A Celebration Of The Life And Vocation Of Fr Dom

Parish News

The Feast of the Conversion of St Paul this year marked the 17th anniversary of Fr Dom’s ordination to the priesthood. The special occasion jointly celebrated with Fr Dom’s 50th birthday, which was a few days earlier, was commemorated with Mass and a fellowship dinner. Together with parishioners, six other priests were in attendance to celebrate Fr Dom. They were Msgr Henry Rajoo, priests who had formerly served the parish, Frs Francis Andrew, Louis Loi and Konstend Gnanapragasam, as well as sons of the parish, Frs Mark Michael and Martin Arlando.

As he began the Eucharistic celebration, Fr Dom prayed the same prayer that he offered to God on his ordination day in 2006. The homily preached by Fr Francis touched on the calling and mission of St Paul. What changed Paul was his encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus. The brightness of Jesus’ glory temporarily blinded Paul, but Jesus Christ could not have been any clearer.

“Dear Lord, I thank You for the wonder of my being. I thank You for the gift of priesthood. Help me to be humble in being and doing whatever You tell me. Amen.”

Fr Dom’s prayer on his ordination day

Following his encounter with Jesus, Saul was told by the Lord what to do. Likewise, each day when we wake up, we need to ask the Lord what to do. Some of us may already know what is our mission; to raise a family, to evangelise, to care for the poor, and so on. Others might not be sure or may feel the nudge that God is calling them to something new. This is a time to encounter Jesus once again. “Keep asking him, pursue him in prayer, in the sacraments and in the scriptures. Make Jesus your best friend. May our prayer be, “Lord Jesus, I want to build your body. Show me what you want me to do,”” said Fr Francis.

During the prayer of the faithful the congregation prayed a special blessing over Fr Dom by singing the song “The Blessing” that has the words from the Aaronic Blessing, or the Priestly Blessing taken from Num 6:22-27. After Mass, everyone adjourned to the Nativity Centre for dinner and a fun night of singing, dancing and heartfelt speeches from priests and parishioners.

Fun Facts About Fr Dom

  • Born on 21st January 1973
  • Ordained a priest on 25th January 2006 at Church of Sacred Heart, Kampar
  • Ordination theme: Do whatever He tells you (John 2:5)
  • Ordination logo: Jesus riding on a donkey into Jerusalem, which signifies Fr Dom as the donkey carrying Jesus, and taking Jesus wherever He leads him
  • Recent roles: Builder – Completed the building of the Nativity Centre and refurbishment of the NBVM sanctuary, Canon lawyer, and Director of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal for Penang Diocese
  • Favourite drink: Plain black coffee
  • Favourite phrase (often heard in his sermons): “God is good, all the time!”
  • Good at gardening and cooking/baking

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