Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, a Blessed Christmas to you all.

“Today a light will shine upon us, for the Lord is born for us; and he will be called Wondrous God, Prince of peace, Father of future ages: and his reign will be without end” (Is.9:1,5. Lk.1:33).

Christ was born to give light and meaning to our world. The conception and birth of Jesus was a challenging moment for Joseph and Mary. They had to make several decisions for the sake of the child Jesus. Every decision they made had its own consequence too. Yet they faced them courageously because of the child Jesus. It is Jesus who gave purpose and meaning to their lives. As we come to the close of another pandemic year, we acknowledge and accept the challenges that we have faced. This has become, by the grace of God, opportunities for us too. Thus, with faith and confidence in God, we look forward in hope to a better year.

As a Parish, we are thankful to God for being able to meet some of the spiritual and pastoral needs of our Parish Community.

SACRAMENTS

  • Online classes were conducted at all levels of the BSC Sunday School. An Online Life in the Spirit Seminar (LSS) was conducted for the Confirmation Classes as well to prepare the candidates for the Sacrament of Confirmation.
  • The Baptism of babies and Sunday School students, Confirmation, and First Holy Communion were administered over the course of the year.
  • The Church is now open for Sunday Masses with limited number of registered parishioners following the UNIFOR SOP, while the Parish continues to cater for funeral services, visits to the sick, house blessing, etc.
  • Confessions during the penitential seasons of Lent and Advent were not possible although individual confessions are acceptable.

NEW PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL (PPC)

  • A new PPC was appointed in August 2021. The new PPC has collaborated with a few lay organisations and ministries and carried out some timely projects.
  • A Pandemic Project was initiated by the Emmaus Servant Community to assist the needy from July to November. Total donations collected was RM113,960.86.
  • Christmas Donation for St Jude’s Parish, Bunan-Tebedu to purchase food items for families in need. Total donations collected for St Jude’s Parish was RM57,130.00. We thank all donors for the above two Projects.
  • We are also grateful to the many liturgical ministries in seeing to the re-opening of churches, the liturgy, and ensuring the safety of all who come to church.
  • Our gratitude goes to the many lay organisations, groups, and ministries who continue to minister and reach out to each other in the new digital platform.

We are saddened by the loss of Fr Dato Lawrence Chua who had been instrumental in laying the foundation and building up the Church and faith community of Blessed Sacrament Parish. Our words cannot capture fully who he was for us and the Parish. We can only be thankful to God and Fr Dato Lawrence Chua for his dedicated priestly service and ministry. In faith, we believe that we have now another Intercessor in the heavenly realms.

The Christmas story of the Holy Family shows that Joseph and Mary did not allow obstacles to hinder their journey from Bethlehem to Egypt to Nazareth where they finally settled. It was a journey of carrying Jesus from within the womb of Mary to infancy; then, from a child to a young adult. It is a journey of faith, love, trust and hope.

May this Christmas be for you and your family a journey of faith, love, trust and hope too as we carry Jesus with us wherever we go. May the child Jesus whom we carry bless our paths and help us overcome our obstacles in the coming year. May the Holy Family of Joseph, Mary and Jesus be with you always.

Rev Fr Patrick Heng