Good bye 2020

 So Fast you are leaving us with experiences in our lives and the life of the Universe. You have been very special to all of us, as you taught many lessons worth preserving and writing them down in the history books. You began well but suddenly made all of us go through a terrible moment in our history. You awakened all of us, who glorified and boasted in our achievements, you showed our place in the universe as mere creatures who cannot run away from the Creator. You were kind enough to bring about love, compassion, and solidarity among us. You taught us what it means to accept our place and space in the universe and not try to dominate and abuse nature. You brought about peace and reconciliation in broken families where the hearts were divided, we lived as a family without bonding, we lived on material happiness and per=ace but spiritual life and peace evaded us due to many unnecessary factors which took us away from the Creator and each other.

You have taught the biggest lessons in life, that is when the heart is hurt by the closest one, there are tears in eyes which need to be seen and experienced by those who hurt us, then they would understand the true meaning of relationships, there is meaning in bonding and communion as brothers and sisters. You have shown that we need genuine relationships and not artificial ones for one's advantage and gain, which do not last long and which are false based on false promises. 

You have brought us to the realization that we cannot close our eyes to certain realities and facts of being human, that we are limited and cannot think of touching the moon as we will. We cannot compromise with certain truths of life and some mistakes and faults cannot be covered or give a blind eye. You have taught us to believe that never to think that you are good and bad because when people have needs and you meet their needs, so you are good. when the need for their's is over, then you are bad, this is how humans relate and connect with.  You showed us to keep walking as it is a journey that we are on, keep showing the magnanimity of your heart as it is a pilgrimage and when we lose ourselves for the sake of others it becomes devotion.

Christmas Celebration at Ras Al Khaiyhma UAE

Cold weather perfect for Christmas celebration....the parking lot well-decorated Government for the consecutive year....a lot of faithful from the parish and close by the parish where the church is not open....made our Christmas celebrations perfect....for me it was a first Christmas in the gulf....

On 24th evening onwards we had Celebration of the Eucharist and the church, basement, church campus with LCD was filled in by the faithful with social distancing and wearing of the Mask....the government officials were all guarding and watching....perfect response to government's appeal....Jesus, the savior protected all of us.....the midnight Mass was the height of all.....

On 25th we had 7 Masses which were again well attended....our parishioners and parishioners from Dubai took an active part....

We are three priests, Fr. Thomas Sebastian, PP, Fr. Ronelo is a Philipiano preist and me....

We had Christmas Lunch together with 5 staff members who work for the Church...wonderful time spent together....Fr. Thomas was Santa who came with gifts for each one of us

The parking place illuminated by the government....

The faithful participating in the Holy Eucharist ....outside the Church...

Carolers singing glory to God in front of the Crib...

Christmas Day was a Sunny Day....profited by taking some selfies 

 

Sacrament of Confirmation celebrated at St. Anthony's Church, Ras Al Khaimah

 It's time for the celebration of Sacraments here. Since Dubai has not allowed the Church to conduct any services, the parishioners come to Rasalkhaimah for celebrating. We had four Saturdays first holy communion for the Children from Dubai parish. There are weddings and Baptism are being celebrated here. The Masses are also well attended by faithful from nearby where the church still not permitted to conduct services. Our Parish was supposed to have the sacrament of Confirmation in the month of April but due to the Pandemic, it was postponed to December. The Bishop could not be present so he delegated to the Parish Priest Fr. Thomas Sebastian. It was a well organized and conducted the ceremony. Here the Catechism teachers are very committed and give their best for the faith formation of the children. It is amazing to see old and young share their faith with boys and girls. 

There are two things in life which we can love with our whole heart and mind, the first one is "sorrow" and the second one "Hardwork". Without sorrow and pain our hearts and souls are not purified and made holy and without hard work there can be no full growth and development of the person. 

In Life's journey, we should always take Self-confidence along with us. In Life it is good to think from both sides, then we never see the other one wrong and the other one's mistakes are not seen. When we see and think from both sides then we can avoid misunderstanding and suspicion and doubts. 

There are people who remember us when they have needs but do not feel bad absolutely and be proud because we remember candle only we have darkness in the house. 

It is always good to express our feelings and emotions rather than storing them in the heart, you enjoy while doing it and derive happiness which is lasting longer. There are tears in my eyes always in all the moments but to wipe them with smiles is much better than complaining about it to others. 

Happy Birthday To Holy Father Pope Francis - Inspiration and Guide

 "Kindness is firm and persevering intention to always will the good of others, even the unfriendly." "We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace." "We will never be disillusioned or lose our way if we are guided by God.""We all have the duty to do good." "Grace is not part of consciousness; it is the amount of light in our souls, not knowledge nor reason."

 

"The Lord never tires of forgiving. It is we who tire of asking for forgiveness." "A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.""Too often we participate in the globalization of indifference. May we strive instead to live global solidarity.""Let us care for one another and let us be loving custodians of creation." (2nd Tweet as Pope)

"We received this world as an inheritance from past generations, but also as a loan from future generations, to whom we will have to return it!""Our common home is being pillaged, laid waste and harmed with impunity. Cowardice in defending it is a grave sin.""We must never forget that the natural environment is a collective good, the patrimony of all humanity and the responsibility of everyone,"

"Life is a journey. When we stop, things don't go right." "We must always walk in the presence of the Lord, in the light of the Lord, always trying to live in an irreprehensible way.""Solidarity, as a moral virtue and social attitude born of personal conversion, calls for commitment on the part of those responsible for education and formation.

"It is impossible for peace to exist without dialogue. All the wars, all the strife, all the unsolved problems over which we clash are due to a lack of dialogue. When there is a problem, talk: this makes peace."

 Our Faith in our God can make the mountains bow down and even shake it off. Faith has tremendous power that can take us beyond the horizon and lead us to our goals. But the opposite of Faith and trust is doubt can do something negative and uproot all the relationships. Doubt can create mountains of suspicion. It has the power to break down everything that has been built over the years with hard work and effort. 

In life, it is very important to have the right knowledge of persons and things around, events and situations that occur in each one of our lives. The right understanding and knowledge of the right direction and right time is very important to achieve goals and built up a true and just humane society. If we don't have the right knowledge of direction and time then things can go awry or overboard, everything becomes meaningless and useless. 

Relationships do not break up on their own but misunderstanding and ego breaks them down beyond repair. You ask anyone who is the victim of these broken relationships and they would give us the above two reasons. Marriages of many years have been on rocks due to misunderstanding and doubts and egoistic attitudes. There are a lot of pains and sufferings due to broken relationships. The most badly affected are the children and elderly persons due to these breakages of relationships. so remove this evil and poison from our lives and fill it up with faith and trust, understanding, and acceptance.

Our Parish priest Fr. Thomas Sebastian from the province of St. Joseph Kerla. We have known each other for many years and it is a great joy and pleasure to work with him in the parish. 

Many complain and grumble about things that they don't have or possess, they look at other's success and property and cry that they do not have what others have. They forget that they possess much more precious than the others, just forget to appreciate themselves...their talents and gifts. Use God-given talents, gifts, and blessings for our own good and for the sake of others to make a better world to live in. 

One of my formators would always tell us that one should not become the cause and reason for someone else pain and suffering, one should cause the other to cry or to be sad with our remarks and attitudes. one may not be able to make others happy but that does not mean one can make others cry due to critical nature and negative behavior. 

Christmas goodies!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Christmas is around the corner and we are getting ready to welcome the Lord in our lives. The Salvation brought by Jesus though we did not merit. He has destroyed the darkness and animosity, destroyed the evil power and he teaches us to do the same in our lives.

No one is born in this world as our friend and enemy, only our behavior, attitude, way of looking, our morality decides who is our friend and enemy. it is true in our lives. If we put our lives in order and live according to the divine teaching there will be so many people who will support and help, accept and love God's children. Enemies walk into our lives, the moment we deviate from the noble and right path when we start living according to the norms and laws created by us for our own convenience.

This Christmas we should learn and understand that we come empty-handed and return to the Lord empty-handed. We need to leave everything behind for the others. So it is good that we do not return empty-handed to the Lord but filed with our love, charity, acts of compassion, and works that please God. We know from our religious teachings that our final destination and home is God's House, so let us return rich to please and make God happy. When we visit our guests or sick people in the hospital,we normally carry some things, so why not carry spiritual things for a God whom we don't see and yet have strong faith in him. How can we go to God with empty hands, when we have worshipped and adored, loved, and believed in Him all through our lives? 

So Let us promise the Lord Jesus to do keep doing good works, when the time comes to leave our earthly homes and return to our true home, we can be ready fully geared up and prepared with our sacks filled with good works to offer to the Lord. 

New Mission at St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE

I am in Ras Al Khaimah since yesterday after a long wait. This emirate is one of the fast-developing one in UAE. The Vicariate has a new parish church since 2012. They have an old church in the city also. The new Parish Church is beautiful and in this area there are many churches and other religious places.

Christmas preparations have already begun here in the Parish. The Christmas tree is getting ready so to the Crib....the Christmas spirit is in the air with positive news of Covid Vaccine....take this as a Christmas gift for human being by the `Saviour of the world...who is waiting to be born anew again...let us prepare well and receive him with generous and pure hearts. 

Let this Christmas teach us a new lesson of living our lives in communion with the Lord and with our dear and near ones without any expectations, egoism, but giving freely as the Lord gives us without our being worthy. Let us not have and maintain a relationship with the Lord for our own selfish ends and expectations but to be like Him in order to relate well with our near and dear ones.

God shared the good news with us by sending us his only son...He promised to save us by sending a redeemer and he kept us his word....the promise was not a lie but a truth....it was not half promise but a full promise which he fulfilled in His son Jesus Christ. In our Human life, a lie and half-truth or promise can break sweet relationships and bring about the darkness of doubts. 

Let us promise the Lord during this Christmas to be honest and truthful to each other and thus build up new deep and meaningful relationships. Let us speak the truth and it may hurt or saddened someone but that way it is better than speaking a lie and trying to gain happiness or making others happy, let us never try because some trust us that their lives depend on our being honest and true. 

 

Touch the Hearts!!!!!!!

 

We are all looking for meaning in life and we keep looking for it everywhere except in ourselves and the means that we have at hand. Sometimes we feel that so and so would make us happy with their gracious presence, it might be true or may not be true. But it is important that the presence of the other in our lives should be able to touch our hearts which is the seat and source of happiness. When someone touches our hearts we have a different feeling that no one can give us in any format. The touch is filled with so many aspects which human beings long to be complete and feel meaningful.

There are many ways of touching each other's heart but one way is so very important is to grant a feeling and assurance that we are with the person who needs that loving, compassionate, and kind touch. That touch will a long way to make that person happy. That touch can make him realize that though there are many ways to be happy there are no ways and means to be happier than the others. 

What makes us happy is to apply our experience to our day to day activities and keep doing good for others, because experience and good deeds are only two teachers who guide our way towards happiness. Good deeds teach us to fight against all that is all evil and experience teaches us to win in any situation.

To lessen all worries and tensions, to live a fulfilled and happy life, to lessen the pain and sufferings in our lives, we need to learn that nothing is ours that we possess or have, think and feel that nothing we had, and realize that nothing will be ours.

As someone said so beautifully when your house accidentally burns or is ruined in rain and storm, there is always insurance which will cover up the expenses, but what about the dreams when they are burnt, ruined and destroyed? When it rains who have umbrella to protect us from rain, but what when tears run down from our eyes? If thorn piereces us our feet which can be easily removed with pain but when someone pierces you with negative and critical words? if a Tiger comes on our way we can run away from it but what about our pride when it comes across in our life? When our body is diseased there is medicines to cure it, but what about our spirit and mind when it is sick? For all these above "IF's" one good friend is much better than all medicines available