Malacca Johore Diocese News Update #215

Mar 22, 2025

Dear friends of MJD, The Rite of Elections took place at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart Johor Bahru, attended by 522 individuals comprising of catechumens, sponsors and facilitators from all over Melaka and Johor. The Ash Wednesday attendance were exceptional. The VPCs or Vicariate Pastoral Councils are taking shape. All Pastoral Services and Ministries exist to develop parish leaders and ministries.

Conveniences to conversions? It is about letting go of the third world mentality and the “muka”. The ETS, the much-awaited rail link from JB to KL via Gemas, a three-and-a-half-hour journey, is expected this August.

Domestic violence cases have surged to 7,116 last year, up from 5,507 in 2023.

Era FM radio and three DJs were taken off the air for mocking a religious festival.

Malaysia has topped the data leak table in Asia, with 98 per cent of our phone numbers lost to scammers. Billions are being lost annually to scammers.

More than 10,000 were recorded as absent for SPM exams this year.

The overuse and misuse of antibiotics are fuelling the rise of superbugs that are outsmarting modern medicine.

Some interesting local comments to consider!!
a) Head of Insolvency Department (Bankruptcy) commenting on the many young workers going bankrupt; “Why don’t they (fresh grads) cut their coat according to their cloth? If they can only afford a “P” brand car, why insist on buying a “H” brand car?” b) Regards the growing ignorance, intolerance and insensitivities, a religious leader advised: Don’t insult other religions while promoting yours. Show the goodness and proof of the truth of your religion, and your good character instead. Many civilisations disappeared when decadence and corruption set in or when God was kept out of their religions.

MAGA Times: MALAYSIA is fast becoming a hub for this and that. Some bring fame for the country; a few infamy. Fame we can handle. As for infamy, it has come uninvited. Do not be deceived by the word “few”. Malaysia’s infamy hub list is a fast growing one. Human trafficking, money laundering, illegal plastic waste and e-waste processing, scams and some such criminal activities. The common factor, mostly, if not entirely, is the involvement of foreign nationals and local cartels. We are going one way.

The US is going the MAGA way i.e. “Making America Great Again”, the Trump solution. There is a MAGA religion, which believes in: Not apologising, not admitting your wrong, name-calling, fearing the different, condoning cheating, lying and bullying, blaming others, never giving credit for the hard work of others. We loudly claim to be Malaysia Truly Asia. But news coverage speaks otherwise. We are beginning to reflect some of the MAGA traits.

A Thought for the Week: A Lizard in the Wall When tearing down a wall, in the hollow between the wall, was a lizard stuck, with one of its feet nailed from the outside. The workman pitied the lizard, wondering what had happened. The nail was five years old when checked. The lizard had survived in that position for five years, in that dark space, without moving, with its foot nailed down! The worker stopped to watch what it would do, how it would feed itself. Suddenly another lizard appeared with food in its mouth. It fed the trapped lizard…. it must have been untiringly feeding its partner for the past five years.

The lesson from the lizard: Never abandon your kind, your loved ones. Faithfulness, perseverance and long suffering endures and sustains. Our faithful commitment awes the watchers.

QnQ! Q asks? How can we mend a broken person? Is there a way to put the pieces together?
“When life breaks you, is it because you are ready to be put back together differently? Every piece of you that feels shattered is a piece that will find a new place, a new purpose, a new meaning. Trust that the cracks are where the light gets in. And sometimes, in our brokenness, we find our greatest wholeness. We find the courage to rebuild, to reimagine, to redefine what it means to be strong. You are not broken; you are breaking through.” Unknown

The Holy Spirit @work: Religion can reform a person’s life, but it can never transform him. Only the Holy Spirit can transform! Aiden Wilson Tozer

Something To Tickle You: “The limitations you have and the negative things that you internalise are given to you by the world. The thing that empowers you — the possibilities — come from within.” Les Brown

Bishop Bernard Paul