Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Monday, March 31, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Fr Susaimanickam goes to his Father in heaven
Rev. Fr.
Susaimanickam, the Parish Priest of Tarapur passed away at 9.30 p. m. on
16-03-2014 due to a massive heart attack.
Fr.
Susaimanickam was playing in a volley-ball tournament at Nar village along with
Tarapur youth at 7.30 p.m. Around 9.30
p.m. he fell on the ground and in a few moments he was no more…
We will inform
you the place and the time of the funeral little later.
May his soul
Rest in Peace.
Yours devotedly in Christ
+ Thomas Macwan
Bishop of Ahmedabad
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Happy New year, Pope Francis
HAPPY NEW YEAR, POPE FRANCIS!
-Fr. Cedric Prakash sj*
It was just a little
after midnight of March 13th - 14th 2013. Like millions
of others all over the world, I too was impatiently waiting for that white
smoke which would emerge from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican
heralding the news that a new Pope was elected. There were all kinds of rumours of the “going-ons” :who would be elected, what are the possibilities,
how long it would take etc etc and suddenly the
ticker on one of the news channel which I was searching on my computer,
announced that the plume of white smoke had emerged. A Pope had been elected!
A Pope elected! But who
was he? From where was he? Was he one of the ‘papabili’?
There were hundreds of questions that crossed my mind as I desperately tried to
look for the answer from one news site to another and suddenly the spokesperson
from the Vatican arrived at the window telling us that name ‘Cardinal
Jorge Mario Bergoglio’ from Argentina was
elected as Pope and would take the name of ‘Francis’. Then ‘Bergoglio’ who? I had never heard of him? And why the name of Francis? Just as I was doing a ‘google search’ I got a call from a friend
congratulating me for the first Jesuit Pope in history; my reply was “a Jesuit?
It just cannot be!” I had taken for granted that a Jesuit cannot become a
Pope. Well my ‘google search’, was still
on and my friend was really right!
Bergoglio
was indeed a Jesuit – a well-known one at that. In the meantime, I began
receiving email messages, texts and calls from all over. I was too excited to
speak that night. And then I was in for a shock. As millions of people both in
the Vatican Square and across the world watched, Pope Francis wished all
gathered a very simple ‘good evening’
and in a style that was soon going to be the hallmark of his papacy, he asked
for the prayers of ‘all men and women of
goodwill to help him lead the Catholic Church’. This was something out of the ordinary. No Pope had ever done that before! The
revolution had begun!
A revolution indeed! As I look back at this one eventful year for
the Catholic Church and perhaps for the whole world, I try to place before me
the challenges that Pope Francis has thrown not only to me but to all of us. Personally, I am challenged in several ways.
·
Pope Francis
challenges me to simplicity
Wow! This man has
taken the name he chose “Francis” all too seriously! His gestures
and actions have gone beyond the ‘cosmetic’ or ‘symbolic’
- All of us seem to be noticing everything: the fact that he has refused to
stay in the Papal mansions; that his attire and even his shoes are not what the
past Popes ordinarily wore; his sensitivity to make a phone call or to write a
letter to the most ordinary person in a most unassuming way; the fact that he
can allow a little child to slowly walk up to the stage and literally take his
seat; the affection he exudes when he embraces a man with a disfigured face;
his warm simple gestures all the time has indeed warmed the cockles of many a
heart. St. Francis of Assisi whose name he chose must surely be
smiling from above, that the head of the Catholic Church today has the courage
to take him and all that he stood for very, very seriously.
·
Pope Francis
challenges me to be inclusive
And Pope Francis has done
this in a most amazing way. He has
reached out to perhaps every group on Planet Earth very specially to the poor,
to the marginalized, to the minorities. On July 8th, 2013, he
visited the Sicilian island of Lampedusa (which is
closer to North Africa than mainland Italy) which sees the influx of thousands
of immigrants from Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Egypt and other parts of North
Africa as they seek a better future in Europe.
In his homily, he greeted those present saying, “I
give a thought, too, to the dear Muslim immigrants that are beginning the fast
of Ramadan, with best wishes for abundant spiritual fruits. The Church is near
to you in the search for a more dignified life for yourselves and for your
families”. A clear message to one and all that Christianity is about inclusiveness,
about going to the margins and welcoming “the least of our sisters and
brothers”. The Holy
Father then continued with a very powerful message to the whole world: “Today no one in the world feels responsible for this (the deaths
of immigrants); we have lost the sense of fraternal responsibility; we have
fallen into the hypocritical attitude of the priest and of the servant of the
altar that Jesus speaks about in the parable of the Good Samaritan: we look
upon the brother half-dead by the roadside, perhaps we think “poor
guy,” and we continue on our way; it’s none of our business; and we
feel fine with this. We feel at peace with this, we feel fine! The culture of
well-being, that makes us think of ourselves, that makes us insensitive to the
cries of others, that makes us live in soap bubbles, that are beautiful but are
nothing, are illusions of futility, of the transient, that brings indifference
to others, that brings even the globalization of indifference. In this world of
globalization, we have fallen into a globalization of
indifference. We are accustomed to the suffering of others, it
doesn’t concern us, it’s none of our
business.”
·
Pope Francis
challenges me to live the Joy of the Gospel
On November 24th,
at the conclusion of the year of the Faith, Pope Francis gave to the world his
first Apostolic Exhortation entitled “Evangelii Gaudium” (the Joy of the Gospel). In
this path-breaking document, he literally challenges the Christians to
transcend their narrowness and self-centredness in
order to truly understand the person and message of Jesus. In no uncertain terms, he reminds all that “the Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face
encounter with others, with their physical presence which challenges us, with
their pain and their pleas, with their joy which infects us in our close and
continues interaction. True faith in the
incarnate Son of God is inseparable from self-giving, from membership in the
community, from service, from reconciliation with others. The Son of God, by becoming flesh, summoned
us to the revolution of tenderness”.
·
Pope Francis
challenges me to be more of a Jesuit
It still is such a dream
that the Pope is a Jesuit - something perhaps unthinkable just over a year
ago. I joined the Jesuits in 1974 when
General Congregation XXXII became a watershed for Jesuits the world over with
the faith-justice mandate becoming the
heart of the Jesuit way of proceeding.
In his one year as Pope, the world has not lost sight of the fact that
Francis is a Jesuit to the very core.
His words, his actions, his attitudes are Jesuit through and
through. When he speaks about
“conversion” he is obviously using the Spiritual Exercises of St.
Ignatius of Loyola which has been so dear to him right from the time he joined
the Society of Jesus. In his native Argentina, he always championed the
cause of the poor. Last December, he
canonized Peter Favre, a close companion of St.
Ignatius of Loyola whom he praised for being “in dialogue
with all, even the most remote and even with his opponents.” Pope Francis has constantly been searching
for the magis in
all things just as St. Ignatius wanted all Jesuits to be doing so.
Challenges indeed for me
and for all and I am sure in the years ahead, we will have many more challenges
-Happy
New Year, dear Pope Francis! Thank you
for being my Pope, my brother and my Shepherd!
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Friday, January 31, 2014
Currency Notes withdrawal
Greetings!
JESA Dispatch 201 sheds light on the recent circular of the Reserve Bank of India regarding withdrawal of all series of Banknotes (currency notes) issued prior to 2005. We disseminate this information in public interest.
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JESA Dispatch 201: Withdrawal of All Series of Indian Currency Notes Issued Prior to 2005
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The Reserve Bank has decided to withdraw all currency notes issued prior to 2005, including Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations, to curb black money and fake currencies.
Notes issued before 2005 does not carry year of printing while the valid notes will have the year printed on the reverse side.
"After March 31, 2014, it (RBI) will completely withdraw from circulation all bank notes issued prior to 2005. From April 1, 2014, the public will be required to approach banks for exchanging these notes," the RBI said in a statement.
The public can easily distinguish the currency notes issued before 2005 as they do not have the year of printing on reverse side.
The year of printing in a small font is visible at the middle of the bottom row in notes issued after 2005 (see the image above).
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Heartwarming [from]
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Monday, January 20, 2014
Pope fires blistering broadside at those who shame the Church
As Vatican officials face a UN inquiry, pope castigates Church people who caused
Pope Francis has addressed the sexual abuse issue as part of his Vatican reforms with the creation of a commission on abuse, and on Thursday morning he also denounced the problem in a blistering homily that spoke of the scandal and shame of the church.
Vatican Radio reported that he said:
"But are we ashamed? So many scandals that I do not want to mention individually, but all of us know...We know where they are! Scandals, some who charged a lot of money.... The shame of the Church!
But are we all ashamed of those scandals, of those failings of priests, bishops, laity? Where was the Word of God in those scandals; where was the Word of God in those men and in those women? They did not have a relationship with God! They had a position in the Church, a position of power, even of comfort. But the Word of God, no! 'But, I wear a medal,' ‘I carry the Cross ' ... Yes, just as those bore the Ark!
Without the living relationship with God and the Word of God! I am reminded of the words of Jesus about those for whom scandals come ... And here the scandal hit: bringing decay to the people of God, including the weakness and corruption of the priests.'
The Vatican is currently facing criticism for rejecting an extradition request from Poland regarding the ex-papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski. Wesolowski, the highest-ranking Vatican official to be investigated for alleged sex abuse to date, is currently thought to be living in the Vatican.
Source: Huffington Post Religion
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Divya Kala Kendra Mumbai
PDDM Centre of Fine Arts (Diya Kala Kendra) Launched
Published Date: January 15, 2014
Aims at spreading the Good News of Jesus through the medium of dance and music.
Aimed at spreading the Good News of Jesus through the medium of dance and music, Divya Kala Kendra (Centre for Sacred Arts), situated at “Prarthanalaya”, Bandra-Mumbai, offers Certificate Courses in Music and Dance to those interested, and are above the age of 7.
Sister Disciples of the Divine Master (PDDM), a religious Congregation for women, founded by Bl. James Alberione, has launched this new apostolic initiative , as part of their Liturgical Apostolate on January 5, 2014, the Feast of Epiphany.
Explaining the purpose of the new initiative Sr Kanikai Mary, the Provincial Superior of the Sister Disciples, said that in the Indian tradition, music and dance belong to the realm of divine worship. And the new centre will train young people who can authentically incorporate these forms into the Liturgy, thus making the Liturgy more relevant and meaningful in the Indian context.
Moreover, she added, Fr Alberione, our founder, had always reminded us of this saying “worship the Lord in Art and Beauty”, and hence the new Centre is a long-cherished dream come true for the Sisters.
Sisters Amita Mascarenhas and Sushma Dungdung of the Sister Disciples who are directing the Courses at Divya Kala Kendra are professionally trained in their respective fields for many years, and having completed their studies they have been training young people in different institutions in the city over the past few years.
The Sister Disciples are part of the Pauline Family that is celebrating the Centenary of its foundation, this year. And Divya Kala Kendra is their special contribution to the Indian Church and to the Paulines around the world, during the Centenary year.
–Fr Alfonso Elengikal,SSP
Related Posts
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Can you be too religious?
When considering this question, note that Jesus himself was hostile to religiosity – and that fundamentalists suffer from a lack of faith
Actually, I seriously dislike the words religion and religious. First, there is no such thing as generic religiosity. There are Christians and Jews and Muslims and Hindus. No one practises religion, as such. And second, precisely because the word "religion" describes the common outward format through which these very different belief systems express themselves, it cannot describe each in its specificity. This is particularly tricky when it comes to Christianity, because at its heart is a figure who was thoroughly suspicious and condemnatory of religion. "Jesus came to abolish religion," says the Washington-based poet and evangelist Jefferson Bethke. His YouTube poem Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus received 16 million views within two weeks of it being released.He's right: the New Testament must be one of the most thoroughly anti-religious books ever written. It makes Richard Dawkins look very tame fare indeed.
Jesus spent much of his time laying into the pious and the holy and lambasting the religious professionals of his day. And this was not because he was anti-Jewish – as some superficial readings of his anti-Pharisee, anti-Sadducee, anti-Temple polemics would have it – but precisely because, as a Jew himself, he came out of that very Jewish prophetic tradition of fierce hostility to religiosity. Here, for instance, is the prophet Isaiah on feisty form.
The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to me? says the Lord.
I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me. New moons, sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. Stop bringing meaningless offerings!
Your incense is detestable to me. New moons, sabbaths and convocations – I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.
This is the sort of theology to which Jesus looked for inspiration. And partly, it was this uncompromising anti-religiosity that got him nailed to a cross.
You may think I am being slippery with the word "religion". So let's take, for instance, the French sociologist Emile Durkheim's influential definition of religion as that which divides up the world into the sacred and the profane. But here again, the Jesus stories have him as thoroughly anti-religious, not least in those narratives that surround his birth. For the idea that God might be found not in the spiritually antiseptic space of some sacred temple, but in the smelly cow shed out the back, is about ashostile an idea to religion as one can possibly imagine. When it comes to Christianity, just being a little bit religious is being too religious. Religion is a pejorative term. So the answer is yes.
Of course, I'd say you cannot be too Christian. That's a different kettle of fish. And if "being too Christian" makes you think of Christian fundamentalists, I'd want to insist that they are simply not Christian enough. Indeed, that it's their lack of faith that makes them cling to a bogus form of certainty and literalism. Mostly, Christian fundamentalists worship a book. They like the safety of having pat answers. But this is just another form of idolatry of which the Hebrew scriptures regularly warn. Worshipping a book and worshipping God are two totally different things. Falling down before a baby, with all the inversion of power that this implies, takes courage not intellectual suicide. It is about the world being turned upside-down, the mighty (including the religious mighty) being cast down and the weak being held up. It is about placing something other than oneself at the centre of the world. And no, I don't think there can be too much of this.
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