Dear friends,
Hope you are doing well. The weather has been a little better, though we had some rain which might not have been good for some farmers. But hopefully things will eventually get better.
This past Monday the day did not start well for me. After I got up and finished my morning duties, I went to work on my computer, which resisted to start up right away. I tried all my little tricks to get it started, but it would not budge at all. I was really disappointed and upset because I thought I could not get things done for that day. Then we (Caren came to help me out, but she also could not fix it) called the technician about the issue and he told us that the CPU should be brought to him and he would get it fixed right away for me. With a sigh of little relief, I took the CPU to the technician and he meddled with it for few minutes and guess what he told me: “I think it has some deeper trouble. I have to clone it with a new driver and then I will give it back to you, maybe in the evening.”
That was not a good response or it was a response I least expected. Then I had to come back home hoping that I would get my computer at least by the evening. After  a few minutes of my coming to my office, I get a call with a question from the technician, “Are there any important files on your computer?” That gave me an utter shock. I said, “Yes. Why do you ask me that?”  He said, “I am going to re-install the software on the computer. I will try to recover the files as much as I can but just letting you know that you may lose some files.” I am still in anxiety as to how much of my files he could save or recover or how many I am going to lose.
Much of our life has become an E-Life. Our life has almost completely become dependent on electronic materials. We have become so dependent on it that even for simple calculation like addition we need to look for a calculator. I saw on Facebook that in a school they are planning to remove the analog clocks because the kids are not able to read the analog clock. This shows how blunt our minds are becoming. We are taught and we teach to use the electronic things rather than to use our mind/brain. This brings us to a state of addiction. This addiction to the electronic stuff pulls away people from each other to the extent that even if we live in the same house or apartments, we become strangers to each other. This is not a good sign of a healthy life of a society.
Imagine a day when any or all of these electronic things stop working for some unknown reasons. All the people will become vegetative. We will be alive but we cannot do anything except to walk about here and there. I am not saying that the electronics are bad. They are good as long as we decide how we use or control them. But if there is a situation where the electronic things are going to determine what we need to do, that is going to be too dangerous. I am not saying this just because my computer messed up with me but I have been thinking of it for long. We need to spend more time with people rather than with the electronic gadgets. The working condition of the brain is on the decrease as the usage of these electronic stuff is on the increase. We need to get back to normalcy. We need to relate with people. Talk with them. Understand them. Love them. Share with them. Communicate with them. Take a walk with them. Dialogue with them. (After all they do not have a hard drive which will need a reboot or re-installation). This does not cost anything. This is all about the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity.
May the Trinitarian God bless and guide you.
Love,
Fr. A. Antony    
 

Dear friends,
Hope you are enjoying the warm weather. Hope this conducive weather for the farmers keeps steady so that they can do the farming in the fields. Let us pray for them and a good weather to continue.
This week we celebrate Pentecost, the day of the Holy Spirit. May the Spirit of the Almighty be upon you all so that He is always with you in every walk of your life to guide and lead you with His infinite wisdom.
Sometimes I used to watch gameshows on the television where some trivia questions are asked and answers are obtained from the players. Once in a while there used to be questions regarding the religion and sometimes related to Christianity, bible and many other religion related ones. Whenever such kind of questions are asked I used to get excited and anxious as to what those people would answer. Sometimes the answers would be dumb and silly and sometimes good ones too. One such question was like this: Name a place where you find a lot of sinners. The answer that got more points was ‘The Church’.  I am not sure what the person’s mind was when he said the answer. But I thought that it was a good answer and right one too.
I say that the answer was right. Because the church is not a place for all the saints, it is a place where the sinners have recourse to God to make themselves good persons, maybe a saint even. That is a place where God with all His love and might waits to meet us sinners and we, with all our sinfulness and humility are preparing ourselves to commune with God. That is why the church is called and considered a Holy place, not because we are there, but because God is there and He is there to welcome and embrace us. That is why it is a Holy place.
This leaves us with a responsibility, that is to help maintain that holiness. Every one who is there, is there to privately converse and commune with God. It is a place meant for that. To maintain the holiness is to let every person to involve and immerse themselves in the communion and conversation with God. This is possible only in an internal silence and serenity which is facilitated by external silence. To maintain external silence is an important and feasible way in which the personal communion with God can be made possible and effective. By permitting the external silence in the church, we assist each other to have a deeper conversation with God, each in his/her own way. That is the Christian charity.
Let us try to assist every person to be at peace in the Church and that may also help us a lot. This is a mutual assistance. May the Spirit who descended upon the early Christians be upon us all and help us practice that Christian charity.
God bless.
Yours sincerely in the Risen Lord,
Fr. A. Antony
 

Dear friends,
I know someone who loved me even before I was born, even before she knew if I was a boy or a girl, even before she knew what complexion I was;
I know someone who had to be reborn (with all the pain and agony she went through to bring me home to this world) to give me birth;
I know someone who smiled happily when I first cried, knowing that my cry was the sign that I am safe and alive;
I know some shelter that held me safe and healthy for a period of time and the shelter to which I can’t go back to;
I know someone who always defended me at any cost and felt for me whenever I was in trouble and in sorrow;
I know someone who knew how to make the blood a perfect food for me and gave me a lot of it making herself a living sacrifice;
I know someone who was very much concerned as to how I am going to be when I grew bigger, as to how my future would be;
I know some one who had a heart of diamond so hard to protect me as a shield and a heart of wax that would melt for me in my distress;
I know someone who fed me to my full even if it would cost her to starve without a single mouthful of a meal;
I know someone who was cautious that I should not fall anywhere both physically and mentally;
I know someone who always corrected me with good intention that I may grow well;
I know someone who was hard enough to straighten me out whenever I faulted so that others may not speak ill of me;
I know someone who would shed tears if I looked a bit sad and would bleed if I shed tears for any reason;
I know someone who was always ready to lose anything and even herself if that would give me a little happiness;
I know someone who told me a lot of lies to me to make me eat; make me have my pills, to make me do things, to encourage me and I know I needed those lies;
I know someone who would keep awake the whole night without even a single wink of an eye to make me feel better in my sickness and to look after me;
I know someone who would forgo numerous things and time to make me happy all the time;
I know someone who shared her flesh and blood and made me a person with flesh and blood;
I know someone who never envied about my progress in life;
I know someone whose love and affection towards me I can never pay back even if I had seven births in this world;
I know someone who could still love me the same even if I am bad enough to hate her for any reason.
And that is my mother and the mother of you too. This Mother’s Day we all need to reflect the love and sacrifice that each mother has for his child. We need to take care of them and love them, because they are the gods visible.
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL THE MOTHERS.
Love. Fr. A. Antony.
 
 

Dear friends,
Hope you are doing well. With the weather little by little warming up, you should be enjoying the warmth as I do. The farmers are hoping to get out in to the field and begin the farming. Best luck to all the farmers. Though bit late, it is better than never. Keep going.
With the 4th of May I have completed 18 years of my priestly life. It looks as if I had entered the minor seminary just yesterday. But years have passed so fast and I am a priest of eighteen years! Unbelievable! With all up’s and downs in my priestly life, the life as a priest is still in progress. At this juncture, I would like to appreciate you all for having accepted me to be your pastor. I try to live my call and your prayer and love is very much needed. I can use any amount of your prayers for me and be assured of my prayers for you too.
When I went for the vocation camp (the camp in which the candidates for priesthood are recruited) during the summer vacation after my sixth grade, I was very anxious about being selected for the seminary as a seminarian. But something that I did not want or something I did not expect happened. The Rector and the vice Rector of the seminary wanted to form a choir for the mass and other liturgical activities during the camp. They started testing the voices of all the boys who attended the camp. Some boys sang well. I too was tested for my voice and I sang too. But I was not selected for the choir, because they said my voice was too low (base) at that age. I was disappointed.
After the voice selection the ‘choir’ started practicing songs for the upcoming mass. The other boys who were not selected for the choir were asked to go and play. But naughty and mischievous as I was, I did not go to play but wanted to see how the practice went on and also wanted to learn some new songs too. So, I was peeping in to the hall where they were having the practice. The vice Rector saw me and called me. He said, “I told you to go and play, but you did not go and you were stealthily peeping into the choir. You are disobedient. This is going to be the end of your seminary life”. I was really scared and extremely upset. I started thinking about what reason I could give my parents for not being selected for the seminary, because the way the vice Rector spoke to me looked like I was not going to be selected for the seminary at all.
Fear and worry engulfed me so much that when I came home I fell sick for fear of telling my parents what happened. I was admitted in the hospital when my parish priest came and told me that I was selected for the seminary. He seemed happier than myself. That news gave me relief from the worry and the sickness. This happened before almost thirty-six years ago. Here I am with you now as a priest of eighteen years. I am not bragging about myself (Though I have the reasons to do so), I am trying to retrospect and share with you how God works in mysterious ways. God’s ways are sometimes not at all comprehendible. They are really mysterious and gracious. All His works are aimed at our well-being. We need to believe that and accept that. There may be times when we would feel low and dejected because of something that may happen in our lives. But eventually they will end up in something good that we might not even have thought of.
God bless.
Yours sincerely in the Risen Lord, 
Fr. A. Antony