Holy Week Services

St. Joseph's Cathedral:
PALM SUNDAY Services (Blessing & distribution of Palms at all Masses)
- 27th Mar(Sat-Sunset Mass) 6.00pm(E)
- 28th Mar(Sun) 6.30am(E),8.00am(M),9.30am(E),5.30pm(E)
*(3rd Mass in English with Procession)

HOLY THURSDAY Mass (Adoration of blessed Sacrament till midnight)
- 1st April(Thu) 7.30pm (E)

GOOD FRIDAY Service (Day of Fasting & Abstinence)
- 2nd April(Fri) 2.30pm (M),5.00pm (E)

HOLY SATURDAY (Easter Vigil Mass)
- 3rd April(Sat) 8.00pm + Rites of Initiation (E + BM Group)

EASTER SUNDAY
- 4th April(Sun) 6.30am(E),8.00am(M),9.30am(BM),5.30pm(E)

Carmelite Chapel:
HOLY THURSDAY Mass
- 1st April(Thu) 5.30pm(E)

GOOD FRIDAY Service
- 2nd April(Fri) 3.00pm(E)

HOLY SATURDAY(Easter Vigil Mass)
- 3rd April(Sat) 8.00pm(E)






St. Mark's Church:
EASTER CONFESSION
- 25th Mar(Thu) 7.30pm-10.00pm

HOLY THURSDAY Mass
- 1st April(Thu) 8.00pm(BM)

GOOD FRIDAY Service
- 2nd April(Fri) 3.00pm(BM),5.30pm(M)

HOLY SATURDAY (Easter Vigil Mass)
- 3rd April(Sat) 8.00pm(BM)

EASTER SUNDAY Masses
- 4th April(Sun) 9.30am(BM),5.30pm + Rites of Initiation(M)



[*Abbreviations: (E)-English / (M)-Mandarin / (BM)-Bahasa Malaysia]

New Year, New Hope :)

Hello our fellow friends!

Praise and Glory to the Lord for what He has done.
We've entered another phase of life as the 2009 left us and here it come, 2010 !

I guess it's not too late for the Swinburne CSS to wish everyone

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010 :D

********

Dear fellow students and friends, especially to the Swinburne Community, it's less than 2 weeks that we gonna commence a new semester after 3 months Summer Semester Break. I'm sure everyone are in the very high spirit to start the new semester with new goals and new missions!

In this opportunity, Swinburne CSS would like to WELCOME our new students and friends that just enrolled into Swinburne Sarawak. We are very glad that soon u'll become part of the Swinburne Community. For our fellow Catholic and Christian students, bear in mind that you're not alone. We'll try our best to assist you!

*HOW am I going for Sunday Mass? Mass Schedule
*WHICH and WHERE is the church?
*Prayer Meeting? WHAT day?
*Need to go for Confession?
*Oh my! EXAM is near! I need help !!
* Exam Blessing Mass? WHEN?
* Feeling lonely? Need friend to talk to?

WORRY YOU NOT! WE'RE HERE TO ASSIST YOU!
Please contact Swinburne CSS as soon as possible.

Dunno where to find us?
Easy. Im sure everyone have their own Facebook account. Join our group :)
Search: Type "Swinburne Catholic Student Society (CSS)".

Don't have one? Hurmm...aha! U can email to us then. I'm sure u have this one.
Email us at swinburne.catholic.society@gmail.com

******

Just before the semester break and final exam of Semester 02/09 last year, Exam Blessing Mass was held in the Campus for the 1st time ever! Thanks to Fr.Simon Poh and everyone that has made this event successful :-D

Malvin, the multimedia-in-charge boy.

Music team doing their last minute preparation.

Homily by Fr Simon

Final Blessings by Fr.Simon

After the Mass

Kak Lucy(right) and the gang from Kuching Campus Ministry( KCM)

Steven & the Gang!

Fr.Simon with Miss Adriana and Miss Wendy

Orang kuat CSS 1

Orang Kuat CSS2

Till we meet again!
C ya:D

God Bless +

Exam Blessing Mass

Dear Brothers & Sisters in Christ:)

Pray for us & all those who will taking exams.

------------------------------

Bear in mind everyone that we will held our 1st ever....

STUDENT & EXAM BLESSING MASS 2009

Celebrant: Fr.Simon

Date: 6th November 2009
Time: 630pm-930pm
Venue: G407, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus.

Fees: RM5/person. This is for our dinner after the Mass :)

The Lord gives strength to His people,
He blesses them with peace. Psalm 29:11

Please confirm your attendance by
# 1. Approach any of the members of Swinburne CSS
# 2.Drop us an email at swinburne.catholic.society@gmail.com or
# 3.Simply wrote in the Swinburne CSS Group page wall!

BY or BEFORE : 4TH NOVEMBER 2009/Wednesday


See YOU there!

Regards,
Swinburne CSS.

Exam Blessing Mass

Student & Exam Blessing Mass

Swinburne University of Technology
Sarawak Campus

Shalom, Everyone!

Time flies very fast right??

And now is week 10!

Meaning that we only have 4 weeks before the FINAL EXAMS!

And now, pretty sure that everyone is very busy with tonnes of assignments and tests!

Panic? Please Don't.

Swinburne CSS brings you good news!

For the 1st time ever....we will held the...

STUDENT & EXAM BLESSING MASS in the campus!
Really?? YES! In our CAMPUS!

Where?
Lecture Hall G407, G Block
Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak Campus

When?
6th November 2009/FRIDAY

What Time??
630pm-830pm

We're very blessed that we have given the opportunity to celebrate Mass in our campus.

So, don't miss it! Save it to your calendar entry!
Help us to Spread the news around :D

Regards,
Swinburne CSS

Something To Share

Former Drug Addict now an inspiring Priest

In Hanoi, Vietnam:-

Only after spiraling down through gambling, drinking, drug abuse and prison did a man born into a wealthy family become the symbol of hope he is today: a priest who knows how a prodigal son can return to God.


Fr Francis Xavier Tran An, 39, now lives at the Benedictine monastery in Hue, central Vietnam, where he receives others who have struggled through a troubled past before seeking spiritual growth. Most of the numerous visitors from many provinces have had lifestyle problems — gambling too much or abusing alcohol and drugs — and some are living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that usually leads to AIDS. But they all want to turn over a new leaf, Fr An said in a recent interview.


For this they seek the advice of this once-wayward monk, ordained a priest in January 2008. Many come for confession and catechism. Two school drop-outs, aged 19 and 23 with a history of gambling and selling their families’ belongings, turned up recently. Fr An not only heard their confessions but arranged for them to study computer skills as a way to make a new start.


“I listen to my visitors and share my life story,” he said. “God loved me and saved me. So I try to do something useful for the poor, the sick and the sinners.”


Born into a wealthy family in Vinh, about 320 kilometres northeast along Vietnam’s coast from the former imperial capital of Hue, Fr An made a lot of money trading gold and antiques after he graduated from high school. But he quickly spent it all gambling, drinking and using drugs. When the expenses of his profligate lifestyle exceeded his legitimate income, he resorted to stealing from his family and other people.


Soon he joined a local group of gangsters and got involved in their fights, until he ended up in a prison — a grim place where he spent a year and was beaten severely. He also felt loneliness grip him when he learned his girlfriend had married another man.


Once free again, however, he slipped back in with his old friends. His moment of truth came only when his mother caught him using drugs at home. Her agony and shock was so deep that it moved him to pray to God for help. He then made up his mind to leave drugs and his dissolute lifestyle behind.


In 1992, his father sent him to stay with a parish priest. Two years later, he joined the Benedictines, a monastic order.


Even so, family members did not believe him when he wrote that he had taken his perpetual vows, he recalled. They did not understand how much he had changed until local Benedictines confirmed he would be ordained.


Family, friends and even some former gangster associates attended the ordination and congratulated him. “They said they could never have imagined I would become a priest,” Fr An said. “Now I am very happy that peoples from my home parish warmly welcome me and ask me to pray.”


A 25-year-old Catholic man, who became infected with HIV after sharing needles with other drug users, acknowledged that Fr An’s story has inspired him.


“The priest treats me as his friend, he listens to me,” said the man, who visits Fr An regularly for confession from Da Nang city, 100 kilometres away. He added that his own relatives avoid meeting him for fear of being infected.


Another HIV-positive man said local nuns introduced him to Fr An. “The priest taught me how much God loves sinners like me,” he said. “So I decided to become a Catholic.” This man, 64, studies catechism with the priest three days a week and is scheduled to be baptized at Easter.


Fr An said his day now begins each morning at 4.00am, when he gets up for prayers and Mass. During the day he teaches other monks, receives visitors and goes to see people in need. Other Religious communities also invite him to talk during their retreats.


He uses the parable of the Prodigal Son to encourage people to return to the Church. “I am a modern prodigal son,” he says.

Source: Herald Malaysia Online