Church of The Divine Mercy, Shah Alam

The Sunday after Easter or the Second Sunday of Easter is designated as the Divine Mercy Sunday or the Feast of Divine Mercy and is celebrated in the Catholic Churhces worldwide as decreed by Pope John Paul II on 30 April 2000.

For the year 2010, April 11 was that very special day! And my beloved spouse, John and I, were delighted to be able to travel with a busload of pilgrims to the Church of The Divine Mercy (CDM) in Shah Alam for the first time since it was completed in July 2005. Thanks to Christine, a parishioner of Our Lady of Fatima Church in Brickfields who organized this free and easy traveling mode for just RM10 per person.

As scheduled, we reached CDM almost at 1 pm for lunch. Wow, the crowd was really huge as the Divine Mercy Feast day celebrations had already started as early as 7.30 am with 4 Eucharistic Masses that were preceded with Divine Mercy Devotions and well-spread throughout the day. Nevertheless, the hospitality team that was in-charge with the flow of traffic and distribution of food did a splendid job indeed. Thanks to the generosity of CDM, we enjoyed the wonderful lunch that was offered, simple yet nutritious and substantial. We had lots of time to enjoy the beauty of the Church inside and out as the Divine Mercy Devotion (Chaplet) we were scheduled to attend would begin only at 2.45 pm, and followed by the Eucharistic celebration at 3.00 pm, the final Mass for the day.

This Church of The Divine Mercy is like no other that I've seen in our country. After all, it is THE CHURCH THAT TOOK ALMOST 30 YEARS TO BE BUILT and stands as an icon of perseverance of the faithful People of God of Shah Alam against the subtle religious persecution as attested by the Catholic Asian News, a must read! Also, follow through the formation of CDM in chronological order here.

The Almighty God is faithful to His covenant with His people! Nothing is impossible with God! His power, love, mercy and grace are never-ending.
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, "And I say also to you, that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Also, in Isaiah 55:11, "So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it."

Though enormous, the 2½ storey Church of Divine Mercy together with the Wisma Divine Mercy which includes a multipurpose hall and administrative offices, looks more like an industrial building than a church externally. Its mammoth design, not its original preferred one though, merges well among the commercial buildings and factories of the industrial estate that it was assigned to. Whatever, the externals do not matter as what's paramount is the deepening spirituality and faithfulness of the People of God who worship at CDM!

The inside of the fully air-conditioned Church which has a seating capacity of 2,600 is truly remarkable, especially the central Divine Mercy stained glass, the tabernacle and altar, plus the many statues that adorned the surrounding walls, etc. Definitely a spectacular House of God, giving honour and glory to Him, The Divine Mercy, who deeply cares, loves and protects His people.

At the Church's courtyard is an awesome grotto of Our Blessed Mother Mary surrounded by live plants and a large statue of Our Lord Jesus overlooking from above. Also, just at the entrance of the complex is another marvelous grotto of The Divine Mercy with colourful fishes teeming in the pond below!

The Celebrant for the 3.00 pm Eucharistic Mass was none other than Fr. Paulino Miranda himself, the parish priest of CDM. Attendance was overwhelmingly large in number. The Mass was celebrated in four languages, that is, English, Bahasa Malaysia, Tamil and Mandarin - I was truly impressed by the multilingual abilities of this charismatic priest. He exhorted the faithful to be Christ-like, loving, merciful and forgiving...saying that yearly attendance to the Feast of The Divine Mercy must transformed our lives, otherwise it's useless. Shared a little on the social injustices and corruption prevalent in our blessed country too. The Mass ended almost 2 hours later after the blessing of Divine Mercy Images which were distributed to first-timers to CDM.

John and I felt blessed for the chance to celebrate The Divine Mercy Feast Day at the much-publicized and much-talked Church of The Divine Mercy in Shah Alam and experience the vibrant spirituality of God's people there - a truly memorable day indeed!

Church of The Divine Mercy Shah Alam
26, Jalan Pemaju U1/15
40150 Shah Alam
Selangor D.E.
Malaysia
Tel: 603-55691802
CDM's Website that included a location map.

Jesus Christ, The Divine Mercy is ever-present with inexhaustible love and mercy for us all. We experienced His miraculous protection via The Divine Mercy image during an attempted break-in into our home last June. We praise and thank You, O Lord!