The Catholic Biblical Federation held an Extraordinary Plenary Assembly in Arricia (near Rome) from 15 to 19 June 2011. The purpose was to revise the Federation’s Constitution. There were about 170 delegates from all over the world. I represented the Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. It was very heartening and edifying to hear about the enthusiasm of countless ministers of the Lord’s Word in different dioceses throughout the world.
FAMILY CONFERENCE – “FAMILY SENT ON MISSION”
The Archdiocese of Kuching is well into the final year of its five-year pastoral focus on the family. The theme for the year is “Family Sent On Mission”. An archdiocesan-wide Conference was held simultaneously in English and Chinese at the Christian Ecumenical and Worship Centre over the weekend of 16 and 17 July 2011. I need to clarify that the same Conference will be taken to all the rural parishes and given in BM (Malay).
Between the two languages there were nearly 500 participants. Their interest and enthusiasm were encouraging. Faith sharers gave wonderful testimony of how couples and families put into practice the Word of God in their lives and in this way built up their families. I thank God for these life testimonies.
What is the Archdiocese of Kuching that we have drawn the attention of some people elsewhere? The Bishop of Ratchaburi (Thailand), Bishop John Bosco Panya Kitcharoen, with five of his priests, a religious brother and two married couples came to attend the Family Conference and study our pastoral focus on the family. After the Conference, they visited two kampongs – one in St. Stephen’s Parish, Bau, and the other in St. Ann’s Parish, Kota Padawan. They wanted to see how the pastoral focus on the family was carried out at the grassroots. At the end of their visit, we had a discussion with questions and answers as well as sharings of their experience. In general, they had a fruitful time here and I was pleasantly surprised that their experience of our pastoral focus was very positive.
VERBUM DOMINI – The Pope’s Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation
The XII Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops was held in Rome from 5 to 26 October 2008. The 253 Bishops gathered for it looked at the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church. Following the Synod, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI issued an Exhortation entitled VERBUM DOMINI (= WORD OF THE LORD). This very rich document presents the theology of the Word of God which comprises Sacred Scripture and the Living Tradition of the Church. It then touches on the various areas of the Church’s life inspired and charged by the Word of God as well as the mission to proclaim this Word to the world.
The Synod was a very good experience for me. There Bishops shared the ups and downs of their pastoral and missionary efforts in building up the faith of their faithful on the Word of God and drawing others to it.
St. Peter’s College, Kuching, organized and hosted a refresher course for its alumni to study this Apostolic Exhortation. There were over 50 priests who came from both Sarawak and Sabah – including five of us Bishops. We went through the document and shared our own little efforts in promoting the Word of the Lord – each one in a little corner of the Lord’s vineyard. The study and sharing were enriching and motivating. Hopefully, every one left the course with at least one more idea of how to enhance and enrich our priestly ministry with the Word of the Lord.
May the Church in East Malaysia be on fire with the Word of the Lord!
Archbishop John Ha
22 July 2011
