Malacca Johore Diocese News Update #197

Nov 08, 2024

Greetings dear friends of MJD.
Nobody appears to take responsibility these days! Private and educational loans not repaid. So scrap the PTPTN! Waving the Chinese flags in Teluk Intan! Another thoughtless act. House arrests: a solution for overcrowded prisons or for first-time offenders or the First- Timer at Sg Buloh or preparations for VIP offenders? Whom does it favour? Being responsible means pay back what we have taken or borrowed or being accountable for one’s misdeeds. Sorry is not enough. It is not about leniency, mercy or forgiveness. Because this trend encourages laziness, handout mentality and unethical practices.

Synod or “Sin Nod” Times: An academic expressed that exempting public universities from Act 605, will encourage more scholarly discussions, instead of unfounded statements. He called for competent and reputable academics, not “kangkung professors” to work in universities and selections to be based on expertise, not skin colour, ethnicity, gender, or other nonsensical factors.

The Second session of the Synod has concluded. The final document which has magisterial value, highlights the moving away from a vision of the “universal Church” as a kind of multinational corporation to the Church seen as a “communion of Churches,” with growing contributions from laypersons and women and becoming more missionary. For this conversion, we need courage and conviction. More importantly, the local Church must undergo synodal conversion or we may have a Church led by “kangkung leaders”. The synodal Church does not “nod to sin”.

A Thought For The Week: A father’s advice
The father had something to say to his son, “Just go for it and give it a try! You don’t have to be a professional to build a successful product. Amateurs started Google and Apple. Professionals built the Titanic.

Lesson from the father: Never hold back the inner impulse nor resist trying new ideas. No harm in trying. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The world needs innovators, not imitators.

Announcements for the Week:
1. The Pusat Kasih CARITAS, MJD’s Social Mission Hub, located at the Brothers’ Block of SRJK(C) St Joseph opens on December 1, at 12.00 noon with the blessing and dedication ceremony. Contact Albert Tan 016- 8492346 by November 15.

2. The MJD Counseling Ministry is organising Reclaiming Joy: Healing Childhood Wounds and Restoring Peace, which will take place at MAJODI Centre on 24th Nov 2024 (9.00am-5.00pm). Limited to 100 participants, the cost is RM 80 per pax, with meals. Register with Diana 013- 7274147; Mary 012-7070750; Michael 012-2104116. Closing date: Nov 17.

3. The Beloved, a stay-in camp exclusively for single men agaed 18 and above will be held on January 11-12 at the CDD Formation House in Melaka. For more information, please contact Fr Adrian Francis at 012-3947986 or [email protected]. Closing date is December 20.

QnQ? The Q asks: Am I responsible for what I become? Am I not a child of God who must depend on Him?
Henri Nouwen says: There is within you a lamb and a lion. Spiritual maturity is the ability to let lamb and lion lie down together. Your lion is your adult, aggressive self. It is your initiative-taking and decision-making self. But there is also your fearful, vulnerable lamb, the part of you that needs affection, support, affirmation, and nurturing.

When you heed only your lion, you will find yourself overextended and exhausted. When you take notice only of your lamb you will easily become a victim of your need for other people’s attention. The art of spiritual living is to fully claim both your lion and your lamb. Then you can act assertively without denying your own needs. And you can ask for affection and care without betraying your talent to offer leadership.

Developing your identity as a child of God in no way means, giving up your responsibilities. Likewise, claiming your adult self in no way means that you cannot become increasingly a child of God. In fact, the opposite is true. The more you can feel safe as a child of God, the freer you will be to claim your mission in the world as a responsible human being. And the more you claim that you have a unique task to fulfill for God, the more open you will be to letting your deepest need be met.” (Henri Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love).

See The Holy Spirit @ Work: Let’s ask ourselves: Are we open to the Holy Spirit, do I pray to him to enlighten me, to make me more sensitive to the things of God? And this is a prayer we need to pray every day, every day:

Holy Spirit may my heart be open to the Word of God, may my heart be open to good, may my heart be open to the beauty of God, every day. --Pope Francis

Something To Tickle You: “Every life you touch, every difference you make, every prayer you pray makes the world a better place.” --Linda Evans Shepherd (31)

Bishop Bernard Paul