Weekly Announcements: St. Thomas the Apostle Syro Malabar Forane Catholic Church
4922 Rosehill Rd, Garland, Texas, 75043

Dear Member,

Weekly Announcements from St. Thomas the Apostle Syro Malabar Forane Catholic Church, Dallas, Texas.

1. Appreciation for medical and paramedical professionals 

The medical and paramedical professionals of our parish who have been serving our community during the Covid-19 pandemic were appreciated and honored on November 28th. There was a special blessing during the Holy Qurbana after which there were several speeches and events held in their honor. All the medical and paramedical professionals were recognized with a token of appreciation from James achan and the parish council after which lunch was served. Thanks to Mrs. Mary Joseph, Mrs. Kunjumol Michael, Mrs. Annakutty Kuzhuppallil, Mrs. Mary Purushothaman and Mrs. Annamma Paul for generously sponsoring the raffle drawing gifts. Special appreciation goes to Mrs. Elsy Phillip, Mr. Jerin Thenayan, Mr. Mathew Mannanal, Mr. Boby Johnson and everyone else who coordinated and helped make this event a success.

2. Youth Thanksgiving Potluck

Our high school CCD students and young adults will be hosting their annual Thanksgiving potluck on December 4th. For details, please contact Andrew Mathew or Jiben Gigi.

3. Immaculate Conception of Our Lady

We will be celebrating the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady on Wednesday, December 8th.

Holy Qurbana will be at 7:00 pm on Wednesday.

4. Our 10 year Church Consecration Anniversary Celebration

Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath will be celebrating Holy Qurbana at our parish on Sunday, December 12th as a celebration for the 10th year anniversary of our church consecration. We will be also inviting previous parish priests to celebrate with us. The Parish council requests each family of our parish to contribute $25 or more if possible, to help support and make this celebration a success. Please bring the appropriate contribution to the Holy Qurbana this Sunday, December 5th.

The couples who are celebrating 25, 40 and 50 years of wedding anniversaries will also be recognized on this day. The names of the couples are published in the Narthex. We request all the celebrating couples to be at the Holy Qurbana that day. If there are any corrections needed for the names, please contact James achan.

40th Wedding Anniversary:

1. Alex and Rose Kainikara - June 21st, 1981
2. Kuncheria and Mariamma Kainikara - June 18th, 1981

5. Christmas Carol 2021

This year, due to the current pandemic situation, Christmas carols will be held for those families that specifically request for caroling to come to their home. Please reach out to your respective ward members and coordinate appropriately.

6. St. Vincent de Paul Society: 2021 Annual Christmas Charity Raffle

The Annual Christmas Charity Raffle is the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s main fundraising opportunity. SVDP members are requesting all parishioners to provide their whole hearted support to make our 2021 Charity Raffle a grand success. Please help this year’s raffle as business sponsors, individual sponsors or by buying one or more raffle books.

7. 2021 Annual Pledge

The letter with your year to date contributions to the church was sent earlier this month. If you haven't received it, please contact the Trustees. If your spouse's name is missing in the statement, please contact the parish office. If you are not registered in our church, you will not be receiving a statement. Please contact James achan to register.

Please give your annual pledge or yearly contributions to the church by the end of December. Even if you haven't pledged this year, please send your contribution. The church has monthly expenses which include a bank loan, utility bills, maintenance costs (church, parish hall, rectory and surroundings), clergy expenses and insurance. In order for us to meet these expenses, a monthly contribution of $100 per registered family is humbly requested. If you have any financial difficulty in contributing, feel free to contact James achan.

8. Annual Diocesan Appeal

The Annual Diocesan Appeal envelopes received from the Diocese of Chicago were distributed. The Annual Diocesan Appeal provides essential operating funds that will directly impact the lives of people throughout the diocese with programs, services and ministries that reach beyond the scope of any individual parish. This can only be made possible by the collective contributions from the faithful. Please contribute to the best of your abilities.

9. In-person CCD starting on Sunday, January 9th

CCD will be in-person (in the parish hall) starting on Sunday, January 9th, 2022.

10. Solemn First Holy Communion on April 30th

Next year's solemn First Holy Communion will be celebrated on April 30th, 2022.

11. Ecumenical Christmas Carol

The 2021 Ecumenical Christmas carol will be on Saturday, December 4th at 5 pm at the CSI Congregation of Dallas in Garland. Those who are interested to participate, please contact Mr. Vincent Valiaveetil.

12. Parish Hall Police Monitoring during events

The safety of hosts and participants during the events in the parish hall was discussed during the Parish Council meetings on August 15th and October 10th. Based on the discussion, there will be police monitoring during events.

13. Dei-Verbum (Diocesan Bible Quiz) - Coordinators

Dei-Verbum Details

Dei-Verbum Flyer

Dei-Verbum Registration

14. Inter Parish Sports Festival 2022

The registration for IPSF has begun. Please register at the link below:

http://ipsf.syromalabarchurchdallas.org/

If anyone would like to sponsor one of our St. Thomas teams, please contact the coordinators, Mr. Binish Mathew and Mrs. Tessy Thomas. Our parishioners could definitely use all the encouragement and support from our church. 

15. Marriage Preparation Course (Pre-Cana) 2021

This year's last Pre-Marriage Course will be from Friday, December 10th - Sunday, December 12th.

For more details, please send an email to familyapostolate.chicago@gmail.com

Contact:

Fr. Paul Chalissery (919) 749-7175

Mr. Jose Prakash (954) 540-7286

16. Sunday Holy Qurbana Schedule - 8:30 am and 10:30 am Holy Qurbanas will be live streamed

During this Covid-19 pandemic, there will be an additional Holy Qurbana on Sundays at 7:00 am.

Sunday Holy Qurbana Schedule:

8:30 am: Holy Qurbana in Malayalam

10:30 am: Holy Qurbana in English

8:30 am and 10:30 am Holy Qurbanas will be live streamed.

Note: Those attending Holy Qurbana are required to follow social distancing guidelines, wear masks and sanitize their hands inside the church.

17. Church Bookings

For church bookings, non-parishioners will be able to book the church 12 months in advance of their event date based on availability. Parishioners on the other hand will be able to book any time prior to their event based on availability.

18. Address, Phone number or Email Change

If your address has changed, please contact your ward Representatives/Secretary/Trustees/Parish Vicar via text message or email to change the address in the church database.

If your phone number/email or spouse's phone number/email changes, please provide the new contact information to update the church directory.

Emails: Vicar@syromalabarchurchdallas.org, trustee@syromalabarchurchdallas.org, secretary@syromalabarchurchdallas.org

19. Year of St. Joseph from Dec. 8th, 2020 - Dec. 8th, 2021

Pope Francis announced a special year dedicated to St. Joseph starting from December 8, 2020 until December 8, 2021, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of St. Joseph as the Patron of the Universal Church, as well as the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady.

20. Prayer Ministry

If you have a prayer request, please contact the prayer ministry leaders, Mary and Michael Kallarackal at (201) 563-0727. Everyone is welcome to join the prayer ministry and also to be part of the intercessory prayer sessions. Please contact the prayer ministry leaders if you would like to join the ministry.

God Bless You.
Fr. James Nirappel