KL Archdiocese holds First BECCOT Assembly

KUALA LUMPUR: “We are here to journey with you. We are not a team of higher authority; we do not have a set formula or a set solution. We want to be your friend, to help you when you are stuck.”

Msgr Mitchel Anthony said this to the 40 BECCOT chairpersons (BEC Coordinating Team) from the various parishes in the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese at the First Archdiocesan BECCOT Assembly on Nov 25 at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre.

“As leaders, you are the prime movers in the parishes. Parish priests will come and go but you will remain there in the parish,” he added. Msgr Mitchel related the story of five blind men who went to the zoo. At the elephant enclosure, each man was given a different part of the elephant to touch and from there to understand what an elephant was. These men had five different perspective of the elephant.

“So, too, in our parishes, everyone has a different perspective of the Church and we are trying to fit into that perspective.

“We can look at Sts Peter and Paul to help us in this. Paul, after the Damascus experience said ‘It is no longer I but Christ who lives in me.’

“Whereas for Peter, he said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ But, later, he (Peter) denies Jesus three times before the rooster crowed.

“This shows how human and vulnerable the Church is.

“After his conversion, Paul was about building communities while, in Peter, we see order, structure. These two elements must come together.

“In all these, what is the most important word? It is relationship,” explained Msgr Mitchel.

“Sometimes in the Church, it is always about doing something. The most important thing is being. We need to build relationships. We need to be creative, inclusive and bridge builders,” he said.

To further emphasise the importance of relationship, he asked, “What is the longest narrative in the gospel? It is the passion of Christ, the death narrative. In our BECs, what is the keyword? It is relationship. It is a building up of families.”

David Nathan then spoke on the ABECAT (Archdiocesan BEC Animating Team). He shared that it was formed in June 2017 and comprises nine persons, under the guidance of Msgr Mitchel. The ABECAT is chaired by I. Pathinathan. There are two representatives each from the different language groups (Tamil, Mandarin and BM).

He then explained the logo and the structure and functions of the ABECAT, BECAT and BECCOT.

After the findings of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Assembly and the Peninsular Malaysia Pastoral Convention IV as well as in the Parish Pastoral Assemblies, three areas of concern were raised with regards to the BEC.

David explained that the first area of concern was: No sense of belonging to BECs and impersonal relationship. He stated that BECs should be within 10-15 families. “If a BEC has 70 families, how can you establish a relationship with all 70 of them?” he asked.

After the break, Rita Krishnan explained that the plan was to ask the coordinators to give their feedback on the updated and revised handbook on Guidelines for BECs. However, it was decided that the coordinators work in groups and give feedback on certain areas to help the ABECAT to improve the booklet.

The leaders were then placed into groups to answer different questions with regards to the ABECAT’s five year plan, the BEC, BEC coordinators, BEC core team and so on.

They then presented the points of their dicussions..

In his closing remarks, Msgr Mitchel said that we can go to any parish for Mass, but for BEC gatherings, we need to return to our own BEC.

“Times have changed and the greatest challenge in the Catholic Church today is community living. “How do we promote community living?

How do we build a sense of community? People have not found Christ in the community, in the poor, the migrants, the marginalised. If we have not found Christ there, then our spiritual growth will be restricted.

“Pope Francis has asked the Church to be a field hospital. Is the BEC open to this?” he asked.

After the closing prayer, lunch was served. Archbishop Leow and the ABECAT team proceeded to serve the participants as a way to show that the team is there to serve the needs of the parishes.

BECs in the KL Archdiocese

The building of BECs have been slow but progressing steadily.

The progress is not necessarily quantifiable however, in a span of 37 years (1976 – 2013), there are 969 BECs throughout the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur.

This means that more than 10,000 Catholics gather once a month in the Archdiocese of KL to pray, read and share the Word.

There are more gatherings during the Marian months (May and October) and the Season of Lent.

Archbishop Julian Leow’s remarks

“Thank you for coming for this assembly. Your attendance here shows your willingness to build your parish.

“Today, being community is going against the grain. We are taught to think only of me, myself and I. In a certain sense, God is no more in the picture.

“That is why BEC is not easy. The world is telling us to go another way. Divide and rule. The effects of this are, we will become fragmented.

“Is this the life we want to lead as Catholics? Instead of being selfcentred, we need to become othercentred.

“We must build bridges to the marginalised. They must be part of our planning.

“In the last census, only 48 per cent of Catholics in the archdiocese come regularly for Mass. What about the other 52 per cent?

“Sometimes because it is difficult, we find excuses, that BEC is boring, we have no time etc.

“Many have asked, are BECs still relevant today?

“It is good that we soul-search. What is it that we are not seeing? Those who are missing, the lost sheep, are we searching for them?

“The problem may not be out there. It could be within us. How can we go forward, make ourselves relevant, to look for the good things and improve the not so good.

“The problems may be there, but we can solve it little by little.”

Article reproduced from Herald Malaysia online