Easter Sunday

REJOICE AND BE GLAD

Dear brothers and sisters today is Easter Sunday, the Sunday on which Jesus rose from the dead. The extreme suffering inflicted on Jesus culminated in his crucifixion. By dying Jesus does not remain as one more person to die and be forgotten, but he rises back to a glorious life. In all these Jesus has his Father by his side. The news of the resurrection breaks forth when Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb on Sunday morning with the hope of anointing the body with spices. She encounters an empty tomb. Her reaction is to run to announce the good news to the other disciples. She embodies in herself the reaction of a person who is a witness to the resurrection. She wants to communicate the message to others as quickly as possible. She becomes the messenger of the resurrection. What Mary Magdalene has discovered in the darkness of early morning on Easter Sunday is the most sublime truth of all. The Lord is Risen! As we live our lives in the firm hope of being raised by God, let us today rejoice because Christ has been raised.

Easter Sunday - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TIKVwAwiUPkZCZOOwzsotlEjq8sArzFT?usp=sharing

Paschal Triduum

UNITY OF CHRIST'S PASCHAL MYSTERY

The summit of the Liturgical Year is the Easter Triduum. The Paschal Triduum is a single liturgical celebration that spans three days. It begins on the Thursday before Easter and ends the evening of Easter Sunday. Though chronologically three days, they are liturgically one day unfolding for us the unity of Christ's Paschal Mystery.

Another unique element about the Paschal Triduum is that a single liturgy encompasses all three days. It is not three separate liturgies. This is best seen when all three days are celebrated physically in the same church. At the end of the Mass on Holy Thursday, you’ll notice there is no final blessing or dismissal. People are invited to pray quietly before the Blessed Sacrament and then leave when they are ready. The liturgy doesn’t formally conclude; it simply pauses.

It picks up again on Good Friday with the Solemn Celebration of the Lord’s Passion. You’ll notice that this solemn liturgy doesn’t have the usual, formal beginning we are used to: the entrance procession or greeting by the priest. Rather, the priest and ministers enter the sanctuary when they are ready and, after prostrating before the altar, they simply pick up where they left off the evening before. Like Holy Thursday, the Good Friday liturgy doesn’t have a formal dismissal; rather, the priest simply says a prayer over the people before departing. Another pause.

And although the Easter Vigil begins with the sign of the cross, it begins in a different location — outside, around a fire without an opening song or procession. We pick up our prayer from where we left off the day before. And it is only at the end of the Easter Vigil Mass we hear the formal dismissal of the assembly, “Mass is ended,” with the double alleluia. The Easter Vigil, which always is to begin after sunset on Saturday, takes place on the third day of the Triduum, so the vigil is considered the Easter Mass. Subsequent Masses are celebrated on Sunday for those unable to attend the vigil.

Paschal Triduum Liturgy -

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1T_nYpoBd5fFJSZ7t0kQZliFhNOgKg1I2?usp=sharing

Palm Sunday

A WEEK OF DECISIONS

The Church celebrates this sixth Sunday of Lent as both Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday. This is the time of year we stop to remember and relive the events which brought about our redemption and salvation. What we commemorate and relive during this week is not just Jesus’ dying and rising, but our own dying and rising in Jesus, which will result in our healing, reconciliation, and redemption. Attentive participation in the Holy Week liturgy will deepen our relationship with God, increase our Faith, and strengthen our lives as disciples of Jesus. Today’s liturgy combines contrasting moments, one of glory, the other of suffering: the royal welcome of Jesus in Jerusalem, and the drama of the trial, culminating in crucifixion, death and burial for the Christ.

Palm Sunday Liturgy - 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1d5Zj487dlWiFxATXlUEEe9Ps7ZkiDY6a?usp=sharing

Tamil Response Hymn - https://youtu.be/_Ow_r8XlWDw

Holy Week

JOURNEYING WITH THE LORD

Holy Week is the most significant week in Catholicism. Spanning from Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday, it marks the final stretch before Easter Sunday, the celebration of Jesus' Resurrection. During this sacred week Catholics pray and reflect on the profound journey of Jesus’ suffering, sacrifice, and victory over death. It starts on Palm Sunday, a day that commemorates Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. Holy Thursday celebrates the Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist while Good Friday reflects on Jesus’ death by crucifixion. Throughout this week, Catholics reflect on the emotional intensity of Jesus' Passion, contemplate His boundless love and mercy, and anticipate the joyous hope of His Resurrection. An intentional Holy Week can serve as a spiritual pilgrimage that deepens our faith.

Liturgical materials for the Holy Week.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1e8LoU9VyB8zhfq7sTxAjdJxBqmIZagid?usp=sharing

Holy Week Tamil Songs

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbrLfdx3oe9G7xY9Xkbh5JI38FChBuq5y&si=y3ZNL6hUOgYWintO

Feast of St. Joseph

THE WISE AND FAITHFUL SERVANT

St. Joseph, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus, was probably born in Bethlehem and probably died in Nazareth. His important mission in God's plan of salvation was "to legally insert Jesus Christ into the line of David from whom, according to the prophets, the Messiah would be born, and to act as his father and guardian".

St. Joseph was an ordinary manual labourer although descended from the royal house of David. In the designs of Providence, he was destined to become the spouse of the Mother of God. His high privilege is expressed in a single phrase, "Foster-father of Jesus." About him Sacred Scripture has little more to say than that he was a just man-an expression which indicates how faithfully he fulfilled his high trust of protecting and guarding God's greatest treasures upon earth, Jesus and Mary.

The darkest hours of his life may well have been those when he first learned of Mary's pregnancy; but precisely in this time of trial Joseph showed himself great. His suffering, which likewise formed a part of the work of the redemption, was not without great providential import: Joseph was to be, for all times, the trustworthy witness of the Messiah's virgin birth. After this, he modestly retires into the background of holy Scripture.

Of St. Joseph's death the Bible tells us nothing. There are indications, however, that he died before the beginning of Christ's public life. His was the most beautiful death that one could have, in the arms of Jesus and Mary. Humbly and unknown, he passed his years at Nazareth, silent and almost forgotten he remained in the background through centuries of Church history. Only in more recent times has he been accorded greater honour. As we celebrate his feast, let us implore God’s help to be like St, Joseph, humble and obedient to God’s will.

Feast of St. Joseph -

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1X4rLiPV13JGRhHUKS6ZwWzdusjSBdw39?usp=sharing

Lent 5th Sunday

FACING DEATH WITH JESUS

The hour of Jesus is the hour of his glorification. Jesus uses the figure of a grain going down under the earth to explain his own glorification. The seed has to die in order to produce a vibrant plant out of it. Jesus speaks in the same way about his own death. Like any human person Jesus is also anxious about what is going to happen to him. This is clear from his words when he says that his soul is troubled. Yet he does not ask his Father to save him from the impending suffering and death. Jesus goes to his passion with the sole intention of saving people. He wants to draw all people to himself. He is the Saviour of all. In the First Reading we have a new covenant proposed by Jeremiah. The new covenant is different from all the previous covenants. Its precepts are written in people’s hearts and not on stone tablets. In the Second Reading the author to the Hebrews writes that the suffering and death of Jesus becomes the source of eternal salvation to all who believe in him.

Liturgical materials for the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1l7yez5gYAm1kc-ZPf-vnKFnQrks6pgCn?usp=sharing

Tamil Response Hymn - https://youtu.be/u_qKn_8-PXo

Lent 4th Sunday

LOVE LIFTED UP

In his conversation with Nicodemus Jesus speaks about his own death on the cross and refers to it as the way to salvation and eternal life. The people bitten by the deadly snakes were saved when they looked at the bronze serpent set on a pole by Moses. The deadly snakes were sent by God when the people sinned against Moses and God. God sent His Son into the world to suffer and die because he loves us. We have to understand that it was sin that caused Jesus to die on the cross. In spite of what happened to Jesus, God still loved the world and wanted to save it. The fourth Sunday of lent brings us the message that God loves us and His intention is to save the world and not condemn it. The First Reading brings home to us the message that disobedience to God caused the Babylonian exile. The bitterness of the exile turned into joy when after fifty years the people were freed. In the second Reading Paul tells the Ephesians that salvation is God’s gift to them and not the fruit of their own good works.

Liturgical materials for the Fourth Sunday of Lent.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qF-u-z0VWjDIDpmiOALcwRfSxO_O9hmc?usp=sharing

Tamil Response Hymn - https://youtu.be/iw2mLWedFv0

Lent 3rd Sunday

BURNING WITH ZEAL

The Jewish people were required to come to the Jerusalem Temple on all important feasts like the Passover, Pentecost and others. Initially meant as a centre of religious pilgrimage for the purpose of worship, the Temple was gradually turned into a place of commerce as well. Sacrifices were to be offered and so sheep and pigeons were sold, and to facilitate the purchase of these animals and birds money changers also appeared. It was an accepted practice and nobody could do anything to change it. But Jesus could not tolerate it and we saw him cleansing the Temple and making it again a place of worship for which it had been built. The prophet-like-action of Jesus was resisted by the authorities but Jesus did fulfil his mission for which he has been sent – he brought reform to the Israelite society. In the First Reading we have the Ten Commandments. The first commandment describes who God is and how His Name should be held holy. In the Second Reading Paul tells the Corinthians that Christ is the power and wisdom of God.

Liturgical materials for the Third Sunday of Lent.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19uuD6Krap9XabNx78ynzaW-XlbOKx6dP?usp=sharing

Tamil Response Hymn - https://youtu.be/iuErD_DCC1M