Weekly Newsletter-December 27, 2022

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

  St. Thomas the Apostle Syro-Malabar Forane Catholic Church

Weekly Announcements,
December 27, 2022

Dear Parishioners,


1. Holy Qurbana

Tuesday to Thursday: Holy Qurbana at 8:30 am
Friday: Adoration and St. Jude Novena at 6:00 pm, followed by Holy Qurbana at 7:00 pm

Saturday: Holy Qurbana at 8:30 am, followed by Novena to our Mother of Perpetual Help

Saturday, December 31st: Eucharistic adoration from 11:00 pm till midnight, then beginning of the New Year prayers followed by Holy Qurbana.

Sunday, January 1st: Only one Holy Qubana at 8:30 am in Malayalam. There will be no 10:30 am Holy Qurbana.


2. December 2022 Highlights

  • Heartfelt thanks to all those who helped with our Christmas celebrations:
    • Crib arrangements: Thanks to Isodore, Bins and Dayon 
    • Christmas tree: Thanks to Janet Josey and team 
    • Christmas lights: Thanks to Joby, Benny and team 
    • Christmas flowers sponsored by: Tony & Anu Pemala, Mary & Michael Kallarackal, Shaju & Alphonsa and Teresa Thomas Kainikkara
    • Thanks to our Reverend Sisters for helping with the Christmas flower arrangements.
    • Thanks to all who participated and arranged for Christmas caroling in each of the wards.
    • Thanks to all the trustees, parish council members, volunteers, altar servers and choir members.
    • Fr. Simmy Thomas Alumchuvattil of the Gorakhpur Diocese U.P is here for 2 weeks to help us during Christmas. Fr. Simmy is doing his pHD in Washington D.C. 
  • Parish Calender: All active members who have not received our parish calender, please plan to pick it up from the church narthex.
  • Annual Diocesan Appeal: We have received envelopes for the Diocesan appeal from our diocese. Please consider supporting our diocese.
  • IPTF Update: Our parish is set to host the regional level IPTF in July, 2023 (14th-16th). All the active members of our parish are encouraged to participate in the Parish level competition and must register before Sunday, January 22, 2023.
  • Didache Course: This is a beautiful opportunity to grow and learn different aspects of our Catholic faith. It is a 2 year online course. Those who are interested, please contact: Silvy Cham, Joel Kuzhippillil or Elizabeth Antony (Deena). Click the link to view the flyer: Didache flyer
  • Donut Sponsors for CCD students: This is a great opportunity to celebrate your CCD child's birthday or any special occasion. There is a sign-up sheet in the parish hall. For a contribution of $200 for one Sunday, you can provide the kids with their favorite donuts. Thanks to all those who have already sponsored.
  • A statement of your charitable contribution to our church until October is available in the church narthex, please take time to pick it up. Thanks to Cyriac for putting together the statements. Clarification regarding financial statements: The church does not use any money from funds from Mission Sunday, Good Friday and Holy Thursday collections, St. Vincent De Paul society funds, Mathru Jyothis funds, senior citizen funds or disaster relief funds for daily expenses. Hence, the financial statement will not reflect money given to these funds. Our church has $25,500.00 typically in monthly expenses. Please consider the  expenses when you make your monthly donations. The minimum suggested donation per family is $100/month and for those who have retired, the suggested donation is $50/month.
  • Parishon.net: Per our diocese's recommendation, we are going to implement a new software portal called "Parishon.net" in 2023 for all our parish needs such as accounting, records management, letters, payments, etc. Tomichen Kallarackal (Thomas P. Thomas) has agreed to help in 2023 for accounting. Bobby Johnson has agreed to work on Parishon.net along with Parish Council member Raju Kattady and others; Elsa Rajo, Jilly Olickal, Jeevan James and Jibin Gigi will assist with data collection for Parishon.net.
  • Our present accountant, Cyriac Thomas will render any help he can provide till March, 2023. Parish council members will be helping with the implementation, but we will need more volunteers to support this software. Those who are interested to volunteer, please contact achan at the earliest as we are planning to start in January, 2023.


3. IPTF Updates:

  • Our parish is set to host the regional level IPTF in July, 2023 (14th-16th).
  • The General Coordinator will be Charly Angadicheril along with the Assistant Coordinators, Jeevan James & Janet Josey. Parish level Coordinators are Raju Kattady and Sherly Shaji.

Key Dates:

IPTF Talent Scan 2023 will be held over two weekends:

January 28th (Saturday) and January 29th (Sunday)

February 4th (Saturday) and February 5th (Sunday)

Registration:


4. 2023 Highlights

  • Bible Study on Saturday, January 7, 2023: Our adult Bible Study group will have their prayer meeting from 9:30 am till 3:00 pm. 
  • Youth camp will be held from March 10th - 13th, 2023 at 576 Sabine Creek Ranch, Royse City, TX 75189. Please mark your calendars.
  • Lenten Retreat will be led by Fr. Mathew Asariparambil for all parishioners from March 24th - 26th. Please plan to attend and get enriched spiritually.
  • First Holy Communion will be held on Saturday, May 13th, 2023, which will be presided by Bishop Emeritus Jacob Angadiath. Parents, please mark your calendars.
  • Dei Verbum Diocesan Bible Quiz: The Semi-Finals for the Dei Verbum Diocesan Bible Quiz will be held on Saturday, February 11th, 2023. Finals will be held on Saturday, May 20th, 2023.
  • Inter Parish Talent Fest (IPTF): Our parish is set to host IPTF in July, 2023 (14th-16th). 
  • Pilgrimage:

    1. Guadalupe, Mexico City from February 15th - 18th.

    2. Holy Land, Jordan, Israel and Egypt from April 16th - 28th.

    3. Footsteps of St. Paul (Greece and Turkey) from April 30th to May 14th.

    4. East Europe and Medjugorje from May 19th - 31st. 

    A Catholic priest will be accompanying each pilgrimage. Contact person: Mathew Thomas (Jose) at (214) 714-0833.


5. Safe Environment Weekly News: Healing from Childhood Trauma - Practical applications

When interacting with a child who may have experienced trauma (events that are frightening, dangerous or violent for the child, or a loved one, since a child's understanding of safety depends on the safety of their caregivers) it is important to take a multi step approach described in the attached link. Click to read this week's article: Healing from Childhood trauma


6. Housekeeping Updates

Please refrain from stapling or sticking any flyers on parish hall walls or glass doors. We expect your understanding in this matter.


7. The 3rd Diocesan Dei Verbum Competition (Bible quiz)

For details, click the link: Dei Verbum Bible Quiz 2023


8. The Sacrament of Marriage

Young adults planning to get married, please register for the Marriage Preparation Course.


Please email familyapostolate.chicago@gmail.com for the registration.

For more details, please contact:
familyapostolate.chicago@gmail.com

Fr. Paul Chalissery (919) 749-7175
Mr. Jose Prakash (954) 540-7286

Those who are planning to get married need to contact achan at least 6 months before the marriage, especially if either party belongs to a non-Catholic Christian Community.


9. Mathru Jyothis

All mothers are welcome to help and support this ministry. To help with Mathru Jyothis activities, please contact:

Lisa Kochuparambil: (214) 336-4340

Sherly Shaji: (214) 287-2051

Enat Earnest: (469) 688-0201

Ancy Mathew: (972) 953-6369


10. Parish Hall Repair and Renovation Updates

As per the decisions made during the General Body meeting on July 24th, the following areas of work have been thus far repaired and renovated:

  • Parish Hall exterior and interior painting
  • Roof leak repair
  • Kitchen remodeling
  • Restrooms repair (both upstairs and downstairs)

Work began on Monday, August 22nd. To help fund the cost of this project, each family is encouraged to give $500. Please write in the memo “Parish hall repair”. We need your prayers and financial support. 


11. Adult Bible Study

Adult Bible study classes have resumed after a brief pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now being held every Sunday after the 10:30 am Holy Qurbana in the CCD classroom, which is led by Mr. Mathew (Mathew Sir). Everyone is encouraged to participate.


12. Senior's Ministry

The Seniors' Ministry have resumed their activities. Anyone who is 55 years old and above are welcome to join this ministry. Please contact James Thomas at (214) 991-7640, Jokutty (214) 507-9892, Elcy Philip (214) 418-3431 or Annamma Paul (214) 802-3386.


13. Sacrament of Holy Communion and Confession for the Home Bound

The Sacrament of Holy Communion and Confession are available for those parishioners who would like to receive, but are unable to attend mass due to injury, illness or advanced age. Please put in a written request in the log book kept in the trustee's parish office.


14. House blessings, Baptism & Marriage Information

If you are interested in scheduling a Baptism, Marriage, House blessing or would like to get a certificate/letter, please put in a written request in the log book kept in the trustee's office. Please include the date, time of request, your address, and phone number.


15. Access to Church, Parish Hall, CCD Rooms & Founder's Building

To access/use the Church, Parish Hall, CCD Rooms or the Founder's Building, please put in a written request in the log book kept in the trustee's office. Please include the date, time of request, your address, and phone number.


16. Include Registration Number to write checks to the church

Please include your church registration number in the check as part of the memo when you write checks to the church. The registration number for your family is available in the October 2021 statement that was sent to you. If you still do not know your registration number, please contact James achan or the trustees.


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. 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


Church Main Office (972) 240-1100

Kaikkarans (Trustees):
Jimmy Mathew (972) 951-7304
Charly Angadicheril (817) 296-8255
Tomy Joseph (469) 951-6639
Jeevan James (972) 375-8763

Parish Council Secretary & Asst. Secretary:
Molly Varghese (214) 912-7663
Janet Josey (Asst. Secretary) (551) 482-5529

Liturgy Coordinator:
Jose Paul (972) 589-0434

Parish Vicar:
Fr. James Nirappel (443) 414-2250

Copyright © 2021 St. Thomas the Apostle Syro-Malabar Forane Catholic Church,
4922 Rosehill Road, Garland, Texas 75043. All rights reserved.
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