Ignatian Online, Website of St Ignatius Church, Petaling Jaya

More than 600 parishioners attended the SIC Family Fiesta held on 10 November 2013 to help bring the curtain down on St Ignatius Church's (SIC) 25th anniversary celebrations. A year-long series of events – Feast Day Triduum, Anniversary Dinner, Anniversary Book, Anniversary Logo, souvenir items, formation programmes and other activities – were organised to mark this milestone for the church. A bilingual Mass beginning at 8.30 am helped usher in the Family Fiesta which kicked off with a procession into church by BEC leaders.

After releasing balloons and two pigeons to declare the start of festivities, SIC Parish Priest Fr Lucas Ng acknowledged the tireless contributions of parishioners in making SIC's Silver Jubilee celebration a success. Moreover, activities organised over the past 12 months have reinforced the importance of Faith: Know, Live, Share amongst parishioners. Apart from food/craft & games stalls, other Fiesta attractions include a Family Talent Contest, Nativity Dress Up Contest, mini-health checks, artists corner, sand art, face painting, horse rides and BECs & Ministries Banner Contest. SIC Assistant Parish Priest Fr Andrew Wong and Fr Philip Tan (Provincial, CDD Malaysia) also officiated at the event. Several Franciscan Missionaries of Mary (FMM) sisters presented an acting/song skit.

In between were song and dance items performed by the young & not-so-young alike. Many parishoners stayed back till about 3 pm hoping to snag the Raffle Draw grand prize – a laptop computer valued at RM2,500. Kudos to the 25th Anniversary Organising Committee and other volunteers for helping to bring not only the Fiesta but all Anniversary events to fruition. SIC looks forward to its next quarter century with much hope and optimism. 

Click here and here to view more photos of the event.

Photography: John Ari Ragai & Matthew Soo

Sixteen boys and girls were baptised into the Catholic Church and received their First Holy Communion on Sunday 29 September 2013 under a special programme conducted by the St Ignatius Church (SIC) Sunday School. This year’s event was extra special as the children were joined by 14 infants for baptism by SIC Assistant Parish Priest Fr Andrew Wong. Together with their parents, godparents and friends, they waited with excited anticipation at the main church entrance for the ceremony to begin at 4.45 pm. 

 

by Shelagh Nunis

It was a privilege to be one of 28 pilgrims who visited Italy as part of St Ignatius Church’s 25th Anniversary celebrations. The 10-day pilgrimage from 6-15 May 2013 was led by SIC Parish Priest Fr Lucas Ng and organised by SIC’s Family Life Ministry (FLM). We began our pilgrimage in Milan, north-eastern Italy, and visited Verona, Castions, Concordia, Padua, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Chianti, Pisa, Siena, and Assisi, before ending our trip in Rome and Vatican City. An Anniversary highlight of the trip was to visit the birthplace of Cardinal Celso Costantini who founded the Congregatio Discipulorum Domini (CDD) Order which is the religious order SIC priests belong to. His birthplace, Castions, and the nearby town of Concordia, revealed the Cardinal Costantini that we did not know about. Not only was the Cardinal an eminent prelate who led the inculturation process of the Church in China, but Cardinal Costantini was also a talented artist and sculptor. His one-time family residence in Castions is now a museum where his life’s work is well documented.

The pilgrimage satisfied on many levels. We took in the beauty of ancient cities, art and architecture; the charming vistas of countryside. It was a feast for the mind, the heart and the soul to walk the streets that Saints Anthony of Padua, Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena walked and to learn more about the lives of these towering figures in Catholic Church history. The peak experience for many was to soak in the treasures of the heartland of our Catholic Church – St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel.  We also attended our Holy Father’s General Audience on 15 May when the Vicar of Christ was present in St Peter’s Square for 45 minutes – moving around in the Popemobile, giving a homily, then blessing the pilgrims who had gathered from many parts of the world and their families. He also blessed religious articles pilgrims had purchased to take home. Indeed our hearts were full to be in our Holy Father’s presence that morning.

During the course of our journey, the pilgrimage was a testament to our living faith. This was felt in so many ways – attending Mass and receiving the Eucharist; praying together and sharing our faith experiences; the care and concern shown one for another (e.g. giving each other a hand with the luggage or up the bus; sharing plasters and zambuk for sore feet). An invaluable outcome is that we got to know each other better as parishioners of SIC. Kudos to Michael Lip, Antonio Lee and Helen Foo of FLM who planned the trip and who assisted the travellers every step of the way. Antonio and his wife, Bing, who had lived in Rome for several years, were fantastic guides. They provided an additional insight into life in Italy and even taught us basic Italian terms to use. All in all, it was a trip we will remember for the rest of our lives.

A Novena to Saint Ignatius of Loyola followed by Mass on Wednesday 31 July preceded this year's Parish Feast Day Triduum at St Ignatius Church (SIC). A video was also shown to get parishioners familiarised with the SIC patron saint's early life, conversion, spirituality, formulation of the Spiritual Exercises (a set of Christian meditations, prayers & mental exercises) and founding of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). On the following day and starting from the covered carpark at nearby Costantini Community Centre, a procession comprising representatives from church ministries headed into church to signal the beginning of the Triduum. The Novena to Saint Ignatius was recited followed by Mass.

Anchored by the theme: Faith – Know, Live, Share, celebrant Fr Clarence Dass preached the Know aspect of faith. He said there are two levels or meanings to the word know – intellectual knowledge and experiental knowledge. Intellectual faith knowlege can be learned (e.g. at Sunday school) but to gain experiential faith knowledge, we need to experience Jesus in our lives. Experience is something that cannot be given to us, we have to search for it. We have to be excited about God and make Him the top priority in our lives. SIC Parish Priest Fr Lucas Ng was the concelebrant.

Another procession comprising representatives from BECs signalled the start of proceedings for the second day of the Triduum on Friday 2 August. This time, Fr Clarence Dass preached the Live aspect of faith. Fr Clarence said that it is not easy to be a Christian but encouraged attendees to take this more difficult Road Less Travelled as it will lead to eternal life. On the flip side, compromising our Christian values to conform to that of the world will only lead us to the Road to Perdition (or damnation, death). SIC Assistant Parish Priest Fr Andrew Wong was the concelebrant. Concurrently on the first two days, Fr Stephen Ng was the celebrant at the Triduum Mass for the Mandarin-speaking community at Costantini Community Centre.

On the final day of the Triduum, the bilingual High Mass was celebrated by the first resident Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia, Archbishop Joseph Marino. CDD Frs Lucas Ng, Andrew Wong, Stephen Ng, Philip Tan, Anthony Heng and Joseph Low were the concelebrants. In his homily, His Grace Archbishop Marino raised two questions pertaining to the Parable of the Rich Fool which was the Gospel reading for the weekend. Riches are not an evil in themselves – as a Christian, we have to ask what is the nature of our riches. And secondly, what do we do with them. His Grace Archbishop Marino also unveiled a statute of St Ignatius of Loyola and launched the SIC 25th Anniversary Souvenir Book.

In closing, Fr Lucas thanked His Grace Archbishop Marino, Fr Clarence Dass, Fr Stephen Ng, concelebrants, and ministries & BECs which helped organise a successful Triduum. His Grace Archbishop Marino said he was thankful to SIC parishioners for making the liturgy truly a moment of prayer, and proceeded to give the Apostolic Blessing to all present. Priests and parishioners came together for a fellowship meal after Mass.

Click here to view more photos of our Triduum. Save your photos to hard disk, as well as those of members of your BEC/church ministries.

Photography: John Ari Ragai 

More than a thousand parishioners – one of the largest dinner gathering in the history of St Ignatius Church (SIC) – occupied Yuk Chai School Convention Hall in Taman Megah on 13 July to celebrate the church's Silver Jubilee. Besides parishioners, guests at the 111 tables included priests and religious, and our brothers and sisters in Christ from the migrant community. The event started off with a prayer and welcome address by SIC Parish Priest Fr Lucas Ng. Whilst food were being prepared and served, attendees were entertained by Masters of Ceremonies Jacinta Wong (Mandarin) and Stephen Fernando (English), a magic act, skits and dances, an Indian fusion music item and slide shows on aspects of SIC life.

Fr Philip Tan (Provincial, CDD priests in Malaysia) and Fr Lucas each also took the stage to sing several songs – and were resoundly applauded for their efforts. There was also a lucky draw with a 42-inch LED TV as the top prize and everyone received a souvenir mug. The three-hour dinner ended shortly after 11 pm but the band stayed behind to accompany those who want to dance the night away. Cheers, SIC, to another era of growth, bonding, and building of the Kingdom of God!  

The Solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ was celebrated at St Ignatius Church (SIC) this year with a procession after the 6 pm Mass on 2 June 2013. In his homily during the Mass, SIC Parish Priest Fr Lucas Ng encouraged parishioners to regularly adore the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (Prayer Room) and during Holy Hour held twice a month in SIC. Christ who healed, forgaved and loved when he walked amongst men 2,000 years ago is in our midst today. Most of all in the Eucharist – the sacrament of sacraments – where the words of Our Lord during the Last Supper echo throughout the ages: This is my Body which will be given up for you...this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant. Christ also promised us that he will be with us till the end of time. 

After mass at 7 pm, Fr Lucas started the procession by carrying the Blessed Sacrament from the Tabernacle within church to the first of four stations round the church compound – symbolically bringing our Lord to the four corners of the Earth, to all of creation. SIC Assistant Parish Priest Fr Andrew Wong took turns with Fr Lucas to carry and incense the Blessed Sacrament and read Gospel passages in English & Mandarin at each station. A canopy to shelter and shield the Blessed Sacrament was carried by communion ministers. Despite the hot and dry weather, many parishioners stayed behind after Mass to join the procession.

Photography: John Ari Ragai & Daniel Khong