Dearly Beloved,
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
September 15, 2024 – First Sunday after the Feast of the Cross
Epistle Readings: Acts 3:22-36, 1 Corinthians 2:10-13
Holy Evangelion: St Mark 13:30-37
30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
32 “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Take heed, watch;[a] for you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. 35 Watch therefore—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Watch.”
Reflections:
The season of the Cross has begun, and this will last until Koodos Eetho. Soon after this, the Yaldo season would begin. In the season of the cross, the church has more meditations on the ‘teleos’ (Gk) or end of days. We will witness an end to days of suffering and slavery. Days have limitation – of time and space. They will pass with the tide.
The word ‘ephemeral’ is significant in this context. It means pertaining to a day. The word is a combination of Ep and Hemera. In Greek, hemera means day. What lasts only for a day means it has no life beyond the timespan of a day and night because when the night is over, it will cease to exist. It is akin to a condition of being skin-deep or just peripheral. When the now ends, there begins eternity.
God is eternal. Whatever belongs to Him will also be eternal. We have come from Him. With His Holy hands, He created us. He breathed into us – the breath of His Spirit, which is eternal. When we breathe that Spirit of eternity, the breath of God, our life will be eternal. It cannot be ephemeral. In the garden of Eden, even when they were breathing the Spirit of eternity, because they got disconnected from God by sinning, they were alienated from the source of life and they yielded to death. So, life that was meant for eternity lasted only for a short while. Death took hold of them and the eternal became ephemeral.
To bring them back to original eternal life, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the Co-Creator came into this ephemeral body to make it eternal. This process involved freeing from the bondage of sin and equipping us to look for the Messianic eternal existence. Then onward, a person has to be alert to sin no more, so as not to lose again the redeemed eternity availed through Christ’s sufferings and sacrifice.
By correcting the lack of alertness in the Garden of Eden which caused them to fall, our relationship with God began mending. This would keep us from falling again so that we could get fully involved in the ministry of Gospel and of the Kingdom. How do we avoid falling? We cannot sit idle and avoid contact with the world around us. We need to be active and interactive while facing temptations or tests in our day-to-day life and to win against evil by the power of the resurrective presence of the Lord. It will also be a corrective to our absent-mindedness of the presence of God when faced with temptations, or when encountered by evil influences and could completely forget who we are and what our purpose is.
When Jesus asked the disciples to be alert and watchful, it was possible for them to see how vigilant He was throughout his life and how He had kept eternity within himself in everything He did, said or thought. It was easy for Jesus to yield to sin as His popularity grew, and the possibility of sinning increased with every interaction and action. Yet, He chose to remain unblemished. For us too, we have only this role model to follow.
FEASTS AND REMEMBRANCES:
- September 09, Commemoration of Yuyakim & Hannah, blessed parents of St Mary
- September 14, Saturday Feast of the Cross: Morning prayer at 08:30 AM followed by Holy Qurbana and liturgy of the Cross. Please note that though it is the second Saturday, the liturgy will be in Malayalam.
FUTURE IMPORTANT DATES / EVENTS: Please note in your calendar.
- September 15, Sunday: Thiruvonam.
Onam is a nostalgic experience for all Malayalees, especially for those who are away from the homeland. As we are aware, it is the harvest festival. More to our conscience is the struggles of the past life with many constraints and our ancestors who were so resolute to celebrate life in various possible ways. For them, an elaborate meal with family members and sharing of friendship and affection with neighbours meant a lot in those days of hardships. They were keen to come together to sort, clean, prepare, cook, serve and eat. Many games and folk presentations were part of it. For them, no barriers were there to observe the season. It never hurt or affected their faith practices. Onam and other festivals were for them to assure solidarity and healthy coexistence while keeping everyone’s’ faith undisturbed. Anybody would be able to relate with the concept of a balanced social life under a truly caring ruler. They gave him a name, Maveli. Who wouldn’t wish to live in an ideal world?! They tried to cherish the possible benefits of a perfect world in their concepts. How much we cherish the concept of the Kingdom of God! Concepts can lead to orientation and actions. Through celebrating a perfect concept, may we all try our best to keep equality and social justice in our daily dealings. Happy Onam!
Onasadya on Sunday, September 15
The Malayalee craving for a sumptuous Kerala traditional meal shall never cease, no matter where we live. The next perfect opportunity would be the Onasadya which will be on Sunday, September 15th. All our families are invited to enjoy the sadya.
There will be a photo booth set up by MGOCSM. Please do not miss the event.
Area Prayer Meetings:
We have resumed the prayer meeting after a long break. Though we had prayer meetings conducted online during Covid lockdown, the in-person meetings have resumed only now. We request all our area coordinators to reach out to families to look for a convenient time and date for weekend prayers. It can be on Friday, Saturday or Sunday based on the availability and convenience of hosts and participants.It will be a graceful fellowship time for our families.
Thanks to Jibu & Family for hosting the St Mary’s Area prayer at their residence on Saturday September 07th. We were so glad seeing the participation of families from the area. We request all families in respective areas to join for the upcoming meetings.
Upcoming Area Prayer Meetings:
Saturday 21, 2024, St Paul’s Area: Jacob Mathew & Mercy’s res @ 60 Lily Valley Cres, King City, ON, L7B 0B6 starting at 04:00 pm
Saturday 28, 2024, St George Area: Babu Zachariah & Renjini’s res @ 4 Seedhouse Rd, Brampton, ON, L6R 3Z5 starting at 04:00 pm
FROM OUR LAST UPDATE:
Backpacks and school supplies distributed
For the third year in a row, our Parish has continued with Backpack Distribution, our charitable community outreach activity in the Malton area. The recipient schools, students and families have thanked and sent good wishes to all our parish members. We sincerely thank our senior member G. George who played a central role in the purchase, packing and distribution of the Backpacks in the nine schools of Malton. Thanks are also due to Ben Varughese Nellithara, the other coordinator of our St. Joseph Seniors Forum and Susan Benjamin (School Board Trustee) for their guidance and support. We envisage more charitable activities in schools and in the society in due course.
Half Yearly GBM
We had the Half Yearly GBM conducted on Sunday September 08 at church. Sincere thanks to all the eligible members for your participation and for the sharing of your thoughts.
Pray and reach out to Wayanad Landslide victims.
We request our spiritual organisations and all our beloved members to offer all possible support to Wayanad.
The affected areas require a lot of cleaning, clearing and construction to restore it to a normal habitat. It is our duty and responsibility to offer all support possible. We can contribute through arranging food, clothes and raising funds to assist in rebuilding and rehabilitating. Let us join hands to support the rebuilding projects.
We uphold the victims in prayer. We assure our support by being there for them.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
HH Baselios Paulose II Charity Food Drive
We had initiated a charity drive in memory of HH Baselios Paulose II last year, which we plan to continue every year. We can bring non-perishable foods. Whatever we collect, it will be handed over to food banks like last year. We request all our members to participate, as we know that food banks are struggling to meet the requirements of people who have nothing. Every effort can nourish those around us. Let us earnestly work together for our society.
Envelopes to be collected (Towards Catholicate Day, Diocesan Day, Sunday School Day, Mission Sunday, Seminary Day)
Please pick up one envelope for each family and bring it back with the contribution towards Catholicate Day $150/-, Diocesan Day $ 120/-, Sunday School $10/-, Mission Sunday $ 10/-, Seminary Day $ 10/- altogether $300/- The collected amount shall be sent to the Headquarters and Diocesan Office before November. Please bring back the envelopes at the earliest. Being dutiful members of the Church, we need to support the church, the diocese, and the organisations.
St Joseph Seniors Forum, Luncheon Meeting: Third Thursday of the month of September 2024 @ September 19, 2024
Parish Nite 2024- October 13, Sunday
The biggest cultural celebration of our parish is the Parish Nite. This year it will be on Sunday, October 13. We expect to begin the program at 05:30 pm. Snacks will be served in the beginning. Main food will be served after the program. We request all the organisations to plan at the earliest. Every organisation will get up to 30 minutes for their presentation including setting up and any lag anticipated without exceeding the timeframe. We need to finish the program by 08:30 pm to serve dinner. The event will be coordinated by MMVS and will be screened and fixed by the Management Committee. We encourage only group presentations. Details shall be announced soon.
MMVS Events-Oct 19, & Nov 17
MMVS 2nd Annual Regional meet- Scheduled for Oct 19, 2024. There will be a Talent show in addition to Bible Study. It will be hosted by our parish.
Art Exhibition – Scheduled tentatively for Nov 17th, 2024. All interested in displaying their art skill are requested to start preparing for the same.
FOR OUR ATTENTION & TO NOTE:
Children, please occupy front benches during our Liturgical Services
We request our parents to send their children to the front rows as they enter the church for Liturgical services. We have our respected Sunday School teachers taking turns to be with the children during the service. We also request our adult members to leave the front rows free for the children and to occupy row 4 onwards from front.
Kindly avoid crowding at the back of the church. A few concerns..
- Due to safety concerns and for assuring an undistracted worship space, we request all our members to proceed to the front rows except those that are reserved for children when we enter the temple. It would be a bit difficult for our volunteers to suggest moving to the front during the service as it would cause distraction and noise. We need to avoid crowding at the entrance and stair areas as this has raised safety concerns.
- Please be considerate to our senior members to help them find seats or while they try to access the washroom. A slip or a hit should be avoided in any circumstance.
- Please be watchful at the shoe rack area which is also the entrance to both washrooms.
- We request our parents to attend our children not to pull the alarm lever at the back wall.
Hand Waving Machine & Common Absolution Prayer for all communicants
The hand waving machine has been installed at the church entrance for taking count of the communicants. Whoever wishes to take Holy Communion, upon entering the temple, please wave your hand once at the machine. Please be aware that after the Nicene Creed, the machine shall be disabled.
IN-PERSON MEETINGS:
September 15 Sunday, Onasadya after the Service. Organizations can meet for ‘Parish Nite’ preparations after the sadya.
Holy Liturgical Text for this Sunday
We will be using the Taksa of Mar John Chrysostom this Sunday.
May the Gracious Lord keep us from all harm and heal the entire world.
Yours in Christ
Thomas John Achen
Email ID: fr.thomaspjohn@gmail.com
Mobile: (416) 570 5610