During his homily on World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Fr Christopher Wilvaraj Soosaipillai emphasised the urgent need for more vocations to the priesthood.
Fr Christopher, the parish priest of the Church of the Sacred Heart urged young men to take up the challenge of life and not to run from their difficulties. "The world has its own set of values which are different from Christ's values - unconditional love, mercy, peace etc," said Fr Christopher. "Which is more valuable?," he asked them.
Earlier he shared with his parishioners his own journey as a priest, the joys and struggles he endured without giving up. During his Final Year, he spent 30 days in silent retreat. From there he asked himself if he was worthy after he read the book "The Art of Choosing" Fr Christopher noted the question that touched his heart - "1 have chosen you, will you come and choose me?"
Fr Christopher who is also the Vocation Director of the Archdiocesan Vocation Promotion Team (AVPT) said that in his eleven years as a priest, in his own weaknesses, he continues to bring the love of God to others.

To know, love and to serve, was the reason for members of the Tamil Choice Team coming together for a prayer session.
Held at the Archdiocesan Single Adult and Youth Office (ASAYO), the evening started with an opening prayer and scripture reading by Sr. Retta Savariannan and Sr. Roseline.
The scripture reading was taken from Luke 19: 1-10 (Jesus and Zacchaeus). Through this session we understand that God calls each one of us to be a witness for him.
Everyone shared. Our sharing was connected to the scripture passage and we discovered that being a witness for God involves sharing our story of what He has done in our lives.
Sr Retta summarized the whole session by explaining how leadership has its advantages and disadvantages. She helped the young people to understand the qualities required in a leader.
The session ended with the Our Father prayer and fellowship.

A month after astonishing gains made by the Opposition in the
country's 12th general election which saw the ruling Barisan Nasional denied a two-third majority in Parliament and ousted in four state legislatures in addition to being kept out of Kelantan, the freedom of religion issue, a major concern to
non-Muslim voters, continues to be in a state of flux.
While the Catholic Mission in Kuala Terengganu remains unable to gain permission to build a church on land of less than a x hectare it owns on the approaches to the town, both BN-ruled Pahang and opposition controlled Selangor have evinced a more s liberal approach to matters affecting freedom to build places of worship.
No less than the state secretary of Pahang, Datuk Muhammad Safian Ismail, expressed in early April a desire to streamline the process of administration of applications relating to places of worship.
Given the state secretary's assurances of late, there may be a meltdown in the rejection stance of local authorities.

Over 50 bishops, priest gathered at the Church of Holy Redeemer together with family, friends, well-wishers and parishioners to celebrate the Sacerdotal Ordination of Deacon Andrew Kooi. The ordination was held on April 13 during the 6pm mass, themed "Faithfulness and Love," which was presided over by Most Rev Archbishop Murphy Pakiam. This is the first priestly ordination at this parish since its inception some 38 years ago.
It was a simple yet prayerful and significant celebration as Deacon Andrew Kooi went through the rites of ordination to the priesthood.

The congregation at the sunset service on March 20 at the Parish of the Visitation, were privileged to witness the official installation of Fr Michael Chua as the Parish Priest of the Visitation.
He was elevated to this high office on June 21, 2007 taking over from his predecessor Fr Albet Arockiasamy who left for further studies in Rome.

Gua Musang Member of Parliament YBM Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah officially launched Yayasan Ozanam at a charity dinner held at the Royal Selangor Club in the capital city on April 5.
Yayasan Ozanam is the funding arm of the National Society of St Vincent De Paul (SVP) and is a non-profit voluntary welfare organisation incorporated on March 24, 1998 to care for and shelter the neglected, abused, exploited, abandoned and orphaned children as well as single inothers afflicted with HIV.
Tengku Razaleigh, fondly known as Ku Li, expressed his surprise that at the present time, there are still many people who care and are involved in charity works. "I didn't know that there are so many good people and I shall render any assistance needed so that Yayasan Ozanam will be supported and be successful," he added

The Seminar for Form Five students taking the SPM Bible Knowledge paper is on Saturday, August 16 from 9.00am till 5.00pm. It will be held at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre.
The Trial exam will be held on Saturday, September 20 at Sekolah Stella Maris from 10.00 am until 12.30pm.
The course for the seminar and trial exam is RM30 for each particpant.
There will be a Panel meeting to set questions on June 7, 2008. Parishes are requested to prepare and send the context and essay questions by May 20, 2008.
There will be a teachers’ course in Rawang on Saturday, April 19, 2008 from 4.00pm till 6.00pm.
All parishes in the vicinity of Rawang are invited. The course is free of charge and the contact person is Mr Jacob (03-6091 6907) from the Church of St Jude, Rawang.

A half-day Recollection for Extraordinary Ministers of Communion consists of 25 from St John’s Cathedral (SJC) and the Chapel of Mary, Mother of God was held at the SJC new parish hall on Mar 29 by Deacon Andrew Kooi.
He focused on personal spirituality with the Lord.
He invited them to reflect on how they became an EMC, where they are at present and be in the future.
Next Deacon Kooi gave an overview of the Mass.
He added as ECM, God is able to help us in order to understand the significance of the Host, we give out in Holy Communion.
He hoped everyone remain faithful, be strengthened and serious in their duties.
SJC parish priest, Msgr James Gnanapiragasam expressed his appreciation to all of them for their steadfast service and called them to be holy in life.
EMC Coordinator, Gabriel Saminathan thanked Deacon Kooi for his splendid invaluable insight and also thanked all EMC members.

More than 1,000 from the parishes in the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur gathered at the Matsushita Sports Complex on April 5 at 7.00 am for the third Goodwill games.
The opening ceremony began with a march past , followed by a dance presentation by youths and a unity formation by the children.
The host this time round, the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes.
It was a day of non-stop action. The loud cheering by spectators and team members was a motivation for the players.
The games came to an end at about 7.OOpm. The host, Church of Our Lady of Lourdes came out tops in the overall standings while The Church of St Ignatius and the Church of Assumption were first runner-up and second runner up respectively.
The Goodwill Games that began in 2004 and has been held every two years since, will be the last in the archdiocese.

As part of the Canossian Sisters vocation promotion, they invited several young women from various parishes for a one-day vocation encounter at the Monfort Boys Town.
A one-day session were conducted by Sr Retta Savariannan and Sr Shanti Mariadass on the meaning and the different types of vocation.
In order to discern your vocation, you need to have a personal relationship with God then we can discover what we want in life.
The sharings helped to serve as a guide to prepare themselves to encounter their Vocation.
“I went for the formation seeking for an inspiration and for a deeper meaning in my life,” shared Laura Joseph.
“The brain-storming,questions, reflections, personal work, silent reflection all helped me. One activity, which I treasure, was the group activity where we were asked to draw a picture or symbol that represented ourselves to others.” she added.

It was a time for bonding and a time for reflection. It was a time to bring seniors and juniors together into one cohesive unit.
With this in mind, the advisors for the Church of the Divine Mercy (CDM) Altar Servers, Rueben Nair and Surein with the support of the Committee put in an two months of untiring effort to plan and develop the programme for the first ever CDM Altar Server's Camp.
All these bore fruit and on the afternoon of Wed, Dec 5, 54 people left CDM premises in Shah Alam to journey to the Methodist Centre at Port Dickson for two days of formation and FUN.
We then gathered in the hall for the first session conducted by Fr Paulino.
Education and Information took over the next few sessions as the facilitators took us through the various roles of the servers and the meaning behind each. We all received a better understanding on why we had candle bearers, cross bearers etc. This made everyone realize that no one role was more important than the other.

The Church of the Divine Mercy took 26 years to get governmental approval, but welcomed the new Member of Parliament to its premises soon after the election.
The newly elected Party Islam SeMalaysia's YB Khalid Abdul Samad, offered to meet the church members at the parish for a dialogue session on Thursday, March 27. About 350 people, almost all parishioners, gathered to hear for themselves what the new government, or its elected representative would do for them, especially that now Shah Alam has a PAS representative.
YB Khalid walked in to a hall full of supportive parishioners giving him a standing ovation and thunderous applause. "Thank you for having me here," he begin, "I hope I will be worthy of all the applause. This is my fifth election and this time round it is the people who have changed.

The Kristus Aman Chapel was a hive of activity during its recent CANA Families United Seminar. Organised by the Kristus Aman Family Life Ministry and the Servants of Yahweh Covenant Community of the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur, the CANA experience attracted a wide spectrum of over 200 participants.
Parallel sessions were held for Parents, Singles/Youths/ Children and Senior Citizens. The key speakers for the seminar were Benedict Lye founder of SOY and CANA, and his wife Margaret who have over 30 years of experience in counseling and community building.
Discovery topics for parents included Family in Prophesy, Two Types of Parenting and Family Become What you Are.
Magdelene Su , married for just a year was touched by the openness of the sharings and the insights garnered from the teachings, and the shared experiences of other couples with children, especially on the discipline of children.

To cater to the spiritual needs of the Vietnamese migrants community working or studying in Kuala Lumpur, an Easter Vigil Mass was held in the Vietnamese language at the Community Services Centre (CSC) in Bukit Nanas on Mar 22.
Fr Tien, a Vietnamese priest was the celebrant at the 10pm Vigil Mass, which saw an estimated 200 Vietnamese packing the CSC to the hilt. Baptism for six adult Vietnamese converts was also conducted by Fr Tien during the two hour long celebration.
The place was decorated by the Vietnamese themselves for the celebration which ended at midnight; followed by a fellowship.

Meanwhile at the nearby Cathedral of St John, sixteen candidates were baptised and three other adults were confirmed by parish priest, Msgr James Gnanaprigasam. Deacon Andrew Kooi assisted in the proclamation of the Gospel.

A reenactment of the `Passion of Christ' animated by the St John's Cathedral Migrants Ministry (SJCMM) took place at the main entrance of the cathedral on Mar 16, Palm Sunday.
The hour long drama started at 4.OOpm. About 200 migrants and local parishioners came to `witness and be immersed' once again in the loving plan of salvation of God for all by the passion and death of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
This is the first time that the migrant communities, namely the Filipinos, Vietnamese and Myanmarese who worship at the cathedral, came together to organise this play.
According to Corazon Moran, the Coordinator and assistant to the Director of the play, the migrants themselves mooted the idea of staging such a presentation. They spent a month in practices and making some of the props for the play.