In two weeks, we will be celebrating the great feast of Pentecost, Jesus’ promised gift of the Holy Spirit. The readings of this Sunday in particular help us to prepare ourselves to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit is the continuation of Jesus’ presence among us: “I will not leave you orphans” (Jn 14:18). Let us prepare ourselves spiritually to receive this great gift from God, that we may become Christians filled with the Holy Spirit and the “living stones (cf 1Pet 2:5) of that temple called Jesus. Mark the words “living stones” and not life-less stones. We are called to be a vibrant church, constantly seeking to live actively, the will of God. We are also called to be the ‘witnessing’ church: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 5:16)

We are inching closer to achieve a milestone in the life of our parish, centennial celebrations. I have always reminded everyone of you, the importance to thank God for this beautiful and vibrant place, where believers from all nationalities come to worship. Centenary celebration is an occasion to live actively what we believe and come ever closer as one family bound by the love of God, united in one purpose and celebrating our variety. We are to strive to become “one mind and one heart” (Acts 4:32). Let us not forget that this is the celebration of everyone and each one must be a part of it. It is my great desire that at the end of the celebration each member must feel satisfied with the part one played in making it a memorable event. Let us all respond generously by investing our time and talents as well as contributing generously for this purpose. 

There is one more thing I wish to appeal to you all. We have eight Masses on weekend and our scores of volunteers, ushers, Eucharistic Ministers, altar servers and choir members work generously to make these masses worthy celebrations. However, we still are short of ushers, altar servers, Eucharistic Ministers, and singers for Sunday evening masses. There are two possible ways to address this problem; one, to reduce the number of masses (combine evening 5pm and 7pm masses), second, to get more volunteers to help. The second option, to my mind, is the best as I see an increase in the people taking part in our evening masses. My earnest appeal to you all to come forward to help us. We have a participation form available at the parish office. Please visit the office and fill the form so that we can contact you and see where and how you can help us. This is also an appeal to the listed volunteers to serve more generously and with utmost dedication.

May God bless you all!