GIVE THEM ALL TO JESUS - EVIE

A wonderful song - Give all your troubles to Jesus and He will turn your sorrows into joy...

FAREWELL STEVE JOBS...

Found these two interesting tributes to the man who showed us that 'A' for apple does not only refer to the 'blessed fruit' that caused 'original sin'.

So to all users of the 'I' series (I-mac, I-pad, I-phone, I-pod) Remember: you may have lost a great mind on earth but God is the richer for that...

ANNA MARIA BIANCHI

I received today some sad news - the passing away of Anna Maria Bianchi (seen in the picture holding her niece Maria Eleonora) - one of my good friends from Maccio in Italy. She was the niece of Fr. Mario Bianchi, one of the Salesian missionaries in North-east India. She always had a special place in her heart for Shillong and the people of the North-east where her uncle had laboured so valiantly. She had fought a long battle with cancer for five years. Here is the letter sent to her relative Cristina Vimercati...

Dear Cristina

Thank you for so promptly informing me of the sad demise of dear Anna Maria.

My heartfelt sympathies to all of you her relatives and friends who will miss so much her kind and caring ways. I am sure the Lord will take her to Himself with great joy seeing that she was truly his messenger of peace and joy to people. She has gone home on the Feast of the Guardian Angels perhaps because she was sent as an angel, a messenger of God's love to all of us...maybe also to teach us to care for and to love one another.

As you mentioned she fought the good fight against cancer and she won the battle with her spirit of serenity and calmness in the midst of much pain and hardship. That can be considered a grace from the Lord who surely accompanied her in moments of discouragement and difficulty. The birth of Maria Eleanora and Giulia surely brought her great joy and we could consider that as the Lord's reward for all her sacrifice on behalf of your family.

I have benefited much from her kindness in the years I would come to Maccio (2002-2006). She was a great source of encouragement and a generous benefactor...She always had something interesting to say about the faith, about the Church and about the mission...I have been enriched in many ways by knowing her.

I will offer a special mass for her tomorrow - another wonderful feast when the Catholic Church recalls the Poverello of Assisi - Francesco - who transformed the Church by his simplicity and holiness. Anna Maria was so like him in many ways.

Please pass on my condolences and sympathies to Peppino and Alfonsina, and to all the members of your family. The people of Shillong have lost a great support on earth but I am sure Anna Maria will continue to help spiritually the work of the mission and the growth of the faith in North-east India.

With prayers and wishes in this moment of grief,

Don Matthew Coutinho sdb

CREATION OF WOMEN AND MEN

I was interacting with a group of students today and one of the questions they posed was: "Why is God partial to man that he made woman from man and not the other way round?"

Well, I was reminded of these beautiful lines from Matthew Henry that are often quoted in wedding sermons:

Eve was not taken out of Adam's head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, from under his arm to be protected by him, and from near his heart to be loved by him.

And then again what came to my mind was the quip of a woman libber made some years ago:

God first created man...Then he said: "I can do better!". Then he created woman and it was so.

Yes, we are created equal - men and women - and we must live that out as a reality. And as the image above shows we can make one heart to love all humanity...

AN EXTRACT OF MY DOCTORAL THESIS

Five years after defending my doctoral thesis at the Alfonsianum (Rome) I have had the extract printed here in Shillong at Don Bosco Press. They have done a good job at the layout and the quality. Thanks to one and all who helped me during the years of my study and then during the years of my teaching...God bless you all!!!

LEARNING FROM SNAILS

One fine beautiful morning, a chirpy sparrow flew out of his cozy nest and sat near the apple tree. As he surveyed the world around him, his eyes fell on a small snail. The little snail unaware of anyone watching him, was painstakingly trying to climb the tree. The sparrow flapped his wings to catch the snail’s attention but in vain.

Then in a sarcastic tone he said. “Don’t you know, friend that it is not the season for apples?”

The snail replied.“True, my dear friend, but it will be, by the time I get there."

And the little snail continued his effort in climbing the tree.

(From the assembly of Dominic Savio High School, Andheri)

WHERE GOOD IDEAS COME FROM by Steven Johnson

Lovely presentation of the source of good ideas...(Thanks Glenn!!!)