Voice Of The Shepherd

Transcription

1 BIRTHDAYS ORDINATION ANNIVERSARY Voice Of The Shepherd Fr. P. Ramesh Christy 02 nd Fr. Hyrudayaraju Vendi CRS 06 Fr. Briner Seller 21 st Fr. Guy de F. Rajendram, S.J 12 Fr. Ignace Joseph Fr. P. Suhanan FEASTDAYS Fr. M. Antony Raj, CRS Bro. Dominic Savio FC ` Bro. Z.A. Aloysius st Fr. J.S.Arasareinam 29 REST IN PEACE Fr. M. Chandra Fernando Fr. J.P. Patrick Fr. W.D. Joseph Costa Fr. Godfrey Cook, SJ Fr. Rex Ockersz nd Dear Reverend Faers, Broers and Sisters, After celebrating e great Solemnities of e Lord and being filled wi joy at we experienced in e Mon of May wi all possible Marian Devotions, we are entering into anoer mon at unites us to Jesus wi e Feast of Body and Blood of e Lord and brings us closest to e Heart of Jesus wi e Feast of e Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. As we had already announced, all e Priests will renew eir Consecration to e Sacred Heart when we gaer for our Monly Recollection. We also insist at e traditional practise of Sacred Heart Enronement and its Renewal be encouraged in families. A program of appreciation for Priests & Religious Ordained between The above program conducted by e National Commission for Seminaries, Clergy and Religious will be held at e National Seminary, Ampitiya. From Tuesday 21 st, July to Thursday 23 rd, July 2015 This program will be for e Priests & Religious ordained between: 1955 & 1967 Please keep e dates free. We will communicate wi you soon. Fr. Williams Evans, Vice- Rector, National Seminary, Ampitiya, Co-ordinator of e Program A WELCOME AND A FAREWELL Recently Sr. Amirarani Xavier HF was welcomed at OZANAM as superior. They also bid farewell to Sr. Regina Saniyahupillai HF. She was transferred to Mulankavil. May God Bless you and ank you for your services. Several Psalms encourage us to sing a new song unto e Lord. Saint Augustine, reflecting on is invitation, asks what new song I can sing? and suggests at e best song I can ever sing to e Lord is e song of my own life. My life as a Christian will be a song most pleasing to God if I live according to e commandments and e spirit of e Gospel, and so become more like Jesus, fulfilling all e demands of my status in life and responding generously and faifully to e call to holiness. Once again our sincere anks to all ose who have contributed generously towards Nepal Disasters. It seems only few Parishes have taken our appeal seriously and had contributed eir mite, whereas e rest have behaved like e Priest and e Levite in e parable of e Good Samaritan. The whole country is marching towards e pa of Reconciliation wi e vision of building one nation and one people. The Bishop s Conference of Sri Lanka has also appealed in e same line to do whatever possible to make is dream realized. We ank and appreciate all ose who have organized a prayer meeting on Reconciliation in Madhu and all ose who have participated from all e Dioceses. I invite you all to pray in a special way for e speedy recovery of His Lordship Rt.Rev.Dr.Rayappu Joseph, Bishop of Mannar. Yours in Christ, +Joseph Ponniah. May God Bless you all. St. Antony Pray for us Page - 12 Ut Unum Sint St. Antony Pray for us Page - 01 Ut Unum Sint

2 Bishop s Diary st 01 2 nd 07 June 2015 MONTHLY RECOLLECTION am Festive Mass at Thiraimadu Church am Wedding Mass. Out of e Island pm Opening & Blessing of e Church of St. Anony, Koolavadi am Bible Class am Festive Mass at Hingurana St. Anony s Church First Holy Communion and Confirmation 29 July 4 On May 24, 2015 Bp. Joseph administered First Holy Communion and Confirmation to e children at Thandavenveli, Our Lady of Presentation Church. On at day e Local Ordinary celebrated his 7 anniversary of his Episcopal Ordination. Congratulations to our beloved Bishop. Retreat for Badulla Diocesan Priests. Bishop Joseph concelebrated a Holy Mass at Our Lady of Velankanni Shrine You can visit us on: Vatican unveils logo, of Holy Year of Mercy Holy Faer's Prayer Intentions for e mon of June Universal: That immigrants and refugees may find welcome and respect in e countries to which ey come. Evangelization: That e personal encounter wi Jesus may arouse in many young people e desire to offer eir own lives in priesood or consecrated life. St. Antony Pray for us Page - 02 Ut Unum Sint St. Antony Pray for us Page - 11 Ut Unum Sint

3 Feast of St. Joseph's Minor Seminary The annual feast of e Minor Seminary was celebrated on a grand scale on May 01st, Bp. Joseph togeer wi Minor. Seminary Rector, Fr. J. S. Moreas, his assistant Fr. Noton and e priests of e Diocese concelebrated at e festive Mass. Religious nuns, benefactors and parents of e seminarians were ere to grace e occasion. Monly Recollection for Priests The monly Recollection for Priests was held on May 5&6, The Guest speaker for e day was Rev. Fr. Joel Sj. Feast of our Bishop The whole Church celebrated e Feast of St. Joseph, e patron of all workers on May 01 st, Bishop Joseph too celebrated his patronal feast. The Diocese of Batticaloa wishes him God's abandon blessings and good heal. Feast of Our Lady of Rosary Shrine The annual feast of Our Lady of Rosary Shrine, Pullumalai was held on May 03rd, Bishop Joseph was e Chief celebrant at e festive Mass. There were a number of priests along wi a multitude of faiful were ere to celebrate e feast in a grand manner. Our congratulations to Fr. T. A. Julian (P.P) and his assistant. Fr. Suluxshan for organizing is feast in a grand manner. God s Power Is Made Perfect in Our Weakness St Paul had a problem. And it was serious. We don t know what e exact problem was., but it really annoyed him. He tells us at it was a orn in e flesh, a weakness at beat him down. He, of course, never quit struggling to overcome his weakness. We are no different an Paul. We can identify ourselves wi Paul. We all have really embarrassing personal weaknesses. We all want to be free from it. Yet God answers our prayers and says, No. My power is made perfect in your weakness. What does at mean? It means at God works His wonders rough us, despite our weaknesses. When we count our blessings, we should include e weaknesses, e hardships, e burdens, and e trials we face. If we do, we might find at God has used our difficulties more an e 'good ings to help us grow spiritually. It is because it is in ose difficult places at we discover e sufficiency of His grace. In our trials, we turn to God. As we depend on Him, we find at His streng is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9). In future, if ever we are tempted to question God's way of dealing wi us, let us ink of St. Paul and how Christ dealt wi him. If we feel at we are asked to carry some cross which interferes wi our spiritual activity we will pray and ask to have at cross removed---if at should be according to God's will. But we should always remember at it may be rough is very bodily defect or weakness at e power of Christ is to be made manifest in us, as was e case wi St. Paul. We don't often ank God for our trials, troubles, and difficulties. Alough we are willing to praise God for His goodness, we sometimes fail to realize at even adverse circumstances are blessings in disguise. We should stop for a moment and ink about e way God has led us. When we praise God for our blessings, we should remember to ank Him for our orns. Those who are true to God know at eir streng lies not in emselves but in God. Ahil, S.J. St. Antony Pray for us Page - 10 Ut Unum Sint St. Antony Pray for us Page - 03 Ut Unum Sint

4 Get well soon We were saddened to hear at our Bishop of Manner was suddenly taken ill. We pray at he will soon recover and get back to his normal routine. -Bishop of Batticaloa and Priests- Soursop A well-known fruit roughout much of e world, e soursop's delicious white pulp, wi tones of fruit candy and smoo cream is commonplace in tropical markets, but is rarely found fresh anywhere else. Inside its in, leaery, green flesh is a large mass of creamy pulp, usually intermixed wi black seeds. Events to come June 01 st, pm Renewal of Consecration of Priests June 02 nd, am Morning Prayer & Holy Mass 9.00 am Rosary 9.30 am Talk and Discussion The seeds, which have emetic properties, can be used in e treatment of vomiting. The leaf decoction is effective for head lice and bedbugs. The crushed fresh leaves can be applied on skin eruptions to promote healing. The juice of e fruit can be taken orally as a remedy for ureritis, hematuria and liver ailments. The juice when taken when fasting, it is believed to relieve liver ailments and leprosy. To speed e healing of wounds, e flesh of e soursop is applied as a poultice unchanged for 3 days. A decoction of e young shoots or leaves is regarded as a remedy for gall bladder trouble, as well as coughs, catarrh, diarrhea, dysentery, fever and indigestion. Mashed leaves are used as a poultice to alleviate eczema and oer skin problems and rheumatism. Annual Pentecost service At Tetaeevu On May 23 rd,& 24, 2015 The root bark is use as an antidote for poisoning. Soursop flowers are believed to alleviate catarrh. Decoction of leaves used as compresses for inflammation and swollen feet. St. Antony Pray for us Page - 04 Ut Unum Sint St. Antony Pray for us Page - 09 Ut Unum Sint

5 Feast at Igniyagala Our Lady of Fatima's Church feast was celebrated in a grand manner on May 17, Bishop Joseph was e Chief celebrant at e festive Mass. Congratulations to Fr. Bastian OSB for organizing is feast in a grand manner. Bp. Joseph Ponniah blessed and opened a new Mission House at Vaharai on May 10, Opening of e new Mission House at Vaharai The Number You Dial is currently Busy, Please Try Again later. There was a conversation between Moer Mary and Jesus Christ. Mary asked Jesus, Son why do you look very sad. Jesus replied, See mom I wants to speak wi my people. I want to chat wi em, but whenever I call someone I only hear The number you dial is currently busy, please try again later. Now days we are very busy wi our smart phones, trying to show our colours. Today e little ones and retired people alike have smart mobile phones. I happened to listen to a grandma of my parish. She told me, Early days I could see e Caolics carrying eir bibles and rosaries for masses and oer activities, but now I don t know wheer ey carry eir bible and rosary, but I am sure ey never forget to carry eir mobile phones. It is e actual situation in is modern world. We have no time to speak wi Jesus, but we have enough time to attend e viber calls. We have no time to turn e bible pages, but we have plenty of time to turn e pages on Google. We have no time to roll e rosary, but we have enough time to roll e marbles in Angry Bird. We have no time to see e feast days and solemnities, but we ve plenty of time to see e birdays of our face book friends. Most of us will say all ese are not bad.these ings helps us a lot to ease our work. Yes we can agree wi em. But we are sure at ese smart phones or oer gadgets will never lead us to Eternal life. These will never intercede for our salvation. Pope Francis says, Use e modern technologies for e evangelization and be aware at is may not become e obstacles of your spirituality. Most of e time we are not aware of all ese ings, at Jesus is eagerly waiting for us, to listen to our voice. I saw at Madu Shrine when our Holy Faer gave e blessing wi e statue of Our Lady of Madu no one was ready to receive e blessing because all of em were very busy in capturing e Holy Faer wi e statue by eir smart phones. So let us ink seriously about is matter. We shall try to live e words of our Holy Faer. Let us use e modern social Media to spread e Good News and to strengen our people s fai. We should not forget at Jesus is calling us, and we should give some time to Him so at in e future He may not hear at, The number you dial is currently busy please try again later. In fact He may get waiting calls. Bro.Richardson Bishop at Mankerny church Bishop was at Mankerny church on May 16,2015 to administer First Holy Communion and Confirmation to e Parish Children. This event was organized by e new P. P. Fr. Merushan. St. Joseph Vaz Vidyalayam A anksgiving Mass was concelebrated at St. Joseph Vaz Vidyalayam, Thandavenveli on May 15, Bp. Joseph was e Chief celebrant at e Holy Mass. Very. Rev. Fr. A. Thevaasan, Frs. I. Joseph and A. Robert were e concelebrants at e Holy Mass. Congratulations to e Principal and his team for organizing e event. CATHOLIC BISHOP S CONFERENCE IN SRI LANKA HAVE DECLARED, DAY OF PRAYER & FASTING ON 07 TH, JUNE 2015, SUNDAY FOR, FEAST OF THE CORPUS CHRISTI AT THE DIOCESAN LEVEL. Kindly organize is, for your Parishioners on e same day. Thank You Very. Rev. Fr. A. Thevaasan V.G. St. Antony Pray for us Page - 08 Ut Unum Sint St. Antony Pray for us Page - 05 Ut Unum Sint

6 .. St. Antony Pray for us Page Ut Unum Sint St. Antony Pray for us Page - 07 Ut Unum Sint

7 ROSARIUM VIRGINIS MARIAE A VIEW POINT BY FR. T. VALDMAN ODIGITRIA - 02 Contemplation bears witness to life wi Christ. Therefore e fact at rosary outlines e most important moments of e Savior s life and e so called mysteries it s significant for e evangelization. The mysteries are grouped in ree cycles: at of Christ s childhood, e cycle of his public life introduced by St. John Paul II and finally e cycles of e Sorrowful and Glorious mysteries (no 20-23). It is a recalling and a bringing up-to date of e story of salvation, in which we can spiritually participate, as you do during feast days dedicated to ese moments of Christ s lives. St. John Paul II also indicates e constitutive elements of e rosary: e announcing of each mysteries perhaps even using suitable icon to portray it, so at e words may direct e soul towards a particular moments in e life of Christ (No 29), e proclamation of a related biblical passage, at is listen to wi a certainty at it is e Word of God, spoken for today and spoken for me (no:30), observing a moments of silence One of e secrets contemplation and meditation (no:31), reciting Pater Noster, so at e mind may be lifted up towards e Faer after listening to e Word (no:32), e 10 Aves e prayer centered around e name of Jesus. After e Gloria, considered to be e high point of contemplation (no:34), it is recommended to conclude each mystery wi a prayer for e fruits specific to at particular mystery (35) In is apostolic letter, e Rosary in as much it is a repetitive prayer is compared to e prayer of e heart or Jesus s prayer.(05). As a prayer at recalls e principal moments of Christ s life, e rosary can be considered in certain way equivalent to e contemplation of Christ s life wi Mary. Pope St. John XXIII says, For me ese 15 mysteries of e rosary are 15 windows rough which I contemplate events in e life of e Lord. It is also a Marian prayer underline e importance of Mary, as e one who shows e way Odigitria as when she tells us do whatever he tells you (John 2:5) or wi St. Paul she says, Be imitators of me as I am of Christ (1 Cor 4:16) Hence, being true to e saying, as e moer so e child, let us en be imitators of e Sacred Heart in e mon of June, as Mary was roughout her life. Like Mary, wi Jesus we are heroes. But wiout Him we are zeroes. Distilled by Fr. Mari Pastor of Thalankuda was doing his parish visitation. As he neared e house of One Mrs. Peter, her little son began to shout and dance saying Amma, Amma e Mass is coming. Mrs. Peter, being a little bit puzzled, corrected her son saying at Mass cannot come to us, but, we will have to go to e church to offer e Mass. But, e child still persisted. Just to satisfy her curiosity she looked rough e kitchen window to see e pastor at her door step. After wishing each oer, e pastor said, See, what a deep understanding of e Holy Mass your son has at is tender age. After blessing e little child, he said to his moer, hopefully one day we will stand at our parish altar not just to say a Mass but to be e Holy Mass. Two boys were walking home from Sunday s school after hearing a strong preaching on e devil. One said to e oer what do you ink about all ese Satan stuff? The oer boy replied, Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out. It is probably your dad Just kidding By: Rib Tickler At a Sunday school e teacher was teaching how God created everying including human beings. Little Johnny seemed specially intended when ey told him how eve was created out of one of Adam s ribs. Later in e week his moer noticed him lying down as ough he was ill and she said Johnny what is e matter? Little Johnny responded, I have a pain in my side I ink I m going to have a wife.