St. Mary’s Cathedral ~ Rite of Election 2018

by Soccom

SANDAKAN: The Rite of Election closed the Period of the Catechumenate. This rite normally coincides with the first Sunday of Lent.  On 25^th February 2018, The Rite of Election for catechumens for 3 languages (English, Chinese and BM) was held in St Mary’s Cathedral, Sandakan.

There were 85 candidates for the three languages.

Total candidates from St. Mary’s Cathedral was 60.  There were 48 candidates from BM speaking class, 8 candidates from English speaking class and 4 candidates from Chinese speaking class.

For St. Mark Church, the total candidates was 25, where 24 are from BM speaking class and 1 from Chinese speaking class.

More than 500 parishioners attended the mass on that day.  Fr. David Garaman, the Parish Priest, conducted The Rite as delegated by the Bishop.

Fr. David welcomed the candidates in his opening address to the congregation. He also mentioned that he was grateful that the number of new candidates increased every year.

All catechumens received their blessings from Fr. David to prepare them to be received in the Sacrament of Initiation during the Easter Vigil. He also reminded all godparents about  their duties to guide and encourage their godchildren to attend mass regularly and to accompany them in their journey of faith.

The beauty of combining 3 languages in one Eucharistic Mass reflected the harmony and also the Vision of our church that is “Christ-centered community, serving one another with love”.