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The Passover meal is the most important meal in the year for the Jewish people. The families gather together in the evening and the meal begins after dark. They sing songs, say prayers and eat special food. The most important part of the meal comes when the father tells the story of how God(YHWH) saved the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt and led them to freedom in the Promised Land. On this night that the Jews escaped from slavery in Egypt, they observed the first Passover by sacrificing a lamb and sprinkling its blood on their doorways so that “the Lord would pass over their house and not kill their first-born child.” Since then, the Passover or Seder meal has been celebrated every year by the Jewish people in remembrance of God’s deliverance. The main Passover celebration is known as “Seder”. The word “Seder” literally means “order” referring to the order of the ceremony as set up in ancient ritual books. The Last Supper that Jesus had with his disciples is the Passover dinner. Jesus used the liturgy of this Passover meal to institute the sacrament of the Eucharist. As part of our preparations for Holy Week, we celebrated this event as a community to help us understand the situation of the Last Supper and to reflect on the meaning of the Mass.
 Before the meal begins: The table is set  The food: unleavened bread, haroset, eggs, salad and bitter herbs  Elijah's place: The Jews normally leave a seat empty for Elijah  The presider's seat  The seder meal begins!!!!!!  Bishop lights the Paschal Candle  Listening to the Scriptures  Ablutions: The act of washing or cleansing, as a religious rite  The washing of feet: Fr. Gerard washes John's feet as Ringo (our dog) looks on...  Bishop washes the Rector's feet  "Blessed are You Lord, God of all creation......."  The breaking of bread  The roasted lamb!!!!!!!!!!!:P It was indeed a beautiful experience for all us here in College General to celebrate this Passover together. May the Lord be praised now and forever!!! Chap Goh Meh represents the fifteenth and final day of the Lunar New Year period as celebrated by Chinese migrant communities. The term is from the Hokkien dialect and refers to the fifteenth day of the first month, which is the occasion of the first full moon of the (Chinese) New Year. The occasion is marked by feasting and various festivities, including the consumption of tangyuan and Kue Keranjang. In traditional Chinese culture, it is also celebrated as the Lantern Festival or the Shang Yuan Festival. We in College General celebrated this event as a community as part of our Chinese New Year celebrations!!! Our bishop, rector and seminarians were all dressed in red as we enjoyed ourselves and feasted on a hearty steamboat dinner!!! Here are some pictures!  Before our meal  Mmmmmm... Steamboat.....
Rev. Fr. Gerard Theraviam has been appointed the new Rector of College General. He takes over from Rev. Fr. Edwin Paul. The official signing of the letter of appointment was done at the Inaugural mass on the 24th February 2010 in the Chapel of the Sacred Heart. Congratulations Fr. Gerard!  Priests assembled before Mass
 Bishop Selva imparting his blessings
 Signing of the letter of appointment by Fr. Gerard  Signing of the letter of appointment by Bishop Selva  Speech by the new Rector  Fellowship after Mass May the Lord bless Fr. Gerard as he takes up his new role as Rector of College General!!!
The Community of College General invites you to our College Feast Day Mass. Feast of St. Philip Minh & Companions Friday, 18th June, 2010 Time: 6.30 p.m. Venue: Chapel of Sacred Heart, College General followed by light refreshments There is an old saying that reads “All good things must come to an end” and tonight we are gathered here to bid farewell to man who was responsible in holding the fort as a Rector of College General for five years. It is non-other that the Superstar of this night, Fr. Edwin Leon Paul, and it truly gives me great pleasure to say a few words as the caput and on behalf of all the students gathered here today and for those who are with us in Spirit and prayers. One thing is undeniable and that is Fr. Edwin Paul was a dedicated educator who understands his subjects (Philosophy) and (Philosophy of Life) thoroughly and has mastered very well on how to impart this mind boggling subject to us his students. His method of “Don’t give me what you read, show me how you apply them” has helped us in understanding our subjects – very especially Philosophy in a more comfortable way. On behalf of all the students, I would like to say that your contribution towards our faith and priestly formation is truly inestimable. For those who truly know Fr. Edwin Paul, you will know that he was not only a lecturer or a philosopher, he was also good guide, great friend, man of discipline and some where subtle inside him you will find he is an emotional and loving person, all molded into one. We will always be grateful to you for being who you are. No one can ever be a remarkable teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection toward their students and a genuine desire to impart what he or she believes to be of true value. On the whole a good teacher is always like a candle – it consumes itself…. to light the way for others. Fr. Edwin Paul that’s who you are. Finally: May flowers always line your path and sunshine light your day. I had a life changing experience during my confirmation camp in College General. During this camp, all the sessions taught me a lot of different things. Some opened my eyes and my heart to different possibilities. But the best part about this camp was to be in the place with loads of history on our Malaysian church and to be in the place where many of our current and previous parish priests had studied. The tour around the museum, the art gallery and the chapel were totally amazing. Imagine walking on the ground where many great saints had walked. To be able to see all the things used then and how technology has evolved and new invention had taken the place of old. In the art gallery, the artist was able to capture the life of Jesus in a Malaysian point of view was very interesting. Who would have thought of that! The greatest part of all was to see the ancient relics of the saints especially St. Jude’s. I felt very close to the saints then. The different rooms told a different story and that was unique. The books and the priest’s attire were awesome. Having being told and reading about the early saints who were martyred I thanked God in my heart for the gift of each and every one of them. It was also very good to be able to see some familiar faces such as Fr Naden, Fr Clarence, Fr Amala…etc looking very young and handsome. The view was breathtaking and I felt totally lucky for having had both my first Holy Communion Camp as well as my Confirmation Camp here. ‘Mission Accomplished!’ that’s what I would say as I stand here today having completed my tenure here at CG after 12 blessed years. When I completed my seminary formation never did I imagine that I would be posted back to the seminary – what more to become the rector of this house of formation – which has such a rich history, which has saints among its alumni. I thought that I had neither brains nor qualities to be back here. Anyway God’s ways are amazing! His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. (photos taken by Lilian) It’s been a privilege ministering here – pasturing the seminarians who have freely offered themselves to formation! It’s also been tough – having to discern what God wants of His church and of these men. Over the years I have discovered that my work of formation was more than just expanding the seminarians’ minds, or imparting skills or nurturing virtues, it is about forming future priests. It is a vision that entails enabling seminarians to grow to become servant-leaders not of today but of tomorrow – with hearts resembling that of Jesus Christ. Yet, seminary formation it not a ‘jalan sehala ‘i.e. from the formators to the seminarians. Formation has a reciprocating effect. The seminarians, fellow formators, staff and friends of the seminary have given me so much back for my own formation. I used to jokingly say that I have been sent back to the seminary for rehabilitation. As I leave this sacred place, I realize that this has actually happened in more ways than I can imagine. To this end, I record my appreciation and gratitude to all of you who have been part of the fabric of my life here at the seminary – the Bishops of peninsular Malaysia; formators – past and present; the seminary staff; friends of CG and my dear seminarians for searching and working together selflessly! It has been a real Deepening of Discipleship through the Spirituality of Communion. In thanking all of you I have not forgotten the unpleasant side of me and for the pain and hurts that I have caused I honestly ask your forgiveness. I have fallen short of expectations in some ways and I accept my limitations. As College General looks forward to continue on its great mission I am confident that our new rector Fr Gerard Theraviam will lead it to greater heights – from our camaraderie I know that he will continue to be remarkable. As I bid my farewell I would like to remind ourselves that our God who calls us into existence is a good and glorious God! He loves us tremendously! He is true to His promises. May the Holy Martyrs of College pray for us! It was a sunny afternoon when we reached College General at Tanjung Bungah – the last stop of the outing of the Nativity Altar Servers. The servers of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (NVBM), Butterworth were warmly greeted by Fr. Edwin Paul, the Rector, Fr. Gerard Theraviam, Bro Joachim Robert and the other seminarians who were expecting our arrival. After a brief introduction we started our tour of College General at the monument of the saints and martyrs. We were happy to know that our Chai Ling Park chapel’s patron saints Chastan and Imbert had both been lecturers in College General. We then made our way up the little hill to the seminary museum. It was a short climb but tiring since we had been visiting other places in Penang since morning. However the tiredness flew away when we entered the simple little museum. Wow! What a collection they have! It’s truly a museum which is of rich history. We were briefed regarding the history of College General from its founding, its journey through a few countries and finally its arrival to Penang in 1808. We were shown the various sections of the museum by the four seminarians and Fr.Edwin. After having a look at all the collections in the museum we made our way to the Chapel of the Sacred Heart next door. In the chapel we had the chance to view the relics of some of the College General martyrs. This was the first time that most of us were seeing the blessed relics so closely. At the chapel we were also briefed about the vocation to the priesthood and the life and journey of seminarians. We concluded the visit with a nice tea which included some durians from College General’s own ground. The visit to College General was truly fruitful. We hope the visit will spur more vocations among the servers of NVBM, Butterworth. Incidentally Bro. Joachim is from our parish. Bro. Martin Arlando, who is studying at St Francis Xavier Seminary in Singapore, is also from our parish. They were both servers at NVBM before. The short visit was an eye opener to many of us as this was our first visit. We learnt something valuable which we will treasure. On Saturday 22 of August ’09, the Penang Island Youth Network organized a sports day, held at College General field. We were invited by the Penang Youth coordinator, Mr. Sudhagaran Stanley, to participate together with 180 youths from around the island. The aim was to integrate the youths from Chinese, English & Tamil speaking communities together. Although the weather was not in our favour, the programme went on very well. It started with aerobic exercises for one hour, followed by 10 station games. We could not be with them until the end of the programme, because we had our own activities. However, it was an enriching experience for us, especially integrating with the youth and breaking down the thought of living apart from the outside community. By James Pitchai |
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