Youths appreciating all mothers of different faiths

May 20, 2016

By Bernard Anthony
Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. There are the usual gifts of bouquets of roses, cakes and cash to our mothers. Others have a special dinner for the occasion.

Mother’s Day is a day when we give special thanks and appreciation to all our mothers for their care, dedication and love showered upon us, from the time of our birth. Those whose mothers have gone before them offered up prayers for their departed souls. Many of the faithful also gave thanks to Mother Mary for her intercessions and prayers on our behalf and care.

At the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Health in Kampung Pandan, the Mother’s Day celebration was unique. Priest in-residence, Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam came up with the idea of reaching out to mothers of different faiths in the chapel’s neighbourhood. The idea was to give all mothers a simple gift for appreciation for their dedication to motherhood.

The three Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) of this chapel, namely St Clare, St Bridgette and St Joachim, came together and, with the encouragement of Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam, visited homes to reach out to all the mothers in the area. Ten Catholic youths from St Joachim BEC went to Lorong 6. Six Hindu youths and children, with a Muslim girl, joined three other Catholic youths belonging to St Clare and St Bridget BECs to visit around 90 Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Sikh homes.

The BECs had prepared gifts of sweets and flowers as tokens of appreciation for all the mothers they met. This is one way of communicating God’s love to all mothers of different faiths.

The prelate’s main aim was to encourage interreligious dialogue among the various faith communities living in this area.

The BEC youths were welcomed by those they visited. Some expressed their heartfelt gratitude but some gave them suspicious looks. This was the very first time the BECs and youths had undertaken such a project. Above all, joy filled the youths when many blessed them with words like “God bless you” and “Moga Tuhan rahmatimu selalu.”

One of the youths, Jacintha Pauline John said, “Reaching out doesn’t only mean to those who are in need. It is a simple action like this that puts a smile on someone’s face. After all, love begins at home and home includes our surroundings.”

This little project has definitely touched the hearts and enlightened the BEC members, particularly the youths. It has also helped to foster better understanding as well as strengthened the relationship with people of different races and religions living in the vicinity of the chapel.

Parish priest, Fr Edwin Peter, has given Archbishop Emeritus Pakiam the responsibility for Ecumenism and Inter- Religious Dialogue, not just at the Chapel of Our Lady of Good Health, Kampung Pandan, but for the entire parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, stretching from Ampang to Cheras and to Bandar Sri Permaisuri.