17.2.08-1st. Blood Donation Drive 2008

SFX Church holds blood donation drives twice a year, i.e. during the Lent season and during the Muslim fasting month. The exercise is conducted by the Integral Human Development Ministry with assistance from the BECs.

The first blood donation drive for the year 2008 was held on Sunday 17.2.08 at the Bilik Jenkins/Tony de Mello. The beneficiaries of the donated blood were the Blood Bank unit of the University Hospital. Members of the SS2 St. Michael BEC again came forward enthusiacally to help in registering the donors and attend to the latter's needs and comfort both before and after donating blood.

The number of accepted blood donors this time was 65 and while it was encouraging seeing able bodied and the young coming to donate blood, the percentage of SFX parishioners involved in donating blood is still very small. Hence it is hoped that with more promotion about the healthy aspect of donating blood and their donated blood can 'save a life' need to be reinforced so that more parishioners will come forward when the next one is held.

7.2.08-Chinese New Year Day Mass

The Eucharistic celebration to welcome the Lunar New Year of the Rat was celebrated with the theme “Love Even Your Enemies”. Rev. Fr. Albert Tan, SJ was the main celebrant with Rev. Frs. Simon Yong, SJ and O.C Lim SJ as concelebrants. The large turn - out for the Mass wore clothes of many patterns and designs which

had red as the dominant colour. The congregation comprised of regular parishioners and also local and foreign visitors. Many also brought along their elderly family members to pray and give praise to God for the coming of the lunar new year. The choir added to the air of festivities and joy by including in their repertoire Chinese hymns and Chinese New Year songs.

As this year’s Lunar New Year coincided with the season of LENT, Fr. Albert Tan in his homily preached on the similarity of both the celebrations. He elaborated that both celebrations was about starting anew. In welcoming the new year it was an opportunity to start fresh by making amends and plan for a better future. Likewise LENT gives us Catholics an opportunity to be reconciled and lead new life again with God through the practice of fasting, abstinence and also doing penance. Hence Fr. Albert Tan encouraged the parishioners to use this season of LENT to be reconciled with God and continue to live out our faith of loving God, ourselves and neighbour, in line with the celebration theme.

At the end of the Eucharistic celebration parishioners queued with excitement to wish the three Priests “Kung Hei Fatt Choy” and also to receive oranges and ang-pows from them. Many parishioners also reciprocated the gifts by also giving our unmarried priests ang-pows.

The SFX Church ang-pow envelopes this year were specially designed based on Fr. Simon Yong's Stained Glass windows project. The panel which featured our Heavenly Mother, Queen and Mother of the Society of Jesus, was chosen and made into book-mark format, featuring the said panel on one side and the hymn Salve Regina on the reverse side. An additional 400 packets of the envelopes offered to the parishioners were quickly sold out, after its sale at RM20.00 for a pack of ten was promoted by Fr. Simon Yong as a Lifeteen Ministry project to help raise funds for sending some SFX youths to the upcoming WYD celebration in Sydney.