Confess and Say with faith....

 

The God of Joseph is my God:: He will bring me out from pit and prison into a palace



 

The God of Jabez is my God:: He will turn my misfortunes, curses and sorrows into fortune, blessings & joy

Easter 6 C – Homilies and Stories

 Thomas O’Loughlin

Introduction to the Celebration

At Easter we recalled that we have died and risen in Christ in baptism. Today let us recall that, as his people sharing his life, we must be people of the Light. 

Gospel Notes

This is part of the conclusion to one Last Supper discourse in John where Jesus speaks about his departure, and in that context how he will remain present to his community. He has two gifts to the church: the Holy Spirit and peace. The Spirit is the one who continues the teaching of Jesus by keeping it in the memory of his disciples, and does not introduce a new or additional teaching. Peace is the gift that enables them to remain in love with each other and with the Father.

5 Strategies to Teach Young Kids about Proper Money Management

Think you don’t need to teach your kids how to handle money and the value of proper money management? Think again. Unfortunately, personal finance courses are not taught in schools, so it’s completely up to you—and the earlier you begin the process, the better chance your children will have to grow up into responsible, thrifty young adults.

Here are five tips that can help you to impart the necessary financial knowledge:

1. Make the Lessons Unique

World’s 2nd richest man… Warren Buffett

St. Oscar Romero—no kidding

by tschmidt The official Vaticanese  language recently  stated that Archbishop Oscar Romero’s sainthood cause has been “unblocked.” Well who was blocking it in the first place?

Quotes 76: 25 Phrases to Inspire us...

First album excites young singer

OLIVIA WANNAN      

     

ROSS GIBLIN/Fairfax NZ

MAKING TRACKS: Jessie Hillel, 11, runner-up on New Zealand’s Got Talent is releasing her first album. See the video at the bottom, her rendition of Ave Maria.

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Jessie's mother is from Kaloor, Kochi and her Father is from Kottayam, Kerala.
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The 11-year-old songstress who captured the country's attention last year on New Zealand's Got Talent is set to release her first album.  

Competition runner-up Jessie Hillel can't wait to hear the final cut of the album With Love, recorded in Auckland, which will hit the shelves on April 26.
"It'll be really fun to walk into a store and see yourself on the album," said Jessie, who lives in Churton Park, Wellington.

Preaching Effectively....

I want to share with you some secrets on preaching with power, gaining the attention of your congregation. 

During His earthly ministry, Jesus often concluded a lesson by crying out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Jesus was basically saying "What's being said is very important.. pay attention and listen!"...

Two of the best comeback responses

Number 1:

If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman. He was being cross- examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the police officer’s credibility.
Q: ‘Officer – did you see my client fleeing the scene?’

The Haircut - Humour

A teenage boy had just passed his driving test and inquired of his father as to when they could discuss his use of the car. His father said he'd make a deal with his son, "You bring your grades up from a C to a B average, study your Bible a little, and get your hair cut. Then we'll talk about the car."

Easter 5 C Sunday - Homilies and Stories

Easter V - C Sunday – Homilies and Stories

 Background:

The last supper discourse of Jesus to his apostles is a mix of many consoling things Jesus had said to them in the course of their time together so that they might be sustained in hope after he had returned to the Father-in-Heaven. The consolation today is mixed with a challenge – a new commandment which sounds nice but which turns out to be very difficult.   

For as we know from the experience of our lives it is very had to love everyone, especially those who are closest to us, our colleagues, our families, our close friends, the people next door. 

Story:

Once upon a time an older woman live next door to strange neighbours. Why is it that neighbours are always strange? Anyway these people were noisy, rude, and vulgar. Their televisions were always on full blast way into the night. They fought with one another at the top of their voices. Their kids played baseball in the yard and football on the street and ran over her lawn and flowers – and cursed a lot too, even the girls, though that is very had to believe. All the other neighbours complained, called the police, threatened to get court orders. The loud crowd just laughed at them. Their daddy was a lawyer and he boasted he cold beat any complaint in a court of law.

Monkey Business

Once upon a time in a village, a man announced to
the villagers that he would buy monkeys for Rs 10. The
villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around,
went out to the forest and started catching
them..

Church Services in the not too distant Future-Humour

PASTOR: "Praise the Lord!" CONGREGATION: "Hallelujah!" PASTOR: "Can we please turn on our tablet, PC, iPad, cellphone, and Kindle Bibles to 1 Cor 13:13. And please switch on your Bluetooth to download the sermon. You can log on to the church Wi-fi using the password Lord909887." P-a-u-s-e

"Rubber Nun" of NE India

Rubber nun brings hope to northeastern India 

 By: Lissy Maruthanakuzhy, Mendipathar

Sr Rose Kaythinkara, MMS

Sister Rose Kaythinkara came to northeastern India 35 years ago armed with a bachelor’s degree in social work and a burning desire to preach the Gospel.

The Rolls Royce and God's Forgiveness

The great British automaker Rolls Royce takes great pride in the reliability of their handcrafted automobiles. An obviously wealthy owner of a Rolls took it to Europe on an extended trip. While travelling in France the car had some mechanical problem. He called the Rolls Royce factory and asked that they send out a mechanic immediately to fix the problem.

10 Ways to Motivate Unproductive Employees

Rieva Lesonsky

                                                    

Are your employees underperforming? There’s a good chance your staff has been doing the same jobs, with the same salaries, for the past four or five years—and they’re not seeing much hope of change (or finding a new job) in the near future. So before their productivity tanks any more, you need to motivate them. Here are some ideas.

Easter 4 C - Homilies and Stories

Background:

John’s Gospel has a heavy overlay of mystical imagery. Yet today’s brief gospel seems clear and simple enough. However, it’s revelation of the great tenderness of Jesus – undoubtedly based on clear historical memories in the tradition – is richly mystical. All will know that we are followers of Jesus by the love we have for one another. This is not a prediction which has yet been fulfilled.

Story:

 

Once upon a time there was a sergeant in the marines who was the senior enlisted man in his platoon. One day his outfit was ambushed and pinned down by enemy fire. The lieutenant in command was badly wounded as were many of the men. The sergeant took over and extricated the men from the trap, though he himself was wounded twice. He went back by himself to carry out the wounded commanding officer.  

Quote 75 - Happiness and Success

"Success is not the key to happiness.
Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing,
you will be successful."

- Albert Schweitzer

12 Ways to Hook an Audience in 30 Seconds

                                                   

  “When you advertise fire-extinguishers, open with the fire,” says advertising executive David Ogilvy. You have only 30 seconds in a TV commercial to grab attention. The same applies to a presentation. The first 30 seconds of your talk is crucial. This is the time your listeners form an impression of you, and of what’s to follow.

Like a fine thoroughbred, you need to hit the ground running by starting strong. Instead, many presenters are more like old, tired workhorses—they start weak by wasting those first precious seconds with platitudes and pleasantries. Brain research shows that we don’t pay attention to boring things. Surprise your listeners with a hook that immediately grabs their attention.
The key is to make sure that the hook is brief, well-rehearsed and pertinent to your topic. What follows is 12 hooks that will grab your audience’s attention—and keep it.
 

How Adam Got Eve -- Women, please forgive!

     Adam was hanging around the garden of Eden feeling very lonely.

                                        So, God asked him, 'What's wrong with you?'

SARDAR IN A TOUGH QUIZ

Sardarji is in a Quiz Contest with a prize money of Rs.1 crore.

The questions are as follows:

 

1) How long was the 100 year war?

Options :  A) 116   B) 99   C) 100   D) 150

Sardar says "I will skip this"

 

Easter 3 C - Homily and Stories

Introduction to the Celebration 

We have gathered to celebrate the presence of the risen Lord among us. We are called to be the people who bear witness to his victory over death. We are the people who proclaim the Father’s forgiveness to the ends of the earth by being people who are for giving.

Michel de Verteuil

Text comments

During Easter the Sunday and weekday gospel readings are taken from St John’s gospel; this is the time of year when the Church invites us to meditate on this gospel. St John is always very deep; traditionally his is known as “the spiritual gospel”; these weeks should therefore be a time for us to deepen our meditations.

Living well---Living well Together

When you thought I wasn't Looking - Poem

When you thought I wasn’t looking

 

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator,
and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking,
 

Mary - The ARK of the Covenant - Subhash Anand

Easter 2 C Sunday - Homilies and Stories

Background:

Often this Gospel is used as an occasion to prove the Church’s control of the forgiveness of sins and even to demand more frequent confession. 

The Church, in this perspective, has a monopoly on forgiveness and must be stern in its use. Patently this narrowly circumscribes the passionate forgiveness of God which Jesus came to reveal. God may be generous with forgiveness, it is implied, but the Church cannot and should not. Yet the story of Thomas, immediately after suggests that such an interpretation of the words of Jesus missed the points. To forgive is not a right to be jealously guarded, but an obligation to be exercised generously. We do not earn our own forgiveness by forgiving others.  Rather we manifest the generosity and implacability of God’s forgiveness of us.