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By Bishop Anthony Lee Kok Hin
Recently I was in Bangkok for a meeting from 3rd to 12th January 2000. FABC (Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences) held its 7th Plenary Assembly in a beautiful setting: the Pastoral Institute of Bangkok Archdiocese, Samphran. The Holiday Inn in Miri pales in beauty and landscaping in comparison. It is run like a hotel; the auditorium is fully equipped with the latest techniques – all very high-tech; the biggest in Asia. Present were the dignitaries of the Church, especially of Asia – cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, laity, sisters, specialists, lecturers, professors, theologians, etc.; all intellectuals. The meetings and workshops were very high-powered, full of Vatican II documents and FABC past Assembly statements, often mentioned and quoted with authority. These transactions were well beyond my poor simple head. In spite of all that kind of atmosphere charged with human concerns and solutions to the multifarious problems of the Church, particularly in Asia where Christianity besides being beset with materialism and consumerism and secularism, is confronted directly with three great religions – Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, and where Christianity has made very little impact in 400 years of evangelisation, forming only 3% of the Asian population; I was literally having a retreat. It was an incredible experience and even now I am still a little ‘weepy’ over it. It is just too good to be true – to be favoured by the Lord. Angel Gabriel saluted Mother Mary, "Hail, full of grace / You are highly favoured" (Luke 1:30). I received a glimpse of that honour of being specially favoured. The Lord was preparing me for something. Originally I had planned not to attend the meeting. I dislike meetings of such nature. I had even fixed Deacon Vincent Shim’s priestly ordination on 9th January 2000 so that I could have a good reason not to attend. At the end of November 1999 I attended the wedding of Alex Kan in Kuching. That was when I met Archbishop P. Chung, who told me to go to Bangkok even if I had to cancel the ordination. What an unholy thing to suggest – I thought. Somehow I heard the voice of the Lord commanding me to go. What inconvenience I caused Vincent and his brother in Canada when I decided to attend the meeting in Bangkok and postpone the ordination to March 20, St. Joseph’s Day. I felt bad. But somehow throughout December, and in spite of the busy hours of hearing confessions before Christmas, I sensed the Lord wanted to make use of me in Bangkok. How? I wouldn’t know. Once in Bangkok, not withstanding the highly intellectual discussions, I was undergoing a spiritual renewal. From the very first few days of the meeting, the Lord made me catch sight of a sentence that impressed upon my heart deeply: "Do not fear what you are about to suffer" (Rev 2:10). I wasn’t sure it was for me, but I kept thinking about it. I did not think that God wanted me to undergo some physical pain of an unknown nature. From my past experiences, I sensed that He was going to ask me to do something which I would never ever volunteer to do or like to do. To do it I would need courage and would struggle to say yes to Him. In the meantime, two scenes "flashed" across my mind: the Visitation and the Agony in the Garden. The Visitation. I often wondered why Mother Mary left Elizabeth just before her time of delivery when she needed help most and why Elizabeth never returned her visit. I understood why they had come together; because of their deep experiences they would not be able to share with anybody else. What a comfort they were to each other! They had to part company, I realised, to do what they were called to do and do it alone without the other, otherwise each one would be an obstacle to the other and God’s mission would be thwarted. The Agony in the Garden. Jesus was enjoying the company of the Apostles. The Last Supper, though solemn and low-keyed, nevertheless was a feast. He left the Cenacle for Gethsemane, together with the Apostles who were singing along. Once in the Garden, however, He took His three favourite ones – Peter, James and John whom He could rely on and who must have been a lot of comfort to Him – further away from the others. But, He left even these three and went a "stone throw" away to pray. He had to go to the last stretch of His journey alone. Only He could and would say "Yes" to the Father and anybody with Him would stand in His way. From these two scenes I came to realise that to fulfill God’s mission for me I must cover the last stretch of my journey alone just like Jesus in the Agony in the Garden. I might gather as much strength and emotional support from those near me and particularly from my spiritual father, but there will come a time when there is something that I must do and do alone and anybody beside me will be a hindrance rather than a help; if I don’t do it, there will be nobody who will want to do it or can do it or can do better than me. In the morning of January 11th, 2000, Tuesday, a statement which was prepared by a steering committee was now put to the floor for comments. Keeping an ear open to what was transpiring on the floor from time to time, I penned down my reflections in my exercise book. While they were discussing on Family and Youth, I felt the urge to write down my thoughts. I was half way through, when I overheard Francis Tse, a youth from Hong Kong working in the Philippines, saying over the microphone, "I am a youth from a single-parent family. I can’t find the word "Love" mentioned once in your statement." I immediately wrote on the margin of my paper: "we depend on a youth who is deprived of real love to tell us we are lacking in love." I continued writing my message, but as soon as I finished, I broke down in tears. The bell rang for interval. I was all alone by myself, cupping my face with both my palms and sobbed away. The tears just kept on coming, wave after wave. There was nothing I could do to stop crying. I was there for at least 20 minutes. Nobody noticed. As soon as I thought I could control myself (as most of my tears were gone), I went out. But at the door I met a good friend of mine, Fr. Terry Martinson. We knew each other when we were studying Chinese in Taiwan in 1968. We belonged to the young group then – priests, nuns, novices, etc. The moment I saw him, I collapsed into him crying like a baby. A Korean nun nearby noticed us, gave a "What is happening?" look. I showed the message to my friend to read. Needless to say, he was shocked and worried. I don’t think he realised the impact the message had on me. "What am I going to do with the message?" I was wondering at the back of my mind, fully convinced that this message was from the Lord and for the whole Assembly. Back to my room for siesta, I fully realised that to announce the message to the whole Assembly was what the Lord wanted and prepared me to do. At three in the afternoon, I was at the "Holiness" workshop. We talked about prayer – active and contemplative – and other means of holiness, again giving the impression that holiness would be the end-product of our human efforts, if exercised according to their instructions and with the best of intentions.
That night I got hold of Fr. MC and informed him of my intention. Every night we used to sing the Salve Regina to end the meeting of the day. I asked permission to deliver the message before the Salve Regina. Anxiously I waited for that moment to come but it never came. He forgot all about it. Strange enough, that evening on my way to the auditorium where the general sessions were held, a voice came to my mind, "If you can’t do it tonight, there is still tomorrow morning, after the Mass." I dismissed the thought as a temptation to dissuade from my purposeful action. After that missed opportunity, I realised the Lord wanted a more solemn setting for the proclamation of His message. Throughout the last night of my stay in Samphran, I could hardly have any shut-eye. I went through the procedure in my mind again and again, remembering the exact words of addressing the congregation of cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, nuns, lay persons, etc. I was afraid that I might not wake up in time. The next morning Holy Mass as usual started at 7.00 a.m. At 8.00 a.m. transport would be ready to send me to the airport. Just before the final blessing, the main celebrant nodded to me. There was an announcement before the last prayer, and I thought he had forgotten too. Thank God, he remembered. The setting was proper and right. The Paschal Candle was brought out and lit for the first time, and on the right a globe was on display (to tell us we must think globally today) with a raised cross standing next to it, decorated at the base. As the main celebrant and other ministers entered in procession, we all rose and sang,
How could I not be teary-eyed? It was because He loved Asia and the world – the Cross, the Paschal Candle testify to this strong and constant love – God just could not watch us His children struggling in the muddle of worldly human efforts to reach Him, without opening His mouth and telling us how He felt about the whole situation, warning us at the same time not to waste more time, and effort and all our resources, whether material or personnel or spiritual, and begging us to return to Him in love. At the nod of the main celebrant, I walked up to the lectern mike, feeling all alone; only about 12 paces away, yet it was a long and lonely journey. As I stood up, there were white figures behind me and beside me and in front of me, but I kind of saw them in a mist. In a faltering voice, I said, "Your Eminences, archbishops, bishops, priests, brothers and sisters in Christ, I got permission from the main celebrant this morning to speak to you and I now ask you for your patience with me to allow me a few more minutes of your time for I have something written here that I would like to share with you." At this, to my surprise and wonder, they all sat down as one, as if they were expecting some good news. I continued, "This happened yesterday morning in the general assembly when we were discussing the Family and Youth sections of our statement. I felt a strong urge to write down my thoughts. In the charismatic circle, this would be known as a prophecy, i.e., a message from the Lord to a particular group in a particular moment of time. I was so overwhelmed by it that I broke down in tears. So you could understand that it took me a lot, a lot of courage to decide to share this with you. This is what I had written down: "The Church is collapsing from the centre. She is dying in the heart. She is weakening; there is no more energy, no more will to live due to the absence of love, for ‘You have abandoned your first love (Rev 2:4).’ "She has slowed down. She has no more the power to send energy to the rest of the body to keep it alive and functioning. All the organs – organisations, structures, institutions, formation-centres, etc – are affected, and because they are not receiving the required energy, they begin to fall to pieces. "FABC attempts to hold these pieces together to prevent them from falling, with all that we have, drawing even from the resources in reserve we have stored up all this time. "We have pulled out all the taps and very soon there will be no more taps to pull, unless and until we return as soon as possible to mending the heart. "Return to your First Love. Fill the Church with love and she will come alive again." I firmly believe this message was not from me, but from the Lord, and it was spoken in tears with a broken heart. It wasn’t I who cried, but Christ who cried -- for His heart is broken. He used my heart and borrowed my tears as He made use of my mind and hand to write. At the end of the Mass I stole away as quickly as possible, wishing not to meet anyone or if unavoidably as few as possible. A few caught hold of me and thanked me for the message. This was a very memorable, unforgettable experience for me. Later on I discovered it was an in-filling event for me too. I could tell the Holy Spirit’s spiritual effects on my physical self. This realisation was accompanied by a profound sense of total unworthiness: Who am I to speak in the name of God to such an august body like the FABC? The only consolation I had was I successfully carried out my side of the bargain, the rest is up to God now. Praise the Lord. Amen.
 What the Church in Asia needs: Æ Renewal In Love º By Theresa Ee-Cooi
Kuala Lumpur : uring a recent meeting of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), participants were urged to foster effective renewal and to rebuild the Church by putting love back into the heart of Christian living. The FABC conference gathered in Samphran, Thailand, 3rd till 13th January, to "pause and discern." Armed with their latest document from the Vatican, Ecclesia in Asia, fruit of the Synod for Asia, the bishops, together with invited laity and religious, spent some ten days together living in community. We have now entered the Third Millennium and the bishops felt the urgent need for the "renewal" that awaits the Church in Asia. How do we conceive of renewal in the continent where the Church began and yet has scarcely begun, and is not even old yet in several places?" asked theologian Reverend Luis Tagle, who gave a keynote presentation at the meeting. "What does it mean to renew the Church in our globalising world, in places where the voices of the Church goes unheeded, among people who are in bondage?" Is there a need to renew? Vatican Council II has affirmed that the Church is indefectible, yet has sinners, always in need of purification, in its bosom. Equipped with all truth and the means of salvation, its members still fall short and there is a call to repent, said Father Tagle. He listed several strategies for renewal, of which only the last was likely to succeed:
He warned that renewal cannot be left exclusively to those at the top. It must come from below, from the grassroots, from the periphery, from the margins. Renewal includes conversion of hearts as well as of structures. The question is not a matter of relevance, but rather discovering what is the loving thing to do. This call for love above all else was poignantly picked up by one of the participating bishops. In a very human and loving way Bishop Anthony Lee, of the Miri diocese in East Malaysia, reiterated Father Tagle’s emphasis on love. In a short message after Mass towards the last days of the meeting, the bishop, with a sad but determined voice, movingly appealed to the congregation. "The Church is collapsing from the center. She is dying in the heart, she is weakening. There is no more energy, no more will to live. Why? Because of the absence of love, because "You have abandoned your first love," he said, quoting from the Book of Revelation (Rev. 2:4). "She has slowed down, she has no more power to send energy to the rest of the body to keep it alive and functioning. All the organs of the Church are affected, her organizations, formation centres, institutions, structures, etc. And because they are not receiving the required energy, they begin to crumble, to fall to pieces." Continued the bishop: "The FABC attempts to hold the pieces together to keep them from falling, resorting to all available resources in reserve. But we have pulled out all the stops and very soon there will be no more stops to pull unless and until we return as soon as possible to mending the heart. ‘Return to your first love,’ fill the Church with love and she will come alive again," he urged. Á
Leadership Seminar: Real Flesh, Real Blood By Rev. Andy Lee leadership seminar was held at Rumah Badang, Sungai Asap (resettlement area for the longhouses affected by the Bakun project; originally, they were people from Long Gan), from 17th October till 24th October 1999. It was attended by about 50 participants from around the area, and it was conducted by Fr. Anthony Wan and his team, comprising of catechists and committed group members. Bishop Anthony Lee arrived on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m.) to close the seminar. He was welcomed by the people from the longhouse, who wore traditional dresses, and danced as a sign of appreciation and gratitude. When asked to say a word or two, the bishop began by affirming the need for all the people to accept the fact of the resettlement as something from God. He then exhorted them to take every opportunity given by God to grow in holiness, and now that they have the service of the prayer leaders and a new chapel, they may keep watch in prayer to the Lord. He also planted the seed of priestly and religious vocations among the young people there pointing out that one of the measuring rods of the growth of the community is the number of vocations that the community produces. A Rosary prayer was held that Saturday evening, and then a Corpus Christi procession on Sunday. The procession began from the entrance of the longhouse to the chapel, led by the bishop holding our Eucharistic Lord in the monstrance. As soon as all were gathered in the chapel, we knelt for a moment of silence, and adored the Lord. The bishop then gave us the benediction blessing, and then Mass followed soon after that. In his homily, the bishop preached on the bread of life discourse in John 6: "My flesh is real food, by blood is real drink ... he who eats my bread and drinks my blood will have eternal life." As a custom in the longhouses, the night was spent with a big "makan" which was followed by dances and singing, including our bishop. Everybody participated joyfully in the celebration. The bishop and his team bid farewell to the people in Rumah Badang on early Monday morning, and arrived in Miri in the evening.
Clothed with Power By Rev. Andy Lee midst the lack of response to the seminar, nevertheless the Life in the Spirit cum Confirmation seminar went on as scheduled. Praise the Lord! It really made a difference to forty students who, after five days of talks, services, holy hour and daily Mass, received the Sacrament of Confirmation. The seminar was particularly special for two students who were baptized and confirmed on the same day. Registration for the seminar began on Saturday afternoon (6th November 1999), and it went on until the next day. We expected around 100-150 participants, but to our surprise, only 26 students registered, and out of that number, only three were boys! And so, taking into consideration the number of participants on Saturday, it was decided among the organizing committee, consisting of Fr. Felix Ampan, the seminarians, catechists and committed group, that we extend registration until the following Monday. Thus, the total number of participants were 55 students. The theme for the seminar was, "You shall Be Clothed With Power," taken from Acts 1:8. The whole aim of this particular seminar was to introduce to the students a life animated by the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, all talks, holy hours, Mass homilies and services, prepared participants for baptism in the Holy Spirit, and reception of the sacrament of Confirmation. For instance, we conducted a repentance service which consisted in having the participants take turns in carrying a large wooden cross on their shoulder, and walking on their knees from the back of the chapel to the front of the altar. The service was intended to bring the realization of how sin causes Jesus to suffer, and carry his own cross, and be crucified. The service was as powerful and meaningful for the students as it was for the committed group and seminarians. I for one, was convicted of the fact that before I can freely exercise the power of the Holy Spirit in me, I must decide to rid myself of the power of sin, flesh, the world and the evil one. In this seminar, the participants experienced in a special way, the healing power of the Eucharistic presence of the Lord. On Monday night, we conducted a holy hour in which the participants knelt, surrounding the monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament, which was placed in the middle of the chapel. The music ministry, together with Fr. Felix, led songs of praise and worship, coupled with prayers of adoration. All who were present worshipped together as one body in Christ. Many of the participants were touched by our Eucharistic Lord to the point of tears of joy, healing, repentance and forgiveness. The day that all were waiting for eventually came. On Wednesday, 10th November 1999, 55 students received the sacrament of Confirmation. Msgr. Francis Kuleh, assisted by Fr. Michael Sia and Fr. Felix Ampan, administered the sacrament. It was a joyous celebration that day. The newly confirmed students left the seminar clothed with the power of the Holy Spirit.
à Word of Life By Chiara Lubich
"Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ." (Eph. 1:3) hese words are a hymn of praise and gratitude to God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the same God who is the Father of Jesus Christ, whom he raised from the dead. "God has raised us up with him", with Jesus, "and seated us in the heavens," (Eph. 2:6), we who are "his handiwork" and "his body" (Eph.2:10, 1:23). God’s blessing on Abraham is fulfilled in Jesus ("In your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing" Gen. 22:18). Jesus gained the favour of the Father’s blessing, for he was clothed with that love to which the Father cannot but respond, because he is the Father’s very own word made flesh. Jesus is the Father’s living Word that took on our human nature so as to come amongst us, and share true life with us. He did this so as to make us one body with him and to give us his Spirit through whom we can call God ‘Father, Abba’. How can we live in a way that is worthy of the Father’s blessing? How can we bring on ourselves the blessing that give joy and faithfulness to all our thoughts? By living as sons and daughters, in the Son, and by being the living word as He is. By living the Word, in fact, we are transformed into the Word, into Christ. The Gospel is not only a book of consolation where we can take refuge in painful moments, in order to find an answer, but it is also a code that contains the laws of life. Laws which are not there just to be read and studied, but which should be truly put into practice and absorbed into our lives in a deep way so as to live like Christ, to be another Christ in every moment. Hence we should not regard the Word just as a pure, simple and gentle expression of human wisdom. The word of God is more than a message. When he speaks, he speaks himself, he gives himself. "God does not ever give less than himself," says St. Augustine of Hippo! And since God is Love, each of his words is love. To welcome and live the Word makes us into love as God is Love. Through the Word, then, all our relationships should change, with God and with our neighbours, because the Word has within it a dynamic and creative power. Through living the Word, the Christian community is born and formed among people who love one another and become one people, the people of God. God’s blessing comes down on this people, which means on all of us, in as much as we treat one another as brothers and sisters in the one Father, overcoming all forms of individualism, prejudice and division. This is what we want to do when Christians in many parts of the world unite in celebrating the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity; forming this one people. Being aware of this gift, which we have not merited, let us all try to live at the beginning of the third millennium as living words of God. Besides giving glory to God, our lives will be a fervent appeal for another of God’s gifts: that of the full and visible communion among the Churches. Experience of Life : "A common deep well" (Philippines) 210 families live in our housing estate. Among them, there are four families trying to live the Word of life. Living the Gospel gave us strength and courage to do certain things. When we had a problem about water supply, we realised that a deep well would cost too much so we pooled our resources together and had a common deep well built. This arrangement served as a model in our community. Others followed soon. Now it is common to see a cluster of about 3-5 households sharing a common deep well. We share the work involved in repairing our common water pump and other chores. We also look after each other’s house when one leaves for vacation or for a weekend trip. Visiting the sick is our regular activity. We share their sufferings by listening to their complaints of pain. We help find doctors and specialists if there is a need. In our neighbourhood we have some teenagers regarded as troublemakers. While other parents feel that it’s best for their children not to associate with these youth, we explained to our children that we should instead find ways to show our love to them such as by smiling to them, and playing with them. Soon our children gained the trust of these teenagers who are slowly opening up. Our children tell us everything and we discuss together how to handle certain situations. One time we were asked to tell our other friends to refrain from teasing these teenagers and not to treat them as second-class people. We are now slowly seeing a big change in them. We get involved in community projects and we try to do our part having in mind that what we do is an expression of love for others and not just the answer to a call of duty.
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After my soul-experience in the morning, and listening to
those discussions left me exasperated to say the least. During the short
break, I walked to the water edge and complained to the Lord, "We are so
concerned with formulations of holiness and theories that we will never come
to the source of all holiness – You. What am I going to do?" In a very
clear, distinct voice I hear Jesus telling me, "Make sure you do your
sharing, I will take care of the rest."