By Aline Lim
KOTA KINABALU — Perhaps, one common question we ask each other in these pandemic days is, “When will all this end?” From one lockdown after another, our Church has now been closed for more than three months. No ministries or groups can meet physically and to grow spiritually together as communities.
From Aug 4-25, the Light of Jesus Christ Covenant Community took their first initiative to run a virtual Life in the Spirit Seminar via Zoom. As this was considered something done to “test the waters” and to see how feasible this is, the organizers did not expect many to register for it.
However, a staggering number of approximately 450 people from various countries and states from Qatar, Australia, to West Malaysia and Sarawak registered for the online seminar.
The virtual sessions were held on Wednesday and Sunday nights, beginning with a time of praise and worship followed by the session and a testimony each night. Then participants gathered virtually with their respective sharing groups on Monday nights to share on the sessions that have been given.
The sessions that were given throughout the seminar touched on the Lordship of Jesus in our lives, God’s love, God’s salvific plan for mankind, new life in the Spirit, baptism of the Holy Spirit and ended with the final session on growth and transformation – a session encouraging participants to continue to live a life guided by the Holy Spirit and fuelled by the Sacraments of the Church.
The seminar ended with the Holy Eucharist celebrated virtually by Fr Paul Lo, rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral. In his homily, he emphasized on the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the parish life. He also went on to share on to encourage everyone not to be like the scribes and Pharisees in the Gospel who observed the law of God perfectly, but never allowed the love of God to touch their hearts.
“The Pharisees and scribes were considered very holy people. They were not bad people. We should observe the commandments of God, but also allow God’s love to touch our hearts, so that we can be more compassionate towards others,” Fr Lo said.
Indeed, that is what life in the Holy Spirit truly means. So we continue to pray, “Veni Sancte Spiritus! Come, Holy Spirit!”
