Ignatian Online, Website of St Ignatius Church, Petaling Jaya

The Archdiocesan Pastoral Institute has made available the November 2020 editions of NewBEC (29 Nov issue in English, Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia & Tamil); BEC Reflection (English, Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia & Tamil); and Liturgy of the Hours (English, Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia & Tamil) for us to read, reflect & pray at home. This could be done individually or in groups using video conferencing tools such as Meet, Messenger Rooms, Teams, WebEx or Zoom.

The latest Ordo for 2020-2021 is available at St Ignatius Church (SIC) Office, Monday-Friday, from 9 am to 4 pm. Parishioners will receive a copy with a donation of RM5 each. Also available is a smaller, and more portable, version for the same donation amount. Another publication worth getting – for a donation of RM7 per copy – is the 2021 Catholic Calendar with the theme Laudato Si or Care for Our Common Home.

The Ordo publication lists the Catholic liturgical calendar for the daily celebration of Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours. Hence, it is a useful guide for us to know what are the readings for Mass every day, the solemnities or feasts or memorials for particular days, the liturgical season we are in, and precise information on significant celebrations such as Holy Week and the Christmas season. Besides beautiful pictures of our natural habitat, the Catholic Calendar contains information and tips on its care & preservation.

Click on TvArchKL for the live broadcasts (schedule listed below) and Readings & Reflection for Friday, Last Week in Ordinary Time. Pls note that the Herald publication will not be printed from 22 March issue onwards until further notice but it is available online.

What is spiritual communion? St Thomas Aquinas defined spiritual communion as “an ardent desire to receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament and a loving embrace as though we had already received Him.” The basis of this practice was explained by St John Paul the Great in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia. A summary of this encyclical is available here. Click on Archdiocese to find out how to make an act of spiritual communion.

Some reflections are available at Our Sunday Readings (2 pages) and Hearers of the Word (5 pages). And do listen to Dr Brant Pitre's reflections on The Second Coming & The Great Unveiling.

As directed by the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur via their Chancery Notice dated 6 October 2020, all Public Masses in St Ignatius Church (SIC) & parishes located within Kuala Lumpur and the State of Selangor will be temporarily suspended from 7 October 2020. This suspension will last till further notice. In the meantime, our Online Mass Registration will be halted until we are informed about the resumption of Mass.

Parishioners kindly note that intentions for Mass offerings and donations for the maintenance of the parish can be remitted online using the following information:

Thereafter, kindly send an email to the parish office at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it enclosing a copy of the remittance and stating the purpose of the transfer. If it is for Mass offerings, please state for each Mass offered who it is for, the proposed date of the Mass and the intention, i.e. whether it is a:

Parishioners may also make payments using cheques made payable to St Ignatius Church and mailed to SIC's address.

This announcement is also available at Archdiocese.

Every year, St Ignatius Church (SIC) RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) inquirers would have a chance to participate in an outreach programme planned, to pay a visit to the St Francis Xavier Home for the Elderly. The Home is under the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor located at Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

Year 2020 indeed is challenging for this outreach due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Although it is difficult moment for us this year, the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) did not stop the inquirers spreading their love and care to the needy. Through the love and graces of Jesus, the inquirers, facilitators and the past years' baptised RCIA Catholics have collectively with their effort, raised sufficient funds to arrange the purchase of provisions. Appealed contributions from some corporates also came in with supplementary supplies.

On Monday 9 November 2020, in observing and in compliance with the CMCO SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), despite all challenges, a representative from the RCIA inquirers with two RCIA facilitators delivered the provisions to the Home. The goods purchased were piled up in the Home’s pantry room. Later, a cheque from the collection was presented to the Home. Sr Lucy was present to welcome the visitors and delivery. She also thanked all the donors and contributors in a recorded video.

Although the inquirers did not get a chance to visit and view the Home, Sr Lucy in her message welcomed all the inquirers to join in a fellowship with the residents in the Home, as soon as the pandemic is over. The inquirers have brought to the Home Jesus’ compassion, love, care and kindness.

Click on RCIA for more information.

I’m writing this at a time when the world is in frenzy over Pope Francis’ comments in a new documentary about him. The secular media claim that his comments meant the Catholic Church endorsed same-sex union and that this was the sign that the Church’s teaching on homosexuality was caving in. The discussion about what the Pope actually said is not relevant here but what interested me was the fact that the Church’s teachings cannot be changed as easily as that and this is because of the structure, hierarchy and processes that are in place. This is one of the strengths of the Catholic Church.

My appreciation for the Catholic Church’s structure, hierarchy and processes grew exponentially when I did the online study titled Acts: The Spread of the Kingdom conducted by Jeff Cavins & organised by SIC Scripture Study (SSS) group. I saw how all this was put in place at the very beginning when the Church was at its infancy and saw how strong this was then and that nothing has changed to this day.

My husband, who is also doing the study, reminded me that when Paul the Apostle brought up the issue of circumcision at the Council of Jerusalem, the then Pope Peter, after meeting the apostles and elders, agreed with him that this Mosaic Law did not need to be imposed on Gentile believers (Acts 15:6-11). This matter was brought before the leadership to discuss. There was no room for personal preferences to sneak in, or was there any way arbitrary decisions could be forced through. Neither was there any intention to pander to popular opinions. It all had to come before the Church leadership for the elders to devote ample time to praying and discussing, and the decision made by the council was final.

Everyone submitted to the leadership, there was no murmuring, sabotage or refusal to carry out directives. The final decision was announced by James and a letter was written and sent out to the Gentile believers. How do we know the decision made was the best? The people more than accepted the decision. They were happy and found the message encouraging, and life went on (Acts 15:31). I used to be very bothered about this, thinking that Peter ought to be the decision-maker as the Pope and not James. I had thought James was not respecting the leadership placed by God and was controlling the Church and that even Paul did not dare go against him. I thought this whole episode showed a wanton display of power and that James was undermining the Church authority. But only after doing this study did I see how the Church operated and how wrong I was.

I saw the different roles played by James, Peter and Paul, along with the others and also the decision-making process. I also learnt about how deacons were selected in the early Church and how the distinction between deacons and priests were made, and how offerings were brought to Jerusalem and with that a revenue-generating system was put in place to take care of Church operations. There is much tradition in the Catholic Church and much of it had its origins in the first century Church. One of the criticisms is that these traditions are choking the growth of the Church. But I feel that only happens when traditions are man-made. The traditions of the Catholic Church come from God, and these God-made traditions have made the Church stand strong all these years – 2,000 years to be precise. They are there to help the leadership put God first, make sure all actions and decisions are directed by the Holy Spirit, and bring Jesus to all corners of the earth.

The Book of Acts is about how the faith spread – from Pentecost, to martyrdom and the conversion of Gentiles by the thousands. It is a story that starts with Jesus telling his apostles to take the Gospel to all four corners of the earth and the book ends with thousands, or probably millions, accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour as a result of this spiritual movement. The Book of Acts is about a much-feared Roman official who becomes the Apostle to the Gentiles and a powerful preacher who with a newly-established Church shook the biggest political power in the world, the Roman Empire, and the Sanhedrin, the highest decision-making Jewish institution.

The Book of Acts is about the early Catholic Church guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Note: Acts: The Spread of the Kingdom was conducted by SSS from 2 Mar 2020 to 9 Nov 2020. More than 50 participants & facilitators attended the 20-session module via Zoom. Click on SSS for more information.