Activities in conjunction with the Feast of the Assumption

Mass on 14 Aug. L to R: Fr Julien, Bishop Sebastian, Bishop Emeritus Antony, Archbishop Emeritus Soter, Fr Thoo

In conjunction with the Feast of the Assumption this year, the Church of the Assumption in Penang, organized several activities in the month of August.

First off, was a ‘Faith Walkathon’, organized by the Altar Servers Group. It was held on 4 Aug, which see about 70 people, of all ages, joining in. The walk covers all the 4 churches of City Parish, with stop-over at the churches for reflection and prayers.

The AssumptionChurch,  was filled with melodious sound of music on 8 Aug. when the Penang Philharmonic Chorus presented ‘Seven Centuries of Choral Music’ to a crowd of about 500 music enthusiastic.  This is part of  a series of music concert held in aid of the church’s pipe organ.

On 14 Aug, the eve of the feast, there was Rosary service and  Eucharistic Celebration (island level). The main celebrant was Bishop Emeritus Antony Selvanayagam and co-celebrating were Archbishop Emeritus Soter Fernandez, Bishop-elect Sebastian Francis, Msgr Michael Cheah, Fr Martin Thien, Fr Martin Arlando, Fr Julien Leow, Fr Gerard Theraviam, Fr Dominic Santhiyagu (parish priest) and Fr Michael Thoo (assistant parish priest).

Bishop-elect Sebastian gave a homily in Tamil and English, while the Mandarin homily was delivered by Msgr Michael Cheah.

Bishop-elect Sebastian pointed out Romans 8:30 in his homily. He said that, that verse not only describe the life of the Virgin Mary but also the lives of the disciples, all religious and all laity. Our lives were all pre-destined by God, he said.

“It was pre-destined that God wants a son to be born in the world, it was pre-destined that he picked a young virgin lady to be the mother.” he said.  “What God pre-destined, God called; what God called, God justify; what God justified, God glorify. This is what we celebrate – God’s glorification. Mary’s body and soul is taken into heaven. She is glorified by God. God has the same plan for us, we are chosen, called, justified and will be glorified.

Bishop-elect Sebastian hope that as we approach the Year of Faith, we would be able to respond together with Mary, the ‘Fiat’ (Let they will be done) as she responded to God.

The Mass on 15 Aug. at the Assumption Church (parish level), see Fr Martin Arlando as the main celebrant. There was a cake-cutting ceremony after Thanksgiving, and a short video on the activities of the church was shown.

On 25 Aug, ‘The Messengers’ a group of young Christians of all denominations will be presenting sacred songs. This concert, in conjunction with the Penang Tourism Board, is part of a series of concert, held in aid of the church’s pipe organ restoration fund.

– by Lucia Lai