Dear Parishioners,

 

Towards 2010 is a simple roadmap for the parish that will see us moving together towards our 40th anniversary of being a parish, the People of God on a hill in Bukit Batok.

 

The parish has been described theologically and juridically as a community of Christ’s faithful that is established in a given locality and in communion with the local bishop.

 

Beginning from our Parish Assembly of 2009 (14 February 2009) to the feast of St Mary of the Angels 2010, this length of time should give us ample opportunity as a community of Christ’s faithful to pause, to reflect, and to challenge ourselves as to how we have been living out our Christian identity in this given location in Singapore.

 

I invite all pastoral offices of the parish, all ministries, and every parishioner to embark on this journey of reflection for our own spiritual growth. This roadmap presents to us a monthly topic or reflection motif to help us in a systematic and progressive way to prepare for 2010.

 

The topics are taken from two major documents that came out of the Church’s ecumenical council that was held in the mid 1960s. At the Second Vatican Council - concluded in 1965 - two major documents were composed to address the Church’s understanding of herself and how she is to relate to the modern world that was emerging out of the ashes of the Second World War.

 

The two documents, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) and the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) will form the basis of our reflection and formation as a parish.

 

Like any roadmap, it is there to serve as a guide for further follow up by groups and individuals. From the parish administration, we will endeavour to address these themes in our Friar’s desk, Tomorrow paper, and KAIROS, which is a publication of our Adult Faith Formation Office. All ministries will be asked to reflect upon this road map at their regular meetings and with the help of the friar spiritual directors.

 

We are also taking advantage of modern technology by introducing our email alert signups. I would like to invite every adult and youth with an email to signup to our email alert of our Adult Faith Formation Office. KAIROS, the publication of this office, will be emailed monthly and this will form the basis of a regular update and personal formation. We will then be able to journey together on this path of renewal and thus arrive at a deeper appreciation of our place in Church and in Society.

 

Fr John-Paul Tan OFM

Parish Priest

Church of St Mary of the Angels