This year's Parish Assembly (PA) held on Saturday 16 November 2019 at St Ignatius Church (SIC) started off with enthronement and reading of the Bible, and an opening prayer. First up on the programme was presentation of the Finance Report by Edward Sta Maria (Chairman, Parish Finance Committee) who addressed several enquiries. Attendees then gave a warm welcome to His Grace Archbishop Julian Leow and Monsignor Mitchel Joseph [Vicar-General, Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur; Ecclesiastical Assistant, Archdiocesan Pastoral Institute (API); Parish Priest, Church of St Anne, Port Klang] as they entered the Rooftop venue. Roeshan Gomez and Patricia Yeap acted as Co-Masters of Ceremony at the event attended by 200 parishioners.
In his welcome address, SIC Parish Priest Fr Andrew Wong CDD expressed his appreciation to the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC), leaders of ministries & BECs (Basic Ecclesial Communities), and parishioners for making available their time, talents, efforts & resources in organising more than 20 formation programmes focusing on the family, youths and BECs. Fr Andrew also mentioned the fruits of such programmes which include restoration of broken relationships, reconciliation amongst parents and children, and healing of the sick. Communal prayers together with the sharing & witnessing of Christ’s love and mercy in BECs are transforming lives every day.
Lourdes Abishegam [Chairman, Parish Pastoral Council (PPC)] then presented an evaluation of the 2018-2019 Parish Plan in the areas of BECs, Family Life & Youth clusters. Anthony Beh [Chairman, BEC Coordinating Team (Mandarin)], Alan Yong and Joseph Too (members of Parish Chinese Apostolate) presented an evaluation of the 2018-2019 Parish Plan in the same three areas for the Mandarin-speaking community.
Next to take the floor is a team from API comprising Msgr Mitchel, Rita Krishnan and Spencer Klumai. Msgr Mitchel shared that all parishes in the Archdiocese have more or less the same areas of concern articulated at a gathering at the Church of the Holy Family, Kajang, in 2016 attended by more than 600 leaders of various churches. Parishes are currently working towards addressing these concerns. Different parishes have different burning issues which needs prioritisation.
The API team proposed four broad categories for discussion: Relationship, Mission Outreach, Unity & Social Media. Attendees proceeded to form small groups to discuss & determine which of the categories is the burning issue in SIC. After several groups presented their selections, Msgr Mitchel revealed that out of 24 groups, 16 chose Relationship, four chose Outreach, two each chose Unity and Social Media respectively. Hence Relationship is the burning issue in SIC. The findings will be handed to Fr Andrew to assist him in prioritising certain events for SIC.
In his address, Archbishop Julian reminded that the youths of today will determine the future of Malaysia. He also reminded that parents are not only the first educators of their children’s faith, without them their children are unable go to church. To help parents be parents and to prepare the young, Archbishop Julian stressed the important role of CMPC (Catholic Marriage Preparation Course). Education is important but there must be a balance between academic excellence and spiritual nourishment. He also cautioned parents to be alert to their children’s overdependence on smartphones as their relationship with God and parents could be undermined.
The event ended with a closing prayer by Roeshan and a blessing by Archbishop Julian, Msgr Mitchel, Fr Andrew & Assistant Parish Priest Fr Lawrence Ng CDD.
A Parish Planning & Review Workshop was held earlier on 28 September 2019 to assist the PPC in reviewing the Parish Plan; and explore how SIC could be more dynamic and responsive to the pastoral needs of BECs, the demands of Family Life & enhance the contribution of Youths. Feedback obtained were compiled & included in the Evaluation of Parish Plan presented at the Parish Assembly. Participants also took part in a para-liturgy for Extraordinary Missionary Year led by Fr Andrew.
More photos taken by the Parish Communication Team (PCT) are available for viewing & downloading (preferably using pc or laptop instead of phone/tablet) at 