சனி, 31 அக்டோபர், 2020
அனைத்து புனிதர்கள் திருநாள் (01.11.2020)
வெள்ளி, 30 அக்டோபர், 2020
எனக்கு எது முக்கியமாக உள்ளது? (31.10.2020)
வியாழன், 29 அக்டோபர், 2020
இதயத்தில் இடம் பெறுவோம்! (30.10.2020)
புதன், 28 அக்டோபர், 2020
போராட்டமே வாழ்வாகட்டும்! (29.10.2020)
செவ்வாய், 27 அக்டோபர், 2020
நாம் அனைவரும் ஓரே குடும்பமா?(28.10.2020)
நரை கூடிக் கிழப்பருவ மெய்தி
கொடுங் கூற்றுக் கிரையெனப்பின் மாயும்
பல வேடிக்கை மனிதரைப் போலே
நான் வீழ்வே னென்று நினைத் தாயோ?
என்ற மகாகவி பாரதியாரின் பாடல் வரிகளுக்கு ஏற்ப இன்றைய நாளில் திருஅவை உருவான பின்னணியை சிந்தித்து பார்க்க இன்றைய நாளில் நாம் அனைவரும் அழைக்கப்படுகிறோம்.
திங்கள், 26 அக்டோபர், 2020
எப்படி இறையாட்சி மலரும்? (27.10.2020)
ஞாயிறு, 25 அக்டோபர், 2020
நல்லதை விரும்புவோம் (26.10.2020)
சனி, 24 அக்டோபர், 2020
இறைவனுக்குள் இணைவது எப்படி? (25.10.2020)
வெள்ளி, 23 அக்டோபர், 2020
Homily for Rosary
Homily for Rosary
This coming Tuesday will be the Feast of the Holy Rosary, and this Sunday is celebrated in our Dominican churches as “Rosary Sunday,” since our Order was entrusted with promoting the Rosary as a Christian way of prayer from very early times. So today, I shall dispense with the readings appointed for this Sunday to speak to you instead about the Rosary.
It is a way of Christian prayer. This little string of beads is what we call a “sacramental,” which means a holy tool, to be used by Christians as an instrument of prayer. You see, we Catholics pray not only with our minds and hearts but with our bodies and their senses too. We stand or kneel to pray; we bow and genuflect; we make the sign of the Cross; we pray before pictures and statues; we wear vestments, light candles, burn incense, and make music; in the principal sacraments we are washed, anointed with oil, and fed. All the senses of the body are caught up in the raising of our hearts and minds to God—and that is as it should be, since God created us with bodies.
The Rosary involves the most intimate and personal of all our senses, that is the sense of touch: we hold the rosary; our fingers move along the fifty beads. On the beads, we repeat the most familiar of all Christian prayers—the Our Father, the Hail Mary, and the Glory Be. We can pray the Rosary alone or with others; in churches or in cars; on sidewalks or in subways; sitting at home or lying down. The rosary is eminently portable. In our pockets or our handbags, it reminds us that our God is always with us. It can help in times of trouble.
I have an amusing example of that. A brave and strong young man I know one night intervened to break up a nasty fight that had started outside a bar that he was passing on the sidewalk of a run-down neighborhood. He was successful, but the police arrived and they arrested him along with the drunken hoodlums, despite his protestations that he was not part of the problem, but trying to be part of the solution. Then, as he was being booked and emptying his pockets, instead of a weapon the police found this young man’s rosary, on the strength of which they believed him and he was released.
Well, obviously that’s not the reason for carrying a rosary. The reason is to pray with it. Personal prayer, in the Catholic tradition, is threefold: it is vocal (using words); meditative (using thoughts); and contemplative (resting in God).
The familiar vocal prayers of the rosary are meant to instill a rhythmic beat to the activity of prayer, which is really not a matter of the lips or voice, but of the mind and heart. Repeating the sacred words, while moving fingers along the beads, has the effect of steadying and balancing the mind, to help it focus on the mysteries that correspond to each successive decade. These mysteries—the sorrowful, the joyful and the glorious (“5 for sorrow, 10 for joy,” in the phrase of an excellent book about the rosary)—are to be meditated on. They are to be food for mind and heart.
The mysteries are, as it were, mental snapshots of the Word of God: they show God speaking to us through his Son, as he was seen through the most pure, most faithful and attentive eyes of Mary. Guided by her view of him, we follow Jesus through the scenes that brought her joy, or sorrow, or ecstatic bliss; with her mind, we ponder the mighty works of God our Savior; and with her heart, we rest in his love.
Of course, our minds and hearts are very prone to wandering. The repetitive rhythm of the vocal prayers does help somewhat to steady them, but to really focus mind and heart upon the mysteries is often very difficult.
I use a method that was taught by a great apostle of the rosary, St. Louis Grignon de Montfort. He suggested that at each Hail Mary, we stop with the words, blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus, and at the Name of Jesus add a phrase that focuses one aspect of the mystery. For example, in the first joyful mystery, the Annunciation, one might say, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus who received his human life from you. Or in the last glorious mystery, the Coronation of the Virgin, one might say, Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus who made you our Advocate in Heaven.
This method has brought me some success in focusing my mind, so that my rosary becomes a way of meditation. But something more is needed for the rosary to be a way of contemplation, leaving words and thoughts behind to bring our hearts to rest in God. For that to happen, God himself, the Holy Spirit, has to take us from our vocal prayers and thoughts, and lift us up beyond ourselves. That’s not something we can do, but we can dispose ourselves to let God do it for us, through the rosary.
The end of prayer is simply for our heart to rest in God and his love. From that hidden place, beyond ourselves, comes all the energy we need to live a life of faith, and hope, and charity—a holy life. Many, many of the saints have used the rosary, this simple, tactile sacramental, to let Mary lead them to a point from which the Lord could take them up to rest in him, and in his love; so why not you and me as well?
ADORATION SERVICE: Thanks
ADORATION SERVICE
THANKS
Lord Jesus, there so much
we owe you that we do not know where to begin. Your favours are numberless; we
just cannot count them. When we look at our position with respect to you, we
have to admit that there is nothing that we have not received from you. Our
very breath comes from you. And so our thanksgiving to you endless.
(Pause for a few moments)
Gospel: Luke 17: 11-19
Reflection: (Read little slowly)
The only one who returned to thank
God for the miracle was the samaritan – not any of the nine jews. It is easy to
condemn the nine jews; but how often have we perhaps acted in exactly the same
manner? Specially when we have received an extra ordinary gift it is so easy to
absorbed and engrossed in the gift itself, to go around telling everyone about
our fortune that we forget the giver. We find it easy to thank God for the
things which happen for our good. And about the things that seem to be our
disadvantage, how often do we thank God for even these? We need to thank God
for everything because as St. Paul tells us: “For those who love God,
everything works for their good – even adversity.
Let us pause for a few moments and
reflect on how spontaneously do we give thanks to God in our daily lives?
Silence
(soft music can be played)
Intercessions:
Response: We thank
you and we praise you Lord Jesus
Ø For all the world you created and all living creatures both great and small. / R.
Ø For having loved us and for filling our lives with your love. / R.
Ø For all our companions, superiors, all our family members, our friends and foes. / R.
Ø For giving us our daily bread and for forgiving us our sins. / R.
Ø For bringing us together to follow your path. / R.
Ø For all our benefactors. / R.
Lord Jesus our ability to thank you is itself your gift. Fill us with the spirit of praise and thanks that in all we do and say, we will praise you our Lord and Father. We make this prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
மனமாற்றம் ஒன்றே. (24.10.2020)
வியாழன், 22 அக்டோபர், 2020
Adoration Service: MAN’S RESPONSE TO GOD’S LOVE
Theme: MAN’S RESPONSE TO
GOD’S LOVE
Introduction
The
whole of creation is a manifestation of God’s love. The creation of man, as the
king and crown of creation, is a greater manifestation of God’s infinite love.
God’s love to us was shown not only by creating us, but also by redeeming us
and showing us the way to serve Him. Nay, God’s love follows every moment of
our life and permeates our entire being. But like any other true love, god’s
love is a two-way movement, a bipolar or a reciprocal act. God’s love must find a response in us. our
Christian life is nothing but a response to god’s love. Let us spend this half
hour with Christ, the incarnate love,
meditation on this essential aspect of our Christian life.
Hymn no. 396
Exposition of the blessed Sacrament
First reading : Genesis 22: 1-5,9-14
Commentator: Because of
His great love for Abraham, God did for him even the impossible and gave him a
son through his barren wife, Sarah. But God demanded that Abraham should love
Him back, to the point of sacrificing his only son. God’s love is very
demanding but infinitely rewarding as well
Responsorial hymn
– 574
Second reading : Mathew 11: 20-25
Commentator: Christ’s severest words were uttered against those
on whom God’s grace had been poured out in abundance, but, who in their turn,
did not respond to that love.
Reflection
Prayer of the faithful from the prayer of the church
Time for silent personal prayer
Eucharistic hymn
Blessing
Final recessional hymn.
அன்பு என்றால் என்ன? (23.10.2020)
புதன், 21 அக்டோபர், 2020
ADORATION SERVICE (LENT SEASON) - ‘FORGIVENESS’
ADORATION SERVICE (LENT SEASON)
THEME- ‘FORGIVENESS’
Introduction:
“Father,
forgive them they do not know what they are doing.” These were the words Jesus
Christ uttered on the cross. Jesus Christ died to forgive our sins. Are we
ready to forgive our parents? Are we ready to forgive or reconciled with our
friends, our Superiors and our neighbor? The prodigal son was accepted in his
family. His father forgave him. He gave him new life.
Today
in this half an hour adoration service let us ask the Lord to give us courage,
strength to forgive all our enemies.
Hymn: We have come
into his house. (Pray-sing hymn no. 34)
(During the
hymn Blessed Sacrament will be exposed.)
Now we will listen to the word of God.
Mat.
18:21-22
Reflection and silent music
In this Gospel
reading Jesus invites us to forgive not seven times but seventy times seven.
Jesus Christ was the real example of forgiveness. Keeping Jesus as our model
let us remember all our enemy and talk to Jesus in our hearts.
Silent for some time.
Let us hold each other’s
hands and say the prayer, which our Father has taught us.
OUR FATHER...............
ü Please kneel down for benediction
ü Hymn no. 286 (Let us bow in adoration)
ü Blessing
ü Divine praises
ü Final hymn no. 270 (Father forgive
them)
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