CDM Penang focuses on the Word of God

PENANG: The Church of the Divine Mercy focused on the words, “… and God said…” as the feastday theme.

In his homily during the afternoon Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, the Nuncio, Archbishop Joseph Marino, explained that the work of Jesus continued after his death, when he appeared to the apostles. He breathed on them and established the Church by saying, “As the Father sent me, I now send you” to continue his work by forgiving sins, feeding the hungry, comforting the sorrowful and healing the wounds of division.

The Church today is empowered by the Holy Spirit through the incarnation of Jesus in the Word of God and his Mercy. Mercy is the very foundation of Jesus’ teaching. It is mercy that sustains us in the Church to do works of charity. This is our primary mission. Our faith is active and we need to reach out to the marginalised and reinstate them. Whenever Jesus was asked to heal anyone, he was moved by compassion because he felt the pain and suffering of the person. In the same way, the Church does not condemn but seeks out those who are marginalised with compassion, and restores their humanity within the community. Pope Francis has said that the sign of a Christian in our world today is how we live with Mercy. The Nuncio ended by asking the parishioners to be a community of Mercy and to be one with Jesus who is the face of Mercy.

After Mass, there was a procession. The Nuncio carried the monstrance with the consecrated host around the neighbourhood of Sungai Ara. He was assisted by Fr Francis Anthony, Fr Joachim Robert and parish priest Fr Martin Arlando. After the procession and Benediction, there was the veneration of the relics of St Faustina and St Pope John Paul II. Finally, all who attended were invited for an early dinner as many pilgrims were from Ipoh and other outstation places and had to return home.

At the end of the weekend Masses, the parishioners were treated to a liturgical dance performed by the Youth Ministry on “Proclaiming the Word of God.” The audience were pleasantly surprised when Fr Martin joined in the last part of the dance to hold up the Bible.

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online