Red Mass 2019 – Prayer & Humility Fundamentals For Christian Life
Red Mass 2019 - Prayer & Humility Fundamentals For Christian Life
Approximately 70 odd Catholic Lawyers gathered at St John’s Cathedral to begin the legal year with the celebration of the Red Mass.
The main celebrant was His Lordship Richard Ng DD, Bishop of Miri. Con-celebrating at the Red Mass were His Grace Archbishop Julian Leow and Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam, Rev Fr Jestus Pereira and CLS spiritual advisor Rev Fr Michael Chua. In his sermon, Bishop Richard Ng explained two points that resonate from the readings of the day. The first the emphasis on prayer and the second the element of humility. He explained that there is no short cut to the Lord save and except through prayer.
The communication with the Lord through prayer is essential to transform us and get us through all obstacles.
He emphasized that prayer is a necessity and it comes in many forms. Some prayers are formal like the Rosary, others are informal. He urged all to ask the Lord through prayer to heal us with his love. Prayer may or may not change God’s plans but it helps change us. But he echoed St John’s message (1 Jn 5:14-21) that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
The second point he stressed was on humility. This he says is bored out from the gospel (Jn 3:22-30), where the passage emphasizes John the Baptist humility in that despite having many followers and disciples, he was humble enough to tell his followers that he must decrease and Jesus must increase.
Bishop Ng invites all to pray and to work with humility. He concluded by reading Pope Francis message of peace.
CLS President, Rita Wong thanked all who help facilitate the mass. She reminded all of St Thomas More deeds who remained steadfast to God’s call even though he was subjected to imprisonment and ultimately death. “Our duty is to save guard and work towards the mission of the gospel”, she said. The full text of her speech is found at this link.
His Grace Archbishop Julian Leow thanked the CLS for defending and offering services to the church and to the society for the past 25 years. He appealed to Catholic lawyers to participate and be active in the CLS and to give back to build the New Malaysia. He reminded us that the Prime Minister has repeated the position of the Government to uphold the rule of law. “We rely on you lawyers to maintain the rule of law,” He said.
Also present at the mass were YB Teresa Kok, Minister of Primary Industries, their Excellencies, the Ambassadors of Italy, Peru, Switzerland and the European Union. Also present was Datuk Seri Michael Chong, MCA Public Service Department Chief.
The mass ended with fellowship and lunch.
Joy Appukuttan
