Editorial Feb 2025

We are all delighted that the 45 days Sacred Exposition of our St. Francis Xavier, went off very well starting from 21/11/24 to 05/01/25.We need to thank and praise God for ensuring an incident free exposition which was attended by several lakes of people coming from all over the world. Undoubtedly this was one of the better organised expositions and devotees were very much impressed with the overall arrangements which were in place, keeping in mind all the required details. This exposition also coincided with the celebration of the Jubilee Year 2025, for which the theme chosen by our Pope Francis was,” Pilgrims of Hope”. I only hope and pray that all our prayers during this period will bring about a renewal of our Christian life and help in spreading peace and harmony amongst us all.

We at Aquem, will get an opportunity to continue with our prayers, when our Parish Feast/Novenas of our Patron Saint Sebastian, begin on 20th February’25, with the blessing of the Banner. This year our grand Feast will be celebrated on Sunday,2nd March’25, with the usual pomp and fervour. Traditionally, our Parish had the practice of having a whole day’s adoration in the church, for the benefit of the parishioners, on the day of blessing of the Banner(MADDI) which incidentally always happened to be a Thursday. This practice continued until a couple of years back, when a decision was taken to have the adoration on the Sunday, before the Novenas begin, in order that more people get a chance to attend the same, as it is a holiday. Accordingly this year, our adoration will take place on Sunday,16th February’25 from 10.00 am onwards. This will be organised by the various wards and the associations of our Parish. As we are in the Jubilee Year, this adoration will give us a chance to reflect on the theme ‘Pilgrims of hope’,which should inspire hope and trust in the present world which is affected by war, poverty, inequality and the climatic changes. Let us take this opportunity and pray in unison as one community and consider the Jubilee as a special year of reconciliation, pilgrimage and coming home. May our prayers help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and a far sighted vision. May our Holy Spirit and our Guardian Angels be our guiding lights.
Until we meet again, take care and be safe…!!
Felix Dias
..Editor..