St. Sebastian Church

February 11 is the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, one of the most celebrated apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary that took place in southern France. Most of us are familiar with the incidents that took place during these visions in the year 1858 – how Virgin Mary appeared to a young, poor girl named Bernadette Soubirous, who was out collecting firewood with her sister and another friend near a grotto. From 11 February to 16 July 1858, she reported 18 apparitions of “a Lady”. Bernadette described the lady as wearing a white veil and a blue girdle; she had a golden rose on each foot and held a rosary of pearls. Read more

MSGR. HERCULANO GONSALVES – A PATH FROM HUMANITY TO HOLINESS…

A Brief Description: In the early thirties of the twentieth century, Msgr. Herculano Gonsalves, a Goan Diocesan Priest from Cana, Benaulim, was enthused with a vision to be Christ-like to the poor, the unwanted, the homeless, the distressed and the like. Responding to the call of Jesus – the Good Samaritan, he materialised his vision through concrete works of charity and his spirit still reverberates in the hearts of those who cherished his generosity, greatness and goodness.  While he was the Parish Priest of St. Alex Church, Calangute, his compassionate love and zeal propelled him to found St.  Alex Orphanage, a shelter for the young girls and homeless children in Calangute in 1930. In order to give them proper Education, he founded Little Flower of Jesus School, the First English Medium School in Calangute in 1931. To continue his noble work of Protection, Care and Education of the orphans and the needy children, he took another daring step and founded the first indigenous Congregation in Goa for women Religious in 1935, as Congregacăo das Irmăs de Santo Aleixo, now known as Congregation of the Handmaids of Christ. Read more

At any given time, no matter what the situation or circumstance before you, you always possess one thing, and that is ‘Choice’. Choice to make the decision to choose wisely. Choosing the right foods and quantities is thus very important to maintain good health. We can update ourselves with regards to nutritious foods and empty calorie foods, and constantly choose what we want to put into our system, as after all its rightly said, “you are what you eat”. So if our health and well-being is directly or indirectly governed by what we eat, then, how important is what we eat? How much knowledge do we have on this subject? More importantly how much of it is scientific and how much a myth?

Read more

Through John, Mary is given to us as our mother. Some Non Catholic Christians do not accept this Teaching of the Catholic Church.

The new evidence for us is the order/arrangement of Jesus’s words- His first statement addressed to His mother being, “Woman behold your son”, following which He said to his disciple, “Behold your mother”. (John 19. 26 to 27)

Explanation for the Evidence
When a woman conceives a child and when she accepts that child mentally as her own child, she is a mother to that child. Thoughts and feelings for the well-being of her child, translate into deeds of maternal love, care and attention unconditionally. The child experiences that affection and love, right from the womb. So, FIRST THE WOMAN HAS TO BE A MOTHER TO THE CHILD. Only then a child can experience that woman as its mother. The child in turn develops total trust, gratitude and love towards its mother. Read more

Saint Valentine was a saint of the third century. He was born in Terni Italy in 226 AD and he died in Rome on 14^th February 269 A.D.

He was a pious man but history does not reveal much, that he was either a priest or a bishop in the Roman Empire who assisted and ministered the persecuted Christians. He was martyred and his body was buried in a cemetery close to Ponte Milvio north of Rome. His feast has been celebrated on the 14^th February since 496 AD. Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD referred to the Martyr and his acts as “being known only to God” as he was a temple priest and beheaded near Rome by the Emperor Claudius II for helping Christian couples wed. Read more

Hardly the day started and … it is already six o’clock in the evening. Barely arrived on Monday and it’s already Friday.

… and the month is already over.

… and the year is just beginning

… and already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed.

… and we realize that we lost our dear ones, siblings and friends.

…and we realize that it is too late to go back…

So … Let’s try, however, to take full advantage of the time we have left…

Let’s not stop looking for activities that we like… Read more

Does it look like that we are heading for a third world war? The reason that could lead to a global conflict is because of the availability of the nuclear weapon. And nuclear weapons as we know are catastrophic.

Human history has been full of battles and wars, some big and some small. Advanced technologies, massive troupes and more intensive strategies will also increase the intensity of the coming war. The talks about world war III to happen started during the cold war period between US and Russia, soon after the Second World War. Read more

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, famously said, ‘Before anything, preparation is the key to success.’ In the last edition, we read how Angela bailed out Alvina – whose husband, Nigel, was recuperating in the hospital – from her financial troubles as she didn’t have any medical insurance to fall back upon. Prevention is better than cure, both for your physical and financial health. Today, let’s find out how to be truly prepared to face the financial ups and downs in our lives through Sophia’s awe-inspiring story.

Money Mantra # 8

Grow your money plant and enjoy the fruits for life; but you need to nurture them till they attain adequate strength to bear good fruits.

 Ting! Sophia’s mobile phone chimed. Read more

Appearances do not always appear to be true. What appears good in the beginning might really be bad. The proverb, “All that glitters is not gold”, very well applies to human life as well as material things. Simply because something is attractive or beautiful does not mean that thing is valuable.

Going by the appearances can be disastrous. In this world of deception and deceit, what is seen outwardly is not the reality. Often the charming appearances hide the evilness of the wicked. The good looking innocent people who are the perfect cheats of the day. We would come across people who are beautiful and attractive. They would speak so softly and behave very politely that we believe they are gentle. But in reality that might not be their true character. Similarly some people sound harsh and speak straight forward. By their behaviour alone we should not come to a conclusion that they are bad. Read more

It has been claimed that “Goa is a happening place” and we all know how much happens here. These days there have been celebrations for Christenings, First Holy Communion, confirmation, pre and post Weddings, Birthdays, Christmas, New Year and every other good and auspicious occasion, as they blend one into the other. We know how tiring these functions can get since they cannot be avoided for one reason or the other.

Ash Wednesday then, serves as a brake – a slowing down or stop on all the entertainment. As the imposition of the Ash on that day reminds us that ‘we are dust’, may the cross on our forehead serve to remind us to change our thoughts very firmly from what is of this world, to Jesus who died on that cross. May the cross of Ash draw us to look inward to the “ash” accumulated inside us, and use the Lenten season to “dust it off”. A simple beginning would be with prayer. Read more