St. Sebastian Church

We all believe that after we die, our soul goes to heaven, hell or purgatory. We fear Death and nobody wants to die, probably because of the final judgement before God. Do good on earth and you are rewarded with eternal glory in heaven. God has given each one of us an Indication Panel to guide us through life and prevent us from getting turned upside down and crashing! That indication panel is the value system given to us in the Gospels in clear terms, summarized beautifully in just one sentence “Love God and Love your Neighbour”. All the Saints kept their eyes on this Indication Panel and never lost sight of what was important. They have been rewarded with Sainthood by the Church to be honoured and glorified by the faithful. We also have our very own, those that have died and gone before us. Maybe our father, our mother our grandparents, our brother or sister, our friends and acquaintances who have attained eternal salvation. They too are praying for us and keeping a watch over us. They may not be declared as Saints but they are Saints in equal measure. All Saints’ Day is therefore a solemn holy day celebrated annually on 1^st November and is dedicated to these Saints of the Church, that is, all those who have attained heaven.

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Social media can best be described as web based communication tools that enable its users to interact with each other efficiently and effectively. Some of the prominent examples of social media are Facebook, Twitter, What’s app, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat etc... Social media has revolutionized the way people communicate with each other, share their views, pictures, videos and do business. With growing reach of technology people are bound to use social media in some way or the other. From developed to developing nations people are connected via social media.  However, on the other hand it has also adversely affected society. As the saying goes, ‘’water can give life, and water can also take life. It all depends on how you use it.’’. Similarly social media can be a boon or a bane, it all depends on how constructively and effectively it is used. Willingly or unwillingly it can still have positive and negative impacts on its users.

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1 Peter 3:12 says, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers.”

What is Righteousness?

A person is righteous in the eyes of God when he/she has right relationship with God and with self, (guided by constructive self-love as opposed to destructive self-love), with family members, with others and with the environment.

We can rightly infer that our prayers – Thanksgiving, Praise, Worship and Petitions become powerful when we love God. First and foremost let us thank and praise God for the gift of life. There could have been a situation where I am not created. I do not exist. Also for Redemption. Are not all other gifts secondary?

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Every year the month of November is dedicated as a month for Holy Souls. We need to pray for the souls of our near and dear departed ones. As well as the unknown souls. Souls who have nobody to pray for, the abandoned souls. EVERY SOUL needs our prayer to their salvation. We have plenary indulgences during this month, whereby we get benefit of number of days in Purgatory.

We pray that everyone goes to heaven. Heaven is the ultimate goal. No one would like to go to hell. But due to various reasons, best known to souls, they go to Purgatory. These souls are in need of our prayers.

Why we should pray for these souls? These souls are in Purgatory because they are on trial and they will attain salvation only if we pray for them and redeem them.

They do suffer in Purgatory but their suffering in this place is only temporary as they will definitely go to heaven one day once they accomplish their salvation.

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Organ donation

Organ donation and transplantation is one of the remarkable medical success stories of this century. Besides eyes and kidneys it is also possible to transplant other organs like heart, lungs, liver and pancreas. To make all these transplants possible and alleviate the sufferings of many, the Indian Government in 1994 passed an act called “The transplantation of human organs act’’

Over the years, organ donation has proved to be very successful.  Donor card is the first step in this regard and your signing this card can save many lives.

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Newspaper is a powerful means of mass communication conveying current information. Its basic function is to provide info-edu-tainment (information, education and entertainment).

You pick it up, carry it, read it and move on. It is a serial publication containing news about politics, sports, religious topics, art, music, classifieds, obituaries, letters to the editor, advertisements, and other informative articles and so on. They are found all over the world and published in different languages. It has become a part and parcel of our daily life.

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PRAYER

Any Prayer, whether personal or community prayer has its own manifold positives. Although generally the elderly people follow the holy tradition piously, the present day generation, at times, more often than not, feel it is a waste of time, In our everyday life, a student understands the importance of homework and regular studies. So also, a sportsperson knows the worth of a daily dose of practice, without which, setbacks are bound to surface. In contrast, in our spiritual life, we tend to forget so easily.

Our Lord invites each one of us to lead a life of prayer so as to inculcate the values of discipline and perseverance in our day to day life. If we wish to grow in faith, we must, at all times, believe in the word of God and trust the Lord at all times. Saying our prayers and participating in the Eucharist, is learning about our religion, while living our life, by the teachings of the Lord, is practicing it. It is very important to develop an attitude of Christian values. Gandhiji, whose Jayanti, is celebrated on 2nd October, often attributed character to something as simple as a thought or a word, which developed into a deed or habit, ultimately turning to character. He often advised people that their every thought and work must spring from love and concern for all. As Catholics, we need to develop our character, attitude and faith. Once such an attitude is developed, it will last, irrespective of the events or circumstances in our life. Let us ask our Lord, to teach us to pray.

Many of our priests and nuns do a lot of Missionary work, working in remote, undeveloped villages, all over India and overseas as well. It’s a lot of dedicated work, done for love of God and part in this challenging life, full of sacrifices. Shortly, we will observe a Mission Sunday and the collections made that day, will be sent to the Missions.

Let’s be generous and contribute with open arms. Remember, it is in giving that we receive. Let us do our bit to reach out to those in need. In return, God will bles us abundantly.

Until we meet again.

Felix Dias
Acting Editor

Otumbr-ache 22ver ami Dhormporgottnecho aitar somorombhtanv. Dhormporgottnecho aitar mhollear amchea dolleam mukhar fokot calendar, envelopes ani toxench aitarachea dhormdanamcho ugdass ieta. Punn khoro dhorm porgottop mhollear kitem, tem ami visortanv. Dhorm porgottop mhollear, ‘Ak’khea sounsarak vochun Devachem xubhvortoman amchea bhavam bhoinnank porgottop’. Bhagevont Paulu mhonnta “Xubhvortoman porgottop mhollear mhaka vhoddvik nhoi punn to mhaka ek kaido, tem hanv korinam zalear mhojem kotta” – 9 kor, 16;
Amerike-chea desant ‘Morgan’ Nanvacho ek Anglican Pastor ani famad ‘Preacher’ asa. Sadhea utranim, lokachea kallzak lagta te bhaxen Devachem utor porgot’ta. Taka chear put asat, ani he tache put aplea Bapai bhaxen bore ‘Preacher’ vortovtat.
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Saint Luke whose feast day we celebrate on 18th October, was one more Gospel Writer (or Evangelist), besides Mathew, Mark and John.

St. Luke was also called LUCANOS or dear and Glorious. Physician was the son of AENEAS and IRIS who were slaves of PRISCUS and ANTONIA, who were Roman aristocrats. AENEAS and IRIS were Greeks. AENEAS was managing the states of his master. Whereas as IRIS was a beautiful Greek slave girl.

PRISCUS and ANTONIA presided over the wedding of the young couple and had given them many gifts. Including the priceless gift of their freedom. So Luke was not a slave when he was born. He Studied at Alexandria which was the ultimate seat of Education at that time. He was a bright student and was well appreciated by his teachers. The teachers wanted him to study the matter of their choice. But he decided to be a doctor (Physician) mainly because he thought that GOD was a tormentor, who punished his creation without a traitor a good reason.

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The onset of the monsoons in India brings both good and bad tidings. Good tidings include welcome relief from the scorching summer heat, bonus to farmers, gardeners etc.  The monsoons bring life but just as easily bring death in the form of the innocuous winged killer, the mosquito. As angry thunderheads break out, hordes of mosquitoes threaten India with sometimes fatal malaria, dengue, filariasis or elephantiasis and other diseases.

Today the mosquito can breed anywhere from a rice field to a cupful of water i.e. basically anywhere where there is dirty or even clean but stagnant water accumulation.

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