Parishioners of St. Peter Church of Lahurus in Belu district ended a month-long celebration of the 125th anniversary of their parish’s establishment earlier this week with a Holy Mass.
“Celebrating the anniversary of this parish’s establishment is a meaningful moment which can strengthen the parishioners’ faith. So make this parish’s anniversary celebration a moment of faith celebration to thank God for his gifts given to the missioners who proclaimed the Good News in Lahurus, the center of Catholicism,” Bishop Dominikus Saku of Atambua said after the Holy Mass.
“From Lahurus, Catholicism was spread out to other remote areas here in Timor Island. Thus, parishioners must maintain their strong faith, moral and social strength, knowledge and skills which were given by the ancestors,” he added.
According to the prelate, Catholicism arrived in the parish on June 29, 1886.
“That is why parishioners should really experience their faith … by becoming individuals who have good character, noble conscience and responsibility,” he said.
The church is not merely about a building, he added.
“The real meaning of the Church is a communion of faithful who live and experience their faith in God through the intercession of Jesus Christ,” he maintained.
To mark the anniversary of the parish’s establishment, a series of programs was organized beginning on June 5, including sport competitions, a long march following the missioners’ footsteps, an audience with the bishop and the diocese’s vicar general Divine Word Father Yustus Asa, and art performances.
http://www.ucanews.com/2011/07/01/parishioners-celebrate-125-years-of-catholicism/
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