One by one, the backdrops fell – from rich green to bright gold and finally, solemn purple. Amid the changing colours and scenes, the Passion of the Lord was acted out by the children of the Church of Divine Mercy (CDM) in Sungai Ara, Penang on Good Friday. Their audience were children themselves, for whom a separate service was held in an adjoining building to the church.

After several moments in silence where all the young ones – actors and otherwise – prostrated themselves on mats in imitation of prostrated priests, 28 children took to the stage to bring the story of Jesus’ death to life. From the Garden of Gethsemane, framed by a green background, to a fireplace panned in gold where Peter denied Jesus, the children valiantly recounted the Lord’s last day.

Aged seven to 12, the minors were led by Depakar @ John Nagendran and Matthew Gomez who played the roles of Jesus and Pilate respectively. Those in attendance were fully engaged right until the play’s end where the room was plunged into darkness and ‘lightning’ sharply illuminated the final, purple backdrop. It was there that Jesus, played by Depakar, 10, breathed his last on the cross.

The children’s Good Friday play, specially designed to appeal to the understanding of adolescents, was held for the second year in a row at CDM.
Parish priest Fr Martin Andrews Arlando commended the church’s Children’s Liturgy of the Word (CLOW) group – headed by play director Anuja Michael Xavier and co-director Audrey Foo– for bringing the children together to host the meaningful event. The play also attracted some non-Christians to come witness it after the publicity given by a local newspaper. In their small way the children helped evangelize to others.

Written by
Andrea Filmer
25th April, 2019