It takes change to make change

Feb 01, 2018

By Charmaine Amanda
The Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit, commonly known as the ‘Red Mass,’ is a highly anticipated annual celebration for the Catholic Lawyers’ Society (CLS) to call upon divine assistance in the work of the entire Bench and Bar and to invoke the Holy Spirit to inspire judges in the conduct of their ecclesiastical affairs and administering justice. Red, the liturgical colour to represent the Holy Spirit, also symbolises a willingness to defend the truth with the ultimate sacrifice, blood.

Bishop Bernard Paul was the main celebrant, with Archbishop Julian Leow, Archbishop Emeritus Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam, Fr Michael Chua, CLS advisor and fellow priests concelebrating.

Judges and lawyers, dressed in their court robes, were joined in the celebration by Yang Berhormat Teresa Kok, Member of Parliament, Michael Winzap, Ambassador of Switzerland and the lay faithful at the Good Shepherd Church, Setapak on January 20.

Bishop Bernard Paul reminded the faithful of their commitment and aspiration to be a change agent and to push forward for a better nation by restoring Malaysia and restoring life. Quoting St Catherine of Genoa, he reiterated that there cannot be change without reformation, transformation and conversion. Personal uprightness faces a constant battle against the streak of evil and public opinions. Appealing to original goodness rather than succumbing to circumstances and remaining uncorrupted is an uphill task.

An apt way of looking at this challenge is to assume one’s profession as one’s vocation. As members of the Bench and Bar and servants of the law, four stages of conversion are crucial in uplifting justice in the pursuit of peace:

1. Personal conversion – realising my higher calling as son or daughter of God

2. Communitarian conversion – recognising common brotherhood and sisterhood where race, religion and caste are no longer barriers

3. Ecclesial conversion – cognisant of the fact that we are all part of God’s family, the Body of Christ sharing in the Fatherhood of God and Brotherhood of Jesus

4. Ecological conversion – consciously treating this world as our common home where actions or inactions on global issues have an impact on me Ms Rita Wong, president of CLS, thanked the bishops and priests for celebrating the Red Mass and called for more members of the legal fraternity to enrol in CLS and support its causes.

Archbishop Julian Leow took the opportunity to thank Bishop Bernard for his attendance and urged the faithful to continue to pray that people of all faiths will be able to work together and be a sign of peace and harmony as justice is sought and advocated.

This celebration most definitely offered lawyers, judges and members of parliament a chance to reflect on their past individual accomplishments and, as a community, to ask for strength and guidance for the future and call upon the grace of God to aid them as they begin this New Year. The celebration ended with a lunch fellowship.