God has called you by name

On the First Sunday of Lent (March 9 and 10), the three Arch/Dicoeses of Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Malacca Johore celebrated the annual Rite of Electio

Mar 22, 2019

On the First Sunday of Lent (March 9 and 10), the three Arch/Dicoeses of Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Malacca Johore celebrated the annual Rite of Election.

The 1,140 Elect, as they are now called, will officially enter the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, April 20, when they will receive the sacraments of initiation — Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.

From here on, the Elect will be celebrating three Scrutinies over the Lenten period to help them examine their lives.

Let us continue to keep them in prayer.

KAJANG: In the KL Archdiocese, there will be 572 new Catholics during the Easter Vigil.

“The Lenten season is a period of grace offered to the entire Christian community to repent and to return to God. Lent is not just about individual acts of penance. It is a time of spiritual battle waged by the whole Church and all its members in order to identify, and to turn away from, those idols which day by day, year by year, so easily seduce us and alienate us from the message of God’s word,” Archbishop Julian Leow told the catechumens gathered at the Church of the Holy Family.

Archbishop Leow explained what Lent entails. “Lent is about a new beginning. It is about us changing the direction of our lives. It is about allowing Jesus Christ to come into our lives and change our hearts, to overcome the false idols which can easily find their way into the very crevices of the fabric of our hearts. “We have to seek a life of greater simplicity. Detach from what is not essential, not true or not good in our lives.

We have to die to what is false in our lives so that we can rise with Jesus to new life.

“Lent is a season for us to refocus, transform, show new love of God and neighbour through prayer, selfdenial and works of love. Let us take the challenge earnestly and move forward together.”

Speaking to the catechumens he said, “My dear catechumens, you have come here to present yourselves to the Church for baptism, confirmation and the Eucharist. We call these the Sacraments of Initiation.

We believe that God is at work in each and every one of us. “We believe that God has called each one of you by name. He knows you intimately. God loves you personally and that is why your name is so important. Yours is a personal response to a personal invitation from God. This invitation has brought you here today. That is why your names will be inscribed into the Book of the Elect this afternoon.

“It is my privilege and my duty to make that declaration that you are members of the Elect. You will no longer be called catechumens. You will be called the Elect.

“Today, as you leave this place and return home, I would like to encourage you to reflect deeply on the idea that you, in the mysterious ways of God, have been chosen to this faith. My prayer is that, as you reflect on this, that a deep faith and sustainable trust will grow in your hearts and in your lives.

“Each day, as you go towards your baptism, allow yourselves to hear the voice of God saying to you:

“Do not be afraid, I have called you by name, you are mine, I will be with you.”

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