MCO: Malaysian churches take to social media during Holy Week
KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 — Churches in the country are to make use of the social media to enable Christians to observe the Holy Week (preceding Easter) and Easter Sunday due to the movement control order (MCO) that prohibits mass gatherings.
Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. It is observed during the Holy Week on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday. Good Friday falls on April 10 and Easter Sunday on April 12. The extended MCO period will end only on April 14.
Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has announced that the government has banned all gatherings, including international meetings, sporting events, and social and religious assemblies, until April 30 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A check of the website shows that the Catholic Bishops of Peninsular Malaysia have suspended all weekend and weekday public masses from March 14 to April 14.
The website states that Catholics can view live mass via https://www.youtube.com/c/ArchklOrg and https://archkl.org/index.php/tv-archkl-org. A page on the same website also shows the Archdiocesan Planner for the current month.
Rev David Lourdes of the Church of St Anthony, Teluk Intan, Perak, said churchgoers are encouraged to attend mass online via https://archkl.org/.
“The Catholics can view all the church services on the website. I think the online mass will be handled by two or three dioceses at the same time. This is what has been prepared for the Holy Week,” he said.
Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) general secretary Rev Dr Hermen Shastri said their churches will make available the live streaming of the prayers and sermons on multiple social media platforms which the people can access through the Internet.
“Pre-recorded worship services are available as well, also a lot of prayer and meditation (clips) are made available through social media for individuals and families to use,” he told Bernama.
He said Christians are appreciative of these measures and understand that these are extraordinary times.
Two churches in the Klang Valley have planned their religious activities for the Holy Week, which commences on April 6, and Easter Sunday.
Rev Justin Clarance, pastor of Tamil Methodist Church Sentul and Gateway Methodist Church Kelana Jaya, said the activities, including daily prayers, online sermons and meditation, will be made available over the WhatsApp platform.
“For now, I am sending a two-minute audio of prayers and motivational messages daily to church members via our leaders. For the Holy Week, the church leaders will have to send a seven-minute video featuring Bible readings and prayers from Monday (April 6) to Wednesday (April 8). I will be in charge of the Thursday video.
“On Good Friday, a pre-recorded sermon will be published in the churches’ official Facebook page,” he said.
He also said that on Easter Sunday, Rev Dennis Raj, president of the Tamil Annual Conference Methodist Church in Malaysia, will address the 500 members of both churches online.
He said it is important to stay connected and be creative during the MCO period to deliver the prayers online as there may be individuals, especially the ailing, who need the prayers daily.
Apart from the online prayers, he said, church members are also active in helping the needy during the MCO period.
Meanwhile, Jessica Loh Pui Yin, 27, who is a member of City Tabernacle Kuala Lumpur, said she will miss the usual worship services, especially the Good Friday and Resurrection services.
“But we have been taught and trained how to conduct a worship service at home. For the Good Friday and Resurrection services, we will follow the format given by our pastor and listen to his sermon pre-recorded on Facebook,” she said.
Vincent Yanapragasam, 31, who goes to the St Anne Church in Port Klang, said that for the upcoming Good Friday and Easter Sunday, he will be following the online sermons from the church with his family members. — Bernama
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