Advent in Malaysia, a time to dedicate to the elderly and the sick
Fr George Packiasamy, pastor at St Joseph, talks about how his parish is preparing for Christmas, visiting the sick, the elderly, those who are home-bound. “The Church has always cared for” the marginalised. May Jesus’s birth open our eyes to the needs of our fellow human beings.
Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews/SJC) – Fr George P. Packiasamy, pastor of St Joseph in Sentul (Kuala Lumpur district) talks about how his parish is preparing for Christmas, visiting the sick, the elderly, and those who are home-bound. “The Church has always cared for” the marginalised.
Advent is the time to heed the loneliness and sadness of the marginalised so as to "make them experience the compassionate love and mercy of God." May Jesus’s birth open our eyes to the needs of our fellow human beings.
Every time during the season of Lent and Advent, we the Catholic priests take the opportunity to visit the home-bound or the sick members of our respective parishes. As usual, in this season of Advent as we prepare for the coming of Christ, I had the privilege of visiting our home-bound and sick parishioners living in Sri Gombak and Sentul.
I received a total of 69 names of elderly and sick people who during this time of Advent need the blessings and prayers of the priest. It is a time for me to meet them as I administer the Sacraments of Holy Anointing, Holy Communion and Penance. My visits to the home-bound and the sick, either at home or in hospital or at the old folks’ home, is a sign of the support and concern of the Church as a whole.
These members of our parish who are unable to get out of their homes due to their age or illness need our companionship, our visits and our time to engage in conversation with them. We priests are called to care for the elderly and the sick in order to bring comfort and show our concern for their physical and spiritual welfare through our prayers and our presence. It is also a time for us to listen to their feelings of loneliness, depression and rejection.
“Is anyone among you suffering? Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him or her, anointing him or her with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him or her up, and if he or she has committed sins, he or she will be forgiven,” (James 5:13-15). St James emphasises that the Church has always cared for her sick and the dying and always rejoices with the gifts of healing and forgiveness.
Many of us in our daily lives deal with the care of family members and friends who have some sort of illness or injury, who are elderly or in a dying stage. As Christians and as family members we should always be in contact with our doctors and our priests and the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHC) so that these elderly and sick members may have our immediate, spiritual and physical assistance in their time of need. We can help them to experience God’s compassionate love and mercy as we serve their needs.
Next Sunday, 18 December 2016, we shall be celebrating our ‘2016 Christmas Get Together’. I invite our BEC (Basic Ecclesial Community) leaders and family members to not overlook our elderly parents, sick, lonely, grieving and marginalised members in our BECs and families. It will be more rewarding if we could bring them for this occasion so that they may experience the sharing of Christmas joy and love with one another. Let’s remember these elderly, sick and dying members of our parish in a special way as we celebrate this year’s Christmas Get Together. May Jesus be born in the depths of our heart this Christmas!
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11/01/2008
