We regret to announce the death in Holland, on December 30, 2013, at the age of 86, of Fr Ton Putman mhm.
Father Ton Putman was born and baptized as Johannes Adolfus Antonius Putman at Rotterdam, Holland, in 1927, but throughout his life he was known as “Ton”. He joined the Mill Hill Missionaries and was ordained a priest at St. Joseph’s College Mill Hill, London in 1951, when he also received his appointment to Sabah, the Diocese of Jesselton – as it was then known.
TAWAU(CS).- Living life as a servant of God is a wonderful and sacred call to those who have responded to the priestly vocation in their discernment of the precious gift of life that God has given to us. God has created us out of his love that we may know him and know his purpose of giving us his blessed breath the moment we were formed in our mother’s womb.
JOHOR BARU – The 93rd Plenary Session of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (CBCMSB) took place at Majodi Centre, Plentong, Johor, Jan 6-10.
Vatican’s first resident Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia and Apostolic Delegate to Brunei, Archbishop Joseph Marino addressed the Arch/bishops at the opening session. Ten Arch/bishops from the region were present.
Earlier Archbishop John Ha, president of the CBCMSM chaired the CBC meeting and welcomed Archbishop Joseph Marino and Msgr Marek Zalewski, the First Counsellor of the Apostolic Nunciature in Malaysia and all Arch/bishops for their presence.
SANDAKAN(CS).- Fr Benedictus Hari Juliawan SJ, the co-ordinator of the Social Apostolate of Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) based in Jakarta and Fr Andreas Sugijopranoto SJ, the former director of Jesuit Refugee Service for Asia Pacific and former director of ATMI (Industrial Engineering Academy) in Solo, Central Java, currently pursuing a doctorate degree in civil engineering at Gajah Mada University, Yogyakarta paid a courtesy call on Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom this morning, Dec 9 at the Sandakan Diocesan Pastoral Centre.
Pope Francis’ call to seize with enthusiasm “a new phase in the journey of evangelization” by offering this new document, called Evangelii Gaudium or The Joy of the Gospel, to the Church as a map and guide to her pastoral mission in the near future”. It is an invitation to recover a prophetic and positive vision of reality without ignoring the current challenges.”
This is a continuation from last issue and is the final part of the Synthesis of the Joy of the Gospel:
If life is a journey from here to there, then would it make sense to know where we are going? Would it not be essential to have a map in this journey that gives us an idea of where we are and where we are heading?
I believe that we can discover our destiny in life if we look for it, in the right places and ask good questions. Our Lord Jesus is a God of revelation. He reveals and does not hide our destiny from us. In the next few paragraphs, we will see how we can know this. Hopefully, we will learn to ask better questions that will bring us much closer to knowing where our lives are heading to.
It is essential to know where we are going when we set out for a journey. Life is a journey. It is first of all a journey of discovery.
Evelyn Doikin, 25, hails from Tamparuli, Sabah, and works as a youth coordinator at YouthPREP Centre prior to joining IFFAsia. After completing a year’s formation at IFFAsia, she will take on a leadership role at the Centre and will be directly involved in the training and development of peers as well as coordinating programs.
Below she shares her IFFAsia journey:
IFFAsia has helped me to increase my self-confidence and to take on a more proactive role in giving service. My spiritual life has improved and I discovered more of myself. IFFAsia has also helped me to understand more about the roles of the young people in the Church and society at large.
The formation program offers four modules: Human, Social, Spiritual, and Pastoral.
I was born to Roman Catholic parents and therefore was baptized at a very young age. When I was growing up, I went to church regularly with my grandmother but was often sleepy in church and didn’t quite pay attention to what was happening at the altar. I suppose at that age, I looked forward more to the mee hoon soup and going around the tamu after Mass than actually being involved in the Mass. So, yes I have been a Roman Catholic since I can remember, and I didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus