© St. Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church, Toronto

MONTHLY EVENTS

MAY 2014 Newsletter Volume 5 Issue 11

May 17

Ladies prayer

meeting at Binoy &

Jincy’s residence

(6:30 pm)

May 24

Ladies prayer

meeting at Raju &

Shirly’s residence

(6:30 pm)

Contact Information Fr. John Kuriakose

Tel: (416) 485-7781

daijuak@gmail.com

Malankara Catholic Church St. Mary’s Mission Toronto

St. Eugene’s Chapel◊13 Regina Avenue◊Toronto, Ontario◊M6A 1R2 torontomalankaramission@gmail.com

www.stmarysmalankaracatholicchurchtoronto.ca

Sunday Liturgy

3:00 PM Adoration of

the Blessed Sacrament

3:30 PM Song Practice

4.00 PM Namaskaram

& Confession

4.30 PM Holy Mass

INSIDE THE ISSUE

SHOWCASE:

MCYMNA Midwest Regional

Conference

2-3

SAINT OF THE MONTH:

St. Phillip Neri

4

Self-Reflection 5

Kids Korner 6

As the season of Lent has finally come to a close, it is now our duty as Christians to show our strong faith and our core values in our every day lives. In this issue, a reflection of what it means to be a follower of Christ and how it can define us as a true Christian is seen. In the Saint of the Month section, St. Philip Neri’s life is outlined in great detail. We should all draw from the experiences of St. Philip Neri, as he showed true faith being just a simple common man before entering priesthood. To be humble and obedient so that the Holy Spirit can teach us, was his belief. Also featured in this issue is an article on the Mid-West Regional Youth Conference! On April 25-27th, the MCYM of Toronto had attended the Mid-West Regional Conference held in Chicago. The theme of Modesty, Purity and Chastity was the main topic of this event and it was truly an inspiring and educating experience. With wonderful speakers and sessions, the article highlights the events of the blessed weekend. In this month of May, we celebrate Mother’s Day. Let us all take a moment to thank our very own mothers and motherly figures in our lives for being such pillars of support for us. Lets pray that God showers his abundant blessings upon them!

-The Editorial Team

Table of Editors Editors ------------------- Neil Thazhamon, Christy Jaison

Layout-------------------- Lynn Babu

Chief Editor------------- Amit Mathews

Advisor------------------- Rev. Fr. John Kuriakose

Got Feedback? Please address to Amit Mathews (Chief Editor) at

amitmathews@gmail.com

Letters will be published in the next issue of the bulletin

© St. Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church, Toronto

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MCYMNA Mid-west Regional Conference 2014:

Modesty, Purity and Chastity

This year, our annual Regional Conference for the Malankara Catholic youth was held in Chicago, Illinois. Youth members from Toronto, Chicago and Detroit gathered and participated in this event, with the intention of developing a stronger relationship with God and with one another. The theme of the conference was “Modesty, Purity and Chastity”- a subject matter that is extremely important for the youth of today who are incredibly pressured to forsake holiness. Following praise and worship, the first discourse of the day was introduced by guest

speaker Shiju Philip; a theology teacher and contributing editor at Shalom World. He spoke to us about “the forgotten fruit” in which he defines love and sets out to give a new perspective on the story of Adam and Eve, emphasizing God’s love for us. He brings us back to the scene where Eve turns to Adam to give him the fruit. It is here that we not only see Adam’s fond love for Eve but also the first encounter of man between the woman and villain. At this time, Adam is no longer the intelligent, wise man but is seen more as a coward for not stepping in and defending his wife from the villain. He is, as Philip says, the first

(Continued on page 3)

© St. Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church, Toronto

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man in history who refuses to die for his bride. This then refers back to the true meaning of love, which is to sacrifice for one another. We see this clearly portrayed when God sends down his only son Christ, who is the New Adam, who is the ultimate model of love. His Mother Mary, because she was completely free from sin is the New Eve, the only woman who has a perfect enmity with the devil. Jesus is also the model of masculinity as well for he faced the villain and killed it by stepping on its head. Sin and death came into this world through the first Adam, but abundant restoration came through the New Adam. The second part of Shiju’s discourse was about the journey to joy. God is the source of joy, just as he is the source of love, truth and mercy. Oftentimes we see God as a mystery, but we have to realize that He is a mystery to enter into and not a mystery to solve. He is the levitation to enter to, to be able to relate to because there is always more to understand about Him and it is something that will never end. This mystery helps one to seek joy by generating the love which was once made invisible, visible. A good example of love being made visible is the fruit of joy that man and woman bring into this world through marriage. In other words, the offspring is the visible embodiment of the couple’s invisible love. Another topic that Shiju focused on briefly was the act of sin which sets itself against God’s love for us and turns our hearts away from it. Every time we sin, we are essentially telling Christ to stay on the cross, and not follow us. We are asking God to no longer love us which is impossible because He will only love us. He loves us so much that He sent His son to die on the cross for us, so that we might have everlasting life. His love for us is far beyond our human comprehension. It is beyond our ability to grasp with our minds, but it is surely not beyond our ability to experience with our hearts. And that is why He hates sin so much because it is killing you whom he loves dearly. After Shiju’s talk, there was a short group discussion about our relationship with

God and what our everyday encounters with Him taught us. It was here that the conference became more about personal self reflection. Along with confessions, and moments of silence for prayer, many of the youth participated in a spiritual exercise known as “The Labyrinth”. The Labyrinth is a physical path that people follow while meditating on their spiritual lives. They may think of something they are struggling with, a teaching from the Bible, a concept they don’t understand or any other spiritual matter that is of concern. The point of the exercise is to embrace the silence, look within ourselves and bring that to God. For the final talk, our speaker touched on relationships which are ultimately what sustains everything in life. When our hearts are filled with love for each other, we are able to turn away from sin and instead seek for God’s mercy and blessings. We are able to realize each other’s worth and from, there have a strong, committed relationship. Since the adolescent years can be a difficult formative time, teenagers are in particular need of God’s grace and love to help them through this stage. Praying to know your vocation; praying for wisdom in choosing a marriage partner is really what is important right now. So really when it comes to relationships, in the end, it ultimately depends on each person to prayerfully discern God’s will. The topics discussed over the course of the conference were exactly what the youth needed to hear. It was a fruitful experience understanding what the Church teaches about relationships, and also understanding where our friends were on their own personal journeys. We hope to carry what we’ve learned into our lives, and build stronger relationships with God, ourselves and each other.

-Shanjini Mathew and Jonathan Mani

Malankara Catholic Church

© St. Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church, Toronto

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ST.PHILIP NERI St. Philip Neri was born in 1515 in Florence, Tuscany; Italy. He was funny, spontaneous, unpredictable and charming from a very young age. At the age of 18, Philip went to work with his cousin who was a successful business man since his father was facing some financial difficulties. During this time of work, Philip used to pray on a mountain which was later turned into a chapel. He always had a desire to dedicate his life to God and forget about the materialistic world. He travelled to Rome in 1533 where he tutored a couple kids and studied philosophy and theology. Eventually, he realized that his studies were interfering with his prayer life. Therefore, he threw his books away and lived in seclusion from society. Philip loved to pray at night. He would sometimes go to churches or even roam the streets talking to God. One day as he was praying, he felt a globe of light enter his mouth and sink into his heart. From this moment on, he felt the need to tell everyone about the Lord, from beggars to bankers. He received so much energy from this experience that he wanted to serve God, work in the hospital and tend to the sick. Philip started ministry work in 1548 and took care of pilgrims who came to Rome without food or shelter. A spiritual director later convinced Philip to become a priest so that he could do more work for the glory of God. Taking this into consideration, Philip became a priest in 1551. Philip Neri lived in the church of San Girolamo and loved to listen to confessions. Many people enjoyed coming to him as they received the proper guidance and wisdom from him to grow spiritually. As time went on, Philip decided to hold spiritual discussions in the afternoon and prayer in the evening. The numbers grew so quickly that Philip had to build a separate room for these meetings known as the Oratory. In order to bring the people closer to God, Philip made himself available to everyone at any time of the day! However, some priests were not pleased with Philip’s work and they often attacked him and Buonsignore, another priest whom he socialized with. Unfortunately, the Pope’s Vicar accused Philip of “introducing novelties” and demanded him to stop the meetings held at the Oratory. Philip, knowing that he should be obedient to his elders stopped them immediately. After the death of the Vicar, the Pope allowed Philip to continue the Oratory again. Despite the hardships this man caused, Philip would not let anyone speak badly of him. As time progressed, Philip decided to have a church built for the group who met at the Oratory. The Congregation of the Oratory was the official name given and was made up of secular priests and clerics. Philip Neri brought people to God in different ways. For example, a criminal came up to him and refused to listen to any requests of repentance. Philip pulled the man by the collar in an aggressive manner and threw him to the ground. In fear and shock, the criminal repented and made a good confession. As mentioned earlier, Philip had a great sense of humor. Sometimes he would go out in public wearing silly clothes with his beard half shaven. He was known for his holiness; however, he wanted to be silly all the time. When people came from other countries to see him, they found him in the church with another priest reading jokes from a joke book. Despite his desire to be silly, Philip was very serious about prayer, humility and obedience. Others asked how he prayed, and he responded, “Be humble and obedient and the Holy Spirit will teach you.” After leading a pious and just life, Philip died in 1595 at the age of 80. St. Philip Neri teaches us not to worry about what others think. It is important to serve God and help others. We must work together in bringing others closer to Him and strive to do what is best.

-Isabel Mani

Saint of the Month

Malankara Catholic Church

© St. Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church, Toronto

Altar Servers Schedule—May 2014

Date Candle 1 Candle 2

Marba-hasa 1

Marba-hasa 2

Bell Readings Thurible Epistle

May 04 Sarath Abin Alvin Alexi Samson Richu Br. Jobin Alan

May 11 Mathew Alvin Anugrah Alan Alexi Jerome Chris Joel

May 18 Joel Allisson Mathew Aaron Alan Deepak Lynn Cyrus

May 25 Allisson Cyrus Tom Alexi Jerome Deepak Neil Alvin

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Liturgy of the Month

Week Gospel Readings Epistles Old Testament Readings & Reader

May 04 Jn 21:1-14

Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of

Fish

Acts 13:26-41;

Eph 2:14-22

Ex 15:1-8; Wis 1:12-16;

Isa 63:1-6

Elsamma

Alexander

May 11 Lk 24:13-35

On the Road to Emmaus

Acts 4:5-22;

Eph 2:1-10

Ex 40:1-15; Josh 2:1-14;

Isa 65:1-7

Justin Joy

May 18 Lk 24:36-49

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

Acts10:34-43;

2 Cor 5:17-21

Ex 34:10-17; Job 42:7-17;

Is 49:8-13

Babu PK

May 25 Jn 16:16-24

The Disciples’ Grief Will Turn to

Joy

Acts 13:44-52;

Col 3:1-11

Deut 16:10-12;

Prov 10:1-13; Isa 28:23-29

Joshy

Now that we have arrived at the end of the Great Lent (Saumo Rabo), let us reflect and see if we are indeed true followers of Christ. When Jesus was in the world, he told people to simply “follow me”. What does it mean to follow?

F Faith O Obedience L Love L Learn O Observe W Work

In order to be a true follower of Christ, we must do these things. Let us meditate on this and work towards becoming a true follower of Christ.

-Susan Thomas

Self-Reflection

© St. Mary’s Malankara Catholic Church, Toronto

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