SFDS welcomes PDYD Icons and Cross

May 07, 2015

By DMC Durairaj
The parishioners of St Francis De Sales (SFDS), on April 24, witnessed and celebrated a special multilingual Eucharistic celebration at 7.30pm, welcoming the Penang Diocese Youth Day (PDYD) 3 Cross and Icon to the parish on the feast of St Mark.

The youths were fully in charge of organizing the Mass, which is a good preparation for the coming Diocesan Youth Day celebration in September 2015 in Penang. After the readings for the day, 1 Pet 5: 5-14 and the Gospel from Matt 16: 15-20, parish priest, Fr Vincent Paul in his homily, stressed that in Matthew’s Gospel, we discover that the word of God is a very powerful motivator to help build a vibrant Church. This comes from abiding by the Gospel values; therefore, we must always listen to the readings whilst attending Mass. We must make every effort to read the Bible, and the Gospel of Mark, about the life of Jesus and how close the apostles were to Jesus. We must also make every effort to bring the good news boldly to others and to let nothing stop us in doing this. He also affirmed that the symbol of the cross is the symbol of our faith and gives us all the strength to proclaim the good news of Christ.

For the offertory procession, a team of youths carried the dismantled cross and the portraits of our Lady and St John Paul II, which were brought from the Parish of St Joseph, Batu Gajah. The Cross and portraits will then be sent to the parish of St Anthony, Teluk Intan after the celebration on April 30th.

On arrival at the altar, the cross was set up and the portraits were placed on either side of the cross. This was followed by a cultural dance by the Tamil youths, followed by two youths carrying the offering of bread and wine.

The church was packed for the colourful and prayerful celebration which was something new to the parishioners. Thanks to the parish priest, Fr Vincent Paul, for fully supporting the youth.

At the end of the celebration, Fr Vincent Paul thanked the congregation for their participation, in particular the parish youths for their ceaseless efforts in making the evening celebration a great success. The congregation, in return, thanked Fr Vincent Paul for the time spent with the youth in guiding them.