THE TRUE MEANING OF EASTER The simple message that changes the world forever is: “He is not here. He is risen!” Easter is about the meaning of our lives. It is about human purpose; It is about eternity. This understanding often gets lost in the day-to-day busyness of living. We get caught up in the hectic pursuits and graspings of life, totally consumed and misdirected by the pushes and pulls of the world around us, not only unable to break free, but unaware we are captives. Easter is about resurrection, His and ours The very notion of resurrection is rejected by the so-called intellectual gurus among us; “Death is the end,” they say. “It would take a miracle to bring back the dead, and there are no miracles.” If a miracle is that which transcends the ability of science to explain, it may safely be said that each of us is a walking-around miracle, and all that we see, all that we hear and all that we touch are miracles. We yearn for understanding, and we are impelled toward the heavens by an implanted homing instinct. Oh! if there were only some vantage point, some philosophical place where we could step back and away from ourselves, some place where we could stand and see ourselves clearly in the perspective of all of creation and in the perspective of eternity. Christians have found such a place, and the joy of its finding shines on their faces. From that place, they see that the full meaning of their lives is to be worked out, fulfilled and understood not in the span of a lifetime, but in the framework of eternity. That is the essence of Easter. The words resonate throughout all of creation: “He is not here. He is risen!” A Question for us Should we be content with an ephemeral life or should we be yearn for eternity? Should we not see our life as an investment for eternity and not lost in the mishmash of everyday problems and trivia? We all feel and Jesus knows that we need to reach out beyond the physical, beyond our everyday routine, beyond the millions of details of life that would drag us down. Jesus is reaching out his hand to say, “I love you, and I am here, and I want to be a part of your life.” Hold fast to his heart; cling to him. He will never abandon us and will never let us down. He forgives all our sins, and ever supports us to be close to him. He is so wonderful and faithful; if we suffer and dies with him we sall also rise with him.
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THE TRUE MEANING OF EASTERThe simple message that changes the world forever is:“He is not here. He is risen!”Easter is about the meaning of our lives. It is about humanpurpose; It is about eternity. This understanding often getslost in the day-to-day busyness of living. We get caught upin the hectic pursuits and graspings of life, totally consumedand misdirected by the pushes and pulls of the world aroundus, not only unable to break free, but unaware we arecaptives.
Easter is about resurrection, His and oursThe very notion of resurrection is rejected by the so-called intellectual gurus among us; “Death is theend,” they say. “It would take a miracle to bring back the dead, and there are no miracles.” If amiracle is that which transcends the ability of science to explain, it may safely be said that each of usis a walking-around miracle, and all that we see, all that we hear and all that we touch are miracles.
We yearn for understanding, and we are impelled toward the heavens by an implanted hominginstinct. Oh! if there were only some vantage point, some philosophical place where we could stepback and away from ourselves, some place where we could stand and see ourselves clearly in theperspective of all of creation and in the perspective of eternity. Christians have found such a place,and the joy of its finding shines on their faces. From that place, they see that the full meaning of theirlives is to be worked out, fulfilled and understood not in the span of a lifetime, but in the framework ofeternity. That is the essence of Easter. The words resonate throughout all of creation: “He is nothere. He is risen!”
A Question for usShould we be content with an ephemeral life or should we be yearn for eternity? Should we not seeour life as an investment for eternity and not lost in the mishmash of everyday problems and trivia?We all feel and Jesus knows that we need to reach out beyond the physical, beyond our everydayroutine, beyond the millions of details of life that would drag us down. Jesus is reaching out his handto say, “I love you, and I am here, and I want to be a part of your life.” Hold fast to his heart; cling tohim. He will never abandon us and will never let us down. He forgives all our sins, and ever supportsus to be close to him. He is so wonderful and faithful; if we suffer and dies with him we sall also risewith him.
He loves us and makes us blossom into that perfection in which we are made like him. He isthe miracle-worker, problem-solver, healer, ever there for us. We can receive him and his salvationby having faith in him expressed through a life of prayer and action.
Dear Jesus! I believe that You died for me and arose from the grave. I need Your love tocleanse me from my mistakes and wrongdoings. I need Your light that drives away all darkness.I need Your peace that fills and satisfies my heart. I now open the door of my heart and I askYou, Jesus, to please come into my life and give me Your free gift of eternal life. Thank You fortaking up on yourselves all my sins and clensing me. Thank you for hearing my prayer andforgiving me. Amen.
Adapted from an article by Linda Bowles, Creators Syndicate, Inc, Fr. Provincial
XIII Provincial SynaxisDear Rev. Fathers and Brothers,As you have been already informed, our provincial Synaxis will be held from 28 April to03 May 2014 in Nirmal Sadan, Provincial House at Dharampura, Jagdalpur. May I requestall of you to pray for the success of the Provincial Synaxis. Thursday, 01 May 2014,shall be observed as a day of prayer and fasting in all our houses and one houradoration must be conducted on that day for a true celebration of our Synaxis guided bythe Holy Spirit.Any petition to the Provincial Synaxis must reach the Provincial House on or before 10April 2014. Thanking you Fr. Sebastian Alackapally CMI
Provincial
NEWS UPDATES
The first year aspirants of ChavaraSadan Kolchoor celebrated their ChavaraCommunity Day on 23rd March 2014. BishopEmeritus Mar. Simon Stock Palathra CMI, Rev.Fr. Provincial, many Fathers, Sisters andBrothers graced the occasion with theirpresence. Colourful programmes staged bythe aspirants made the celebrationsremarkable. Congratulations to Fr. JamesEresserril CMI (Rector) and all the membersof Chavara Sadan family for the well preparedprogrammes!
Chavara Community Day, Kolchoor
FR. PROVINCIAL’S DIARYAPRIL 2014
31March - 06 April 2014General Synaxis at Kakkanad, Kochi
09 Back in Jagdalpur14 Orientation Talk: CMC, Kondagaon17 Maundy Thursday Service, Adawal20 Easter Celebration, Barupetta28 April - 03 May 2014
Provincial Synaxis, Nirmal Sadan Provincial House
Bro. Anoop Kadiamkuttiyil CMI wasordained Deacon by Mar Joseph KollamparampilCMI, Bishop, Diocese of Jagdalpur, on 23rd March2014 at Dharmaram, Bangalore.
Bro. Rjesh Minj CMI was ordained SubDeacon by Mar John Vadakkel CMI, Bishop of BijnorDiocese on 10 th March 2014 at Samanvaya,Rishikesh.
Minor Order of Karoya was conferred toBro. Jojo Vaniyapurackal CMI and Bro. SajeshAlappattu CMI by Bishop Joseph KollamparampilCMI on 22nd March 2014 at Dharmaram, Bangalore.
Congratulations and Prayerful bestwishes to dear Brothers!
XXXVII General SynaxisWe shall observe Friday, 4th April
2014, the eve of the election of Prior Gen-eral and General Council, as a day of prayerand fasting for the fruitful celebration of theGeneral Synaxis. Please do the needful inyour local community. This day shall beused as a day of Eucharistic adoration inall our houses especially in our formationhouses.
Fr. Jose Palathara CMI has moved from NirmalAshram Thellakom to Sanjoe Bhavan Chethipuzha(Residence for the sick and aged priest of CMITrivandrum Province) along with his elder brotherFr. Sebastian Palathara CMI on 17th March 2014. Itis a temporary arrangement as the construction ofthe building for the sick and aged priest and the dustyatmosphere badly affect the health conditions of Fr.Jose in our mission house Nirmal Ashram atThellakom, Kottayam. As soon as our constructionis over we hope to have Fr. Jose back with us inNirmal Ashram. We wish Fr. Jose Palathara acomfortable and peaceful stay at Sanjoe Bhavan, hisnew residence!
Prayerful Best Wishes...
Congratulations…Nirmal Niketan School, Karli has got ICSEpermanent affiliation on 6 th March 2014.Congratulations to Fr. Boby Mangalathukarottu CMI,the Principal; Fr. Biju Kocherinalpathil CMI, theAdministrator; and all the staff of the school!
Before you Speak, ListenBefore you Write, Think
Before you Criticize, waitBefore you Pray, Forgive
Fr. Kadalikkattil Thomas Apr. 07Fr. Puthirickal Joji Apr. 08Bp. Kollamparampil Joseph Apr. 18Fr. Vallanattu Sunil Apr. 21Fr. Vadakumkara Thomas Apr. 22
Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. We do not fail overnight. Failure is the inevitable result ofan accumulation of poor thinking and poor choices. To put it more simply, failure is nothing more than a fewerrors in judgment repeated. Now why would someone make an error in judgment and then be so foolishas to repeat it every day? The answer is because he or she does not think that it matters.
On their own, our daily acts do not seem that important. A minor oversight, a poor decision, or awasted hour generally doesn’t result in an instant and measurable impact. More often than not, we escapefrom any immediate consequences of our deeds. A lack of discipline does not seem to have any immediateimpact on our lives. And since nothing drastic has happened to us right away, we repeat this error injudgment again and again, and on and on it goes. Why? Because it doesn’t seem to matter. And hereinlies the great danger: Far worse than doing or not doing something is ...not even realizing that it matters!
Those who eat too many of the wrong foods are contributing to a future health problem, but the joyof the moment overshadows the consequence of the future. It does not seem to matter. Those who smoketoo much or drink too much go on making these poor choices year after year... because it doesn’t seem tomatter. But the pain and regret of these errors in judgment have only been delayed for a future time.Consequences are seldom instant; instead, they accumulate until the inevitable day of reckoning finallyarrives and the price must be paid for our poor choices. - choices that didn’t seem to matter.
Failure’s most dangerous attribute is its subtlety. In the short term those little errors don’t seem tomake any difference.We do not seem to be failing. Since nothing terrible happens to us‚ since there are noinstant consequences to capture our attention, we simply drift from one day to the next, repeating theerrors, thinking the wrong thoughts, listening to the wrong voices and making the wrong choices.
The sky did not fall in on us yesterday; therefore the act was probably harmless. Since it seemed tohave no measurable consequence, it is probably safe to repeat. Both success and failure involve futureconsequences, namely the inevitable rewards or unavoidable regrets resulting from past activities. If thisis true, why don’t more people take time to ponder the future? The answer is simple: They are so caught upin the current moment that it doesn’t seem to matter. The problems and the rewards of today are soabsorbing to some human beings that they never pause long enough to think about tomorrow. But what ifwe did develop a new discipline to take just a few minutes every day to look a little further down the road?We would then be able to foresee the impending consequences of our current conduct. Armed with thatvaluable information, we would be able to take the necessary action to change our errors into new success-oriented disciplines.
We are building our future today. If we make the right choices then we will be blessed.Adapted from an article by Jim Rohn, Fr. Provincial
THE FORMULA FOR FAILURE AND SUCCESSSpiritual Musings
