Church of Sacred Heart
Bentong –A Feast Day Pilgrimage –Sunday , 9th June 2013
6.30a.m. that’s the
time, pilgrims from OLL were told to gather at their church compound. All came
in good time. Along came the good parish priest, Rev. Fr. Michael Chua. We all turned in his direction.
To wish
the pilgrims a safe and blessed journey Fr.? Yes, thoughtful but most importantly, he was there to pray and bless. Thanks Rev! It’s
the year of the Faith and we really must
devote some time to pilgrimages huh Fr.? I for one believe pilgrimages are great fortifiers of faith and
belief.
Church of Sacred Heart Bentong-Feast Day - Main destination. Destination
2- Church of Annunciation in Raub
The number of
people who went on this pilgrimage?
One full bus load
of 44 departing from OLL, joined by another two
buses from Holy Redeemer Church Klang and from St. Anne’s Port Klang-x1 bus. That
would make it at least 176 pilgrims yes??
Organisers?-Main organisers -HRC-Peter Chan, Doreen and
their team. At OLL , we have Chacko Daniel
and his committed team.
Day’s Diary of events
Depart at 7.10a.m. Arrived at Sacred Heart
Bentong around 9.15a.m
Warmly welcomed by the parish priest, Rev. Fr.
Andrew Kooi and parishioners. We even have a welcoming committee waiting for us
at the entrance to guide us into the church building! Thanks Pa & Ma of Fr. Kooi. Goody good feeling!!
There were lot of wahs! And clicks!
Clicks! Snaps! And more Snaps!
Sisters at the church entrance? Oh yes, Daughters of
St Paul, Petaling Jaya and they were there to promote religious articles and
books which aids and strengthens faith. How often do you come down to Bentong
sister? Once a year ma’am was the polite response. What a lovely smile sister! And we all crowded round for a look, see and buy.
Rosary Devotion
Alright! Before Mass, we have devotional time for Rosary and
was it enthusiastically recited and with such fervour! Well, this writer
checked! There were around four hundred faithful (even more) at the celebrations with many
sitting outside the church building!! So
many earnest voices rising up so powerfully- Surely the Holy Mother, will carry our prayers upwards to her Divine Son and the good Lord above has heard our prayers!!
The Mass?
Beautiful and powerfully celebrated by parish
priest Fr. Andrew Kooi. What’s this?? Three young ladies and one young lad as
altar servers? Way to go Father!
One celebrations, to cater for the Chinese
speaking, the Tamil speaking and the English group? I thought it was
marvellously planned and blended in, with great time management. The
religious fervour and reverence was high –real high.
Lovely homily and great message!! We went away feeling so blessed.
Fellowship & Lunch
Wonderful gesture. Sacred Heart Church hosted
fellowship cum lunch after mass. Good
and tasty food in great abundance! Yours Truly simply loved the chicken curry
cooked Bentong style! YT has a craze for good curries.  |
| Token of appreciation for the wonderful lunch and great hospitality. |
Photoshoot -And now, let’s
all say cheese with Fr. Andrew Kooi. Too big a group??! Ok, let’s go by
individual parish!! Correction! It's different bus group. The four buses comprises pilgrims from all three parish-just a matter of seating arrangements) And click, click, click and click and we are done!!
Annunciation church-Raub
By 12.30p.m. we were there at the beautiful
church. Local boy Philips opened the gates and the doors of the church for us. Small parish
of 30-40 odd families we were told. We gathered at the beautiful grotto. Might
be my imagination, but the last time I was there the statue of Our Lady
appeared to be standing on higher grounds.
A beautiful session of prayers and rosary were held at the church.
Then it’s off to the –
Tau Foo factory and groundnuts factory before heading for home.
My!! Such a traffic jam. Everyone wanted a taste of freshly made taufoo -get some for others at home to savour the good
taste. And it was the same at the groundnuts factory!! Who says there is a recession? People were happily throwing out $$$. No lacking there!!
If that was not enough, we stopped by Raub town for some Hakka “kuehs”-cakes before
heading for home.
Not yet?? Oh yes, we stopped by Bukit Tinggi
for a last stop shopping and a spot of refreshments. The famous stop for Old ginger plus farm fresh vegetables and fruits. Everyone had fun emptying their pockets. YT tried to restrain but no way, she too gave in to the buying temptation. Hei! No worries, plenty more from where it
came from!! Wah! Fresh, real fresh, worth the $ & $ spent!
Finally it was time to head for home. Wonderful
food for the spirit and soul, plus plenty of fun and chatty, chat! Chat!!
Thanks organisers!!
7.20p.m. and we were back at OLL. I guess the
other three buses returning to HRC and St. Anne would have reach their respective destinations around the same
time as well. Keep the spirits up till we meet again People!! Keep on praying!!
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