Tag Archives: SDC
Rosary is the Gate To Heaven
In Luke 7, Jesus observed a huge funeral procession in Nain. The entire town was present. He observed the young men and women weeping. He observed the pastors and apostles weeping. He observed the elders weeping. He observed the fathers weeping. He observed the children weeping. He observed the sadness on people’s faces. Nothing seemed to move Him, until He saw the mother. The Bible says He had compassion when He saw her and immediately raised her boy from the dead. (Luke 7:12-15). It was the cry of a mother that moved the Heart of God. Still today, mothers who cry before the Lord for their families, for their marriages, for their homes move the Heart of God. When mothers stop praying their families (especially their children) perish. Satan gets a foothold and starts to destroy the home, yet when they return to their rightful place as the anchor of the home, demonic strongholds get demolished. In Psalms 17, 36, 57, 63, and 91 God’s role is likening to that of a mother. As a mother protects, upholds and defends her children, so does God also protect us under the shadow of His wings. We find refuge there and can hide there until the danger is over.
A mother’s role is so vital that a father cannot get his prayers answered if he dishonours/ disrespects her (1 Peter 3:7). Because, of this favour over mothers, they are also the most attacked persons in the home. The devil is terrified of mothers (the powerhouse in the home). Yet the Lord has put inside mothers grace and resilience to overcome any situation. Today, as the woman of the home, consider yourself blessed. Consider yourself highly favoured and consider yourself victorious, praying the daily rosary with all your entire family, when you pray, the daily rosary. “Some people are so foolish that they think they can go through life without the help of the Blessed Mother. Love the Madonna and pray the rosary, for her rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world today. All graces given by God, passes through the Blessed Mother.”
-Fr. Anand da Gama Pais
St. Teresa of Kolkata: An Icon of the Good Samaritan
St. Teresa of the Gutters, as she is commonly called, was one of the greatest missionaries of the twentieth century. She spoke the universal language of love that is intelligible to everyone. With all the fibres of her being, she preached through action. She went everywhere to serve Christ in the poorest of the poor. With the witness of her life, St. Teresa reminds everyone that the evangelising mission of the Church passes through charity, nourished by prayer and listening to God’s word. She proclaimed the Gospel living her life as a total gift to the poor but, at the same time steeped in prayer. Her life was a radical living and bold proclamation of the Gospel. “As you did it to one of the least of my brethren you did it to me” (Mt 25:40) St. Teresa highlights the deepest meaning of service – an act of love done to the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, prisoners, is done to Jesus himself!
The figure of St. Teresa of Kolkata is well known all over the world. Her personality and humanitarian work have been broadcast through every form of the media. She had been favourite subject of countless biographers and hundreds of books have been published about her in nearly all languages. She was born on 26th August 1910 in Yugoslavia as the youngest of three children and was baptised Agnes. Her father Nikola Bojaxhui and mother Rosa Drane Markit were both natives of Albania. St. Teresa was always cheerful, hardworking, charitable and generous, and had a notable talent for organisation. She founded the missionaries of charity through which she continued with her ministry to the poor while bearing witness to the joy of loving and serving. She won the Nobel Prize for Peace and the Bharat Ratna is 1980. She accepted all these “for the greater glory of God and in the name of the poor.” She always labours and spoke out to uphold the dignity and value of every human life.
On 5th September 1997 she was called to her heavenly reward. Let’s imitate her in all her goodness, the icon of the Good Samaritan. Reflecting on the pastoral theme “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37) be a Good Samaritan to others.
– Fr. Anand da Gama Pais