St. Joeph's Cathedral, Nellore

To Stay back in Nellore was not my decision. Circumstances forced me to spend the Christmas at St. Josephs Cathedral Church.  Thank You God! it turned out to be a wonderful experience. 

Cathedral church is the seat of the Nellore Bishop. Christmas was celebrated with due respect to the Grace. Beautifully decorated with lights and flowers the church glowed in the Christmas eve. I reached there early. The service started at 11pm and got over  by 2.15 am. It was a memorable evening. 

As the night grew colder the canopy cover which they have fixed all over the cathedral courtyard came handy. The disciple sisters and the hospital sisters - both the convents and a host of others worked really hard with the preparations. Even I got a chance to help Kalyan and Amal Raj who were setting up the Crib inside the church. 

The main crib was outside the church near to the stage. It was beautiful indeed. The Bishop house had its own crib which was small, but cute. The Cathedral had a sprawling crib with huge crib set. 

Since there is Adoration going on from 9am to 6pm, the retired fathers also come in to join. It was touching to see their enthusiasm. 

Earlier in the day, nearly 100 LKG students came into the church along with their teachers. Assistant parish priest gave them a message and blessed them. They were very obedient. 

Christmas Month

Its about ten in the night. The hotel kitchen adjacent to my bachelor Pad is in its final flurry of the Sunday feast. I can hear the fries and the excited voice of the staffs.

At St. Josephs cathedral in the morning, the sisters of the convent had put up a stall selling Christmas decorations. They also had some competitions for the Sunday school children. The little ones participated with much eagerness and excitement. The Nursing students were very few this week. The sister at the convent told me, some of the collegs do not allow the students to attend the mass at all. She requested if I can take up the matter with the Educational consultants who bring them here from Kerala to request the colleges to let them attend the mass atleast once a month.

Nellore is getting colder and the nights are getting longer. Sun light goes out by 5.30pm.

The training at the university is going good. The best thing that happened to me was the opportunity to volunteer at a local college to help some MCA students with their spoken English. The students are mostly Telegu speaking and I am very excited with the opportunity.

Ofcourse, miss going to Lady of Ransom. We might get some holidays for Christmas.

Blogspot is difficult in Internet explorer. It is hanging up on me many times. One of the reasons why I have very few posts here lately.

St. Joseph's Cathedral Nellore

Last two Sundays were almost wiped off with rain at Nellore. Though we survived the destructive Phalin Cyclone and the Helen scare without much trouble, Lehar was supposed to blow off Nellore. We survived that too, luckily the cyclone changed the land crashing a few Kilometers away from the Town I am at now.

This Sunday broke with mild dew and cool air. I went for the the 8.30 Am mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral. Though the service was in Telegu, which I have  not mastered yet, after the mass some 70 nursing students from Vijaya Nursing College came together and offered the Mercy Chaplet soul stirringly. I joined them whole heartedly.

That was the bright spot of the day.

Three months into the program, I am surviving each day with His help. Trying hard to be with Him as much as possible in words and  deeds for the strength and grace to deal with day and its load.

Amazing is the Lord's way, I have come across here a few who are going through the similar life stage but doing well with their faith even though they are from different faith than mine. Great learning experience indeed.

A quick visit to the location of my new area of work and back in time to be at Vallarpadam on Sunday. 20 hours of bus ride shook my insides very badly. 

The Sunday was spent in Thanks Giving.

Syria War

Another UN report and another strike on a war torn country. Yes, indeed the use of chemical weapons is an act of cowardice and cruelty. 

Innocent children and helpless women have to pay for these crimes.What a shame!

Does anyone care how it feels to be living under the fear of air strike in these days of highly destructive mass killing bombs that falls from the undefended sky. 

Dear God, may good sense prevail and your beautiful creation - the humans co-exist in peace.

Mary's Assumption

In our own life, in our little ways to deal with the "everyday", Mary and her ways is a great inspiration. 

No surprise, she is found worthy to be crowned as the queen of life. 

Thank you Meenakshi Amma, for being our example in the way you remained a slave to Her ways, for life.

In the line of bread...

Mary and Joseph kept up their life, happily no matter how troublesome and difficult their days were. The strange land they were forced to live in or the trouble Joseph had to undertake to find work in new places or the worry and anxiety over the fate of their child Jesus, never took away the happiness and love they both shared even for a moment. They might have, just like our own faith require us to do, offered everything including their happiness and worries to God in their daily "time" with the Father, Almighty. 

Today the results of the national level exam which I had taken a few weeks back in the new subject I am pursuing now, came out. I have been selected along with 24 others to train at the Nation's premium institute for six months for an add on qualification. 

I am thankful to my God, not only for helping me through the qualifying exams, but also for giving me a mind to rely on Him everyday, for giving me the strength and grace to face and see through the troubles of each day and walk along the way He has so mercifully shown me.

Thank you Joseph & Mary, for being such an inspiration to believe in God, even when everything seems so bleak and impossible. Eventually, our lights will shine better. 

My friends, please join me in my joy and Gratitude towards God for this unbelievable miracle. 

Hermapollon

Most often hope is what keep us going, when everything looks blurry and at a loss.

I attended today a seminar concerning "Hermapollon".

Well, those are tales relating to my new subject in which I am still a baby to earn any money from. At the end of the seminar I had only few bucks which I paid for the bus, unfortunately the bus cancelled its trip midway and I had to walk back home. Some good kilometers!

Yes, life is strange, it make us go through all the twists and turns. Our consolation is the unity we have with the divine, which make us hope against hope.. Just like Mary and Joseph did, when they had to run away from their hometown to a distant and strange country, Egypt, where they had no friends or means. They survived.

I survived  the by day by offering the emotions to God.

PS: The Papyrus concerning Hermapollon was found somewhere in Egypt and it dates back to the 1st Century. A surprising coincidence though!

The call...

Mary was engaged to Joseph when she got pregnant and Joseph had nothing to do with it. 

The trauma and the tension Mary had to go through, from within her own father's home, neighbours and ofcourse her love Joseph's rejection,  once she decided to follow the way God has chosen for her.

Joseph, accepted her and in their life together Joseph did not had a reason to even think or suspect Mary as a straying woman. Mary's thoughts and deeds never gave a chance for it.

We all have to make some choices in our life according to our call. Some decisions may wreck the world around us for a while, but if we believe in the One who gave us the call and we have firm commitment to our call and goal, things has to turn around, just like it did for Mary and Joseph. 

I too have turned a turn, listened to call and decided to walk a path which is lonely and hard. At times, the disappointment and rejects is too hard to bear but I do believe my efforts will start bearing fruit soon.

May all those who have listened to the call of their heart in pursuit of career, life partner, place of stay or in whichever way, have the grace and strength to stay true to their call and walk till the end to achieve their goal. 

Surely success should be yours, ours! 

Thank you

Thank you God for the way I am feeling today. My gains and my loses. My happiness and My sorrows. 

You are the creator of Emotions too.  I offer unto you what I am going through this moment good or bad. I praise your majesty for being in everything, being everything. 

Thank you for giving me a heart to acknowledge it the right way.

Monsoon woes

For many years now, we had one coconut palm growing from our neighbours yard to over the roof of my house. In the last few years it has become so dangerous I had to request my neighbour to cut the palm down many times. But unfortunately he did not mind my requests some how.

Not only the danger, but also the tree dries that fell on our roof got so big and piled up, no matter how often I cleaned up, it had our concrete roof leaking!

A solution for this mess has been my prayer request for so many years now, but so far the situation continued getting worse everyday in the monsoon.

This year, the fellow got into trouble in other ways with authorities  and had to cut down not only the palm but also many other dangerously sloping trees in his yard.

An unbelievable miracle indeed for me.

Church in the Rain

The ground infront of the church has been levelled by the government and they are building many buildings facilitating the Port city concept. The big patch of still to process land infront of the church lay flooded in the heavy rain in the first week of the monsoon. 

Some pictures of Our lady of Ransom church in the monsoon. 

Empty church hall on a weekday during the heavy monsoon.

A creative mind did a wonderful job with the petitions laid before the lady of ransom.

 

Fishing

Customarily, this year too the monsoon saw the trolling ban. Fishing in motorised boat is controlled, to protect the fish environment and also for the safety of fisher folks.

Pictures of the Boats that are moored at the "KADAVU" of Vallarpadam.

PS: Kadavu(Malayalam) = Jetty

Monsoon

 The monsoon 2013 has arrived in its full grandeur. Just as the summer was hot and bashing the monsoon too this year is "telling".

On a rainy day there is not much contrast in color, everything looks grey. Here is a picture of the church on a rainy day. Not many were around on the weekday morning when I went there in the rain.

Mind's eye

For some reasons my style of personal prayer has changed. I like these days to sit quietly and meditate. Opening the minds eye and let the soul experience the being and the universe.

I have been reading more about Siddharth Gautam Buddha, the prince of Kapila Vastu.  Indeed, it has influenced me alot. The style of opening mind's eye.

The way Jesus used to spend a lot of time in meditation and prayer. It's upto us to follow His steps and find out how He organized His thoughts and dealt with it to help ourselves.

Vasco Da Gamma

Last month we celebrated the 525th anniversary of the arrival of Vasco Da Gamma. Without the Portuguese influence, there would not have been the Church at Vallarpadam and also many other churches in and around Kochi.

It make one wonder why Portuguese had such a strong faith in Mother Mary.  They had built a church and honored the faith and celebrated their resort in Mary in all the lands they have shored. 

It was one heck of a sailing which Vasco Da Gamma in his ship Sao Gabriel undertook along with the fleet he lead to reach India. The turks  have blocked the other route to India, and the Europeans were desperate to find another sea route to the East for trade. That is why he took the risk upon the command of his King John II of Portugal to find the spice route. 

To sail around of Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa was a nightmare. Only the severest of faith can help a man from despair and destruction. Such was the bad weather in the channel of Mozambique. It was the faith of Vasco Da Gamma and the other sailors and their resort to Mother Mary which helped them survive the ordeal and let them sail through the coasts of Mozambique, Mambosa and Milindi, from there all the way across the ocean to Calicut favoured by the current and the Monsoon. 

On May 28th, 1498, Vasco Da Gamma, stood in front of Zamudiri (Zamorin) not as a conqueror but with all the humility of a trader asking permission to trade in the King Zamorin's land. 

Rest is history.

The rains

The monsoon is here. Rains after a long summer. Whole day rains. 

Church was still crowded this morning. I enjoyed walking up my 15 minutes to the church holding an umberella, walking along the road with rain water flowing and ofcourse fresh dog shit :) . Rains can be messy. 

Picture from the church, the tiled building is our old school. 

Every body has to be ready for the monsoon, umberella, rubber slippers et al..

Humbling experience

I had an invitation last evening, to a tenth marriage anniversary. I was hoping I would drop in and come back quickly. But the folks I went with stayed over the night there, so I had no choice but to stay the night at their outhouse near the backwaters. It was a beautiful, clean, cool night with gentle breeze and a lot of fresh air. 

Since I had an accounting class scheduled early morning on Sunday, I woke up early and decided to walk an hour's distance to my home so as to get ready and go for the lecture on time. It was about 5 in the morning. 

Half way through that village road, I heard some quick footsteps approaching in that morning silence. It was an elderly woman, around 7o, walking quickly for the 5.30 am mass. Inspite of her old age, she was committed to reach the church before the mass starts and was literally running all the way.  We walked together talking, rest of the way.

It was an humbling experience for me. I was never so committed in attending a full mass each time I attended the mass. What more to say, I missed my Sunday mass today. 

I am so glad, that old woman stands more justified before our God, for her simple, yet strong faith rather than anybody else's grasp or understanding of the theological concepts or spiritual gravitation. 

Thank you, My Lord, for this wonderful experience. How much more our simple Mother Mary would have been committed to her faith, and our very own Meenakshi Amma, Vallarpadam Mary's slave, in the way of practice of her faith. 

Very inspiring thoughts for me...

Lamps of life

I have been desperately trying to clear some exams for  a license which would give me more opportunity to work on history and in tourism. Ever since the program was announced by the authorities in February, I have kept aside everything and kept working for it. Unfortunately, the program has not moved much from the application stage. The authorities have extended the last date for application thrice. The lack of backup plan to survive has devastated me.

Often, the pressure of the situation blew me away. Most of the time making me even forget how to pray. During such timea, it takes a lot of effort to find comfort through spirituality as everything seems lost. Difficult indeed, but for ordinary folks like me, what else is the way to stay alive. Sooner or later comes back to my God.

Deliberately trying to stick to the ritual of lighting a lamp at dawn and at dusk is one of the ways, that ensure I offer my day and thought to God without fail. Lighting lamp has a big significance in our Hindu Tradition. In old testament, the way the arc of the covenant should be respected with light and lamps are detailed very clearly.

Personally, when we light a lamp we are offering to God all our emotions of the day, anxieties, joys and everything we have in flames to the Divine Creator, who is light himself. It gives me joy to contemplate on how Meenkashi Amma lighted lamps at the altar of Lady of Ransom centuries ago. She sure would have lighted a lot of lamps everyday.

May the light in our lives, burn brighter.

Our prayers are with all those who lost lives in Oklahoma twister and through other natural calamities all over the world.

Holy Ghost Feast day

The Holy Ghost Feast.

I spend my slave day today at Lady of Ransom.

9.30 am was the feast mass.

After the mass, the procession was complete with staff cross, banners, flags, band set and the pole bearers with canopy and celebrant priest carrying the Divine bread in a radiant monstrance.

But the feast was nothing like the main feast of Lady of Ransom in September. Few people and few everything except for the mass which was full and high.

Holy Ghost Feast

The age old memories, The age old faith.

Living and living His way to find peace and happiness in life.

That's the tradition, we keep and we live.

Picking up our cross every day and following Him, just the way He picked up His own with utmost humility and all his heart.

Feast of the Holy Ghost

This week is the feast of the Holy Spirit at Vallarpadam, Lady of Ransom Church, which is the first church in Asia which is dedicated to the Holy spirit.

Mangoes

Three weeks, four weeks now, I do not exactly remember, since I have gone to Lady of Ransom. Few unfortunate reasons kept me away. 

The last Sunday, I went to Fort Kochi to be with a friend who is preparing for an exam. Though I could not be of much help to him academically, I could cheer him up a bit. 

From the Fort Kochi, Jankar Jetty, I could see the Marian Towers of Vallarpadam at a distance and across the back waters. I wished I could be there.

My current line of work, I should say academic interest rather, is taking me very far away from my main line of work and is not so economically productive, yet. Mangoes, has been a big help. Except for a few most of our trees bore fruit this year, even though the yield was considerably less. 

Many a day, I kept going on Mangoes alone. Mangoes, are a wholesome food, but too much of it in a day can be tiring, no matter how delicious they are. 

Another opportunity to thank God for the Mangoes and other fruits God so blessed this world with. Many of our blessings we hardly utilize.  

The Great Commandment

Deuteronomy 6

4.
Israel remember this! The Lord- and the Lord alone- is our God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 
6.
Never forget these commands that I am giving your today. 
7.
Teach them to your children. Repeat them when you are at home and when you are away, when you are resting and when you are working.
 8.
Tie them on your arms and wear them on your foreheads as a reminder. 
9.
Write them on the door-posts of your houses and on your gates. 

Certainly I have failed many times to keep the God's commandment. And yes, I have paid with my own life for it. The failures, the sufferings, the disgraces, the emotional worries etc. 

Being with the Lord is a beautiful experience. The commandments are the ways to maintain it.

10.
Just as the Lord your God promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he will give you a land with large and prosperous cities which you did not build. 
11.
The houses will be full of good things which you did not put in them and there will be wells that you did not dig and vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant. When God brings you into this land and you have all you want to eat, 
12.
make certain that you do not forget the Lord who rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. 
13.
Honor your Lord, your God. 

I guess I have failed in honoring my Lord when my cup was full....

Thank your God for giving me the opportunity to realize this and correct my ways.   

  

Kindness and Mercy

When we offer our days and troubles at home and in life and count on His mercy and kindness, He opens door for us, from the very situations which we thought we will never get out, alive perhaps.

The experience of each day that way is an enriching lessons indeed.

Thank you God! for your kindness and mercy.

Sabbath

Remember to keep the Lord's day Holy. Six day work and one day for the Lord. In effect that is basically resting ourselves, a need if we want to do our next six days well.

Usually, on Sundays I go off to some church and spend the day there. Lady of Ransom is my favorite, but its crowded often, making it impossible for us to spend quiet time there for long.

This Sunday I spent at home, cleaning up my Pooja Room and then later on, with God. Sadly there is no escape from the heat and the mosquitoes. We just have to bear them, unless we are rich enough to aircondition our home or to have mosquitoe nets on all the windows and doors.

While going through the old boxes I found these beautiful frames. The holy family and that of Mary.

Bubbles

Even though the summer is raging and the land is dry, there is no decrease in the blood thirsty mosquitoes. They roam around and pester as and when they wish.

The problem is, I have to keep the Good Knight stuff on, even though it keeps the mosquitoes away it make me so tired in the morning, I miss my usual wake up time to reach church for mass on time.A week now, my schedules are all screwed up.

The day I went to buy this drink from the local stall at Kochi, I banged my head on their tin roof. I guess my eye sight is failing. :) Thank God, I was hit right between my eyes on the curve of the nose bridge. Yes it bled too. Had it been a little this way or that way, I could have seriously damaged my eyes.

Yes, that is life, anything can happen any time, a life turner, a life stopper, a life saver.

In good and bad, give us the heart to praise you Lord. In you we find solace. Without you we are just the bubble in the lemonade. Bust, anytime.

Happy Easter

HAPPY EASTER

The lent days and the recollection of the Passion of Christ helped me deal with my own life and its problems very much. Three distinct miracles added on to the re-assurance, that if we carry our Cross well, we will be comforted and guided through to victory. 

One of the miracle was so personally pleasing that it knocked me out emotionally with joy. It also made me open my eyes to the fact that, I am using only 10% of the chances and opportunities that God so lovingly bring to me.

The first miracle taught me, indeed it is us and the way we act under pressure, that save our situation, our day. For us to deal with a problem we need to have presence of mind. For us to keep the presence of mind we need to stay calm, not to be affected by the emotional aspect of the situation.

The rituals and practices help us a lot to stay put in the right way...Without it we go astray, our mind go here and there. Ligthing the lamp for God in the morning and evening is one of my most adored ritual. Well, about that, later. 

Wishing you all my friends, a Happy Easter. May you all have the grace and understanding to realize what is your cross and live it well. Good Luck and God bless.

PS: The picture is from Lady of Ransom, Vallarpadam.

Loving the cross...

As the Lent days are progressing, my days are emotionally getting harder and at times the situation gets so much harder to bear I am afraid I will fall apart.

Even still, the observation of the first day of the Lent is holding me together and keeping me steady.

If you love Me, you will pick up your Cross and follow Me.

Yes, Jesus, I love you so much.

PS: Picture is that of the Oil Lamp at  Syrian Church at N. Parur.

Daily bread

Dear Lord! please bless everyone's way of earning bread!

The Bond

As the Biennale is drawing to its close, my favourtie installation at the Aspinwall House. I named it "the Bond". 

Of hearts and love. The way life should be.

 Mostly I have a bread roast and a banana fry along with a hot cup of tea from the small hotel near the last busstop on my way to the Seminary where I teach two commerce subjects for the young "would be" priests.  On hungry days, I eat two each.

Today was my last class there for the Academic year. 

Just like the classes, I have come to like this restaurant too. The staff there were very friendly and they always gave me their best in their hearts.
  

Thank you My Lord! for the wonderful opportunity. I tried my best, to give them, the students and everyone else, the best of the wonderful gift you have bestowed on me.

Missing already the morning trail and the hearts.

A gift...

Gift of a friend, when she moved away from our neighbourhood. Made out of Palm leaf splinter with colored plastic twain. 

She might have spent hours making, that makes it more dear than any other gift worth more in money. 

Thank You!

Lent Days

The month of "Kumbh" is the breakaway month from the cooler winter months after the monsoon into the hot summer days. Its also the time when the summer fruits bloom. The mango trees looks beautiful with its yellow blooms. Usually, the hot days brings the air pressure down in the land and the water vapour from the sea moves onto the shore, sometimes resulting in very consoling rain. Its called "Flowering rains". It brings the blooms of the summer fruits down, the flowers will be all littered over the courtyard, a beautiful sight.

Beautiful part of the Kumbh month is the clear blue sky and the amazingly clear sunsets. The picture is the sky from my home a few days ago before the flowering rain.

Lent days are going good. Most of the time I attend the 7.15 am mass. There is an inspiring preganent young lady at the church who attend the morning mass regularly with her full bump. She make me wish that every carrying woman have such a happy and peaceful months. Yeah! One should be lucky indeed.

Some countries, like UK, they have the Pancake  race to mark the beginning of the Lent days. They have event everywhere even the MP's have to run around with a frying pan tossing pancakes. Every society have their own customs and events. What is mine..?

Hope

Like in yesterday, today too, My Lord You will help us, with our troubles and worries. Thoughts of You, Mary, is blessing us with the strength and grace to walk the path that holds our hope and our peace.

May all those who desperately need it, find it without delay, so that they too enjoy the peace and happiness.

No, today do not weigh me down, 
My strength is my yesterdays,
My hope is in the Hands, 
That held me and lifted me up,
When I was miserable and a wreck!

Valentine's..

Tobit 8 - 5:7

Tells us about the way Tobit accept Sarah. Not out of physical need, but innocent love of the heart.

May we all have the grace and good fortune to love like that all our life.

Happy Valentine Day, my friends, but as we know, our love, Jesus love for the world, is for LIFE!

Lent Days

I Peter 1:3

"Let us give thanks to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Thank you Jesus for taking Us to Him, for being our Way to Him and teaching us how to love.

Thoughts on the start of the Lent days.

January

I Peter 1:3
Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ..

As we pass the first month of 2013, may we be in harmony with the God, the creator of the seen and unseen and of all our days and dreams.

St. Sebastin's feast day

 St. Sebastin's Feast day, is celebrated all over the world with great devotion and festivity. The patron saint of many cities of the world is attributed with special powers of consolation at the times of Plague, famine and wars.

This year too, the parishoners at our local church celebrated the feast with everything they had. The roads were decorated with lights and colorful hangings to welcome the Saint as his great life as a faithful follower of Jesus was rememmbered to strengthen our own faith to live our lives staying close to THE WAY, to deal with the trouble and worries of our life. The procession announcing the faith and allegiance to the WAY was done with great passion.

Kochi Muziris Biennale

The Iranian born Hossien Valmanesh contemplates on the worship places, its effect and complexities in different culture. 

The installation titled, "KEEP YOUR SHOES HERE!" on display at Pepper House, Fort Kochi. 

Come to Pharaoh!

Most of the time, we run away from life and find pleasure in the solitude we find for ourselves far away from the realities. 

After sending down the seven plagues, the Pharaoh still has not come around to the idea of liberating the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Then GOD asked Moses to "...come to Pharaoh..".

Not just going there and physically assess the might and majesty of the power source of the enemy but to come to the soul and essence of the oppressor, which make him think and do what he is doing. 

Similarly we all have to get into the essence of our troubles, whether it be financial debt, unhappiness in relationship, joblessness, lovelessness etc.. 

Wishing you all the grace and strength "to come to your own emotional enemies." ..to be a light for yourself and every one around you.