VV 14 Aug-Sept 1€¦ · Our Parish Vision:WITNESSING CHRIST TOWARDS TRANSFORMING COMMUNITY Bulletin of Sacred Heart Parish, Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Vol. XXXIV - No.- 4, August-September

Our Parish Vision:WITNESSING CHRIST TOWARDS TRANSFORMING COMMUNITY

Bulletin of Sacred Heart Parish, Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Vol. XXXIV - No.- 4, August-September 2014

Editorial...........

For Private Circulation Only

FREEDOM TO GROW

sessions, prayer sessions, Community Patron Saint Feast Day celebration, etc catering to the needs of every parishioner. The efforts put in by our Clergy are remarkable and marvelous. Their only focus is on how to give the best to the Community. But how much can be received is the question since there are a few of us who are indifferent to the efforts put in by the persons who selflessly work for the Community. Opportunities and facilities to grow in faith and community building are

being made available by our Parish Fathers. It is up to us to make the best of it and grow in our love for God and love of neighbor. While most of us value their efforts and participate, it would indeed be excellent if we had a bigger participation each time. Maybe some of us are so used to Television reality shows that we tend to compare these with the Community programs. Agreed that our programs

need to be very good in keeping with the times, but we must also realize that our programs are planned and executed by amateurs and sometimes they are first timers on stage. The purpose of our program is not for competition

- GEORGE THOMAS

There are many ways to measure growth. But in the body of Christ – The Church, this can easily be done by seeing the percentage of people participating. Many years ago when our Church of brick and mortar was yet to be built, the entire community would pray a prayer after each Eucharist which ended with the words “…bring to fulfillment a vibrant community of justice and love where true worship spells service”. God is faithful and has answered our prayers. Indeed our parish has grown into a large vibrant Community. This can be gauged by the active participation of majority of the parishioners from tiny tots to very senior citizens. Read through this newsletter and you will agree with me that our parish is bustling with activities. Often there are activities happening in the Communities which go unreported due to paucity of time for handing over the report before deadline. We have over 17 Associations serving the people of God all working in harmony with one another.

All the year round we have had Community building programs, training

(Continued on Inside Cover page)

VASHI VISION Parish Bulletin of Sacred Heart Church

Vashi, Navi Mumbai

EDITORIAL TEAM Fr. Gerald Fernandes, George Thomas,

Maureen Lobo, Bertha Fernandes, Aruna Rathod, Kimberly Rowe

DESIGN & LAYOUTFelix Rodrigues

SEND ARTICLES FOR VASHI VISION TO [email protected]

Vol. XXXIV - No.- 4, August-September 2014

PUBLISHED BYFr. Gerald Fernandes,Sacred Heart Church, Plot No. 67, Sector - 9A, Vashi,Navi Mumbai - 400 703. Tel.: 2765 0343 - 1392Church email: [email protected]

FB Page: www.facebook.com/sacredheartchurch.vashi

PRINTED ATMermier Printing Institute,Mermier Bal Ashram,18A, Bonkode Road, Sector - 11,Koparkhairane, Navi Mumbai - 400709.Tel.: 2754 3335

Web-page: www.sacredheartchurchvashi.wordpress.com

but to build, nurture inherent talents and traits of our brothers and sisters. What a fantastic platform the Church offers us to showcase the talents of our people while moving close to God. Again the meal that we serve at our get together may be simple not comparable maybe with the a-la-carte meals we are used to. The purpose is to bond together as one large family sharing a meal together. One more reason for non-participation would be – “I have better things to do” or the “No time” syndrome. I may be whiling away my time in unproductive gossip or mindlessly watching television

program, but when I am called upon to do something for the community, I am extremely busy. Fr Gerry spoke about freedom in his homily on Independence day, when he said, one experiences true freedom, when one chooses freedom from something one has been doing (maybe as a slave to habits) to doing something for the better. Let us exercise our freedom to offer a part of our God given time back to God through Community service and more so by taking part in the programs enriching one another.

FREEDOM...

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE!!!

(Continued from Cover Page)

We Congratulate the following students of our Parish who have scored 90% & above in the SSC & HSC Examination in March 2014.

We wish all the successful students a very great future, may our Lord Jesus bless them with wisdom and guide them through the Holy Spirit to be a beacon in His Kingdom.

SSC1 - Kavya Pillai, Sec. 9A - 92.80% 2 - Nishita Suares - Sec. 14 - 92.00%3 - Nathan Vaz, Sec. 17 - 91.00%4 - Aloysia Kulandai, Sec.9 - 90.20%

HSC5 - Steve Menezes, Sec. 00 - 91.69%6 - Alric D’Souza, Sec. 8 - 90.00%7 - Rhea D’Costa, Sec. 4 - 90.00%

It is with great pride that we wish to inform that our young parishioner, Miss Teena Andrade, daughter of Thomas and Lina of Sector 9A, has excelled in the Chartered Accountancy course by passing in the first attempt. We wish her luck and success in all her future endeavors.

1 2 3

4

5 6 7

- BERTHA FERNANDES

Imagine a scenario with two responses: a wailing three year old in a tantrum pushes his plate on to the floor. Mother1 screams and shouts and beats the child. Mother2 picks up the child and

distracts him to take his mind off the cause of his tantrum—her brand new IPhone 5.Which of the two mothers displays good parental behavior? 'Neither', you may say, and quite right you'd be. The first mother reacts in anger to her child's anger (message: 'your anger makes me angry'); the second mother resorts to an escape from the situation (message: 'if there's a problem, skirt the issue').Neither parent teaches the child to cope with the situation. And this brings us to the topic of emotional intelligence.

In our desperate attempt to ensure our children's success in this highly competitive world, the focus has been mainly on IQ and academic achievements (Emotional Quotient -EQ- has taken the back seat) and in the process of pushing them, we have often ignored their feelings, even negated these. When they don't meet our expectations, we label them as useless, good-for-nothing and so on, totally insensitive to the gripping fear or the paralyzing anger that lurks beneath. What we need to realize is that, like us, our children have no control over the emotions they experience because these are psycho-physiological reactions to stimuli. What we do have control over is whether we let ourselves be hijacked by our emotions or whether we deal with them intelligently, rationally. So the first step is self-awareness: identifying and understanding our emotions and getting our children to identify and understand theirs. Instead of “Don't sit there and sulk, you brainless twit”, we could say something like, “I know you are angry and upset because …. Let's talk about it when you are ready.”

The next step is emotional management - on the individual and the social level: to get your child to consider t h e s i t u a t i o n rationally, weigh the a l t e rna t ives and a r r i v e a t a n appropriate solution. This can be done even with a KG kid but to do this we, parents, need to first

manage our own emotions. We need to avoid knee jerk reactions and instead focus on a productive solution to our child's emotional situation. A friend of mine settled heated arguments between her two pre-teen sons by declaring a Time-out. She would keep them in separate rooms for 15-20 minutes. This gave her time to decide how to deal with the problem (if required) and gave them enough time to get over the physical aspects of their anger- increased heartbeat, tense muscles, adrenalin rush etc. Then finding a solution became much easier.

I've condensed the strategy to just two steps but EI/EQ is not exactly a piece of cake. It calls for consistent practice. But the good thing is that, unlike IQ which we are born with, EQ can be learnt and developed. And here our values play a big role because there's an integral connection between our EQ and our SQ—spiritual quotient. Values like Love, Trust, Gratitude, Honesty, and Commitment steer the management of our emotions. So we, parents, have to walk the talk and let our values guide us to handle our relationships or situations with emotional maturity. If, for instance, genuine 'Love and concern' rather than egoistic power play, is our guiding value, we will be able to assertively and convincingly refuse a demand. EI is about disciplining with Love, and children do want to be disciplined; it gives them stability to have a firm moral compass. If our children see us consistently exhibit emotionally mature behavior, they will pick up this behavior because example is always more effective than precept. We, in turn, as parents have many models of exemplary emotional maturity not only in Jesus and Mother Mary but also in parabolic figures like the loving father of the prodigal son.

Emotional intelligence is not just about harmony in our lives, it also about climbing the ladder of success. Research has indicated that people with high EQ have been far more successful than people with only a high IQ. Organizations are interested in recruiting people

w i t h h i g h E Q . Perhaps, it's high time we started giving more attention to this a s p e c t o f o u r children's growth because as Frederick Douglas said, “It's far easier to build strong children than to repair grown men.”

PARENTING WITH EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

1VASHI VISION - Sacred Heart Church, Vashi

(Our Vashi Vision version of a curtain-raiser to the synod on parenting in Rome this October)

August - September 2014

GURUS - The DOORWAYS TO GRACE OR DISGRACE

- MICHAEL DE SOUZA, Sector - 8.

A perfect guru is one who has merged himself with the Creator and his marvellous creation - nature and man in mental, physical, psychological and spiritual realms. He is still in his shell with his

sufferings and the sufferings of others trying to break free towards this self realization. Once free he then displays a range of sparkling miracles in bringing disciples and devotees under his wings, teaching them and teaching himself that life is worth living. He works out ways with his people to bring about the 'H' factor of Health, Harmony, Happiness and a little bit of Heaven here on earth - then that's a true guru. Remember Christ said The truth will set you free.

Throughout history the point of enlightenment, to begin doing something for oneself and others dawns. The Upanishads say that those on a spiritual path and deep into sadhana also need a guru's blessings that his journey of life will be free. Life is full of gurus: parents-children, teachers-students, bosses-workers, friends-foes. We all learn from each other. I learnt a lot from children to be patient, honest, smiley while they learnt from me to be hilarious, prayerful and studious. I really admire Christ for his ambition, drive, tenacity, self confidence, open mind balance and an appetite for learning. For thirty years wherever he went he listened to his gurus - John the Baptist, preachers, teachers in the synagogues and to the voice of his parents Mary and Joseph, and above all his heavenly Father. Then the day of realization dawned as he stood for baptism in the river Jordan. This is my beloved Son, listen to Him. The same can be said of each one of us. So we are all baptised to be true gurus. But we are all living in poverty a plenty - poverty of patience, intellect, sharing our talents and also poor of the Spirit of God within us. To bridge this we have to raise our light of realization i.e. intelligence for all to see and not hide it under a bushel. So use your talents and brighten up the lives of others. Oh I love gardening, it teaches me patience, trust and care; it then blooms giving me flower and fruits. Yes it beautifies my home. Take this sparrow, it waited for six months to make a home in the crevice of my wall. Perhaps it's too small, so I cleaned it and gave it a 2BHK. Now it's trying to make a home, chirping all day long. If it's happy I'm happy too.

New age gurus are lost in the by lanes of sex, maya, money and you think he is your ticket to Nirvana be it parents, bosses, priests or politicians. They have a psychological strategy to create slavery. Condemn the person in his own eyes and so is dependent on others. Such gurus create guilt feeling so the person is not rebellious. Your whole energy is poisoned - one of the reasons why they leave the home, church, society and go where there is comfort and pleasure. Sometimes we are suspicious when the guru gets money out of us for spiritual and educational courses. Temptation to amass wealth, Poverty is not a virtue they like. They change the rules of the game but they themselves don't keep it. But now the focus is on the love of God, His goodness where man is the apple of his eye. So why can't we live with the love and goodness of the other person?

Guru Purnima day - a day of gratitude to thank one another because each one's life changes another. It falls on a full moon day in the lunar month of Ashadh. Everyone is a guru from the birth in the womb to the pit of the tomb. Pray how many take Christ as their guru. Christ said "To have seen me is to have seen the Father' I

and the Father are one. This guru's rising was a tsunami which later made the people proclaim 'See how these Christians love one another.' Ever heard of this beautiful hymn "Make God your guru let Him tell you what to do, listen He's calling clear and true."

A true guru will help you spiritually to go within and find your true self, making your focus on the God living in you.

I may never find a perfect priest for I know they are like me with only a human heart with human frailty. Our parish fathers Gerald and Baptist have our spiritual well being uppermost on their minds. They strive to make us better and more loving and compassionate beings. Every morning I sing this hymn "Keep them we pray Thee dearest Lord, keep them for they are Thine." My prayer May the good Lord lovingly impart His peace His strength and His courage to abide within their hearts their every thought, word and deed. Deign dearest Lord to bless.

Know that we too are flawed coming either from apes or from the couple who ate the apple in Eden. But within us is a spark, that tune, played by the great harpist God himself. We can't go wrong if we follow that tune and all priests make us hear that tune. It is upto us to follow like the man in the movie 'Fiddler on the Roof" who listened to God's tune and followed it.

2 Sacred Heart Church, Vashi - VASHI VISIONAugust - September 2014

1. “United we stand, divided we fall. Join hands in hand, brave Indians all! Let us vow to take our country to great heights of prosperity, each by doing his tiny bit, sincerely and truly.” – Sylvia Pinto Menezes, Sector – 28

2. “I am proud to be an Indian” is a line for everyone to express their love for the country but I believe that India has an amazing, diverse culture and thus, India as a country needs to be described in all its glory. People have fought to keep this culture and this land alive and I honor and respect all freedom fighters. I'm not only proud but also happy to be so privileged to be an Indian.” – Kane D'souza, Sector – 11

3. “It's a double celebration day. Our Lady will always protect our country. Everyone should pray for the freedom fighters, martyrs, soldiers and leaders, and thank them for making us free in this beautiful country.” – Francis D'souza, Sector – 12

4. “It's a day when all religions of India united and fought for freedom, so that the future generation would be saved from being slaves of others.” – Clyde Fernando, Sector – 1

5. “To me, Independence Day means freedom from oppression, liberty to develop personally, and as a citizen of India.” – Lloyd Fonseca, Sector – 12

6. “Winning freedom from colonial rule was the first step. Independence is an opportunity to chart our own destiny and make India a global leader.” – Jennifer Rowe, Sector – 29

7. “I enjoy this freedom only because of the sacrifice of our freedom fighters. On Independence Day, I thank them for this freedom.” – Cedric Mascarenhas, Sector – 4

8. “To me, Independence Day means a world of opportunities, options waiting to be explored, and dreams to be actualized. There are common dreams shared by our ancestors and some personal individual dreams to be fulfilled. The foundations for both were laid by centuries of effort, which we celebrate on 15th August.” – Rosemary Machado, Sector – 12

9. “Independence means complete freedom. It is like a tiny bird in the sky, which is free to fly, whenever and wherever it wants to. The tiny bird sings, “I am a little bird in the sky. Oh, nobody can take my freedom away!”” – Edward D'souza, Sector – 28

10. “Our Independence Day is not just about freedom from the British. It is the union of every difference in our country – be it religious or class. It's a true relationship with not just our country but people as well – breathing and letting people breathe in freedom.” – Stella Ekka, Sector – 12

11. “This Independence Day as we celebrate our freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of India, let us make a pledge to make a personal contribution to helping millions of our countrymen to secure for themselves freedom from hunger, thirst and illiteracy.” – Rowena Rosario, Sector – 15

12. “Independence Day reminds us that the democratic freedom we enjoy today didn't come free, many had to sacrifice their life for it. It also helps to correlate with others who died to give us freedom from our sins.” – Savio Menezes, Sector – 28

13. “According to me, we never received our Independence 67 years ago. We are still under the rule of caste, religion, and corruption. Only when

we eradicate these barriers from the root level, can we believe we are free in the true sense.” – Jewelson Fernandes, Sector – 28

14. “Freedom is the right to live my life the way I want to live it, and not the way others want me to live it.” – Desmond Rowe, Sector – 16

15. “Independence Day is the day we were freed from the rule of the British. In the same way, Our Lady was freed by Our Lord from Earth and assumed Body and Soul into Heaven. We celebrate both of these feasts with great joy and

solemnity because both feasts have great meaning in our faithful lives.” – Kevin Aroza, Sector – 2

- Compiled by - KIMBERLY ROWE


INDEPENDENCE DAY TWEETS - by Sacred Heart Parishioners


- MARLENE PEREIRA, Sec-4

Sacred scripture does not record Mary's birth, although we know a little about it through tradition, apocryphal writings from the late second century. From the earliest times, the Church has always celebrated the

birthday of Mary on the 8th of September (nine months from the Immaculate Conception) all over the world with great solemnity, sovereignty, pomp and splendour.

The special significance the church places on this feast is evident from the fact that after Jesus Christ and John the Baptist, Mary is the only other saint who has a feast day on her birthday. All other saints celebrate their feast day on the day of their death (birth to eternal life).

As we prepare to celebrate this special feast - it is worthwhile to ask and remind ourselves - Why should mankind celebrate our Blessed Mother's nativity in such a special way? What advantage did her birth bring for mankind?

The answers lie in the unique place and role of the Blessed Virgin in the history of salvation. She had the highest mission ever commended to any creature – of being the Mother of God - which she fulfilled in a perfect way. Born without original sin, this holy human person is the most exquisite creature that God ever made. She fully surrendered to God's will, trusted in God, and gave us all the most beautiful gift of all – Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Mary's birth preceded the Savior's, announcing the Xday of salvation just as the morning star precedes the sun announcing the dawn of day. It is fitting, therefore, that we perceive the birthday o f J e s u s C h r i s t b y a celebration of the birth of Mary. It's as simple as that.

Mary's birth represents the Xentrance into the world of a new grace, a new blessing and a new presence that was an incomparable presage of the presence, blessing and grace that would come with the Saviour.

Mary's birth is also the event Xthat announces the fall and destruction of the reign of the devil . The relat ionship between God and man began to change, and the gates of Heaven that had been tightly

locked were semi-opened, permitting the light and breeze of hope to pass through.

Thus -

If every human birth brings in a new potential to be «a channel of God's love, peace, joy and a new hope in a world filled with travail, in Mary's birth we see the fulfilment of this potential in the greatest measure possible and in a most magnificent way.

If birthday celebrations bring happiness to the «celebrant as well as to family and friends, how much more Mary's birthday whose children include all mankind? Who opened the doors of salvation for us? Who by her manifold intercession continues to win for us the gifts of eternal salvation?

If Jesus is the perfect expression of God's love, «Mary is the foreshadowing of that love. Each time we celebrate her birth we are reminded of God's infinite love and mercy for us and can confidently hope for an increase of peace in our hearts and in the world at large.

Any article on a birthday cannot be concluded without due consideration of a gift. What would be an apt gift for her, who gave mankind the most beautiful gift of all? Who, herself, is the sweetest gift, after her son that God gave to us?

The winegrowers in France gift her the best grapes from their harvest. In Austria, milk and leftover food are given to the poor in her honour. In India, we offer beautiful flowers or offer alms, foodgrains etc to be

distributed to the poor. We could learn and sing a hymn in her honour, say a rosary, cut a cake etc.

We could also consecrate ourselves totally to Mary this September saying as Legionaries do “I am all yours, my Queen and my Mother, and all that I have is yours” - offering all our joys, our sorrows, our works and the fruits of our labour to her for her and put ourselves entirely at her disposal to use as she wishes in her mission to bring souls to God. Since she is the shortest, surest and sweetest route to our Lord Jesus Christ, who can never be outdone in giving, we can be assured that this would be the greatest gift of all – to her, to ourselves, to our Lord Jesus Christ and to Almighty God.

MOTHER MARY – GOD'S SPECIAL GIFT TO MANKIND



IN HIS TIME....IN HIS TIME

FAITH

- SAMIR VARKEY, Sector - 17

Almost all of us have heard the hymn, 'In His time....in His time'. For more recent additions to the church it is Hymn 207 (At-least in the hymnal ‘Joyful Celebration’ that I have). Many of us like the lyrics, others the

tune. What really inspires most people however is the message those words give us.

What could those words really mean? Let me give you a couple of examples. A parent was gifting property to their child and talks about initiating this, and it kept going on for 6 months, however no action was initiated by the parent. When finally something was done about it, the child was told that in order to complete the formality, payments of over a lakh would be required to be paid to the Government. Had this been done 6 months prior, they simply wouldn't have had the funds to make the transfer.

In the movie 'Signs', Mel Gibson in

- OSCAR GOMES, Sec-6

There's a little story of a family of four. A couple had a daughter about 6 years old followed by a child born with a defect which the doctors said was degenerative. Except for the mother the family was readying

themselves emotionally for the inevitable. The mother had faith that the child was curable and she prayed. One day for no reason the daughter started singing “you are my sunshine” to the child. Almost at the end of the song the mother notice a change in the child. His eyes were open and moving. She told her daughter “keep on singing, keep on singing”. The girl continued “you are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy”. Gradually the little ones eyes looked at the mother and he

character, questions the events that occur in his life, believing them all to be coincidental, only to later realize that there was none and it was all perfectly scripted, by a higher being. Both these stories relay essentially the same message, 'Every purpose under heaven, has a time'.

We almost always fret and frown when there are delays in getting tasks completed or in-case we miss a flight. only to later realize the greater good that came from it. Rather than cribbing about missed opportunities and near misses, we should, try and

search for the silver lining attached to the situation. There almost always is one, and if it is not always apparent or a particular situation doesn't make sense give it time, and you most certainly will see the good that comes of it.

And despite your best efforts if you're still not seeing it, grab your hymna,l turn over to Hymn 207, sing out loud and leave the rest to the Lord!!

smiled and gurgled. Faith had paid off.The substance of Faith.Jesus came not to give us a religion but to make us to

have a personal relation with God. Our past does not have to dictate our future. The truth of God's word overrides facts. Faith is a gift of God and without faith we cannot please God.

We are made righteous by Faith.We are made justified and sanctified by Faith. We

become children of God by Faith. The Holy Spirit is received by Faith. Faith works with Gods love.

Faith is a practical expression of confidence in Gods word. Confidence drives out fear. Therefore the Devil attacks Confidence. We should have the patience to develop confidence.

J "Beginnings are usually scary and endings are usually sad, but it's everything in between that makes it all worth living." - Sandra Bullock in "Hope Floats"

JGod didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. - unknown

JJust because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't there. You can't see the future, yet you know it will come; you can't see the air, yet you continue to breathe. - Claire London “Q

uote

Han

ger”


ALL-IN-ONE RHYTHM

6 Sacred Heart Church, Vashi - VASHI VISION

Sr ROSE, Sisters of St Joseph of Tarbes

The FIFA World Cup is an event we, are all familiar with. The Inaugural tournament was held in 1930. Since then the competition has been played after every four years. This year's football World Cup

edition, FIFA World Cup 2014 is the 20th tournament. It was played from 12th June to 13th June in Brazil.

The World Cup logo was officially introduced on 8th July 2010 in Johannesburg. The logo named 'Inspiration' was created by Brazilian design agency 'Africa'. The design contains 3 hands holding the World Cup trophy which symbolizes: 1. Unity, 2.Harmony, 3. Warm welcome to the World, all three being essential elements of being a Christian.

The most important fact that we would like to draw your attention to is the slogan for the FIFA World Cup was “All in One Rhythm”. This slogan is very much applicable to us 'Catholics' or 'Christians too.

If a game, such as Football has brought so many people, both young and old together in unity, how much more will 'Christ' the centre of Christianity draw closer to him more and more people uniting them together. “Father may they all be one just as you and I are one.” – Matthew 17:21. But it is not possible unless we become the hands and feet of Jesus.

Let us also as Christians be marked by

the same slogan “All in One Rhythm”. But, wait a minute, what is our rhythm as Christians?

Is it the Football Game, Money, Power, Possessions, Name, Fame, Anger, Jealousy, Pride, Ego….. and the list goes on.

No, No, not at all….. Instead Our Rhythm should be Christ, and if Christ is Our Rhythm we have to also dance according to His way of life. What is his way of life?

It's nothing but love, forgiveness, kindness humility understanding, peace generosity …..

FIFA doesn't stop there; it also initiated the 'Handshake for Peace' initiative in which teams were to shake hands before and after every match to promote peace and fair play. If this could be a practiced and accepted in a game telecast and watched across the world, why can it not become a habit for us 'Christians'

in our daily living?FIFA has also launched “Say No to

Racism” campaign for this World Cup. If a game could promote such an impact on people to support with conviction, then isn't it time that we 'Christians' do the same? Let us start now before it's too late. It is very well said “Charity begins at home”. Every good deed also does begin at home. Hurry up! Or else you will miss the special offer of receiving joy in your hearts on every good act that you do.

May God Bless Each One of YouYours Sister in Jesus Christ.

The spirit of sportsmanship is best expressed in the Olympic Creed: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have

fought well." This should be the spirit of all sporting encounters. The FIFA World Cup 2014 was also played in this spirit. Sports, perhaps, does more to bring the world closer together than any other activity.

No-one exemplifies the struggle to triumph over adversity better than Neymar. Brought up in the poorer quarters of Mogi das Cruzes, Sao Paolo, Neymar attended one of the terrible

public schools of Brazil which contributed nothing to his cognitive or sporting abilities. Come FIFA 2014, and there was Neymar parading his skills on the world stage until the quarter finals when all Brazilian supporters groaned in despair as their talisman, Neymar suffered a cruel foul and was declared unfit to play any further in

the competition. But Neymar is no overnight success story. He faced all the negativities of life. His is a story of hard work, of a battle to beat the odds stacked against him. His is a story of self-belief, of travelling the long and winding road to success.

Neymar proved that “where there is a will, there is a way”. The will to win, the I-can-do-it-spirit, the single minded determination to overcome all odds, the

WINNING IS NOT EVERYTHING


(Continued on pg - 7)

joy of suffering the pain of competition, the thrill of pushing oneself beyond known limits tempered with the spirit of fair play, the realization that there may be someone better at your shoulder, that you will be a winner even if do not finish in first place, even if you do not walk out with the championship trophy in your hand, even if your face does not figure on the pages of the mainstream and tabloid newspapers. That is what sportitude is.

Hark back to the quarter-final between Brazil and Colombia. Colombia had reached the quarter finals playing as a team fired by the extraordinary ball skills of James Rodriguez. Colombia were dreaming big. First to defeat Brazil and make it to the semi finals, then the finals and finally the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: the World Cup. But it was not to be as Brazil rudely interrupted their dream. Yes, Colombia lost but only after a pulsating, titanic battle. Every possible adjective has been used to describe the athleticism, the skills, the talents, and the determination of the players. But, more than anything else, what stood out for the discerning viewers was the scene at the final whistle as a heartbroken James Rodriguez wept and was hugged affectionately by the Brazilian, David Luiz. The images sparked a warm response on social media with Luiz himself posting on Twitter and Instagram: 'Você é um

campeão hermano' ('You are a champion brother'). They walked off the field of play with Luiz's arm around Rodriguez's shoulders while Rodriguez himself recovered his composure and put his arm around Luiz's waist. Too often has it been said and written that in this era of professional sport – when the rewards are mind-boggling – that the bad mouthing, swearing, cheating, temper tantrums, and downright bad behavior of professional athletes must be treated as just another spectacle and is part and parcel of professional gamesmanship. Any believer in sportitude knows that professional athletes are all too often the role models for youngsters who innocently emulate such boorish behavior thereby spreading the cult of disgusting and abhorrent behavior.

Two lines of poetry by Rudyard Kipling say it all: “If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same; yours is the Earth and everything that's in it; and—which is more—you'll be a Man, my son.” The verses are from “If”, a poem that is regularly voted as one of the world's most popular English poems. It would be nice to think that many youngsters who witnessed the way James Rodriguez and David Luiz conducted themselves on that night, both in victory and defeat, came to understand the true meaning of those words.

WINNING IS...


- KAREN ARANHA, Sector -14

This Ash Wednesday, 5th March, the Archdiocese of Bombay launched an App called Archdiocese of Bombay. As someone who used to travel quite a distance to get to work in the mornings this app was a perfect companion to start the day with and keep me going through the Lenten season & beyond.

It is a really simple application to use, just download it through your Google Play store on your android phone and you are good to go. The app is divided into 6 main categories one of which is Prayer and provides daily readings depending on the liturgical calendar. Apart from this there are reflections of the readings, a breviary and also an audio assisted rosary which one could listen to while travelling. The other features include finding a church which requires you to select the nearest train station from where you are and it provides the address of the nearby churches; some of the churches have also provided Mass timings.

As I like reading and listening to stories, what is

particularly interesting is the Bible stories section where a select few significant accounts from both the Old and New Testament are available. Since I don't carry my Bible while travelling, I like that I have it on my phone. I can safely say I was quite close to achieving

my target of reading the Bible everyday and now it has become a habit. It doesn't take long, just five minutes is enough for you to read a passage from both the Old and New Testament.

I really commend the team that has put this App together. It is especially important since we are now used to doing almost everything on the go from communicating with friends & family far and wide to buying everything online. It is just so convenient. This is a little step towards getting more people to read the Bible on a regular basis and I am converted. As Jesus answered while being tempted by Satan, “Man does not live on bread alone but on

every word that comes from the mouth of God.”So tomorrow before you switch on your Whatsapp,

try the Soul App.

SOUL “APP”ETIZER


(Continued from pg - 6)

FEAST OF SACRED HEART OF JESUS

- STELLA RODRIGUES, Sector-9A

On the 29th of June, 2014, our parish celebrated the feast of Sacred Heart of Jesus, Martyrdom of Saints Peter and Paul and also Laity Sunday. It all started with the feast mass at the church. The spirit of the

occasion was set right by a beautiful sermon given by Bishop Agnelo Gracias.

After the mass, all parishioners were invited for a get-together at the Sacred Heart School Hall. Everyone was welcomed with a friendly gesture of ribbons tied to their wrists in order to segregate the parishioners in a manner that made them mingle with others.

Energetic dances were presented by the Sunday School Children. Everyone was served cake and cold drinks which was sponsored by the cultural committee. All the time, spot prizes were given away to some lucky winners.

The youth exhibited their talent by singing a few feet-tapping songs. It was a delight to hear Rhea and Yorrick remember all our parish priests in a special and unique way through a song. Also fun-filled games were organised for everyone. There were many stalls where delicious snacks and cold drinks were being sold.

The program ended with a round of housie. Lastly, I would like to conclude that the purpose of the get-together was achieved, that it brought our parishioners closer together as a family.


YOUTH LEADERSHIP DAY 2014- KEVIN AROZA & KIMBERLY ROWE

The Archdiocese of Bombay had, has and will always have a great affection for its youth. The lucky few who were a part of the Youth Leadership Day realized the importance the archdiocese gives to the youth. Like every other year, this year too the 'Youth Leadership Day' was held at Holy Name School, Colaba on Sunday, 20th July 2014.

The day began with a prayer service by the brothers of St. Pius X College, followed by a gospel music session with action song

and dance. Next in store was the ice-breaker session which included fun-filled games and activities. After this, a talk on Leadership was given to all youth parish representatives. It was an enjoyable, inspiring and a learning experience.

The most important line-up for the day was the elections of the Diocesan Youth Committee and the oath taking ceremony and introduction of the elected Deanery Coordinators by the newly welcomed Youth Director at the Diocesan Pastoral Centre – Fr. Ryan

Alex. We are happy to inform that Kevin Aroza of our parish is the newly elected Navi Mumbai Deanery Representative.

The highlight of the day was the presence of His Lordship Bishop John and His Eminence Cardinal Oswald Gracias. An interactive question-answer session was held with His Eminence. We were truly blessed and thank His Eminence and His Lordship for making it a point to faithfully meet the youth each and every year.

The releasing of the new 'Vision and Venture' marked the end of the session. The ever popular Biryani by the Diocesan Youth Centre marked the end of the day!


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- CARMEN D’SILVA, Sector-9A

The family is the fundamental unit of society and parents play a very important role in the upbringing of their children. In school parent's day is celebrated with much fanfare and we as children used to be excited

to see our parents come and watch us receiving prizes or performing on stage. Once we leave school this is something that is forgotten. However, we catholic parents have the honor of having a special day put aside to celebrate parenthood the birthday of St. Joaquim and St. Anne, parents of Mother Mary. In our parish it is one of the highlights of the year and we parents look forward to the loving and wonderful celebrations that our children put up for us.

This year parent's day was celebrated on Sunday 27th July. The preparations started well in advance by the youth of our parish who worked tirelessly for weeks to arrange this function. The day started off with a special mass for parents followed by celebrations in the evening at Sacred Heart School Hall. It rained buckets on that day but we parents came from far and wide to enjoy the entertainment put up especially for us. The theme “THRILLER NIGHT” kept us wondering what

was in store….. As we entered the venue the décor was marvelous and done with so much detail that I know for sure it would have taken many a late night to make everything by hand from scratch. The children too had taken a lot of pain to dress up to match their surroundings. This whole set up made us feel like we were transported back to the days of Michael Jackson's “Thriller”.

We were served a hot snack and something to quench our thirst, after which the little children put up a fashion show which was both cute and enjoyable. The kids were then whisked away to watch a movie so that we parents could be free to enjoy all the games and entertainment. The youth put up a dance based on the theme which was once again wonderful and enjoyable to watch. Many hours of practice and choreography went into that event and we appreciate all the efforts put in. There were many games and spot prizes for the parents which everyone took part in wholeheartedly. We ended the evening with a sumptuous meal and joy in our hearts for all the love and appreciation showered on us. Kudos to our parish fathers and the youth for the wonderful evening! Your efforts and love made our day!!

PARENT’S DAY CELEBRATION IN SACRED HEART PARISH


JIt's better to keep your mouth shut and give the impression that you're stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. - Rami Belson

JThere are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened.- Mary Kay Ash

JPeople will believe anything if you whisper it. - Unknown

THINK ABOUT

IT!

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- SIJI JOSE, Sec – 9A

St. Nicholas Community organized a celebration for all the parents & grandparents of Sector 9A & 10A. The date fixed was 25th July 2014 as a prelude to the feast of St. Joachim & St. Anne. The venue

was Maureen Lobo's residence at 8.00pm. A total of around 33 parents, grandparents & children attended that evening. The function was well begun with a Prayer Service. A beautiful hymn which the children had put up was sung and they were joined by the elders. The reading of the Word of God was appropriate for the occasion and all present shared their views and opinions on it. This was followed by Prayers of the faithful with responses being sung.

Fr. Baptist Viegas also joined in the celebration. The children present took the blessings of each & every parent/ grandparent- a heartwarming gesture. Further Angeline Correa and Aaron D'sa also presented

- RHEA D'COSTAAs every year, this year too

we had a wonderful time greeting every cluster family on the occasion of Parents Day. Special cards and flower bouquets were gifted to all

grandparents and parents. Made using various creative techniques by our very own sector youth, the cards did indeed bring smiles on the faces of all who received them. The initiative taken to gift every parent with a card is truly a beautiful one. A little card, a small display of affection can make a big difference. Let us all try to make our own little efforts to keep our parents happy, try and give them a little back for the countless things they have done for us.

beautiful bookmarks with special messages made by them for parents. The atmosphere was relaxed and then a Human Housie game was arranged. This gave all those present a chance to mingle with each other since some of them were meeting for the first time. Later there were also birthday wishes & cake cutting as some parents /children had their birthdays during the week which added to the celebration. This was followed by a meal together cooked by some members of the community. A very memorable evening and get together for all the parents.

Finally - We as children were always given Happy Moments by our parents and the same legacy is to be followed with our children. A special word of thanks to our Sector Coordinator Elias D'Costa and all the Sector Animators who work hard to maintain the cordial relations that prevail in our Sector. We all enjoyed this opportunity to meet the members of our community and look forward to many more such occasions.

PARENTS DAY CELEBRATION – ST. NICHOLAS COMMUNITY (SECTOR 9A & 10A)

PARENTS DAY CELEBRATION – in Sector-4


ACTIVITY IN ST. PAUL'S COMMUNITY (SEC- 11, 12, 28 & 29)

PARENTS DAY CELEBRATION

- SYLVIA MENEZES, (Youth) - Sec - 28

On 26th July 2014, around 66 members of St. Paul's Community of Sector 11, 12, 28 and 29 celebrated Parents Day. A small fellowship held after the Community Mass at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Dominic in

Sector 29 was the culmination of days of planning and efforts by the SCC animators and the youth.

In keeping with the theme of Parents Day, we first had a very special celebration of the Eucharist by our spiritual director Fr. Baptist at 5pm. The liturgy for the mass was based on our theme for Parents day. All the parts of mass were led by the youth including the readings. The choir was led by Steffi and Steve and all members graciously joined in the singing. The beautiful altar decoration was done by Janet Fernandes and Cliffa Vaz who made sure the Eucharistic table portrayed reverence and grace. Fr. Baptist gave a very meaningful and inspiring homily on the relationship between parents and children and his words of wisdom will definitely help parents to be role models for their children.

The holy mass was followed by a welcome address by Karen D'silva wishing all parents on behalf of the animators of our community. The talented youth of our community Sherraine, Roshal, Maria, Jennifer, Kimberley and Steffi made beautiful handmade cards for the parents which were personally handwritten by them. They jointly made 35 cards and these were presented to every parent present for mass along with a rose. A 'Thank You' speech was read by Kimberly Rowe and appreciated by all the parents. This speech was an opportunity for the youth and children to express their

gratitude, thoughts and feelings about how their mom and dad have touched their life and made a difference.

The special highlight of the evening was the showcase of personalised videos by the children of the parents who attended the event. Around 18 youth/

children both currently in Vashi and outside took time out and painstakingly recorded their selfie videos and childhood pictures along with a personalised message for their mom and dad thanking them for all their love, support and concern and importantly wishing them “Happy Parents day”. These were all compiled into a Movie maker and shown to the parents on a LCD TV at the Dominic's residence. It was a very satisfying, emotional and heartfelt experience for parents and some even had tears of joys in their eyes.

Now was the time for some sumptuous hot snacks to complement the rainy weather by the hosts – the Dominic family. We ended the fun session with a heart warming vote of thanks on behalf of the parents by Mrs. Sandy Tavares. I am sure everyone had a wonderful time and went back home with smiles on their faces.

A special thank you to our co-ordinator and animators for personally going around and inviting the parents, the youth, and the children for the beautiful cards, personalised videos and organising the mass and everyone in the community for co-operating with our plans and joining us for this event. Your involvement is much appreciated.

We look forward to organizing many such events in future!

- RANDOLPH ROWE (Parent) – Sec - 29

Historically, there is not much recorded about the lives of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary but the response of Mary to

the Angel Gabriel: “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done to me according to thy word” speaks volumes

about her upbringing at the hands of her parent. It was the parents of Mary who nurtured Mary taught her, brought her up to be a worthy Mother of God. It was their teaching that led her to respond to God's request

11VASHI VISION - Sacred Heart Church, Vashi August - September 2014

(Continued on pg - 12)

with faith. It was their example of parenting that Mary must have followed as she brought up her own son, Jesus. It was their faith that laid the foundation of courage and strength that allowed her to stand by the cross as her son was crucified and believe. Sts. Joaquim and Anne are looked up to as model parents and so the commemoration of their feast day as Parents' Day.

St. Paul's Community celebrated Parents' Day on Saturday, July 26, 2014 with Holy Mass specially organised for the parents in the Community at the residence of Mr. & Mrs. Dominic. Fr. Baptist enriched the Mass with a stirring homily in which he emphasised the importance of parents investing quality time with their children to promote their all-round development particularly their spiritual development and faith formation. Fr. Baptist also reminded all parents that they are role-models for their children and highlighted that unless parents themselves behaved in a loving, caring and sharing way, the children may not understand the value of these qualities and behaviour. He also advised the parents to assemble the family for a together-prayer, at least once a day. Otherwise, the children may gradually become estranged from their faith or at least develop a feeling that prayer is not that important. While it is alright to allow children freedom to grow, it is the responsibility of parents to make sure that such freedom does not become outright permissiveness and that the children grow in a healthy way – attitudinally, emotionally, spiritually, etc. Thank you Fr. Baptist for touching our lives with your prayers and your homily.

After the Mass, there was a huge, huge surprise for all the parents present. We could scarce believe our eyes and ears when the television came on and......yes, yes. Quite like Ripley's Believe It Or Not, there were our very own children themselves speaking to us and telling us about how very much they loved us and would always love us, appreciated all the travails we had gone through to bring them up, the tiring days and the sleepless nights, how much they cared about us and would always care about us, remembered how we had always been there for them. The emotional scenes that evening would have to be seen to be believed. Quite unsurprisingly, many parents had to take recourse to their handkerchiefs to wipe away their tears of sheer joy and happiness. One of the youth also read out a poem reminiscing on the days of childhood when parents were everything, recalling how mother taught her to walk, how to tie her shoelaces, sat up nights when she was not well, wiped her nose when she had a cold and her tears when she was in distress and jumped along with her for joy when she came with ***** ( 5 stars) in her notebook. The evening was very, very special, very, very touching and very, very meaningful.

A special word for the Animators, the Choir, the Liturgy Team, and all who helped in howsoever small a way in organising the evening; always remembering all the parents who attended the evening. Thank you very much for a wonderful evening!!

FRIENDSHIP DAY CELEBRATION

- VIVEK DO REGO, Sec-28

The first Sunday of August is celebrated as 'Friendship Day' is celebrated as Friendship day around the world. Our small MOC (Mad Over Christ) group comprising of the

youngsters of St. Paul's along with a few friends from the neighbourhood communities decided to meet up and Party. And what a gathering it turned out to be. 18 of us were part of this celebration.

Celebrations were held at Sagar Restaurant on Sunday 3rd August 2014. Our Spiritual director Fr Baptist graced the occasion but despite all his best efforts could not convert the water into wine (Pun Intended). The Jokes flowed, the food flowed, the drinks flowed (Please do not let your imaginations flow) but so did the love, friendship and the bonding amongst the close knit 'Extended family'.

We ended the day cutting a 'friendship' cake and wishing Fr. Baptist on the eve of the Feast of St. Vianney.

I cannot even imagine where I would be today if it were not for the “MOC” friends who have given us a heart full of joy. Let's face it life is fun. In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, or art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.”

ACTIVITY IN ST. PAUL'S ....


(Continued from pg - 11)


Bonding a community is not easy. Giving up without an attempt would be lethargy. Therefore, a small group set out to effect a change. Every family of the community was contacted and their suggestions considered.

Our patron's feast this year fell on a Thursday. But the majority view was – celebrate on the following Sunday. Community members were willing to pay for the get-to-gather. On 6th July, 2014 (Sunday), the evening mass was our feast mass. The introduction, first and second readings, prayer of the faithful and offertory procession was by the community members. The altar

- KEVIN AROZA

The youth of our parish organizes the annual football tournament every year. Last year, it was christened as the 'Freedom Cup' – a name which has become popular among all ever since. Similar to previous years, it

was held on Independence Day. The qualifiers were played on 15th August and the semi-finals and finals on 16th August. There were 16 matches played on Day 1 and 6 matches played on Day 2.

However, this time, it was time for a new idea to take shape. Taking inspiration from the IPL, the youth decided to have an owner for each of the eight football teams and an auction of players who registered for the tournament. The other twist, as mentioned above, was that it was held for two days instead of one. The cherry on the top was the change in the lunch menu – from Biryani to Fried Rice.

The team taking the Freedom Cup home was the White Team named 'Mad Over Christ' (popularly known as 'MOC') owned by Sylvia and Savio Menezes. The team in 2nd place was the Green Team named

servers were also from the community.The community members were in a celebrative

mood and about seventy members turned up. The compeer felt the pulse of the gathering and kept the young and the not so young at heart involved in various games for children and mixed groups. A respite from hectic activity all joined in a game of housie, before dinner where they shared a simple meal while they chatted.

From 7:15 pm to 9:30 pm on Sunday 6th July, 2014, the camaraderie seen, hopefully will continue to blossom. The accompanying group photo says it all.

'Mavericks' owned by James. And last but not the least, the shield was won by the Grey Team named 'Thunder Bolts' owned by Ronald Pereira. The Top Scorer of the Tournament was Amrera of team 'Mad Over Christ'.

Freedom Cup's sponsor – Shri Vaibhav Gaikwad, the Event Head – Pearl and the hardworking youth behind the scene, contributed to a successful event and made it a hit with the crowd! Hope to see more enthusiasm and participation next year in players and the team owners, encouraging and motivating more parishioners as well. Do stay tuned for more events by the youth over the year!

PATRON’S FEAST CELEBRATED AT - ST. THOMAS COMMUNITY(SECTORS - 2&3)

FREEDOM CUP 2014


More photos on the back cover page...


- DESMOND ROWE, Sec-16

ST. PETER ….. What does the name call to mind? A man who denied His Lord and Master three times? A man who was afraid of his own life? A man of little faith… who started to sink into the waters of the sea

because he did not believe? Yet who among us would not have done the same? What we fail to see is the other Peter. The man to whom Jesus said, You are Peter (another name for Petros - the rock) and upon this Rock I will build my church. Peter was also one of the most steadfast of Jesus' disciples, who preached the good news after Jesus' death, in times when the Christians were being persecuted and their very lives were in danger. Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose St. Peter to lead his church and why not one of the other apostles?

We, the members of the community of St. Peter, are indeed fortunate to have him as our patron saint because of his outstanding qualities. Most of the other saints have one particular day dedicated to them by the church. But there are many days dedicated to St. Peter. One falls on the 29th of June (Feast of Sts. Peter & Paul), the second on the 1st of August (Feast of the Liberation of St. Peter in chains) and the third on the 22nd of February

(Feast of the Chair of St. Peter... WhenJesus appoints St. Peter as the Head of the Church or the First Pope).

This year since the Feast of St. Peter fell on the day when our Parish was celebrating its Feast Day, we decided to celebrate the Feast of the Liberation of St. Peter in chains on the 3rd of August 2014.

The celebrations started with the Eucharist at 6 in the evening, which was celebrated by Fr. Gerry, our

Parish Priest with great solemnity and a prayer for our community that we would continue to grow in God's love and carry out his mission on earth.

Then, all the members retired to the Conference Room to carry on the celebrations by way of active intermingling, followed by snacks and cool drinks, fun games and other interesting spot prizes, and winding up with dinner.

The members enjoyed themselves thoroughly especially while playing a game called “Musical Wardrobe”.

The senior citizens were presented with a single rose to appreciate their presence at the celebrations.

Ms. Violet D'Almeida was also felicitated on this auspicious occasion. She has recently been elected as the President of the Curia (Navi Mumbai chapter) of the Legion of Mary. She was presented with a bouquet and a gift as a token of love and affection.Our community is really privileged for the gift of Violet, who also spearheads the other activities in our community. We thank her for all the good work she is doing and we wish her God's abundant blessings on her and her family and every success in her new assignment.

The dinner was delicious and the bonding among the members was visible on the occasion of “Friendship Day”. We take this opportunity to thank all our youth who conducted the entire program including the compering, the games and other activities. We are also grateful to the Parish Fathers, Fr. Gerry and Fr. Baptist who graced the occasion and interacted with all the members present.

We thank all our members who turned up in large numbers despite the inclement weather and helped to make this celebration a meaningful one and a grand success.

PATRON’S FEAST CELEBRATED AT - ST. PETER’S COMMUNITY(SECTORS - 16 & 16A)


So Far, So GoodSo far today, God, I've done all right. I haven't gossiped, haven't lost my temper, haven't been greedy,

grumpy, nasty, selfish, or over-indulgent. I'm really glad about that. But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to get out of bed and from then on I'm probably going to need a

lot more help. Thank you. Amen


For the very first time, Sacred Heart Parish is truly witnessing a new kind of movement wherein the youth are now, in almost all functions and events, one of the core organs. We can see a fantastic blend of the wisdom and experience of our elders with the energy and creativity brought out by the youth which is delivering fantastic results. This new revival among the youth of our parish has not been achieved overnight but, we truly believe, it is the spirit calling in each one of them to serve the church in whatever way possible.

It is no secret that our parish has been blessed with numerous talented youth. To channelize their talents and expertise towards church related activities, our parish has now started the Youth mass which will be held exclusively for the youth of our parish on the 3rd Sunday of every month. A lot of people have asked us, what is the youth mass? Why is it specifically for the youth? We believe, there are 2 important things which the youth mass aims to achieve – VBonding – The youth mass gives a fantastic

opportunity for the youth to interact with the other youth of the parish. This kind of bonding over a long period, given the right direction and guidance, would ensure our parish remains a strongly knit family.

VEmbracing Jesus as Our Friend – We currently live in a world where the relevance of God and His teachings are being questioned every single day. In such times, this mass aims to teach the youth to

embrace Jesus as their friend, philosopher, guide and teacher.Each mass has theme and a priest from another

parish is invited to conduct the mass for the youth. These themes are topics which are currently what each youth would find relevant in their day to day life. They would be able to learn how they can use the Bible in their day to day life even if the Bible was written 1000s of years ago!

At some point we all ask ourselves questions like “why am I here?” and “what is my purpose in life?” We all ask these questions about life because deep in our heart we desire to know the real answers. The reality, however, is that we often look for the answers to life's deepest questions through the wrong lens. We seek out our purpose in ways that do not always lead us to true happiness and freedom.

So come and be a part of this wonderful movement in our parish, by encouraging the youth of your community to come for this mass and truly, with God's grace, “Vashi Parish Mein Achey Din Atey Rahengay!”

- SILIKA PINTO & MELVIN SANTARITA

YOUTH MASS


In All Things Give ThanksA 4-year-old boy who was asked to return thanks before Christmas dinner. The family members bowed

their heads in expectation. He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one. Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, brother, sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles. Then he began to thank God for the food. He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes, even the Cool Whip.

Then he paused, and everyone waited--and waited. After a long silence, the young fellow looked up at his mother and asked, "If I thank God for the broccoli, won't he know that I'm lying?”

Helpful PrayerJohnny had been misbehaving and was sent to his room. After a while he emerged and informed his

mother that he had thought it over and then said a prayer. “Fine", said the pleased mother. "If you ask God to help you not misbehave, He will help you." "Oh, I didn't ask Him to help me not misbehave," said Johnny. "I asked Him to help you put up with me."

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- MARIE D'MELLO, Sec– 8

Let me first introduce you to 'Bada Father' and 'Chota Father' if you have already met them, then you must know I am referring to Fr Gerry and Fr Baptist, a more sporting pair of priests I have yet to meet.

But, in the words made famous in the 'Sound of Music,' let's start at the very beginning. A felicitation programme was organised by the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) for our Fathers Gerry, Baptist and Peter (Fr Peter loaned to us by Fr Agnel's for Sundays) on the feast of St John Marie Vianney (Vianney Sunday) on 10th of August, 2014, and also for Sisters Sharmila, Nithya and Rose as they were “celebrating foundation” of their order i.e. ‘Sisters of St Joseph of Tarbes’ on 15th of August.

There was a chart displayed depicting the notes of appreciation by many Parishioners and an apt backdrop in the Church. At all the masses, there was a soul searching presentation about Priests narrated by Felix Rodrigues. At the 9.15 mass, Francis D'Souza, PPC member of Sector – 6, paid a rich tribute to our dear Parish Fathers. Later there was a Get Together.

The SCC co-ordinators were also invited, so we made quite a large gathering (more the merrier?) Randolph Rowe started with sweet words of appreciation of our fathers, and what followed was a morning full of side splitting laughter, games and topped off with a delicious lunch. For me the highlight of the program was a skit – caricatures of our musical bada father and handsome chota father. They both took it all in good humour and were seen to be laughing the loudest. The games were great fun particularly the story telling. Fr Gerry was much chuffed to see his team win (which was actually due to his own ideas and suggestions) but everyone went home with a prize. Fr

Gerry, in his thank you note, mentioned he was pleased to see the parish like one big family- true there were squabbles like in any family but nothing major that could not be settled.

Finally, I would like to thank the Executive Members for making the arrangements, the sponsors who contributed the Lunch, the prizes, the cake, the cards and all who worked behind the scenes to make the day a memorable one.

VIANNEY SUNDAY CELEBRATION


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God Approaches Us Men

7. Why did God have to show himself in order for us to be able to know what he is like?- Man can know by reason that God exists, but not what God is really like. Yet because God would very much like to be known, he has revealed himself.God did not have to reveal himself to us. But he did it out of love. Just as in human love one can know something about the beloved person only if he opens his heart to us, so too we know something about God's inmost thoughts only because the eternal and mysterious God has opened himself to us out of love. From creation on, through the patriarchs and the prophets down to the definitive REVELTION in his Son Jesus Christ, God has spoken again and again to mankind. In him he has poured out his heart to us and made his inmost being visible for us.

8. How does God reveal himself in the Old Testament?- God shows himself in the Old Testament as God, who created the world out of love and remains faithful to men even when they have fallen away from him into sin.God makes it possible to experience him in history: With Noah he establishes a covenant to save all living things. He calls Abraham so as to make him “the father of a multitude of nations” (Gen 17:5b) and to bless “all the families of the earth” in him (Gen12:3b). The people Israel, sprung up from Abraham, becomes his special possession. To Moses he introduces himself by name. His mysterious name YHWH, usually transcribes Yahweh, means “I am who I am” (Ex 3:14). He frees Israel from slavery in Egypt, establishes a covenant with them on Sinai, and through Moses gives them the Law. Again and again, God sends prophets to his people to call them to conversion and to the renewal of the covenant. The prophets proclaim that God will establish a new and everlasting covenant, which will bring about a radical renewal and definitive redemption. This covenant will be open to all human beings.

9. What does God show us about himself when he sends his Son to us?- God shows us in Jesus Christ the full depth of his merciful love.

Through Jesus Christ the invisible God becomes visible. He becomes a man like us. This shows us how far God's love goes: He bears our whole burden. He walks every path with us. He is there in our abandonment, our sufferings, our fear of death. He is there when we can go no farther, so as to open up for us the door leading into life.

10. With Jesus Christ, has everything been said, or does revelation continue even after him?- In Jesus Christ, God himself came to earth. He is God's last Word. By listening to him, all men of all times can know who God is and what is necessary for their salvation.With the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Revelation of God is perfect and complete. To make it comprehensible to us, the Holy Spirit leads us ever deeper into the truth. God's light breaks so forcefully into the lives of many individuals that they “see the heavens opened” (Acts 7:56). That is how the great places of pilgrimage such as Guadalupe in Mexico or Lourdes in France came about. The “private revelations” of visionaries cannot improve on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. No one is obliged to believe in them. But they cam help us understand the Gospel better. Their authenticity is tested by the Church.

11. Why do we hand on the faith?- We hand on the faith because Jesus commands us: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19)No genuine Christian leaves the transmission of the faith exclusively to specialists (teachers, pastors, missionaries). We are Christ for others. This means that every genuine Christrian would like God to come to other people too. He says to himself, “The Lord needs me! I have been baptized and confirmed and am responsible for helping the people around me to learn about God and 'to come

to the knowledge of the truth' (1 Tim 2:4b). Mother Teresa used a good comparison: “Often you can see power lines running alongside the street. Unless current is flowing through them, there is no light. The power line is you and I! The current is God! We have the power to allow the current to flow through us and thus to generate the light fo the world: Jesus – or to refuse to be used and, thus, allow the darkness to spread.”

CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH - 2----- Borrowed from the book ‘YOUCAT’ -----


(To be continued in the next issue...)


One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name...

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish the assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday, she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. "Really?" she heard whispered. "I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!" and, "I didn't know others liked me so much," were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on ...

Several years later, one of the students was killed in Viet Nam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The church was packed with his friends. One by one, those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. "Were you Mark's math teacher?" he asked. She nodded: "yes." Then he said: "Mark talked about you a lot."

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

"We want to show you something," his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it."

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him..

“Thank you so much for doing that," Mark's mother said. "As you can see, Mark treasured it."

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, "I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home."

Chuck's wife said, "Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album."

"I have mine too," Marilyn said. "It's in my diary"

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. "I carry this with me at all times," Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: "I think we all saved our lists"

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.

So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late.

THE FRIEND LIST

Sometimes my cross is hard to bearfor there is darkness everywhereand troubles pile around my doorlike autumn leaves forevermore.

The morning light seems far awaylike I am stuck in yesterdayMy heart is beating like a drumI try to pray, but words won't come

But then the sun begins to riseand hope is born within my eyesA rainbow forms among my tearsfor faith is stronger than my fears.

Faith Is StrongerThan My Fears…

- Email forward - Gracy Babhale

19VASHI VISION - Sacred Heart Church, Vashi August - September 2014

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Custom Made:Bridesmaid Gowns

Communion DressesChristening Dresses

Western WearCocktail & Party Wear

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Bridal Gowns Custom made Readymade & on hireBridal accessories

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For more photos of the events visit Photos / Album at: www.facebook.com/sacredheartchurch.vashior ‘Photos & Videos’ page at: www.sacredheartchurchvashi.wordpress.com

Baptism - Born in Christ

Marriage - United in Christ

Burial - Resting in Christ

21-06-2014 - Dayle D’Cunha - Child of - Edmund & Frenzina22-06-2014 - Anglica Thea Pinto - Child of - Anderson & Janice12-07-2014 - Vivan Jain - Child of - Nitin & Simon13-07-2014 - Sandrea Dorra - Child of - Ganashekaran & Maria

22-06-2014 - Kanickaraj (Mathew) Mudliar -with- Priyanka Palekar02-07-2014 - Haribhai Waghela -with- Anita Waghela

1) 14-06-2014 - Augustine Borges - age 66 years- Sector 6, Vashi2) 17-06-2014 - Theodolina Carvalho - age 93 years- Sector 6, Vashi3) 31-07-2014 - Antonio Carrasco - age 76 years- Sector 6, Vashi

We are publishing the photograph of our dear Parishioners who were united with Christ in the preceding/current month.In case of death of our parishioner the family may handover the photo of the departed family member along with the name, age & sector to the Vashi Vision Team or in the Parish Office, in case they Desire so. (deadline announced in Church Notices)

Parish Schedule

Confessions: - Every Saturday at 6.15 pm or on requestBaptisms: - 1st and 3rd Sunday at the 9.00 am MassSunday Good News Club: - 8.00 am Mass in the Church followed by Cathechism for children.Mass Schedule: - Weekday: 7.00 am and 7.00 pm

- Sundays: 7.00 am, 8.00 am, 9.15 am and 6.00 pm Language Masses: - Konkani: 3rd Sunday - 7.00 am

- Tamil: 1st & 3rd Sunday - 10.30 am - Malayalam: 2nd & 4th Sunday - 10.30 am

Charismatic Prayer: - Tuesdays & Thursdays after the Evening MassChurch Office: - 9.30 am to 1.00 pm and 5.00 pm to 7.00 pm

Sunday Closed

1 2 3

-------: CAVEAT :------- The Publisher does not vouch for any claims made by the Advertisers of products or services. The team and the Parish Fathers shall not be held liable for any consequences; in the event such claims are not honoured by the Advertisers.

For more photos of the events visit Photos / Album at: www.facebook.com/sacredheartchurch.vashior ‘Photos & Videos’ page at: www.sacredheartchurchvashi.wordpress.com

Do share your news, Views, stories, achievements, Inspirations and activities in various Church Groups and Associations which can be shared with the larger family of this Sacred Heart Parish through this News Letter Vashi Vision (It will be great if you can provide the articles as soft copy if not hard copy is always welcome).

- Articles & Pictures for printing in the future issues of Vashi Vision should reach the

editorial team latest by 15th of every preceding month of the issue. (Maximum 400 words

per article)- email your views & articles and photographs & advertisements to [email protected]

- For Advertising in Vashi Vision kindly contact the Church office.

Share Your Community News, Articles and Suggestions

THE BEST TEACHERS TEACH FROM THE HEART,NOT FROM THE BOOKS

5, SEPTEMBER 2014

HAPPY TEACHERS’ DAY-

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Documents

VV 14 Aug-Sept 1€¦ · Our Parish Vision:WITNESSING CHRIST TOWARDS TRANSFORMING COMMUNITY Bulletin of Sacred Heart Parish, Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Vol. XXXIV - No.- 4, August-September