Thanksgiving Mass celebration by Gujarati Catholic Samaj of USA on Sunday, December 07, 2014.

A Thanksgiving mass was celebrated on Sunday, December 07, 2014 in a beautiful church Sts. Joseph & Michael Parish in Union City, NJ Organized by Gujarati Catholic Samaj of USA. The liturgy was well-attended by the members and well-wishers. The mass was celebrated in Gujarati by Fr. Jeba Malai with concelebrant Fr. Savari Nathan and small army of altar servers. “God is good all the time” and we have to be thankful for that. Fr. Jeba began his homily by expressing the importance of thanks to God and to each other. A special thanks was recognized for Mrs. Marthaben and Mr. Linus Taylor for their sickness and recovery. Then Fr. Jeba continued with his homily focusing on the preparation for our savior. ‘Prepare in the desert a way for Yahweh. Make a straight highway for our God across the wastelands’. ‘Go up on a high mountain, messenger of Zion. Shout as loud as you can, messenger of Jerusalem! Shout fearlessly, say to the towns of Judah, ‘Here is your God.’ the first reading says form Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11. He explained the theme with three levels:

THEME : REPENT AND RETURN TO THE LORD

Repentance at three levels….

FIRST : Repentance leads one to Self-realization. Who I am and What I am ?

SECOND : Repentance leads one to Humility. Asking for forgiveness from one another with humility. ‘ I am SORRY ’

THIRD : Repentance leads one to say ‘ I am a SINNER  that I have SINNED ’. When we seek for forgiveness, God says ‘ your sins are forgiven, Sin NO MORE ’.

During this Season of ADVENT, John the Baptist invites all of us to ‘ CHANGE OUR LIVES ’

This could mean……. Our attitude, our relationship {husband and wife, parents and children….} our life….. the way we speak, the way we do, the way we treat others, the way we relate, the way we pray, the way we forgive, the way we prepare for His coming and the way we live our Catholic Faith.

John the Baptist was proclaiming in the wilderness ‘ PREPARE A WAY FOR THE LORD’ He proclaimed and lived that MESSAGE which he preached. So, if you want see the change in others or in the Society, YOU BE THE CHANGE. Any change takes place within NOT without. So, try to change your lives that the Lord might find  a place in your hearts and in your lives when He comes on the day of CHRISTMAS.

The choir was good and all the hymns were nicely selected as per the occasion of thanksgiving and preparation of God’s coming. GCSofUSA is thankful to Sr. Ruth Bolarte, Director of Multi-cultural Ministry, Metuchen for her support and presence in all the events. There was a get-together after the mass in the church hall. The Pastor of this church Fr. Aro Nathan also joined after his commitment to celebrate a mass at some other place. All three priest were asked to take the podium where they were greeted with flowers. During their speech they conveyed their happiness in providing the spiritual leadership and congratulated the leadership for organizing such a meaningful event. The dinner was sponsored by Rita and Kirit Jakaria which was enjoyed by all present.

The Pastor Fr. Aro Nathan invited the carol group of Gujarati Catholic Samaj of USA to make a stop at his church and spend an half hour on next Saturday. Everybody left with full of joy with the theme in mind to prepare and welcome our Lord and savior Jesus Christ.