By Ivy Chai
KUCHING — The Archdiocese of Kuching Presbyterium held its annual Holy Week recollection day on 13 April, via Zoom. Although originally planned to take place in conjunction with Chrism Mass (which had been moved ahead to 4 April for safety reasons), the recollection day took place as scheduled.
Kuching Archbishop Simon Poh thanked the Parish Rectors for the hard work they had put in to ensure Covid safety SOPs were strictly adhered to over the past two years, and in encouraging parishioners to now return to Church. Huge congregations were expected to attend the Holy Week and Triduum celebrations after a lapse of two years.
Archbishop Simon said the pandemic had also revealed some of the things that they had taken for granted pre-covid days. His Reflections included the following salient points:
1. Succession Plan
There is an ageing Catholic population. Parishes were finding it difficult to replace elderly Catholics to serve when the pandemic started. There are insufficient Catholics in their 40s and 50s to take over the liturgical ministries as this has largely been served by those who are already in their 60s. They had faithfully served since they were in their 30s and 40s and are still committed to the Church. However, they are now considered to be elderly and in the vulnerable group, so are unable to continue.
Likewise, the presbyterium also needs to have a succession plan “to prepare the successive generation of priests for the parish ministry.”
2. Availability of Priests
Archbishop Simon commended the priests for making themselves available to parishioners in their times of need, such as for funeral, burial or cremation rites at the cemetery or columbarium, bringing closure for bereaved families. He acknowledged the pandemic controls at hospitals meant many people died without receiving the sacraments, as priests could not freely enter hospitals to administer baptism, viaticum or last rites. He encouraged them to “Continue to be available to our people as this is what we have promised at the Chrism Mass.”
3. Generosity of Parish Communities and Staff
Archbishop Simon recalled the earlier days of the pandemic when he made the decision to suspend all Masses and Church activities as precautionary measures to check the spread of the coronavirus. Although there were negative reactions, the decision to start live-stream Masses proved to be the right one.
Parishes effectively only opened for about 12 months or so throughout the entire two years of pandemic, so the loss in Mass collections were invariably felt by parishes, especially rural parishes. By introducing Sarawak Pay e-collections for online Masses, “We started to receive e-Collection donation and this has proved to be a blessing. We supported parishes in need and carried out charitable works for the Catholic Church, especially distribution of food baskets. And we always have some left over. Our God is a generous God and this has given me great trust in our Catholics who are also equally generous,” the Archbishop told his priests.
4. Emotional and Spiritual well-being and Physical health
Priests have to take care of their emotional and spiritual well-being. Because of social distancing, many might have experienced isolation and the impact of being cut off from activities like fellowships, etc…a feeling he could relate to. “I can only say that the Lord is my strength and he sustains me in my ministry to continue giving and serving his people. That is the call of our ordination to be a servant of servants, imitating Jesus our Master and Good Shepherd, who has compassion for his sheep, now entrusted to each of us,” Archbishop Simon said, in encouraging priests to use prayers and pastoral care to keep their faith and sanity.
He also urged priests to be conscious of their physical health and to take good care of themselves, saying: “My request is for each of us to do something while we can to remain healthy so as to serve the Lord. This is because the work of a priest demands greater commitment and stamina that needed to be sustained for many more years of ministry. Dear brothers, stay healthy for the Church needs you to shepherd the Lord’s flock. Take good care of the gift of your health. Encourage one another to stay healthy and to serve together side by side for many more decades of ministry.”
The Archbishop acknowledged and affirmed the close collaboration between brother priests to step up to cover for one another whenever a situation arose. “I affirm and I encourage that this fraternity be continued as we make the sacraments available to our people throughout the parishes in the Archdiocese. Let us be always ready to move out of our comfort zone and parish boundaries as we work as one presbyterium,” he said.
Archbishop Simon Poh also briefed the priests on the progress of the 2nd KAPA Questionnaire reported at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council Meeting on 26th March 2022.
