October: The Month of the Rosary

“The Rosary is my favourite prayer. A marvelous prayer! Marvelous in its simplicity and its depth… Thus, the simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life,” (St John Paul II and YouCat nos. 480 & 481).

We should not put curses on our enemies, but instead plead for  God’s graces through prayer. The Rosary is both a form of prayer and a specific sacrament that aids in prayer.  Praying the rosary involves recitation of common prayers while meditating on various events, called mysteries, associated with the life of Christ.

Our Lady has repeatedly asked , through the prayer of the Rosary and by  meditative prayer over the mysteries of Scripture, that we learn our faith “by getting down on our knees” and call on the peace of God. Mary is always in an attitude of prayer before God in heaven. The regular recitation of the Rosary, is a joining with Mary in Her prayer and asking for Her assistance.

The  Rosary can be a wonderful prayer of intercession. It can be prayed for a particular intention such as world peace or the needs of a family member and community. As we begin this month of the rosary in our homes and community, we ask Mary to continue to bring Jesus and His message into our lives.

We invite all to unite in prayer in your respective BECs,  families or individually and have a special Rosary for Peace especially in response to the tensions in war torn countries for the whole month of October, the month of the Rosary. Ave Maria!

Mother Mary Prayer for us. St Joseph, Pray for us.

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MAKE TIME FOR THE ROSARY

This is not an article on how to better pray the Rosary. These past two weeks I am just writing something on Rosary to basically encourage all of you to make an effort to pray the Rosary. I have come to know there are many Catholic families with a deep devotion to the Rosary. The liturgical ministry has introduced  recitation of Rosary before the Tamil Mass at 6.35 am and before English Mass on Sunday at 8.35 am. I have noticed that some of you make it a point to join this recitation of Rosary in the Church.

However, there are also many people who come   under the “not Rosary people” category.  Don’t give up.  Pray the Rosary, at least once in a while. Say it at random when you find yourself feeling  overwhelmed and in need of prayers. Say one or two decades a night if you can’t  manage five. It’s so much more than nothing.

In this month of the Holy Rosary give it a try.  Every night for a month if you can!  Kneeling or sitting, with kids or without. There is probably the best way to pray. There are definitely some ways that are better than others but there are many ways that will strengthen and nourish your soul and your family more than none at all. Be a family that prays the Rosary. Give Our Lady a foothold in your family.

Mother Mary Intercede for us!

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Mary is depending on your Rosaries to help Her achieve Her plans to obtain peace for the world. In so many apparitions in so many places She has asked us to pray the Rosary every day.

Saint Pope John Paul II in his Angelus Address on 29th   October 1978, shortly after his elevation as Pope, stated, “The Rosary is my favourite prayer.  A marvellous prayer!  Marvellous in its simplicity and in its depth.”

Do you know that Our Lady is depending on you to help Her? For all who love Our Lady, praying the   Rosary is a most beautiful gift to give to Her every day. In that sense we could say that every Hail Mary of the Rosary is a rose being given to Our Lady.  I do encourage you to pray the Rosary every day. Give a bouquet of roses to your Heavenly Mother every day by praying the Rosary. The bouquet of roses will then be transformed by Our Lady so that She can help people around the world.

“Call on Mary with devotion, and She will not leave your needs unattended since She is merciful, indeed, the Mother of Mercy,” (St Bernard of Clairvaux).

Christ’s Death and New Life

THE EASTER SEASON
Christ’s Death and New Life - Our Salvation

Starting from Palm Sunday, we experience the ups and downs, the highs and lows of our faith and in our own personal life. Were there times  ‘... when sorrow fills us to the brim, and courage grows dim ...’?  There were so many things to accomplish, deadlines to meet, frantic efforts to do  the best we can. Yet, Mother Church in Her wisdom prompts us to “... be still and know that I am God”, to slow down, to read sacred scripture and to sink into the Life, Passion and Death of Jesus - the last week of Lent and the most sacred time of the liturgical year.

During this time, we re-enact in the liturgy, the sufferings and death of Christ, taking part in them as much as possible, so that we can bear our sufferings and put aside our sins which are the cause of all suffering. What does the death of Jesus mean to me?  What does it mean to “Glory in the Cross?  When the ‘enemy’ faces you in the eye, who do you turn to? Shut your eyes and ears and shout ‘Ghostbusters’?  Or do you ...“Turn your eyes upon Jesus”?

Then comes the “Easter Triduum” of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday and Easter Vigil where we celebrate the heart of our Catholic Faith. The great events of these days, each with special services, leads up the climax of the Church year and of human history – the Salvation.

Celebration of the Triumphal Resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. Easter is the Feast of feasts, the greatest, as we behold Jesus “born of a tomb” so that we may rise unto God’s Life.  Easter means – redemption obtained – sin destroyed, death overcome, and new life brought back to us. “Indeed, He is risen!”

“So let us run the race that is before us and never give up.... let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect”. (Hebrews 12: 1-2)

May you experience the joy of new life in your own way this Easter Season and may you carry on the Resurrection story to others. 

               HAVE A HOLY AND BLESSED EASTER!

Godparents

As Catholic parents you have an enormous responsibility in ensuring the faith life of your child. I am sure you want to give the best to your child. When it comes to choosing Godparents or Sponsors, the Church gives you the liberty to do so.

But, here at SJC and RCC we are concerned for you as to who you choose to become your child’s godparent. We want to ensure that the spiritual growth and faith life of our children are guided and formed according to the Sacred Magisterium of the Church.

Hence, we strongly urge that only practicing Catholic  couples  be appointed as godparents. If either one of them does not practice the faith by regularly attending or participating at Mass or is in an irregular marriage, this disqualifies the relevant persons from being godparents.

As enshrined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “godparents must be firm believers, able and ready to help the newly baptized on the road of Christian life” (CCC #1255). In infant baptism, the godparents together with parents, presents the child for baptism and helps the  baptised to live the Christian life, and to fulfill duties arising from baptism. Technically, godparents, you are representing the Catholic Church, the community of faith, into which the child is being baptised.

Finally, godparents play an invaluable role in the life of the newly baptised. I hope and pray that parents when choosing godparents will not only consider the blood relationship or friendship, but rather, most importantly, the faith and witness giving life of the godparents who are to undertake this faith journey in leading the child to salvation. Godparents should also be persons of deep faith and prayer. They are to strife to become a role model with the grace of God to help the baptised to be close to the heart of Jesus, who is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE.

Pray for Those Whom the World has Forgotten

Masses for the dead can be found in the fifth century. St. Odilo, fourth abbot of Cluny, was responsible for the institution of the general commemoration of all the faithful departed. He instituted it and fixed its celebration on  November 2, the day after All Saints.

We continue to dedicate this month of November for the poor souls in purgatory. We shall offer Masses and prayers for the liberation of our deceased families, friends, priests and all forgotten souls as well.

What more we can do:

a) Do pious practices to help the Poor Souls by attending Weekend Masses and do remember the deceased members among your family and friends and make an extra sacrifice  for them; pray the rosary for the most forgotten souls in purgatory.

b) At home: Make a nice poster listing all the family and friends who have departed. Put this on your altar where the members of the family can be reminded to pray for the loved ones throughout November.

c) Do visit gravesites anytime throughout the year. You can make it a monthly affair or during the deceased’s birthday or anniversary. It can be done privately. Whenever you visit the gravesites, clean them, decorate them with flowers and add lamps or candles. Do pray for the faithful departed. You may recite the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the Rosary. Visits to the cemetery should be uplifting, calm and peaceful, not a scary event.

d) On a personal level, do read about “The Doctrine of Holy Souls in Purgatory” and “The Mystery of God’s Justice and Mercy.

Can we help the departed who are in the condition of purgatory? (YouCat no. 160 or CCC nos. 1032 & 1414)

SJC's Grotto Turns 60

On the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which fell on 8th September, 2014, almost 300 of our parishioners gathered together at the grotto of St Joseph’s Church to celebrate Our Lady’s birthday. This year marks the 60th year since the Grotto was first erected. The grotto is built in 1954 is the result of the untiring efforts of a former sacristan called Ponniah together with the help of the Legion of Mary. It was built during the time of

Rev Frs Ernest Belet, Pierre Decroocq and Anthony Michael, who were the parish priests during that time.

Our celebration this year started at 7.30 pm with the recital of the rosary in both Tamil and English, which was followed by the Eucharistic Celebration at 8.00 pm. The grotto was blessed with incense and holy water just before the Eucharistic celebration took place. Also taking place that evening was the blessing of the newly erected statue of our Lady of Lourdes (OLL) which replaced the old statue. The paint on the old statue of OLL had already faded and the pupils on the eyes of the statue had totally disappeared. The old statue of OLL is currently placed at the Church’s parish house.

The Eucharistic Celebration ended with a special   blessing for the children, and the cutting of the “Birthday Cake", whilst everyone sang, "Happy Birthday" to Our Lady. Immediately thereafter, a simple fellowship was held in the church courtyard I wish to thank each one of you for joining us in this celebration and for making Mother Mary’s birthday a special one.

For those who have yet to visit the grotto, I would like to inform you that the area surrounding the grotto has been cleaned up and railway sleepers (pieces of wood) placed along the walk path to the grotto. Since Sentul is historically known as a railway town complete with railway tracks and numerous railway workers working and living here in the early 1900s, I thought it would be appropriate to have some of the town’s history linked to our Church and that is why the railway sleepers have been placed along the path to the grotto. We will continue to beautify Our Lady’s grotto with further landscape works and also enhance the sanctuary thereat.