From the Desk of Father Nathan

A Message from Father Nathan

My dearest people closest to my heart!

God bless you and your generous heart

Understanding the First Friday Devotion

the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

I would like to explain our First Friday Devotion for which we have a sign-up sheet for hourly “shifts”.

The First Fridays Devotion also called the Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is a Catholic devotion to offer reparations for sins, which had its origin in the apparitions of Christ at Paray-leMonial, France, reported by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in the 17th century.

The Roman Catholic Church fully approved this devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and several promises were made to those who practice the First Fridays Devotion one of which included final preservance (living and dying in a state of grace).

The First Friday Devotion involves several practices that are performed on the First Fridays of nine consecutive months. The practices include Attending Mass, Receiving the Eucharist, making use of the sacrament of penance before attending Mass if necessary, and making reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by receiving Communion on nine consecutive First Fridays to make reparation to “the Heart that has loved man so and is loved so little in return” and make a ‘Holy Hour’ in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Let us make good use of this devotion to get closer to the Lord

The Holy Season of Lent

A Time of Grace & Love

I am extremely delighted to witness lots of people attending the Mass on the weekend and weekdays. I feel happy about it. May God bless you all. Lent is the holiest time. It is a time of grace and love. Let us make good full use of it to receive the grace of God and to celebrate the mystery of Christ in our time.

The ABCD in progress & We Can do Better.

I want to appreciate and thank those of you who have come forward to finish up the target with regard to the ABCD.

Last year because of your cooperation and participation we were able to reach our goal. I wanted to thank everyone who was involved in that. Some big donors contributed towards that; if not for them we could never have reached our target.

This year when I went through the donors, I found only a few hundred people seemed to have donated towards it. I thank every one of them.

But we still have $70,000 to reach our target. As I told you the parish suffered for the past two years just because we have not reached our target.

The parish had to pay more than $60,000 in the past. Hence may I request all of you to prayerfully consider and contribute toward successfully finishing up this target.

I invite you again to make a gift to the ABCD today. In so doing, you put your love into action and make a difference in the lives of those who need it the most.

Lent – Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday

Commencing on Ash Wednesday and concluding on Holy Saturday, Lent is characterized by fasting, prayer, and repentance as believers prepare for the celebration of Easter Sunday. This season of reflection and self-discipline involves practices such as abstaining from certain indulgences, fostering a deeper spiritual connection, and commemorating the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

It is a time for believers to spiritually prepare for the celebration of Easter, which commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Fast.   Pray.  Give.

During Lent, Christians often engage in practices such as fasting, prayer, and almsgiving as a way to deepen their connection with God and to reflect on the sacrifices of Jesus on the cross. Fasting during Lent typically involves abstaining from certain foods or luxuries as a form of self-discipline and solidarity with the sufferings of Christ.

A Time for Introspection, Repentance and Faith

Many Christians also use this time for introspection, repentance, and personal growth. The Lenten season serves as a period of spiritual purification, allowing believers to renew their faith and draw closer to the core tenets of Christianity. Lent is meant to be a time of repentance. That’s not a feeling of shame but an awareness that sin separates us from God and what Christ endured to save us from sin, death, and the devil. “Shame has its place, but feeling shame over sin in not the same thing as repentance from sin”. Because “our tempter can take our obedience to God and turn it into a source of pride. Ever wanting to be faithful to your service

This week we are also going into the holy season of Lent, our Christian season of spiritual preparation before Easter. During the six weeks of self-examination and reflection, Christians who observe Lent typically commit to fast, or to give up something. Some also take on a Lenten discipline, like reading the Bible and praying more to draw nearer to God.

Strict observers of Lent do not eat meat on Fridays, often opting for fish instead. The goal of these spiritual disciplines is to strengthen the faith of the observer and develop a closer relationship with God.

40 Days of Lent

We have 40 days of Lent. The 40 days of Lent is based on two episodes of spiritual testing in the Bible: the 40 years of wilderness wanderings by the Israelites after the exodus from Egypt (Numbers 33:38) and Deuteronomy 1:3) and the Temptation of Jesus after he spent 40 days fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13).

In the Bible, the number 40 holds special significance in the measurement of time and many other important events revolve around it.

• During the flood, it rained 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:4, 12, 17;8:6).
• Moses fasted on the mountain 40 days and nights before God gave the Ten Commandments (Exodus 24:18, 34:28; Deuteronomy 9).
• The spies spent 40 days in the land of Canaan (Numbers 13:25; 14:34).
• The prophet Elijah traveled for 40 days and nights to reach the mountain of God in Sinai (1 Kings 19:8).
• May you all have a meaningful and wonderful season of Lent.

ABCD Update –

$12 a Month from Each Family Makes our Goal

Finally, the ABCD is here. This year our parish commitment is $133,661.00 This year we need to reach our goal. In the last two years, we have paid lots of money from our parish collections just because we have finished below our goal. Hence let us work together to reach the goal set by the Diocese. I believe it is feasible. We are 1000 families. If all the families donated $133.00, we could easily reach our goal, which means $12.00 per month would be enough to reach our goal. Can I request all of you to be involved in this, please?

I am looking forward to your cooperation. I have also inserted the letter of our Archbishop. May God bless you all!

I have heard great things about ABCD presentations given during my absence. Thank you very much. As we know, ABCD is the part that we do for our Archdiocese of the Universal Catholic Church. The fund enables our Archbishop in his own way to venture into financial stability and augmentation of our diocese.

It’s one of the opportunities for you and me to support his mission and vision. May I request all of you prayerfully consider and pledge to this great cause? Above all, the task and target given to the parish can be achieved only with you and through you all.

I need your cooperation, collaboration, and participaton. Please do so.

ABCD Campaign

In January – it will be all about the ABCD Campaign. No doubt our beloved Archbishop and his team have been working tirelessly to set out the program and they want all of us to achieve the goal. It has been arranged to have the priests preach about and for ABCD.

May I ask all of you to prayerfully consider your pledge toward achieving St. Gabriel’s goal? Many parishes do over and above their target. When we do above the target, the extra comes back to the parish, and if we DO NOT achieve the targeted goal, the money will eventually be taken from the parish account.

What this means is that we are called to reach our target.

Hence may I request you to come forward to achieve our target?  As you are very well aware, the money goes to the education of the seminarians for their formation, to the catechism of the children, helping the poor, assisting the retired religious, and reaching out to the suffering around the world just to name a few of the programs.

With lots of love and blessings,

Ever wanting to be faithful to your service,

— Fr. Sahayanathan Nathan