St. Sebastian Church

Come the season of Christmas and you are filled with excitement at the thought of all those social functions like weddings, carol singing, Christmas parties etc. Several out-of-town relatives may be arriving for an extended visit. But then there is a tinge of apprehension at the thought of all that excess food that’s heading your way.

Since you’ve touched forty your metabolism has shifted downhill by several notches and you’ve learnt to keep a close watch on your weight, your exercise and your food intake and you are careful to not consume more calories than you can burn. You know it’s not going to be easy with the free flow of our appetizing Goan food at all those social occasions!! Read more

As I write this article, I admit that the contents are those I have come to know and understand now – rather late in my life. If known earlier, Christmas would have been for me, not about Baby Jesus, but about the unquestionable Power of Jesus.

We all know the story of creation as in Genesis 1 or 2. Putting it very briefly – God spoke the Universe into existence beginning with the Sun, the Moon and the Stars. This was followed by the separation of the land and the sea, the creation of vegetation, all kinds of birds, animals and creatures of the sea. Read more

The saint who is nicknamed Santa Claus

The true story of Santa Claus begins with St. Nicholas, who was born in 280 A.D. in the town of Patara on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Catholic, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Hence he used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering.
He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships. Read more

St. Nicholas Protector St. Nicholas Protector and helper of the needy. The following accounts of St. Nicholas help us to understand his extraordinary character and why he is so loved and revered as protector and helper of those in need

• St. Nicholas giving dowry to a poor man with three daughters In those days a young woman’s father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man’s daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Hence on three different occasions, Nicholas tossed stockings filled with gold in their home, providing the needed dowries. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas the gift-giver! The stockings filled with gold, tossed through the open window, led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas on Christmas eve.

Read more

A manger is a rack for fodder, or a structure or feeder used to hold food for animals. Mangers are mostly used in livestock raising and generally found at stables and farm houses. Jesus is the King, but had no place to be born, and finally was born in a barn (shed for animals), was kept in a manger and was surrounded by the animals at the barn. But today the manger where Jesus was kept is empty.

Why am I stressing on the empty Manger?
Jesus is not there in the manger because He wants to be born in the manger of our heart. If our hearts are tuned to the worldly pleasures and materialistic things that draws our attention to a very large extent then there is no place for Jesus to be born into our hearts. Joseph and Mary went in search of a place to give birth to Jesus but no one had a place for him. So let us introspect and see if our hearts are ready to welcome Jesus or do we still want to keep the manger (our hearts) empty. Read more

Tadev:  Simao Titiv, Dev Boro dis dium. Tum hea vellar khoim gel’lo ani hi poti kosli?

Simao:  Dev tuka kurpa dium Tadev.  Ek rajki pokxache monis saman vanttale dekun hanvuim tem           saman he potient gheun ailam.

Tadev: ‘Covid’ piddek lagun zaiteo sonvstha lokak jevonn ani gorjecheo vostu haddun ditale. Hem         kam atam he pokx korunk lagleat kitem? Read more

I am the candle of HOPE
Hope for the hopeless and hope for the lost
No matter the price, Christ has paid the cost.
Jesus has come and was willing to pay,
being born as a babe that first Christmas day…. Read more

Mogall Firgozkaramno,
Dis fantear uzvaddchea bhov adim Maria Magdalene bhieun bhieun Jezuchea fondda-xim gheli. Oxem xubhvortomananim mellta. Toslich koxi ghoth atam sogllea sonvsarachi zalea. Corona Virus zaun akhea sonvsarak vidhvas zaun sogllo moniskull kallokant ani bhirantint poddlolo. Atam virus il’lo unno zaun soglle kodden zaum tem dhondeant, xallamnim ani ier kodden lok bhieun bhieun bhair sortat. Aiz tori borem asa. Faleam kitem zatelem mhonn noko zaun mon’xancher bhirant aileli ti azun vochunk nam.
Maria Magdalene ani dusreo ostoreo bhieun Jezuchea fonddaxim gheleleo. Jezucho fondd rikhamo polleun teo bheeleo ani ojeap zaleo. Jezu fonddant tankam dixtti poddunk nam punn fonda bhair tankam to mell’llo. Jezuk tinnem poilo ollkhunk nam. Punn uprant olllkhun ti ojeap zali. Read more

We are entering into the month of November, the penultimate month of this eventful year 2021. For us, Catholics, this month begins with All Saints Day on the 1st and All Souls Day on the 2nd. In fact this full month is dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory. It is also dubbed as the ‘Month of the Dead’. On All Saints Day, we honour and pray, not only to the souls who have attained Sainthood on Earth, through official recognition but we firmly believe that all our faithful deceased in Heaven are also considered to be Saints. All Souls Day is a day for commemoration of all the faithful departed. We believe that those who have died with the guilt of lesser sins on their souls, remain in purgatory, until they are finally free of their guilt through the intercessory prayers of their family & friends on earth. It is precisely the reason why this day is dedicated to prayer and remembrance so that the faithful on Earth can offer Masses and prayers in order to help cleanse these souls to fit them for the vision of God in Heaven. For us in Aquem, visiting the Cemetery to pray for the souls of our loved ones, is a lot more convenient than the good old days, when we were under Navelim Parish. It was on 21st May 2006 that our cemetery finally became a reality. On 3rd November we are celebrating the 19th Anniversary of our Church elevation Day. It was on 03/11/2002, that our St. Sebastian Chapel was elevated to the status of an independent Church of St. Sebastian, Aquem. As we are aware, we were earlier a part of the Navelim Parish, until the dawn of this historic day. Read more

Continuation……

The “9” The number “9” on the playing card symbolizes or speaks about the nine lepers who didn’t come back to thank Jesus after they received the healing (Lk 17, 11-19). Only one came back praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked Him. (v.v 15 and 16). Gratitude should be part of our life, specially our gratitude towards God for the wonders He does in our life. Every day is a miracle, it’s all because of God. So we need to be grateful to God everyday like the leper, who especially returned to Jesus to thank Him. We need to show our gratitude towards our parents, family members, whose support and help we receive, etc. Read more