Identity Check before entering the Church
By BSL SOCCOM
July 18 2020
LABUAN – As stated in the Sunday Missal introduction for 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A, “We celebrate Christ who came to sow the seed of God’s word in the world, and we rejoice with Him as we see everywhere around us the first-fruits of the Spirit and wait for the glory to be fulfilled”.
Indeed, it was very good and pleasant to see the parishioners or the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Labuan (BSL) coming together again to celebrate the first public Eucharistic celebration face to face on July 12 2020.
This was after a long absence of about four months, since Mar 14, when all houses of worship within the country were instructed by the Government to suspend all activities and public gatherings in order to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to the announcement made on June 28 that all Catholic Churches under the Archdiocese of Kota Kinabalu will resume public Eucharistic celebration on Sunday the July 12, extensive preparations were already underway in anticipation of the long-awaited event.
A special working committee was formed to work alongside the Parish Pastoral Council to extensively look into the nitty-gritty requirements of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) set up by the government authorities. These were necessary to ensure the safety and well-being of all who would be attending public Eucharistic celebrations and continue to contain the spreading of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Numerous discussions were held virtually to streamline all the requirements and a gotong-royong was held on July 4 to clean and disinfect the church and its surroundings. Due to the limitations on the number of attendees (one third of the normal capacity) imposed by the SOP, BSL could only accommodate maximum 255 parishioners at any one Mass.
As such, registration at the Parish Office was opened to parishioners from July 6 -10 on a first-come-first serve basis with the option to attend either the English Mass at 7.30am or the Bahasa Malaysia Mass at 11.00am. In total, there were approximately 390 registrants for both Masses.
On Sunday July 12, the working committee were at the compound of the church as early as 5.00am. Final checks were done to ensure all were in order prior to the parishioners’ arrival.
Three registration counters were set at the entrance of the church to verify parishioners’ identity and for temperature checks as these were part of the SOP requirements. It was at these counters that parishioners were reminded to put on their face masks at all times while in church and to ensure social distancing.
As parishioners gradually filling the church, a three-minute Safety Procedure video clip was shown to assist parishioners to have an overview of the safety measures that were put in place to ensure right of disposition. The atmosphere in the Church was that of prayerful serenity and reverence which amplifies the true presence of Our Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
Fr Thomas Madanan to parishioners: “Be a lover of God’s Word”
In his introductory address, Fr Thomas Madanan, parish priest, exhorted the parishioners to be grateful to God and ask for His love and mercy, for without God we are hopeless.
He further exhorted all those present and those who were following the Eucharistic celebration that was live streamed, to be lover of God’s Word; the divine word, who is the most affectionate and loving Lord Jesus Christ himself.
In his homily, Fr Thomas explained that Jesus asserts that the Word of God is authoritative and powerful. God’s Word can bring about tremendous changes in our lives. What would be our future eventually and ultimately depends on how much we honour the Word of God.
The living Word of God is Jesus himself; the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The different types of soil in the Gospel represents our attitude towards the Word of God. Fr Thomas encouraged parishioners to ponder upon which type of soil they were?
In view of the resumption of the Eucharistic celebration after such a long break, he urged all to make this as an opportunity to start anew; to have a deeper love for the Word of God. By living the Word of God, changes occurring in our lives would result in much fruits of good works.
He continued to share that his choice of being a Priest was all because of the Word of God which is alive. Therefore, to neglect the Word of God is equivalent to not honouring God. The Word of God is the light upon our feet in our journey towards heaven.
He then drew the parishioners’ attention to the lighted Sanctuary Lamp and said that the lamp represented our attitude towards God. He said we should always be vigilant and attentive to the prompting of God guiding and transforming us.
Though life can be tough and challenging as what most had experienced throughout the Movement Control Order (MCO), where we were cut-off from Jesus, we felt hopeless.
Therefore, in the Eucharistic celebration, not only does Jesus give us His Word but He also gives us His own Body and Blood in the Eucharist to nourish and strengthen us. We are then capable of bringing about tremendous changes in our family, our Church community and the world.
Immediately after the concluding hymn, parishioners were ushered in an orderly manner to exit the church. Although several restrictions were imposed, nevertheless the general feedback gathered from parishioners was that of gratefulness to God for the ability to return back to Church and celebrate Mass.
Some expressed their joy of being able to receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist while others expressed their gladness of being able to see the many familiar faces of fellow parishioners.
After having experienced being deprived of the Holy Eucharist throughout the MCO, it is with great hope that parishioners will have a more profound love and respect for our Lord Jesus which will bring them to a more personal and communal relationship with the Word of God himself.
