Learn from Mistakes!!!!!!!!!!!

 LEARN from our own and others mistakes which normally we ignore and don't bother about it though it does affect us consciously and unconsciously. There have been people who never came up in life or just gave up the race in the middle because they ignored the warnings of mistakes which would have been a great help to achieve spiritual and emotional goals. Those who take their mistakes seriously, reflect and evaluavate them, they learn amazing lessons which transforms their lives. These lessons learned make them to look forward to a new life and mission, hope and joy-filled life which even inspires others who are in the same boat. 

When we make mistakes and do not acknowledge them it brings down our efficiency down in all the spheres of human life. Once we have defeated ourselves then we begin to compare ourselves with others and start thinking very  small as a results small doors of success, peace, joy and happiness open in spite of having all the necessary strength and energy. The effect of getting small things in life brings in a lot negative element in life which destroys everything gradually. Thinking big. achieving great heights and success gets earesed from our hard disk. The result of not thinking big we end up receiving small things which do not satisfy our thursts and hunger as a human being. 

There are some of us who just do day dreaming and run after things for which they have no calibre, or cut out for, they expect expect fantastic things and evens to happen in life for which they have neither have talents or cut out for, they end up in failures and self-pity. Things which we cannot afford should not not sought after because at the end there will be only dissatisfaction. We try to tread or walk on a path which you are not going to walk or we do not know the way, we end up landed in a foreign land. Some things and moments in life we cannot achieve that does not mean we cannot get there, if we put in hard work and efforts, yes success we will tasted by us. so Dream the dreams which we can easily with work and confidence can achieve. We will fall several times but learn to rise up and get up to walk....then we would know the difference between failure and success. 

In life we receive many blessings from our elders, these wisdom comes handy when we things in life don't go well, when there turns and twists in life, apply these wisdom of the elders and see the results. The wisdom of the elders is always useful and significant in our growth. If we just throw up our hands in the air and give up when failures knock our doors then we would never taste the success, remember the saying of the eleders...if we don't read and know about things we don't know how would we enrich ourselves....we got to dive into the water then we learn to swim. So think a lot and then feel that it is possible to fly or soar into the sky. Our limits are not within our house boundary but limits are beyond the horizon. Let us not think like the frogs but think like an eagle which accepts the sky as its horizon to explore. 

Beware, Watchful and Vigilant!!!!!!!!!!!

Most of us take our sinful life for granted or we don’t care. It is because sin does not sin anymore, people don’t explain to us the meaning and effects of sin. Some of our actions have become very normal or they are just performed without any feeling and emotion. We need to be on guard and beware of some of the actions, words, behaviors, and deeds. These behaviors and actions can seriously cause a lot of damage to our emotional and spiritual life. There are certain behaviors in our society like drinking, anxiety which are taken lightly and we do them or go through it without any kind of commitment. These behaviors sometimes bring in a lot of negativity and they are not supported in our relationships with others. Sometimes these behaviors dry up our spiritual and prayer life, thus making us people who are not connected with spiritual reality. The consequences of our negative actions and behaviors are felt by us and have a negative impact on others too. We must be careful and grow in our faith, prayer, and spiritual life.  

Not being careful, watchful, and vigilant, we experience many negative forces and energies working within us and we are not able to achieve the goals and missions we would like to accomplish. The encounters which we ought to have with ourselves, others, and God, are not happening due to a lack of spiritual energy which gets drained out due to negative force’s operative within us. Any relationship needs carefulness, watchfulness, and vigilance in order to grow and to deepen. To grow in our interior and spiritual life, we have to work on some of the behaviors which could work against and bring us to a state of hopelessness and feeling of uselessness. The busy life of ours can make us ignore this negative signal of our behavior and it gets aggravated if there is not sufficient communion with God. We give up easily our spiritual and prayer life because interior life is dry and does not really give us a sense of purpose.

When we are not watchful, vigilant and beware many aspects of our spiritual and human lives lose shine and chin, force and energy, less focussed and slowed down, many things, taste likes, habits lose glean and shine. We need to remind ourselves to examine these aspects in order to revitalize and revive our lives for a better future. If not then we will be overburdened and weighed with many negative forces like overindulgences in passing and temporal things of the world, pleasure, money, wealth, using money and power, authority in a wrong and foolish way. When we are not watchful, vigilant and beware, our enthusiasm for life, fall into monotony in performing things, lose interest and vitality, sense of morality so we begin to fall into negative behaviors, get drained out of our spiritual energy and vigor and then slowly we begin to experience life worthless.

Let this Advent to be a time to regain our lost vigor and spirit, fervor and zeal, time to renew our relationship with God, others, and ourselves. It is a time to challenge ourselves to walk with Jesus who walked with us on the earth, time to open our hearts, minds, and souls to the word of God with zest and interest. Let Jesus fill us with His spirit and passion to live our lives worthily, spending lives for others and for Him alone. 

Think you are big!!!!

The day you think you are big and project that through your words and deeds, everyone around you will be your follower and fan. You will be the talk of the town. You will be dominating the hearts, minds, discussions of every person because you have something to offer which the others do not have. You become what you have been dreaming…

We have all heard the story of a beggar at the railway station, many years he begged for his living and had wonderful experiences of the generosity and kindness of the people. Some gave with a smile and some with contempt and bad words. He would travel from one train to another and would beg from all. One day he spotted a rich, well-dressed man in the train. He begged from him but the rich man surprised the beggar by asking something in return. The beggar had nothing to offer him. The rich man said that he would be willing to give him provided he does return something to him. The beggar returned to the railway station thinking about the words of the rich man. The next day he went about begging and those who gave him alms, he would in return hand over a flower. The results were positive. After some months he met the same rich man in the train, who gave him some money and the beggar gave him a flower in return. The rich man said that don’t stop here. There are chances of becoming a rich man if he would start a business. He accepted the words of the rich man and did likewise. He went on to become rich by giving up his begging and using all his talents and gifts.

We all can become what we dream to be provided we accept our inner energy and have confidence in ourselves. We can chase the dreams provided we listen to some experiences of successful people. There is nothing that we cannot achieve the only thing we need to do is to think big. The wisdom that we all have should not go to the graveyard but be utilized here on earth. Believe in the perceptions of you by others.

Don’t be your own enemy but be a friend. Don’t block your own growth. Don’t think that someone has blocked your path or growth. No one can do that unless we allow ourselves to do it. We stop growing and achieving, we stop using God-given talents. We think that someone else is responsible for our failures and misery, others plot our destruction. In life, we block our own success. We don’t believe in our own person. Don’t; blame others for the turmoil within. Don’t blame the environment around you, family, friend, co-employees for the failures in life. To be someone we got to accept all that we are. To be bright and successful we need to give up or surrender something, sacrifice. 

Advent: Time for personal growth

These days of Corona Crisis, life seems to be a little bit tense, filled with worries and tensions, fear of death, etc. The Church is offering us quality time as a perfect gift to reflect on the meaning of Christ’s birth during these bad days. This time of the year is emotionally stressful times for many people and have to manage the stress, struggles, and challenges of COVID. Advent and Christmas seasons will give us the grace to discover ourselves in order to grow spiritually and emotionally so that we can face the challenges of the present-day crisis.

There are so many great ways to live out and celebrate advent and Christmas. These ways that the church offers are more spiritual rather than secular. These sources like rich scripture material, retreats, spiritual talks, confessions, etc. are sources of joy and happiness. 

 

Advent season invites to look at our inner life which at times is neglected due to some unnecessary priorities in life. The soul doesn’t get proper spiritual food so the soul slips into a negative mode. Advent season allows reflecting on the condition of our soul which gets marred by sin throughout the year and reminds us that God sent Jesus for our well-being and salvation. Advent prompts us to acknowledge and shape our inner and outer self which becomes weak due to the non-existence of prayer and charity. Sometimes our out life is dominated by too many anti-God activities which do not allow us to build

up communion with God and others.

 

Advent Liturgy invites us to be ready, watchful, to be self-aware, and undertake self-development decisions which leads us to build up our inner life based on the word of God. Our inner life will grow when we accept that Jesus was born for us and allows us to overcome our many emotional challenges, anxieties, and imbalances. The darkness of the inner life is removed by the grace of God that is offered to us during the Advent season. This season,  inwardly, prepares you to do a compassionate and objective review of our spiritual lives as preparation for receiving the Lord Jesus and also new discovery of ourselves. 

 

Advent will allow us to do a soul searching for living our faith commitment to Jesus and the difference that made in our spiritual and prayer life due to our communion throughout the year. The Liturgical year has the power and energy to fill our lives with meaning and purpose and make us objectively aware of our true selves in union with the Saviour. 

 

Let this coming advent season be a time for self-giving to the Lord and others, be a moment of searching the true meaning of our being disciple of Jesus. Advent will offer us time to get deeper into our relationship with Jesus and receive his grace to be creative in living out our faith. 

 

Celebrate Advent differently .......to Celebrate Christmas Joyously and meaningfully

The most awaited period of the year is Christmas but it is preceded by a season called “Advent” which means “coming of the Lord”. During this season we prepare not materially but spiritually. We allow ourselves to accept the Lord Jesus to be born in our lives and hearts. It is a sacred time for the Church in which we reflect on our faith and relationship with our Lord, examine our communion with the generous God, and with our people around us so that we can celebrate Christmas in a worthy and fitting manner.  

During four Sundays of advent, we could make some meaningful sacrifices, almsgiving, and prayer, which could be directed towards the victims of COVID-19. This act and gesture will definitely help us to grow in our spiritual and prayer life and understand the sufferings of the people. 

Another beautiful preparation we could undertake is to be available and present with our dear and near ones, neighbors, those who are abandoned and forgotten by everyone. We could give ourselves, like our time, smile, pat, embrace, encouraging word, guidance, direction, sharing our experience. This giving of ourselves demands sacrifices and can be only done in the spirit of communion and solidarity. During this pandemic, one might say that we have spent enough and more time with our family members, there is no need to do that again. It is a wrong attitude. Did we really give ourselves, our understanding, love, mercy and compassion? Were we really generous in supporting and helping others, did we rediscover our lost connection with God through prayers, and did we really do something for Jesus? Advent offers us the chance and opportunity to do the above. When we do all that the Lord commands we will find Advent more meaningful and significant which leads us to find a new meaning in life. 

Let us decorate not advent wreaths and Christmas trees, but the wreaths of our relationships and trees of family members and others. This decoration could be spending time in listening to one another, listening to the Word of God, and spending more time decorating our human life which has taken a low beating without sinful acts. 

We will be busy in buying many things for the celebration of Christmas, why not buy some reading material for our family. It could be books, CD’s, etc which can increase our faith in the Incarnation of the Lord. We could teach our family members to share something with our non-Christian neighbors that will lift up their spirits. 

There are many associations in the parishes who do yeomen’s service to humanity, who are creative in their service to the people of all class and creed, why not get creative with them by volunteering or donating? Donating need not only money but other essential things to run their homes. The Lord has been always inspiring generous souls to get closed to people to offer selfless service to the needy.

During this advent let us teach our children to sacrifice and donate some of their things which are in good condition or they don’t use anymore. Ask them to be creatively generous and make those children who never get to see some of those things which our children have and don’t use any longer. It will be a memorable Advent and Christmas for our children who will be givers and not only takers. 

 

Advent is a season which is fruitful, there is birth, growth, new life, there is joy and peace, something is happening that changes the face of the earth. Advent is a time of waiting which teaches us to be actively patient, rather than passive. It teaches us to be patient because God works in our moments of darkness and failures. He lifts up our drooping spirits with spiritual renewal. 

Christ the King - Eucharistic Adoration in Fraternity!!!!!!!!

 Our Parish Church was open but no Eucharistic adoration conducted on the occasion of the Feast of Christ the King...due to Corona the Diocese advised the parishes not to gather people in the church....slowly the Eucharist and other sacraments will be allowed in the Churches...so today we did not have the annual whole day adoration followed by procession due to Corona...

we conducted the adoration in our Friary chapel...the whole day we friars took turns and spent time in adoration.....

Morning and evening we have community adoration conducted by the friars .....the evening adoration was live-streamed to the parishioners....

After which we processed in our compound......the friars joined the procession...

We all have a bright, clean, and beautiful future in front of us.

What has happened in the past that should be accepted or looked at as a valuable experience for the future?

A boat has no existence without water. Water doesn’t drown a boat, the winds drown the boat, but we blame the water. If we take time, have courage, you can fight the storm, life is beautiful, we must preserve and enjoy its beauty.

One Month since Fr. Alywn Gonsalves left for his Heavenly reward!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday, the Capuchin Province of St. Bonaventure paid tributes to our beloved Brother Alywn whom we lost last month. The provincial Minister Philip celebrated the Holy Eucharist along with Br. Suhas, provincial councilor, Br. Anil, Parish priest and the community members, one diocesean priest and me. The parents and some close relatives were present for the Holy Mass. After the Mass, we all visited the grave and prayed for the dear departed soul of Br. Alywn.  

The most beautiful plant in the world is the plant of Trust and faith, it is not planted in the soil but the seeds are sown in the heart, mind, and soul of human beings. It grows with all the positive environment that the person creates or lives in. This plant does not grow under the shadow of anyone but grows on its own. So let us not try or think of growing under the shadow of another because then we do not have our own shadow....to create one's own shadow one has to stand in the hot sun....under a shining sun. 

When the birds are alive they eat worms and ants etc but when the same birds are dead the worms and ants eat up the dead birds.....Times and situations can change anytime....we never know when we have to go through difficult moments and situations in our lives. Let us not blame and find fault with anyone, do not dishonor and disrespect anyone, don't underestimate and underrate anyone but treat all equally. we may be very powerful and rich but TIME is much powerful and strongest than us.

Happy Diwali: Light up faces with Gladness and Joy.....Good times are around the Corner

There are many of us who are too good at giving lame excuses but fail to understand they will never taste success in life but experience failures if they continue to keep giving lame and unreasonable excuses. But successful people never give excuses for success and failures in life in spite of many hard times and difficult situations in life they face. Good or bad times definitely change because they never remain the same. But sages and wise people have taught us that in our good times we should never do anything bad to anyone, otherwise in our bad times they will leave and abandon us. I have experienced that in life one moment makes you smile, but suddenly the next moment it makes you cry, but all the moments that come in life teach us the art of living our human and spiritual life. We must learn to be happy in life according to our situations, don't depend on others for our happiness....For the sake of the happiness of the other animals and jokers have to dance in the circus.

Sometimes due to difficult and hard times we human beings forget to act and behave like a tree planted on the earth. We remain like the plant in a pot that is happy with its limited space and grows in its limitedness thinking that it is destined to be so much only. The plant planted in the soil does not wait or expect and hope for someone to water and get burned but gets deeper into the soil searching for water...it grows higher and higher. 

Don't blame stale bread or food and never call names for broken sandals, because stale bread yesterday filled our stomach and satisfied our hunger and today the sandals might be broken but yesterday it saved our face and made us walk miles and miles. Everything that happens in life brings along with it a lot of new lessons and broadens horizons. 

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This Diwali let us promise the Lord of the Light that we will respect and honor, obey and love those who take time out from their busy and most important works for our good and well-being. Love those who keep you as their top priority and nothing else matters to them. 

You need a lot of spiritual energy and strength to face the failures in our lives in spite of our good and hard efforts to achieve the goals of our dreams. It is not easy to hide the tears from our eyes and keep smiling, it requires the blessing, grace, and presence of God in our lives. Have a goal and a purpose in life. Don't deny failures and hardships in life because they need to make us solid and strong.

All Souls Day - Visit to the Cemetery !!!!!!!1

 One of my Non-Christian friends is very appreciative of today's celebration or remembering the beloved ones who have gone before us. He likes the idea of praying for the souls and visiting the cemetery with the entire family. The children who have not seen their grandparents or they were tiny tots when their grandparents died, today is a wonderful day to tell them about the death. That Death is not the end, but a new beginning for our heavenly journey.

The cemeteries are decorated today and you can see faithful coming one day before to clean and decorate the graves. The `Souls are remembered and prayed for their salvation. Many light candles on the graves and pray that the Lord forgives their sins and keep all of them in His Loving arms. 

Graves are decorated with a variety of flowers to express our love for beloved dead ones. we must keep their memories alive in our thoughts and deeds. Their legacies should always remain in our hearts and minds. 

Friars prayed in the cemetery and then went about blessing each grave with Holy Waters...

Parishioners have been advised not to gather in big numbers but about ten people each time....

Our Kirol graveyard is catering to about 3 more parishes

Friars in Prayer 

Our lush green school playground....