ST. MARY’S PARISH ADVENT RECOLLECTION

Reported by Cecelia Polo D’Souza

Sandakan: The Parish Catholic Women’s Apostolate collaborated with the Parish Pastoral Council organized this year's St. Mary’s Parish Advent Recollection on 24th November 2018. Themed ‘The Joy of Salvation’, was held at the St. Mary’s Parish Center from 8.00 in the morning until 1.00 in the afternoon and was attended by 94 participants. Facilitators present were Rev. Fr. Christopher Ireneus and Sister Theresa Martin, fsic.

Enthronement of the Bible

Sr. Regina Kimung, fsic

Rev. Fr. David A. Garaman led the opening prayer

The Recollection started with the Enthronement of the Bible followed by a Gospel reading and Reflection by Sister Regina Kimung fsic. The Opening Prayer was led by the Parish Rector, Rev. Fr. David A. Garaman.

Sister Theresa fsic gave the 1^st session : ‘What is Advent?’.

She touched on the meaning of ‘Advent’. Below are the excerpts from her session:

• Brief explanation of the Circle of Liturgy
• The origin of the language from which ‘Advent’ came
• The focus of advent
• The history of Advent, when it started and until when

The 2^nd session : ‘The Joy of Salvation’ by Rev. Fr. Christopher Ireneus.

He said Advent is the first season of the church year, the preparation of the coming of Christ. He then explained the symbolic meaning of the 4 candles of Advent 1) Hope (purple) 2) Peace (purple) 3) Joy (Pink) 4) Love (purple).

1.  Hope – to be prepared and be ready when Jesus comes again.
2. Peace – The necessity for the people to change their life for the better. To give peace and be at  peace with oneself.
3. Joy – Rejoice, Jesus really is the special person that we have been waiting for in our lives.
4. Love - The love that overflows with small gestures of mutual care so as to build a better world, a contagious love.

Parish Pastoral Council Chairman, Pilis Malim

Pilis Malim, the Parish Pastoral Council Chairman expressed his gratitude to all the participants for their presence and time to attend / listen to the Advent Recollection. He also thanked Rev. Fr. Christopher and Sr. Theresa for their inputs. He hopes after listening to the talks that all are aware of Advent.

The Recollection was concluded at 1pm with a closing prayer by Rev. Fr. Christopher.