The FIVE Points

As I sat in church today and listened to the homily at mass, I was anxious to make a note of the Five Points put forward by Father. Being conscious of what people might think, I did not write the points in Church. Then the 1st thing I did on my return from Sunday School was call people I knew, so that I could impart to you the 5 points, since I could not recollect all.

The homily was based on the Sacrament of "Marriage"

In retrospect, it is very important that if a priest is giving a meaningful homily, one should make note, so that you will not only imply this in your day to day life, but also pass on the message to those who need it.

5 Points indicating your marriage is not working:

a) No Laughter
When we are in love, we laugh together and feel happy. But when things go wrong, even a joke the spouse says, seems silly or irritating.

b) Problem Solving
Angry or upset with your spouse. Instead of dealing on the topic directly with the spouse, the problem is discussed with a close friend, sometimes even the family members. Family members / friends should not put pressure on either couple, but should inform them to deal with the situation with the spouse 1st.

c) Criticism
One should not criticise. For Eg: if there is less salt in the food cooked by the wife, the husband should not shout at her, but inform her very gently that there is something lacking in the food and it might be salt.

d) No Respect
Couples should not insult / embarass one another in public. This is the beginning of many arguments to follow, as one's ego is hurt.

e) Appearance
As the love decreases, the spouse decides not to impress their loved one anymore. Eg: they will pick the 1st ironed outfit to wear, not giving importance to look



5 Points to strengthen your marriage

a) Quality Time
Couples should spend quality time with one another. Do things together, or communal work together. Eg: Zonal Animators

b) Equal Resposibility
In today's society, both husband and wife are working. It is very important that both should shoulder the household chores.

c) Communication
Both husband and wife should make it a point to talk with one another, to inform how their day passed by. This will help them to understand one another better.

d) Complimenting
The husband should never fail to compliment his wife, if she has dressed well. The wife should never fail to compliment her husband, if he is looking good.

e) Prayer
The last, but the most important, is Prayer. A couple must keep Christ as the centre of their relationship. Christ said: Where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name, there I am, in their midst.

Is your marriage on the verge of disaster? Would you like to strengthen it?
TRY THE ABOVE 5 POINTS


God Bless!

Beryl Anniversary

Dearest Dad and Mom

Sorry to put this post so late. Would like to wish you a Belated Happy Anniversary for the 5th.

Had checked on the internet. After 30 yrs, all Anniversaries are not named. They have names for every 5 yrs ie 30,35,40,45,etc
So this particular anniversary does not have any traditional materials/symbols (flowers/gemstones) associated with it. Hence it has the theme of Beryl, which simply means, it could be anything.

Mom, wish you a Belated Happy Birthday for the same day. I was a bit upset that you were not able to celebrate your birthday like dad in Dubai and I knew you would be missing the rest of the family members.

So I sat in the corner and I prayed to Our Lord to make yours and dad's day equally happy. I must say, The Lord goes out of his way to answer his children's prayers. Soon after my prayer, the no of phone calls that started coming through, compensated for not many guest dropping by.

When it was time to cut the cake, Aunty's arrival was God sent too.

All in all, I know that if the Lord is the centre of your lives, you can never be unhappy and with this thought in mind, I wish you and dad a great year ahead and may Beryl soon turn into Gold, where I personally feel that L stands for the Love between you and God.

Pre Marital Session

A lot of events happened on the same day ie Sunday 1st October 2006

Thanksgiving / Family Day
Senior Citizen's Day / World Elders Day

And the best was the preparation for marriage session by The Family Cell.

This session was again organised by the Church. I come from an amazingly proactive church where "ur" ie "I Am" is truly understood.

A friend of mine from the youth group and myself decided at the end moment that we should just go out and have some fun. To get some insight into selecting the right partner. The Pre Marriage Session is the 1st of its kind held in Our Lady of Lourdes Church. In spite of which, we had unmarried youth from the age group of 22 and above and believe me, there were about 90 of us. A huge group, I would say.

We started off with an introductory game, a game played as a couple. A list was provided and we had to find any one person belonging to that particular category ex: someone working in an HR dept, a birthday in Sept, etc. Anil and I got the 1st prize.

The session then started with what are the fears that one goes through when they think of marriage, dating period, courtship period, what we should look for and discuss with the person we would like to marry, etc, etc.

The last game for the day was the brand building game where we were divided into groups of seven. We had to promote a brand, keeping Christ as the centre. Reason: God should be the centre of all relationships.

The grand finale was the Goan Masala. This was the actual time that we got to dance and make friends, though it was for just 10 minutes, due to shortage of time.

I am sure with the tremendous response that the Church got for the 1st Pre Marriage session, the Family Cell will organise much more in future and help bring the people of Orlem closer together, who knows, maybe as couples.

Thanksgiving Day

For the first time in the History of Mumbai, Thanksgiving Day was celebrated across all parishes on Sunday, 1st October.

I looked for the origin of Thanksgiving day on the net.
It dates back to celebrations started in the New World ie America, right from 1621, where it was a three day celebration involving thanking the local indians (red indians) for teaching the New English their survival skills.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln appointed a National day of thanksgiving designating the Fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.

In Mumbai, we have only our family to thank for making us the persons that we are today. A beautiful example given by my Parish Priest: The Pope was gifted a ring. He goes to his mother, shows her the ring and tells her I have been honoured. The mother looks at the wedding ring on her finger, and says, Son, if it was not for this ring, you would not have been bestowed with a ring.

In India Thanksgiving day is more a day of celebrating having a happy family
F - Father
A - And
M - Mother,
I - I
L - Love
Y - You

Sr. Citizen's day
On this day, the church also made all Senior Citizens realise their importance to Society. Dignity Foundation along with Suraksha Bandan celebrated World Elders Day. All youngsters took red ribbons made especially for our elders and the same was tied on their hand.

My Parents are Sr. Citizens too. My father was pretty excited about tying the ribbon and could not wait for me to tie the same for him. My mom on the other hand is a bit shy and she did not want the whole of Orlem to know that she is a Sr. citizen (after all, she is a woman...)


When I was informed of thanksgiving day in Church, I was excited. I thought of turkey. No, not the country Turkey. The bird... U, Idiot.
The turkey tradition was really pushed by Benjamin Franklin, who wanted to make it the United States national symbol because it is a quick runner, wary, with sharp eyesight, and exhibited a regal stance, at least to Franklin

The best part of Thanksgiving / Family day was the seriousness with which we celebrated it. We did everything as a family, including cleaning the house and COOKING!!!