Courtesy Call On Bishop Julius

L-R : Remy, Bro Stephen, Bishop Julius, Bro Paul Raj, Bro Jean-Paul, Suzanna, Helena, Francis Tan, Bro Francis Chua

Sandakan :  (17th July 2013) Two Assistant Generals of the Monfort Brothers of St Gabriel based in Rome, Brother Paul Raj A and Brother Jean-Paul Mbengue together with Brother Francis Chua, the Provincial Superior for Malaysia and Singapore and Brother Stephen Tee, the Brother in charge of St Mary's Hostel Sandakan paid a courtesy call on Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom at the Diocesan Pastoral Centre this morning.

The Monfort Brothers run the Monfort Youth Training Centre in Kinarut catering to some 140 boys  with a residential campus offering four technical skill training courses. All lessons are conducted in English.The Brothers are also managing the San Damiano Boys Hostel in Kiulu with 60 boarders since early 2011. 

The Brothers have spread their wings to the Diocese of Sandakan. They have adopted St Mary's Boys Hostel as a pilot project since 1st July 2013. The hostel caters to students from the rural areas. Daily conversation and instructions will be in English and hopefully through such practice the boarders will learn how to speak, listen and write in English. 

Suzanna Hon, a member of the Board of Governors of the Hostel led the delegation. In the course of the meeting, they exchanged ideas on how to improve on managing the hostel and explored ways to source for funding. They are looking forward to create avenues for mission partnership and collaborate with local parishioners for the benefits of the disadvantaged rural youths.

DS

Upcoming Events for July 2013 ~ HTC Tawau

Salva, Parish Office,
Holy Trinity Church, Tawau.

Date	Time	Venue	Particulars
12.07.2013 (Friday)	7.30pm	Church Basement Hall	Year of Faith Talk by Felisia Morris
13.07.2013 (Saturday)	7.30 pm	Church Basement Hall	Year of Faith Talk by Felisia Morris
14.07.2013 (Sunday)	11.30pm – 2.00 pm	Parish Hall Upper Room	Bible Sunday Activity - Bible Quiz
	7.00 pm	Church Basement Hall/Parish hall	Alpha Course
	7.30 pm	Annex Room 2	Chinese Youth Committee Meeting
16.07.2013 (Tuesday)	7.30 pm	Church Basement Hall	Family Life Ministry Meeting
	7.30 pm	Conference Room	Catechetical Committee Meeting
18.07.2013 (Thursday)	8.00 pm	Conference Room	Filipino Pastoral Committee Meeting
20.07.2013 (Saturday)	8.00 am – 4.00 pm	Parish Hall	Marriage Enrichment Seminar by Fr. Charles Chiew
	9.30 am	Conference Room	Parish Pastoral Care Outreach Group (PPCOG) Meeting
21.07.2013 (Sunday)	12.30 pm – 3.00 pm	Church Basement Hall	Counseling Seminar Follow-up by Fr. Charles Chiew
	8.00 am – 1.00 pm	Parish Hall	Interchurch Blood Donation Campaign
23.07.2013 (Tuesday)	7.30 pm	Conference Room	PPC Meeting
24.07.2013 (Wednesday)	7.30 pm	Church Basement Hall	BEC Coordinators Fellowship
28.07.2013 (Sunday)	7.00 pm	Church Basement Hall/Parish Hall	Alpha Course
29.07.2013 (Monday)	7.30 pm	Conference Room	Pledge Card Committee
31.07.2013 (Wednesday)	7.30 pm	Church Basement Hall	Chinese Pastoral Community - Talk

** Bible Sharing (3 languages) every Monday at 7.30 pm

** Prayer Meeting (3 languages) every Friday at 7.30 pm

Seminar Pemantapan Iman Katolik (PIKAT) di Paroki Katedral St. Mary, Sandakan

Oleh Sr Appollonia Gumpu, FSIC
Foto oleh SOCCOM, St Mary, Sandakan

Tim Penganjur bersama para peserta

Tim Penganjur dan para Penceramah

Barisan Tim Penceramah

Dari kiri: Sr. Dariah, Sr. Veronica, Sr. Imelda, Sr. Appollonia, 

Sr. Lucynia, Sr. Patricia dan Sr. Christella

SANDAKAN- Seminar Pemantapan Iman Katolik (PIKAT) telah diadakan sempena Tahun Iman di Paroki Katedral St. Mary, Sandakan pada 28-30 Jun 2013. Seramai 101 peserta telah menghadiri seminar yang telah dianjurkan bersama oleh Maljis Pastoral Paroki dan Tim Pemantapan Iman Katolik Fransiscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (FSIC) yang diketuai oleh Sr. Dariah Ajap, FSIC.

Suasana Pendaftaran

Seminar ini telah dimulakan dengan Misa Pembukaan sempena Pesta Rasul Paulus dan Petrus yang telah dirayakan oleh Rektor Paroki Fr. Thomas Makajil. Dalam homilinya, beliau berkata. "Allah memanggil kita tanpa melihat kedudukan, keturunan dan kelemahan kita seperti Rasul Paulus dan Petrus yang dipanggil oleh Allah untuk menyebarkan KasihNya".

Fr Thomas sewaktu memberi homili

Dalam masa yang sama, Fr. Thomas juga mengajak para peserta untuk memelihara iman dan semangat kedua rasul itu dengan mencari kesempatan dan kemungkinan untuk mewujudkan cinta kasih kita kepada Kristus dan sesama.

Suasana sesi suai kenal / menyanyikan lagu puji-pujian

Sesi Pertama: (PENGENALAN) SEJARAH SINGKAT PERPECAHAN GEREJA telah sampaikan oleh Sr. Dariah Ajap, FSIC dari Keuskupan Agung Kota Kinabalu. Beliau menjelaskan enam faktor utama yang telah menyebabkan perpecahan Gereja Timur dan Barat:

1. Faktor Kepimpinan-kuasa Sri Paus

2. Faktor Politik

3. Factor Bahasa dan Budaya

4. Faktor Kewujudan Agama Islam

5. Faktor Filioque

6. Faktor Agama

Kota Vatikan

Suasana perbincangan dan pembentangan kumpulan mengenai 'apakah perbezaan antara agama Katolik, Ortodoks dan Protestan'.

Sesi ke-2: PERBUALAN TENTANG IMAN telah disampaikan oleh Sr. Veronica Kandaung, FSIC dari Keuskupan Sandakan.

Sesi ke-3: PERBUALAN TENTANG TUHAN telah disampaikan oleh Sr. Imelda Anggang, FSIC dari Keuskupan Agung Kota Kinabalu.

Misteri Allah Tritunggal Mahakudus

Sesi ke-4: PERBUALAN TENTANG IBADAH telah disampaikan oleh Sr. Veronica Kandaung, FSIC dari Keuskupan Sandakan.

LITURGI

KATOLIK – EKARISTI

ORTODOKS – LITURGI ILAHI

PROTESTAN – UPACARA IBADAH

Sesi ke-5: PERBUALAN TENTANG PENYELAMATAN telah disampaikan oleh Sr. Patricia Limun, FSIC dari Keuskupan Keningau.

"Bagaimana dan di manakah tujuan akhir hidup manusia?"

Sesi ke- 6: PERBUALAN TENTANG KEPIMPINAN telah disampaikan oleh Sr. Christella Lim, FSIC dari Keuskupan Keningau.

Sesi ke-7: PERBUALAN TENTANG ETIKA (MORAL) telah disampaikan oleh Sr. Patricia Limun, FSIC dari Keuskupan Keningau.

Hidup seorang manusia bermula saat persenyawaan dalam rahim seorang ibu.

Pengguguran bayi adalah satu perbuatan membunuh bagi agama Katolik.

Ia menyokong Pro-life dan bukannya Pro-choice.

Sesi ke-8: PANGGILAN UNTUK KESATUAN telah disampaikan oleh Sr. Lucynia Jefrin, FSIC dari Keuskupan Agung Kota Kinabalu.

Berdoa bersama

Berdialog

Kesemua sesi ini sekurang-kurangnya telah membantu para peserta bukan hanya mengetahui tentang perbezaan antara agama Katolik dengan denominasi agama Kristian yang lain tetapi juga membantu mereka untuk lebih menghargai Iman Katolik mereka serta membolehkan mereka menjawab persoalan-persoalan yang sering diajukan oleh agama-agama Protestan.

Suasana rehat dan menyegarkan diri

A time to gather ~ Diocesan Youth Apostolate

DS / st
photos by Bell and Airene 

TELUPID: Members of the Sandakan Diocesan Youth Apostolate (DYA) came together for the 14th meeting and 9th recollection at Kg. Malapi, Wonod, Telupid on the 6th and 7th July 2013. The team gather once in every three months with the hope to renew, refresh and refill their spiritual life. It is important for every member to nourish one's spiritual life to carry forth the mission entrusted unto them especially in leading youth ministry in their respective parishes. Not only that, members also took the opportunity to celebrate their friendship, serve one another and grow in faith.

Arriving a day earlier at Pusat Pembiakan Payau - Telupid, we woke up early the following day on 6th July. Mass was celebrated at 7.00AM a midst the beautiful nature by Fr. David Garaman, our Spiritual Director. In his homily, he said that the harvest is plentiful but the workers few. We are the chosen one and that Jesus never make a mistake in choosing his disciples. It depends solely on how the disciple live out his / her calling. 

He is the TRUTH

He is our HOPE.

The first session was taken from the Gospel of Mark 8:29, "Who do you say I am?". We often asked this question to the youths, but have we reflected on this ourselves? Who is Jesus personally to us? After watching a video clip, we took time to reflect on the question. After reflecting, we shared to the whole group, who Jesus is to us.

The second session was called, "Why me?" The most popular question asked by everyone in the whole world. We were asked to reflect on our life and the team. It was a fruitful moment for each one. The session ended with a sharing by everyone. The sharing were inspiring and motivating. We are to focus on what we can do and do it well. We should not be tied down with worries on what we can not change. For all things that happened to us, God has a reason.

In the evening, it was time to celebrate what we had gained during the day and once again to celebrate the friendship, a gift from  the grace of God. It was a night filled with love and laughter.

The next day, we started the day with a mass. In Fr. David's homily, he talked about understanding Salvation by reading the bible. Without reading the bible, we will not see the journey how Jesus work in each one He had called. He once again mentioned about "the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few". Jesus chooses us to be his workers and Salvation has been given unto us so we can be his hands and feet. He reminded us that, when are back to our respective area, we are going back to the reality and we must always remember that we are His workers in the vineyard. 

Before returning to our respective parishes, the team gathered once again to have their meeting. It was a fruitful meeting with many issues resolved and activities planned at the Diocesan level. The gathering ended at 2.00PM. The next recollection and meeting will be held in October. Till we meet again and God bless you all in your mission.

ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL BIDS FAREWELL TO REV. FR. ANTHONY MIKAT

By DaliusLL, SOCCOM Sandakan

Sandakan: St. Mary’s Parish Hall was filled with more than 300 parishioners and well-wishers on the evening of 30th June 2013 to bid farewell to Rev. Fr. Anthony Mikat. The parish held a potluck fellowship dinner in his honour after serving this parish for one and a half year. He is re-assigned back to his Keningau Diocese and will serve in St. Theresa's Church, Tambunan. 

The evening fellowship started at exactly 7.30p m with a speech from the Pastoral Council Chairman, Patrick Seah. He thanked all those who made it to the evening fellowship dinner and that it has been a pleasure to know Fr. Anthony. He shared the many goodness of Fr. Anthony and one particular experience was that despite being a priest, Fr. Anthony has been humbly and openly asking forgiveness for his shortcomings from the parishioners for the past few weeks during the daily and Sunday Masses. He concluded, “We are grateful that we have such a priest in our midst.” 

Fr. Anthony in his farewell speech said, “I feel blessed to be granted the opportunity to serve St. Mary's Parish, and indeed the experience has enriched me in my pastoral pursuit.” He took the opportunity to thank the rector, Fr. Thomas Makajil for his support, advice and kindness rendered to him during his stay in Sandakan. He apologized to the Chinese community for not being able to serve them better due to the language barrier. Fr Anthony concluded by saying, “Although physically I am leaving you all, we will be close to one other in our prayer through the Sacred Eucharist as one body of Christ”

Before gracing the food, Fr. Thomas Makajil in his thankful note, thanked Fr. Anthony personally for his service and pastoral care rendered to the people in the parish. He described him as a gifted priest with many talents. In a lighter mood, he praised Fr. Anthony as being an orthodox priest in his preaching because of his background in dogmatic studies in Rome. He hoped he is willing to come to Sandakan again when requested to share his expertise. Fr. Thomas called upon the parishioners to pray for Fr. Anthony that that he will continue to serve the Lord with his gifts in his new Parish. 

Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom also took the opportunity to thank Fr. Anthony for his willingness to serve the Sandakan diocese. Although being here for only a short stint, his contribution is immeasurable. Bishop Julius shared that although Sandakan Diocese would very much wanted Fr. Anthony to serve much longer in the Diocese, but the call to duty and obedience to return to Keningau Diocese is to be respected. He prayed and wished Fr. Anthony the very best in his new Parish. The prelate concluded his speech by calling upon the parishioners in Sandakan to pray for more priestly vocation in this Diocese so that more priests will come from within their own community to serve the Lord and overcome the shortage of priests in this young but vibrant diocese.

Raphael Lindan, a parishioner from Our Lady of Fatima Church, Beluran,  remarked that many of the parishioners in Beluran will miss Fr. Anthony’s thought provoking, soul searching and enlightening homilies during masses not only in his sub-parish but also in St. Mary’s Parish as a whole. God bless you Fr. Anthony Mikat.