parish voice st. thomas syro malabar catholic church,...

St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Church, DetroitPARISH VOICEPARISH VOICE 20th January, 2019

3rd Sunday of Epiphany 1First Issue

www.syromalabardetroit.org

Holy Mass: Mon. - Fri. 8.00 a.m. Latin Rite English MassSat.: 9.00 a.m. Syro Malabar Rite (SMR) Malayalam MassSun.:10.00 a.m.Malayalam Mass (SMR), 11.45 a.m. English Mass (SMR)




Dear Children, Sisters and Brothers in Christ Jesus,

Greetings. I write to you all as a spiritual leader of this parish community. This is my first

official communication to you all. At the out set I would like to thank you all for the warm wel-

come that you have given me when I reached here on 29th November, 2018. Its almost going to

be two months. During this month I have experienced your love, concern and above all your

daily powerful prayers.

Well a change for all of us is difficult at the beginning. I am aware that most of you are little

down and shocked with the sudden transfer of our beloved Fr. Roy who has been here for the

couple of years. I place on record my gratitude to him for his committed self-sacrificing work he

had put in with full gusto in the last years with the grace of God and with all your support. I also

thank all the members of the Parish Council Members of the last term, the present members of

the Parish Council, Choir members, Altar Servers, Catechism Staff Members and each and every

one of you for your dedication, sacrifice and willingness to do everything for the greater Glory

of God. “Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving

thanks to God the Father through him” – Col 3:17. “I too was little shocked with the sudden

change from Chicago to here. I thank our Bishop Mar. Jacob Angadiath for appointing me as a

pastor of this faith community. In the spirit of faith, we are all moving around in this World as

per God’s plan. In the words of the scripture God’s ways are mysterious to human mind. “You do

not know the work of God, who makes everything” – Eccl 11:5.

Friends we cannot boast and we are not perfect. At times we may have the tendency to

say great things of the past or about our wealth or about our might. As we read in the scripture

“Do not let the wise boast in their wisdom, do not let the mighty boast in their might, do not let

the wealthy boast in their wealth but let those who boast, boast in this, that they understand and

know me, that I am the Lord; I act with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for

in these things I delight, says the Lord” Jeremiah 9:23 -24. My prayer for all of you is that Let us




boast in the Lord by doing His will, by obeying His Commandments, let us boast for being united

as the branches of His Vine producing the fruits of the Holy spirit.

I do appreciate all your sacrifice and unity which I witnessed in

all zones during Christmas Carrols, Christmas Celebration and in New

Year. Congratulations and let us thank the Lord for His blessings.

We have been reflecting during this month the first Commandment of our God

“I am the Lord your God…you shall have no other gods before me” – Exodus 20:2-3.

This commandment of our God we may forget very many times. Very often the small

gods will emerge in various forms like: friend, gadgets, peer group, money, salary, sex, smok-

ing, drugs, Liquor etc. Let us fix in our minds and in our heart the word of God. “In-

cline your ear and hear my words and apply your mind to my teaching” – Proverb 22:17.

In the last two months I have taken almost one hour for the Saturday Mass (inclusive of

Novena and office for the dead), and on Sundays one hour and 20 min. or one hour and 30

min. And on festive day of Christmas, New Year and St. Sebastian’s feast 2 hours. Please do

not count the min. or hours that we set aside for God. The Sabbath day is for the Lord. We

have time for everything but on Sundays please give priority to our GOD than small gods

as I mentioned above. I was trying my best to give you all a spiritual feeling, a nourishment

and divine experience. To name few all those who have participated on the First Sunday of

Advent, Christmas, Holy Innocents day, Holy Family Day, New Year day and that on St. Se-

bastian’s Feast day would have experienced something new and experiential. As a good ser-

vant of yours I would humbly request you all to keep the church clean, neat and orderly.

I would also like to request you all to pray for the success of the retreat that we are going to have in our

parish on April 5,6 and 7. Please do mark these dates and make necessary arrangements to participate

in all the three days of our parish cum family renewal. I sincerely thank you in anticipation for doing so.




Let us focus ourselves as per the readings of this Sunday like St. John the Baptist giving

witness to the Lord proclaiming “He is the Son of God” and “Turn to me and be safe, all you

ends of the earth, for I am God; there is no other” – Isaiah 45:22.

Thank you dear friends and let us Glorify God. Please continue to keep me in your daily

prayers.

Yours Servant in Christ Jesus

Fr. T. A. Nicholas SDB

• The Parish Council meeting will be held this noon at 1.15 p.m. All the members are requested to attned the meeting.

• The Youth group meeting also will be held after the English Mass at the rectory.

• The General Body meeting will be held on 27th Sunday, January, 2019. There will be only Malayalam Mass.

• Annual Retreat: Parish Renewal and family Renewal retreat will be held from April 5th, 6th and 7th 2019 (Fri, Sat, Sun)

• World Youth Day: We congratulate and wish good luck to Anilash Panikulangara, Liz Man-dapathil, Betsy Purackal, Maria Vengachuvattil who will be participating in the world youth day.

• This week family prayer will be held in West Zone on 25th Friday at 7.30 p.m. at Mr. Daniel John and Mrs. Susan George.

• Last Sunday offertory Collection $ 935.

parish voice st. thomas syro malabar catholic church,...

Documents