Christmas 2018

 Being a loved one to someone who needs love

An old friend of mine who is unemployed, lonely and lives all all by himself, recently lost his brother due to illness. His siblings came from far and wide for the funeral and left soon after leaving him sad and lonely.

Then there is another elderly friend who was suddenly taken seriously ill, leaving his wife all alone with hardly any loved ones at her side. She was not only lonely and fearful but did not know what to do in that tragic situation.

The next case is about an elderly woman who was living with her children and grandchildren but felt lonely as they all were too busy to give her some time.She was lonely despite being in a crowd. 

There are indeed many unfortunate people who are in our midst who are lonely with no family or friends to call loved ones. Christmas does not mean anything to them. As we prepare to share our joy of Christmas with our family and friends, let us remember those who are lonely without their family and loved ones. Let us try to understand how it will be Christmas without money, food, shelter and most importantly without family and loved ones.

This Christmas let us try to become a ‘loved one’ to someone who doesn’t have any. As we celebrate the humble birth of Jesus in a stable among poor shepherds, let us adopt His humility to share our joy with those who don’t have it for some reason.

In the midst of all our celebrations, let us not forget there many around us, who have lost the need for celebrations in their lives. To them we extend our heartfelt greetings for a joyous and blessed Christmas.

“It’s Christmas every time you let God love others through you…..” Mother Teresa

Merry Christmas

Augustine 100th memorial

 100th Day Memorable Prayer

                                                                 Bro.Augustine Theseira                    (29.8.1944 – 2.4.2018)

1.Introduction

Lord we thank you for bring all of us here today to remember and pray for our late bro. Augustine, who left us 100days ago.

Lord you know how our faithful bro. Augustine was to you during his life on earth. We are gathered here to pray for his soul, Look on him with mercy and forgive him of all his sins. Grant him eternal rest in your house in heaven.

As we pray the rosary we ask our Lady, our heavenly mother to intervene for the salvation of the soul of our brother Augustine.

We also pray for the family of our late brother Augustine. We ask God to bless, guide and guard them always.

2. Recital of the Holy Rosary – Glorious mystery

3. A tribute to a friend

One of the most painful things in life is when someone close to you in your heart, one who loves and cares for you, suddenly passes away. The passing of Bro Augustine inflicts that feeling of sorrow, not only in the hearts of his loved ones but also in the hearts many of us gathered here to pray  for his soul and cherish his memories when he was with us.

I got to know the late bro. Augustine or Augi as we fondly called him, for the last 10 years as members of our BEC and for the last 6 years I got to know him more closely as a friend, a doctor and a comrade in serving the poor and needy in our midst, in the TBC group. I got to know him even better when he became a companion at the TUDM bar where we had some highly ‘spiritual’ sessions.
  

It is 100 days now since he left us but he seems to be still alive in our hearts. We have sent him off with mixed feelings, sad as we will miss his company and happy as he will be with his Creator in heaven where he waits for us to join him one day.

During the time I knew him I would describe Augustine as a man with 3 main virtues:

1. Gratitude - He never forgot those who helped him when he was down and goes out of his way to repay his gratitude in whatever small ways he can.

2. Loyal friend - He was a loyal friend who never deserts you when you are of little use to him.

3. Obedient and faithful servant of God and his church - He has unshakable faith in God and always obedient to the laws of the church till the very end.

As a friend he always showed his concern for me and my family. He calls me regularly and never fails to visit me and my family regularly, in particular during festivities to personally send his greetings to me and my wife. He never fails to enquire about my children wherever and whenever he meets me or my wife. He was eagerly waiting my sons to complete their training but unfortunately he had to go just before they finished.

With the passing of Augustine my wife and I have lost a good and caring friend, we will miss his well- wishes and prayers for our good health and wellbeing. I will miss his greetings during festive periods and I will definitely miss his company at the spiritual sessions at the bar. 

We pray for his soul and also for his family. We realise how Josephine will find life tough and lonely without him by her side. She will need time to adapt to her new life without her beloved husband. We ask God to grant her the strength and courage to move on. 

We pray for Sharon and Rodney who have lost a wonderful and loving father. We pray for Angeline and little Glory for the loss of a good father in law and grandfather. I know how it feels to have lost a father who was so caring and was always there for them during difficult times in the family. 

Although Augustine is gone but he will continue to live in their hearts till the end as they continue to carry on with his legacy.

As his friends let us too cherish the fond memories of him and adopt his good values into our own lives. That is the best justice we can do to give a little meaning to our friendship and comradeship with him.

We ask God to grant him eternal rest and may his soul rest in peace

3. Reading of Augustine’s favourite prayer

 Blessed Mother Teresa’s Prayer

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centred.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create any way.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.

4. Concluding prayers

 Lord we thank you letting Bro.Augustine come into our lives. He was not only a great husband to Josephine, a wonderful and caring dad to Sharon and Rodney but he was also a good friend to all of us. He lived a life of holiness and kept all your commandments to the best of his ability during his life.

Lord we offer the soul of our bro.Augustine to you. Please look with mercy and grant him eternal rest to be with you and your angels and saints in your heavenly home.

Rest in peace dear friend.

5. Concluding Video tribute to Augustine - The Final good bye

Christ is for all not an exclusive few

Of late in many of our Churches there are announcements and LCD projections before Holy Communion reminding that Holy Communion is reserved only for baptized and practicing Catholics. This to me is very disturbing and misleading.

This stand of the Church poses one important question in the minds of liberal thinking Catholics – Is Christ for all or is He reserved for an exclusive few?

Yes, Holy Communion is not a trivial matter and the Eucharist is not to be toyed with, but denying our separated brethren the Eucharist because of their dispute with Catholics is definitely tantamount to revenge. If this is not a spiteful policy then what else is?

The practice of excluding some people from Communion may be Biblically based, and it reflects the mind and heart of the early Church, as they were taught by the Apostles. It would morally wrong on our part to carry the ancient animosity created by our ancestors onto the present generation of Christians who had no part in that ancient dispute.

None will deny that there must be conditions for receiving Christ in Holy Communion. It should be based on the condition of the heart of the receiver and not rituals he performs or group to which he belongs. The fundamental requisite should be faith and a sincere eagerness to welcome Christ into his life.

In a world torn apart by hate and revenge, Christ should an instrument of unity and peace among not only Christians of the various denominations but of the whole human race. 

Christ belongs to all of us, including sinners, not to just a few chosen ones. He is not the founder of an exclusive club called Christianity or to be more specific Catholicism. Let’s not confine him to this club by imposing man-made rules and rituals. As his faithful we have a greater obligation to bring His love to all mankind.

Augustine Theseira’s final farewell

Augustine Theseira – A final tribute

Augustine Theseira 1944 - 2018

One of the most painful things in life is when someone close to you in your heart, one who loves and cares for you, suddenly passes away. The passing of Bro Augustine inflicts that feeling of sorrow, not only in the hearts of his loved ones but also in the hearts many of us gathered here to bid him his final farewell.

My dear friends I got to know the late bro. Augustine or Augi as we fondly called him, for the last 15 years as members of our BEC and for the last 10 years I got to know him more closely as a friend, a doctor and a comrade in serving the poor and needy in our midst. I was called to attend to him for his medical problems on 3 occasions over the last 5-6 years and each time I was able to send in time to the hospital where recovered but this time God insisted he wanted him and so we are gathered here to send him to where belongs, the house of God.

We are sending him off with mixed feelings, sad as we will miss his company and happy as he will be with his Creator in heaven.

During the time I knew him I would describe Augustine as a man of gratitude, a loyal friend and a truly obedient servant of God and his church. He never forgot those who helped him when he was down and goes out of his way to repay his gratitude in whatever small ways he can. He is a loyal friend who never deserts you when you are of little use to him. He has unshakable faith in God and always obedient to the laws of the church till the very end.

As a friend he always shows his concern for me and my family. He calls me regularly and never fails to visit me and my family regularly.in particular during festivities to personally send his greetings to me and my wife. He never fails to enquire about my children wherever and whenever he meets me or my wife. He was eagerly waiting my sons to complete their houseman ship but unfortunately he had to go just before they finish.

With the passing of Augustine my wife and I have lost a good and caring friend, we will miss his well wishes and prayers for our good health and well being.

We convey our heartfelt condolence to his wife, Josephine who will find life tough and lonely without him by her side. We ask God to grant her strength and courage to move on. We offer our sympathies to his daughter Sharon and son Rodney who for the loss of a wonderful and beloved father. Although he may be gone but I am sure he will continue to live in their hearts till the end as they continue to carry on with his legacy.

We ask God to grant him eternal rest and may his soul rest in peace

            Sharing here for the last time Augustine's Favorite  prayer

  Mother Teresa’s Prayer

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create any way.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.