The Society of St. Vincent de Paul Malaysia ‘Vincentians Nationwide’ National Assembly was held on 31 August to 1 September 2024 at Taiping with the theme ”Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28-30.
Cardinal Sebastian Francis – Bishop of Penang in his keynote address began with the quote from Pope John Paul II “Let us remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence”. To around 160 Vincentians present, Cardinal Sebastian gave them [4] counsels to follow:
(1) To Celebrate together, the past, present and future as one movement of the Holy Spirit and discern where the Holy Spirit is leading us as we progress to the future.
(2) To Listen together. Christ listens to His Body the Church and His Body the Church listens to Christ the Head. Listening together with obedience is mutual as with Apostle Peter and Paul, apostles and disciples, husband and wife, parent and children, leaders and subjects.
(3) Submission is Mission following the connotations of ‘sub + mission’. The Son submits to the Will of the Father, ”Father not my will but Yours be done”. The Holy Spirit submits to the Will of the Father and Son and continues the mission. Apostles submit to Peter, disciples submit to apostles. This submission is vital in the continuation of the mission, and it is the same with wife and husband, children and parent, subjects and leaders. In the PMPC4 – the Holy Spirit spoke, and the [3] Bishops of Peninsular Malaysia articulated this truth with a Church that is Creative, Inclusive and Bridge-building.
(4) Walk Together. If we don’t walk alone with Holy Spirit of Father and the Son, we will never walk together with Fratelli Tutti and engage in ‘Conversations in the Spirit’. Team Holy Spirit is a Church of Apostles, Disciples and People of God sent as missionary disciples of the Gospel of Mercy of the Father, Gospel of Joy of Jesus Christ and Gospel of Hope in the Holy Spirit.
Vincentians as sons and daughters of Vincent de Paul and Frederick Ozanam, followers of Christ and led by the Holy Spirit will go forward to complete the mission entrusted to them, specially completing the Ozanam Retirement Village. Cardinal calls the Vincentians to say with vigour, Amen! Amen! Amen!
The President of SSVP Raj Narayanan in his welcome address talked about formation and training and keeping the focus on Vincentian spirituality and virtues of humility, simplicity, gentleness, selflessness and zeal. To keep the SSVP relevant in the 21st century with the core works of empowering the poor and marginalized by seeking the face of our Suffering Lord in the face of the poor.
Martin Jalleh then shared with the participants the biblical meaning of servant leadership with motivational emphasis on team building in SSVP, Synodality & Synergy and Ministry of Unity and reflected on the discipleship of the Called/Chosen/Commissioned.
Cardinal Sebastian and the Vincentians also visited the site of the Ozanam Retirement Village (ORV) located on the grounds of the Church of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Klian Pauh, Taiping to get a visual view and to bless the site. Cardinal Sebastian exhorted the Vincentians to go and complete the ORV, with God’s Will be done on earth, in Taiping, as in Heaven and to complete this mission entrusted to the elected, called, chosen and sent with the new team headed by Raj Narayanan and before him Aloysius Lai and team, and all other works of SSVP Malaysia. We must all be in ’the winning team ‘turun padang - Roh Kudus’.
Cardinal Sebastian, Msgr. Stephen Liew, Deacon Charles Lazaroo and Deacon Rocky Loo then proceeded to go around the construction site to do the blessings 🙏🏼
By Christopher Kushi
