SHC parish fiesta focuses on building parish family

KOTA KINABALU – The Sacred Heart Cathedral Fiesta focuses on building the parish family manifested in its theme Oneness in Heart and Spirit: Towards Building Our Parish Family.

This was agreed upon at its inaugural organising committee meeting on 24 Mar 2018 at the Sacred Heart Parish Centre here.

The meeting was chaired by Jason Joenoi in the presence of parish priest Archbishop John Wong.

In its fifth year now, the parish fiesta is aimed to help all parishioners to grow in oneness in heart and spirit towards building the parish family.

The weeklong programme is scheduled for 4-10 June 2018.

Pre-feast day events include Taman Masses every Friday at 7:30 pm starting May 4 through June 1 and friendly badminton matches on every Sunday at 2:00 pm at the parish centre.

A triduum of prayers will be held on the first three days  – Mon-Wed, June 4-6 – at the cathedral from 6 pm – 10 pm in three languages with Benediction and inputs by Abp Wong.

The highlight will be the concelebrated trilingual Eucharist at 7:30 pm on Thursday, June 7, for the sanctification of priests and consecration of families to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  A special blessing by the priests will be said for each family at the end of Mass.  The clergy will prepare themselves for this celebration with a recollection in the morning.

On Friday, June 8, there will be a Mass for the Sick with anointing and fellowship at 9 am at the cathedral.  At 4 pm there will be friendly soccer matches between clergy, seminarians, and laity while at 8 pm a movie entitled The Book of Ruth Journey of Faith will be screened at the parish centre.

The culmination of the weeklong celebration will be the parish family carnival cum fundraising for the new Catholic Centre on Sunday, June 10, from 7 am to 2:30 pm at the parish centre.

Parishioners are encouraged not just to enjoy the day but also to give back something in return in the form of a blood donation drive in front of G1, parish centre foyer after the 7 am Mass.

Children will get the opportunity to play with inflatables in Room F7.

Indeed, the organisers hope that parishioners will benefit from all the events drawn up and move towards building their parish family in heart and spirit.