SSKFCC_Bulletin AUG19

St. Stephen’s Knanaya Catholic Forane Church, NY AUGUST 2019 VICARS DESK ST. STEPHENS CHURCH BULLETIN Dear Friends in Christ, approaching. Holy Mass, for a Christian place in the tug of war. all the more for the Catholics must be We all are back from Sum- part and parcel of their spiritual life. Dei Verbum launched by the St. Thomas mer vacations and the kids Hope everybody has prepared to attend Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chica- are now back to their new and get enriched on the theme of the Ho- go is a replacement of the Logos Bible academic year 2019-20 at ly Eucharis on these days. Quiz conducted efficiently in our dioces- the schools and colleges. es in Kerala. This year questions will be Let us all keep them in We are also conducting our Annual Bible from Gospel of St. Mark and the parish prayers so that they all may Quiz on Sunday October 6th on the level Dei Verbum Bible Quiz will be on receive enlightenment from books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and on Pope Sunday November 24th, 2019 after the the Holy Spirit. Francis, his writings and other activities. Holy Mass at 10 am. Bible Quiz is an activity of the youth Retreat and classes on Holy ministry and they coordinate the quiz. Let us also prepare for our 10 days of Mass by a famous and very Hope all of you are preparing for it by Holy Rosary and Holy Mass from Friday learned priest, namely Rev. reading the above books of the Bible. I October 4th to Sunday October 13th. Fr. Dr. Sibi Pulickal is fast do congratulate our youth ministry for having participated our Forane Youth Praying for you all Barbeque at Philadelphia and won first Fr. Joseph Tharackal, Vicar St. Stephens Knanaya Catholic Church INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Vicars Desk 1 A New Year 2 Honoring Graduates 3 Youth Ministry update 3 Onam Celebration 4 Page 1

St. Stephen’s Knanaya Catholic Forane Church Bulletin A NEW YEAR Meryl Kallickal Director, Youth Ministry St. Stephens Knanaya Catholic Forane Church, NY Summer has gone by and another school year is involve your children in prayer by having them read starting! Hope you all had a fun and relaxing sum- the bible and encouraging them to recite prayers mer vacation. I am sure you are busy running that they are comfortable with. When going to around to buy all your school supplies, new clothes church, parents should watch how their children and electronics. However, you should always re- pray and if they are not connecting with church, be member that one of the keys to success is good open and ask them how they can help them feel communication, and this is the most important item more connected. This the only way our church will that you need for this new year! grow, with open communication. Good communication is vital for everyone. Children Both parents and children need to be honest with must communicate clearly to their parents. They each other. The way parents communicate between should feel comfortable to bring up any issues that each other and with others has a huge impact on they are facing at school such as difficulty making how your children will treat others. It is very im- friends, peer pressure, or difficulty with certain portant that parents are patient with their teenagers classes. A lot of times children of Indian descent and the hormonal emotional changes. Often times, it feel pressured to keep all this tension to themselves is difficult to accept your sweet boy or girl is now because they feel that this will upset their parents. It talking back and not listening to you. This is the is very important to keep an open line of communi- most important stage to have the open communica- cation at the dinner table so that these issues can be tion and patience. As long as your children know brought up and talked through casually. When feel- that you will always be there for them, they will al- ings are bottled inside for a long time, it can lead to ways come back to you. This is why it is important children looking to different outlets such as drugs, to build trust and communication from a young alcohol for relief. It can also lead to depression age. from feeling that they have no one to open up to. Parents should lead by example. There should be family prayer daily at home, so that faith can be the foundation of the family. Even if everyone has dif- ferent schedules, there should be one time of the day that everyone can sit together for at least 10 minutes to pray. After all, a family that prays to- gether stays together, and that is the truth. Try to Page 2

St. Stephen’s Knanaya Catholic Forane Church Bulletin HONOURING GRADUATES Graduates were honored at Church on July 28 & August 18. YOUTH MINISTRY UPDATE On Monday, September 2nd, Philly’s youth group hosted a fun filled bar- becue for all of the Forane youth. It started off with a prayer and then consisted of icebreakers, engaging team based games, friendly competi- tive tug of war, good food, and ended off with DJ dancing. This event gave the youth from different regions an opportunity to come together and meet. The Saint Stephen’s Youth Ministry would like to thank the Philly youth for hosting a well organized BBQ! . Page 3

St. Stephen’s Knanaya Catholic Forane Church Bulletin LAY MINISTRY ONAM CELEBRATION SSKCFC Bulletin Fr. Jose Tharackal, Vicar EDITORIAL Anoop Mukalel, P.R.O. BOARD Abraham Thervalakattayil, Page 4 Meryl Kallickal Simjo Edappara