Dearly beloved,                                                                                                                         

Greetings to you all in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We entered into the second quarter of this year. This year the passion week falls on April. As we are observing the Lent , there should be a qualitative change in our life, otherwise Lent observation is a futile one. In this earthly life we have to face so many challenges and to overcome so many temptations. Jesus is our model and we have to look upon him how did Jesus overcome all these challenges and temptations.      

Jesus fasted and prayed for 40 days to receive grace and strength from his father. Fast and Pray, this is the Christian weapon to survive the challenges and temptations of this world. Jesus died on the cross to kill our death, thereby we got the eternal life. Every day we have to think that I am a precious person. I am valuable for God. So I will not destroy my life for the worldly pleasures or for selfish motives. Jesus told Peter ‘Tend my sheep’. We are Jesus’s sheep not somebody else. We should come to the senses that who am I?. I am Jesus sheep. Be the strict followers of Christ.

We are celebrating the 36th parish day on April 2nd. Let us give thanks to the Almighty Lord for sustaining us as a parish till this time and give thanks to the Lord for the untiring efforts the pioneers have done to this parish.  Parish is the place to worship the Lord and to study the Word of God and also to have a fellowship with each other. Are we keeping a right relationship with our fellow sheep? If not how can we say Jesus is my shepherd?.  During this passion week times we have to crucify our all evilness and never allow the evilness that we crucified to be resurrected.

We have Mother’s day and Father’s day celebrations in the month of May and June. All the celebrations have its own history and a purpose. If we fail to fulfill the purpose of each celebrations there is no goodness in observing all these things.  In the Ten Commandments God said, “Honor your father and mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”(Exo.20:12).   

May the Lord Almighty bless each one of you and our parish abundantly.         

I wish you all a HAPPY EASTER.

 

 With prayers                                  

 

Rev. Philip P. Mathew