1.  On 9th November the Unity Congress will begin.   Please pray for its success.   An Exhibition providing information on the Rites and their rituals, sacred vessels and vestments will be inaugurated on the first day and will be open to all.  All Catholics of the Vicariate are exhorted to participate.  Come let us celebrate Him. 2.  Due to the Unity Congress there will be no Catechism classes for children on 12th and 13th of November. 3.  Next week, the Prayer to St. John Vianney will resume. 4.  Admission forms for LKG-2010 in Carmel School will be available on Saturday 21st Nov from 8.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m. For more details see the notice board.

NOV 09, 2009 - Dedication of the Lateran Basilica   NOV 10, 2009 - St. Leo the Great, Pope & Doctor of the Church   NOV 11, 2009 - St. Martin of Tours, Bishop   NOV 12, 2009 - St. Josaphat, Bishop & Martyr

ARE WE READY TO MEET THE LORD?

During November the Church urges us to ponder the last things - death, judgement, the second coming, heaven, purgatory and hell.  Although sober and sombre subject matter, these are some of the most fundamental realities of life and faith, from which there is no escape.  We will all die; we all will be judged; there is a heaven and there is a hell;  and Jesus is coming again!! We live in a very sophisticated age, in which our focus is consumed in the here and now, but as Christians we need to have a much broader horizon.  Whether we choose to think about it or not, we can be certain that one day all human life will cease, Jesus will return and the righteous will reign with God. In Luke 21:20-28 Jesus points to a time when the holy city of Jerusalem will fall to a cruel marauding army - this actually happened in AD 70 when the Temple was razed to the ground and the Roman army invaded the holy city of Jerusalem.  When a city is attacked, its inhabitants seek sanctuary within its walls: however, Jesus urges his followers to flee to the hills (Lk.21:21).  The apocalyptic scene of persecution and suffering which he vividly describes is frightening and disturbing.  As we read it today it can seem removed and remote, like something belonging to a bygone age. However, we need to think again and consider the following words from the Catechism of the Catholic Church: 'Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers.  The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth, will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth.  The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh' (para 675).  We are invited to have a very firm grasp of reality.  Jesus' return is imminent (CCC 673).  Although, of course, we do not know the time or season, we need to be those who pray for and long for the glorious return  of Jesus which will usher in the end of the world and the establishment of God's kingdom. Come, Lord Jesus, come!!