PARISH VOICEPARISH VOICE St. Thomas Syro Malabar ......2019/02/05 · Rosary procession inside the church, Benediction and Holy Mass. All the faithful are invited to pray for the

St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Church, DetroitPARISH VOICEPARISH VOICEPARISH VOICE 3rd February, 2019

5th Sunday of Epiphany 1Third 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, Youngsters, Sisters and Brothers in Christ Jesus,

Greetings. My friends we just turned a new leaf (month of February). Looking back, month of January was a great blessing for our Parish community. We had solemn holy Mass on the New Year’s eve, meaningful adoration on first Friday, everyone was involved and brought gifts to offer to the baby Jesus like that of Magi on the feast of Epiphany, had a solemn celebra-tion of the feast of St. Sebastian (thanks to Mr. Sebastian and family who sponsored the feast), had C.C.D. exam and last Sunday we had a smooth and successful General Body meeting. I do thank and appreciate all of you who in one way or the other were involved to make all these days a memorable day of God’s grace and blessings through our unity, sacrifice and hard work.

Let us thank God for this beautiful month - a month very unique among all the other months with regard to total number of days. A month in which we celebrate Presentation Day (Feb. 2nd Presentation of our Lord Jesus) and Presidents’ Day (Feb 18th). A month inviting us to pray for all the sick (Feb.11th). A month very special for all the lovers (Feb 14th-Valentine’s day).

A month in which our youngsters takes the promise and forms the Youth Group. A month for us as members of this parish community to reflect upon the second commandment of our God to Moses “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.” - Exodus 20:7

It is so shocking to know from the world news that violence against human being, against nation and all sorts of abuse, murder etc. takes place in the name of GOD / RELIGION.

Our religion - the Christian religion always from the beginning is strongly based on true love and respect for human being (although in the history of the church the crusades were taken place).

These days we may directly and indirectly make wrongful use of the name of the Lord. Very many times we are not aware. Therefore, this month let us be aware of the wrongful use of the name of the Lord in our daily use and try to abstain from the wrongful usage. I hereby would like to bring to your kind attention the following circumstances:

If a person saying lies and cheating others gained something (power, positions, wealth) and says “God’s gift or God blessed me” he/she is using wrongful use of the name of the Lord. God never told him or her to say lies, cheat and to gain that particular power/position/wealth.

Doing/saying something that is hurtful, evil and attributing it to God’s name is also a wrongful usage of God’s Name.

Procrastinating the responsibilities or not doing the daily duties linked with the com-




mitments by saying God’s name, church or religion. Prayer/ Religion should not be an excuse or escape from one’s duty. Please bring to your mind the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).

God has given us freedom. But at times we misuse this freedom and we dig our own grave (grave of pain, suffering, Sickness) and at the end we blame God and we say HE is responsible for my suffering, pain, sickness etc.

Lastly dear friends I would like to share with you by comparing it with the usage of any new product or device. If any product or device is not used properly it becomes unfit or useless. We do look into the expiry date when we purchase medicine or food items. If these are not used for a long time then it is only fit to be in the trash. Similar way my friends our body parts should be used to praise the name of the Lord.

Our eyes when it is not used to see God in the Holy Eucharist, in the other, in spouse, in parents, in children, it becomes unfit and it is only fit to be in the trash to see satan in others with lust, malicious views and anger. The same goes well to our ears to hear the word of God, our lips to praise His Name, to Proclaim His Word. Our Hearts to ponder the words of Christ, our legs to walk the path of Him to do His will, our Hands to serve etc. In the words of the saint whose feast we celebrate today “Health is God’s great gift, and we must spend it entirely for Him. Our eyes should see only for God, our feet walk only for Him, our hands labor for Him alone; in short, our entire body should serve God while we still have the time. Then, when He shall take our health and we shall near our last day, our conscience will not reproach us for having misused it.” - St. John Bosco

This Sunday Gospel we read that “Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” - John 3:14-15. I wish and pray by proper usage of God’s name in our daily life, everyone will be looking up to you and me and will fall in love with Christ the Lord with true faith by proclaiming the words of St. Thomas “My Lord and My God” - John 20:28.

Yours Servant in Christ Jesus

Fr. T. A. Nicholas SDB

Wish you all a very happy

feast of St. John Bosco




1. Feast of St. John Bosco: We wish you all a very happy feast St. John Bosco the patron saint of all the Youth. Though the feast was on 31st of January we are celebrating today in our parish with our Youth.

2. The Parish Youth Group: is formed and the youth will be taking the promise today (Feb. 3rd, 2019) during the feast celebration of St. John Bosco the patron of youth at 10.00 a.m. Holy Mass will be mainly in English being the feast celebration of St. John Bosco by the youth.

3. The Sunday Catechism: will be after the Holy Mass and Lunch will be served for all. A movie named “Jony Bosco” will be screend during / after Lunch.

4. World Day of the Sick: February 11th (Monday) is the world day of the Sick. We will be having a special Rosary procession inside the church, Benediction and Holy Mass. All the faithful are invited to pray for the sick. I especially call all those who are working in Hospitals, Nursing homes, those who are taking care of the sick to be part of this event and to pray. Please do come with the candle for the procession.

5. Indoor Competitions for Kids: organised by our parish (Cultural Coordinators and team) will be on 17th and 24th of this month. Sign up sheets are on the notice board.

6. First Holy Communicants’ Parents’ Meet: The meeting for all the parents of those children who are going to receive First Holy Communion on 16th June, 2019 will be held in the Rectory Living Room on 10th March during the English Mass.

7. Altar Servers’ Meet: The meeting for all the Altar Servers (Children) will be on 10th Feb, after the English Mass.

8. Apostles for the Holy Thursday: Those who would like to be the Apostles for the Holy Thursday please do give me your names by 10th of Feb., 2019. Married men and who ever never had a chance before are prefered. Till now only one person has given me the name.

9. Family Prayer: This week family prayer will be held in North Zone on 8th February in the house of Jose & Leslie Joseph.

10. Last Sunday offertory Collection $ 149 by cash and $ 560 by Check.




Know your Parish Council Member

Jaison BinduKerala Roots:

Nellikkunnel house, Neyyassery, Thodupuzha

Viruthyil house, Nellimattom, Kotha-mangalam

Education: B Tech, Regional Engineering Col-lege, Calicut

Bachelors in NursingMasters in Clinical Informatics

Landed in US: 1998 1999

Profession: Vice President, Software Develop-ment. Altair Engineering. ER Case Manager, Beaumont Troy.

Children:Nidhi (Chimmi), 11th grader - Troy SchoolJons(Jo) 6th grader - Troy School

Address: 847 Quill Creek Dr. Troy MI 48085I am humbled to serve as one of the trustees for 2019-2020. I value equally the social and reli-gious aspects of our church. Hope we continue to cherish and nourish our unity and together-ness as we grow further. –Jaison.

JAISON




Maria

Amelia Ashika Mathew

Nathan Pais




Daniel

Joel

2019 Youth CouncilPresident Anne MandapathilTreasurer Divya ThomasPublic Relations Vineeth KallumkalSecretary Agnes MatthewYouth Representative 12th Grade Joel PaulineYouth Representative 11th Grade Bryan Abraham

Youth Representative 10th Grade Dana Williams

Youth Representative 9th Grade Andrew Mathew

DYA Regional Representative Maria VengathuvattilAdvisor James ChirackalAdvisor Tresa JacobAdvisor Brigid JacobAdvisor Abel PalathuruthilPC Liaison Jose K George

We congratulate Maria, Nathan Pais, Amelia, Ashika Mathew, Joel Edward, Daniel for taking time and drawing the theme of this Sunday’s Gospel, feast of St.John Bosco.

We congratulate the

youth council members of our parish. Let us pray for them and support these our

future pillars of our tradition and faith.

YOUTH

FAITH

CHURCH

SCRIPTURE

TRADITION




Betsy Purakal’s experience of participating in the World Youth Day 2019

Youth SharingThis past week was the happiest week of my life. I truly do thank God for this opportunity. I was able to make life long friends and fortify my faith. Every morning we attended catchesis lead by bishops from all over the world. After that, we had praise & worship and mass daily. Every day

we were able to interact with the youth of the Catholic church from all around the world. Even with the language barriers, the love for Christ and fellowship among us were so strong. It was so inspiring! Each day ended with us returning to our host families for the night who were so generous and welcoming to all of us.

One of the highlights of the week for me was attending adoration and mass lead by Pope Francis. It was such an honor and you could truly feel the power he held with every word he said. The whole theme of this World Youth Day was based on this quote: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” from Luke 1:38. Even though I am so sad that this week ended, for it is only the beginning. Just like Mary did, I am saying Yes to the Lord.

Maria’s experience of participating in the World Youth Day 2019

Throughout the week that World Youth Day was held, I met young Catholics from all over the world who were willing and ready to go on a faith journey to improve their relationship with God. I talked to people I never would have met otherwise, from countries I have never been to. We exchanged souvenirs and learned more about each other’s cultures. On the last night,

all of the youth gathered on a large field and celebrated a prayer service and adoration led by the Pope. During that time, they called for 5 minutes of silence. In that silence, I saw the unity that God intended all of his children to have with one another. Likewise, during Sunday Mass the next morning, I was able to witness the vitality of the world’s catholic youth. Seeing such a diverse and large crowd sparked both hope and joy in me.

The theme of this year’s World Youth Day was Luke 1:38, “I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” When I first heard this theme, I didn’t delve into it. However, after hearing many of the catechesis talks from bishops from all over the world, and experiencing pow-erful adoration sessions, I was able to truly process and understand Mother Mary’s words. The words became more than just a simple verse, it became a verse to live by. Overall, World Youth Day was a powerful experience which served as a catalyst to improve my own relationship with my faith, and I encourage anyone who is able to attend to do so. It is not an experience you would ever regret.




Jose K George on “St. John Bosco and theYouth”Don Bosco had a special place in his heart for young people, especially young people who were far from home or living on their own. He himself had left home at a young age and moved to Turin in order to go to school. He knew what it meant to have to fend for oneself in the big city. By the time Don Bosco was a priest the industrial revolution had swept northern Italy and people were coming to the cities in droves, looking for employment, including large numbers of young men (at the time, of course, a young man would have been what we consider to be a teenager, merely a child). He considered these boys his friends because of their shared experience.

His openness towards these boys, his willingness to listen to them, his warm invitations to them to come to Mass, soon garnered Don Bosco a small but loyal group of followers. The young men would come to Mass on Sunday morning and then Don Bosco would take them on day trips, hikes in the mountains, picnics in the countryside, and give them a chance to be boys. This method of dealing with young people, as simple and common-sense as it may seem, are the cornerstones of what came to be known as the Preventative System of education. Give people love, acceptance, and direction, and you will prevent disaster.

He realized what so few often realize about young, rambunctious, sometimes trouble-some boys: they just need someone to give them something to do, a place where they feel they belong, and above all, love. The day trips would include a catechism session, plenty of play time, and end with a talk. Often these talks consisted of Don Bosco giv-ing his boys some “homework” for the week ahead. He would even make the rounds of the factories where they worked, catching them on their breaks, to see how they were doing!

Eventually there were so many young men being drawn to Don Bosco that a more for-mal approach was needed. Don Bosco started centres where these young men could come to spend time, learn how to read properly, learn a skil l, and even just kick around a soccer ball with friends. The older boys who had been following Don Bosco longest were groomed to become mentors to the younger boys.

Today there are Salesian “oratories” or youth centres al l over Italy and wherever else the Salesians set up a mission. Working alongside the Salesian priests is an order of Sale-sian sisters, known as the Sisters of Mary Help of Christians. There are trade schools, grammar schools, and Universities operating under the Salesian umbrella.

In honor of the patron saint of young people: gather together the young people you know, give them something fun to do, and spend some time just being together.




1. “Give me souls take away the rest”2. “Without confidence and love, there can be no true education. If you want to

be loved…you must love yourselves, and make your children feel that you love them.”

3. “If one is to do good, he must have a little courage, be ready for sacrifice, deal affably with all and never slight anybody. By following this method I have always had significant success, in fact, marvelous success.”

4. Particularly to Youth he would say…5. “Act today in such a way that you need not blush tomorrow.”6. “Do not put off till tomorrow the good you can do today. You may not have a

tomorrow.”7. “Let us strive to fare well in this life and in the next.”8. “Be slow to pass judgment.”9. “Do you want your companions to respect you? Always think well of everyone,

and be ready to help others. Do this and you will be happy.”10. “Run, jump, have all the fun you want at the right time, but, for heaven’s sake,

do not commit sin!”

Few qotes of St. John Bosco

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PARISH VOICEPARISH VOICE St. Thomas Syro Malabar ......2019/02/05 · Rosary procession inside the church, Benediction and Holy Mass. All the faithful are invited to pray for the