For photos of events from 2019 onwards, kindly refer to our parish's official Facebook page.
For updates on Sahabat Orang Asli (SOA) outreach mission, click here.
CARITAS MISSION TALK - 22ND MARCH 2025
Caritas Malaysia was initiated at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (CBCMSB) in January 2020. Since then every priest in Malaysia had been directed by their respective Bishop / Archbishop to form a Caritas ministry within their parishes. To date 29 parishes in the diocese have initiated parish-level Caritas groups. SMC is one of the few who have yet to establish one. Caritas Internationalis is a confederation of 162 national Catholic relief, development and social services organisations spanning the globe. It started as individual Catholic relief organisations founded on Catholic social teachings, the first of which was founded in 1897 in Germany.
Fr Fabian Dicom, who was appointed as National director of Caritas Malaysia on 15th May 2023, explained the formation of Caritas Malaysia to attendees which comprised members of the Perak Deanery Sahabat Orang Asli group, Ministry for the Poor and SMC PHDC, among others. To clear up misconceptions about the function and role of Caritas in each parish, Fr Fabian began by explaining the motivation for the work of Caritas, the origins of Caritas and the establishment of Caritas Malaysia by the CBCMSB to be the overarching body of the Catholic Church's human development and charity work.
Fr Fabian reiterated that Jesus Christ must always be the model of our Christian mission. As John 14:6 tells us, Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Upon our baptism we assume the mission of Christ to be priest, prophet and servant. He drew on Luke 4:16-18, which states clearly the mission of Jesus and our mission as Christians. We are called to proclaim the good news to the poor and set prisoners free, to welcome outcasts and transform societies. We are called to uphold human dignity, promote social justice and defend the weak and the oppressed. As Pope Francis reminds us all, the Church must be a field hospital not a mere institution concerned with pomp and rituals. We are all interconnected and hence we also have a duty to care for God's creation and the world we live in.
Caritas also aims to go beyond mere charity work, but to promote justice and undertake advocacy work. Caritas tries to address the root cause of poverty and suffering instead of just providing short-term assistance. The old adage "it is better to teach a man to fish, than to just give him a fish" sums up what Caritas is aiming to achieve. Fr Fabian recalled the time the Lighhouse project in Penang was established by the diocese via the Penang Office for Human Development. Many "good Catholics" were opposed to it saying that some of the people who went to get free meals at the Lighthouse looked too well-dressed to be homeless or poor! Attempts to secure simple odd jobs for these homeless were also not taken up by a single Catholic household when word was put out! In the end, the POHD established "Lightworks" which allowed some of the homeless to clean-up the graves at the Catholic cemetary for a fee. As Christians, we need to learn to see through the eyes of Christ and not judge the people we are purportedly trying to help!
Fr Fabian highlighted some of the work done by Caritas Malaysia to date. These include flood relief work (in Miri and Penang) and the rescue of women who were trafficked into Malaysia. Caritas Malaysia has initiated a Disaster Relief Fund since its inception. It is also presently focused on capacity building. This involves training Caritas staff and volunteers for relief work.
For Fabian gave some useful proposals for how Caritas could be established in SMC. One proposal is the establishment of a new Caritas ministry working closely with the Parish Priest to coordinate all parish-based social initiatives and liase with the diocesan Caritas office. Another option is to have Caritas function as an umbrella organisation which oversees the work of existing social outreach parish groups. Parish priest, Fr Aloysius Tan who joined the talk at a later juncture, also proposed to establish a Creation Justice ministry in SMC. It was proposed that all SMC ministries working for social justice and human development come together to set the groundwork for establishing Caritas in SMC.
Fr Fabian took questions from the floor throughout the evening. The session ended with a prayer by Fr Fabian.
ANNOUNCEMENT - 15TH & 16TH MARCH 2025
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ANNOUNCEMENT - 8TH & 9TH MARCH 2025
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ANNOUNCEMENT - 1ST & 2ND MARCH 2025
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47TH NOTIFICATION & UPDATES FROM THE DIOCESE OF PENANG - 1ST MARCH 2025
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ANNOUNCEMENT - 22ND & 23RD FEBRUARY 2025
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SMC'S PARISH ASSEMBLY - 16TH FEBRUARY 2025
SMC's annual parish assembly which had been postponed last year due to the changeover of priests, was held this year on Sunday, 16th Feb 2025. The turnout was impressive, with the PAC hall utilised to its full capacity. The assembly opened with a praise and worship session by the SMC Youth group, followed by enthronement of the Word of God and scripture reading in English and Mandarin. PPC Chairman Ms Jennifer Duarte then opened the assembly with a short welcome address. Parish priest, Fr Aloysius Tan introduced an unexpected guest in the form of Monsignor Jude Miranda. Msgr Jude explained the spiritual direction of the diocese in line with the synodal mission conceptualised by Pope Francis. Participants were asked to see their journey of faith analogous to the Tent of Meeting in the Old Testament. The parish should strive to be like a Tent of Meeting where everyone could meet God, discern the will of God, offer hospitality to friends and strangers and journey together as one community of faith. Similarly, the parish assembly hopes to come up with concrete ways in which our parish of St Michael could be transformed by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to become a church where every person has an active role and for all to become true living reflections of God's presence.
Fr Aloysius identified two main concerns in SMC and two questions were posed to all attendees namely :
(1) How can we make our church more meaningful as we journey together as a community? ;
(2) Keeping the spirit of Synodality, how can our society be more united despite the differences and challenges we go through in life?
Participants were then broken up into smaller groups of not more than 8 persons to discuss the questions posed and come up with suggestions to address the issues. Every member of the group was given the opportunity to speak for 2 minutes on the topic of discussion. After all members had spoken, members were to speak another 2 minutes on the subject after having heard and contemplated on what other members had said. Each elected group facilitator were then asked to put forward their observations and suggestions to the entire assembly. Some suggestions that were put forward include setting up support for parents with children with special-needs and individuals who need counselling, changing ourselves to be more inclusive and friendly, restarting the soup kitchen to reach out to the poor and encouraging more inter-cultural activities to foster better relations between the different races.
At the end of the sessions, Fr Aloysius made some significant announcements pertaining to our parish, namely the formation of Caritas (the social mission arm of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia) in SMC by May 2025 and the consecration of families to the Sacred Heart of Jesus during this year, among others. In conjunction with the parish's 135th anniversary, he also launched the AOL 135 initiative in which all of SMC's parish ministries, BECs and parishioners not belonging to any group, will collectively undertake up to 135 "Acts of Love" (Works of mercy/charity) in the year 2025. The collective Acts of Love will be offered up as a thanksgiving to God to mark our 135 years of founding. He also expressed hope that after building upon our synodal plans, the parishioners will be better equipped for outreach missions for Christ by the year 2027.
ANNOUNCEMENT - 15TH & 16TH FEBRUARY 2025
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SMC PARISH JUBILEE YEAR PILGRIMAGE - 11TH FEBRUARY 2025
Click here for the full story and scenes from our pilgrimage to the Chapel of Annai Velanganny in Jelapang on this year's World Day of the Sick. We are most grateful to our parish priest Fr Aloysius, the organizers from SMC, Fr George and the team from OLOL parish for their assistance in making this first jubilee pilgrimage a peaceful and spiritually enriching encounter.
ANNOUNCEMENT - 8TH & 9TH FEBRUARY 2025
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ANNOUNCEMENT - 1ST & 2ND FEBRUARY 2025
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46TH NOTIFICATION & UPDATES FROM THE DIOCESE OF PENANG - 1ST FEBRUARY 2025
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ANNOUNCEMENT - 25TH & 26TH JANUARY 2025
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ANNOUNCEMENT - 18TH & 19TH JANUARY 2025
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JUBILEE YEAR OF HOPE FORMATION - 17TH & 18TH JANUARY 2025
17/1/2025 Day 1 : Journeying Together As An Inspiring Synodal Church
In conjuction with Jubilee Year 2025, Fr Aloysius Tan invited Rev Fr Dr Clarence Devadass, director of the Catholic Research Centre from the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur to conduct two formation sessions. Fr Clarence gave insightful explanations about the conception of the Synod on Synodality by Pope Francis. In between the topics of discussion, Fr Clarence also shared humorous observations of Catholic behaviour and uplifting encounters with prisoners on death row. The numerous problems and conflicts in the world have caused many to lose hope. The Catholic church is in serious need of revival if she is to be a beacon of hope for the faithful and the lost. To be an inspiring synodal church, we baptized Catholics, need to reclaim and reaffirm our identity as God’s children. As a church, we must be open to dialogue, listening and facilitating meaningful programmes to welcome people from all walks of life and those who have fallen away. We need to overhaul our mindsets to focus on the big picture and not on our own inconveniences or petty issues e.g. lack of car-parking spaces, air-conditioners etc. In short, the church must return its focus to the mission that Christ gave and all Catholics need to reclaim the joy of knowing God, to be an inspiring synodal church.
18/1/2025 Day 2 : Celebrating The Jubilee year : Reawakening Hope Through Christian Living
Fr Clarence explained the biblical Jewish origins of the Jubilee year. He also explained the significance of the Holy Doors and how indulgences are effected in the Catholic Church. He outlined the conditions for obtaining the jubilee indulgence and noted that the Jubilee year is more than mere rituals and pilgrimages. It is an opportunity for reconciliation and reaffirming our faith through meaningful acts and observations. Fr Clarence stressed that our lives must be upheld by these four pillars : Truth, Forgiveness, Freedom and Justice. To be effective ambassadors of Christ’s hope, we as Christians must cultivate the following 8 characteristics: i) Faith-filled ; ii) Compassionate ; iii) Joyful ; iv) Generous ; v) Courageous ; vi) Prayerful ; vii) Humble ; viii) Servant-hearted. He then shared with the participants how each parish and individual could contribute to reawakening Christ’s hope through its various ministries and initiatives within the parish. The Jubilee year affords all Catholics the opportunity to reconcile with God and with others. It is a time to reawaken hope and to reaffirm our commitment to Jesus and to renounce our old way of life. The final session ended with a closing prayer by both Fr Clarence and Fr Aloysius. We thank Fr Clarence Devadass for spending time with us over these 2 days to teach and enlighten us. We also thank our parish priest Fr Aloysius Tan and all SMC team members (i.e. the Faith Formation team, Sound Team and SMC English Youth Group) who helped to make these 2 formation sessions enlightening and enjoyable.
ANNOUNCEMENT - 11TH & 12TH JANUARY 2025
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ANNOUNCEMENT - 4TH & 5TH JANUARY 2025
45TH NOTIFICATION & UPDATES FROM THE DIOCESE OF PENANG - 1ST JANUARY 2025
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