Fr Peter Abas
By SMP SOCCOM
Apr 22 2022
TANJUNG ARU – To welcome Jesus our King into our lives, assistant parish priest of Stella Maris Parish Fr Peter Abas invited all parishioners to a two-day talk at Stella Maris Church before the Easter Triduum on Apr 12-13 to ‘deepen and feed our souls’.
Praying with Jesus at the Gethsemane Garden
On the night at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus begged His Father to take away the suffering that was to come, but which he accepted wholeheartedly. That night proved that mortality could be won over with humility. Fr Peter recollected the reading to about 120 parishioners, including the Elects, who attended the talk which began with Eucharist Adoration.
Isolation has brought about an immense desire for God but the distractions and convenience which the world created during the pandemic have made many to ‘fall asleep’.
Fr Peter says that our spirit is eager but our flesh is weak. He calls for all to reignite our spirituality in order to fight the impulse of the world. Prayer should be done in humility and he reminded the acronym A.C.T.S which stands for Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving and Supplication. We evaluate how we pray by asking ourselves ‘Are we praying with Jesus like Peter or James or John?’.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Jesus endured physical pain, emotional pain and spiritual pain during His passion. We see physical pain in His wounds, emotional pain when He asked that the cup be taken away from Him and spiritual pain when He asked God to forgive the people.
The evening before Holy Thursday, Fr Peter spoke to those gathered at Stella Maris Church on the topic ‘Were you there when they crucified the Lord?’ and reminded them about the pure pain that Jesus has allowed Himself to be inflicted on for our salvation.
The life of a Catholic, Fr Peter says, is filled with challenges testing us spiritually, emotionally and physically. We are called to be forgiving, to bring hope and love to others, and yet when we are tested, we forget the very fundamental of our faith.
He reminds us to carry our cross and be humble in our actions. For every time we condemn others, we pierce Jesus just like how He suffered during His passion.
To be good followers of Christ, we must know how to lead and be a humble steward to others, and to proclaim the Word of God with all your mind, body and soul.
Choosing to change ourselves for the sake of others because of our love for Christ would make our Easter celebration even more meaningful.
The Elects were the most touched by the Adoration as many experienced the presence of God for the first time with the feeling of peace.
Listening to the talk, the Elects found more encouragement and see praying in a different perspective – a way to reconnect, a way to rejoice in sufferings and a way to see others through the eyes of God.
