Celebration of Sub-Parish of Teng Bekap

The area under the pastoral care of St Ann is so HUGE that a sub-parish was created many years ago for a vast majority of Catholics living in the Padawan Area (en route to the Indonesian border of Sarawak!). Here, special functions are held, meant for Catholics who would otherwise find it somewhat difficult to drive down to St Ann's at 10th Mile. The sub-parish is under the patronage of St Michael the Archangel. This year, the nearest Sunday to the feast fell on 1st October. More than 200 Catholics from the Padawan vicinity, including many chairmen of the Village Church Committees attended a celebration of Holy Mass presided by Fr Joseph Goh OFM, which began at 8.300 am. During the homily, Fr Goh spoke about the existence of angels, and their role in the life of Christians. A cake cutting ceremony was also held after the Mass.

Catholics of Kampung Keromboi celebrate Feastday

The Catholic community of Kampung Keromboi, off Kuching-Serian Road, which is under the pastoral care of St Ann's Parish celebrated the feast of its patron, St Jerome, in an evening celebration of Holy Mass on Saturday, 30 September 2006. Photos show an appreciation speech delivered by the Chairman of the community, Mr Breder, as well as the blessing of food and feastday cake after the Mass.

Some Images of our Church at Work

Now you can have a window to our world! Catherine is busy at the sink preparing our meals. The catechists, Sr Hilda and Stephen Jawum are slogging over their desks, preparing lessons for the catechumens at the villages in the evening, our clerk Alina is pondering over a 'mysterious' document, and Sr Mary Julia is arranging flowers for Mass.

Car Shed Roofing

As you can see, the zinc roof for the car shed, which has been in existence for years and years, is rusty and eroding very quickly. We are thinking of making this area into an additional area for people to gather, using of course, bits and pieces and scraps of material....whatever we can find. This zinc roof is just opposite the Baruk.
If you would like to help us rebuild Christ's church, don't hesistate to drop us a line stann10@streamyx.com

See update on the latest development in St Ann Baruk

Faith Formation on Family Issues

A special faith formation course was held in the afternoons of Saturday, 16th September and Sunday, 17th September 2006, at St Ann's Baruk, focusing on familial issues. The speakers included Friar Joseph goh OFM, Mr Martyn Patit and Mr Paul Dampo. Topics covered included Marital Spirituality, Family Spirituality, Prayer in the Family and also Conflicts and Problems in the Family.
Approximately 120 members of the KGK (Village Catholic Commitee), prayer leaders, Communion Ministers, Catholic Ladies' Guild and Parish Youth attended the seminar.
The photo features Paul Dampo presenting his talk.

Blessing of Animals - 1st October 2006

In conjuction with the feast day of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint for Animals and Environment, the Franciscan friars from St Ann Parish will be organising the blessing of Animals on 1st October 2006 at 3 p.m. on the grounds of St Ann.

St. Francis had great love for all creatures because he saw God’s fingerprint in them and addressed them as Brother and Sister for eg Brother Sun, Sister Moon etc.

We like to invite all animal lovers to come and join us for this traditional event and to celebrate together the gift of God’s creation.

Come and make it a special occasion for your pet(s) on 1st October 2006.

Parishioner is Newly-Professed Carmelite

A parishioner of St Ann's, Kota Padawan, Sr Florence of the Holy Spirit OCD, professed her solemn vows on 31 August 2006, in the Carmelite Chapel of Kuching, in the presence of some 200 parishioners, including the Archbishop of Kuching, Most Rev John Ha, Archbishop Emeritus Dato' Sri Peter Chung and approximately 10 diocesan and Franciscan priests. Sr Florence hails from Kampung Seratau, 15th Mile Kuching-Serian Road. She joined the Order in 1991. Also professed with her was Sr Margaret of St Joseph OCD, who comes from Kuching. After the Mass of the Profession, parishioners enjoyed themselves to 'high tea', followed by well wishes for the newly-professed at the monastery parlour.

St Ann's Feastday Committee Meets

On the 31st of August, at 8.00 pm, the Feastday Committee of St Ann , which organises its annual celebration, comprising Mass, Sales and Dinner, met to finalise the accounts regarding the amount raised on the 23rd and 29th of July 2006. It was a happy evening when the members realised that they had exceeded the target. Deo Gratias!

Merdeka Day Mass at St Ann

It was a joyous occasion for some 100 parishioners who turned up on 31st August 2006 at 9 am for a special celebration of Holy Mass in conjunction with Merdeka Day 2006. The Mass was presided by Friars Gerard Victor and Joseph Goh OFM.

Catholic Community Celebrates Feastday

On the evening of Saturday, the 26th of August, the Catholic community of Taman Desa Ilmu, Kota Semarahan, celebrated the feast of its patron, St Clare of Assisi. It was also a celebration of the founding of this community, which is under the jurisdiction of St Ann's Parish, Kota Padawan.
After the celebration of the Eucharist, presided by Friar Joseph Goh OFM, there was food, singing (karaoke) and dancing! Also attending were Srs Maria Julia and Anna Juwin SSFS, the chief warden of St Ann, Mr Alexander Rangeu and his wife, as well as other local leaders of the Church.

Chinese Seminar conducted by Fr Moses

The Kuching Archdiocesan Chinese Apostolate Council every year invites the Mandarin-speaking Legion of Mary to organise an annual Youth Camp to nurture and support both the Catholic and non-Catholic youths in the diocese of Kuching. This year the 4-days Chinese Youth Camp (June 1st to June 4th) was held at the Catholic Centre, Sri Aman. The organising committee had to rent 3 full-loads of buses to transport about 65 youths from different parts of Kuching to Sri Aman, and the camp fees of RM25 collected from each youth were all spent on transport. The theme of the Youth Camp 2006 was “Family and I” and there were 4 talks delivered by Friar Moses Yap, a Franciscan priest appointed to St Ann's Parish, Kota Padawan, who was invited to work in the Archdiocese of Kuching last year.
Fr Moses explained the different ways of affirming oneself in our family and community. For example, he encouraged us to choose our friends wisely and because friends could either support and build us up or depreciate and destroy our sense of value and dignity. Fr Moses emphasised that when we have truly killed the root of our sinful self, that is, our selfishness, the Spirit of our Risen Lord would live in us and our physical bodies truly transformed and become the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and we would bear the fruit of humility, gentleness, kindness, chaste, endurance, patience, obedient, forgiveness, respect and peace.