Food bags for St Joseph Church, Papar
By Henry Chua
Nov 21 2020
KOTA KINABALU – In 2017, Pope Francis established the observance of The World Day of the Poor to be celebrated on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time. This year’s occurrence is being observed with the theme “Stretch forth your hand to the poor.”
With the world still fighting against the pandemic, many lives are affected especially the poor. The situation here in Sabah is no different. Like the Government, NGOs and individuals who are putting in their best efforts to help the poor, the parishes within the Catholic Church are also doing their part in ‘stretching forth their hands to the poor’.
In conjunction with this celebration, Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish (SHCP) and its sub-parish Church of Mary Immaculate (CMI) have selected three parishes outside of Kota Kinabalu to receive donation of food bags targeted for 150 families. These food bags contained dried foods and face masks. Each of these selected parishes would receive 50 food bags.
On Nov 18, two dispatch teams went out and crossed districts to complete the mission of love and mercy. One team was represented by assistant priest Fr Sunny Chung and Henry Chua from CMI who went to St Joseph Church, Papar. The other team was represented by assistant priest Fr Russell Lawrine and Sr Anita James who went to St James Church, Tenghilan and St Thomas Church, Kg Kelawat in Kota Belud. The funds for this good cause came from the mission accounts of both the Cathedral parish and its sub-parish.
Food bags for St Thomas Church, Kg Kelawat Kota Belud
Food bags for St James Church, Tenghilan
Referring to the theme, Msgr Nicholas Ong shared with SHC parish priest Fr Paul Lo the second half of the verse which reads “…so that your blessing may be complete.” Msgr Ong wanted to highlight this part of the verse which he interpreted as ‘whoever readily helps the poor will have fullness of blessing from God’. Let us reflect upon this as we continue to give to the poor and receive the Father’s blessing.
