Weekend Mail

Dearly Beloved,
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
February 01, 2026, ‘Kohene’ Sunday (All Departed Clergy)
Scriptural Readings:

OT: Numbers 20:23-29, Deuteronomy 18:9-16, Job 14:7-22 Joshua 24:28-33,

Wisdom of Solomon 4:7-16, Isaiah 65:13-20

NT: Acts 20:26-38, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, Holy Gospel St Matthew 24:42-51

Holy Gospel: St Matthew 24:42-51
⁴²Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³But know this, that if the householder had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
⁴⁵“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. ⁴⁷Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ ⁴⁹and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, ⁵⁰the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, ⁵¹and will punish^[^a^] him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.

Reflections:
The holy church is entering the great Lenten journey soon. Prior to the lent, we have two Sundays to remember those who have lived their life of witnessing the Lord and have been called back to the Creator’s lap. Among the two Sundays, the first is dedicated to the memory of the departed clergy and second is set aside to remember all faithful departed. They are prioritized over the living and belong to a growing majority with each passing day. They are living out all that has been promised by the Lord and are brand ambassadors of Heaven’s experience! They are heroes and heroines who have accomplished their calling and mission, missed by the living! They are mourned even after many years of their passing away. Though the world has many alternatives and substitutes, nothing can take their place! They are irreplaceable. A void remains where they once lived.
Our faith teaches us that our departed are with us every day. Their physical presence is missing but they are with us in soul and in spirit. We experience them most closely when we pray, when we feel low and when we need to badly share our daily joys and sorrows. They watch over us as we look out for them. They are remembered on the center red carpet of the church, and we meet them at the altar. We join them in praising our Lord together. We visit them to seek their blessings and prayers for our journey of Lenten spiritual warfare. As the Lord has shown, His flock prepares to break into the devil’s fort and his castle, to fight him down and to hoist the flag of victory. Every Lent gives us this opportunity. One would expect to win. Because this expectation is by the Lord, there should be the determination to fight and win. The attempt cannot be compromised by neglect or complacency. One should be aware that the path has been trodden by many including great saints and martyrs, and faithful ancestors who are not considered saints and they would rather be known more for their failures. Victory and crown are to be vested by the Lord. One need not think or worry about the finishing, rather, to begin with determination, to be in prayer, to submit to God, to seek the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us, to think that it is a proven path, to try to be honest, and to never rely on human capacities. All of this is the call of Lent. It is about a complete reliance on the Lord who has called His flock to enter the kingdom by allowing oneself to be reborn, to be regenerated and to be transformed.
In this passage, the Lord is instructing us to try our best in everything we do. There is no need to differentiate anything as sacred or secular. Be passionate and serious about anything we do from the beginning and remain so until the end. Then there won’t be any need to be anxious or to be worried about when the appraisal is to happen or when the boss will arrive. Christ is talking of such stewardship and much preparedness.
People look for jobs, but once they get them, they may not be interested in doing it. A lack of focus with divided interests and much distraction causes the assigned tasks to lag or remain unfinished. This results in distress and lack of achievement of goals. Christ is asking us to work instead of complaining, trying to learn and update as required, never waiting upon someone else to come and do the work, and never to blame others for failures and delays. The saints and intercessors can guide us because they faced ordeals of greater difficulty than our issues. We have the Son of God to follow Him as He will enable us to deal with burdens and challenges. There could be a tendency to leave behind our responsibilities to attend to the lives and works of others, to discuss and gossip, to belittle and blame, to find others’ faults for our comfort and to recline at ease thinking that nothing is right, nobody is right, and one person can never attempt great results. At such times, we may not be able to produce results as expected. Quite often, we will be assigned to unexpected spaces and maybe put in situations where we feel disowned. This is applicable in every sphere of life without secular or sacred difference. Without passion and gratefulness, one would never be successful in the workplace or in observing lent.
Lent is not to run away from realities of life, but rather to bring heaven to our ordinary spaces through more prayer, fasting and feeling the Lord’s presence with us in every part of the journey. We should feel the joy of being with our beloved Lord everywhere. We remember the departed clergy, not to evaluate or to grade their life, but to see how hard they fought inner battles and outer tensions every day and every moment to live a life of faith. We need not inquire whether they failed or succeeded because our measures are not the Lord’s yardstick. Let us pray for their souls as they always ask us to do for them towards the end of the Holy Liturgy, during the final benediction- ‘.May I, weak and sinful servant, receive grace and help by your prayers.’

FEASTS AND REMEMBRANCES:

January 26, HH Baselios Marthoma Mathews II, 20^th anniversary, entombed at Mt Horeb Asram, Sasthamkottah
January 26, HG Paulose Mar Athanasios Metropolitan, 71^st anniversary, Thrikkunnathu Seminary, Alwaye
January 26, India Republic Day
January 28, Feast of St Jonah the Prophet, end of Nineveh Lent
January 29, St Severus, Patriarch of Antioch
February 01, Kohene (All Departed Clergy)
February 02, Maeltho (Entry of our Lord into the Temple)
February 03, Mar Barsauma, Mar Anthonios
February 08, Commemoration of Mar Abo, entombed at Marth Mariam Churcvh, Thevalakkara
February 08, Aneede, All faithful departed

Condolences:
With profound sorrow, we express our deepest condolences on the passing away of Mrs. Saramma Varghese (78), younger sister of the beloved mother of Mathai Mathulla(Raju), (Directory M03).

From our previous update:
Polar Vortex: We were into severe weather conditions in the passing week. Despite the severity, a few of our members and families joined the service. We thank God for the protection. He has given us on our drive to the church and on our way back. We thank God for keeping everything under control. We thank Thampan Achen for taking much pain to conduct the service. Let us hope and pray that there will not be situations going out of control. Let us be alert and cautious and be ready to help anyone in need.
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS: Please note in your calendar

Great Lent: Feb 16- April 04
Easter: April 05-Sunday

Vicar on Holiday:
The vicar is away on an India visit until Feb 12^th, but is available on phone, mail, WA or text. Please feel free to connect for any pastoral assistance. Rev. Fr. Geevarghese Thampan has kindly agreed to cover all Sundays and other feast days. If we have any clergy support in person required, please reach out to the parish office. Please keep the vicar’s travel in your prayers.

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.

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:
February 01, Sunday – in-person monthly meetings after refreshment

Sunday School
SDOF
OCYM

Organizational secretaries to advise on in-person meetings depending on weather conditions.
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 Mar Ksosthos this Sunday.
May the Gracious Lord keep us from all evil and heal the entire world.

Next Week
February 08, Sunday: Aneede Sunday (All Departed), Yaldo Season
Scriptural Readings:

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