APRIL 2000
April 27 - HOLY REDEEMER CHAPEL :
18th Anniversary Celebrations
of the God's Love Community.
April 20 - 22 - HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL : April 17 - 19 - LENTEN RETREAT - HOLY REDEEMER CHAPEL :
Day 1: GOD THE FATHER - As this is the Year of the Great Jubilee, we recall
the message of the Holy Father Pope John Paul II in which he reiterates the
call to Return to the Father and to Open wide the Doors of our Hearts. In reality,
all of us Catholics still search for God. In our quest, we fail to understand
that God is within us and in our neighbours. We look for Him in every possible
place but fail to recognize Him in the poor and the needy. God is the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Moses, the Great I AM (Ex.3:14) and He became Man through Jesus Christ.
His love is infinite and even when we distance ourselves from Him, He is still
there to set us free and bring us out of the slavery of sin. We let the pleasures
and worries of the world get the better of us - we forget God, and only when we are
in need or want, we go to Him. Our efforts to advance ourselves in the world
takes priority and our faith and devotion towards God takes a back seat.
Matthew 6:21 says ‘Your heart will always be where your riches are’,
where are our riches? In the material world, or in Heaven, where no one can destroy it?
And then Matthew 6:24 continues, ‘You cannot be a slave of two masters;
you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and money’. We need to be careful because our
spiritual lives are very fragile and they need attention and care.
We have to be patient and ask the Lord to grant us understanding to lead us
down the proper path of life. This is the time to reflect on our lives and
see where we are going. Open wide the Doors of your Heart and return to the Father!
Day 2: GOD THE SON - Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Light'.
'I am the Door'. The Year of the Great Jubilee becomes an occasion of grace for
us to come back to the Father through Jesus - How have we responded to this call?
Jesus’ parable of the talents in Matt. 25:14 gives us an indication of what
he wants of us. How do we use our talents? To do good or for our own selfish purposes? Are we
prepared to meet Jesus the Bridegroom like the five wise bridesmaids or are we
unprepared like the five foolish bridesmaids in Matt. 25:1-13? Jesus always used
parables in teaching the people but its far reaching implications still affect us
in our modern world. In His parable of the Wedding Feast, the expulsion of the
one not wearing the wedding garment applies to us, too. Are we clean in our hearts
or do we wear what we choose to wear? Are we prepared to meet our Creator anytime
the call is made? Are we ready to reap what we sow? And then who can we compare
ourselves to, Cain or Abel - Judas or Peter? The parable of the Prodigal Son again
reflects the call to the Father - are we ready to reconcile ourselves and say
‘Father I have sinned against God and against you (Luke 15:18) or are we envious
like the elder son? Heb. 13:8 says it all, ‘Jesus is the same, yesterday, today
and forever’. Who is Jesus? 1 John 1:1 says He is the Word of Life, and he
continues in 1 John 1:8 by saying, ‘God is Light, and There is no darkness
at all in Him’.
We are God’s children but we are slaves to ourselves by sinning. Jesus came to save
us but we did not receive Him, we preferred the darkness and the pleasures of the
world instead of Him. In Acts 28:26, Peter repeats the Prophecy of Isaiah through
whom the Holy Spirit spoke when He said, ‘We listen but do not understand, we look
but do not see because our minds are dull, we have stopped up our ears and closed
our eyes, otherwise our eyes would see, our ears would hear, our minds would understand
and we would turn to God’. We want to do what suits us best. How true is this prophecy
for us? Jesus also said ‘A healthy tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a poor tree
bear good fruit. Every tree is known by the fruit it bears'. A good person brings good
out of the treasure of good things in his heart; a bad person brings bad out of his
treasure of bad things. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of (Luke 6:43-45).
What is our disposition? Jesus is calling us, ‘Repent and believe in the Good News’,
it is the time to Come back to the Father and to Open wide the Doors of our Heart
and accept Jesus, the Vine. and we as the branches, and like St. Thomas say
‘My Lord and my God’ (John 20:28) to accept the blessings of Jesus when He said,
‘Blessed are those who do not see, yet believe!’ (John 20:29).
Day 3: GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT - In John 14:16 Jesus said ‘I will ask the Father,
and He will give you another Helper, who will stay with you forever’ and then in
John 14:18 He says, ‘When I go away, I will not leave you orphans’. This was the
promise of the Holy Spirit to us. However there was a condition attached to this
promise. John 14:15 says, ‘If you love Me, you will obey My commandments’. Love
for God and obeying His commandments is the way to the Holy Spirit. Open wide the
doors of your heart - Reconcile, repent and believe in the Good News. Lent is
the season when we have to make a good confession and receive the sacrament of
reconciliation. We must invoke the Holy Spirit at our confession to give us the
ability and understanding to discern our sins and wrong-doings so that we truly
‘return to the Father’. With the Holy Spirit in us, we will be able to practice
humility, unselfishness, self-control, patience and charity which are the fruits
given to all, but rarely used by us because of our own ego. The Holy Spirit was
Jesus’ gift to the world when He appeared to the Apostles after the Resurrection
and said ‘Peace be with you.......Receive the Holy Spirit’ (Jn 20:21-22).
The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of love, forgiveness, fellowship and unity, do we
have these qualities in us, do we practice it within our families? Do we unite
or divide? Jesus asks us to learn from Him because He is humble and gentle of heart.
The Spirit will lead us to the Truth, He said, and Truth is God and God is Truth.
In the Acts 19:2 St. Paul asks the people of Ephesus ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit?’
And they did not even know what the Holy Spirit was. Are we like the people of
Ephesus? Are we ignorant or do we deliberately choose to ignore? Do we practice
forgiveness? Are we ready to acknowledge the Spirit by forgiving others, specially
those who have hurt us? Jude 20-21 says ‘Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit and
keep yourselves in the love of God’ and never doubt, restrain or despair the Holy
Spirit because the Holy Spirit is God’s gift and is with us always. It is the
Holy Spirit that leads us to God and as Jesus said in Matt. 12:31-32, we must beware
because ‘People can be forgiven any sin and any evil thing they say, but whosoever
says evil things against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, now or ever’.
The call is for all, we are asked to reflect on our lives and Open wide the Doors
of our Hearts and return to the Father.
May we all have an Easter that is blessed with God the Father’s love,
Jesus’ forgiveness and the Holy Spirit’s understanding, so that we make the
world a better place to live in.
-- By Charles Machado April 19 - JUBILEE LENTEN PRESENTATION - HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL :
The fearsome footsteps of Caesar's Roman centurions (albeit with a
distinctly Far Eastern cast of features), echoed eerily through the upper
reaches of the Arabian Gulf, some 2000 years after the crucifixion, death
Act I: The Agony in the Garden focused on the trials of our Lord
Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus 'sweating as if
drops of blood', was comforted by a cherubic angel, as he set out
irreversibly on the course for our salvation, charted out for him by
our Heavenly Father, that was to end in his humiliation, shameful
crucifixion and stunningly, his resurrection; happenings without parallel
in the annals of humankind. The song 'Sacrifice' was rendered
appropriately at the finish of this act.
Act II: The Scourging at the Pillar was heart-rending,
portraying the Messiah, bound to a pillar, being flayed energetically
by a pair of sinewy, bearded 'Roman soldiers', at the reluctant behest
of Pontius Pilate, after a mob of frenzied Jews (a section of our very
own HFC audience, getting nicely into the scheme of things), screamed
bloodthirstily 'Crucify Him, Crucify Him'. This was followed by the Our Father ...
Hail Mary ... Glory Be ... Reflection and the song, 'By His Wounds'.
Act III: The Crowning with Thorns brought unashamed
tears to the eyes of many in the audience as the humiliation of our beloved Jesus,
the Son of God, reached a nadir. The swaggering centurions - given
license to do as they pleased with Our Saviour -- were in their element
as they pressed the Crown of Thorns into the head of Jesus, jeering, sneering,
spitting at and slapping him all the while. Sister Minda pressed home the
salient lessons of this act in a moving Reflection, which was followed by the song
'Ours is the Suffering He Bore'.
Act IV: The Carrying of the Cross showed an exhausted Jesus struggling
to carry a heavy cross, stumbling and falling and being aided by Simon of
Cyrene, who was assured a place in history when he helped Jesus with his
intolerable burden. Most impressive (and prophetic) at this point was a
pale, wan, Jesus' prophecy to the women of Jerusalem, about the shape of
things to come ...
Act V: The Crucifixion and Death was a most chilling portrayal of the
suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Lamb of God was mocked, scorned,
and treated with a contempt even the most hardened of criminals are spared
and then murdered on the cross with the consent of his fellow Jews, who had
earlier been very content to have the convicted murderer Jesus Barabbas be
set free on the occasion of the Passover and let the blameless Jesus Christ
be crucified in his place. Jesus offered himself sacrificially for our sins,
taking upon himself their burden, for our salvation and redemption. "Forgive them Father,
for they know not what they do", interceded the Lamb of God for his tormentors,
before he commended his spirit to his Father in Heaven. Following the
Our Father ... Hail Mary ... Glory Be ... was the poignant song, 'Were You There'.
The recitation of the Hail Holy Queen and the Litany to Our Lady followed.
The closing speech delivered by Sister Minda, in the absence of Fr. Rutty Mallillin,
M.S., Chairman of the Jubilee 2000 Committee, was followed by
the closing song, 'Great Jubilee', in which everyone participated with gusto.
Cast of the main players: .....
Jesus : Bro. Billy Pasamonte .....
Pontius Pilate : Bro. Demos Arriente .....
Virgin Mary : Sis. Liza Padlan .....
Veronica : Sis. Nemie Resplandar .....
Simon of Cyrene : Bro. Benjie Morales .....
Angel : Sis. Katrina Pechay .....
John the Apostle : Bro. Jeff Reyes .....
Head Centurion : Bro. Jun Linios.
-- By K.C.D. April 16 - PALM SUNDAY - HOLY FAMILY CATHEDRAL :
On Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday (as it may also be called),
we celebrate Our Lord's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem. It is the last Sunday
of Lent and marks the beginning of Holy Week, which is the most solemn period of the year.
The principal ceremonies of the day are the blessing of the palms,
the procession, the Holy Mass, and during the Mass the reading of the Passion.
At the Holy Family Cathedral, the ritual of the blessing of the palms/olive branches and
the procession of the faithful following the cross was carried out thrice during the day -
before the 6:30 a.m.(English), the 3:15 p.m.(Konkani) and the 8:30 p.m. Mass (Arabic).
-- By J. Mascarenhas; Photographs By Rewon Gomes
The Mass of Chrism -
The Paschal Triduum
Fr. Santosh Menezes (Capuchin) conducted the annual Lenten Retreat at the
Holy Redeemer Chapel for three days from Monday April 17, 2000 until
Wednesday April 19, 2000. The Theme for the Retreat was The Holy Trinity; with
God The Father being the topic for the first day; God The Son for the second day;
and God THe Holy Spirit on the third day.
and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the Biblical Middle East ...
Keeping them company, during a jubilee Lenten presentation,
was an impressive line-up of Biblical characters,
who transported the hushed, awed audience at the Holy Family Cathedral Hall,
through a telescoped sequence of events during that momentous period. This event,
none other than the enacting of the Lord's Passion -
The Crucifixion, was superbly presented by the Filipino Catholic Community
Council in Kuwait. Each of the Five Acts (representing a Sorrowful Mystery)
was suitably interspersed with the recitation of the Our Father ...
Hail Mary ... Glory Be ... along with a 'Reflection', intoned movingly
by Sister Minda Fabro (FCCG Coordinator).
Pitching in vigorously and tunefully at the end of each act, was our
peerless Filipino Church Choir Group, whose singing talents rounded off
each Act very handsomely.
"Every time we sin, we make Jesus' cross heavier and make him fall."
intoned Sister Minda in 'Reflections', after the customary Our Father ...
Hail Mary ... Glory Be ... This was followed by a heart-breaking rendition of
the song 'He Will Carry You'.
First Reading - Isaiah 50:4-7 (38)
Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 22:8-9,17-24
Second Reading - Philippians 2:6-11
Gospel - Matthew 26:14-27:66
SIGNIFANCE : Palm branches are traditionally used by all nations as an emblem of
joy and victory over enemies; In Christianity, they symbolize victory over the evil and
sins of mankind and hence are especially associated with the memory of martyrs.
In the five prayers which are said during the benediction, the bishop or priest asks God
to bless the branches of palm or olive, that they may be a protection to
all places into which they may be brought, that the right hand of God may
expell all adversity, bless and protect all who dwell in them, who have been
redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ. The prayers make reference to the dove
bringing back the olive branch to Noah's ark and to the multitude greeting
Our Lord; It is said that the branches of palms signify victory over the
prince of death and the olive the advent of spiritual unction through Christ.
The officiating clergyman sprinkles the palms with holy water, incenses them,
and, after another prayer, distributes them. The palms blessed on Palm Sunday are
used in the procession of the day, and then taken home by the faithful to be
used as a sacramental. They are very often preserved in prominent places in the house.
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