BEC St Theresa on a pilgrimage to other churches

Sep 14, 2019

By Christine Ong
In conjunction with the Extraordinary Missionary Year 2019, the BECCOT of St Theresa’s Parish  picked three churches in North Central Johor Vicariate for a one-day Pilgrimage. Prior to that, we had asked the Parishes of St Louis, Kluang. St Henry, Batu Pahat and St Andrew, Muar to give us a brief mission history of their respective parish during our visit.

Forty persons began their mission pilgrimage from St Theresa’s Church at 8.00am. Since it was the feastday of the nApostle St Bartholomew, Psalm 144 was recited in the bus, Revelation 21:9-14 in St Louis Church and John1:45-51 in St Henry’s Church during the time of prayer and reflection.

At St Andrew’s Church, the pilgrims particpated in the Novena and Sunset Mass.

In the bus, they prayed the Mission Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet and also sang songs. There was much joy and laughter when we sang the Hokkien song “Jin Jia Ho,” with the lyrics, “Belief in Jesus is very good. I am very good everyday — Monday to Sunday.” This song brought back happy memories of the late Susan Lee (BEC Kota Laksamana) who taught us this song on the first BEC trip; and we have been singing it on trips ever since then.

The first stop was St Louis Church, Kluang. All were very happy to meet their former Parish Priest, Msgr Peter Ng. Later, Deacon Joseph Gratian shared on St Louis, their Patron Saint, who was the first king to become a saint. What struck the group most was his close relationship with his eldest son, Philip whom the king encouraged to follow his example of being close to God. Deacon Joseph added that all fathers should pray to St Louis for that special bond with their sons.

After lunch, they journeyed to St Henry’s Church. Fr Louis Chin had earlier informed that he would not be around and that Martin Lim, the PPC chairman, would welcome the group. At 2.00pm, they were met by Martin, his wife and the team. Entering the church, all were in awe of the  beauty of the church. The church was lit by natural light and the whole place was so serene and conducive for prayer. Martin Lim shared on the parish. Everyone then prayed the prayer to St Henry. This was followed by tea. Everyone enjoyed the cakes and fellowship.

The group continued their journey and arrived at St Andrew’s Church around 5.00pm. Mark Lim, the PPC chairman, shared how Fr Henry Duvelle (Assistant PP Ayer Salak) sowed the seeds of Christianity in Muar on Jan 18, 1908. He started from an ‘attap’ house where he instructed catechumens, before progressing to a shophouse, then an old church (now parish house) and finally to the present Church building. It was interesting to see an aerial view of the church (shaped as a blue cross) and the surrounding area, taken with the help of a drone.

Mass was celebrated by Fr Paul Wong who had recently come back from his studies at EAPI in the Philippines. Fr Wong warmly welcomed  the pilgrims during Mass. The Gospel text was Luke 13:2230. In his homily, he stressed that there is “NO SHORT CUT” in our journey to heaven.

After Mass, the group had a sumptuous dinner in Muar and headed home to Melaka. On the bus many shared on what had touched them during this pilgrimage. They were privileged to encounter various mission sites, histories and stories. Our journey as missionary disciples of Jesus continues….