17 September 2006 issue of the Herald

TAIPING: The pastoral council chairperson of Taiping Catholic Church, Gerard Jude P'ng, together with the parish animating team members have been making efforts to arrange for priests to visit and celebrate the Sunday Eucharist at their parish whenever one is available.

At other times, communion service is conducted by the parish liturgy team on the Lord's day. The attendance of the congregation, though, has not significantly reduced.

17 September 2006 issue of the Herald

TAIPING: With a simple ceremony in the absence of the parish priest, the parishioners of the Taiping Catholic Church bade IJ Sisters Betty Andrew and Regina Leong a fond farewell at a sunset Mass in St Louis Church celebrated by the visiting priest, Fr Dominic Santhiyagu from Ipoh.

2 July 2006 issue of the Herald

Taiping Mandarin-speaking youths organise camp

TAIPING: Motivated by the success of the last two camps, the Mandarin-speaking youths of the Taiping Catholic Church once again got together to organise the third youth camp from June 2-3 for the youths in Taiping and Kuala Sepatang. It was held at Wisma Pandan Puteri near the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Klian Pau.

25 Dec. 2006 issue of The Herald.

TAIPING: Fr John Heng was ordained on September 2005 in the Catholic Diocese of Tai Zhong in Taiwan as a diocesan priest. He deferred celebrating his first Mass in Taiwan in order that he might be able to celebrate it in Malaysia.

Fr Heng hails from Gurun, Kedah. His parents had the privilege and blessing to attend their son’s inaugural Mass held at the Church of Christ the King, Sungei Petani, Kedah.

Fr Heng said that somehow the Lord, through circumstances in his life, had called him to the priesthood in Taiwan. 

25 Dec. 2006 issue of The Herald.

TAIPING: A team from Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church from Ipoh travelled to Taiping to share their experiences on the celebration of the Children’s liturgy at Mass.

The five lay persons led by Jeffrey Pinto did a practical workshop with 14 catechists from the Taiping Catholic Church at the Holy Spirit Hall with the implicit understanding that all present were in the learning process in endeavouring to make the Sunday Mass a more meaningful and participatory experience for young children.
“Children’s liturgy of the Word is not catechesis, neither is it a matter of baby-sitting the children for their parents in church. It is worship with the same liturgy of the word as in the main Mass, which is simultaneously being celebrated with the whole congregation in church.

13 November 2005 issue of The Herald.

Taiping church help family in need.

TAIPING: Members of the Parish Human Development Committee (PHDC) of the Church of St Louis celebrated Deepavali with their recent ?case? family.

The family with 8 children are without birth certificates and identity cards. The PHDC chairman, Francis Xavier managed to get a few done and put one in school but the poor child could not follow the lessons and finally dropped out. Now she has found a job in a non-Christian Chinese home who takes good care of her.

The second daughter left home at the age of 13 with her boyfriend. She returned home recently with 4 children (aged

30 October 2005 issue of The Herald

TAIPING:  The parish human development committee of the Taiping Catholic church grappled with the understanding of “corruption” during their training session at the St Louis Parish House.

The session was conducted by Bernadette Teh Ah See, the Asian Chaplain of the International Young Christian Students.

Teh explained that payment in exchange for services or goods is the usual practice in the business world. Some of the questions she raised included: When does one draw a line between routine business transactions and bribery? Or when cash or kind is given in appreciation for services performed, is such a gift regarded as corruption? Is tipping an incentive or a bribe?

30 October 2005 issue of The Herald

TAIPING:   Fr Mark Michael, director of the Penang Diocesan Catechetical Commission conducted a formation programme for catechists from the north Peak District of Penang Diocese at the Taiping Catholic Church.

Assisted by Lucille Dass and Nicole Liau, the team guided the 12 participants through a hands-on experience of creative ways of imparting the word of God to the catechism children such that they are excited about the faithfulness of God in expressing His love for us in spite of our not giving him importance and have been unfaithful to him in our lives.

23 October 2005 issue of The Herald

TAIPING: World Hospice Day was celebrated by the members of the Taiping Palliative Society and civic-minded members of the public with 25 cancer patients at the Taiping Town Hall on Oct 1.

Thirteen of these patients  were cancer survivors, meaning that they had been healed of cancer. Only 12 patients out of a total of 35 patients who were currently registered with the society were fit enough to attend the function.  

The celebration themed Celebrating Your Gift of Life, saw pharmaceutical and prosthesis manufacturing firms at hand to demonstrate the use of their equipments, which promise a better quality of life for those with chronic disability. An exhibition on early detection of cancers of the breast and the cervix of the womb, and activities of the society was held in conjunction with the celebration.

23 October 2005 issue of The Herald

TAIPING: The Chinese community celebrated the lantern festival recently. A few Indians and Eurasions joined about 200 Chinese children and adults to celebrate the festival at the Holy Spirit Hall of the Taiping Catholic Church.

9 October 2005 issue of The Herald

TAIPING:  If we keep the Ten Commandments but neglect the spirit of the commandments, which is to love one another, then we have not been wholly faithful to the commandments.

This was the main thrust of the follow-up session given by Alex Loo and his team to 130 participants of the Taiping Catholic Church.

“Christian life is a life of love. Everybody, not only Catholics, need to experience the presence of God\'s love. Not relating to and being unconcerned for others shows a lack of love,” he said.

25 Sept. 2005 issue of The Herald.

TAIPING: “Everyday, 8 thousand tons of rubbish is dumped in Malaysia, building unwanted rubbish mountains,” said Dr Kevin Lazarus of the St Vincent De Paul Conference of St Louis.

He said this while introducing Don and Mylene Theseira, who were invited by the Society to give a talk on recycling household wastes for a greener and fresher environment.

4 Sept. 2005 issue of The Herald.

TAIPING: Mind, Body and Soul. 'Which is important' were the opening words of Fr Fabian Dicom at the awareness session on Balanced Spirituality held at the Taiping Catholic Church recently.

Fr Fabian then explained how this perception is changing from the Soul to the wholistic 'Total' model incorporating mind, body and soul.

14 August 2005 issue of The Herald.

TAIPING: The parishioners of Taiping Catholic Church recently held a Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS) conducted by Alex Loo and his team of 18 facilitators.

In a departure from the usual sequence of having reconciliation and praying over by the laying of hands only at the final stages of a LSS, the retreat began with the participants being led to repentance in the Sacrament of Reconciliation with a priest through a series of talks and songs, some of which were composed by Alex himself.
The participants were prayed over by the team for the baptism by the Holy Spirit, which was reinforced at the end of the retreat. "Don?t ask for anything for yourself or for others, such as healing of illnesses or relationships. Ask only for the gift of the Holy spirit." Alex admonished before his team prayed over the people individually.

17 July 2005 issue of The Herald.

Earlier these youths had attended the Diocesan Youth Camp organised by the Penang Diocesan Youth Network (PDYN). They wanted to bring this camp experience to other youths in Taiping and Kuala Sepetang. So with the blessing and encouragement of the parish priests, Fr David Lourdes and Fr Marshall Fernandez, they formed the organising committee to plan for the camp.

26 June 2005 issue of The Herald.

TAIPING: Fr Michael Cheah, promoter of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) in the Diocese of Penang, briefed 16 facilitators and sponsors of the catechumens of the RCIA of the Taiping Catholic parish on June 4.

While welcoming the participants, Fr Cheah of the Church of St Michael, Ipoh reminded the facilitators that their responsibilities are great for they represent the parish priest and the Catholic Church in imparting the truth, the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Community to the catechumens.

29 May 2005 issue of The Herald

To start working on parish projects and activities without first reflecting on their purposes and the spirit with which they should be approached is a stumbling block for many Parish Pastoral Councils.