Feastday celebrations a success

The feastday of St Francis Xavier was a celebration of grandeur, solemnity and thanksgiving.

Dec 17, 2015

By Percy D’Cruz
The feastday of St Francis Xavier was a celebration of grandeur, solemnity and thanksgiving.

The highlight was a multi-lingual thanksgiving Eucharistic Celebration, followed by a procession of the statue of St Francis Xavier. The festivities culminated with a gala dinner at Dewan Pay Teck for 800 parishioners, local and outstation religious and clergy.

Fr Micheal Mannayagam, who was celebrating his 20th Sacerdotal anniversary, was the principal celebrant of the late evening service. The concelebrants included Frs Cyril Mananayagam, Adrian Matthews, Damian Charles and Martin Then, with Deacon Anthony Chua assisting.

In his homily, Fr Micheal articulated the vision of the People of God — called to be Christ-centred communities nurtured by prayer, the Word and the Eucharist.

He said, “Our vocation has to be lived out in the context of Malaysia today. “We have to pay a price for modernity and the process of globalisation which is affecting the quality of life.

“To live the Gospel today has to mean not separating our faith from the life we live. It is our genuine effort at removing the causes of our disunity, that we become Church.”

Fr Micheal also noted that Christ-centred communities are not just a core need but a fundamental option. Many Catholics have found joy, fellowship and caring in such communities and reach out to the less fortunate brothers and sisters in compassion.

A dinner, organised by the Chinese and Tamil Apostolates, was held at the open-air compound.

On Saturday, December 5, there was a  grand dinner at Dewan Pay Teck. Fr Micheal in his  message touched on the active participation of the parishioners to a grand and unique celebration of the 170th anniversary of the parish and the 470th year of the arrival of St Francis Xavier to Malacca.

He said, “It is my fervent wish that we will move forward and work towards the further enhancement of a true Church community with a vision of new evangelisation. These joyous moments should also be a time for us to take stock of what we have done for God’s Kingdom and to set new directions for further growth and transformation.

“This parish boasts some 6,000 plus parishioners, with apostolates for the various community languages including English. These celebrations should help us lift our hearts in gratitude, love and reverence to God who has showered us and the parish with so much Spirit-filled fervour, graces and blessings.”