St. Sebastian Church

Who was St. Valentine and how did he inspire Valentine’s day?

In the early martyrologies, three different St. Valentines are mentioned, all sharing Feb. 14 for a feast day. Unfortunately, the historical record is sparse. The first St. Valentine was a priest and physician in Rome. He along with St. Marius and his family comforted the martyrs during the persecution of Emperor Claudius II, the Goth. Eventually, St. Valentine was also arrested, condemned to death for his faith, beaten with clubs, and finally beheaded on Feb. 14, AD 270.

The second St. Valentine was the Bishop of Interamna (now Terni, located about 60 miles from Rome). Under the orders of Prefect Placidus, he too was arrested, scourged, and decapitated, again suffering persecution during the time of Emperor Claudius II. Read more

Lent is a wake-up call to Repentance – to begin a new way of life. It is an opportunity for us to really begin to form a new habit which can radically transform our life. Lent gives us 40 days to practice how we are to live our life for the rest of the time. It is the way for us to prepare for the joy of Easter and the New Life that is ours in the Dying and Rising of Jesus.

Jesus did not come to save us by His miracles. He saved us by His passion. Beginning at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sweated blood, was plotted against, was betrayed with a kiss and abandoned by His Apostles. Jesus was arrested, handed over to the authorities, was judged and condemned to crucifixion. He was rejected for Barabbas, a murderer. He was scourged 39 times (maybe more), blind-folded, spat upon in the face, mocked, slapped and crowned with  thorns. Jesus was made to carry His own cross, stripped of all His garments and then fastened naked to the cross, with nails to His Hands and Feet. Read more

Saint Joseph the chaste husband of Mother Mary and foster father of Jesus was a Jewish person born in 30BC in Bethlehem. He descended from Royal lineage which dates back to King David.

He was a humble carpenter who married Mother Mary without whom the history of salvation would be incomplete. However much is not written and known in the Bible, but what is written in the Gospels speaks volumes about his life and character. We also gather knowledge about him in other writings that he was a noble, pious, and forgiving person very loving, considerate and understanding. Read more

INTRODUCTION

Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin. This means that it dissolves in water and is delivered to the body’s tissues but is not well stored, so it must be taken daily through food or supplements.

HISTORY

Until the end of the 18th century, many sailors who ventured on long ocean voyages, with little or no vitamin C intake, contracted or died from scurvy which was later found to be caused by vitamin C deficiency. During the mid-1700s, Sir James Lind, a British Navy surgeon, conducted experiments and determined that eating citrus fruits or juices could cure scurvy, although scientists did not prove that ascorbic acid was the active component until 1932.

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Tadev:  Dev boro dis dium tuka, Simao Titiv.

Simao: Tukai dium re, Baba Tadev.

Tadev:  Zaite dis tuji khoboruch nam. Tuji bolaiki bori asa nhoim?

Simao:  Devache kurpen bolaiki bori asa ….punn?

Tadev: Punn ani kitem? Oso chintest- dukhest tuzo sobhav kiteak tor? kitem zalam? .

Simao:  Hea novea vorsant kitleo vaitt ani bhirankull ghoddnneo ghoddtat teo polleun mhaka roddonk ieta.

Tadev: Kosli khobor sangonk sodtai? Rosteancher obsoeg ghoddleat ani kitlinch bhavam-bhoinnam sompun geleant, mhonn tum dukhi asai?  Read more

Mogall Firgozkaramno,
2023 Novem voros suru zata mhollear soglle vatten umed ani kuxalkai. Hea vorsa odik kuxalkai asunk karann, fattlim don vorsam Covid-ak lagun roddun ani bhieun dis sarle. Kitem zatelem ani koxe dis sartele mhonn dubhav ietalo. Punn atam sogllem somadhan zaun kuxal zaunk soglleank purtem karann asa.

Adlea Korarant thodde pavtt pidda rog ieun ani chodd pavtt dusream desanche raza akromonn korun rajeank/porjek nirvaxi korun vhortale. Tankam pidda-pidd ditale. Dev ani devosponn korunk sot’tea legun tankam dinaasle. Oxem astanam porza roddun Devak ulo martali ani Dev tanchea uleak kan diun adharak ietalo. Tankam soddoitalo. Hi porza kuxal zaun aplea ganv-ghora vochun Devak dhinvastalo ani bhetto bhettoitalo. Read more

We are all enjoying the festive and wonderful season of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. I do sincerely hope that you all had a blessed and a memorable Christmas with your family and friends. We now look forward to the coming year 2023.

A quick reflection over the key happiness and events that shook the world in the recent past it occurred to me that in all the scenarios there is one thing in common, the never-ending ‘uncertainty’. The year 2022, witnessed several leaps and bounds of uncertainty, we would have not ever thought or imagined. We started the year with the relentless and endless pandemic, COVID-19, with its countless variants playing havoc with the population, claiming a million lives worldwide. The latter half of the year saw the pandemic receding behind curtains and bringing relief and jubilation. The Russia –Ukraine war and the resulting oil crisis went on to have a ripple effect on the world economy. So many countries are going through bad times and the current economic situation creating a constant doubt or fear of a recession in 2023. It’s an uncertain future. Is this the new way of living our lives? We need to reflect and debate this issue as we journey through the course of our lives. More often than ever, we wake up in the morning, eat, go to work, come home, again eat, sleep, repeat and the cycle becomes a monotonous routine. Some of us have even forgotten the reason for our existence. As we depart from this year to the next, let us usher in 2023 with renewed hope and total faith in the Almighty. New year – a new chapter, new verse, full of dreams and resolutions. Ultimately we are the ones who write it. The choice is ours. Read more

I was an avid reader of the Don Bosco Madonna which we received every month. So in order to write this article on ‘ST. JOHN BOSCO’, I pondered on his life expecting to know a lot, but soon realized I knew nothing about him except his passionate love and care for the young boys of his days, who were orphans, homeless, lost and therefore rather rough for want of a proper upbringing.

I googled ‘St. John Bosco’ and was delighted to find different sources of his amazing life story, so full of love, humility and simplicity. For want of space it cannot be fully reproduced here. I list below, just a few details on the life of St. John Bosco. Read more

“Paul, Paul, why do you persecute me?” Paul who was persecuting the Christians encountered Jesus for the first time and that was it, He changed his entire life for Christ. From that moment on, he was a new person he decided never again will he trouble the Christians but instead will proclaim the good word to others. The conversion of Paul gives us three points to ponder upon.

1. Encounter with Jesus: Paul truly encountered Jesus even though he was not at all ready for it; however God had a plan for Paul. We might say to our self “Wow I, wished I too could have a true encounter with Jesus and my life would be transformed”. We all are more fortunate to encounter Jesus daily through the Blessed Sacrament and Holy Communion but alas so casual is our life that we ignore the presence of Jesus in there. Only if we had understood and felt the living Jesus therein Holy Communion than our life would have transformed like Paul’s. Read more

“The measure of love is to love without measure”, the quote of St. Francis de Sales – reputed writer, preacher and debater of the Catholic faith underlines his motto, “He who preaches with love, preaches effectively.”
Sales acknowledged God’s measureless love and call to love others.
God’s sacrifice of His only son to save humankind is our best gift, he believed. Read more