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September 09, 2012

MON - SAT 8:30 am Holy Mass (Malayalam) FRIDAY 6:00 pm Adoration 7:00 pm - Holy Mass FIRST FRIDAY 7:00 pm - Holy Mass SATURDAY 9:30 am - 10:30 am Confession SUNDAY 8:00 am - Holy Mass (Malayalam) 9:30 am - Holy Mass (English) 11:15 am - Holy Mass (Malayalam) 5:30 pm - Holy Mass (Malayalam)

Vicar Rev. Fr. Joy Alappatt Assistant Vicar Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Madukkakuzhy Trustees: Roy Thachil, Jomom Chirayil, Cyriac Thattarettu, Jibu Joseph Secretary: Thomas Purathur

By the grace of God, Mar Iacob Angadiath, the Bishop of St. Thomas SyroMalabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago and Permanent Apostolic Visitator to Canada, writes this greeting and message to all the priests, men and women religious, and my beloved people of God, living in USA and Canada.

Pastoral Letter No. 1 3 / 2 0 1 2

Faith Formation in the Year of Faith

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Iesus Christ,

Glory to God in the highest" Amen.

with the Apostolic letter of October 1 1th 201 1, Porta Fidei (the Door of Faith) Pope Benedict XVI has declared a Year of Faith in the Church. This Year of Faith will begin on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, on October 11th 2012, and will conclude on November 24th 2013, on the solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Universal King. The starting date of October 11th also marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Year of Faith intends to rediscover the fundamentals of Christian faith in its wholeness and all its splendor. It gives the faithful a propitious occasion to understand more profoundly, that the foundation of Christian faith, is the encounter with the Risen Lord which gives life a new horizon and decisive direction. The Church, from its very beginning, has given primary importance to the faith formation of her members. The aim of faith formation is to make the candidates aware of the foundations of Christian faith and to help them to build up a life more centered on Christ's teachings. It intends to help one to be a true Witness of ]esus's Christ in the world. Knowledge of faith, liturgical life, moral formation, prayer, communal life, missionary spirit; these are the six tasks of catechism as described in the General Directory for Catechism. In the American context, Where freedom of religion is under threat, We need to emphasize the formation of our conscience. Again in thiscontext, catechism is of great importance. Formation of conscience depends upon the values and principles learned and appreciated. Through catechism the faithful should know the Christian values revealed in Sacred Scriptures and Church teachings, so that they can mold a good conscience founded on the gospel principles of faith, love, goodness and truth. The formation of right conscience is important to discern and follow the will of God in our personal and community life. Since we are at the beginning of a new CCD year, I make use of this opportunity to bring your attention to some of the important aspects of the faith formation of our children and youth. From the beginning of our diocese, we have been insisting the importance of faith formation. Our parish / mission Sunday gatherings are full when we have catechism of our children. I really admire and appreciate the sacri ces our parents and children, priests and CCD teachers are making for the cause of catechism. Until now, we have been following the text books prepared by the US Latin Rite Church. This year we are introducing our Syro-Malabar Catechetical Text Books throughout our diocese. These books have been prepared by the Synodal Commission on Catechism. Thesebooks present the di erent facets of the basis of Catholic faith, and when the course is completed, the students will have a clear Vision of the content of Christian doctrines and values. I request all the members of the diocese to cooperate whole heartedly with the introduction of the Syro-Malabar Cate-chetical Text Books throughout our diocese. I encourage the parents to go through these texts and see what our children are learning at catechism classes. The identity of any particular Church is mostly recognized in the Liturgy of that Church. The most important celebration of our faith is the celebration of the Holy Qurbana. All our learning, prayers, celebrations and blessings are oriented to and derived from the Holy Qurbana. So our CCD program should give proper importance to the liturgical formation of our young generation. All the opportunitiesshould be provided to the children and youth to get into the fundamentals of Syro-Malabar Qurbana so that they can encounter and experience ]esus during the celebration of it. I earnestly desire and request that all the students and teachers of CCD may come togetheron Sundays and participate in the same Holy Qurbana o ered for the CCD participants. Together with Rev. Fr. Vicar, let the parish community make arrangements for the celebration of at least one Holy Qurbana in English language on Sundays for the children andthe youth so that the participants may understand the mystery of Qurbana in a better way. The new Qurbana texts, having English and Malayalam translation in the same book, printed especially for our diocese are to be introduced and used in all our parishes and missions with the beginning of CCD classes, 2012. The new 'propria' is given in the new text of Holy Qurbana. Let our faithful understand the reality that the di erence between Latin Qurbana and Syro-Malabar Qurbana is not a matter of language of celebration. In truth, the richness and peculiarity of Syro-Malabar Qurbana is its antiquity and closeness to the roots of Christian spirituality. The anphora of Addai and Mari, used in our Qurbana, is the most ancient Eucharistic prayer in the World, modeled after Iewish liturgical prayers. The pre-anaphora of Syro-Malabar qurbana is structured after the Iewish Sabbath assembly. Since the rst Christians were Iews, the rst Christian prayers were in uenced by Iewish worship. So let all members of Syro-Malabar church take special interest to understand better the richness and meaning of our Qurbana, a direct continuation of Iewish Christian spirituality followed by our Lord Iesus Christ and his apostles. Not only the children, but the youth should become moreconvinced of our faith. All the possibilities should be opened to our youth so that they may be attracted to our Church and understand the doctrines of Catholic faith in a better way. For this all our parishes and mission communities have to become more youth friendly. Special training programs, seminars and classes should be arranged for them. Adults too, are invited to know our faith more deeply. We are living in a secular world where our faith and its practices are questioned and challenged. We are called to witness to our faith in the walks of our life. So let us do our best to strengthen the foundations of our faith through prayerful reading and study of the Holy Bible and Church teachings expressed in the Council decrees of Second Vatican Council and in the great book Catechism of the Catholic Church. Receiving the Spirit of the Year of Faith, let us take active participation in the activities intended to deepen and strengthen the life of faith on the diocesan and parish levels. Let us ask the intercession of Bl. Mary for the success of all theactivities of the Year of Faith. The Year of Faith begins in the month of October which is dedicated for the veneration of Rosary. Let us all take special interest in our families to meditate on the mysteries of our faith reciting Holy Rosary with Bl. Mary, the perfect model of faith. May the grace and peace of Christ be with you all! August 26, 2012 Mar Iacob Angadiath Bishop of St. Thomas Syro-Malabar MARTHOMA SLEEHA SYROChicago CATHEDRAL Catholic Diocese of MALABAR

ALTAR SERVERS & LECTORS

Sunday September 16, 2012
8.00 am Holy Qurbana-Malayalam Josekutty Nadakapadam Thomas Alumparampil Santi Thomas 9.30 am Holy Qurbana-English George Parayil, Justin Kuncheria Levin Antony, Mathew Jacob Nithin Thomas, Rohan Antony Ronnie Jacob, Toney Joseph Toney Augustin 11.15 am Holy Qurbana-Malayalam Jose Kadavil John Thayilpeedika Lector: Shanthi Jaison Scriptures: Duet 8:11-20 (1st Reading) Phil 2:1-11 (2nd Reading) Gospel: Mathew 4:12-17 5.30 pm Holy Qurbana-Malayalam Davi Peter Pilgrimage to Fathima There will be a meeting for those who have registered for pilgrimage to Europe in September on Friday September 7th at 8.00 PM in the conference room.

CCD News
CCD Open house: School open house is on September 09, 2012.Parensts are encouraged to visit class rooms (at 8.00 AM for rst session and 11.15AM for the second session.) and interact with teachers. This is an excellent opportunity to meet your childs teacher and know more about the curriculum. Please make sure to attend the event. First 15 minutes of every class is scheduled to present activities for the school year. Cultural Academy Cultural Academy classes will start today. Please contact Cultural Academy for details. smcacademy@gmail.com Cultural Academy/Malayalam School 2012 Cultural Academy and Malayalam School Inauguration for this year will be help on Sept 15th at 6.00 PM 10.00 PM Special event of the evening: Classical Muisc Concert by REV. DR. John Poovathinkal. please come and this special evening. Food Will be served. Ward Prayer: Southwest Ward (St.John) On September 14 th, Friday At the residence of Johny and Minnie Thottaplackil, 1949 Concord Dr,Downers Grove (Phone : 630-663-9686) St. Bartholomew Ward On September 18, 2012 (Tuesday) at 7.00 p.m. at the residence of John & Marykutty, Thengummottil 9507 Oliphant Ave, Morton Grove, IL 60053 Tel: 847 663 0903 Midwest Ward Venue: Residence of Dr. James and Cicily Mathew Muthuplackal,1710 E. Burr Oak Drive, Arlington Heights, IL60004. Phone-847-818-9349 Date & Time: September 22nd Saturday at 7:00 PM St. Peters' ward Date: Sept 21, Friday Mathew & Raimol Mukkatt, Tinley Park 7:30 pm Obituary - Smt. Kunjamma Job, beloved mother of John Nadakapadam (Monichan) passed away in Kerala. Please keep her in your prayers.
BULLETIN EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Community Helpline Contact Info:

Family Focus con dential helpline ( 1-888-417-5222) familyfocus10@gmail.com

Womens Forum
Telephone rosary prayer every Monday and Thursday at 9 pm led by Womens Forum. Phone: 712-432-1438 Access Code #422133

Lord, we turn to you in gratitude for the grace of faith in our life. Grounded in your love, give us courage to obey the judgment of our conscience, so that we may give glory and honor to you in everything we do ! .

Sunday Collection
September 2, 2012 - $3634

Rev. Fr. Joy Alappatt Fr. Immanuel Madukkakuzhy

Thomas Purathur

MARTHOMA SLEEHA SYRO MALABAR CATHEDRAL

A special thanks to CYM for creating such a beautiful Pookalam.

MARTHOMA SLEEHA SYRO MALABAR CATHEDRAL

MARTHOMA SLEEHA SYRO MALABAR CATHEDRAL

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Protecting Gods Children Mar Thoma Sleeha Cathedral parish requires anyone working with or around children in our parish to attend a Protecting Gods Children session. The following sessions will be held in our parish: Friday, September 14, 2012: 5:00 8:00 pm Saturday, September 15, 2012: 10:30 am 1:30 pm Visit www.virtus.org and register for either session by following the registration process. Find session listed under Archdiocese of Chicagoand Mar Thoma Shleeha Cathedral, Bellwood. If you cannot attend any of the above sessions, you will nd additional sessions being held in near by parishes listed on virtus website. If you have any questions, please contact Director of Religious Education,Sr. Jeslin, CMC.

SYRO MALABAR HOLY FIRE DVD LIBRARY

Syro Malabar Holy fire DVD Library will reopen on 26th Aug. after summer vacation. The Library carries a huge selection of Christian inspirational videos about the lives of saints and bible stories for wholesome family and Christian entertainment. Please take advantage of the opportunity to teach Christian values to our children and grow in faith together. For more information , contact Thomas Alumparambil: 3126365904 Reethu George: 6305485606 Dr. Manju Tennyson: Elsa Nambiaparambil: 8473750658

CCD News: CCD Open house: School open house is on September 09, 2012.Parensts are encouraged to visit class rooms (at 8.00 AM for rst session and 11.15AM for the second session.) and interact with teachers. Parents will assemble in the parish hall in the last 30 minutes of the class (8.30 for the rst session and 11.45 for the second session) to meet the administrative sta of SRE. This a good opportunity to understand more about the vision, mission and policies of the school; and clarify any questions you may have. Protecting Gods children seminar and training for CCD teachers and sta is on September 14 (Friday) or September 15 (Saturday) Its mandatory for teachers to attend the class (those who didnt attend the class in the previous years). Please contact the school administration for registration and other information. Treachers In-service Orientation on Saturday October 06, 2012 from 9.00 AM to 5.00 PM: Speaker: Rv. Fr. Dr. Antony Narikulam, Rector of Aluva Ponti cal Seminary. Please plan to attend this training.

MARTHOMA SLEEHA SYRO MALABAR CATHEDRAL

MARTHOMA SLEEHA SYRO MALABAR CATHEDRAL

MARTHOMA SLEEHA SYRO MALABAR CATHEDRAL

MARTHOMA SLEEHA SYRO MALABAR CATHEDRAL