KAMPAR: Simple yet joyful! That was how the 101st anniversary and feastday of Sacred Heart of Jesus was celebrated on June 28 solemnized by His Lordship Rev Bishop Antony Selvanayagam. The launching of the feast began on June 19 with a flag raising ceremony of the imprinted image of the Sacred Heart.

The nine days novena was celebrated by invited priests from the Diocese of Penang and each ended with a fellowship of dishes prepared by the respective BEC groups. One of the invited priests was the local ‘kampung boy’, Fr Dominic Santhiyagu who was born and raised in this small town well known in Chinese as ‘pot of gold’ for its glorious tin era. He now serves at the City Parish, Penang! The novena was also celebrated by the youngest serving priest from the Diocese of Penang, Fr Stanley Anthony aged 35 who is also familiar to the parishioners as he origins from the neighbouring town of Bidor.

The limelight of the celebration was the procession which took place on the eve of the feastday. The procession journeyed around Kampar town for more than an hour. As the dawn of the feast day breaks, it signified the farewell and final mass celebration of the parish priest Fr. Victor Louis.

Fr Victor Louis is regarded as “a chatty, easy-to-work-along and down-to-earth personality who in his two years of service had organized the centenary celebration and renewed the physical image of the church and the hall” as quoted by Mrs Selvi Arokiam, the president of PPC. A petite priest yet highly passionate in faith enrichment he reminded in his last homily to the parishioners, “to hold strongly to the Catholic belief and not to be influenced by any deviated teachings”. He added that everyone must live united “as all of us are bonded in one God, one Baptism, one Spirit and one Faith”.

From July onwards, Fr Vincent Paul will take over the parish administration while Fr Victor Louis will serve at the parish of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Butterwoth. Joining him will be his best friends: Raasi, Lily, Bob, Jay and Boy who will continue to ‘guard over’ him