A Word From The Pastor
St. Matthew, the Apostle of Christ: Little is known about St. Matthew, except that he was the son of Alpheus, and he was likely born in Galilee. He worked as a tax collector, which was a hated profession during the time of Christ. According to the Gospel, Matthew was working at a collection booth in Capernaum when Christ came to him and asked, "Follow me." With this simple call, Matthew became a disciple of Christ. From Matthew we know of the many doings of Christ and the message Christ spread of salvation for all people who come to God through Him. Nothing is recorded of Matthew's passing. Not sure if his death was natural or if he was martyred. Matthew was a tax collector and is therefore the patron saint of bankers. The Church established St. Matthew's feast day as September 21.O Glorious St. Matthew, in your Gospel you portray Jesus as the longed-for Messiah who fulfilled the Prophets of the Old Covenant and as the new Lawgiver who founded a Church of the New Covenant. Obtain for us the grace to see Jesus living in his Church and to follow his teachings in our lives on earth so that we may live forever with him in heaven.
Stone and Sand: Once two friends were walking though the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand; Today my best friend slapped me in the face. They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone; today my best friend saved my life. The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him; After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why? The other friend replied; "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.
Present Status of our Church: Our parish, Precious Blood is a very active and close bonded parish. A few days ago, I went through the list of our members at Precious Blood. Presently we have 330 families and I recognized 300 families which means they attend Church here at Precious Blood and I know them. That is a very good percentage of attendance or in other words its wonderful to see that 300 out of 330 families are active in this parish. We have 200 families that monetarily contributes for the growth and work of the parish and our Catholic schools. I urge the other 130 families to start contributing by giving a little bit, no matter how small it is. Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return. Luke 6:38
Football Game: On Sunday morning a man showed up at Church with both of his ears terribly blistered. So, his pastor asked, "What happened to you Jim?" "I was lying on the couch watching a ball game on TV while my wife was ironing nearby. I was totally engrossed in the game when she went out, leaving the iron near the phone. The phone rang, and keeping my eyes on the TV, I grabbed the hot iron and put it to my ear." "How dreadful," gasped the pastor. "But how did the other ear get burned?" "Well, you see, I'd no sooner hung up, the guy called back!"
God’s blessings,
Fr. Suneesh Mathew
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