Good Shepherd Sunday 2015 & Insights from the Flood Relief Outreach.

Archbishop Emeritus delivering his homily on Good Shepherd Sunday

Yesterday, we celebrated Good Shepherd Sunday also known as Vocation Sunday. Besides praying for more vocations to the Priesthood and Religious life, his Grace, Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam, in his homily shared that Jesus, being the Good Shepherd, takes responsibility for all his sheep.
We should imitate our Good Shepherd by caring for other people in our family and society.
In another passage, Jesus said, "I have other sheep from other folds..."
All peoples, whether Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs or Muslims belong to God. To be a true disciple of Jesus, demands that we try to bring them to God in our hearts for His blessings; even those who run away from God.. They need us to point them to God and true happiness. "They are God's creation as God created human beings in His image".he concluded.

FATIMA FLOOD RELIEF OUTREACH

Insights from the Flood Relief Outreach

A Sharing by Joshua Ong

Mr. Joshua Ong sharing his insights

After Thanksgiving, the congregation was given the opportunity to view a Slide-show presentation on the work of the Flood Relief Team led by Sr. Susan Thomas. The 'movie' was produced by Sr. Jackie Pan. You can view the 'movie' entitled "Give Life, Give Hope' by clicking on the website.
link https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2N60Jj89EgWVklWbFNaSGJuaGs/edit?usp=drive_web (Then click one more time on the blue highlighted Go to Link which appears .)

In line with the theme today, we were happy to learn from the sharing of a member of our Flood Relief Team, his experience and insights into their Outreach work to all peoples, irrespective of race or religion. The following are some notes  on Joshua Ong's sharing:

Family in Kuala Krai living for 24 years without Electricity and water

" I never realize how lucky most of us are. I really couldn't imagine the situation in which some of the flood victims have manage to live their lives. Imagine a home with living area less than 20 square feet. This family in Kuala Krai  has been living for the last 24 years without electricity or running water. When I asked the man "What is your loss", he replied, "I lost nothing!. Indeed, there was nothing to be lost, the house had no cupboard or furniture. Their lives depended on the river - they bathe in the river, they drink water from the river, they do their laundry in the river.. They walked everyday from their house to the river - a distance about from the church to KB Mall. This is one example of the sad situation I experienced. These people were the ones really grateful for whatever little aid we gave them, A little help means so much to them and they received them with tears of joy. In the initial stage, they needed drinking water. And they even asked for empty cardboard boxes - valuable items to them - to keep their clothes and possessions - The flood had destroyed their cupboards!"

Blind Mother caring for 2 mentally ill children

'Another experience I had. There was this mother of 2 - a son aged 43 and a daughter. 44 years old. Both children were suffering from mental illness. The mother was blind. You can imagine how difficult life is for them, how she managed to take care of her 2 children. We have managed to arrange for some funds for her glaucoma operation."

Bringing Cheer to a little Boy

2 weeks ago,  a group of 25-30 church members including the youths, visited a 10-years old body, Lee Cheng Shoon. He had an accident in 2013, and was in a coma for 10 months, suffering from memory loss and paralysed. Our group was happy to be able to bring some cheer to celebrate his birthday. Last week, his father informed me that his memory was getting better - he still remembers us at his party.. Thanks to David (Pereira) who will be in contact with him when he makes his weekly physiotherapy sessions at USM."

(Refer to Post on Friday 10th April 2015)

More Participation for Future Outreach

I hope the brief sharing above will inspire more parishioners to come forward to participate in future church outreach projects in line with our theme for 2015, "Discipleship: Mission towards Transforming Humanity"
( May God continue to bless our future  endeavours - Editor)