Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1935)
3972 Jalan New Ferry, 12100 Butterworth, Penang
T: 012-5227233, 04-3249635
F: 04-3243067
Email: nbvmpg@yahoo.com
Parish Priest: Fr. Victor Louis
Sunday Masses :
8.30 am (English)
5.00 pm (1st, 3rd & 5th Sundays in Tamil)
5.00 pm (2nd & 4th Sundays in Mandarin)
(Cp) Chapel of Sts Jacques Chastan & Laurent Imbert (1995)
106A Jalan Kurau, Taman Chai Leng,
13700 Perai
T: 04-3249635
Sat. Sunset Mass : 6.30 pm
Monday: 6.30 pm
Wednesdays :6.30 pm
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LSS at Butterworth parish |
| Posted by Diocese of Penang (pgdiocese) on Sep 12 2008 |
27 July 2008
BUTTERWORTH: “The Lord rides high on the praises of His people. God is present where people are united in one mind and heart to praise and worship Him. Let us all be silent and be filled with God’s peace and mercy,” said Fr Nelson Chitty (picture), the parish priest as he presided at the Eucharistic celebration that marked the last session of the 9 week LSS (Life in the Spirit Seminar) in the Church of the Nativity (NBVM).
In his homily he said, “Be transformed and not be deformed” as he referred to the famous TV programme “Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?” where adults and even professionals were unable to answer simple questions which a fifth grader could do so with ease. Then he asked, “Are you holier than a fifth grader?” He then spoke of “St Paul, a fervent Jew, who went on a ‘jihad’ against the Jews who had become Christians. After his encounter with Christ, he needed time out to allow the new-found Christian faith to take root in his life. He needed to be transformed by learning: the ways of the Lord, how to live as a Christian, how to be a disciple of Jesus, how to open his mind to be filled with the wisdom of the Lord so as to allow the Lord to lead and transform him.”
He continued to say “many of us Catholics remained as fifth graders in our faith after our confirmation. We have not grown in our faith. Our faith is very simple. The basic truth is that God loves us unconditionally and we respond to that love by loving Him and others.”
Fr Nelson said that after the infilling of the Holy Spirit and an encounter with Christ in the LSS” you need to be holier than a fifth grader. Like St Paul, you need to take time to allow the Lord to lead and transform you.”
We can do this by:
- making Prayer a habit — do not pay ‘lip service’ by rattling off formatted prayers, rather speak to God as a child to his father
- celebrating the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist often. As Matrimony is a sacrament that empowers husbands and wives, you should lay hands and pray over your children too.
- reading and praying with the Bible which is a love letter from the Lord.
- last but not least, having a great devotion to Mary, our Blessed Mother who will surely guide you to Jesus, Her Son.
At the end of the celebration, Gabriel Lee, the CCR leader of NBVM, congratulated the participants who have been faithful for 13 weeks because of the breaks for the BEC week. He echoed Fr Nelson Chitty’s words that we need to change our mindset. “LSS is the beginning of our Christian journey. We have to learn first how to crawl with Our Lord Jesus looking after us. Then steadily, we stand up and walk with Jesus. We need to learn to lean and depend on Jesus.”
He expressed his thanks to Frs Nelson Chitty and Robert Daniel for their support and encouragement, all those who have contributed in cash and kind to defray the expenses incurred during the LSS and God Almighty for a successful LSS. He gave an open invitation to all present to the weekly CCR prayer meetings as well as to the fellowship after the Eucharistic celebration.
Fr Nelson Chitty thanked the English-speaking CCR core team for organizing the LSS.
About seventy participants registered for the LSS seminar and the average weekly turnout was about 80 per cent. Many of those who attended were touched by the Holy Spirit. One of the participants testified, “After the healing session, I experienced a load off me. I experienced much joy and peace and after the infilling of the Holy Spirit, I felt this great desire to talk about Jesus to those I meet.”
Many shared in their group discussion of how they experienced the Holy Spirit in a very gentle but powerful way. Many of them felt this great desire to pray and to establish a greater relationship with Jesus as their Lord and Saviour as well as to evangelise. Another participant, also testified that after the infiilling of the Holy Spirit, she was given this gift of patience to wait on the old and needy. One of them received this message, “Be my instrument.”
The participants have suggested that the LSS in future should run for nine weeks, without a break for the BEC, it had been done during this LSS. It broke the momentum and because of the break, many were tempted to stay away especially after the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Many were happy that different speakers like Frs Nelson Chitty and Robert Daniel (Parish and Assistant Parish priests of NBVM respectively), Samuel Dass (chairman, national CCR), Gerry Pereira (Editor, Inspiritu) and Arokiadass (chairman, Pg DST) were invited to give the talks. The speakers gave new perspectives and insights to the ever-old and ever-new topics. It was refreshing to listen to them. In their sharing, they all spoke passionately of God's great love for each one of us and challenged us to move into a closer and more committed relationship with Christ and the community through prayer, the Word of God, the sacraments and service — first to the family, then the BEC and neighbours, the parish, the diocese, the church and lastly the world.
— By Anne Marie Teh
Last changed: Sep 12 2008 at 5:42 PM
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