St. Sebastian Church

It looked like any other retirement party at the office. Only it wasn’t. Robert, or Rob to his colleagues, was only 40 years old!

Robert had been working for a large IT company for the past eight years. Throughout his tenure, he scaled meteoric growth and won several promotions to become the Vice President of the Service Delivery function. His colleagues and superiors were equally perplexed at Robert’s decision to put down his papers, once and for all.

“Are you kidding? Robert, you have been performing so well, there’s much to achieve. Also, you are so young! Why do you want to waste your life, and how will you survive without a regular income?” Read more

Jesus came to this earth

To show us how to live.

How to put others first

How to love and how to give.

Read more

Mogall Firgozkaramno,

Hea 2021 vorsan amkam sobar avhanam haddleant. Tim sangpak ani mezpak fursot soit nam. Dor disa ami ek novem jivit jietat kai dista. Novem/dusrem jivit (second life) mellop mhollear ek vhodd bhag. Punn tem koxem jieunchem tantunt vhoddponn asa.

Ek pautt pausant ek render maddar choddttalo. Vhoir chodda astanam tacho hat nisorlo ani to render vhoir thaun sokla poddlo. Punn tachea borea noxiban to vattoulo. Dusri vost zali ti hi. To poddlo mhonn bhielo ani maddar choddpacho vavr tannem tea disa thaun soddlo. To anik maddar kednanch porot choddlo nam. Read more

My dear friends

As is customary, after the three Kings’ Feast on 6^th January, it was time to bring down all the lights, the Christmas tree and all the glitzy decorations, adorning our homes & the streets. The children carried out this exercise with a tinge of sadness, more so when Baby Jesus had to be wrapped up and remain boxed till the next Christmas. Read more

Dear Reader,

I wish you and your family all the graces and blessings that Jesus can ever shower upon you through the intercession of St. Sebastian.

You are holding a very festive issue of PORMOLL, power-packed with the warmest wishes, blessings and prayers from and to all parishioners. Added to this are the useful and handy advertisements to support and perpetuate PORMOLL. In the air is also the aura of Carnival, which marks the end of all festivities and the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Read more

Dear friends,

On 11^th February, every year the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette between February 11 and July 16, 1858, at the age of 14. She had a series of visions of the Virgin Mary in the nearby Massabielle grotto. Mary revealed her identity with the words “I am the Immaculate Conception” and gave her the message “Penance! Penance! Penance! Pray to God for sinners”. By saying penance three times, our Lady stresses on the conversion of heart and mind of humanity. Read more

• I wonder what happens if we treat our Bible like we treat our cell phone.
• What if we carried it around in our pocket & turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
• What if we flipped through it several times a day?
• What if we received messages from the text?
• What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
• What if we give it to kids as gifts?
• What if we used it as we travelled?
• What if we used it in case of emergency?
• What if we upgraded it to get new text version?

Read more

Tadev: Dev boro dis dium, Simao Titiv. Zaitea disamnim meuloi. Chintest-so distai, koslea chintnamnim buddlai?

Simao: Dev tuka kurpa dium, Tadev. Hea disamnim hanv chodd-so bhair soronam, hea COVID duensache bhirantin. Kitle-xech mhoine zale, hi pidda amchi vattuch soddinam. Fatllea prachit kallant zo dhoko boslolo to azun chaluch asa. Kitlim amchim Novenam ani Festam amkam nam zaleant. Read more

A virtue is an attitude or a way of life to control our action and guide our conduct so that we can do the good things that God wants us to do. When we live a virtuous life, we receive inner joy, strength and peace.

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to Your word.” We traditionally speak of this as her great “fiat” (yes) to God!

One thing we see within these words is that our Blessed Mother is offering her complete consent to something that she does not understand. Mary listened, pondered and then immediately consented to the words spoken. “Let it be done to me according to Your word”. Our Blessed Mother’s faith was one that knew the truth without having to be fully understood. This is a gift. Read more

By Dr. Noel Menezes
M.D
Associate Professor
Department of Biochemistry
Goa Medical College

Uric acid is a normal body waste product produced by the breakdown of purines. Purines are nitrogen-containing compounds found in the cells of the body, including our DNA. They are also found in many foods such as liver, shellfish, and alcoholic drinks, primarily beer.

When purines are broken down to Uric acid in the blood, the body gets rid of it when you urinate. But if your body makes too much Uric acid, or if your kidneys aren’t working well, Uric acid can build up in the blood. Uric acid levels can also increase when you eat too many high-purine foods or take medicines like diuretics, aspirin, and niacin. Then crystals of Uric acid can form and collect in the joints. This causes painful inflammation leading to a condition called “Gout” which is characterized by inflammation of the joints due to the formation of Uric acid crystals (tophi) in the joints (synovial fluid). Read more