Marian Rally 2013 Venue Kelana Jaya Stadium -13th October 2013

Marian Rally 2013 - Venue-Kelana Jaya Stadium

Day: 13^th October  2012 .Time:  8.30-1.00p.m.

The Marian Rally, this morning was a phenomenon! Organised buses from churches under the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese, was reportedly - 120 bus loads.  I was told, from OLL -8 buses, but I thought I saw a bus marked "9" at the parking lot of the stadium!

Besides the organised groups from different parishes, thousands came on their own, bringing their families with them. Scores of migrants were among the faithful. The Stadium was packed to the brim-all three sections were a tight squeeze . It was literally a sea of faces, exactly  how  the Archbishop HG Murphy Pakiam  expressed it-WOW!!!

Your Truly took a walk around the stadium;  even the passage ways were packed like sardines. The crowd spilled over to the open field ,  before the beautiful statue of  Our Lady and the  celebration stage where they sat reverently under the scorching sun for  the Eucharistic celebrations and who said it would rain? Would the Holy Mother let her children get wet??  It was a bright and sunny day, with the bonus of strong cool breeze! Now, isn’t that just like a loving  Mother. No rain, but sun, good weather and a strong  breeze as a bonus, so that those who came  in   honour  of the Blessed Mother  may not get toasted or sun burnt. Indeed, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee!!

The rosary was recited in 20 languages, that was something- extraordinary!  Besides English, Bahasa, Mandarin, Tamil, Myanmar, Vietnamese, Igbo,  Bidayuh , the list goes on, it was also recited in Latin, German, Korean!

Helpers, (ministers?) accompanied by ladies dressed in white with a blue sash led a beautiful  Statue of Our Lady  prayerfully, round the stadium. Profound moments!    As she stopped in various sections of the stadium, facing the faithful, they raised their hands in homage and had private prayerful moments with her .

Many also took advantage of the occasion to go for the rite of reconciliation. There were many stations but each had big crowds. Yours Truly was her usual self, looking for the shortest queue, never mind  which priest,, better if it is  someone not  known to her  but the wait was still  around an hour. Visualize the crowd!~!

Not easy hearing confessions  people, frankly, some  really had loads to unload.  YT  has a habit of  observing.... thank God for listening ears. Yours Truly saw tired faces or was it tired ears?? So who says listening is easy? But then listening to confessions is one of the focal responsibility of a priest, something very healing in our catholic faith and listening with full attention is crucial. Always bring to  mind, the words of the Lord to Peter.

 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Matt 16:18-19

Certainly,  we do need more priests to share the burden and the healing of  the spirit and soul. Going for confessions is basically healing and well-being

Mass was an absolute marvellous experience. In a  mass celebration of this magnitude, sometimes there is a danger of detachment- ritual  without the heart and the feel  but today’s mass was just brilliant, extraordinary. Bishop’s homily  turn hearts back to God , believe and have faith again. Plenty of likes for his lovely message in simple language which could be easily understood by all and appreciated. The holy mother is truly a shining example of trust in God and because she believed and had the faith to say “yes” , we  were blessed with  salvation.

A mother prays and intercedes for her children and we , the people of this world are her children.  While Pope Francis leads  a crowd ( believed to be around  20,000 people  in Rome ) consecrating the world to Our Lady of Fatima, over here,  our Archbishop  His Grace Murphy Pakiam  in following the Pope's example,  leads a similar rally of at least 10,000 (YT was told 12-13,000) faithful in consecration prayers of our nation to the holy mother.  

At the end of the Eucharistic celebrations, Bishop beautifully thanked his “crew”  all who had worked so hard to make the event a success.  Yours faithfully was particularly touched-(it actually warms the heart) when he acknowledged the  hard work and commitment of lay people, the working people  who worked so hard behind the scenes to make this huge event a success that it was. I could still hear the thunderous applause ringing throughout the stadium! Astounding! How beautifully  he puts it -"he should ask" Msgr Marek   let  the Pope know what wonderful lay  people, he has over here.  That calls for a huggie of appreciation. And how skilfully too, he calls for more young men to come serve the Lord. He urges young people to get married, have children, that their sons  may  devote their lives  to serve the Lord. The Lord needs more  shepherds for his growing  people. 

Let us join Pope Francis and our Archbishop  to thank God for Mary, and  look to the Holy Mother for guidance and fortifying of  our faith..