District Easter celebration

Apr 26, 2024

SHAH ALAM: Clergy and parishioners from the six churches in the Petaling District gathered at the Church of the Divine Mercy (CDM), April 15, to celebrate Easter together.

The priests of the Petaling District decided to break from tradition and organise an Easter Mass this year, aiming to offer parishioners a fresh and meaningful experience.

This decision comes after last year’s successful Petaling-level Corpus Christi celebration brought together the community in a spirit of unity and devotion.

By choosing to host an Easter Mass, the priests hope to continue fostering a sense of togetherness and spiritual enrichment among the faithful in the district.

The late evening Holy Hour and Mass saw a good turnout of the faithful who braved the weekday rush hour traffic to get to CDM.

Before the evening’s Holy Hour and Mass, the district’s priests met for a discussion on synodality.

A total of 13 priests and three seminarians were at the Eucharistic celebration and fellowship. Fr George Harrison, the main celebrant, celebrated his first Mass as the parish priest of CDM. Concelebrating were Fr Lawrence Ng CDD (Church of St Ignatius), Msgr Patrick Boudville (Church of St Thomas More), Frs Leonard Lexson and Biju Mathew (Church of the Assumption), Frs Alvin Ng SJ and Richard Anthony SJ (Church of St Francis Xavier), and Fr Raymond Pereira (Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe).

Other concelebrants included Fr Michel Dass (former acting PP for CDM) and Fr George Vaithynathan (Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Silibin) and several visiting priests.

In his sermon, Fr Alvin emphasised that after the resurrection, Jesus was not initially recognised by his disciples, including Mary Magdalene, the two on the road to Emmaus, and Peter and his friends on the boat.

However, what eventually opened their eyes to him were his actions and words. Father explained that this reflects the reality of the resurrected Christ: he continues to live within each of us and others will recognise Him through our ordinary actions and words in daily life.

The event ended with a fellowship allowing the faithful to connect with friends and family from the district.