secular citizen vol.22 no.50 dated 16th december 2013

116 December 2013

2 16 December 20132 16 December 2013

13th International Children’sFestival of Performing Arts

Inaugurated in Delhi

Mumbai (New Delhi), Dec.06: Ryan International Groupof Schools inaugurated the13thedition of theICFPA (2013)under the theme “A Brighter Tomorrow” on 5th Dec.2013at Talkatora Stadium, Connaught Place, New Delhi. Theeminent dignitaries of the Grand OpeningCeremonywereProf. K.V.Thomas, Hon’ble Minister of State(IC) for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution,Shri.E.Ahamed, Hon’ble Minister of State for ExternalAffairs, Shri.Jesudas Seelam, Hon’ble Minister of State forRevenueOn the rhythm of Vande Mataram they formallydeclared the festival open followed by scintillating per-forming arts performances by Indian and Internationalstudents.

The aim of the festival is to provide the children of the world,the opportunity to come together and exchange ideas andlearn various cultures while also exposing them to variousgenres of performing arts to discover their talents andexpress their aspirations. More than 12000 Ryan studentspresented, Ballet – Brighter Tomorrow, Music Extrava-ganza-Tribute to 100 years of Indian Cinema and the GiantPuppet Show while the International artists from 21 coun-tries performed dance ballets, musical dramas and tradi-tional genres of their respective countries.

Council of cardinals sits downwith pope for second time

Pope Francis met with the Council of Cardinals, thegroup of eight cardinals assisting in the governance of theuniversal Church and examining a revision of the ApostolicConstitution Pastor bonus on the Roman Curia.

Fr Federico Lombardi, Director of the Holy See PressOffice, announced this in a briefing with journalists toexplain the second session of the Cardinal's meetingswhich took place at the Vatican from 3 - 5 December 2013.The cardinals' first session was held from 1 to 3 October.

On the day's agenda was “a thorough examination ofthe Roman Curia, which began with a reflection on thedicasteries”, starting with the Congregation for DivineWorship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

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Cover : ICPA Golden Jubilee(Report on pg. 4)

Japan Bishops Oppose ToughNew State Secrets Law

Japanese bishops are strongly protesting against a special secrets lawthat was passed on Friday by the country's Upper House despitewidespread opposition.

The law introduces new penalties for those who leak secrets, along withexpanded scope for the government to declare various matters to be statesecrets.

In a statement on Saturday, the standing committee of the CatholicBishops’ Conference of Japan warned the passage of the law through theHouse of Councilors could “destroy the foundation of democracy.”

The statement, addressed to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, stressed thatthe law could jeopardize the three main principles of the Japan’s constitution,that sovereignty resides with the people, respect for basic human rights andpacifism.

Under the bill, public servants or others with access to state secrets couldbe jailed for up to 10 years for leaking classified data, according to a Reutersnews report. Journalists and others in the private sector convicted of encour-aging such leaks could get up to five years if they use "grossly inappropriate"means to solicit the information.

A coalition of the ruling Liberal Democrats and the New Komeito Partypassed the bill despite opposition from other parties and polls that show amajority of Japanese oppose the law. The New Komeito is a political partybased on a lay Buddhist movement. The announcement of the vote came asa surprise to opponents in parliament who expected further debate on theissue.

Many organizations, including the Japan Federation of Bar Associationsand the Japan PEN Club, also issued statements against the law. On the dayof the vote, about 15,000 people gathered in central Tokyo to protest againstthe legislation.

The bishops’ committee members stressed that “we strongly opposethese rough and ready votes and demand that the same mandatory votes willnever be performed again.”

The prelates also expressed fear that information about nuclear plantsmight be hidden from the public.

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Contentspg. 3 - Japan Bishops Oppose

Tough New State Secrets Lawpg 4 - ICPA Golden Jubilee Award

For Josy Josephpg. 5 - Views on Newspg. 6 - HUM AAP ke Hai Kaun?pg. 7 - Reader's Viewspg 8 - Mandela Will Never Die!pg 9 - Love At Christmaspg 10 - Are We Afraid Of Criticism?pg 14 - Living Life Kingsize!pg 17 - How to Improve Your

Memorypg 18 - Emmanuel, God Is With Us,

Hallelujahpg 19 - The Meaning Behind All Our

Christmas Decorationpg 20 - Matrimonials

4 16 December 2013

ICPA Golden Jubilee Award For Josy JosephMumbai: Ramnath Goenka BestJounralist of the Award winner JosyJoseph, a senior journalist of the Timesof India, Delhi has won the Indian Catho-lic Press Association (ICPA) GoldenJubilee Award 2013. The award wasconferred on Josy by Mrs Janet D’Souza, vice-chairperson of theMaharashtra Minority Commission at afunction in St Pauls Media Complex inMumbai on December 8.

The association said Joseph wonits Golden Jubilee Special Award "forhis courageous stand as a fearlessCatholic journalist, whose investigativestories have helped bring about policychanges, systematic correction andoverall betterment of India's gover-nance."

Joseph told the gathering his jour-nalistic values come from the Bible andthe Catholic upbringing he had in hisfamily.

Dr John Henry Anand, a reputedHindi fiction writer and playwright fromJabalpur was presented the ICPA’sSwami Devanand Chakkungal Awardfor the Best Hindi writer on the occa-sion.

The Indian Currents weekly fromDelhi was felicitated at the function forcompleting 25 years of committed,courageous and fearless journalism.The weekly’s editor Fr Jacob Kani re-ceived the honour. Two founding mem-bers of the ICPA, the Examiner weeklyfrom Mumbai represented by its editorFr Antony Charangatt and the Deepikadaily from Kerala represented by itsAssociate editor TC Mathew were alsohonoured on the occasion. A souvenir

brought out to mark the jubilee wasreleased by the chief guest.

The two-day jubilee programmeof the Association was inaugurated onDecember 7 by Bishop ChackoThottumarickal of Indore, Chairman ofthe Commission for Social Communi-cations of the Catholic Bishops Confer-ence of India, who is also the Ecclesi-astical Advisor of ICPA, by opening aNational Convention of Christian Jour-

nalists on “Press & Nation Building,Challenges to Christian Journalists.”The bishop exhorted the ICPA mem-bers to be ministers of proclamation byspreading the Good News throughmedia.

Talks were given on Professional-ism in Journalism; Journalism, a SocialResponsibility; Ethics in Journalism,Fighting Communalism & Caste Poli-tics, Professional Training in Journal-ism and Gender Issues in Journalsim.Noted journalists and activists PreetiSharma Menon, Ram Puniyani, AbhaSingh, Smitha Deshmukh, AmyFernandes and Robin Shukla ad-dressed the participants on these top-ics related to the theme.

Conrad Saldanha moderated apanel seesion. ICPA President FrAlfonso Elengikal welcomed the speak-ers and participants. Secretary JoseVincent proposed a vote of thanks.Over 60 journalists from various partsof the country and Mumbai attendedthe programme.

John Barrett, S. J.

Fr. John Barett, s.j. was the pio-neering spirit behind the CatholicNews India (CNI), and Indian Catho-lic Press Association (ICPA). Thefounder editor of Sanjivan, a HindiCatholic weekly. Fr. Barrett was agreat visionary and organizer. In1963, he called together the lead-ing Catholic editors to form the In-dian Catholic Press Association. Fr.Barrett showed the word and ex-ample the need to coordinate Catho-lic press activities in the country. Heworked tirelessly to achieve thesegoals.

The Indian Catholic PressAssociation has gratefully preservedthe memory Fr. Barrett by institut-ing the Barrett Award for Journal-ism given to the best South AsianRegional News (SAR News) reportevery year. The ICPA has alsohonoured this great missionary andchampion of the press by namingits house in Bangalore 'BarrettBhavan'.

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516 December 2013

Parish Pastoral CouncilsEvery Parish has a PPC which

comprises of elected representatives[forming the Executive committee] aswell as those nominated. Togetherthey form the larger council whichmanages the affairs of the parish ac-cordingly to the constitution as well asother guidelines of the Church.

The parishioners are however inthe dark on what exactly is happening.Since the members of PPC are electedby the parishioners [unopposed if thereis no contest] it is only fair that theelectorate [parishioner] is aware of theexact role of their representatives. Theparishioners are basically ignorantabout this in the absence of any pub-lished material. They have to rely onhear-say for the news. Sometimes youget distorted news. Zonal representa-tives can call for suggestions fromtheir respective zones and place thembefore the PPC for consideration, iffound suitable. At present there is a‘disconnect’ between the elected rep-resentatives and those who elect him/her.

Undoubtedly there is group-ismin Parishes. In the recent past, wehave witnessed some unpleasant situ-ations in some of the Parishes result-ing in protests etc. Open fights in Par-ishes have shown the Catholic com-munity in poor light especially whenmedia people are invited to cover thedemonstrations. Regional interestsand personal egos have overtakencommon good. This has also perco-lated into the PPCs which hampersthe smooth functioning of the Coun-cils. At times decisions are guided bygroup loyalties rather than the inter-ests of the Parish. This defeats thevery purpose of such Councils.

Every parish publishes a News-letter / bulletin every month. Importantdecisions taken at the last PPC meet-ing can be published in brief for theinformation of the parishioners. Thiswill keep the parishioners informed ofthe developments. APC should con-sider if parishioners should be able toget copies of the minutes of PPC min-utes against payment of reasonablefees. This will ensure total transpar-ency.

When the parishioners are keptin the loop, issues like sale of Churchproperty, major repairs etc which arecurrently shrouded in secrecy, willcome in public domain. In fact theParish Priest should announce suchproposals in the contemplative stageitself and call for comments within aspecified time frame. Who knows,some parishioners may be able tofetch a better deal for the Churchthrough their contacts. Once this is inthe open, no parishioner can thencreate problems at a later stage muchto the embarrassment of the Churchauthorities.

*****

‘What’s AAP’……. InDelhi ?

The Aam Aadmi Party has createda storm in the capital leaving the Con-gress to mourn its own demise [almost]while the BJP is shell-shocked at thephenomenal success of this nascentoutfit – an off-shoot of the popular move-ment against corruption. The BJP isjust a couple of seats away from powerafter a long and tedious wait thanks toShiela Dixit’s grip on the Union Terri-tory. For the saffron party AAP is a spoilsport.

The BJP has done extremely wellotherwise in all the remaining 3 statesthat went to the polls. It was like a walk-over in case of MP and Rajasthan,Chhasttisgarh gave some anxious mo-ments with the pendulum swinging ei-ther way during the course of the day ofcounting. Ultimately, the BJP elbowedthe Congress out with a reasonablemargin of seats. To what extent theoverall success can be attributed toNarendra Modi is a difficult guess butone thing is sure. There was no Modiwave, otherwise all the 4 states wouldhave seen thumping majority. ActuallyMP’s success can be credited toShivrajsingh Chauhan and Rajasthan’svictory can be attributed to VasundharaRaje. Both are tall leaders in their re-spective states. Modi’s campaigningcould have helped partially.

The Congress Party is on the wayto decimation in the general elections.

With every assembly election, the partyis losing its hold on states and is leftwith miniscule states which are politi-cally light-weights. Next you can ex-pect Andhra to go to YSR congresswith disgruntled party men aligningwith Jagan Reddy. Telengana will bedominated by TRS if it does not mergewith the Congress.

The leadership [read Sonia andRahul Gandhi] of the Congress hasfailed miserably giving an impressionthat it is happy to retain the hold on theparty even if it means that they turn ablind eye to grave corruption in theGovernment. The party has resignedto its fate and though Rahul Gandhihas promised some ‘drastic steps’nothing much can be expected. Con-gress has not been able to match theBJP in oratory. Modi has been able tohold the crowds spell bound whileRahul Gandhi sees the crowds thin-ning when he speaks. This is a wakeup call for the Congress. If they fail toget their act together, the party may bea distant third after the regional partiesor fronts.

The party should take a boldstep. Just as Sonia Gandhi steppedaside and proposed the name ofManmohan Singh as PM, Rahul shouldalso do likewise now and let the cam-paign for 2014 be entrusted to some-one who is more capable in terms ofskills and oratory. The choice shouldbe based on merit rather than loyaltyto 10 Janpath.

There is no Modi wave for sure,at least in these semi-finals. If thereis any wave at all, it is a ‘anti-Con-gress’ wave which could see a sud-den fall from grace for the GrandOld Party of India which had unchal-lenged supremacy till 1975. Todayeven the die-hard supporters of theGOP are disillusioned with the stateof affairs. 2014 could re-write Indianpolitical history.

VIEWS on NEWSVIEWS on NEWSVIEWS on NEWSVIEWS on NEWSVIEWS on NEWS

by Marshall SequeiraMarshall SequeiraMarshall SequeiraMarshall SequeiraMarshall Sequeira

6 16 December 2013

HUM AAP ke hain kaun?

The election results in Delhi haveblown across the country on thewing of hope and prayer, like a

breath of fresh air for a nation chokingon corruption, inflation and communal-ism!. Democracy, existent only on pa-per has died a natural death over andover again; the Constitution of Indiahas been preserved only in the courtsof law. Abuse of absolute power has lefta void in the political rights of citizens,necessitating them to resort to the onlyweapon they possess against the cor-rupt and arrogant political class- theBallot, power of a VOTE! Take note myfellow Indians- time to focus and makean enlightened choice as shown by theDelhi HUM- Hindustani UrbanMiddelclass!

Otherwise how does one explainthe thumping success of the noviceswhom everyone chided and ridiculedas, ‘vote cutters’ ‘chillar party’ and liter-ally swept their very presence underthe carpet. Infected with the myopia ofcomplacency, those living in ivory tow-ers surrounded by A-Z security failed tosee the quiet scenariosunfolding under their verynoses. The AAM ADMIParty was making inroadsinto hearts and life of HUMi.e. Hindustani, UrbanMiddle class for whom allthe roads had beenclosed by rising prisesdue to rampant corrup-tion by the political class.The non-entities, novicesin the game were quietly but convinc-ingly filling a void left due to lacunae ofhonest leaders. For these living in dis-enchantment, what is most alarming isthe arrogance of the leaders and theirpublic appeasement of one another,shielding the guilty of their own class. Itseems that the citizens of this countryare enemies against whom the politicalclass closed ranks for a fight that couldassure them of permanent power andsecurity.

What has led to this invisible battlebetween the aam janta and ruling class?It a struggle to create a different lifestyle,a different set of laws and a dynastic

perpetuation of power for the politicalfamilies! And, corruption, spread like acancerous growth is being flaunted bythe high and mighty as symbol of powerand immunity! The tainted openly riseup to positions of power making amockery of the Constitution and judi-ciary and laughing all the way to thebank with the tax-payers hard earnedmoney. The HUM that works for longhours, commuting lengthy distancesand sacrificing even the small joys oflife like a family outing or a meal at a

restaurant cannot takethis any longer. So theHUM of Delhi happilychose their new leadersfor this war oncorruption…..hope rein-forcements are foundswiftly!

Indians cannot be ig-nored as morons and il-literates Take inflation tobegin with. It is an open

secret as to who in the government isskimming the cream on the top of milkcalled food sector, sending the foodprices spiralling. Pictures of grains rot-ting in open warehouses, onionshoarded to generate party funds arebeen generously provided by the Me-dia that functions as watchdog for soci-ety. Call it ‘coalition compulsion’ or justgreed for more, it hurts the HUM wherethe ache can transform into a gnawingfeeling of helplessness, triggering an-ger and courage. Below the surface ofa tranquil society the HUM is beingarmed with a will to replace the corruptwith clean, honest and hard-working

leaders, ‘publicservants’ rede-fined! The frivo-lous promises wehave been hear-ing for decadeswill work nolonger. Over theyears, the politi-cal class espe-cially the presentUnion govern-ment has be-come so insensi-

tive to the opinions and problems of theHUM that the absurd, hollow and cos-metic talk from the political podiumsonly adds to the insult as injury. Spokes-persons of the ‘Secular Party’, pleasetake note……

Corruption which the higher classtakes in its stride has taken a heavy tollof the life of the HUM, making survivala race to be fought and won, a condi-tion that can manifest only under dicta-torship, not in a Democracy. The spiral-ling food prices have deprived childrenof nourishing food and parents who toilduring the day spend sleepless nightsjuggling the limited income against theunlimited cost of living. Desperate forcash, scruples have fled out of thewindow when crimes were graciouslyapproved and welcomed through thedoor. Swindling, cheating, robbing andassaults have become a way of lifeunder this governance of criminals andscamsters. The feeling of rage underthe very surface of the social tolerancehas shown the first sign of breaking itsbanks, ready to wash away the corruptin the strong current of change. A newsun is on the horizon, about to usher ina new era …..

A new India is taking shape withthe youth rearing to trim the excessesthat have been practises with impunityby the powerful. The fiefdom, foreignfamily jaunts, overseas black accounts,rags to riches stories, and the overalldecadent lifestyles do not behove aDemocracy. The old way of dynasticrule, two sets of laws for the two classes,immunity from punishment for the rul-

Vera Alvares

(Contd.. on p. 16)

716 December 2013

Parish PortabilityI feel sad that the parishioners are

considered as consumers and the di-vine sacraments as consumables ( theSecular Citizen november 18, 2013 ) inthe aricle captioned " parish portabilty". The Church is the body of Christ andthe faithful are the members of thatbody.

The reasons on which the pro-posal is made are 1 the unhappiness ofparishioners in attending Mass in aparticular church 2. Receiving Com-munion at the hands of a particularpriest 3 Soporific sermon by priest ina parish. The aim seems to be bettersatisfaction about these for the parish-ioner.But where is the guarantee that theparishioner will get all such satisfactionas he/ she wants to derive ,in the newparish.? Can we ignore our position asmembers of the one Body of Christ andcompare ourselves with electricty/gasconsumers.?

The Church wants a relationshipbetween the parish priest and the pa-rishioners. The priest has a duty tocater to all spiritual needs of hisparishioners,through personal contact,visits and other means. The priest arefrom our own homes and some havethe weaknesses as we laity toohave.Loyalty and closeness to a parishchurch will help growth of spiritual andsocial activities. Registration based on

the geographical boundaries fixed bythe authorities is necessary. Howeverwhen a parishioner moves out ,he / sheis permitted to join a new parish.

The Catholic Church is not ademocratic organization where deci-sions can be based on majority votes.It is basically a Body constituted orestablished by Jesus Christ and con-tinues to function under Apostolic au-thority. I am aware that in few matterswhich are purely unconnected withspirituality or religious dogmas ,thoughmore consultation and involvement withthe laity are recommended by VaticanII, opposition or non co-operation bysome authorities exists. This aspectneeds considerstion. Let our criticismbe useful for unity and spiritual growthand not one that encourages divisionand spiritual lethargy.

—K.C.Thomas

Christmas Gift

Christmas is the story of a littlebabe born to poor parents in a littletown in Bethlehem some 2013 yearsago.

Christmas to Christians is a timefor reflection and a time to share one’sjoys and sorrows. It is the time to reachout and touch the life of another personwith love and warmth. It is the time toshare love and friendship, care andconcern.

Christmas encapsulates all thatGod has in store for us. It is easier tocelebrate Christmas if you know Jesus

well. Christmas is the most joyful timeof year; knowing that Jesus Christ wasborn on this day.

If you want to give a Xmas gift tosomeone, I recommend the following:· To your enemy, forgiveness.· To an opponent, tolerance.· To a friend, your heart.· To a customer, good service.· To all, charity.· To every child, a good example.· To yourself, respect.

—Jubel D’Cruz, Dombivili

Humpty Dumpty

It was not only inflation, corrup-tion ,the Modi effect, the Rahul non-effect and the AAP phenomenon butalso the supreme arrogance and stateof denial of the Congress party thatcaused its drubbing at the recently-concluded State elections.

Instead of concentrating on right-ing the many wrongs that were dailyhighlighted by the print and electronicmedia and taking note of the commonman`s angst, anguish ,anger ,displayedon social media ,Congress leaders andspokespersons preferred to train theirguns on Modi, Kejriwal and the poll-sters and on distributing freebies andhandouts so as to boost the party`schances of election/re-election. Thewriting on the wall was there for all tosee except those over-confident of theirability to appease voters and turn thetide in their favour.

The spectacular success of AAPin Delhi is potent enough to inspirehope in regional parties and provide achallenge to the BJP to clean up its actif it hopes to form the Government atthe Centre in 2014. More importantly, ithas shown politicians across the board, who is the real boss .

It is doubtful if the Congress willrecover in time for 2014 from the bodyblows received in 2013 . Anyway, notso long as Manmohan Singh remainsthe face of the UPA II government andRahul Gandhi the face of the Congressparty.

—Bernie Tellis, Bandra

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8 16 December 2013

Mandela Will Never Die! – Fr. Cedric Prakash sj

Nelson Mandela is no more! Andhopefully, Mandela will never die!

The Mandela era finally came to anend last night (Dec. 5th 2013)-and itstime for all of us to reflect on what thisone man has contributed towards mak-ing our world a more human and harmo-nious place.

When one looks back at thestruggles he faced as a child, as a youthand later on as an elder statesman, oneis simply amazed by the sheer grit anddetermination which characterised oneof the contemporary world’s greatestfigures. A large part of Mandela’s lifewas spent in isolation during his lifesentence in the infamous Robben IslandJail. The torture he was subjected towould make any mortal give up, but withhis' never-say-die' spirit, Mandela finallycame out to freedom and to a new worldin 1990; a few years later, he becamethe first democratically elected Presi-dent of South Africa.

His extraordinary life teaches usthree key lessons:• if the spirit is strong- it will ultimately

triumph, despite the powers and vestedinterests doing everything to subju-gate one.

• the belief that a non-violentstruggle is the only andsure way to achieve results– something he learnt fromMahatma Gandhi.

• divisiveness of any kind (particularly racism) defi-nitely has no place in aworld which is becomingmore and more a globalised village.Mandela believed that every humanbeing is created in the image and like-ness of God and though we are differ-ent in several ways, we are all equal.

At this moment much is being writ-ten and debated about Mandela’s legacyto the 20th & 21st century. The hard facthowever remains that despite being anicon and an inspiration for millions acrossthe world several parts continue to beravaged with violence, hatred and divi-siveness.

Let us take Gujarat in India, forexample, which gave to the world Ma-hatma Gandhi – one of the greatestapostles of non-violence. If one is aMuslim in Gujarat today, one is confinedto specific ghettos or areas across theState. This is sadly evident in the com-mercial capital Ahmedabad, where aMuslim finds it impossible to buy or renta house or a commercial establishment

in the Western up-market partof the city. The tragedy is thatthe institutionalisation of thispractice is very easily ac-cepted by the majority com-munity. In a State whichprojects itself as ‘vibrant’ thisis a blatant form of apartheidindeed!

Mandela foughtagainst the segregation of the

blacks in his native South Africa. He hadto endure much because of this but thenas history shows us, truth ultimately tri-umphed over falsehood. He is someoneto be emulated. His unflagging spiritgave him the courage to speak truth topower; he did not care about the conse-quences that followed. What matteredmost for him was that all men and women– whether black or white, rich or poor,should be able to live together, walkhand-in-hand and work side-by-side,accepting always the dignity of the other.The great thing about Mandela was hisability not to harbour any rancour orrevenge for his white oppressors. Heforgave unconditionally and that is whyhe was able to usher in a new SouthAfrica with a hope of a better future.

The world has truly lost one of itsgreatest sons! As we join in the mourn-ing -the best way to pay tribute to'Madiba' is to "celebrate" the fact that hegave SO MUCH to this world-It is there-fore important that each one of us wher-ever we are, try to do our best to realisehis vision,to continue the legacy he hasleft us- in the simple, small ordinaryevents of our daily life.

And if we sincerely do so- Mandelawill never die!

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916 December 2013

Love At ChristmasThe festive sea

son of Christmas is already

upon us! The bril-liantly decoratedTree, exotic sweets,melting moments,melodious carolsand nostalgic jinglescombine to celebrate“Christ’s coming” de-lightfully. One invari-ably finds oneself ina mosaic of personalcloseness, why evencosmic embrace andoneness, while love rents the crisp,cool air!

Why is Christmas powered bysuch high voltage electricity? Simplybecause God’s unconditional, ever-faithful love for us was made flesh, so

‘bundle of love’ is a time of inexpress-ible joy and breath-taking awe that Maryand Joseph treasured at the first Christ-mas.

Our Christmas cannot possiblybe morose and sad, “You better watchout, better not cry.” We must spontane-ously delight in proclaiming joyouslythe Living Word, the direct and onlylifeline between the God of Love andus; humans with feet of clay but heartsof gold with Christ’s bursting on theearthly horizon. The gifts he bringscannot break, do not lose their sheenand their beauty never fades away.

In the truest and deepest mean-ing of Christmas, with the marvel ofGod-made-man, we have a magicianinside us, who believes in offering uslittle miracles of love all the time, whichwe so badly need and most urgentlydesire. The Son of God and man touch-ing our lives with bubbly tenderness, isfar more exciting than a midnight visitof an imaginary Santa Claus. TrulyChristmas is imbued and drenchedwith Christ-like love, giving and givingwithout a thought of receiving!

The love of the “Son of God andMan” lives deep in the heart of everyhuman being put there by God Him-self. This love is strong, capable ofloving even those who do not respondto our love; and even our enemies. It isoften expressed by the Golden Rulewhich is a beautiful tenet of many reli-gions: “Do unto others what you wouldlike them do to you.” It is the presenceof God whom we love in each person.

The flavour of the season is that, Godloves me with a welcome, hospitality,cordiality and communion that is sweet,sublime, simple and deep. Let’s colourour City with love this Christmas!

Indeed, the Babe of Bethlehemoffers us not just greetings on a flimsy,friable paper card, or an SMS, Email, orother ‘air wave’ portals which quicklyevaporates into thin air, but the abso-lutely reliable promise of eternal life, aceaseless Banquet of Love.

Please lodge this great and won-derful dream in your hearts forever!

Leon Bent

that, we may experience His love intangible form. The Incarnation is themystery of the incredible union of love,both, divine and human. God was madevisible in Jesus that we may be caughtup in His Love, whom we cannot see.The Messiah’s coming was not aboutpeople decked-up extravagantly likeChristmas trees, but that God is love,who loved us unto excruciating deathon a Cross.

Love is expressed as an actionand experienced as a feeling. It has amulti-faceted essence that resists defi-nition. But, if you wish to learn the art or‘true loving’ do so at the sublime re-membrance of the Boy-Child’s birth,which is the greatest promise of theBible, and the crux of its entire mes-sage: “God so loved the world that, hegave us his only beloved Son, thatwhoever believes in him may not per-ish, but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16).

Christmas comes with extraordi-nary heavenly gifts of divine revelation,timelessness, and rich blessings of love,joy, peace and hope. “The Virgin Motherbore Him in her womb, with love be-yond all telling,” exclaims the AdventLiturgy. The Saviour’s coming as a

10 16 December 2013

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Many a times we react violentlyfor criticism whether it is constructive or destructive. Soci-

ety has brainwashed us into acceptingonly appreciation because the thoughtof criticism itself is alien to us. Whileconstructive criticism is tolerated tosome extent, destructive is not. Accep-tance of criticism also depends on indi-vidual perception. An egoistic personwill never take criticism in his stride asit will hurt his ego more than himselfwhich he/she nourished for a long timewith self flattery & falsehood. Ego alsois pride. Pride is a sin. History hasplenty of examples of people who nevertolerated criticism. Hitler was one ofthem who killed millions to satisfy hisego. Even today the trend continues,hundreds are eliminated even in de-mocracies around the world becausepeople dare to criticize and stand fortheir rights. When it comes to criticismpeople tend to become alert becauseit’s always taken personally. A trueleader will always turn criticism into hisadvantage as he knows by experiencethat it will make him stronger becausethe critic will always provide more fuelfor his thoughts. Without criticism onecannot function better.

Let’s see how criticism affects ourdaily lives: Look around for a momentand observe, you will be astonished tosee that people like only appreciation.On every occasion we can hear a biglist of appreciations that makes us proudof ourselves. We have been brain-washed by the society into believingthat we only accept appreciation and

speak. It goes on for some years till weabruptly tell the child to stop and makeit submissive all along. Succumbing tothe pressure of the society, the childgives up and becomes a robot. Thosewho believe in Buddhism, the essenceof dharma is questioning, as Buddhahimself said “monks & wise men, donot take my words out of respect for mebut take them like a goldsmith, by heat-ing, scraping and cleaning”. Jesus toofought against the then prevalent sys-tem but people refused to accept theGood News as it was new to them, theywere too brainwashed by the then so-ciety. Anything new will not be accept-able to us as we do not like to changeor modify our deep rooted ideas of life.The person who talks something newwill always be misunderstood. Peoplecrucified Jesus, to get rid of his teach-ings without knowing the essence of it.

Why we never dare to criticize:While many of us never learnt the art ofquestioning. We are willing to compro-mise instead of questioning. The othername for compromise is “diplomacy”Mahatma Gandhi said “ I like JesusChrist but not Christians as they are somuch unlike Christ”. We enjoy livinglike a kite in the air which is controlledby some unknown string puller. We livein an imaginary world which is full offear & sorrow. We fear for our lives andreputation forgetting that our reputa-tion is our own and not given by any-body else. We fear for our own shadowknowing fully well that it will not leaveus alone even if we go underwater.

Are We Afraid Of Criticism?

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not criticism. We have become intoler-ant and reduced to a kind of robots bythis so called appreciation. There is anunwritten rule that we are not sup-posed to think, question or criticize butonly follow orders coming from the top.We are programmed to believe in otherpeople’s ideas for our survival. Likefood to our bodies, we feed our mindsby ideas generated by others and be-come submissive human beings. Thepressure is so much and as humanbeings where flesh is weak and mentaldrought is plenty we get into otherpeople’s shoes very easily. It’s interest-ing to watch as to how a child startsquestioning the moment it learns to

A true leader will alwaysturn criticism into his ad-vantage as he knows byexperience that it will makehim stronger

What can we do when we facewith criticism?

1) Pause and do not doanything.

2) Postpone your firstreaction.

3) Do not make it personal4) Do not take it negatively

but accept positively5) Learn from criticism6) Never attack the person

who criticize your ideas

1116 December 2013 1116 December 2013

THANKSGIVINGThey Prayed andFavours Granted

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Thanks to

Infant Jesusfor the favours granted

—Dominic B. F., Vasai

Thanks to St. Alphonsafor the favours granted

—George K., Chembur

Our lady of Vailankanni Cured meas I was suffering from a deseasesfor sometime. I thank her for thefavour granted.

—Domnic Paul, Sion

My heart felt thanks toHoly Family

for the favours granted—Mrs Ami L. D'Souza, Thane

ThanksgivingThanks to St.Francis Xavier forthe favoursgranted. Prayingfor more favours.

Thanks to Fr. Agnel for thefavours granted

— A. V. Nazreth, Dombivili

Thanksgiving

Unfailing Prayer toSt. Anthony

powers. Miracles waited on yourword, which you were ever readyto speak for those in trouble or anxi-ety. Encouraged by this thought, Iimplore of you to obtain for me (re-quest). The answer to my prayermay require a miracle, even so, youare the Saint of Miracles. O gentleand loving St. Anthony, whose heartwas ever full of human sympathy,whisper my petition into the ears ofthe Sweet Infant Jesus, who lovedto be folded in your arms; and thegratitude of my heart will ever beyours.

—Mrs P. G. Fernandes,Wadala

O holy St. An-thony, gentlest ofSaints, your lovefor God andCharity for hiscreatures, madeyou worthy, whenon earth, to pos-sess miraculous

ThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgivingThanksgiving

Thanks to Sacred Heart ofJesus for the favours

granted

—Ms. B. A. Menezes, Mangalore

— Mrs. Maria F. Pereira,Bandra


Living Life Kingsize!

by Verus Ferreira

An issue that is causing alarm isthe rising incidence of suicides,the largest segment of suicides

reportedly being in the teenage bracket,i.e. from 13 to 19 years. In a bid to stemthe rot, The Teenager Today (pub-lished by Better Yourself Books) orga-nized a special Symposium onChildren’s Day, 14 November 2013 aspart of its annual Teen of the YearPageant [TOY].

The Alberione Conference Hall atSPICE, Bandra, was the perfect settingfor such a panel discussion, more so

because the man who founded thePauline Family, Blessed JamesAlberione of Alba, Italy, had visual-ized that the community he estab-lished a hundred years ago would bea pioneer in the field of communica-tions media. Moderated by PearlD’Souza, TOY title holder 2003, andably compered by Ladislaus D’Souza,the audience listened with rapt atten-tion.

The 19 finalists of TOY 2013,coming as they did from across thecountry, were all eyes and ears whileeach of the four panelists made theirpresentation on Media & TeenageSuicides. The rest of the audience

Thanksgiving

Thanks to Divine Mercy,Sacred Heart of Jesus,

O.L. Of Perpetual Succorand Infant Jesus for the

kind favours granted—Mr. Jose Joseph,

New Delhi

1516 December 2013

comprising aspiring journalists fromthe SPICE Institute and people fromdifferent walks of life sat in awe as theshocking details unfolded on thescreen. The topic per se was virtuallyan extension of the theme for TOY2013, Teens, Harbingers of a MediaRevolution.

Chantelle Saldanha, an 18-yearold FY BMM student of St Andrew’s,Bandra, gave her take from a teenager’sperspective. Chantelle stated that ac-cording to a study on suicides, the agegroup 15–24 was the most prone tocommit suicide with many cases goingunreported. Her simple yet interestingfact and fiction report indicated that itwas not true that only “bad” kids whohave the wrong friends and live badlives that commit suicide, but that kidswho have the right friends and a brightfuture before them also reportedly com-mit suicide. Another fictitious argumentwas that music, movies and other formsof media do not influence teenagers inany way, when, in reality, these play asignificant role in the stirring of suicidaltendencies. The symptoms to watchout for, she pointed out, are: withdrawalfrom family life, change in eating hab-its, loss of interest in daily activities andabove all issuing threats to peers andparents alike about ending their lives,challenges faced by teenagers in deal-ing with personal problems being failedboy-girl relationships, academics, etc.

The changing electronic scenario,teens becoming targets as well as vic-tims of increasingly sophisticated gad-gets, Cyber-bullying, TV and substanceabuse, addictive use of Facebook,Twitter, chat rooms, etc. are vehementlybecoming part of a teen’s life thesedays. There is thus every possibilitythat, when left unguarded, these meansof social networking can be misused orabused. She felt that parents should bemore aware of teenagers’ problemsand be readily available to them, simul-taneously monitoring their activities andrelationships.

Speaking from the Parent-Teacherpoint of view, May D’Souza from Maladopined that with the advance in tech-nology, today’s teens have everythingat their fingertips, with the result thatthey cannot cope with the competition,expectations and emerging relation-

ships. Finding themselves confused,particularly when problems crop up,they feel the need of a place to go to,someone trustworthy to talk to. Maypointed out that if parents treated theirchildren as friends rather than as in-structors, things could work outfavourably. This would make it easyfor parents to help their children tomake the right choices in life and thusprevent the thought of attempting sui-cide.

With his keen sense of humourand backed by years of knowledge,the bespectacled media professional,Roy Pereira from Bandra was every bitthe teenager’s man of the hour. He sureshocked everyone when he began byasking who read the daily newspaper,his reason being that people generallytook the news that appeared in themedia at face value. He stated thataccording to a WHO survey ‘suicide’ isamong the top three causes of deathamong youth worldwide, with accidentsand homicide being the other two; sui-cide claims almost a million people—with 20 times more people attemptingsuicide—and according to a websitesuicide.org a youth suicide (age 15-24) occurs every 100 minutes.

Citing the example of the recentsuicide of actor Jiah Khan, Roy statedthat the media does act negatively inthat it glorifies the news, cashing in onthe individual’s celebrity status, mak-ing the news juicier to the reader whoobviously wants to know more aboutthe reasons for the suicide. At times,media hyped the incident by unneces-sarily going into detail as regards themethod or place of suicide, all of whichcaused further emotional trauma to thefamily and friends of the deceased al-though not necessarily only in the caseof a celebrity. There’s no gainsayingthe fact that this cannot but influenceyouth into following a copycat formateven as TV shows rate high TRPs. Royalso categorically stated that the mediacovering a given suicidal death undulydiscusses in graphic detail other meth-ods of suicide, thus congesting theyoung mind with ideas concerningoptions available—like charcoal burn-ing in Hong Kong and self-poisoningwith seeds of the yellow oleander treein Northern Sri Lanka. “By letting your

readers know what options are avail-able you are telling them this isdone,” quipped Roy, adding thatMarilyn Monroe was another starlet whoopted for suicide at the peak of hercareer, pictures of her body beingwheeled out from her home violating aWHO guideline for reporting (no pho-tos of suicide scene or body of sui-cide)” stated Roy showing a news itemof the same.

Picking up from where Chantelleleft, Roy came back to cyber-bullyinggiving examples of instances of casesin the US. He mentioned the suicide oftwo young girls in the US and Canadafollowing similar incidents of allegedrape, “cyber shaming” drawing atten-tion to an alarming trend of recklessand predatory online behaviour by teen-agers.

The way to resolving the teen sui-cide issue would have to be led by theparents whereby parents participate inand not just monitor their child’sactivities. He suggested getting thesame social media apps as your kid,connect your iTunes account, befriend-ing them in everything. “If your kid isthe bully, shut THEIR account downand take away THEIR phone and lastlydon’t turn a blind eye to the “friends”online all the time. There is no distinc-tion between the online and offline worldfor kids — and parents need to respectand understand that.”

Dr Chetna Shukla, Homoeopathand Psychoanalyst, played counsellorto teens with aplomb! She noted thatreaders wait for a chance to read sen-sational news and make something outof it - “When suicide occurs after rape,it is more of power play than anythingelse.” She felt that the problem with theMedia is that it gets you addicted, en-couraging consumerism and causingthe cultivation of expectations that bestfit into a dream world. As for spoilingone’s self-image and giving half truths,she gave the example of a fairnesscream that declares that “Fair is beau-tiful and promotes an unrealistic imageof how people should look.” The mes-sage that advertisements for alcoholand cigarettes send out is that smokingand drinking “make a person sexy,cool, macho and ‘everyone does

(Contd.. on p. 16)

16 16 December 2013

it’” in a bid to live life king-size.The solution to this anomaly she

felt lies with parents, who, she insisted,do need to be actively involved withtheir children, setting limits to usage ofmedia, looking out for signs of depres-sion, helping them develop skills toquestion, analyze and evaluate whathappens on screen and in the ‘real’world. She specifically highlighted thenecessity of, among other things, thenecessity of ensuring a proper bal-anced diet for teenagers, a diet thatessentially leaves out items that causesuicidal thoughts - “You eat junk, youthink junk, you are junk!” She empha-sized that “every life is worth living.Suicide is not a way out. Life is worthliving because life is beautiful! So lookat the brighter side and be optimistic.”Dr Chetna’s PPT which included aYouTube clipping of the song I cansee clearly now with heart touchingwords that spoke of the positive side toliving a life of grace and love, con-cluded with the message that there isalways HOPE.

Hardly were the panelists throughwith their presentation, an avalanche of‘questions’ burst upon the scene, tosum up which, what teenagers reallywanted was an answer to prevent sui-cides. Dr Chetna used tact - “Whenyou see the symptoms as mentioned

earlier, you need to sit down with yourfriend or child, go to the root cause ofthe problem and try to resolve it, evenif it means finding the person/s causingthe problem; listen without prejudice,don’t ridicule; discuss the cause of his/her suicidal thoughts or tendenciesand if necessary take professional help.Parents especially should never com-pare their child with another; competewith yourself, not others.”

To a query concerning parentsmonitoring every activity with a view tokeeping them in the loop, DrChetna stated, “the truth is not thatyour parents don’t trust you. They dotrust you but not the world around thatinfluences you.”

Chantelle received applausewhen she commented: “Parents shouldunderstand that our lives are not thesame as theirs used to be, the world ischanging.” Surely parents must givespace to their children, though at thesame time tactfully monitoring everymove.

At the finale of the TOY Pageant2013 held on 16 November at SaintAndrew’s Auditorium, the participantsresolved as follows:Resolution taken by the finalists ofthe TOY Pageant 2013 at SaintAndrew’s College Auditorium on 16November 2013:*We, the 19 finalists of Teen of the Year

Pageant 2013, after having listenedto different media experts during our

stay in Mumbai and having deliber-ated among ourselves on what wehave heard, hereby resolve that wewon’t henceforth blindly believe themedia, but be rather critical con-sumers of it.

*We will strongly oppose any effort bythe media to portray women in badlight, besides upholding the dignityof women. On our part, as individu-als, we will also prefer substanceover glamour, and encourage oth-ers to do so.

*We intend achieving this primarily bymaking use of the means providedby media itself, such as, customercare, BCCC (Broadcasting ContentComplaints Council), letters to theeditor, etc.

*Further, we resolve to consciouslyuse social media in a constructiveway rather than using it destruc-tively.

*We pledge to make all effort possibleto unite the youth of our countrytowards working to eradicate thenegative use of media.

*In conclusion, we resolve to be activeinstruments in spreading awarenessof the above and thus becomingharbingers of a media revolution!

"A freelance writer in the field of music,Verus Ferreira has authored THEGREAT MUSIC QUIZ BOOK, publishedby BETTER YOURSELF BOOKS"

Subscriptions forThe Secular Citizen

Renewal as well as New, can be sentthrough Bank Fund Transfer to any oneof the following banks:

Bank: HDFC BankBranch : CST - Mumbai VTAccount Name: The Secular CitizenAccount No. 03552000006744ISFC code: HDFC0000355orBank: Citizen Credit Co-op Bank Ltd.,Branch : Colaba, MumbaiAccount Name: The Secular CitizenAccount No. 000000000000489ISFC code: CCBL0209003

Please inform us through email:[email protected] or through phone:22693578 after transferring the same.

(Contd.. from p. 15)

ers are seen as perks of the dictatorswho have no place in the new set-up.Like dictators the governing class can-not tolerate criticism or honourablypick up the gauntlet thrown as a chal-lenge to it- a sign of cowardice orweakness? AAP, hounded by the gov-ernment with the intention of demol-ishing its credibility passed with flyingcolours in the test set by the HUM.Why? How did the high and mightyget toppled just with the sweep of alowly broom? Because the biggestmistake was to accuse AAP of corrup-tion by those known and proved to becorrupt themselves! The Mahatmaused to say, ‘practice what youpreach’…….but now with quarrels over

sharing the Ironman’s legacy, the Ma-hatma too has been swept under thecarpet!

Education, employment, afford-able shelter and food are the top priori-ties of this new India. It is refreshing tohear the youth like Scindia and Pilotspeaking prudently the language ofthe masses. But as is the tradition withthe old party, only the voices of thewily, crafty leaders proficient in the artof ‘fooling the public’ will be heard andtaken up for consideration. Ever heardof the ‘Ostrich and its knack of buryingits head in the sand’? Well, the AAP istelling the HUM about it in preparationfor the General Elections in2014…..May their tribe increase!!

(Contd.. from p. 6)HUM AAP ke hain kaun?

1716 December 2013

There is no such thing as a "badmemory", and everyone can improve their memory, as long as

you are not suffering from memory lossas a medical condition. If you want toimprove your memory, there are a num-ber of things you can do,

Use chunking. Chunking is a wayof grouping things together to help youmemorize them. Random lists of things(a shopping list, for example) can beespecially difficult to remember. Tomake it easier, try categorizing the indi-vidual things from the list. For example,list all of the fruits together, the dairyproducts together, and the bread prod-ucts together. This will not only helpyou memorize the list, but it'll makeyour shopping experience much faster.

Chunking is what we do when welist a phone number with dashes. Whichlooks easier to memorize, 8564359820,or 856-435-9820?

You probably won't remember17761812184818651898, but try put-ting a space after every fourth number.

Use rhymes. Using a variety ofcommon and silly rhymes can help yourecall basic information. For example,if you're trying to figure out if April has30 or 31 days, just say the old rhymealoud: "Thirty days has September,April, June, and November." Then you'llremember that April does indeed have30 days. Here are some other rhymesto use as memory tools:

"In fourteen-hundred ninety-two,Columbus sailed the ocean blue."

A child can learn the alphabet bysinging it to the tune of "Twinkle,Twinkle, Little Star," which makes theletters rhyme.

Use acronyms. Acronyms are an-other wonderful tool for rememberinga variety of things, from the names ofthe five Great Lakes to the words usedas conjunctions. You can use a popularacronym, or create one for yourself.For example, if you're going to the storeand know you only need Butter, Let-tuce, Bread,

Remember a person's name.Use a popular trick out of FDR'splaybook for memorizing a person'sname. When a person introduces them-selves to you, picture them with theirname written on their forehead. Thiswill associate the image of that personwith their name.

4. Use your environment. Changethe normal location of things to remem-ber to do something. If you need toremember to take your multivitaminsevery morning, then put the toaster onits side, and only put it back in itsnormal place after you've taken yourvitamins. Seeing the toaster out of placewill remind you that something is offand that there's something you need toremember.[9]

If you need to remember some-thing important, such as a person'sbirthday, just wear your wristwatch onyour other wrist. You'll remember thatthere was something important youhad to do when you see that the watchis out of position.

Move your eyes from side toside. Studies show that moving youreyes from side to side for just 30 sec-onds once a day will align the two partsof your brain and make your memorywork more smoothly. Try this trick whenyou wake up in the morning.

Exercise your brain. Regularly"exercising" the brain keeps it growingand spurs the development of newnerve connections that can help im-

Try some fun puzzle exerciseseveryday such as crosswords, Sudoku,and other games which are easyenough for anyone.

Get out of your comfort zone andpick something that is new and chal-lenging, which makes you flex yourbrain muscles. Try to play chess or afast-paced board game.

Stop thinking that you have a"bad memory." Convince yourself thatyou do have a good memory that willimprove. Too many people get stuckhere and convince themselves theirmemory is bad, that they are just notgood with names, that numbers justslip out of their minds for some reason.Erase those thoughts and vow to im-prove your memory. Celebrate evenlittle achievements to keep yourself mo-tivated.

Say things you want to remem-ber aloud. If you have trouble remem-bering whether you took your medica-tion every morning, just say, "I just tookmy medication!" right after you took it,to reinforce this idea in your mind.Saying this aloud will help you remem-ber that you did indeed take your medi-cation.

Deepen your breathing whenyou have to remember something.When it's time to study or remembersomething new, switch your breathingpattern to be slower and deeper.Deeper and slower breathing actuallychanges the way your brain works.

How to Improve Your Memoryprove memory. Bydeveloping new men-tal skills -- especiallycomplex ones suchas learning a new lan-guage or learning toplay a new musicalinstrument -- and chal-lenging your brainwith puzzles andgames, you can keepyour brain active andimprove its physi-ological functioning.

18 16 December 2013

Thanks to Sacred Heart of Jesus & Mary, Infant Jesus,Holy Cross of Jesus, Holy Spirit, Mother of GoodHealth of Vailankanni, Mother of Fatima, Mother ofMilagres, Mother of Nazareth, Mother of the Forsekan,Annai Vailankanni, Mother of Guadalupe, Mother ofRemedies, Mother of Lourdes, Mount Mary, Mother ofPerpetual Succor, Poondi Madha, Mother of IrlaVailankanni, Parvathi Cross, Dhobitalo Cross, BambolinCross, Chicalim Road Cross, Milgress Cross, VasaiRoad Cross, St. Thomas, St. Michael, Fr. Agnel, St.Alex, St. Jude, St. Francis Xavier, St. Anthony, St.Sebastian, St. Peregrine, St. Joquim, St. Benedict, St.Roque, Khanddi Khuris (Maina-Curtorim) for the Spe-cial favours received.

—Pradeepa, Cedric, Joaquim & Fly, Vasai.

Thanksgiving

Emmanuel, God Is With Us, Hallelujah

The Season of Advent draws quicklyto an end. The few remaining days,typical of Christian formation pre-

pares us in true conscience to feel thejoy for the birth of Jesus. The words of St.Luke have become a tireless relay ofhappiness and excitement: “to you is born this day in thecity of David a Savior, who isthe Messiah, the Lord.”(Lk.2:11).

With this fourth seasonof advent begins the Spring ofFaith. It will be a challengearound the world. Jesus comes to us inthe new millennium in an arena of vio-lence, hate and misleading groups.Christ brings the message, as before, ofpeace, love, forgiveness of the enemy,and wants us to help the people of Godin responsible ways.

What is not surprisingis when God spoke to Ahaz,King of Judah, telling him toask the Lord for a sign. Ahazrefused to ask. So, the Lordgave him a sign, “Look, theyoung woman is with childand shall bear a son, andshall name himImmanuel…”(Is.7:14).

It took a few thousandyears before the Messiaharrived as forecast. His com-ing was the homily,preached in all seriousnessby generations of prophets.The virgin birth became afact of true spirituality. It tellsus of the nature of the incar-nation, revealing that thebirth of Jesus embodies Godand the Holy Spirit. He iscoming in human form, ful-filling in every detail the nar-ratives and predictions ofhis entire physical advent inthe world. His resurrectionis a significant document ofhistorical importance whichcan be validated.

Treating Christians asstereotypes has costs. Itmakes us feel emotionallyweak when we hide notknowing the basic values ofthe faith, beyond the few

prayers taught to process our personalfeelings. The recent Year of Faith hadbeen a breakthrough for the imagery itcreated in opening the ground values tobetter understand our faith in many as-pects.

The Holy Bible be-comes stunningly awesomewhen now read it with trustand belief. The birth of Christnever ceases to be the won-derful story of God’s love,mercy and concern for hischildren. Through Jesus, God

lays down his life for the sins of human-kind. There is no greater act of love.

In Assam’s Sibsagar district an uni-dentified gunman, armed with two re-volvers abducted a school van with 11children, forcing the driver to take him

and the children (his hostages) to theNagaland border. Gunjan Sarma, a classviii student pleaded with the gunman totake her hostage and release the otherchildren. She managed to persuade himand he set the children free. TakingGunjan into the forest, he kept her in abamboo hut all night and let her go in themorning. He did not harm her. This is theSpring of Faith. The girl offered her life tosave others.

This last Sunday of advent shouldbe the first Sunday for more spiritualgrowth and determined evangelization:to enrich the Christian objective of hav-ing no fear and to forgive the wrongswhich people do. Trust in the Lord Jesus.Take on the mission from Christmas topropagate the faith.

Mother Mary is a ‘vessel of grace’,I remember reading this phrasesomewhere in my research. Sheis a remarkable woman with in-calculable impression on Jesus.Mary’s contribution to the faithis magnificent: her Conceptionand her Assumption are a testi-mony to the uniqueness andinfluence she has on Jesus ashis Divine Mother. St. Paul hadsomething to add…In his first letter to the Romans,St. Paul wrote about the Gospelof God “ concerning His Son,who was descended from Davidaccording to the flesh and wasdeclared to be Son of God withpower according to the Spirit ofholiness by resurrection fromthe dead, Jesus Christ our Lord”(Rom.1:3-4).On a happy note, we preparefor the celebrations to come :the Midnight Mass which cap-tures it all in almost 2 hours. Thegreetings and warm embraces,the songs and the welcome vis-its to families at home. TheChristmas Tree, gifts wrappedin colorful paper, the speciallunch, parties, hats, mistletoes,bugles, not forgetting roast tur-key at dinner; makes everyChristmas memorable for thebirth of Jesus. The Lord is withus, Hallelujah.

Melvyn Brown

4th Sundayin Advent

1916 December 2013

The Meaning Behind All Our Christmas Decoration

Year after year, we pull out theboxes, put up the decorations,then take them down, and store

them away for next year. If you’regoing to go through all that effortevery year, it’s going to be a lot moremeaningful if you understand the his-tory and the symbolism behind thosedecorations.

Let’s EXPLORE them today.

The Colors Red and Green:RED symbolizes the BLOOD of Christ,offered in sacrifice for our sins. GREENis the color of LIFE.EVERGREENS in the middle of wintergive us HOPE that new life will comeeven after the cold of winter. To aworld that was DEAD to sin, JesusChrist brings NEW LIFE.

Wreaths:The CIRCLE symbolizes the ETER-NAL nature of God. You trace theLINE of a circle, and it NEVER ENDS.Jesus Christ is the ETERNAL Son ofGod, without beginning and withoutend.

Christmas Tree:This custom comes from Germany.St. Boniface was a Catholic arch-bishop in Germany in the 8th century.He helped to replace PAGAN prac-tices with CHRISTIAN faith. There wasa huge OAK TREE at Geismar, thatwas considered SACRED by the pa-gans. It was dedicated to the godThor. In the year 723 AD, BonifaceCHALLENGED that pagan practice,in the presence of HOSTILE tribes-men, and CUT DOWN the oak treeand pointed to a little FIR tree growingnext to it, and said: “This humble

tree’s wood is used to build your homes:let CHRIST be at the center of yourhouseholds. Its leaves remain ever-green in the darkest days: let CHRISTbe your constant light. Its branchesreach out to embrace and its top pointsto heaven: let CHRIST be your Comfortand Guide.”

So when you see a Christmas tree, letits EVERGREEN foliage remind youthat the love of God NEVER DIES, andlet its SHAPE remind you that HEAVENis your ultimate goal.

Ornaments on the Tree:Dec. 24 used to be observed on theChurch calendar as the Feast of Adamand Eve. In the Middle Ages, therewere religious plays called “Mysteryplays”. They told story of Creation andAdam and Eve. A PROP for those playswas a Tree of Paradise: FIR tree withRED APPLES on it. These EVOLVEDinto our tree ornaments.

Star:It reminds us of the star that guidedthe Wise Men to where Jesus wasborn in Bethlehem.

Poinsettia Flowers:These are native to Mexico and Cen-tral America, and they bloom in theshort days of winter. The shape of thebloom is like the STAR of Bethlehem.The colors are the traditional Christ-mas red and green. Flores de NocheBuena – Flowers of the Holy Night: Inthe Mexican Christmas tradition, aYOUNG GIRL wished to bring aPRESENT to baby Jesus, but had noMONEY. The girl, Pepita, could onlypick WEEDS along the road as shewent to visit the Christ child. But asshe neared the ALTAR in the churchto present her Christmas gift, thesimple weeds suddenly TRANS-FORMED into the vibrant, beautifulFlores de Noche Buena.

Candy Canes:Their shape is that of a SHEPHERD’Sstaff: to guide the sheep. This re-minds us of the shepherds who werethe first WITNESSES of the birth ofChrist. Also: Christ is our Good Shep-herd. The prophet Micah says intoday’s First Reading: “He shall standfirm and shepherd his flock.”

COLORS of the CandyCane:WHITE: symbolizes the Virgin birthand the purity of Christ, RED: symbol-izes the blood of Christ, offered insacrifice for our sins. STRIPES: re-mind us of the marks from hisSCOURGING in his Passion, like itsays in Isaiah 53 and I Peter 2, ìBy hisSTRIPES we are healed.î

Nativity SceneIt was invented by St.FRANCIS of Assisi for Mid-night Mass in the year 1223,in the little town of Greccio,Italy. They used live ANI-MALS, and local PEOPLEtook the roles of the peoplein the Gospel event. It was avery CREATIVE way to MEDI-TATE on the mystery ofChristmas.

20 16 December 2013

MATRIMONIALSMUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicBachelor, aged 37 years, Ht. 5’ 7”, Wt.70 kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.MBA., working as a Sr. Mo-bility Specialist International HR inDubai. Visiting Mumbai in December.Contact immediately Email :[email protected] OR9869319466. (Regd. No. 6005)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicBachelor, aged 49 years, Ht. 5’ 4”, Wt.85 kgs, Fair Complexion, Edn. SSC.,N.C.T.V.T., B.Com., working as a Su-pervisor. Seeks a good cook, simple,religious Roman catholic spinster.Contact : 9967586814 (Regd. No.5999)MUMBAI : RC Bachelor 38/5’8”, B.E.,working in Senior position reputed ITfirm. Seeks alliance from R.C. spin-ster educated good family backgroundPl. reply with photograph and detailsto keithcardozo@ hotmail.com orcontact 9820338755 (Regd. No.5996)MUMBAI : “I am a fun loving 38 yearsGoan R.C. Ht. 5’ 8”, Wt. 80 kgs,Wheatish Complexion, Edn. B.Com.,C.A., who believes in having a balancebetween work and personal life. Fondof music, travelling and the best wayfor me to unwind is through dance(Latin Style). I am currently workingfor a reputed MNC for last 5 years.Though I drink socially and occasion-ally, smoking is a strict-no. Seekingalliance with a simple, god-fearing girlwith a good family background.Eventually, I hope to see myself notjust as my partner’ partner but mypartner’s Best Friend forever!” Contactemail :[email protected] OR9833761339 (Regd. No. 5994)MUMBAI : East Indian Roman Catho-lic Bachelor, aged 37 years, Ht. 5’ 7”,Wt.62 kgs, Fair Complexion, Edn.B.Sc. + Degree from USA, workingas a Software Engineer, vistingMumbai shortly. Seeks a good look-ing, educated girl willing to settleUSA. Contact email :

Address your replies to :

Regd. No.ROYAL CHRISTIAN FAMILY,99, Perin Nariman Street, 1st

Floor, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001.

To Place Your MatrimonialAdvertisement Call:

2269 3578 OR 2265 4924

[email protected] OR 28929509(Regd. No. 5993)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicBachelor, aged 35 years, Ht. 6’ 4”,Wt.80 kgs, Wheatsih Complexion,Edn. 8th Std.,Working as an Asst. ACTechnician in Dubai. Currently he hisin Mumbai. Seeks a understandingand homely girl. Contact : 9022935415/ 9819257399 (Regd. No. 5992)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Divorcee, aged 30 years, Ht.5’ 5”, Wt.57 kgs, Wheatsih Complex-ion, Edn. Graduate, having own busi-ness and accommodation. Only child.Seeks a understanding, honest girl.Contact email : [email protected] 8652878111 (Regd. No. 5989)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicBachelor, aged 33 years, Ht. 5’ 7”,Wt.69 kgs, Fair Complexion, Edn. B.E.(Mech.) working as a Mechanical En-gineer. Contact email.:[email protected] OR9890892847 (Regd. No. 5985)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Bachelor, aged 30 years, Ht.5’ 6”, Wt. 59 kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn. B.Com., D.C.A., work-ing as an Accountant. Seeks a suit-able match. Contcat email :[email protected] OR9029694973 (Regd. No. 5984)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicBachelor, aged 31 years, Ht. 5’ 11”,Wheatish Complexion, Edn. B.Sc., I.T.,& Dip. in Elect. Engg., working as anAssistant Manager (Technical) OnlyChild. Contact email :[email protected] OR9820561856 (Regd. No. 5983)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Bachelor, aged 26 years, Ht.5’ 11”, Fair Complexion, Edn. B.Com.,MBA, Seeks a Sales Director, OnlyChild. Seeks a humble, god fearing,

kind, Ht. above 5’ 2”, age below 26years. Contact email :[email protected] OR9820092761 (Regd. No. 5981)U.S.A. : Universtiy Professor, USA,Fair Complexion, 5’ 7”, age 45 years,Protestant Bachelor, Seeks a welleducated, fair complexioned girl be-low 40 years, Contact [email protected] OR9869061597. (Regd. No. 5978)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Bachelor, aged 31 years, Ht.5’ 9”, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.B.Com., + Dip. in Manage-ment, working as a Manager in Pri-vate Sector. Contact email :noelpinto@hotmailcom OR9029462583 (Regd. No. 5969)MUMBAI : Roman Catholic Bachelor,aged 42 years, Ht. 5’ 7”, WheatishComplexion, Edn. B.Com., M.A., (Di-ploma in Journalism from UK); work-ing as a Freelance Journalist. Seeksa suitable & compatible match fromIndia/Abroad, He might travel abroadfor work. Contact email :[email protected] /[email protected] OR9221394374 (Regd. No. 5968)MUMBAI : Roman Catholic Bachelor,aged 27 years, Ht. 5’ 8”, Wt. 65 kgs,Wheatish Complexion, Edn. B.E.(I.T.), working as a Net Work Engi-neer abroad. Seeks a slim, fair, beau-tiful, educated girl below 26 years.Contact email : [email protected] 9324312605 (Regd. No. 5963)

Members are requested toinform us when they are settled,so that publication of theirdetails can be discontinued.

2116 December 2013

MATRIMONIALSMUMBAI : Goan R.C. Spinster, aged26 years, Ht. 5’ 2”, Wt. 60 kgs, TanComplexion, Edn. B.Sc + PGDQA,working as a QA Personnel in Phar-maceutical, Seeks a good looking,understanding, responsible, wellsettled bachelor. Contact email :[email protected] OR9892394604 (Regd. No. 6006)MUMBAI : RC Spinster, 31 years, 5’4”, Post Graduate, ProfessionalTherapist, has established personalClinic and Hospital attachements,seeks alliance from well qualified RCbachelors from Mumbai. Kindly replyto [email protected]. (Regd. No.5907)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Divorcee, aged 43 years, Ht.5’, Wt. 42 kgs, Wheatsih Complexion,Edn. B.Com., working as a Office As-sistant. Seeks a suitable match. Con-tact : 25948048 (Regd. No. 5899)MUMBAI : Mangalorean JacobiteSyrian Catholic Spinster, aged 31years, Ht. 5’ 4”, Wt. 62 kgs, Fair Com-plexion, Edn. B.Com., MBA (Fin) work-ing as a Customers Service. Seeks asuitable match. Contact email :[email protected] OR28954976 (Refgd. No. 5891)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicSpinster, aged 26 years, Ht. 5’, Wt. 46kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.B.Com., working as a Customers Ser-vice. Seeks a suitable match. Con-tact : 9820251612 (Regd. No. 5890)MUMBAI : Keralite Divorcee (Mar-riage null & void) aged 30 years, Ht.155 cms, slim, fair, good looking, Edn.M.S.W. working as a Sociel Worker.Seeks a suitable match. Contact Mob:9819316338 (Regd. No. 5889)MUMBAI : Goan R. C. Spinster, 26yrs., 5’ 2”, Wt. 55 kgs, Wheatish Com-plexion, Edn. B.Com., working as a EAto Director. Contact email :madonnamanickam7@ gmail.com OR28963423 (Regd. No. 5888)U.K : Goan R. C. Spinster, 30 yrs., 5’4”, Wt. 50 kgs, Fair and goodlooking,Edn. B.Sc., M.Sc., M.B.A., studied in

U.K. and working as a IT Analasist.Contact email :[email protected] /[email protected] OR9096690309 / 91-95-27261969 (Regd.No. 5887)MUMBAI : Goan R. C. Spinster, 25yrs., 4’ 11”, Wt. 53 kgs, Wheatish Com-plexion, Edn. B.Com., LL.B., Advocateby profession. Contact email :[email protected] OR98205 07447 (Regd. No. 5886)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic parents staying at Vasai invitealliance for their spinster daughter, 26yrs, 53 kg, 5’ 3” tall, simple, slim andgood looking, holding a double postgraduate degree in chemistry and work-ing as a lecturer in an Engineering Col-lege. Alliance is sought from suitablyqualified Mangalorean RC bachelorsupto 30 yrs, with good family back-ground kindly reply with details and arecent full size photograph [email protected] orContact 9421428286 between 4 - 9 pm.(Regd. No. 5885)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicSpinster, 29 years, Ht. 5 ’ 5”, Wt, 70kgs, Wheatish complexion, smart,B.Com., LL.B., Legal Professional,smart. Seeks a well educated, finan-cially stable, well settled abpve 6’ 6”.Contact email :[email protected] /[email protected] OR9819890592. (Regd. No. 5958)BANGALORE : Anglo Indian RomanCatholic Spinster, 26 years, B.E.,workaing as a Software Engineer, Ht.5’ 6”, Wt. 67 kgs, good looking, fair,coming from a decent family, seeks ahumble, god-fearing, doctor, engineeror well settled bachelor from India orabroad. Contact email :[email protected] 09845665529 (Regd. No. 5956)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicSpinster, 33 years, Ht. 5’ 4”, Edn. B.Com., Dip. in Business Management,Working as an Admin Inchagre for a re-puted Pharmaceutical Company.

Seeks a Goan educated Bachelorupto 38 years. Contact Email :[email protected] OR9820724100 (Regd. No. 5915)KUWAIT : Goan Roman CatholicSpinster, 26 years, Ht. 155 cms, Wt.68 kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.B.Com., working as a Office Assis-tant. Seeks a Goan RC Bachelor.Contact Email :[email protected] OR +965-971379900 (Regd. No. 5912)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Spinster, 25 years, Ht. 5’ 6”,Wt. 65 kgs, Fair Complexion, Edn.Chartered A/C., M.Com., Working asa C.A., Only Child. Seeks a suitablematch. Contact Email “[email protected] (Regd.No. 5910)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicSpinster, 23 years, Ht. 150 cms,Wheatish Complexion, Edn. Diploma(Prod.) working as a Jr. Engg., Seeksa Bombay based well settled bach-elor. Contact Email :[email protected] 26600774 (Regd. No. 5906)POONA : Tamilian Roman CatholicDivorcee, 1st marriage is annulledless then one year, good looking,aged 41 years, Ht. 5’ 4”, slim,Wheatish Complexion, Edn. M.Com.,working as a Asst. Executive in Dubai.Seeks a sincere, genuine, trustwor-thy person below 47 years. ContactMob.: 9423003578 (Regd. No. 5905)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicSpinster, 28 years, Ht. 5’ 3”, Wt. 60kgs, Fair Complexion, Edn. MBAworking for MNC. Seeks a welleduated and well settled match. Con-tact email: [email protected]/ [email protected] OR9819121184 (Regd. No. 5904)MANGALORE : Mangalorean R.C.Spinster, aged 30 years, Ht. 5’ 5”, Wt.58 kgs, Fair Complexion, Edn. MBBS,MD., Doctor by profession. Seeks aeduated well settled boy from Decentfamily. Email : [email protected] (Regd. No. 5619)

22 16 December 2013

MATRIMONIALSQATAR : R.C. Spinster, age 27, Ht.5’ 6”, MBA, working in Qatar for an OilCompany along with her family, seeksalliance from tall, well educated bach-elors (working on ship or abroad-En-gineers), having strong catholic val-ues. She is visiting Mumbai in De-cember. Contact immediately to fix ameeting. Please respond to email:[email protected] OR97466756066 (Regd. No. 5990)BANGALORE : Mangalorean Ro-man Catholic Spinster, 23 years,beautiful, 5’ 3”, 55 kgs, Wheatish, Edn.MBA (HR) working as a HR Consult-ant. Seeks a suitable match. Contact: [email protected] OR9900413499 (Regd. No. 5902)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RC parentsinvite alliance for their daughter 26years, 5’ 4”, B.Tech (Computer Engi-neer) Working for MNC. Seeks wellqualified and well settled bachelor withgood family values. Kindly reply withprofile and recent photograph to email: [email protected] OR9969285680 (Regd. No. 5901)MUMBAI : Maharashtrian RomanCatholic Spinster, aged 32 years, Ht.5’ 1”, Wt. 65 kgs, Fair Complexion,Edn. B.Com., working as a Sr. Execu-tive. Seeks a suitable match. Contact: email: [email protected] OR28682053 (Regd. No. 5900)KUWAIT : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Spinster aged 33 years, Ht.5’ 5”, Wt. 58 kgs, Fair Complexion,Edn. B.Com., Computer, Finance,Banking Marketing Course & AirlinesCourse completed, employed as aTravel Co-ordinator in Kuwait. Seeksa groom preferable working in Kuwait.Contact Email : [email protected] 00965-65686358 (Regd. No.5488)MUMBAI : Mangalorean Roman

Address your replies to :

Regd. No.ROYAL CHRISTIAN FAMILY,99, Perin Nariman Street, 1st

Floor, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001.Royal Christian Family

Helps In ChoosingThe Right Life-Partner

Serving Since 32 Years

Catholic parents of spinster daughter1973 born, 5’ 4 1/2” tall, fair complexionwith qualifications of B.Com (Mum), twoPost Graduate Degrees in Manage-ment, and two diplomas in I.T. andComputer, working in good position.Looking out for a qualified and profes-sional well settled bachelor with goodfamily background in Mumbai or abroadupto 45 years. Kindly apply with recentphoto and full details either to Email :[email protected] or callmobile No. 9892700617. (Regd. No.5441)MUMBAI : Goan Roman Catholic Spin-ster, aged 30 years, Ht. 5’ 3”, Wt. 65kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.B.A.,working as a HR & Admin Exe.Seeks a educated well settled goanbachelor. Contact : Email:[email protected] OR9833951282 / 9920932427 (Regd. No.5747)MUMBAI : Goan R.C. Spinster, aged24 years, Ht. 5’ 3”, Wt. 52 kgs, FairComplexion, Good looking, comingfrom a decent family. Edn. MBA, work-ing as a Asst. Manager. Contact : email:[email protected] OR9821800924 (Regd. No. 5781)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RC Spinsteraged 31 years, Ht. 5’ 5”, Fair Complex,Edn. Doctor, working as an Asst. Man-ager in Pharmaceutical company. OnlyChild. Contact: email:[email protected] OR 9930550318(Regd. No. 5786)MUMBAI : RC Spinster, East Indian,Fair Complexion, Sincere, Homely,Edn. B.A., aged 47 years, Ht. 5’ 2”,Hobbies/Occupn/Profsn in Creative Artwork. Seeks a suitable life Partner-Re-liable, Sincere, Working, Sacrificing &Supportive. If interested Contact 8-30p.m. to 10 p.m. Dial 25372060 (Regd.No. 5662)PANVEL: Mangalorean Roman Catho-lic Spinster, aged 27 years Ht. 5’ 3”, Wt.50 kgs, Wheatish Complexion, Edn.Graduate, working for HSBC Bank,coming from a well establish businessfamily. Seeks a boy with good familybackground, he should be a business-

man or a service should earn good. Agood person by nature. Contact :9821594729 OR Email:[email protected] (Redg.No. 5643)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RomanCatholic Spinster, aged 26 years. Ht.5’ 3”, Wt. 45 kgs, Fair Complexion,Edn. B.E. Computer, working as a I.T.Consultant. Seeks an educatedMangalorean boy from good familybackground. Contact : 8879179796 orEmail : [email protected] (Regd.No. 5621)MUMBAI : Goan Roman CatholicSpinster, aged 25 years, Ht. 156 cms.,Wt. 56 kgs, Fair Complexion, beauti-ful, Edn. T.Y.B.A., working a Cabin-Crew. Contact Email:[email protected] ORMob.: 9320385208 (Regd. No. 5967)MUMBAI : Goan RC Spinster aged35 years, Ht. 154 cms, Wt. 62 kgs,Fair Complexion, Edn. B.Com., work-ing in Flight Cabin Crew. Seeks a wellsettled graduate bachelor. Contactemail : [email protected] 9819041830 (Regd. No. 5937)MUMBAI : Mangalorean RC Widow,aged 48 years, Edn. 7th std., Ht. 5’5”, Fair Complexion, Housewife. Con-tact : 9821241725 / 9773975231MUMBAI : RC Mangalorean Spin-ster, M.Com/MBA (Finance) 27 / 5’2”,talented, with strong family values &from respectable family, working fora bank in Mumbai. Seeks well quali-fied boy upto 32, reply with recentphoto & full details to email:[email protected] OR9920424282 (Regd. No. 5962)

Please renew your membershipat lease a month in advancebefore its expiration date.


Creating future leaders in the community through the project:

‘Leaders in the Making andReaching to the Top’

Youth are the pillars upon which a nation’s future is built. It is true that in this challenging era of globalisation, our youthmust be nurtured, educated and guided towards the right path. There is a need for the youth of our community tostrengthen their faith by adopting the right mindset and acquiring a wealth of knowledge.

With this objectives in mind we have been conducting special youth seminars entitled ‘Leaders in the Making andReaching to the Top’ since 10 years. So far over 8000 youth have participated and benefited in the 12 seminars whichhave been guided by expert resource persons. Guiding our youth as effective future leaders and shine in top positionswithin and outside the country is our dream which we want to turn it into reality, The Entire project is conducted absolutelyFree for the participants.

This appeal is an invitation specially for people who are concerned about our youth and their bright future to be a partof this project :

THE SECULAR CITIZEN99, Perin Nariman Street, 1st Floor, Fort, Mumbai 400001. Tel.: 22693578, 22654924

Emails: [email protected] / [email protected]

After the successful visit to Holy Land (Jordan, Israel, Palestineand Egypt) with 128 members group in May 2013,

The Secular Citizen and DIVO readers are getting ready tovisit Western Europe in 2014

The countries includePortugal, Spain, France, Germany,

Switzerland, Vatican, Italy, etc.

The tour is organised in association with an expert tour operator

Those interested to join this group are requested to contact :

The Secular Citizen / Divo99, Perin Nariman Street, 1st Floor,

Fort, Mumbai 400001

Tel.: 022-22693578, 22654924

24 16 December 2013

Published on every Monday & Posted on Monday & Tuesday of every weekPosted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai - 400001.RNI No. 56987/92 Registered No. MH/MR/South-139/2012-14

24 16 December 2013

Printed and Published by Lawrence Coelho at The Secular Citizen, 99, Perin Nariman Street, 1st Floor, Harihar Nivas, Fort, Mumbai - 400 001. Tel.: 2269 3578, 2265 4924Printers: The Secular Citizen, Fort, Mumbai 400001. Editor : Philip Myaboo

Royal Christian Familyinvites

BACHELORS & SPINSTERSfor their forthcomingGET-TOGETHER

A grand gathering to get acquainted with boys and girls ofmatching age group who are in search of a suitable Life-Partnerof their choice with an ultimate view to matrimony.

Gain much required important information concerning marriage

HighlightsK Participants bio-data circulated at least 15 days in advance among

participants.K Many choices for a Boy or Girl in his/her own age groupK Marriage counselling and guidance by experts in the field.K Cordial atmosphereK Free and independent way of choice + Volunteers to assistK A well planned introduction session.K Boys-Girls of matching standard, status and education.K Games and other activities to get to know with each other.K Participants include good boys and girlsK Each Get-together is limited to around 100 boys and 100 girlsK Boys and girls from all over Mumbai and from other locationsK Get-togethers will be held on Sundays or Holidays

Places are limited !Book Your Seat Early !!

Royal Christian Family99, Perin Nariman Street, 1st Floor,Near GPO., Fort, Mumbai 400001Tel.: 022 - 22693578, 22654924

Email: [email protected], [email protected]

secular citizen vol.22 no.50 dated 16th december 2013

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