A Story of a Mass Celebration in Malaysia

This is a story of a Roman Catholic church somewhere in Malaysia and its experience with its new Parish Priest.

This priest, which the name I shall not reveal, is a very young priest. At the age of 31, he was appointed as the parish priest of this church, which also I shall not reveal the name. During his term, the church experienced some shocking moments, humorous moments, confusions and some learning experiences with him. Most of the time, this priest will do something extra ordinary and sometime confusing and yet his parishoners loved him so much.

There was one time, during one of his first mass celebration in the church, he did certain unusual things, which I will break them down as the following:-

1) The mass began with an Entrance Procession. Every elements (Lectionary, Sacramentary, the Choir, the Altar, etc) were prepared so well with a majestic entrance hymn. When the priest reached before the altar he bowed down and the people too with him. After that, he did not walked any further to the altar. The altar servers were waiting for the priest to move but he turned back and went straight to the entrance door. The choir stopped singing. People looked at  him thinking what he is doing. He then asked the choir to start the entrance hymn again. He processed again and bowed down before the altar and the people also bowed down with him. He stopped, turned back and walked to the entrance door again. People were wondering what he is doing. Again he processed and bowed before the altar, but this time the people did not bow together with him because all of them were looking at him to see what he will be doing next. He smiled at walked up to the altar. Since then he was doing this at every mass until the people stopped bowing down when he bows before the altar.

2) During the gospel acclamation, the hymn "Sing Alleluia to the Lord" was sung so beautifully. After its finished, the priest responded, "So. When are we going to start singing Alleluia then?". The people begin to look each other thinking, "Is our priest has gone mad? We just sung the Alleluia". The priest then said, "Well. We just asked others to sing the Alleluia. So when are we going to sing the Alleluia then?" He then sung just the word, "Alleluia" for three times and began the gospel reading.

3) During the Lord's Prayer, he told the people not to hold hands.

4) Before the Holy Communion procession, he told the people not to leave before the thanks giving prayer.


Sometime we experience this kind of madness in our church too, but remember that Jesus himself sometime seem out of His mind. He asked people to breakdown the temple that took for 46 years to build and He wanted to build it in 3 days. But if those people really remembered the scripture, they will know that he meant about himself, and not the temple.

So do the story above. If we know what and why we are doing in the mass, we will not be like the people of the above church.

1. We do not have to bow down with the priest because we already did during the time we entered the church.

2. We only need to sing Alleluia and not 'Sing Alleluia' or 'Alleluia. Praise be the Lord'. It is not the time for Evangalisation or Cathecism. We all, rich and poor, strong and healthy, come together to praise the Lord as one faithful.

3. Since we already gathered in the church and the celebration as one faithful, there is no need for any special or extra ordinary uniting during the Lord's Prayer.

4. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith and the worship. Atleast give thanks in the worship before we go home.

Last but not the least, we should keep learning our faith. Blind faith should not be passed on. It brings destruction to our generations. Pass on the light, not a blown candle.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. Amen.

When the Faith is above Logic, are we fanatics?

Faith in God is questionable, but for some it is not. If somebody asks me why do I believe in Christ, I should answer him/her based on what I have learned in my religion.
The Roman Catholic church teaches me a lot about Christ. But someone with a certain mindset will not agree with my answer and would ask me, what I personnaly think about Christ and why do I believe in Him? Well, he/she is logically making sense in his/her point...
Every Christians have their specific understanding on their Faith. They come from their churches, families, friends, individuals and other from sources. Islam too believe in the existence of Jesus, but they do not believe Him as a Christ. And also some non-Christian organisations includes Jesus in their ritual, but give Him a different status.
My faith in God tagged along with the teachings and traditions of Roman Catholic Church. I do not interpret my own Christ. I have an interest in the Darwin's theory, but I believe in the truth of creation in Genesis. I have statues of Jesus and saints in my home, but I do not do idol worship. I believe in Trinity, but I do not understand how Trinity is One God and I accept it.
So. Am I a fanatic? It is up to you to judge but your judgement is not important at all. My faith is above logic

Sacred Music

What make the Eucharistic celebration is different from other services is the Sacred Music. The following about what is Sacred Music:

1. The Council (Vatican Council II) drew attention to the age-old tradition of sacred music and singing, closely linked to the liturgy; and the Constitution declares that worship becomes more noble when it is carried out with solemn singing, especially when the celebrant, ministers and people take an active part.

2. Great attention is to be paid to the teaching and practice of sacred music, in harmony with training and instruction in the liturgy.

3. Gregorian chant is especially suited tot he Roman liturgy, but other kinds of sacred music must not be excluded. In mission lands where the people have their own characteristic musical traditions, these traditions also should be incorporated into Christian worship.

4. In the Latin Church, the pipe organ is recognized as the traditional musical instrument, but other instruments maybe used provided that they can be adapted for use in divine worship.