start saving now!! WoOT! Benedicto!