Remembering to Understand and Trust....Not to Regret....

Remembering to Understand and Trust....Not to Regret....

Many times men/women remember their past without praise for understanding the graces received and lessons learnt, BUT more with complain and regrets. However, when we read this passage of the gospel by Jesus, we come to understand that, no matter how the past might have shown us hard situations and realities to regret of, there is always a reason to thank God for His graces; there is always reason  to understand and trust more. Just look how Jesus explains it to his apostles: 

Mark 8, 14 - 21...
"14 The disciples had forgotten to bring bread, except for one loaf they had with them in the boat. 15 “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”16 They discussed this with one another and said, “It is because we have no bread.” 17 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember?

So when you think you have memories to complain of or regret, just remember: “Positive lessons learned... Blessings recognized... Humour found... No regrets.”

 

Don't despair; we still have Noah in our Times....

Don't despair; we still have Noah in our Times....

When life becomes harsh, seems unfair, people seam all against us, sickness, tragedies, frustrations, etc, remember that that is not the end; there is still good life in our times - some Noah are still in our times; even God regretted why he created man/woman but because of just one Noah, he decided to let man live: just read this passage of the bible:

 

Genesis 6, 5 - 8:

"5 The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord."

Therefore, never despair in life: We still have Noah in our Times....

Happy family day 2015

“A happy family is but an earlier heaven.”

Feast of Blessed Joseph Allamano - Feb16

Blessed Joseph Allamano or Giuseppe Allamano was born at Castelnuova in Asti, Italy on January 21, 1851 as the fourth in a family of five children and he is the nephew of Saint John Cafasso, his father died when Joseph was only three years old. Giuseppe studied at the Salesian Oratory in Valdocco, Italy and Saint John Bosco was one of his spiritual directors.

He entered the diocesan seminary of Turin, Italy in November 1866 and on September 20, 1873 got ordained as priest and later become spiritual director of the Turin seminary. On October 2, 1880 he was appointed rector of the Consolata Shrine and he modified the shrine and made it a source for spiritual renewal throughout the diocese.

On January 29, 1901 Fr Allamano founded the Consolata Missionary Priests and Brothers and the first missionaries reached Kenya in 1902. On January 29, 1910 he founded the Consolata Missionary Sisters for women with a missionary vocation.

Fr Allamano died on February 16 (day chosen for his memorial) at Turin, Italy of natural causes. He was venerated on May 13, 1989 and beatified on October 7, 1990 by Pope John Paul II.

N.B: Founded in 1901(priests and brothers) and in 1910 (sisters) by Blessed Joseph Allamano in Turin, Italy, the Consolata Missionaries now count with about one thousand members (priests and brothers) working in 27 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and America.

St. Valentine Vs Sts. Cyril and Methodius

St. Valentine became associated with lovers because his feast day fell on the day before the licentious Roman fertility feast of Lupercalia on Feb. 15. Lupercalia was a sort of Spring Break Week a month early. After an early-morning sacrifice of goats and dogs to Faunus, the god of merry-making, a band of young men, naked except for loincloths made from the skins of the sacrificed animals, ran along the boundaries of Rome, hitting those whom they met, especially wo...men, with strips of the skins. After that, there was quite a bit of drinking, dancing, and what is now called "hooking up." As it did with Saturnalia (now Christmas) and Halloween, the Church did not try to suppress the holiday completely, but Christianized it by discouraging the improprieties and linking it to the saint believed to have been martyred on its eve.

After the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church, embarrassed by the presence of saints on its calendar who might never have existed, booted the already shadowy St. Valentine from his Feb. 14 slot. Into his place, the Church moved saints Cyril and Methodius, two bishop-brothers who had brought Christianity to the Slavs of Eastern Europe during the ninth century. There was never any doubt as to saints Cyril's and Methodius's existence, or of their heroic virtue. The brothers braved years of political and religious persecution as they preached the Gospel. St. Methodius translated the Bible and other Christian works into Slavonic, which is still the liturgical language of many Eastern churches, and St. Cyril is credited with the invention of the Cyrillic alphabet used by Bulgarians, Russians, and Serbs. The priests saying Mass on Feb. 14 switched to white vestments in honor of the brothers' holiness.

KENYA: Archbishop-elect bids Farewell to Machakos Diocese

Archbishop-elect of the Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa, Martin Kivuva Musonde on February 7 bid farewell to the diocese of Machakos where he has worked for the past 11 years.

Speaking during the annual diocesan pilgrimage at Our Lady of Komarock Shrine, 50 kilometres east of Nairobi, the prelate lauded the priests and all the religious leaders in Machakos for their hard work in developing the diocese.

“We have worked together my dear priests for the last 11 years; we may have done a lot in terms of doing but one thing remains in my heart you are a great team keep it up, from the deans to the parish priests, to the religious men and women to the Lay council amongst others,” the Archbishop-elect said.

“Any success that has been mentioned is not my success it is our success. I cannot claim to be perfect or a saint, I ask for your forgiveness if for any reason I may have offended you while executing my duties. Please forgive me for my witness and pray for me as I discharge my mandate in the next place that the Holy Father has sent me,” he added.

In attendance at the event that also marked the closing service of The Year of the Family and the launching of the Year of the Consecrated Person was Archbishop Charles Balvo, Apostolic Nuncio to Kenya and South Sudan.

The Archbishop–elect will be installed on February 21 at Tononoka grounds in the archdiocese of Mombasa.

 

MACHAKOS, FEBRUARY 13, 2015(CISA)

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith and Love....(Mk 7:24-30)

Besides faith, today’s gospel Jesus shows us on how to be a Christian. And to be Christians is to be loving persons. These two are synonymous. I will share with you some of the characteristics of a loving person. First is unconditional love. One of the dilemmas about human love is that it is often conditional. That is, “If you do what I want you to do  or be what I want you to be, I will love you. If not, I will withdraw my love from you.” And according to an author, conditional love is not love at all. It is a means of controlling another person. On the process we are damaging the person being controlled.
But unconditional love is the only way we can love one another. This gift says simply: “I want to share with you whatever I have that is good. Somewhere in the world there may be someone who is better for you or for me. That is not the point. The point is that I have chosen to give you my gift of love and you have chosen to love me. That is the only soil in which love can grow. We’re going to make it together!”