Plans for a Living Rosary were made early for the closing of the month of the Rosary. Arrangements were made for members of the BECs to all participate and the five decades were to recited in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil and Mandarin. On the night before the last day of October, it rained and rained. But bearing in mind of the tradition at the Church of Divine Mercy (CDM) that it always rains on special occasions, the organizers continued on as usual with reminders of the living rosary event that night. As evening approached the skies cleared and the rain stopped and everything proceeded as planned by the grace of God. The tradition of rain continues at CDM for all special events.

About 200 people turned up for the event that was held in front of the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes within the church compounds. Fr Martin Arlando, parish priest of CDM, commented that this was indeed the biggest gathering that assembled for a grotto mass.

In his homily on the Gospel reading (Luke 13:31-35), Fr Martin commented that even though the Pharisees warned Jesus that Herod would want to harm him, Jesus still persisted in his mission as he knows the Father’s will. The Cross and death were not the end as there would be the resurrection. Jesus’ example should give us confidence that he will always be there to accompany us on our journey. Even though he knew that the Jews of Jerusalem will reject and eventually kill him, he still didn’t reject them. God longs to draw all men to him. We need to be open to everyone around us even those who are prejudiced against us. To reach out with love to those who reject us as Jesus showed us when he prayed and blessed those who were against him and to eventually sacrifice himself for all.

Fr added that the Living Rosary is a way to submit to the Father’s ways. This has been shown by Mary who dedicated her life to God. Each of us needs to be convinced of this personal love of God and be conscious of what he has planned for us, which ultimately is to bring us to heaven. We need to pray for the inspiration of Jesus and to look for the good in everyone, to pursue that path with the full confidence that God has promised to be with us always.

Written by
Dr. Ivan Filmer
6th November, 2019