Message: Christmas 2014

The year 2014 is drawing to its close. It has been a year of great blessings for the Archdiocese of Kuching in terms of Jubilee celebrations: Archbishop Emeritus Dato’ Sri Peter Chung’s Diamond Jubilee, Fr. Dato’ Lawrence Chua’s and Fr. Albert Jacobse’s Golden Jubilee; and the Platinum Jubilee of Sr. Celine, Diamond Jubilee of Sr. Mary Jong, Golden Jubilee of Srs. Emily, Sylvia and Paula, and Silver Jubilee of Srs. Agatha, Perpetua and Marian. Though unknown to me, I am sure there have also been many Jubilees of marriages in the Archdiocese. To all these Jubilarians, I say: “Heartiest congratulations and God’s choicest blessings on you.”

Jubilees are occasions of God’s grace to us because they proclaim loudly the fidelity of the Jubilarians to their respective vocations: priesthood, religious life and married life. Despite the ups and downs of their lives, these Jubilarians have stuck faithfully to the Lord’s will for them. In a world which poses many challenges never faced before, such models of fidelity are much needed for inspiration and example. We are grateful to them and for them.

Today’s world poses a lot of challenges to our faith so that fidelity to God’s will becomes more difficult. Against this backdrop, the Year of Consecrated Life which runs from 21 November 2014 to 2 February 2016, declared by Pope Francis, is most relevant. Our attention is drawn to those in consecrated life, that is, the religious. In this connection, we are very grateful for the religious women and men we have in the Archdiocese of Kuching. Their presence and ministry in the Archdiocese bring to the fore a number of important aspects of the Church. Let me single out a few of them.

1. 1. Religious are an essential part of the Church, the family of God. In this sense, their presence in the Archdiocese of Kuching provides a more complete composition of this family of God. Concretely, the religious men we have are not just from Malaysia, but also come from Singapore and India. In this way, they enhance, even though to a limited extent, the universal as well as missionary character of the Church.

1. 1. We have both active and contemplative religious. The Carmelite Sisters belong to the latter. The Carmelite Monastery is the “power house” of the Church in the Archdiocese of Kuching. They pray for the Church’s mission in the Archdiocese of Kuching. It is amazing to see an almost unbroken line of people going to the Carmelite Chapel every day for prayers and some for advice and consolation from the Sisters.The “power house” attracts people because it gives spiritual energy to them.The rest of the religious men and women in the Archdiocese are actively engaged in ministry in different areas of the Church’s mission: parish ministry, education ministry (ranging from kindergarten to school and to campus ministry), faith formation, youth ministry and so forth. Their contribution to the growth of the Archdiocese of Kuching is incalculable and invaluable.

1. The final point I would like to touch on concerns the kingdom of God. The Church is the kingdom of God on earth constantly on the move towards total fulfilment. For sure, all of us, priests, religious and lay people, are moving together on this journey. Religious women and women play an additional role in that through their community life and vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, they bear living testimony to life in the kingdom. In this way, they keep us focused on the kingdom as we journey through earth.

The existence of the Church as the kingdom of God on earth was brought about by the Son of God becoming Man in Jesus Christ to enter our world to live among us and die for us that we might live in the kingdom of God. Christmas celebrates His birth for this mission. So, as we celebrate Christmas, it is important for us to think of the kingdom of God and Jesus’ invitation to us to enter it.

The Christmas story in Luke’s Gospel (2:1-20) has shepherds “going in haste” to see the baby Jesus with His mother in response to the angel’s proclamation of the good news of His birth to them: “Be not afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord” (vv. 10-11). In a sense, we see around the manger in Bethlehem the kingdom of God in embryo.

We ought to be inspired and moved by the shepherds’ response “in haste” (Lk. 2:16) to the good news of salvation – which is life in the kingdom of God – announced by the angel of the Lord. In a way, those in consecrated life could be seen to play a role parallel to that of this angel of the Lord: they share with us the good news of the kingdom of God in the hope that we will join them to respond positively to it. In the light of this, the Year of Consecrated Life could be taken as a prolonged year-long celebration of Christmas. If we respond to the good news that religious share with us, we will enjoy the peace and joy of Christmas at least for a whole year and even beyond.

In this peace and joy of Christmas, I wish all readers: A Blessed Christmas. May all respond to Jesus’ invitation to enter the kingdom of God. He was born to enter our world so that we might be born to enter His kingdom. “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!” (Lk. 2:14).

Archbishop John Ha