NBVM Novena Day 1: Family the Cradle of Synodality

On 1st September, around 350 parishioners of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (NBVM) gathered to begin the novena in preparation for the Feast of the NBVM.

The novena started with the crowd gathered at the church entrance for a flag-raising ceremony, accompanied by hymns and prayers. A small procession into the church then took place.

After the processional hymn, Stephen Chin, chairman of NBVM/SCIC Parish Pastoral Council, seized the opportunity to introduce the presider, Rev Fr Patrick Massang C.Ss.R. This year, the parish is grateful and blessed to have priests from the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) from the Church of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Ipoh. Fr Patrick and three other priests will be journeying with the parishioners over 2 months with a mission to reinvigorate our BECs and ministries.

Fr Patrick began his homily by congratulating the parish on the amazing theme for the first day of the novena “Family, Cradle of Synodality”. He reckoned that the family starts with one in the cradle, which is a symbol of protection and great love, nurturing with space and time as needed to grow. To make the idea of family as a cradle of synodality clearer, he quoted the famous nursery rhyme ‘Rock-a-bye Baby’.

As the rhyme goes, the baby in the cradle is very much treasured and is lavished with protection, and nurturing. The blowing wind and breaking bough are threats from which the baby needs much protection from. As with the family, it is important that it to be armed with the Gospel values to be protected against the breaking of the bonds of love during times of crisis.

The baby in the cradle also needs protection, nourishment, and nurturing to grow into a productive family member and a contributor to nation building. For this to happen, the family is the one to provide emotional support and practice the 3As – Affirmation, Acceptance and Appreciation. It is in the family that one learns to resolve conflicts that arise and learns to forgive and be forgiven.

Coming from a family of 15 children, Fr Patrick shared how his parents took the Gospel values very seriously in raising them, which ensured that none of the children were lost to the ways of world. The family was an instrument of God’s love, providence and consolation. Though poor, they did not go to bed hungry. Nothing was luxurious, and they learnt to be poor in spirit. Because the family provided a sense of identity and belonging, all members are eager to return.

The family is the basic Church unit. When a family is dysfunctional, when it has lost its love, forgiveness and care, the members suffer as does the Church, the Body of Christ. With the Synod on Synodality, the Church is on a mission to function as a family. Pope Francis has put forward three prongs for action: Communion, Participation and Mission. In other words, the members of the Church must be in communion with each other, participate in all activities, and be missionary disciples.

Fr Patrick added that when people have a sense of belonging in a parish, they will return; there will no longer be ‘church-shopping’ as we did through our screens during the pandemic. In moving towards being a synodal church, we are aiming to be a family. This will have an impact on every dynamic in the Church, including how we worship, welcome and pray for each other, exchange the sign of peace, and participate in every event. This is very important so that the people want to return.

He shared that the Church has become his second family. To anyone who comes to the church, he must be welcoming. Regardless their state of mind, when they come to meet the priest, it is a sacred moment for him, and the person must leave having encountered Christ – feeling happy, healed or blessed.

Similarly, he reminded everyone that every difficult encounter with a family member or parishioner is a sacred opportunity that God gives us to become an instrument of love, understanding, consolation, or reconciliation.

He summed up his homily by reminding everyone that the mission beginning now, is a call for us to think as a family. Just as the family is a cradle, a sacred space where the child is protected, nurtured and grows, the church is the cradle to nourish BECs and ministries. We are called to be of one heart and one mind, to walk in faith. Whatever is past is past, and we ask for God’s light and blessings to live as one Body of Christ.

Fr Patrick ended his homily with a special prayer for all families. After Mass, everyone adjourned for fellowship dinner at the Nativity Hall.