HOPE 2025 SEES GLOBAL PEACE!
WHILST we all celebrate the festive season and as we gear up to herald in 2025, my thanks to almighty God for having guided and accompanied me throughout the year. I am so very indebted to all my teachers who from my school days to my law degree have so patiently enriched me with all that wealth of knowledge.
My gratitude also to my dear friends across the world for all their prayers, love and support. It has been another hectic year with so much happening while am looking forward to the New Year with added hope and optimism. The world today is a global village, and wherever I may be, my love for Goa can never shrink with my roots deeply entrenched in my birthplace, Ribandar.
May I personally wish you all the peace and happiness during this joyous season and all the very best in 2025, your best year yet. Let us also hope that in the New Year there will be concerted efforts to ensure that peace prevails in those countries that are currently embroiled in war and so sadly witnessing a heart-breaking massacre of innocent lives.
–Aires Rodrigues, London
END OF AN ERA….
FORMER prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has passed away. He was the father of Indian economic reforms and liberalisation which changed the face of India. May his soul rest in eternal peace. He did a lot for India and changed its face for the better and could have done more if he had been given a more free hand.
–Vladimir De Monte Furtado
CHRISTMAS 2024
THE Christmas season begins after the sunset of December 24 and ends on the Feast of Epiphany in January. The centre and focus of Christmas is definitely not Santa Claus, crib, Christmas, carols, Wise Men (magi), angels, shepherds and sheep, donkeys and cattle, Christmas tree, Christmas cards and greetings, Christmas plays, decorations and ornaments, Christmas wreaths, Christmas reindeers, Christmas sweets and pastries, gifts, Christmas bells, Christmas candles, dinner and drinks, new clothes, singing and dance, Christmas plants and flowers, Christmas customs. And many other things.
Jesus Christ is the centre and focus of Christmas. Without Jesus all the above are meaningless external things and rituals combined with pomp and show. These secondary and tertiary things have either replaced or side tracked Jesus at the centre of the Christmas festival. Unfortunately, the meaningful Christmas festival, without Jesus, has become a highly commercialized hedonistic activity.
The nativity of Jesus reminds us of Bethlehe as the place of his birth. Calvary in Jerusalem is his place of death and resurrection. Christmas and Easter are the two sides of the same coin of the life of Jesus. Nativity reminds of the joy of his birth. Calvary reminds of his glory after passion and death on the cross. The nativity of Jesus brings joy and Easter brings meaning and hope in our lives.
As we celebrate Christmas, let us remember 3L (least, last, lost); friends of 3L who support this mission; orphans, poor widows, marginalized people, refugees, displaced people, people affected by wars, violence, discrimination, and injustice, bedridden sick people, lonely and elderly senior citizens, unjustly convicted prisoners, victims of addictions, bonded labourers, and all those longing for justice, peace , joy and meaning in their lives.
On behalf of 3L students and their families, I wish you and your family members a grace filled joyful CHRISTMAS. I pray that Jesus who came to redeem the world, fill your heart and home with his divine presence, blessings, peace and joy.
–Pratapananda Naik, SJ
IMMENSE LOSS
THE demise of Dr Manmohan Singhji hs left us with an immense sense of loss and mourning. Especially since hismature, democratic leadership set such an example for all of us. To celebrate his life and share our experience of him I invie everyone to join us on democratic dialogues on Sundy, at 6.30pm while we talk about, discuss and celebrate his life and him as the stellar leader he was.
Anybody is free to join the live broadcast and speak, share their perspective and experience about Dr Manmohan Singh ji. Please inbox or message me in advance, so I can share the link with you to join the studio Sunday, Dec 29, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/3x5Egrqcv1wzAhjv/
–Devsurabhee Yaduvanshi, Goa