Goodbye!

Good Bye!                                                                                                        By Fr. Lawrence Ng

It has been four years since I was sent here and it has been an honour for me to come back and serve. It is not very often I have been able to say that and mean it that but in this case; it has been a blessing to serve the parish I grew up with.

It is a glorious thing to be able to respond to the Lord. It does not matter whether it is to marriage or priesthood we respond to but a calling is a calling. And I have been happy to serve with joy and sincerity.

As I move on, allow me to share some thoughts. Firstly, be supportive of the new Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Lionel Thomas. Though it was just last week that the Bishop asked him to consider being sent to Batu Pahat, he accepted the posting to Batu Pahat on that same day. I know that this decision was very difficult to him. He enjoyed his ministry as an Assistant Priest in the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Johor Bahru and has been rather successful ministries there. However, he accepted his posting by the Bishop as a calling and a movement of the Holy Spirit.

I have prayed and reflected over the community of Batu Pahat, St. Henry. We are facing leadership crises. For a parish to be successful, it must stand behind good well-meaning people. The young must come forward or be inspired to do so. After must prayer, reflection and discernment, I asked Rev. Lionel not to reform the Parish Pastoral Council as specified in the Code of Canon Law within his first year. Instead I proposed we retain many of the old members of the Parish Pastoral Committee, all of the Parish Finance Committee members and invited more members who have been continuously active in the parish all these years. We had our first meeting last Wednesday on 5 June 2014 at 7:30pm. The members present were asked to make the roles they play a priority and as part of their way of life for the next two years. They are to move around their schedule around the times when there is a meeting. No more attending when convenient and absent when not. No more half-hearted participation and lack of seriousness. The parish need rejuvenation and they were called to be the people called to be the backbone and the force behind it.

They are people of good will and faith, not disagreeable or argumentative but of proven faith and of unifying personality. Service is about people. That is a fact. It is not about order and structure but rather order and structure are meant to serve and enhance the way in which we serve. Let there be much dialogue with sense of ownership and responsibility. Affirm their strengths and accomplishments but look kindly on their limitations.

To the new team for the next two years, I urge you to make a new start. Learn from history but create your own story. Recognize the opportunity for growth that comes with a new start, let not your weaknesses or the parish be a reason for failure and let strengths comes from your desire to do God’s will push your forward.

Do not get bogged down by the past but learn from it. Do not be prideful, argumentative, angry and disagreeable people who always take an adversarial stance. No true growth and good can come out of these though with God everything is possible. 

It is a new start for me too as I leave this life behind. Like you I will fight the good fight, run to finish the race, keep the faith until that day when the crown of righteousness comes to us by Lord of righteousness and the righteous judge. If I do not see you again, it is all right I think because there is always Heaven, and let us catch up there then. Amen.