Our Lady of Perpetual Succor

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Succor and my Conversion

A Happy Feast of Mother of Perpetual Succor to All 

We celebrate the Feast of Lady of Perpetual Help today. I had a special encounter with this image when I was 10 years old but not more than 12. In those days during holidays or school vacations, we used to go to my mother’s home to stay.  In weekends I used to take my Papa’s Bicycle and ride to my mothers maternal home, 4 KM away from my home.  During our schools summer vacation We all cousins and aunties stay there for some days or weeks. were about 30 children. During nights, we all cousins(about 30 of them), boys were sleep together in the main hall except girls. I always get a place to sleep is, under the images Sacred Heart and Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. Whenever I look up before sleep I see the image of Mother Mary as there is a small light down those images, to venerate while praying. She looks gently and sharply towards me which always made me to pray at least one Our Father before I sleep. Every night it was same experience I had while I was Staying in my mother’s home. There was another image next to it was a Word of God from 1Th 5: 17 ’Pray Constantly’ and those letters were surrounded by flowers and fruits(Apple and Grapes)I was asking myself, how can a person can pray constantly. Her unwavering looks on me lead me to pray at least few minutes before I sleep. Later when I came into the Lord, I realise her intercession made me to convert to Catholicism. Apart from that my wife’s prayers also is there for my conversion. Whenever she asks for my conversion I tell her, when Mother Mary appear to me I will believe in her. 

Another incident was happened in Muscat. When the early years(late 70’s in Muscat I used to go to Sunday Mass in Mar Thoma Syrian Church. Usually I go to the Church with my neighbour, Varghese, a Marhomite in his Pick Up Car. Most of the time he invites me to go with him to the Church which I was doing almost every week in the early years in Muscat. Once I was in a deep depression, and he knew and understand my situation. I was just 20 years old at that time. He took me to his studio apartment where he stays alone. He started talking and asking me, what had happened to me and why I am in such kind  of depression. I told him that I feel lonely and wants to go back to India and do some job there. He started reading Bible and explaining about some verses from Bible to encourage me and tried to strengthen me. I don’t remember any of those Verses or any Word of God from that time. But I remember while he was reading the Bible(he was using a Catholic Malayalam Bible and it very unusual for non Catholics) he took a picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help from his Bible and explained to me how she was interceded for  him to overcome the difficult times and he started crying while holding the image in his hands. But I still not remember why he has cried. He was  a Marthomite and they don’t venerate Mother Mary. But my neighbour was different. These two incidents were came into my mind frequently before my conversion and even now I ponder those moments with a gratitude. I make story short. After many years immediate after the marriage the very next year in 1991 I aattended the retreat in Divine Retreat Centre. After many retreats in 1999 I got my conversion after I met Jesus in the Eucharist and Mothehr Mary and that was the day my real conversion was started and I embraced Catholic Chuch in 2000. The very next year I met our Brothers and experienced Jesus the Word of God, and Mary Mother of God and experienced the communion of saints. in one of talk of Br Victor, he said “all of you should recollect the moment or day you  experienced a spiritual encounter with Jesus or Mary or a Word of God you heard from someone which touched you very deeply. For me the above two  incident of the encounter with the image of Mary the Perpetual Succor was touched me then the Word of God touched me was The eye which looks jeeringly on a father, and scorns the obedience due to a mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, and eaten by the vultures. (Proverbs 30:17, NJB) Which was given me by my dad’s pastor friend when I was at 11 years old.  

Feast of Most Holy Sacred Heart of Jesus

 

A Divine Embrace (Feast of Corpus Christi)

A Divine Embrace

Oh, Most Blessed Holy Sacrament

Oh, Jesus, my sweet heart and love

Oh, meek and humble of hearth

Make my heart like yours

Father You Yourself shown us through Jesus Christ 

Your beloved Son

Lord, You became a tiny bread 

The most humble presence, became Eternal Food

Lord, You brought us the food from heaven

Your Body and Blood for our salvation

Lord, I am unworthy to receive the Holy Eucharist

But Your immense mercy and love, enable us to have You everyday 

Oh, Most Holy Name to be honoured

Jesus, my Lord, live in the holy Tabernacle

Maketh Yourself the humblest bread

To share Your eternal glory with us

Oh Lord, sanctify my body and soul

Oh Lord, of our fathers’, who loved You endlessly

Purify my heart and open my eyes

To see Your glory till the end of my days

Lord, how much I was longing for You

To be in Your House 

To receive Your Heavenly Meal

And I am pleased to have You day after day

Lord, You are the eternal grace and salvation

May you fill my heart, with Your sublime love?

Oh, gentle master of my soul

Strengthen me to carry my daily crosses 

Lord, you poured all the blessings on your people

To lead them and make them the rulers of the world

Lord, wash me with your precious Blood

Sanctify me, with hyssop till...I am clean

Lord, let my words always to praise you

All my gestures always to praise you

Lord, let all my wishes to praise you

Let all creatures of the seas, lands and sky praise you

Lord, You embrace me with Your love 

And come into my flesh, immerse Your Body into me

Lord, let your Blood come into my blood

And make me one with You in flesh and blood

 

The Word of Life

 

      13th March 2026

      The Word of Life 

    One who keeps the Law multiplies offerings; one who follows the commandments offers communion sacrifices.2 Proof of gratitude is an offering of fine flour, almsgiving a sacrifice of praise.3To abandon wickedness is what pleases the Lord, to give up wrong-doing is an expiatory sacrifice.4Do not appear empty-handed in the Lord’s presence; for all these things are due under the commandment. The offering of the upright graces the altar, and its savour rises before the Most High.6The sacrifice of the upright is acceptable, its memorial will not be forgotten.7Honour the Lord with generosity, do not stint the first-fruits you bring. 8 Add a smiling face to all your gifts, and be cheerful as you dedicate your tithes. Give to the Most High as he has given to you, as generously as your means can afford;10 for the Lord is a good rewarder, he will reward you seven times over. (Sirach 35:1–10, NJB)

• The Lord is requesting that we abide by the law and commandments. Jesus did not come into the world to eliminate the law; rather, he came to fulfil it. Therefore, Christians' lives are closely linked to obedience to the Lord's commands and regulations. Scripture makes it quite plain that obeying the law increases the offerings we make to the Lord. It is similar to fully participating in Holy Mass, the spiritual communion with the Lord, when we do the commandments. Lent serves as a reminder of all the wonderful things that the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished for us. The Lord Jesus, who was born, died on the Cross, and rose from the dead for us, is the real salvation that God the Father brought. The Lord will be pleased if we give up wicked ways, and refraining from wrongdoing will serve as an expiatory sacrifice. My child, have you sinned? Do so no more, and ask forgiveness for your previous faults………………. (Sirach 21:1-3 NJB) Ask the Lord every time for the forgiveness of our sins, and keep away our mind and body from the sinful ways. 

• The Lord is telling us not to approach Him empty-handed, that is whatever the blessings and talents God has given to us, we have to use it for the glory of God. Lord, I ask your forgiveness for my negligence in doing Your will. Whatever we do, everything is due according to the commandments of God. When we do our sacrifices uprightly, it will grace the altar and will be pleasing to God. Thanksgiving is the biggest sacrifice we are offering to our God. Our uprightness matters in front of the Lord, and its memorial will not be forgotten. Honor our Lord generously by doing the things He entrusted to us, and we honour Him by remembering His blessings and glorifying Him for the wonders and miracles He has done in our life. The Lord is so generous towards us, so give Him back generously without any measures and He is a good rewarder. 

The Word of Life

11th March 2026

The Word of Life 

The Words of Jesus 

Meditating the Words of Jesus from Holy Scriptures

Someone wishes to go to law with you to get your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone requires you to go one mile, go two miles with him. 42 Give to anyone who asks you, and if anyone wants to borrow, do not turn away.  (Matthew 5:40–42, NJB)

The world is changing every day, so give sensibly to those who truly need it. Perhaps others can be healed by our comforting words. People who are depressed and rejected can be lifted up by our kind hands and modest attitudes. We can follow and emulate Jesus with complete faith and trust. He is our all-knowing Lord, and we don't need to beg him in a worldly manner to receive the best for us. The Lord is urging us to live a life of prayer and fasting, as well as to be charitable throughout the season of Lent. Fasting is about making the greatest sacrifices, not about what we eat or don't eat. 

Families are Heart of the Church

Holy Family 

On 4th Feb 2026

A hymn to Holy Family 

Br  Brillis always quote about Holy Family and stress about holy family life  in the community. He mentioned many times in his  ‘Families are heart of  the Church. St pope John Paul II and Pope Francis also says about the families which makes the community and a country as a whole. Pope Francis says’ Families are heart of the Church and hope of the Church and of the whole world. Pope John Paula II said that ‘the families are the Domestic Church’ 

Family is Heart of the Church 

Lord, even you were born in a manger 

Lord, you lived in the Holy Family, the fulfillment of the Heavenly Father 

Till the time was fulfilled to preach the Kingdom of God

to everyone the present, past and the future

Lord Jesus, You gave an example of family life

As you obeyed your parents, 

To teach the whole human race how to obey parents,

The first steps of the ladder to obey the Living God  

Lord, we all brought up through the families 

You brought us into the world to practice the true faith in You

Lord Jesus, you were born in the Holy Family’

Which was the plan of the Heavenly Father to David and other Prophets 

Lord, family is a place for a child to nourish his or her faith from thier home.

The parents are the teachers to teach them the faith and love of God 

Oh Father, you created a great family, the Holy Family 

To bring Your child, Your own Son into the world

Jesus was called a carpenter’s son 

It may be disgrace by humanly way 

But God allowed His Son to be humble and to bear all humiliations

Even he is the King of kings and Lord of the lords

Lord, we are praying for our many families

Some are broken by troubling circumstances of this world 

Lord, the children are suffering by the broken families 

The single parents are suffering, by their untimely separation

You only can bring them hope by uniting them 

Lord, give them your humble and gentle heart 

To forgive and forget each other and heal the wounds from their heart 

Pope St Paul VI said; “Next, there is a lesson on family life. May Nazareth teach us what family life is, its communion of love, its austere and simple beauty, and its sacred and inviolable character. Let us learn from Nazareth that the formation received at home is gentle and irreplaceable. Let us learn the prime importance of the role of the family in the social order.”

Mario Mathews

 

Church Fathers’ & Saints Reflections

St Ireaneus 

St Athanasius 

Dated on 17th Jan 2026 

Church Fathers & Saints Reflections 

Jesus is the Word 

We can meditate on how our Church Fathers acknowledge the importance of the Living Word, who is Jesus Christ himself. Our community founding fathers Br Victor and Br Shaji brought the charism of treasuring the Word and living the life grounded in Holy Scriptures. 

St Irenaeus. explain about Jesus the Word of God. ‘No one can know the Father apart from God’s Word, that is, unless the Son reveals him, and no one can know the Son unless the Father so wills. Now the Son fulfils the Father’s good pleasure: the Father sends, the Son is sent, and he comes.’ According to Scriptures for Gospel of Mathew Jesus says: “Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. (Matthew 11:27, NJB)” God the Father has to reveal us about His Son, and the Son fulfill the Father’s will and He choose each one of us to reveal the Father, and this we know God the Father 

‘Knowledge of the Father consists in the self-revelation of the Son, for all is revealed through the Word.’ St Irenaeus

St Athanasius quote, in one of his treatise; Discourse Against Pagan wrote: ‘But if the world is founded on reason, wisdom and science, and is filled with orderly beauty, then it must owe its origin and order to none other than the Word of God.’ 

The Word is different from all created things: he is the unique Word belonging only to the good Father. ‘In the beginning was the Word: * the Word was with God and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through him.’ (John 1:1–3, NJB) This is the Word that created this whole world and enlightens it by his loving wisdom. He who is the good Word of the good Father produced the order in all creation, joining opposites together, and forming from them one harmonious sound. He is God, one and only-begotten, who proceeds in goodness from the Father as from the fountain of goodness, and gives order, direction and unity to creation.’ St Athanasius