Malacca Johore Diocese News Update #195
The Synod on Synodality is into its third week. The Church is in prayer, seeking God’s forgiveness for her sins. A week of storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, disasters, drone wars, loss of lives and homelessness.
Oct 26, 2024

Greetings dear friends of MJD.
The Synod on Synodality is into its third week. The Church is in prayer, seeking God’s forgiveness for her sins. A week of storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, disasters, drone wars, loss of lives and homelessness. Government debt went up to RM1.173 trillion in 2023, says Auditor-General. Celcom, Digi and IJN are considering price hikes. The GST may be reintroduced. Mufti Bill worries many — are fatwas issued by muftis a religious advice or a legal ruling or an infringement of human rights or more binding than existing laws? The PM assures the independence of the Judiciary. Are assurances and promises binding?
Healing Times: On Tuesday, before the second session of the Synod on Synodality, Pope Francis said: “Sin is always a wound in relationships; our relationship with God, our relationships with our brothers and sisters. How could we be credible in mission if we do not recognise and acknowledge our mistakes and bend down to heal the wounds we have caused by our sins?”
The late Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu spearheaded the healing of the Republic of South Africa, after the collapse of apartheid, with the Commission for Truth and Reconciliation. St Catharine of Genoa said “Renewal without conversion is corruption of the Church”. Remembering a hymn from my seminary days: “The world stands in need of liberation”. Broken world, broken nations, broken people, broken families and broken lives — they await a healer, a healing. Where will they come from? Who will bring it? A spirit of “communion that converts” empowers us to listen, learn, love and heal the world.
A Thought For The Week:
Black Balloon. A man was selling balloons at a fair. He had balloons of all colours, including red, yellow, blue, and green. Whenever business was slow, he would release a helium-filled balloon into the air, and when the children saw it go up, they all wanted to buy one. His sales soared. One day, he felt someone tugging at his jacket. He turned around and saw a little boy who asked, “If you release a black balloon, would that also fly?” Moved by the boy’s concern, the man replied with empathy, “Son, it is not the colour of the balloon; it is what is inside that makes it go up.” The lesson from the balloon man: It is what is inside that counts — it’s our attitude. Our attitudes can make us rise. That is the reason why some individuals, organisations, or countries are more successful than others.
QnQ? Q ask: SIN? Are we punished for our sins or are we punished by our sins?
1. Sin implies culpability or personal fault, that we are separated and are punished for our sins. But this is an illusion that many of us have to overcome.
2. Religion’s primary task is to communicate UNION, reconnecting people to their original identity ie “hidden with Christ in God”. It is not about being moral to be loved by God. It is about experiencing God’s love to be moral. Before original sin was original grace.
3. It is strange that our mistakes lead us to God. Jesus and Paul believed that necessary transgression, and the need for mercy that follows, is the pattern for transformation. (Some thoughts from Fr Richard Rohr)
See The Holy Spirit @ Work: We’re all assigned a piece of the garden, a corner of the universe that is ours to transform. Our corner of the universe is our own life — our relationships, our homes, our work, our current circumstances — exactly as they are. Every situation we find ourselves in is an opportunity, perfectly planned by the Holy Spirit, to teach love instead of fear.” --Marianne Williamson
Something To Tickle You: The greater your knowledge of the goodness and grace of God in your life, the more likely you are to praise Him in the storm.--Matt Chandler
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