World Day of Peace: MSC Indian Union

Dear Friends!

This day is a great opportunity for everyone in the Union to pray and offer mass for our Union. God guided us throughout this year:

1. (In February) God guided us in giving Fr. Tijo as our Union Superior for the second time.
2. (In May) God guided us to witness four of our brothers (Shyam, Darwin, Richard and Irudhaya Raj) to commit themselves totally to MSC.
3. In May also) God guide us in giving the Union one more priest: Fr. Joji Babu Kakumanu.
4. (In June) God guided us to pray for our brothers (Kumar, Rueben, Subash, Ambedkar, Rosario and Franklin) as they temporarily professed before the poeple of God.
5. (In October) God guided us throughout our Second Assembly in the presence of Rev.Fr. Arci in all our plans and dreams of the present and future MSC India.
6. (In November) God guided us in elevating three of our conferers (Irudhaya Raj, Peter Francis and Joseph Chinnabathini) to the order of Deacon.

May the same God continue to be generous with us all and all our endeavours.

Please remember to pray also for the following special intensions:
1. Mysore House Construction.
2. OLSH Parish Construction.
3. Andhra Mission.

I am giving you the website address which will take you to the Message of our Holy Father regarding World Peace.

http://www.adoremus.org/BXVI_HumanFamily.html
Read more!

Feast of the Holy Family

Reflections:

I remember once when Fr. Adrian Meaney was in Bangalore, he pointed out in one of his sermons that people of Israel came out of Egypt, a land of slavery and suffering. Today in the Gospel we witness Jesus and his earthly parents were asked to go to the same Egypt to be safe (to be away from slavery and suffering). My thoughts are not your thoughts...

• A family becomes holy when God is the central figure, devoid of our human nature. Mary and Joseph though humans, share the divinity of Godhead in the Incarnate Word - Jesus. (Aham Brahmasmi of Hinduism)


• Church is on a journey (II nd Vatican). Family is a natural church journeying with the Living Word though faced with trials, confusions and dissappointments. Spe Salve...

Joseph and Mary meditated on the future of Jesus (How to bring up Jesus) during their journey that:

as a child - He should be busy with the business of his Father
as a youngster - He should be aware and act on the prime principle, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.'
as an adult - He should set an example to the people, 'Learn from me: I am gentle and humble in heart.'
as a Leader - He becomes 'The Good Shepherd.'
All states in life, including student, teenager, and parent, offer abundant opportunities to grow in faith, hope, and love. That the nitty gritty of family life, if approached right, can be a road to profound personal transformation and communion with God.

• Both the parents and children should be aware of their responsibility thus, family in God’s plan, is a community where everyone has growing to do. Maybe that’s why Col 3 talks so much about forgiveness and forebearance!

Read more!

Another MSC on the run? Fr Tardif Emiliano (Jun 6 1928 - June 9, 1999).

The MSCs are on yet another run, the beatification of

Fr. Emiliano Tardif.

As part of the eulogy, the following are the sentiments of great people:

Monsignor Francisco Jose Arnaiz:
His untimely death shocked the country and much of the Catholic world. We have been left in the odour of sanctity and smell crowd.

Bishop Flores:
We believe the father Emiliano as one of the great men of the Church in recent decades.

Father Ramiro Cantalamessa:
I have had several times said to exercise my ministry together with the father Emiliano Tardif, who I always admired, above all, its simplicity of heart, the father Emiliano was not considered a saint nor a taumaturgo, but simply one that had received a charisma and exercised 'utility for all.

Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez:
Whenever I saw him as a priest and missionary really aware of his own vocation. Emiliano was a virtuous man, straightforward, very friendly, deeply humble. I venture to assure that has been one of the most beloved priests. Beloved of God and men, his memory is a blessing.

We hope and pray for God's guidance and support.

Read more!

Go to the whole world! (Mt 28) Except Orissa!

Armed members of ‘Kui Samaj Samnyaya Samiti’ block the highway

Protestors from all over India rise against the atrocities on the church and christians in Orissa on Christmas day. In Mumbai Mahesh Bhatt and members from differnt NGOs protested to the extent of demanding a ban on the VHP.

The attack on over two dozen churches in which two persons were killed and at least 25 injured, also saw VHP miscreants attack the houses of politicians like the Orissa Steel & Mines minister, 6 churches set on fire, an orphanage run by missionaries targeted, etc. on Christmas day and thereafter. A police station, a police outpost and the official jeep of the circle inspectors were also torched ablaze. The protestors felt attack seemed well-planned, executed with precision, leading one to conclude that it is a precursor of further attacks on minorities, in the aftermath of the Gujarat election results.

A circular sent by the CBCI Secretary General Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes to all the dioceses of India proposing that in solidarity with all of them, the Catholic Church with other Christians in India spend a week of prayer –from this Sunday 30th December to Sunday 6th January 2008 - for the Christians of Orissa.

I would like to present to you a quote from Fr. Ambrose Pinto, SJ from his talk in the APIA meeting in Bangalore August 17 - 21, 1998
"One of the salient features of globalization is that it does not provide chances to the poor to become economically stable, developing nations to become stable. Criminalisation, aggression, violence, intolerance, social discrimination and injustice make inroad into the community life of the poor. Majority of those get affected are essentially dalits, tribals, women and other backward classes. Everything of human existence gets commodified - the body, mind, behaviours, dreams, desires, relationships et all. The media is taking the Indian masses to a world of trade and commerce creating false images. The culture of sharing resources with others is replaced by the culture of denial. The commercialization of value system conditions social relationships. Individual self is preferred to the "self-for-the-others".

Read more!

Doctrinal Note on some Aspects of Evangelization

Cardinal Levada

I would like to bring to your notice that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith came out with a document named: 'Doctrinal Note on some Aspects of Evangelization.'This document was published in L'Osservatore Romano on the 15th of December, 2007.

Purpose of this Document:

I quote William Cardinal Levada, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in summarizing the purpose of this document. "This document is intended to recall to the Catholic faithful some fundamental principles regarding the proclamation of the Gospel in contemporary circumstances, by elucidating certain anthropological, ecclesiological and ecumenical implications of this important question."

This document can be downloaded at:

http://www.byzcath.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&topic=20653&gonew=1

Read more!

Feast of the Holy Innocents

• They are both holy and innocent.



• One man's greed can cause the whole society to suffer and face a heavy loss.



• Quiet children's loud witnessing.



• A bad leader can never build a just society.



• Fr. Jules Chevalier - "I see a new world emerging..."
  
  O Holy Innocents! Ora pro nobis

Read more!

Nennolina - A Saint at the age of 6?

She is Antonietta Meo. She was born in Rome in 1930. On Monday Pope Benedict XVI signed papers confirming her “heroic virtues.” She has a nickname 'Nennolina'. She was diagnosed with bone cancer at the age of five, thus the doctors amputated one of her legs. In her difficulties she wrote many prayers. Those prayers are according to the vatican sources, 'a truly extraordinary life of mystical union' with God.

This is one of her prayers: “Dear baby Jesus, you are holy, you are good. Help me, grant me your grace and give me back my leg. If you don't want to, then may your will be done.”

Meo died on July 3, 1937.

If canonised, she would be the youngest saint who did not die as a martyr.
Read more!

Feast of St. John the Evangelist

St. John is known as the Apostle of Charity; Beloved Apostle; Beloved Disciple; Giovanni Evangelista; John the Divine; John the Evangelist

St. John is also known as the Beloved Disciple, the Apostle of Love. Our Founder Fr. Chevalier was a great lover of the Gospel according to St. John. We, the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart know how much Fr. Chevalier cherished the 'Good Shepherd Experience' in St. John's. We are closely associated with the Evangelist just because his gospel is a revelation of God's Love.

Here is what our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, had to say about St. John's teachings in his General audience for 09/08/06:
If there is one characteristic topic that emerges from John's writings, it is love… John, of course, is not the only author of Christian origin to speak of love. Since this is an essential constituent of Christianity, all the New Testament writers speak of it, although with different emphases. If we are now pausing to reflect on this subject in John, it is because he has outlined its principal features insistently and incisively. We therefore trust his words.

St. John! Ora Pro Nobis
Read more!

New Website from the Vatican: Biblia Clerus

From the Congregation for the Clergy, a new website has come out. This is mainly for the study of the Bible with different commentaries from the Church fathers, doctors of the church, Councils, catechisms and other church documents.

Cardinal Claudio Hummes, the prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy in his introduction says, that this website will help us understand the Sacred Scripture, its interpretation in light of Sacred Tradition and the teachings of the Magisterium, with appropriate theological commentary and exegesis.

This also links the bible with references from Canon Law and Oriental Canon Law (i forgot most of them that i studied at Dharmaram!) and also the 1997 editoin of CCC.

Read more!

Benazir Bhutto: A Sad End

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto smiles while meeting with leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party at her residence in Karachi in late November.

Yesterday's assassination of Benezir Bhutto is also an occasion to reflect on the impact of the Catholic Church in Muslim-majority Pakistan. Catholic missionaries have educated some of Pakistan’s most influential politicians, including Bhutto as well as current Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.

We hope and pray for peace in Pakistan

Read more!