Mass for the abolition of the ISA and debut of new servers

A couple of months back, there was a Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit for the abolition of the Internal Security Act which permits extra judicial detention without trial at the discretion of the Home Minister. This has been abused to detain political opponents and squash all manner of challenges to the government. My report can be found here. (Pls ignore the comments as the thread kinda spun out of control.)

My parish began a similar Mass which will be a weekly event on Wednesday nights. They put up 60+ candles, each with the name of an ISA detainee. Fr. Marshall has decided that the candles will be lighted at every Mass until the detainees are released. I believe we'll need a whole lot of candles for a very long time =)

Anyway, at the Mass, 3 new altar boys served for the very first time. I'm very happy with the progress they have made so far. Here they are in the sacristy, vested in cassock and surplice, before the Mass began.

Anthony, Daniel and Lawrence

Fr. Marshall began the Mass by explaining that although some of the people detained were indeed criminals who forged currency, led armed insurrections, were from deviant Islamic cults, etc, they should be prosecuted under the existing laws of the country and not detained without trial.

The concelebrants arrived slightly late, and so vested in the sanctuary

Fr. Marshall emphasizing a point

But there are others who were detained for political reasons as well such as Raja Petra Kamarudin the blogger.

The Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop Emeritus Soter Fernandez of KL, Fr. Edwin Paul the Rector of the Seminary and Fr. Simon Labrooy, the Dean of Studies. The seminarians were present as well, decked in the finest anti-ISA shirts and badges.

Anyway, moving on. The servers, I thought, did an okay job, considering the little training they had and the sudden change with the participation of several priests.

The hands were together, they knelt properly and at the correct moments, the sanctus bells were rung correctly, etc.

Of course there were a few gaffes and LOL moments too, but hey, everything's got to start somewhere right?

Lookin like a pro

I was very happy and proud to see the new servers reviving the practice of receiving the Lord kneeling. It really made my day. So, Lawrence (shown below) and Daniel, kudos to you both. Keep it up.

Showing proper reverence during Holy Communion. The libbies in the parish must be fuming =) I'm glad that it took with these guys. My catechism kids seem less responsive.


Lawrence (don't look so fierce la), Daniel, Anthony and trainer Mark