Malacca Johore Diocese News Update #165

Feb 23, 2024

Greetings to you, dear friends of MJD. Tensions rise in Malaysia’s ruling coalition after reduced jail sentence for Najib. Corruption and politics blamed for ringgit woes. Teacher threatened with dismissal for highlighting problematic syllabus retires. Chief Justice Tengku Maimun ruled on February 8 that Kelantan’s legislature exceeded its state-making power, stating that the power of Parliament and state legislatures are limited by the Federal Constitution, and they cannot make any laws they like. Nominating Chinese New Villages as UNESCO World Heritage Site is turned into a racial issue. Can there be reform or change or renaissance without a paradigm shift?

Reforming Times: Renewal without reform or conversion is corruption of the Church (St Catherine of Genoa). The Pope called for liturgical reform, saying: “A Church that does not feel the passion for spiritual growth, that does not try to speak understandably to the men and women of her time, that does not feel pain for the division between Christians, who does not tremble with the anxiety of announcing Christ to the people, is a sick Church, and these are the symptoms.

He added that the liturgical reform underscored the Church’s spiritual, pastoral, ecumenical and missionary renewal; that formation must be more accessible to all God’s people and their interior disposition, not to a specialised few. He summed up by saying: Without liturgical reform there is no reform of the Church.

Thought For The Week: FREE TICKET! Greg Laurie tried to give away an extra ticket on his way into Disneyland’s Magic Kingdom. As his family went into the park, he told his family, “Hold on while I find someone to take this free ticket. This shouldn’t take long!” But time after time he would approach people at the front gate only to be turned down. He was astounded! No one would take his free ticket. It was hard to believe. People just turned down free tickets to the Magic Kingdom?

Lesson from the free ticket: Most often, people can’t accept anything good that comes easy or is easy to get or is being given free. There’s unbelief in grace, and the graciousness of strangers. If the Lord is giving a free ticket to you to “His Magic Kingdom,” how will you respond?

Announcements for this Week

1. Getting ready for Lent. Ash Wednesday is already here. The theme focuses on the Year of Prayer: Let’s fast! Let’s pray! Let’s give alms! Let our prayer lead us to hear the cry of the poor and creation.

2. The World Day for the Sick fell on February 11 with the theme It is not good that man should be alone. The Pope reminded that “healing relationships heal the sick”. A network of relationships, friendships and love uplifts the abandoned, the vulnerable, the uncertain and the insecure.

3. The MJD Catechetical Office is organising the Rite of Election Retreat and Mass on February 17-18 at MAJODI Centre for over 400 catechumens, sponsors and facilitators.

4. The English Marriage Preparation Weekend, planned for March 15-17 is closed. You can register for the next one, scheduled for June 21-23 at MAJODI Centre.

5. Being A Man - The St Joseph Way a one day Lenten Reflection for men of all ages. will happen at St Joseph Church, Plentong on March 17 at 9.30am to 5.30pm.

This Weeks QnQ: Q asks:
Can Chaos Be From God?

Chaos is unavoidable. Some ride through it. Many are crushed by it. Others get sucked into it.

When struggling with confusion, uncertainty, and violence, we become spiritually worn down. It’s too hard to keep believing. We are drained. We are tired.

We think: My road is too hard. The powerful will never treat people right. I’ve tried everything, there’s nothing to be done. It’s no use.

But Dr Otis Moss III believes faith can sustain us in chaos: In the storm of chaos, lost in confusion and disorder, … the question is whether there might be some way to use the harsh, unpredictable winds and the relentless currents of our lives to get us moving to where we actually want to go. Do we have the spiritual audacity and the practical means to turn chaotic energy to our own purposes?

What can we do? Take on the confusion and the violence. Refine them. Purify them into something new. Consecrate your chaos. To consecrate is to make holy, to put it into service for good. In consecrating chaos, you engage it, tame it, name it, take what seemed out of control and charge it with a duty. The Genesis story reminds us that the void is not as empty as we think. Chaos is never as chaotic as we fear.

Listen! Listening begins in prayer. Listen there, to your mind, your heart, your spirit and to your body. Listen to the Lord who meets you there, in the silence.

Just to tickle you: Forbidden fruit creates many jams. Bishop Bernard Paul