By Agnes Chai
KOTA KINABALU — The five-day local Festival of Families opened the World Meeting of Families with a hybrid Mass at Sacred Heart Cathedral yesterday June 22.
The Mass was presided by Archbishop John Wong, who is also the Family, Laity and Life Episcopal President under the Catholic Bishops Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, and concelebrated by Fr Michael Modoit, spiritual adviser to Archdiocese Family Life Commission, and Fr Saimon William.
This year, the 10th edition of the World Meeting of Families, for the first time, is celebrated on a widespread format. It is being celebrated in dioceses and parishes around the world, while at the same time it is being celebrated by over 2000 delegates from 120 countries in the presence of Pope Francis in Rome.
Also for the first time, the Dioceses of Keningau and Sandakan are jointly celebrating this five-day event June 22-26, in two modes, namely, the first three days through Zoom and the final two days in hybrid format.
For the invited delegates, the physical will take place in Kota Kinabalu, at the Catholic Archdiocese Centre, Jalan Sang Kancil.
The event invites Catholic families for a local experience of formation, prayer and fellowship, in the light of the chosen theme: “Family Love: A Vocation and A Path to Holiness”.
During his homily, Archbishop Wong invited families to reflect on the theme to see that their “family is a vocation, a calling by God to share and to live out the love and grace of God to each other in the family.”
This love, he underlined, which is ultimately derived from God through His Son in the Holy Spirit, is a path to holiness.
He added that this path to holiness is “to be sustained by our constant listening to the Word of God, receiving the Sacraments, and discerning His will in life”.
Linking to the Gospel reading on the birth day of St John the Baptist and God’s call for his mission, the Archbishop reminded families, who claim to be of the same family of Jesus as disciples of Christ, of their call to mission in their families.
“We are here on earth to follow the path of Jesus – the path of humble service and self-giving love. Thus, in a family, we should serve one another as Jesus who says ‘I come to serve, and not to be served’”; and we should love like Jesus who gave Himself and sacrificed His life for the salvation of us,” he underscored.
The Archbishop called on families to look to St John the Baptist, whom St Paul described as being a servant of God who prepared the people for the coming of Jesus.
“John set in motion the salvation of the world; though he never lived to see the fruit of his labour, but he still laboured the same.”
He invited families to ask themselves some pertinent questions, namely, “In your family, are you serving, preparing, leading others to God, and sanctifying them for the glory of God?” and again “Do we look upon ourselves as having been called by God into His service? And in your family – are you waiting to be served or to serve?”
