Parish adopts Five Cs as 2015 pastoral thrust

Jan 29, 2015

By Catherine Francis
More than 300 parishioners of the Taiping Catholic Church turned up on Jan 18 for the Parish Pastoral Assembly with their parish priest, Fr Jude Miranda.

The theme set by the Peninsular Malaysia Pastoral Team for 2015 is Discipleship: Mission Towards Transforming Humanity.

More than an hour was spent on evaluating the parish event “The Rite of Sending” and the various mission trips organised by the BECs, Catechism children and the Parish in 2014, the successes, the shortcomings, and the improvements that have to be made.

Next, Fr Fabian Dicom spoke about issues affecting the self, family and society, reminding the people that the three cannot be separated, because each has an impact on the other.

Self — Various external and internal situations affect the self. The transformation that is needed is to move from religiosity to spirituality, where our primary motivation is to respond to God’s love. The virtue that is needed to bring about this transformation is self-care, where we are entitled to see to ourselves, to regain our image as sons and daughters of God.

Family — The family is affected in many ways, especially by consumerism. There is a disposition of self-centredness and individualism, where the goal is to kill off the competition in order to be the best, and where our culture dictates that we should not ‘lose face’. Here, the transformation needed is to move from self-centredness to community, where we live out Christ’s care and compassion by serving one another in the family, and by showing special concern for the poor, the orphans, single parents, the sick, etc. It is through reaching out within our family, and beyond, that we strengthen the bonds of family life. The virtues needed for this to take place are fidelity and service, where we need God’s grace to be faithful to our family relationships and to the people we are committed to, and to serve one another.

Society — Malaysian society today is plagued by injustice, polarization, corruption, racism, religious bigotry, inequality, consumerism and destruction of the environment. Yet, our inner disposition of complacency and indifference is perpetuating this situation. A good question to ask ourselves concerning each situation is ‘What would Jesus do?’ We need to show respect for everyone, regardless of their race or religion. This transformation will reach its height when we are able to see each other as brothers and sisters. The virtues that we need from the Lord to bring about this transformation are justice and courage.

Fr Jude Miranda spoke about transformation. Transformation does not happen at once, but takes place gradually as we cooperate with God. God expects and desires transformation in us. From the moment of our Baptism, the Holy Spirit begins His work to transform us into the image of Christ. Fr Jude referred to Jesus’ transfiguration in Mt. 17:1-9, where Jesus Himself went through a change. Transformation is about living a life in God; it’s to become like God in our character, to live in the Spirit and to yield to God. It is to be like Christ, to live in Christ, and to show the fruits of the Spirit in our lives by loving God, loving people and sharing that love with others. Fr Jude warned that selfish individualism has crept into the Church, and family relationships are being compromised. We are being challenged on all fronts by Islamization, materialism and various forms of temptation. The only consolation we have, is that God will not leave us unless we leave God. He urged the people to pick themselves up and to try again in 2015, if they have made mistakes in the past. He shared that for 2015, the Parish will focus on the Five Cs: Conviction, Conversion, Consecration, Communion and Commission. It is hoped that through these Five Cs, transformation will take place.

In his final session, Fr Dicom asked this question of the people: Can we, as a parish, focus on the transformation that has been outlined for 2015? The answer he received was a resounding ‘Yes’. With this, he gave a few suggestions on how the parish can work towards spirituality, community and solidarity.

Before giving his blessing, Bishop Sebastian Francis reminded everyone that Jesus, who is present from beginning to end, listens to all that has been said and would take us at our word. He said that in all our mission work, there must be an element of joy and compassion in serving others.