Jan 1: New Year: Mary, Mother of God

From Fr. Jude Botelho:

Dear Friend,

One of our traditional invocations when we want to wish people well is to say ‘God bless you’. A Blessing implies finding favour with God. On the first day of the New Year it would be good to bless and thank God for the gift of yet another year and ask for his blessings on every day of the New Year. One of the blessings we have received is the gift of Mary Mother of God and our mother. It would be great if we could count the marvels God does for us every day!‘
Have a blessed New Year!’

Second Reading[GAL 4:4-7]

Brothers and sisters: When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,  to ransom those under the law,  so that we might receive adoption as sons. As proof that you are sons,  God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,  crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son,  and if a son then also an heir, through God.

Gospel[LK 2:16-21]

The shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message  that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen,  just as it had been told to them. When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Chrstmas 2016

From Fr. Jude Botelho:

In the first reading the prophet Isaiah prophesies that the northern kingdom of Israel, which had been destroyed would be liberated and its inhabitants would be set free when the Messiah comes. But their liberator would not be a mighty warrior but a little child. God’s ways are not our ways! This little child is God’s answer to man’s needs. A surprising answer but full of promise; this child has many titles foremost among them will be ‘Prince of Peace’.

Advent 4 A: Joseph's Fidelity

From the Connections:

In the spirit of old Mr. Scrooge

One Christmas a church staged Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  The role of Ebenezer Scrooge was played by a parishioner who was a gentleman of un-Scrooge-like generosity.  But he managed his part with gusto, growling his way through the opening scenes, ringing out every “Bah! Humbug!” with miserly ill will.  He shivered with fright and dreadful self-recognition as he encountered each of the three Christmas ghosts.

Jihadist's New Life

After Allah refuses him ‘Entrance to gates of heaven’ Aleppo, February 23, 2015: The man, that has miraculously survived multiple gun shot wounds after an altercation between ISIS and Syrian Army forces, was rescued by members of the Saint Dominican Catholic Presbytery of Ayyash hours after the conflict had erupted. The members of the Christian organization wanted to give the man a proper Christian burial and carried him over 26 kilometers before the man miraculously came back to life as he was believed to have died from his wounds. As the man came back to his senses, he reported to priest Hermann Groschlin of the visions he had whilst in the afterlife, an event that profoundly changed the 32-year old jihadist and eventually led to his conversion to Christianity days later.

A Mouse and the Trap

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Advent 3 A

From Fr. Jude Botelho:

The Exodus was deeply engrained on the memory of Israel. The Israelites surrounded my misery and despair long for a new exodus. For Isaiah in particular, the judgement of God, the destruction of the wicked, and of joy for the afflicted, the sick and the poor ones, reveals itself as a new Exodus towards Zion. In the first reading the prophet Isaiah uses the image of a desert, made fertile by rain, to portray the confident hope that God would restore his people crushed by misfortune. The most crippling disabilities –blindness, deafness, and lameness –will be relieved when God sends salvation to his people. Isaiah appeals to the people: “Have courage! Do not be unafraid!”

India's first Rocket was brought on a Bicycle and Started from a Church

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India's first rocket being transported on bicycle (1963)

Hollywood: Mark Wahlberg in a Spielberg Movie

Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg took a break from his busy filming schedule to attend Mass at a Northumberland church.

The actor, who was in the North East shooting the fifth Transformers movie, the Last Knight, was at St Aidan’s Church in Seahouses and stayed for the full Sunday morning service.

KFC: Colonel Sanders' Story

Parents who need to give their children "Vitamin N"

Brazilian Millionnaire who "buried" his Bentley

Advent 2 A

1. Fr Jude Botelho:

In the first reading from the prophet Isaiah we hear about the coming of the Messiah and the kind of justice and peace he would bring. Isaiah foretells that even though the family tree of Jesse has been reduced to a mere stump, nevertheless from that stump will spring - a true king filled with the Spirit and endowed with all the virtues of his ancestors. The new king, the Messiah will be a champion of the poor and will restore justice and peace for all. The prophet has a marvelous vision of the kingdom of God in which all violence will be overcome and people will live in unity and harmony with nature and with one another.