Archbishop adds a few more ‘L’s to his list

The Lost, The Last, the Least and the Little, To Live our Faith, To Laugh, To Love. This was His Grace, Archbishop Julian Leow’s parting reminder at the 2015 Church of St Theresa (STC) Parish Pastoral Assembly (PPA) .

Feb 27, 2015

By Aileen Anthony
The Lost, The Last, the Least and the Little, To Live our Faith, To Laugh, To Love. This was His Grace, Archbishop Julian Leow’s parting reminder at the 2015 Church of St Theresa (STC) Parish Pastoral Assembly (PPA) .

Archbishop Julian Leow had added on another three Ls to the four which he announced in his inaugural speech at his Ordination in October 2014. The PPA was held on February 1, which was also the Fifth Anniversary of STC as a Parish.

He reminded the 150 parishioners who attended the PPA that Christ gave his disciples a mission, and because they did what they were told, we are able to experience the redemptive works of Christ. In return, we are called to continue living and sharing the Good News in our daily lives.

In his talk, Archbishop Leow emphasised that our missionary objectives can only be realised through Conversion and Communion. Conversion must happen within ourselves, to enable us to accept each other as brothers and sisters. To do this, we must be respectful of each other and engage in dialogue and discussion to better our understanding of one another. To this, he put the question, “How do we love our neighbours?”

He then addressed the issue of communion, and asked if we are truly a welcoming Church. To illustrate this, he joked that he wondered at times if we were able to pray if we did not get our favourite seat during Mass. He also mentioned the unifying power of the Church where he has observed leaders of different political parties attending Mass together. To this end, he reminded everyone that we are never to give up in our mission of bringing unity in our society. “If old methods cannot work, then try new ones, but never give up,” he added.

The talk was followed by group assignments to discuss the questions: “How can my BEC become ‘missionary?’ and “What ‘conversion’ do I need in order to make my BEC missionary?” There were 15 groups, each a mix of youths and senior parishioners who all enjoyed a lively and meaningful discussion.

Archbishop Leow then invited a few groups to present their conclusions. One of the suggestions was that BEC members should take the first step in approaching members to come together to pray as a community. In addition, BECs should be sensitive to the needs of members who are ill or who are unable to actively participate due to problems such as transportation etc. Other feedback included the need to involve the young, the youth and the seniors through appropriate social activities. Perhaps the biggest challenge that surfaced in the discussions was for each of us to put the Cross before us and the world behind us. Archbishop Julian reiterated that sometimes, it is the little things that matter but these little things are often taken for granted.

Before the PPA concluded, Parish Priest, Fr Raymond Pereira invited Archbishop Leow to inaugurate the Youth Group of STC. The 20 members had earlier participated in the animation of the Mass. Fr Raymond thanked His Grace for his presence at the PPA and the parishioners for their attendance and participation.

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