In response to many requests from parishioners and visitors to the Church of Divine Mercy (CDM), Penang, Fr. Martin Arlando, the parish priest decided to open a Gift Shop. He strongly emphasized that it was not the intention of the Gift Shop to make profit. It’s primary purpose was to serve as an avenue for Evangelization and Prayer. All items would be sold just enough to cover the cost of goods and transportation.
This followed months of planning. The first thing that had to be done was to determine a suitable place for the shop. This proved especially challenging due to the space constraints at CDM. There was the need for the place to have extra lighting and air conditioning. Next, was deciding what items to procure, where to obtain them and how best to display them. Security was also a concern as Fr Martin is the sole permanent resident at CDM.
By the divine grace of prayer and trust in the Divine Mercy, these problems were overcame. A prominent parishioner generously donated much of her religious items, which included a display shelf, rosaries, prayer cards, postcards and statues to the shop. Another parishioner came forward to donate books. A church ministry group generously donated time and effort to handmake rosaries for the shop. There was a conscious effort to obtain religious items that were directly linked to the Divine Mercy, St. Faustina and St. John Paul II.
Display cabinets were tailored made at very reasonable cost and religious items were sourced from many places. Fr. Martin then called for a meeting of volunteers to form the committee of the Gift Shop. Twelve parishioners responded and chose Zeckry Chan as the Chairperson. A suitable name was then debated and agreed upon. Fr chose the name D’vine for the gift shop as it represented Jesus, the Divine Mercy extending His love to all of us. (I am the vine, you are the branches. John 15:5). Fr also provided guidelines for the running of the shop.
The climax of all the planning and efforts came to realization on the 9th November, 2014 when Fr Martin blessed the D’vine Gift Shop of CDM and declared it opened for business. The Gift Shop continues to be opened before and after masses and when visitors come to CDM. A list of all items on sale can be found on the CDM website at http:\\www.cdm.my
Written by
Ivan Filmer
11th November, 2014