Malacca Johore Diocese News Update #183

Aug 02, 2024

Greetings dear friends of MJD,
New King for Malaysia. Bulan Kebangsaan and flying the Jalur Gemilang has begun. Singapore and Malaysia are hopeful of flourishing. Trump hopes to return. IT chaos disrupted airports and KTMB systems. There are many malls here but fewer shoppers. Foreign cooks are taking over food courts. We are now living longer but dying alone. Some new things are good, yet some new shifts are upsetting.

“New Life” Times: We see death, decay, decomposition and decadence. What does it mean to you? There’s so much anxiety about what’s dying around us, yet time and time again, nature has baffled us.

“When you walk through a forest that has not been tamed and interfered with by man, you will see not only abundant life all around you, but you will also encounter fallen trees and decaying trees, rotting leaves and decomposing matter at every step. Wherever you look, you will find death as well as life. Upon closer scrutiny, however, you will discover that the decomposing tree trunk and rotting leaves not only give birth to new life, but are full of life themselves. Microorganisms are at work. Molecules are rearranging themselves. So, death isn’t to be found anywhere. There is only the metamorphosis of life forms. What can you learn from this? Death is not the opposite of life. “Life has no opposite. The opposite of death is birth. Life is eternal.” — Eckhart Tolle

In the midst of death, persecution and rottenness, Anne Frank wrote in her diaries: “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that remains.”

A Thought For The Week: Cheeky God. A man walked to the top of a hill to talk to God.

The man asked, “God, what’s a million years to you?” and God said, “A minute.” Then the man asked, “Well, what’s a million dollars to you?” and God said, “A penny.”

Then the man asked, “God…can I have a penny?” and God said, “Sure…in a minute.”

Lesson from the hilltop: We can’t try to outsmart God. God’s ways are not our ways. We can try to be funny with God, but God can be funnier than us.

Announcements For The Week:

1. The Pamol Estate Catholics in Kluang celebrated the Feast of Sts Anne and Joachim on Saturday, July 27 at 6.30pm.

2. The Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu Social Communication via YouTube addresses cyberbullying and rising suicides among the young. Join in to know and understand. https://youtu.be/hg8C86drCfQ.

3. The Malaysian Association of Social Workers and Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat are organising an Introduction of Social Work Training on August 10, 11, 17 and 18 from 8.30am to 6.00pm at Universiti Malaya. Registration fee is RM100. Closing date is August 5.

4. Beyond Borders is an experiential service learning mission exposure for volunteers to serve the poor beyond the borders of Malacca Johore Diocese. The programme is organised and partly sponsored by Caritas MJD. The eight-day service mission from October 10-17, will assist in providing educational learning opportunities to children from a residential home in Tambunan, Sabah. Contact Albert Tan at 016-849 2346 or [email protected] for any queries.

QnQ? Q ask: Do you know that July 26 is International Day for the Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystem and July 28 is World Nature Conservation Day!
1. To celebrate the mangrove in a most meaningful way, CJC and Caritas MJD organised Mangrove Restoration in collaboration with Malaysian Nature Society supporting the Jabatan Perhutanan to replant 450 mangrove saplings at Sg Pulai, Pontian.

2. Mangroves make up less than two per cent of marine environments but account for 10 to 15 per cent of carbon burial, up to four times more carbon dioxide than terrestrial mountain forests. One acre of mangrove forest can store about 1,450 pounds of carbon per year (163 g carbon per square meter per year) — roughly the same amount emitted by a car.

3. Other benefits from the mangrove ecosystem: 
-- Oxygen generation: Like all forests, mangroves convert carbon dioxide and water into oxygen through photosynthesis. 

--Carbon capture: Mangroves are able to store and stock pile carbon from the atmosphere.

+ Source of income: Communities can profit from eco-tourism, as well as from cultural and recreational service development.

+ Source of goods: Community members can fish and harvest raw materials like lumber and medicinal roots.

+ Erosion reduction: Mangroves filter inland sediment and maintain land integrity. 

-- Water cycle regulation: Mangroves contribute to healthy aquifer filtration. 
-- Biodiversity conservation: Many species feed and seek refuge in mangroves. 
-- Reef protection: By filtering sediment, mangroves protect coral reefs from damage.

Ref: www.solidaridadnetwork.org

See the Holy Spirit @ work: Using “God’s senses” does not mean simply turning inward but becoming free for a different way of living life: See what God sees! Hear what God hears! Laugh where God laughs! Cry where God cries! — Dorothee Sölle

Something to tickle you: WORRY does not empty TOMORROW of its sorrows; it empties TODAY of its strength. — Corrie Ten Boom

Bishop Bernard Paul