Church of Saint Anthony Teluk Intan

 

The theme for 2014 was Discipleship: Called, Chosen, Sent. We ended the year focussing on the need to be on mission as this is our baptismal calling. Mission can be expressed in many ways. Be it in the family, work place, church or society, mission has ultimately one goal, that is, to establish the Kingdom of God and that the Church is at the service of the Kingdom. This mission is clearly stated as such " the Church is effectively and concretely at the service of the kingdom... The church serves the kingdom by spreading throughout the world the "gospel values" which are an expression of the kingdom an which help people to accept God's plan. This mission to establish the kingdom is only posssible when we set out eyes on working towards transfroming humanity. In some ways, Jesus also came to transform the community of His time: 'Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law of the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them" ( Matthew 5:17).

 

       The words"transforming humanity" comes from Pope Paul VI's encyclical Evangelii Nuntiandi (1978): For the Church, evangelising menas bring the Good News into all the strata of humanity form within and making it new: " Now I am making the whole world of creation new".

 

         As we are aware, the Church is missionary by tis very nature and the mission of making disciples for the kingdom has many facets. All of us are  co-pilgrims on earth and our journey leads us to the common destiny. Given the fact that Malaysia is a potpouri of cultures and traditions,we have a great oppurtunity to be the 'salt and light of the world'. It is in this context then, that we have the mission of transforming humanity. 

 

          For the year 2015, the journey of discipleship is put in the context of the mission to 'transforming humanity'. This journey is set out in three stages of transformation with one commong goal: the Self, the Family, and the Society. 

    

 

Transforming Self:

'"In virtue of their baptism, all the members of the People of God have become missionary disciples. All the baptised, whatever their position in the Church of their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evangelisation...". The mission to transform humanity begins with self-transformation. It is only when the individual person begins to make changes in his/her own life, then collectively, it has an impact on those around us. In the words of Mahamtma Gandhi, " Uou mus t be the change you wish to see in the world."

 

Transforming Family:

" The Family is the fundamental cell of society, where we learn to live with others despite our differences and t0 one another". IF our aspirations are to transform the whole of humanity, then we should also work within families and communiteis towards this goal. The family is at the heart of any society for it is here that we experience communal living at its very root. 

 

Transforming Society:

" The Gospel is about the kingdom of God: it is about living God who reigns in our world. To the extent that He reigns within us, the life of society will be a setting for universal fraternity, justice, peace and dignity. Both Christian preacing and life, then are meant to have an impact on society". The call to discipleship must lead us towards transformation throuth little steps for the glory of the whole humanity".

 

 

 

                              

                             The Booklet for 2015 Theme