Ninety-five at Rite of Election at SFX, Melaka

Mar 21, 2014

By Percy D'Cruz
Ninety-five catechumens from the Northern Johor and Melaka District parishes of St Peter, St Andrew, St Mary, St Phillip and St Francis Xavier, together with their respective godparents, sponsors and catechists gathered at Banda Kaba’s St Francis Xavier’s Church on Sunday March 9, for the ceremony of the Rite of Election.

Presiding at the late afternoon proceedings was Bishop Paul Tan with Frs Michael Mannayagam, Simon Yong, SJ, Bernard Wong and Edward Rayappan in attendance.

Earlier, these catechumens had been ‘sent off’ by their respective parish communities where the faithful laity had expressed their approval of them and their readiness to begin the final preparation and purification leading to initiation.

Each parish community was represented by a godparent, catechist or sponsor who assured the catechumens of their care and support while recommending them to the Bishop for election.

Then the catechumens, as a pledge of their fidelity, signed their names in the Book of the Elect, which was subsequently taken to the Church of St. Francis Xavier for the Rite of Election ceremony.

The high point of the Rite of Election began when the candidates were presented to the Bishop who enquired about their desire to respond to the call of Christ to enter fully into the life of the Church through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist.

With the response ‘we do’ coming from the candidates, the solemn presentation of the Books of the Elect from each of the parish communities commenced.

After all the Books of the Elect were received, Bishop Paul declared them to be members of the elect to be initiated into the Sacred Mysteries at the forthcoming Easter Vigil.

24 year old Matthew Cheong Ee How of Gajah Berang, an Elect, when asked about his feelings, shared that he found the Rite of Election very meaningful and a great honour. “The whole exercise helped me understand what it means to be chosen and to say ‘yes’”, he remarked.

Sixty-eight year old Madam Catherine Seet felt the ceremony heightened her awareness of her role as a godparent. “All of us now have the duty to ‘surround’ the elect with prayer so that the entire Church will accompany and lead them to encounter Christ,” she added.