KUCHING — The Archdiocese of Kuching held its Joint Day of Recollection (JDR) 2019 on 1 May at the Archdiocesan Curia and Cathedral Pastoral Centre (ACCPC).
It was attended by about 400 delegates consisting of priests, religious sisters, parish pastoral council members, catechists, and lay leaders.
Archbishop Simon Poh led the Opening prayer before delivering his talk that touched on the book by Pope Francis, “Gaudete et Exsultate” which means “Rejoice and Be Glad”.
“We are the Church. We have been called to holiness in today’s world,” Archbishop Simon said. Having adopted the Mission Year’s agenda of being Baptised and Sent, he said a missionary disciple is one who is a follower of Jesus; someone who has experienced the Risen Christ. We are sent out on mission. We must belong to God, trusting in God and presenting all that we are to the Lord.
He labelled the tendencies of some missionary disciples, to the ancient heresies of Gnosticism and Pelagianism.
“Gnostics somehow feel they are more superior to other members of the faithful. Pelagians feel they are superior on their own efforts. They have no need for God. But we are to focus on the Grace of the Holy Spirit, and not human efforts or wisdom.” He went on to quote Romans: 12:1 “Blessed are the poor in spirits, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Archbishop Simon also spoke on Pope Francis’ exhortation of walking the path of holiness, e.g, living the lives of the Beatitudes.
This is a year of Mercy. We are to put into practice works of mercy. He then outlined the Corporal and Spiritual works of mercy that we can focus on.
Fr Galvin Richard Ngumbang’s talk expounded on the EYM theme, “Baptised and Sent: The Church on Mission in the World.” He focused on four points:
• Personal encounter with Jesus Christ
• Testimony: missionary saints, martyrs, and confessors
• Missionary formation
• Missionary charity
Delegates were then asked to reflect on the topic, “Mission: The Church Exists to Evangelise,” at a group sharing session.
Representatives from the parishes were later invited to share the results of their discussions.
