“Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your
enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”
– Psalm 8:2
God created us to be instruments with the ability to sing and make music. Music is an essential part of worship and exulation to God, our Saviour and King.
The choir has long existed in the history of eucharistic celebration. They assist the priest and clergy throughout mass by guiding them through praise and worship, singing devotional hymns and psalms.
Initially, the Holy Family, Kajang parish choir only comprised of youth and young adults. The idea of having a junior choir was introduced late August of 2016 as an effort to increase the children's involvement during the Eucharistic celebrations. The junior choir accomodates all languages; English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. The “junior choir” was initially referred to as the “children's choir” but adopted its new name sometime last year.
Some of the main objectives of the Junior Choir are to encourage children as young as nine years of age to actively participate in the liturgy, and sow the seeds of responsibility in them to continue serving the Church in the choir even after having completed their faith education. The junior choir enables children to use their God-given talents and passions as instruments in sowing His word, and by encouraging them to participate in the eucharistic celebrations, the junior choir instills in them a sense of belonging to the church. The junior choir also contributes in inculcating character-building values in the lives of the children. Among these values are punctuality, commitment, responsibility, self-awareness, trust, and attentiveness.
The first mass celebrated by the Junior Choir was the Feast of Holy Innocence in December 1. It received positive feedback from the congregation, most of whom said that the mass was indeed a joyous celebration. Following that mass, many more children came forward to participate in the children's choir. The choir currently comprises of 60 to 70 children having increased twice as much since it started.
Practices are held after Cathechism classes on Sundays for roughly 45 minutes in the old church. All children are welcome to participate and assist in the Eucharitic celebrations.
Submitted by Joanna James
