CHS Parish Pastoral Assembly reflects on inclusivity, care, and unity

Parishioners of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (CHS) came together recently for their Parish Pastoral Assembly (PPA) to reflect on their progress in addressing the pastoral priorities identified during the 2023 PPA — Inclusivity, Care, and Unity (ICU).

Oct 18, 2024

Parishioners singing ‘A Family of Faith’


By Thaddeus Chan

Parishioners of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (CHS) came together recently for their Parish Pastoral Assembly (PPA) to reflect on their progress in addressing the pastoral priorities identified during the 2023 PPA — Inclusivity, Care, and Unity (ICU). The assembly began with an opening prayer led by Fr Fabian Dicom, who warmly welcomed all attendees.

The journey towards the 2024 PPA started with a review of 2023 Day of Planning around ICU followed by 2024 Parish and Leaders’ Formation in March 2024 on living the four Virtues. The survey results from the Formation were shared as perspectives of our parishioners of where we are on ICU and helped to identify the areas of ICU that the parish needs to continue to grow for 2025.

Parish priest, Fr Joachim Robert, shared the elements of 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope: Renewed Faith, Enthusiasm for Our Lord, Peace Making and Cancellation of Debts. In aligning to the Regional Pastoral Assembly (RPA), parishioners were reminded to Celebrate, Listen and Walk together as Disciples on our journey towards the 2026 Malaysia Pastoral Convention. Out of the four focus areas (Church, Family, Society, Ecology) from the RPA, ‘Family’ was chosen as the focus for CHS 2024 PPA.

Fr Joachim then led parishioners through a reflection on Finding Jesus in the Temple where Mary, Joseph and Jesus travelled on their annual pilgrimage to offer thanksgiving to God. Parishioners were reminded that as we prepare to celebrate and journey, we sometimes unknowingly leave Jesus behind. When this happens, it is important that we acknowledge and quickly come back to Church to find Jesus. As pilgrims of Hope, we need to “Look at our Past with Gratitude”, “Live in the Present with Enthusiasm” and “Look to our Future with Hope”.

After the reflection, parishioners spent time in silent adoration before the Blessed Sacrament followed by Benediction and then proceeded to the Dewan Holy Spirit for the spiritual conversation. Fr Fabian led the parishioners through the process of Spiritual Conversation. Twenty-one table facilitators guided the spiritual conversation. A representative from each table was then invited to summarise the one area most in need of focus. Among the top five most common words were Love, Christ/ God, Communication, Together and Forgive.

Before the PPA ended, Deacon Andrew Loh gave a sneak preview of the plans for 2025 Jubilee Year for CHS on pilgrimages and hosting pilgrims, while David Chan shared the setting up of Saints Corner for Blessed Elena Guerra, Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Nicolas Bunkerd Kitbamrung.

During the Questions and Answers session, parishioners shared sentiments, thoughts and suggestions for continued growth. The Parish Pastoral Council will discern on the questions collected.

While the sharing and conversations were carried out in English, slides in Mandarin and Tamil were projected as an effort to be united and inclusive.

The 2024 PPA concluded with the final blessing by Fr Francis Anthony and sing-a-long of A Family of Faith. Handprints of the parishioners on a white linen cloth symbolised being part of CHS Family.

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