On Easter day, 665 Elect will be baptised in KL

The Rite of Election for the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur was held on the First Sunday of Lent, Feb 9 at the Church of the Holy Family (HFK).

Mar 21, 2014

By Bernard Anthony
The Rite of Election for the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur was held on the First Sunday of Lent, Feb 9 at the Church of the Holy Family (HFK). Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam presided at the one and a-half hour long ceremony for the Catechumens, Godparents/Sponsors, RCIA Team members and clergy.

This year saw a total of 665 adult catechumens from all the language groups coming from 29 Churches and three Chapels
from the eight districts of the Archdiocese. In 2013 there were 663 catechumens. This year the parish with the most catechumens
is the Church of St Ignatius with 67, followed by theChurch of St Francis Xavier at 62.

In terms of breakdown by language: there are 307 English-speaking catechumens, followed by 147 who speak Bahasa Malaysia. Most of these Bahasa Malaysia speakers are from Sabah and Sarawak. There are 20 Myanmarese among the 665 Elect. The ceremony began with the entrance procession of the respective RCIA participants of the various parishes, with their banners, accompanied by their parish priests followed by the prelate.

The prelate gave his homily in both English and Tamil. He said, “You have journeyed to know God. Perhaps someone invited you or something touched you….the important point is Jesus touched your heart, promising the Holy Spirit to guide you and enlighten you that God is merciful, and called you to accept this faith.

“Sponsors, priests, RCIA teachers have given testimonies of your quest of preparing to become members of this community of believers.

“In the Name of Jesus Christ, you are designated as the Elect, the chosen one. I wish you all a fruitful journey towards your baptism at Easter Vigil and beyond. God be with you.”

Fr Augustine Lee spoke in Mandarin and Fr George Harrison in Bahasa Malaysia, respectively.

Fr George said that in Israel the people elected by God made a covenant. “Today God calls us to this covenant. What is important is Baptism, that gives you, the Elect, a new covenant in God. We have enteredinto the Season of Lent, a good time to prepare ourselves. We enter the ‘desert’ to cleanse ourselves and wash our sins away and make sacrifices to prepare us for new life in God, to become evangelizers of the Risen Christ and help the poor and work for justice in the world.”

The Rite of Election is a serious step for those preparing to receive the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and the Holy Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. Having completed their RCIA formation, these Catechumens expressed their desire to enter the Catholic Church.

During the ceremony, the 665 Catechumens were presented to the Archbishop Emeritus and the Ecclesiastical Assistant for RCIA, Fr George Harrison. The respective parish priests and Bearers of the Book of Elect (containing the names of the Catechumens according to their respective parishes) came forward to the prelate for his endorsement. After signing all the Books, the prelate declared the Catechumens to be the ‘Elect of God,’ chosen to be initiated into the sacred mysteries at the forthcoming Easter Vigil.

Archbishop Emeritus Pakiam thanked all those involved in the ceremony. The prelate called on more Catholics to become
sponsors, as many parishes find it difficult to get sponsors for the RCIA candidates. “We need to be an evangelizing community, we need to be Church, so come forward to stand with this person and be a sponsor.”

Fr George, who is also the parish priest of the Church of the Holy Family, later invited all for a light fellowship at the parish hall.

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