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**** Annual Goanetters Meet ****
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Annual Goanetters Meet - December 27, 2012 - 10:00 am
Krishnadas Shama Central Library, Panjim, Goa
Check out the oldest book available in Goa... over 500 years old.
Get a special tour around the library. To sign-up for a library membership:
Bring one passport-sized photo and proof-of-residence with photograph.
http://bit.ly/GoaStateCentralLibrary
Planning to attend? Send an email to [email protected] with contact details
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23-Dec-2012
Dear Friend,
We generally like to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. Christmas is
a family feast! At Christmas those of the family who are away come home at
least visit home or get in touch with family. Just after Christmas we celebrate
the feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, to remind ourselves that Jesus came
into the world in a family. Find Jesus in your home during this Christmas
season! Fr. Jude
Sunday Reflections: Holy Family Feast: "A Family that prays together stays
together!" 30-Dec-2012
Readings: Ecclesiasticus 3: 2-6, 12-14Colossians 3: 12-21Luke 2: 41-52
The first reading reminds us of duties of children towards their parents, the
duty of respecting and obeying parents. As people under authority, we sometimes
like to question our superiors and their decisions, we feel we know better and
perhaps we do. Jesus the son of God was the obedient son of Mary and Joseph. He
was the obedient son of God. "My food is to do the will of my father in
Heaven". In these days when authority is questioned there is still place for
obedience in our lives.
Whoever obeys his father and mother will…
One of my earliest memories of my mother's simple piety was to watch her while
she searched for something she had lost. St. Anthony was called in
straightaway, and, if the object was found, she owed Anthony a few bob! While
involving St. Anthony, however, her audible prayer was 'Jesus was lost, Jesus
was found. Jesus was lost, Jesus was found. etc.' It was like a mantra, but she
was completely convinced that the outcome would be good. (I must confess that,
when my own back was to the wall, and I had lost something precious, I just
swallowed my pride, and repeated her mantra!)
Jack McArdle in 'And that's the Gospel truth!'
The Gospel narrates the incident of Mary and Joseph bringing Jesus to the
temple to offer him to the Lord according to the practice of the times. Often
when we think of the Holy family, they are portrayed as the model family and we
think that they had a very smooth, untroubled existence so very unlike our own
troubled families! Yet this is not true. The holy family shared so much of what
we go through in our lives. They lived with insecurity! When they needed a home
most they are homeless. Just when their child is born they live with murder
threats. They fear the murderous designs of Herod and they have to flee. After
they have settled down they have to move again. As Jesus grows they lose him in
the temple and they cannot understand why he has chosen to stay behind. There
is misunderstanding. Later as He goes about his mission there is separation,
loneliness and ultimately death that they have to cope with. Was the Holy
family an ideal family? What
helps them to live as a family is their mutual respect and reverence for each
other. They are committed to one another and support each other even if they do
not understand each other's actions completely. Ultimately it is their faith
that brings about the love that unites the Holy family. To live with others we
have to live for others! We will then discover that God is very close to us, He
is at home. We may think our families are different from others but he will
come none the less!
I'm walking in your footsteps
It is always a busy day for any woman who is the mother of ten children. But
one particular day, even doing the daily chores became difficult for Louisa
because of one little boy. Bob, who was three years old, was constantly on her
heels no matter where she went. Whenever she stopped to do something and turned
back, she would trip over him. Several times, she suggested fun activities to
keep him occupied, but he innocently smiled and said, "Oh, that's all right,
Mommy, I'd rather be in here with you." Then, he happily went wherever his
mother went. After tripping on him for the fifth time, she lost her temper and
shouted at him. She said, "Why don't you go out and play like other boys? Why
do you follow me like this?" He looked up at his mother and said, "Well, Mommy,
in the school my teacher told me to walk in Jesus' footsteps. But I can't see
him, so I'm walking in yours."
John Rose in 'John's Sunday Homilies'
Daddy, why isn't mummy like everybody else's mummy?
On a December night in Chicago, a little girl climbed onto her father's lap and
asked a question. It was a simple question, yet it had a heartrending effect on
Robert May. "Daddy," four year old Barbara asked, "Why isn't my Mommy just like
everybody else's mommy?" On a couch lay his young wife, Evelyn, racked with
cancer. For two years she had been bedridden; all Bob's income had gone for
treatments and medicines. The terrible ordeal already had shattered two adult
lives. Bob suddenly realised the happiness of his growing daughter was also in
jeopardy. He prayed for some satisfactory answer to her question. Bob May knew
only too well what it meant to be "different." As a child he had been weak and
delicate. With the innocent cruelty of children, his playmates had continually
goaded the stunted, skinny lad to tears. Nor was his adult life much happier.
Unlike many of his classmates, Bob became a lowly copy writer for Montgomery
Ward, the big Chicago Mail
order house. Now at 33, Bob was deep in debt, depressed and sad. Although Bob
did not know it at the time, the answer he gave the tousled haired child on his
lap was to bring him to fame and fortune. On that December night Bob began to
tell a story..."Once upon a time there was a reindeer named Rudolph, the only
reindeer in the world that had a big red nose. Naturally people called him
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." As Bob went on to tell about Rudolph, he tried
desperately to communicate to Barbara the knowledge that, even though some
creatures of God are strange and different, they often enjoy the miraculous
power to make others happy. Rudolph, Bob explained, was terribly embarrassed by
his unique nose. Other reindeer laughed at him; his mother and father and
sister were mortified too. Even Rudolph wallowed in self-pity. "Well,"
continued Bob, "one Christmas Eve, Santa Claus got his team of husky reindeer -
Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, and Vixen ready
for their yearly trip around the world. But a terrible fog engulfed the earth
that evening, and Santa knew that the mist was so thick he wouldn't be able to
find any chimney." "Suddenly Rudolph appeared, his red nose glowing brighter
than ever. Santa sensed at once that here was the answer to his perplexing
problem. He led Rudolph to the front of the sleigh, fastened the harness and
climbed in." "They were off! Rudolph guided Santa safely to every chimney that
night. Rain and fog, snow and sleet; nothing bothered Rudolph, for his bright
nose penetrated the mist like a beacon." "And so it was that Rudolph became the
most famous and beloved of all the reindeer. The huge red nose he once hid in
shame was now the envy of every buck and doe in the reindeer world. Santa Claus
told everyone that Rudolph had saved the day and from that Christmas, Rudolph
has been, living serenely and happy." Little Barbara laughed with glee when her
father finished. Then, at
Christmas time Bob decided to make the story into a poem like "The Night
before Christmas" and prepare it in bookish form illustrated with pictures, for
Barbara's personal gift. Night after night, Bob worked on the verses determined
his daughter would have a worthwhile gift even though he could not afford to
buy one... Then as Bob was about to put the finishing touches on Rudolph,
tragedy struck. Evelyn May died. Bob, his hopes crushed, turned to Barbara as
chief comfort. Yet, despite his grief, he sat at his desk in the quiet, now
lonely apartment, and worked on "Rudolph" with tears in his eyes. Shortly after
Barbara had cried with joy over his handmade gift on Christmas morning, Bob was
asked to an employee's holiday party at Montgomery Wards. He didn't want to go,
but his office associates insisted. When Bob finally agreed, he took with him
the poem and read it to the crowd. First the noisy throng listened in laughter
and gaiety. Then they became
silent, and at the end, broke into spontaneous applause. That was in 1938. By
Christmas of 1947, some 6 million copies of the booklet had been given away or
sold, making Rudolph one of the most widely distributed books in the world. The
demand for Rudolph sponsored products, increased so much in variety and number
that educators and historians predicted Rudolph would come to occupy a
permanent place in the Christmas legend. -Christmas is here once again and God
offers us His special gift of love -a love that is patient, pure and perfect!
Unwrap His gift of love and share it with all you meet.
The best gift God has given us is our family. It may be different from others
but it is special!
Fr. Jude Botelho
[email protected]
PS. The stories, incidents and anecdotes used in the reflections have been
collected over the years from books as well as from sources over the net and
from e-mails received. Every effort is made to acknowledge authors whenever
possible. If you send in stories or illustrations I would be grateful if you
could quote the source as well so that they can be acknowledged if used in
these reflections. These reflections are also available on my web site
www.netforlife.net Thank you.
