Covenant Community urged to “be on haste on mission”

Oct 30, 2014

PENANG (Herald Malaysia): On October 12, the Covenant Communities of Taiping and Penang officially merged as one Covenant Community with a new name “Covenanted for Christ Community” (CFCC). The new statutes of CFCC were approved by Bishop Sebastian. About 200 people witnessed the signing by the Bishop and Vincent Lim, the leader of CFCC during Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.

During his homily, Bishop Sebastian urged the CFCC members to be in haste on mission. He thanked the past leaders and Bishop Emeritus Anthoy Selvanayagam for their work in guiding the community but said that now it is time to move forward. Referring to a new title for Mary by Pope Francis, ‘The Lady of Haste’, he said, “When we are on mission, we are in haste. We have no time to look back but must move forward. Just like Mary, as soon as she conceived Jesus in her womb, she looked ahead. In haste, she visited her cousin Elizabeth.”

The Bishop stressed that this mission is primarily the work of the Holy Spirit whose task is to bring to completion the mission of Jesus Christ until the end of times. As the Covenant Community and the CCR are closely linked to the Holy Spirit, we should be ready to “Go, Live and Share” the Gospel of Joy. That joy and mission must be reflected on our faces and in our words, actions, lifestyles and life choices.

Fr Jude Miranda, the parish priest of Taiping Catholic Church, in his message stressed the importance of community life. Using the illustration of how animals protect each other by being together, he said we must never be isolated. He called on CFCC to be a SIGN of God’s presence: S- Single minded; I- Integrated; G- God fearing and N- Noble — fine qualities and good principles.

At the conclusion of the Mass Bishop Sebastian announced that Clement Samuel, the former leader of CFCC would be ordained as the first permanent deacon in the Penang Diocese on Nov 21 in Taiping. The new deacon thanked the Covenant Community and the Taiping Catholic Church for preparing him for this new mission in the Church. He is ready to serve everyone, including the Covenant Community.