St. Sebastian Church

Once a young energetic catechist Johnson by name, went to visit his Catechism Students. As he was going through the village he saw some children playing with cards. He went to them and sat beside them. The children became little upset and nervous not knowing what their catechism teacher would say to them. “Do you all like to play with these playing cards”? They just murmured in their mouth, “yes”. Johnson smiled towards them and said, “Do you know that there is our catechism hidden in these playing cards”? The children replied, “No”. So, the children became curious to know the hidden catechism in the playing cards. Johnson too was excited to quench their curiosity, to witness Christ and to proclaim the good news to the children. Then Johnson began to unveil them the catechism hidden in the playing Cards. Read more

Many years ago, at a railway station in Mumbai, my eyes fell on a leper walking slowly, some distance away. From nowhere a dog came rushing towards him barking ferociously. The man stood frozen. Seeing his plight, I said frantically ‘Jesus please help him”. In that very instant the dog quietened and just walked away. Then that man continued on his way. This Power in the Name of Jesus is etched in my mind since then.

More recently in Cansaulim, one morning I was walking to Church for Mass. The road was deserted except for 4 dogs playing together ahead of me. I crossed the road to avoid them but they spotted me and came rushing to me. I am used to dogs, so I stood still. They surrounded me playfully one on my left, another on my right and the third in front, blocking me. The fourth and oldest one stood some distance away looking angrily at me and kept barking sharply. I wondered if he wanted me for breakfast. With no one around I shouted twice (as if Jesus is deaf) “Jesus – please – help me”. The next second a biker came from the front and on nearing me revved up and went right past. The 4 dogs gave full chase forgetting me altogether. With continuous “thank you Jesus” I made my way to Church. Read more

The Church celebrates the memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel every year on the 16th of July. During the apparitions at Fatima in the year 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary normally wore a white habit with gold trim and a gold belt at her waist. But during her apparition to the children when the miracle of the sun occurred, she appeared wearing the Carmelite brown habit representing the glorious mysteries of the Rosary. Before that, Mary had appeared to Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes around 18 times (from February to July 1858). On 16th of July (commemoration of Our Lady of Mount Carmel), Bernadette went for the last time to the Grotto and reported, “I have never seen her so beautiful before.”

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Saint Maria Goretti or Saint Goretti is a Saint of the last Century and the youngest saint to be honoured by the Church.

She was born as Maria Tereza Goretti on 16th October 1890 to Luigi Goretti and Assunta Goretti in Corinaldo, Southern Italy.

They were seven children of a farming family she being the third. Her father died of Malaria when she was just 9 years old.
After the death of their father they shifted to another house which they shared with another family known as Serenelli.

Maria’s Mother and other siblings use to work in their farm, while she remained in the house to do the household chores and also look after the youngest sibling. Read more

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)