Joseph Masilamany

He often reminded us, “The family that prays together stays together.” Today, I realize it was not just a saying but his survival strategy, a spiritual anchor for a widower raising 16 children through hardship.

Cardinal Sebastian Francis, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Penang, Malaysia, will lead the beatification ceremony of Mother Eliswa Vakayil of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a 19th-century nun from Kerala renowned for her pioneering role in women’s religious life and lifelong dedication to the poor.

The laboratory and the chapel are not as far apart as we imagine. Both are places where the human heart confronts mystery, where silence and wonder become the truest forms of prayer.

Increasingly, the faithful are turning moments of bereavement into celebrations of life, filled with laughter, gratitude, and storytelling that reflect the joy of a life well lived, rather than mourning the loss of a loved one.

All Saints’ Day, celebrated every November 1, is a solemn feast in the Catholic Church dedicated to all the saints, known and unknown, who now live in God’s eternal presence.

The Rosary, in that sense, is my own form of Asian meditation, my mantra of mercy.

For Mercy and Cynthia, St. Jude is more than a patron of lost causes; he is a friend who walks with them through life’s uncertainties, a quiet witness to faith born out of struggle.

The quiet town of Rawang in the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur came alive this week as hundreds of Catholics and devotees gathered at the Church of St. Jude for the annual novena and feast-day celebration in honour of the patron saint of hopeless causes.

In a world often dimmed by division and despair, Asia’s festivals of light remind us that every faith, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Taoist, and Christian, shares a single flame: the hope that darkness will never have the last word.

In Malaysia, caring for creation has become more than a moral choice; it is now a living expression of faith. Across dioceses, Catholic communities are translating Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ into daily acts of stewardship, integrating ecological awareness into prayer, education, and parish life.