Weekend Mail

Dearly Beloved,
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
March 29, 2026, ‘Hosannah’ – Palm Sunday
Scriptural Readings:

OT: Genesis 49:8-15, Leviticus 23:33-39, Job 26:1-14, 2Samuel 6:1-7, Judges 9:7-15, Proverbs 16:13-25, 1:20-30, Joel 3:16-21, 1 Kings 8:1-6, Micah 4:1-5, Zephaniah 3:9-20, Jeremiah 30:18-22, Hosea 8:14-9:7, Daniel 3:7-11, Isaiah 52:7-12
NT: 1 John 2:7-17, Romans 11:13-24, Holy Gospel St John 12:12-19
For Procession St Luke 19:28-40, Blessing of the Palms St Mark 11:1-18

Holy Gospel: St John 12:12-19
¹²The next day a great crowd who had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” ¹⁴And Jesus found a young ass and sat upon it; as it is written,
¹⁵“Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on an ass’s colt!”
¹⁶His disciples did not understand this at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that this had been written of him and had been done to him. ¹⁷The crowd that had been with him when he called Laz′arus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead bore witness. ¹⁸The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹The Pharisees then said to one another, “You see that you can do nothing; look, the world has gone after him.”
Reflections:
In the Holy Week, the paschal days start with Hosannah and reach Resurrection as the culmination. Christ came for this. For these events he was preparing for 33 years. When the time arrived to take Him through the final days of His life on earth, He stood solid as a rock taking in everything so that His Father’s mission would be fulfilled. For the greatest commission that would ever be carried out, Christ was ready and He went about it with the biggest compassion that man could ever comprehend.
Being the Son of God, if Christ was not ready to accept salvation as His mantle, it would never have happened if not through Him. Through His compassion for the fallen human race, He could take this upon Himself. It was like a woman accepting to endure the pain for delivering her child into the world. The severe pain is taken with much compassion towards her child and out of great love for her offspring. Christ accepted both – the adulation of the crowd in the triumphant entry into the temple and the assaults of the fanatic mob who asked for His death. Not once did He retaliate. He bore it all with much grace. And with much composure He watched the same people who He moved amongst join the crowd to judge Him. He watched their shifts of extreme attitudes, the change of scenes between the temple and Calvary and He knew that this was all in the plan. Several times He had foretold the disciples about what was to come but they were not able to understand it or accept it.
If we look at these events in the light of the holy scriptures, Jesus’ coming to the world was globally notified by the appearance of the star, signified by the visit of the magi, declared by the glorious singing of angels about his kingship and His might was for the whole world to see and know. His passion, His innocent and vicarious sufferings, His death on the cross and His burial were predicted by prophets and were according to the great will of God. For the reason of His act of incarnation, He had to go through all these to identify with humanity and its fallenness. This identification was to liberate the whole creation, and it had to be actualized through His resurrection. If there was a start, there had to be an end. How heartbreaking was His suffering! This was replaced with overwhelming joy and glory at His resurrection. Christ’s act of becoming human and everything that happened in His life were theologically reasoned, anthropologically justified, sociologically explained, universally signified, ontologically verified and teleologically confirmed.
When it comes to our individual life, how can we experience the salvific acts of God incarnate?
Our coming to the world is decided by God the Creator. We are His words that became flesh through His will. He called us to life and we came into being. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5). Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. (Isaiah 49:1). See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me. (Isaiah 49:6). So, we must believe that whatever happens in life, it is our Creator’s Will. Happy days and sad days are part of it. Moments of glory and defeat can be there. Mood swings, ebbs and flows, ups and downs, entry and exit, acceptance and rejection are all inevitable. We shall never fall into such thinking that it will remain, or it will not go.
Like Christ, we need to strive to become composed despite changing situations in life. Things will pass, phases change, faces also, but never be over excited or over-disappointed. If there is a fall, there will be an uplift; if there is a welcome, there can be a refusal. Where there is suffering, let it ease off; where there are death and darkness, let there be rising up and glorious light. Jesus wants us to follow him. Let us go as St Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16). And it will be for as St Paul declared: ‘if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with Him. (2 Timothy 2:12). So, WE WILL!!!

FEASTS AND REMEMBRANCES:

March 25, Feast of Annunciation
March 25, Marthoma IV, 298^th anniversary, entombed at Kandanad Valiyapally

Consecration of Holy Mooron
The consecration of the Holy Mooron was graciously solemnized on Friday, March 27, 2026, by His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, assisted by bishops, priests, deacons and subdeacons. The consecrated divine fragrant oil shall be used for baptizing the next generation and for consecrating new temples. Let the fragrance of the Holy Spirit be spread throughout the world.

Pray for Peace in the Middle East and Gulf.
We continue praying for re-establishing peace and concord in the war affected lands and regions. Our prayers during these days of Lenten fasting may work miracles through Holy Spirit. May the governments and leaders join hands to reconcile and save the world from further injury.

OVBS 2026 – Mar 18 Wednesday -22 Sunday, Theme: Walk in Purity
OVBS’ closing session will be held on Sunday, April 12 as we were unable to conduct it last Sunday as planned.
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS: Please note in your calendar

Great Lent: Feb 16- April 05
Daily Lenten Evening Prayer @ 06:30 pm followed by Devotional Talk
March 27, 40^th Friday- Holy Liturgy on Mar 26
March 28, Lazarus Saturday, Morning Prayer at 09:00 am followed by Holy Qurbana. Lent Retreat after refreshments. Dispersal after noon prayer at 12:30.
March 29, Palm Sunday
April 02, Passover, Holy Liturgy on April 01 Wed, Evening Prayer at 06:30 pm followed by Holy Liturgy
April 03, Great Friday, Morning Prayer at 09:00 am
April 04, Gospel Saturday, Morning Prayer at 09:00 am followed by Holy Liturgy
Easter: April 05, Sunday, Night Prayer 6:00 am, followed by Easter Liturgy

Attention Please:

Parking: Please be considerate while parking our vehicles, only park at designated space. Leave reserved lots for the intended and kindly park within lines and markings leaving enough space for others to open their doors without scratching or hitting nearby parked vehicles.
Good Friday Parking: We have arranged parking at the temple across the street for Good Friday from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. Please make use of this facility.

AREA PRAYER MEETINGS: Upcoming Prayer meeting schedules shall be updated soon.
FOR OUR ATTENTION & TO NOTE:
Children, please occupy front benches during our Liturgical Services
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. Absolution shall be done during the morning prayer.
WEEKLY IN-PERSON MEETINGS:
March 29, Sunday – in-person meetings

Joint Meeting of Acolytes and Choir after refreshments
Preparations for Holy Week

LIVE streaming has been reactivated: All services’ Live Streaming is now available.
Holy Liturgical Text for this Sunday
We will be using the Taksa of 12 Apostles this Sunday.
May the Gracious Lord keep us from all evil and heal the entire world.

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