Month of the Holy Souls Dawns on us once more...

Dear friends, in a few weeks time, we will be celebrating a day of prayer for all the souls of the faithful departed after the solemnity of All Saints on 1st November. The special day set aside to remember all our departed loved ones is 2nd November. As usual, many people have sent in names of their deceased loved ones to us, who will be remembered not only during Mass on 2nd November, but will be lovingly prayed for all throughout the month of November. If you'd like to join us, please contact us at stann10@streamyx.com or gerejakatolikstann@gmail.com. Please do also visit us at http://stannarwah.blogspot.com/

God bless!

May the souls of all departed parishioners of St Ann, Kota Padawan, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

MORE PHOTOS FROM ST ANN'S FEAST DAY MASS AND SALES

Happy Birthday(s)!

Happy Birthday to Robert Josem, our Parish Council Chairman and to Alina ak Bauk, our clerk! Robert turns 56 and Alina is 35 this year! God bless you both!
We celebrated their birthdays during lunch on Thursday, 16th August 2007 at St Ann's parish dining room.

Confirmation Seminar

KOTA PADAWAN-The first of two Confirmation Seminars was held at the chapel of St Francis Xavier, Kampung Seratau, Kuching-Serian Road on Saturday, 11th August 2007, the feast of St Clare. Approximately 380 candidates, 50 sponsors, 5 catechists, 1 friar and a host of helpers were present.

SK St Justin celebrates Mass for Students

On Tuesday, 7th August 2007, Fr Goh and John Harry Dan made their way to SK St Justin, Pesang Begu to celebrate Mass for the students who are sitting for their UPSR exams in September. Mass began at 3.00 pm, finished at 4.00pm. Parents and students were treated to a potluck dinner thereafter.

Preview of Feastday Photos

KOTA PADAWAN-The 39th annual feastday celebrations of St Ann's Parish were carried out with great success this year. We are publishing some photos here...more to come in the next week.

Fr Moses turns 40

KOTA PADAWAN-One day in advance of his birthday on 14th July 2007, the parish gathered for a special lunch and cake cutting ceremony for Fr Moses Yap OFM. Fr Moses hails from Seremban, and with virtually no Bahasa Malaysia background, has taught himself to converse and preach in relatively good Bahasa Malaysia and Biatah!

Catholics in Semeru elect new Chairman

KOTA PADAWAN-On 10th July, the Catholic community of St Teresa of Avila, Kampung Semeru elected retired catechist Gerald Ganyat to replace Jonathan as KGK Chairman. Gerald, who served as full-time catechist at St Ann in the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as part time catechist in Serian for the last 10 years, retired to his home in Kampung Semeru this year. Also elected is Albert ak Gerald Ganyat as secretary. In attendance at the proceedings were Fr Joseph Goh OFM and Robert Josem, the parish council chairman.

Singing Workshop 2007

KOTA PADAWAN-St Ann Parish, Kota Padawan, with the help of Mr Benedict Lo and his team members from the Choir of St Joseph Cathedral, have organised a 1-day singing workshop on June 23rd, Saturday, at St Lukas Centre, and invited all the choir members from the rural villages under the pastoral care of St Ann Parish.
There were about 230 people attended the event and Mr Benedict Lo and his team members conducted the sessions with a lot of fun and laughter and everyone enjoyed and benefited from the singing workshop.
In the morning session, Mr Benedict Lo began the session from the reflection of the Bible with word “worship”. He said that the spirit of worship began from the heart and it was the soul of the person who bow down and worship the Lord in spirit.
Later, he explained that the role of the choir was to motivate the whole congregation to participate to worship the Lord through singing. He reminded the choir and musicians must not perform at the Mass, and therefore the volume of the music and the singing must be in harmony with the liturgy of the Mass.
In the afternoon session, Mr Benedict Lo highlighted some important tactics in singing, such as, to warm up vocal voice, the control of breathing when singing. He encouraged the participants to practise in mastering the skill of diction and also changing the vocal volume from soft to loud and back to soft, and many others skills.
Lastly, Mr Benedict Lo demonstrated how the different musical instruments of the band must not compete with each other, but rather to co-ordinate together to reach a sense of harmony by listening the rhythm of each other. He stressed again that music in the liturgy is not a band performance but rather to create the atmosphere of prayer and worship. The singing workshop was so successful that the participants requested a similar kind workshop should be conducted next year.

-Fr Moses Yap OFM

The Baruk Gets A Facelife

KOTA PADAWAN-The Catholic community of St Martin de Porres, Kampung Sira have been busy repairing the badly-leaking thatch roof of the Baruk since 2 July 2007. Work is expected to be completed by this Saturday. By the time we celebrate our parish feast day on the 22nd of July, we will have a beautiful new roof over our heads!

St Ann Takes A Break

KOTA PADAWAN-From the 25th to the 26th of June 2007, the friars and staff of St Ann went for an outing by the beach, with a barbeque dinner and lots of rest and fun swimming in the sea!

Baptism at Kampung Simpok

KOTA PADAWAN-14 babies were baptised by Fr Joseph Goh on Tuesday, 29th May 2007 at St Peter's Chapel, Kampung Simpok.

Sg Empit Celebrates Pre Gawai

KOTA PADAWAN-The Catholic community of St Joseph, Sg Empit, Kota Samarahan, celebrated Gawai in advance with Reconciliation and a Holy Mass on Saturday, 26th May 2007.

Mothers' Day Celebration at Kampung Pesang

KOTA PADAWAN-At the end of a Sunday celebration of the Eucharist at the chapel of St Rita, Kampung Pesang, Padawan Road, mothers and grandmothers gathered for a cake cutting ceremony for Mothers' Day on Sunday, 13th May 2007. Earlier on, Fr Joseph Goh OFM, the presiding priest, had pronounced a special blessing for all the mothers present.

Taman Boulderbuilt and Kampung Dangak celebrate Feastday

KOTA PADAWAN-On Saturday, the 12th of May, the Catholic community in Taman Boulderbuilt, Jalan Batu Kitang, and the adjacent resettlement village, Kampung Dangak, celebrated the feast of its patron, St Dymphna, with the presence of Friar Joseph Goh OFM, Srs Antointte Sinin and Anna Juwin SSFS and assistant catechist Mr John Harry Dan. The celebration began with the blessing of 9 homes at Kampung Dangak. This was followed by a feastday Mass celebrated at the home of one of the community members, which drew a crowd of more than 100 people of the village. The village does not have a chapel at present. At the end of the Mass, the Chairman of the Catholic community of St Dymphna, Mr Sylvester Mesekin, exhorted the community to support the activities of St Ann's Parish, chiefly the construction of the new St Ann's Complex. The celebration continued with a cake cutting ceremony and a potluck dinner.

Franciscan Crown

On every Sunday evening during the month of May, the Catholic communities in the various housing estates surrounding St Ann's Mission take turns to lead the Franciscan Crown Rosary at 8.00 pm. This is a Franciscan tradition in our parish, and draws crowds from as far as Kuching city.
Photo shows Mr Joegy Toni leading the second decade.

Pertandingan Badminton and Futsal St Ann

KOTA PADAWAN - Bersempena dengan program kepastoran 'Tumpuan kepada Keluarga' yang dilancarkan oleh Keuskupan Agung Kuching, Paroki St Ann telah menganjurkan Pertandingan Badminton pada 28 April dan Pertandingan Futsal pada 1 Mei, di Dewan Badminton Stakan, Kota Sentosa, yang telah melibatkan para ibu, bapa dan belia. Sebanyak 23 pasukan telah menyertai Pertandingan Badminton manakala lebih daripada 13 pasukan telah mengambil bahagian dalam Pertandingan Badminton, yang bertujuan mengeratkan lagi hubungan kekeluargaan serta meningkatkan taraf kesihatan umat Katolik St Ann, di samping mencari dana untuk tabung pembinaan Kompleks baru St Ann.

Gambarfoto: Pemenang Pertandingan Futsal: Imanuel FC dari Kampung Punau muncul sebagai juara

School Mass at Kampung Subang

KOTA PADAWAN- Catechist Emily Ayu and Fr Joseph Goh celebrated a school mass at SK Our Lady of Grace, Kampung Subang, a mission school well off the beaten track (!) on Friday, 4th May 2007. Also in attendance were teachers, parents and former students who joined the one-hundred odd crowd of cute but capricious 8-12 year olds! The Ketua Kampung, Mr Albert Sakung, was also present for the Mass.

Kampung Prutan Revisited

KOTA PADAWAN-Kampung Prutan is a small settlement off Kuching-Serian Road at 17th Mile, with an approximate number of 33 Catholics, who worship at St Patrick's Chapel, Kampung Mesaan on Sundays. Since last year, this community has been clamouring for more pastoral attention, as many of its members find it difficult to trudge off to St Patrick's for Sunday services, due a myriad of reasons. For that reason, the catechists of St Ann and Friar Joseph Goh OFM, the rector, made a goodwill cum fact-finding visit to the community in 2006. During that time, Mr Julias Awell Herrick was asked to care for the community's pastoral needs, chiefly religious education. The Prayer Leaders of St Patrick's also kindly consented to take turns to lead the Sunday service at the home of one of the members of the community, as a chapel has yet to be built. The second visit at 6.30 pm on Sunday, 29th April, with only the Rector and St Ann's catechist, Stephen Jawum representing the parish in attendance, saw a gradual but certain progress in the community. Many are already well-versed in the basic prayers, and others are preparing for First Communion, Confirmation, RCIA and RCIC in Bahasa Malaysia. The gathering ended at 7.20 pm, with a potluck dinner. After the dinner, many members of the community and the Rector went to a home nearby for a house blessing and prayers for the sick.

Seratau Celebrates Easter

The Catholic community of St Francis Xavier, Kampung Seratau, off Kuching-Serian Road, organised an Easter fellowship dinner on Saturday, 28th April at the community hall. Largely an in-house gathering, the fellowship was also successful in securing RM5000 as donation for the St Ann's New Complex Fund. The affair was organised by the KGK (Village Church Committee).

SK St Agnes Pangkalan Kuud Celebrates the Eucharist

Fr Joseph Goh OFM and Catechist Emily Ayu trudged off to SK St Agnes, Pangkalan Kuud, a mission Primary School just off Padawan Road, on Friday, 27th April 2007, to celebrate the first of two masses for the year. Scores of children, parents and teachers gathered at the canteen for the Mass at 1.30 pm. The Mass was overseen by Cikgu Disip.

A new Signage for the Prayer Hut

Members of the Maintenance Committee worked hard and long to put up a new signage and cross for the Prayer Hut on Sunday, 22nd April. The Prayer Hut and its statues were blessed on Divine Mercy Sunday, just 7 days earlier.

Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel: 26th April

The Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel is of some significance because it is one of the feasts of Our Lady that occurs during the season of Easter. Furthermore, it is a reminder that we need the counsel of the Woman who was not only chosen to be the Mother of the Saviour, but who was also one of the first witnesses of his Resurrection:
Records dating from the reign of Paul II (1464-71) relate that the picture of Our Lady, at first called "La Madonna del Paradiso" and now better known as "Madonna del Buon Consiglio", appeared at Genazzano, a town about twenty-five miles southeast of Rome, on St. Mark's Day, 25 April, 1467, in the old church of Santa Maria, which had been under the care of Augustinians since 1356. The venerated icon itself, which is drawn on a thin scale of wall-plaster little thicker than a visiting-card, was observed to hang suspended in the air without the slightest apparent support; thus early tradition, which furthermore tells how one might have passed a thread around the image without touching it. At once devotion to Our Lady in Santa Maria sprang up; pilgrim-bands began to resort thither; while miracles in ever-increasing numbers, of which a register was opened two days after the event, were wrought, as they still continue to be, at the shrine. Source: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11361a.htm

Multiple Blessings on Divine Mercy Sunday

KOTA PADAWAN-On Divine Mercy Sunday, 15th April 2007, more than 1oo parishioners and friends of St Ann gathered for the annual Divine Mercy Service at 3.00 pm. This was followed by the blessing of the new St Ann's Complex Office, the Refreshment Corner (Sudut Merarau) and the Prayer Hut (Pondok Doa). The multiple blessings were presided by Friar Joseph Goh OFM, the Rector.

Photos show a section of the congregation at the Service, the blessing and a parishioner lighting a candle at the Prayer Hut. The faithful are most welcome to drop in and say a prayer at the Prayer Hut, graced with the statues of Mary Immaculate and St Ann, encased in glass.