On the 7th of July, World Community for Christian Meditation (WCCM) Northern region celebrated the 25th Anniversary of its establishment in Malaysia. The gathering was held at the Church of Divine Mercy (CDM), Penang. The event was represented by 45 members of various meditation groups and friends from Penang and Kedah. The formation was led by Fr Martin Arlando, who is the spiritual director of the Northern Region. The formation started with Fr Martin getting feedback from the audience regarding how meditation touched their lives and how the weekly meetings progressed. Many expressed that they experienced a calmness, a relief and control over anger and pain. Although some of the groups faced challenges with number of members attending the weekly Meditation meetings, Fr Martin encouraged them to continue with faith and perseverance.
Fr Martin began the formation on the theme “To be Imitators of Christ” by reading a passage from 1 Kings 18, 19:1-4. He explained that we need to be always steadfast in our devotion to God and He will help you overcome all challenges. When the prophet Elijah was faced with so many obstacles and challenges, he persevered faithfully and so, must the meditators and God will do the rest in His time.
He says, meditation will lead us to an encounter with Jesus. However, this needs to be shared with others. The importance of sharing the meditator’s experience with others was emphasized so that we can draw others to God and His Church. Meditation must help us to proclaim Jesus in our lives. We need to bring Him to others, especially those in need and how they can experience God so as to help others in their journey of transformation, but we need to be transformed first.
Meditators were cautioned about the danger of stagnation if meditation does not help us to transform, to be honest with God, to empty oneself of falsehood, to reach out and be His true and living witness by the way we live our lives.
Fr.Martin shared his experience of how his daily meditation, daily confession and daily Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament were key to his development and growth in his faith journey. These key elements led him to encounter the presence of God on various occasions before he decided to become a priest during a 30-day retreat at the Seven Fountains in Chiengmai some years back.
We are called to imitate Jesus and be our true self. Taste and see that the Lord is good, and we will begin to cherish Jesus more and more.
The event was followed by the Eucharistic celebration and a fellowship meal. The celebration ended after the members watched the touching and heartfelt movie, Paul, the Apostle of Christ.
Written by
Roland Victor
7th July 2018