PENANG: Finally in Penang Island, right in the heart of the city, there is a formation centre that caters for small groups, especially the youth. This formation centre used to be the parish house of the Church of the Assumption, Farquhar Street. The double storey Assumption Formation Centre consists of a large spacious air-con dining room on the ground floor, a kitchen, a living room and two bedrooms. On the first floor, there is a lounge area and six bedrooms.

The dining hall on the ground floor is big enough to be converted into a meeting/ conference room, and the lounge upstairs is spacious enough for small gatherings. At the moment, youth groups using the formation centre will be charged RM10 per night for accommodation. The parish priest, Fr Dominic Santhiyagu, plans to open the rooms as accommodation for outsiders who are Catholics in the near future.

On August 11, there was a simple ‘house blessing service’ for the new Assumption Formation Centre. About 20 people attended the service. The reading on the road to Emmaus was chosen. In Fr Dominic’s homily, he asked, “when the apostles recognized Jesus?” “Yes, during the breaking of the bread. It could also be what Jesus had said or through the marks on his hands. There are many answers,” said Fr Dominic. He then showed the picture of Jesus knocking on the door and explained why there is no knob at the door.

“This is because we are the ones who hold the key,” said Fr Dominic. “We ourselves have to be the ones who open the door for Jesus. We are willing to open our hearts to Jesus when we recognize him. He’s ever willing to come to us. Remember too that Jesus had said where two or three are gathered, he will always be there. We can be assured that Jesus will be here in this building all the time, so let our prayer always be ‘Stay with us, Lord.’”.

The Assumption Formation Centre is only at the initial setting-up stage but is open for bookings. Those who are interested to book the Assumption Formation Centre, please contact the parish office during office hours at tel. 04- 2261502/2293431. — By Lucia Lai