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

Dear Parishioners,

1. Holy Qurbana Schedule

Sunday:

8:30 am: Holy Qurbana in Malayalam and CCD

10:30 am, Holy Qurbana in English

Weekdays:-

Tuesday trough Thursday: Holy Qurbana at 8:30 am.

Friday: Eucharistic adoration from 6:00 pm to 6:50 pm, followed by St. Jude's Novena and Holy Qurbana. Confessions from 5:pm - 6:45 pm.

Saturday: Holy Qurbana at 8:30 am, followed by the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

2. January 2024 Updates

• Requesting your prayers for the election of a new Major Archbishop for our Syro Malabar church.  Per Bishop Sebastian Vaniyapurackal's circular request forwarding the prayer in English and Malayalam. Please include this intention in your daily family prayers.
  Please click the link to view prayer in English and in Malayalam
• Those who are interested to sponsor St. Sebastian's feast, please contact Achan.
• There will be a retreat for middle school and high school students on March 2nd and 3rd Saturday, Sunday, led by Fr. Melvin Mangalath, Chicago Youth Director, and his team. Please mark your calenders and plan to attend.
• Join us for a transformative one-day Catholic Marriage enrichment conference tailored for young couples! Experience a day of enrichment in faith, marriage and parenting at our Church on Saturday, April 27, 2024, from 8am to 5pm. For details and registration, click the link: Together in Christ.
• On Sunday, January 14,there will be a second collection to support the Syro Malabar Missions. Kindly support.
• There will be a Safe Environment Training Program scheduled for January 14th,Sunday, at 10:00am. All new Parish Council members, IPSF team, as well as individuals interested in volunteering at the church are to attend this training session. Please contact Jins Mathew (972) 953-6368, Libby Varghese (214) 289-1733.
• On Sunday, January 14, there will be a parish council meeting.
• On Sunday, January 21,at 10:15am, there will be an Annual General Body Meeting/Poduyogam to approve 2023 accounts. The 2023 accounts will be presented, and then transitioned to the new Parish Council Trustees. Please note, there will be only one Holy Qurbana at 08:30am, no CCD or 10:30am Holy Qurbana.
• Those who wish to join our altar servers, please contact Joshy Varghese: (214) 912-2445.
• Our Diocese is implementing a unified accounting system in all its parishes, per USCCB requirement, starting January 1,2024. Hence, we- will be using Parish On Net and Quick Books software. Kuriachen Mannanal, Tomy Nelluvelil & Boby Johnson have attended the training program.
• Tomy Kallarackal is in India. We would like to express gratitude to Cyriac Thomas CPA for leading the church accounts, along with Boby Johnson, Jibin Giji and Don Joseph.
• We would like to express our gratitude to Tomy Kallarackal for assisting with the church accounts since February 2023.
• Boby Johnson has been appointed as the parish accountant starting January 1,2024.
• For year-end financial statements, please contact Trustees.
• Those who have not received Chicago Diocese Bishop's Appeal envelope, please get it from the Trustee's office. Kindly cooperate. 
• If you choose to make church payments via Zelle, please email to payst.thomasgarland@gmail.com. In the email, include the purpose of the payment and your parish account number. This information will assist in identifying your payment and streamline the accounting process. 

3. Upcoming Events 

• Marriage Prep Courses: Fr. John Melepuram, Diocesan Family Apostolate Director - (215) 808-4052.
  
  • March 15th - 17th, 2024 in Dallas. For more details, please contact:
  • Jokutty & Nancy: (214) 507-9892.
  • Please click the link for details on all upcoming Marriage Preparation courses for 2024

• For individuals seeking registered marriage, either here or in India for visa purposes, it is necessary to obtain prior approval from the Bishop of the diocese as per the Bishop's Synod directive. Please contact your vicar.

• Mark your calendars for the 2024 Lenten retreat on March 22nd,23rd,and 24th. Fr. Sunil Aenekatt VC from Divine Mercy Healing Center in New Jersey will be leading the retreat.

4. IPSF 2024: Inter Parish Sports Festival

• IPSF 2024 in Houston: Mr. Cherian Churanadu and Mrs.Biji Edward have been appointed as coordinators for IPSF.
• There is an IPSF sign-up sheet in the Narthex for volunteering.

5. Eucharistic Revival Updates

      To view the monthly Newsletter and Zoom meeting link, please click here.

6. Safe Environment Updates

7. Additional Church related information

Mathru Jyothis, Senior Ministry, Adult Bible Study, Prayer Ministry, Church and Hall Bookings, Sacraments for home bound, donation and payments etc. Please click the link to view additional church information

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