St. Sebastian Church

Greetings,
A salute to Front line warriors – In Medicine
It is an undeniable fact that COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted normal lifestyle of people across the globe. While on one hand people across India and around the globe are largely confined to their homes with businesses and educational institutions all shut down in an attempt to contain the virus, there are on the other hand doctors, health-care workers, and medical staff members who are leading the battle against COVID-19 from the front. While the deadly virus has brought attention to the inadequacies in the health-care systems across the globe, nevertheless, doctors and health-care workers have been risking their lives working on ground Zero to save us all. An irrefutable fact is putting their own lives at risk with selfless determination for the sake of saving lives, they truly are our heroes in these challenging times. Read more

26th July is the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, father and mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I have always been intrigued by this couple, because I often wonder who could have raised someone like Holy Mary, the Glorious Mother of Jesus Christ. There isn’t a whole lot written about their lives, before or after having Mary, aside from what is contained in the Apocryphal Protoevangelium of James.

Joachim was a well respected and “exceedingly rich man” of the tribe of Judah who often doubled his offerings to God, while Anna was the daughter of a priest of the tribe of Levi. They were married for many years without children.
The story goes that an angel of God appeared to them and then they were blessed with a baby girl who was Holy Mary. They must have been so happy to be blessed with a baby girl, that even in their wildest dreams they must have not expected that their baby girl would be chosen to be the mother of Jesus and hence they were blessed to be His grandparents. Read more

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has completely disrupted our lives and devastated many families all over the world. All of us would know of a relative, friend, neighbor or an old acquaintance lost to this virus, causing much anguish and loss. While it seems as if there is no answer to these problems, there is One, who has all the answers and has provided us with a Ray of Hope, the COVID vaccine.

There are several vaccines developed against the virus using different technologies. All the vaccines that have been approved are safe and efficacious, and provide a protection in the range of 70‐95%. However,  there have been a lot of myths regarding the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. This has led to vaccine hesitancy,  which is one of the causes of mortality in this pandemic. One needs to be reassured, that all vaccines go through a rigorous process of clinical trials before they are approved for use in the general population. As of now, India has approved Covishield (Serum Institute India), Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) and Sputnik (Dr Reddy’s Lab). Vaccines contain protein material from the virus. None of them carry the live virus, hence one cannot get COVID-19 by taking the vaccine.  The few people who reported positive after vaccines, either were in the incubation period when they took the vaccines, or they got infected at the vaccination site from someone, as a result of not following the COVID appropriate behaviour. Mild allergies are not a reason for avoiding the vaccine. Do discuss with your doctor and consider protecting yourself with the jab. Read more

Dislem mhaka borovchem mhunn
Konn zanna- kitem-i tori
Ghetlem pen, laglem borovunk
Kitlea proxnacheo, zapo sodunk.
Proxnn – khup gombir te
Zann konn sutave kortolo
Rat-dis tor yetach
Pavsache – bhirmute koxe.
Nachtat re, monant mhojea
Zann konn- kitloi vell
Hav-bhav zata bodol
Pollevunk dista- Bhurgeamcho khell.

-Rhea U. Bangalorkar

Before I knew You, Jesus
I would worry and I’d fret.
Each time bad news came my way.
I’d really get upset.
Now I try to analyze
The news that I receive;
I look beyond the surface
So I will not be deceived.
I have learned, dear Jesus,
At times I must bear pain.
I also know it won’t be long
Before You will explain.
I’m learning to accept what comes…
In You, alone, I trust,
For if I’m to be faithful…
Believing is a must!

– Melissa Fernandes (Ward 12)

Mogall firgozkaramno,
Fattleam disamnim konnem kednanch adim polleunk nam toslem polleunk pavlim. Kitlim sogott mornnam. Ani voita thoim moddim. Meloleam mon’xancheo kuddi lhasounk line korchi poddtali. Lhasounk lhakudd nam zaun ani moronn korunk marog poddta mhonn Uttar Pradesh ani Bihar lokan meloleo kuddi Ganga nhoimche dodder purleo. Tantuntleo zaiteo udkant vhavun gheleo. Hanga Aquem ganvant legun kitlo mhonn lok fattlea mhoineant morun ghelo. 15 disam modem hanvem 12 mornnam kelim.

Oslea vhoilea dekhaveant sogllem dukh ani roddnnem. Dista, roddun, roddun dolleantlim dukham soit sukhun ghelim mhonn. Oslea odruxttak konnuch nam zap ditolo ani zobabdari ghetolo. Zobabdari aslole monis lipun ravle. Thoddeanim guneanv dusreancher ghatle. Zobabdari asloleanim hem odruxtt porjecher magun ghetlem. Read more

The entire world has been changed overnight by the invisible and life – threatening Covid – 19: The people were carefree but are now in the grip of a fear psychosis. Many families have been shattered even to the extent of losing more than one family member at a time. We are all worried about how to keep our family and ourselves safe and immune to the virus which has literally brought the whole world to its knees.

India dropped its guard at the vital moment allowing melas, elections and mass rallies. Mass gatherings went on unabated leading to community infections to such an extent that today India has the dubious distinction of topping the list of infected countries with maximum infections. Read more

Jonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh/Old Testament) to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BCE. The name “Jonah” means “dove” in Hebrew, but Jonah’s character is anything but dove-like. He was chosen by God to bring about moral peace in Nineveh (Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, who destroyed the ten tribes of Israel, 721BC). In this book we see that Jonah does not like pagans and if God saves them, Jonah does not feel like paying the price for it, for he was a Jew. How are we to understand that God saves everyone if, at the same time, he repeats throughout the Bible that Israel alone was chosen, that it alone has the word of life, it alone has the  savior, that all that God demands (circumcision, or later baptism, or Eucharist, or sexual prohibition) is absolutely necessary in the order to be saved? Was Jonah really to take up this mission of  God? In this article we will not go through the pages of the book of Jonah but we will see some implications for our life and for our society.

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