Pastoral Letter
Bishop John Lee
Diocese of Kota Kinabalu
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Pastoral LetterBishop John Lee Diocese of Kota Kinabalu |
My beloved brothers and sisters of the Diocesan Family:
Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Universe and Lord of History! On this feast of Christ the King, may we be led to surrender our hearts and minds to Jesus and allow Him to rule over our lives; so that the kingdom of God which is within us may rise, flourish and reach its full growth.
Dear brothers and sisters, on this Feast day I wish to share with you a brief reflection on the kingdom of God. We all know that through baptism we become members of Christ's body, citizens of the 'Kingdom of Light'. This Kingdom "does not belong to this world....." (Jn. 18: 36). It is not a concept, nor a doctrine, nor a programme. The Kingdom of God is a person with the face and name of Jesus of Nazareth, the image of the invisible God (cf. Gaudium et spes, 22).
As we belong to Christ, the Lord and King of the Universe, we share in His kingly mission and are called to spread the kingdom in our midst. We exercise our kingship as Christians in our fight over the reign of sin (cf. Rom 6: 12), and offer to serve Jesus in justice and in charity, especially among the underprivileged. Since in Jesus Christ we experience the Kingdom, we must proclaim Him and his Gospel. We need to establish and build up communities which make present the Kingdom within and among us.
The Feast of Christ the King challenges us to reassess our mission in life, our commitment as priests, religious and laity of the diocese. We cannot remain lukewarm. We who are in the world but not of the world (cf. Jn. 17: 11 - 14) are commissioned by the Lord (Jn. 20: 21). We have the task to promote the kingdom: a kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love, and peace (cf. Preface of the Mass). In our efforts to realise the kingdom 'here on earth', we need to constantly re-examine our relationship with Christ our King, review our ways of serving our neighbours, and reassess our approaches of building our communities and families.
Dear brothers and sisters, we recall with gratitude that the Good News was brought to our land about 114 years ago. We thank the foreign missionaries who unwaveringly proclaimed the Gospel to our fore-fathers. The progress was slow but God blessed their mission. Small communities of Catholics began to mushroom here and there. However, it was not until 1976 that the status of the local Church was raised to that of a diocese by Rome. By becoming a diocese, we were entrusted to take care of our own affairs as a Church. In a way, we are very much a post-Vatican diocese, that is, a diocese established after the Second Vatican Council (1963-65). In the 1970's the universal Church was at the transistory period of implementing the changes made by the Council Fathers. You can image the extent of adjustments and learnings we had to go through, what more when we were just beginning to experience being a diocese. Meanwhile, we also had to face the 'world' and its rulers. During those period, our country had just gained its independence. Our national leaders were also learning to govern the country. The many challenges posed by the government and the society somehow made us understand better the meaning of being in the world but not of the world.
Looking back at the journey, I am thankful that with the close co-operation and collaboration among the clergy, religious and laity, we were able to grow as a diocesan family, both in the material and spiritual aspects. In many homes and communities, the Gospel of our Lord began to be practised. In the parishes, more and more lay faithful were sharing openly the priestly, kingly and prophetic mission of Jesus Christ. Vocations to the priestly and religious life was also steadily increasing. All these are signs that we have indeed up and matured as a local Church. For this, I, as your Bishop, rejoice at what we have achieved so far. I thank God for his faithfulness and mercy towards us.
However, dear brothers and sisters, not withstanding all the blessings that we have experienced as a Church, we should not be complacent in our journey. The society around us, drifted by the advancement in science and technology, is getting more and more sophisticated. Signs are showing that our families are threatened by growing incidences of divorce, independence of the spouses in relation to each other, abortions, rebellion against the authority of the parents by children, infidelities, and so forth. New and pseudo values are subtly replacing the Gospel values. Many among our faithful are facing the difficulties of making the right moral choice. A number of them also find it hard to defend their faith uncompromisingly. Many of our children are exposed to a trans-global media culture; they no longer find their role models in the family or in the Church but in the mega stars of the music and movie world. On the other hand, the consumeristic way of life is promoting a lifestyle that is self-centred and individualistic. In the race towards modernisation, natural resources are exploited, people are reduced to factors of production, environment is being degraded, human justices are being tampered with. All these developments in the 'world' around us are challenging us to respond.
As a family, a community, a parish, and a diocese, are we not supposed to be the salt and the light of the world? (cf. Mt. 5: 13 - 16). Are we becoming so selfish that we remain unperturbed and stay introvert? Remember, we are in the worlds but not of the world. We have a mission to fulfil here on earth!!
Dear brothers and sisters, since 1992, I have called for a process of Review and Renew in our diocese. In this process, I asked whether our current approach in taking care of our communities still relevant to the needs and issues faced in and around us. As I have said at this year's PAX Assembly, we need to pause and reflect deeply on our internal pastoral setup and resources, and how we can make them more relevant to the situation today. We need to examine whether our parishes and communities are moving together in the same direction, whether our programmes and activities are leading us to specific goals, whether our ways of pastoring are effective. To do this, we have to open widely our 'window' and allow the Holy Spirit to refresh, renew and lead us, for "Behold, I make all things new." (Rev. 21: 5)
Dear brothers and sisters, we are trying to come up with a better way of planning and pastoring, it is necessary to mention here that we need that to understand what we are as Church. God's very substance is relationship, a relationship of love, communion, fellowship. We as His mystical body should demonstrate this in our mind, our heart, and our action. We should see the Church as communion. What is happening in one community affects another, how one reacts influences the rest; what is initiated by the diocese affects the parishes; and what is experienced by parishes moulds the diocese. This is what we meant by: One Diocese, One Family, One Mission (PAX 22 theme). In short, to be Church and to live in communion, we need to forge greater unity in our thinking, our feeling, and our doing. Communion and fellowship will only become real and concrete through the practice of dialogue, solidarity and participation.
The task before our Diocese, therefore, is to consolidate, renew, streamline and harmonise our administrative and other structures, our system of pastoral planning at diocesan and parish levels PAX 23 Welcoming Speech). In other words, we must develop a proper and effective diocesan and parish pastoral plan which will address the total and integral development of our diocesan and parish communities.
Dear brothers and sisters, I am pleased to announce that we have set aside four days in June 1996 for a Diocesan Pastoral Planning Workshop. It will be attended by representatives from all parish communities: clergy, religious and laity alike. During that Workshop, we hope to identify what our urgent pastoral approaches and programmes, and together, determine where we want to go as a diocese and what we aim to focus in relation to the 'world' around us. The Workshop will be a significant event in the history of our diocese. It is there that through dialogue and participation we formulate the Vision of the Diocese and articulate our Mission statement.
A Serious Call What we hope to do in the diocese through the Workshop will affect all of us because we are the Church. Therefore, I wish to urge each and everyone of you to help your parish to prepare well for this event. None of you should stay indifferent. For a start, each one of you can contribute to the success of the Workshop through prayers. Pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten the delegates and inspire with the gift of wisdom and understanding. Pray that you will in turn experience a renewal of heart and mind. For those of you who are already involved in parish or community activities, I urge you to organise days of prayer, fasting, or prayer vigil for your priests and leaders who will represent you in the Workshop. In your retreats and recollections, reflect upon your apostolates and pray if they are relevant to the needs of those you serve. Ask the Lord to renew your zeal and commitment to spread the Good News of the kingdom of God without compromising.
My beloved brothers and sisters, the process of diocesan pastoral planning has begun. It starts today, the Feast of Christ the King. From now until June 1996, our prayers, discussions and programmes should focus on the spiritual renewal of ourselves, our families, our communities, our parishes, and our diocese. I believe we can do it together, because "you will have in you the strength, based on his own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light." (Col. 1: 11 - 12) With this Pastoral Letter, I inaugurate the commencement of the Diocesan Pastoral Planning in our diocese. May Christ the King bless our efforts, and may His Spirit guide us in our preparations.
Signed Rt. Rev. John Lee, D.D.
Bishop
Feast of Christ the King,
26th November, 1995
Kota Kinabalu.
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