City Parish, Penang
Our Lady of Sorrows (OLS), Assumption (AC), St. Francis Xavier (SFX), St.John Britto (SJB)
Parish house and Secretariat is at Church of Our Lady of Sorrows:
33 Jalan Macalister, 10400 Pulau Pinang
T: 04-2261502
F: 04-2284519
Email: cityp2@tm.net.my
Parish Priest : Rev. Michael Thoo
Assistant priest: Rev. Dominic Santhiyagu
Secretariat Opening Hours
Mon - Fri:
9.30 am - 11.30 am (Christine Choong)
3.00 pm - 5.30 pm (Margaret Sim)
Satiurday:
10.00 am - 6.00 pm (Lucia Lai)
1.00 pm - 6.00 pm (Margaret Sim)
Sunday:
10.00am - 6.00 pm (Margaret Sim)
1. (Main Church) Our Lady of Sorrows (1888)
33 Jalan Macalister, 10400 Pulau Pinang
T: 04-2261502
F: 04-2284519
cityp2@tm.net.my
Tue/Wed : 7.30 am
Thu/Fri : 6.00 pm
Sat. Novena: 6.00pm
Sat. Sunset Mass: 6.45 pm (English)
Sunday Masses :
8.30 am (English); 10.00 am (Mandarin)
Filipino Mass : 11.15 am (1st & 3rd Sunday)
Bahasa Mass - 11.30 am (2nd Sunday)
2. (Mass Centre) Assumption (1786)
3 Lebuh Farquhar, 10200 Pulau Pinang
T: 04-2610088
Sat. Novena: 6.00pm
Sat. Sunset Mass: 6.30 pm
Sunday Mass : 10.00 am (English)
3. (Mass Centre) St. Francis Xavier (1957)
52-K, Penang Road, 10000 Pulau Pinang
Sunday Mass : 6.00 pm (English)
4. (Mass Centre) St. John Britto (1969)
139 Sungai Pinang Road, 10150 Pulau Pinang
Sunday Mass : 8.00 am (Tamil)
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BEC is the basic option at City Parish, Penang |
| Posted by Diocese of Penang (pgdiocese) on Jan 24 2007 |
21 January 2007 issue of The Herald
PENANG: City Parish held its Parish Pastoral Assembly on Jan 4 with 24 persons in attendance. The Assembly focused mainly on the BEC.
The Assembly started off with a message from the parish priest, Fr Michael Thoo. He said that to know the state of the parish, it is important to evaluate what had happened during the previous years and to plan ahead for the coming year. He cautioned the participants to work as a team, not as individuals, for the good of the people and the glory of God.
Joseph Tan, the PPC chairperson in his address welcomed all those who were present. He shared that during the PMPC III held in August last year, it was agreed that the basic option of the Church is to build the BEC, thus it is important for all those present to evaluate the state of their BECs. He proposed that the parish adopt the theme Allow Jesus Christ to come alive in our BEC as the theme for 2007.
Joyce Lee, PPC secretary was the facilitator of the Assembly. She said that the Assembly was not to see the decline of the BEC but rather to see what could be done to make BECs successful. “In line with PMPC III’s call for the realisation of BECs, we are gathered here to monitor and evaluate the progress of the BEC,” sha said.
Joyce explained the objective of PMPC III, which was “to review, renew and relive”. She summarised the vision and mission of the Church as:
Vision: See our life as a vocation to serve the Kingdom of God.
Mission: To journey together towards ‘A New Way of Being Church’ — a community church, a participatory church, a dialoguing church and a prophetic church.
Joyce then presented some common problems of the BEC. e.g. lack of faith and commitment, no time or interest to attend formations, too preoccupied with personal or family problems and so on.
The Bible verse from Acts 2: 42-47 was used to illustrate the first Christian community. Then the parishioners were divided into groups for workshop. The groups had to answer three questions:
1. As an individual, how do you view your BEC — how important is it to you? How committed are you to your BEC?
2. As a BEC, try to single out one main problem affecting your BEC and come up with a plan or suggestion on how you will handle the problem in 2007.
3. As a parish, what can be done to address the needs and the problems?
Everyone agreed that the BEC is important. Many felt that it is through the BEC that they could get to know the people in their neighbourhood and in that way get the support and guidance from each other when the need arises. BEC gatherings are also opportunities for all to share their faith.
The problems that most encounter in their BECS are poor attendance due to non-commitment and a lackadaisical attitude. The migration of people from the city to rural areas was also a problem facing the BEC. Some also cited transport and relationship problems.
To address these problems, many suggestions were made such as to get a family census and restructure the BEC, arrange formation for core groups and involving zones in parish events.
Some also felt that leaders ought to create awareness of the importance of the BEC, and leaders who plan for activities, must make sure that the plans be carried out. There was also a suggestion that there should be fellowship after mass every Sunday for people to gather in order to get to know each other, and gradually the BEC could be introduced to them.
The Assembly concluded with the PPC chairperson, Joseph Tan imparting his thoughts that the strength of a parish lies in the effectiveness of the BEC, not on church attendance, which was whole-heartedly agreed by everyone present.
— By Lucia Lai
Last changed: Jan 24 2007 at 4:28 PM
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