St. Sebastian Church

When you can laugh at yourself, you will live longer
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Retirement from work was traditionally perceived as the resting phase of life mainly due to old age and the challenges it offered to lead an active life. In the last few years, the world has evolved both mentally and technologically. We have progressed significantly as a society with these changing times. Retirement, today is celebrated and considered to be a whole new chapter of well-planned opportunities to live life to its fullest, do things that you always wanted to do most but couldn’t do due to pressure of work.

Life during retirement requires planning. Many people neglect to think about their future or bear in mind the targets that they need to meet. They may only think about relaxing and staying with family when retirement comes. Read more

Amongst all the Saints of the Catholic Church, St. Anthony is venerated as the gentlest and the kindest of them all due to his burning love for God and his exalted virtues. Born and raised up by a wealthy family in Lisbon, Portugal, on 15th August 1195, St. Anthony was a Roman Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was known as the patron Saint of the poor, of sailors and fishermen, of priests and travellers, of lost things, a protector and guardian of the mails and a wonder-worker. He is also the patron saint of amputees, animals, elderly people, pregnant women and many, many more. As one of the most popular Catholic Saints, St. Anthony is well-known and well-loved all over the world. He performed many miracles in his life but due to a serious illness, he died at a young age of 36, on 13th June 1231 in Padua, Italy. Because of the numerous miracles performed in his life, within a year, the Church declared him a Saint and his feast is celebrated on the day of his death i.e. 13th June. People all over the world flock to St. Anthony to seek favours and he seldom disappoints. Read more

Leaving aside the tradition that wants them both in Rome at the same time, and killed on the same day, we recognize the traits that unite Saints Peter and Paul, these two men so different, and ensure that they are celebrated together, in their common will to spread the Gospel message and the legacy left by the human and mortal experience of Jesus.
If Peter was the “Stone” on which the Church was built, as well as leading the flock of God, Paul was the most fervent preacher of the Word in the whole Mediterranean world, the first missionary in history.

There is no doubt, about the link between Saint Peter and Paul and Rome, where both died, but above all to the Christian rebirth of which both tended. In 2012 Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI declared them both “Principal patrons of the Church of Rome”. Even today Rome remembers them with a great feast. Together, the two saints are the founders of the See of Rome, through their preaching, ministry and martyrdom. Read more

Health can, generally, be measured on major three parameters: Physical, Psychological and Nutritional. Physical health means the physical appearance of a person; Nutritional health means the presence of essential nutrients in the body to fight diseases with immunity. Psychological health means the ability in a person to maintain patience, calm and composure in all circumstances of life.

Health professionals consider cancer, diabetes and several other mental and physical health issues such as depression, lethargic attitude, etc to deficiencies in fitness and well-being of a person. Unhealthy and unfit lifestyle of a person also results in premature death. Obesity and lack of physical fitness in young generation sets the stage for diabetes, heart disease, and other serious health problems. Read more

Mogall Firgozkaramno,

Gormeche dis, votacho dhog, ghameche lott, thoklolim kudd ani mon, hem sogllem ekuch magta ani tem mhollear visov gheupache dis.

Iskolachim bhurgim apleo porikxecher-porikxa korun ghoddie thoklim astelim. Tanchea fattik lagun, tankam hanga thoim tuition-ak vhoddun haddun, tanche borobor xikunk bosun avoi-bapui thoklim zatelim. Ani atam soglleancheo chodd xeo porikxa somplea mhonntoch soglleank visov gheupa sarkhem dislem astelem. Read more

We are in the summer months experiencing increase in heat conditions with researchers warning of heat waves linked to the climate change. Elsewhere in India, in places like Maharashtra, many people are severely effected by heat waves and many lives have been lost due to heat strokes. We are being cautioned that the frequency and intensity of heat waves are likely to increase further in the coming days. The green cover is getting depleted due to large – scale development and concrete jungles are coming up all over. The necessity of maintaining a balance is ignored by our greed and the attitude of turning a Nelson’s eye to the illegalities by the powers that be. Read more

Holy Week is a most sacred time of the year for it is during this week that we recreate and remember the last week of Jesus’s life here on earth. Beginning with Palm  Sunday, we are invited to be a part of one of the greatest event in the Bible. We welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, waving our palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” A couple of days later, our shouts change to “Crucify him! Crucify him!” during the reading of the Passion.

Having spent most of my life in Kuwait, an Islamic country, we were fortunate to freely practice our Christian faith and thereby I did attend the Church regularly. During the past so many years I’ve dipped in and out of different Holy Week events at Holy Family Cathedral – Kuwait but honestly, I’ve never gone to all of them in a single week.  As I am now permanently based in Goa, this year was my first time, not only fully attending the Holy Week event but also actually participating in them in one way or the other. Read more

May 13th, is the 106th anniversary of the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to the three shepherd children, in a small village of Fatima, in Portugal, in the year 1917. The three children were Lùcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto. At the first apparition, Mother Mary asked the children to return to the spot on the 13th of each month for the next six months. These three holy children saw the Blessed Virgin Mary appear to them from May to October 1917.

Mother Mary asked these children to learn to read, write and pray the Rosary – “to obtain Peace for the World, and for the end of the War”, That is World War I. They were to pray for sinners and for the conversion of Russia. She asked for devotion to her Immaculate Heart and to pray a lot; to pray the Rosary for sinners and sacrifice a lot as many sinners perish in Hell because nobody is praying or making sacrifices for them. These children did all that they were told. Read more

On 28th May 2023, this year, the Church celebrates Pentecost, one of the most important feast days of the year that concludes the Easter season and celebrates the beginning of the Church’s Mission to the world.

Here’s what you need to know about the feast day:

The timing and origins of Pentecost

Pentecost always occurs 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and ten days after His ascension into heaven. Because Easter is a moveable feast without a fixed date, and hence Pentecost too is a moveable feast and depends on Easter date. Read more

The Ascension of Christ is a significant event in Christian theology. This year it will be celebrated on 21st May in the Catholic Church. It marks the moment when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, returned to Heaven after His resurrection from the dead. It is a critical component of Christianity, as it represents the culmination of Christ’s mission on Earth, His victory over death and sin, and His ultimate return to the Father.

The event of the Ascension is recorded in the New Testament in the Book of Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1, verses 9-11. It describes how, after spending forty days with His disciples following His resurrection, Jesus led them to the Mount of Olives, where He blessed them and then ascended into Heaven, disappearing from their sight as He rose up into the sky. Two angels then appeared to the disciples, telling them that Christ would return in the same way as He left. Read more