THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH INC

Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6

THE PARISH WISHES

YOU A MERRY
CHRISTMAS AND BLESSED
YEAR AHEAD. GOD BLESS YOU.

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THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH INC

Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

PARISH MESSENGER

FROM THE VICARS DESK

Dearly beloved in Christ

For many of us the motto in life is I need to be always in the centre of the universe. To be
in the centre of the universe, I always need to be in the limelight or to be the centre of
attraction. This is becoming very rampant in the life style of many individuals. These are the
kind of people who want to be the baby during the baptism, the bride during the wedding,
and the dead body during the funeral service wanting everybodys attention on
themselves. This kind of behaviour and goal shows hard and painful truth about how certain
people today are concerned only about their image, their position, popularity and their
prospects. People who are willing to go to any extend, willing to do the most heinous acts or
stoop down to any derogatory level as long as they are able to achieve fame, position,
money and popularity that will boost their ego, even if it means trampling on the feelings and
privacy of others.

This advent season, as we celebrate the birth of our Lord, one of the important changes that
we all could do is to consciously crucify ourselves, crucify the sadistic desire for fame and
popularity and consciously create a life style that is centred on others than us. In St. Mathew
2:26-18 where we find the character of Herod who display similar qualities. A person who
was an egomaniac, who was only concerned about his fame and popularity and moreover
someone who wanted to hang on to power either through hook or crook. When he hears the
news about the birth of a baby boy who would be the future king, he is very cool and
calculative, and schemes the devilish plan to hold on to power and kingdom the devilish
act of exterminating infants. A king who is worried about infants, a king who feels threatened
by birth of infants, goes to the cruel extend of murdering hundreds of infants, with the evil
intention that he needs to be king for the rest of his life and have absolute power throughout
his life. As someone said Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Looking into our world I think we have lots of modern day Herod-s. The mad craze of power,
fame and popularity transcends language, culture and religious barriers. I think we are
sometimes more horrifying and hypocritical than Herod. Herod publicly acknowledged that
he will not submit to the authority of the King that was born Jesus
Christ, but we Christians who claim loyalty and commitment to our
Lord have the subtlest way to keep the Lord away from our life and the baby during the
focus all out attention, authority and power on ourselves. Though we baptism, the bride during
claim verbally that Jesus is the Lord of our life, our actions show that the wedding, and the
it is only I who is the lord of my life and I will not allow anyone to dead body during the
funeral service
control me neither will I submit or humble myself to another.

This Christmas let us remove from our life the attitude of Herod,
where life is not all about fame and popularity. Life is not about
trying all the means to keep ourselves on the centre of the
universe and attraction. It is when we learn to crucify
ourselves, learn to humble ourselves, that our Lord is truly born
in us and He becomes the Lord of our lives. Merry Christmas!

With prayers.

Biju Achen

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THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH INC

Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

CHURCH SERVICE & AREA ACOLYTES

1st Lesson

2nd Lesson

Epistle

Prayer
Group

Date

Theme

06 Dec 2015
(Worship
Service)

Word of God
Inspired to Inspire Bible Sunday

1 King.
19:1-21

Rev. 10:1-11

Gal. 1:11-17 Murdoch

13 Dec 2015
(English)

Annunciation to
Joseph

Isa. 40:1-11

Acts.
20:17-25

Phil. 4:4-9

20 Dec 2015
(Malayalam)

Sunday before
Christmas - Our
Lord Comes

Isa. 11:1-10

1 John.
5:1-12

Joondalup &
North of
Rom. 1:8-16
River
(combined)

25 Dec 2015
(English)

Yaldo - Feast of
Nativity - A New
Dawn

Micah. 5:1-9

Col. 1:15-20

1 Tim.
1:14-17

Canning
Vale

27 Dec 2015
(English)

Our Lord is Coming

Again

Zech. 14:1-5

Col. 1:6-11

1 Thes.
4:13-18

Willetton

31 Dec 2015
(English)

Year Ending Watch Night

Service

1 Sam.
7:5-17

Heb. 13:7-21

1 Pet.
5:6-11

Murdoch

03 Jan 2016
(Malayalam)

TBC

TBC

TBC

TBC

Fremantle

Fremantle

AREA PRAYER GROUP MEETINGS - December 2015

Area Prayer Group

Date & Time

Venue (residence of)

Representative

Canning Vale

No prayer meeting

Mr Cibu Jacob

Fremantle

No prayer meeting

Mr Aby Mathew

Joondalup

No prayer meeting

Mr Soney Titus

Murdoch

No prayer meeting

Mr Kurian Parayil

North of River

No prayer meeting

Mrs Binsu Abraham

Willetton

No prayer meeting

Mr Mathews Philip

SERVICES
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THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH INC

Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

MONTHLY PROGRAM SCHEDULE

DATE

SUNDAY SCHOOL

HOLY COMMUNION SERVICE

06 December 2015

Closed

08:00AM - Worship Service

13 December 2015

Closed

08:00AM - English Service

20 December 2015

Closed

08:00AM - Malayalam Service

25 December 2015

06:30AM - English Service

27 December 2015

Closed

08:00AM - English Service

31 December 2015

10:00PM - Watchnight Service

PRAYER POINTS
Pray for Your guidance, wisdom and finances as we embark on proposals for
buying a plot to build a worship place;
Pray for the families who are affected by the recent job redundancies and Lord
bless their efforts in seeking employment;
Pray all the families and members preparing for travel during the school holidays;
Pray for Almightys abundant blessing in the new year;
Pray for the arrangements of the house carolling, Parish Carol service and
Christmas services, so that these services will help to bring the real joy of
Christmas to the hearts of our people;
Pray that the new year will be a blessing for the Parish and for its members; and
Pray for the young families in our Parish and the recently married couples.

NEWS
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THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH INC

Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

SABHA MANDALAM 2015

I was privileged to attend the Sabha Mandalam held at Thiuvella from September 1
to 3, 2015. It is the yearly assembly of the whole church members representing
Marthoma parishes all over the world.
The first day meeting started with a hymn and prayer. Rev. Dr.Hielke Walters, the
associate General Secretary of the World Council of Churches led the devotion and
gave the message. He referred to the contribution the Marthoma church has made to
strengthen WCC through our bishops, from time to time and thro Dr. M.M. Thomas, a
great theologian who served as its moderator.
Of a total of 1457 mandalam members 70% were present when the meeting started.
Faith and Witness in the Public Space was the topic of Study this year. Rev. Hielke
stressed the need for continued transformation in this area. Deep devotion and true
worship to take us closer to God; and only then can we go out to serve and witness in the
world that is the public space.
Then, the Metropolitan, Most Rev. Joseph Marthoma welcomed the assembly ; all the
bishops sitting on the stage, the clergy and the mandalam members sitting in their
assigned places allotted for the 13 Diocese. Thirumeni detailed the socio-political
cultural deterioration in the universe with particular reference to India and Kerala and
how it affects our church and its functions. Also what the church is doing to rehabilitate
the people who are affected by liquor , drugs and other maladies and by natural
disasters.
The new Pulatheen [Metropolitans official residence]was consecrated the same day in
the presence of a large crowd of mandalam members , bishops from sister churches and
invitees. The building is mostly finished and will be ready for occupation by the next 3-4
months.
The second day started with holy communion service followed by felicitation of the clergy
retired from active service in the current year. In business session there were questions
about functioning of the different organizations ,institutions , retirement of our bishops ,
salary and pension of the clergy and other relevant matters; discussed and answered.
People who made outstanding achievements and students who excelled in examinations
were given awards.
Last day when the special mandalam was held amendments to constitution were
discussed. Then the assembly was closed with prayer and benediction.
Mrs. Mary John
NEWS

Mandalam Member
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THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH INC

Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

YOUTH FELLOWSHIP

Youth Fellowship meets fourth Saturdays of every month at 04:00pm at the

residence of a parish member.

Encourage all youngsters of our parish to participate in the activities of the

Youth Fellowship. For further details, please contact Mr Sujin Soloman
(youth@perthmarthoma.org.au).

SUNDAY SCHOOL
Regular Sunday School on all Sundays before the Holy Communion
Service. Contact: Mrs Babbin Mathews or Mrs Sheba Thomas for further
details (sunday-school@perthmarthoma.org.au) or visit the Sunday School
website (www.school.perthmarthoma.org.au).

EDAVAKA MISSION
Edavaka Mission meets at the residence of a parish member every month.

An intercessory prayer is held on first Friday of every month at the

residence of a parish member. For further details, please contact Mr Joji
Varghese.

PARISH CHOIR
Parish Choir meets for practice every Sunday after the Holy Communion
Service at Murdoch Worship Centre. For further details please contact Mr
Abraham Kurien (choir@perthmarthoma.org.au).

SENIOR CITIZENS FELLOWSHIP

Senior Citizens Fellowship meets fourth Saturdays of every month at
12:00pm at the residence of a parish member. For further details, please
contact Mr J Retnarajan.

SEVIKA SANGHAM
Sevika Sangham meets once every month after the Sunday service.

Encourage all women in our parish to participate in the activities of the

Sevika Sangham. For further details, please contact Mrs Aswathy Joji
(sevika@perthmarthoma.org.au).

MINISTRIES
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THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH INC

Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

PARISH CAMP 2015

A weekend camp weve been planning for a long time happened on October 16th to 18th. It is a
milestone in our journey as a parish going to be ten yrs old very soon. An ideal venue, the
Childrens seaside holiday home in Rockingham had been booked; good enough for our
purpose with large outdoor and indoor space. The rooms , dormitories and verandas moderately
convenient with easy access to toilet facilities. The hall cum dining room with a stage was
suitable for our programmes, worship and other activities. The adjacent kitchen and pantry were
well equipped for our men folk who volunteered to cook and serve all the meals, not an easy
task.
The programme had been charted out and leaders contacted long time back. The
coordinators did a good job.
The theme Life and Witness seemed appropriate . In our day to day busy life, we hardly have
a thought about any thing other than ourselves. So a pause, a retreat from our mundane chores
to find out what is Gods purpose for my life is very important. Stepping back and seeing our
reflection in a mirror [which does not lie] as individuals, as families and as a parish, evaluating
our strength and weakness is very important for growth in the right direction. Both the Speakers
who spelt out the different aspects of the theme, were Syrian Christians from Kerala with the
same background, roots and culture as ours. The challenges we all face as a migrant
community, how amicably we cope, the better opportunities we and our children have in this
land, that we are accountable to God for this and should not take it for granted; it is futile if we
boast about our origin as St.Thomas Christians but do not show it in our life and witness. How do
we fit into a multicultural society, are we inclusive or exclusive? Do we imbibe some good traits
of the people we move with; these were all topics discussed.
The music team with young and adult participants playing instruments, had done their home
work well so the worship times were meaningful . The session on Ayurveda reminded us the
age old healthy life style and to depend on modern medicines discreetly.
The lighter side of the camp was thoroughly enjoyed by every one.
A beach with shallow waters gave the little ones opportunity to wade thro the water as long as
they wished. Young men and women played games running round and using a lot of their
energy, while some others managed to catch few fish which was fried for barbeque. A number of
them went swimming others walking, thanks to the sunny weather.
Expressions of talents by many and the Queen of Sheba who demanded exotic things made all
of us laugh whole heartedly. The evening prayers led by achen reminded us it was bedtime.
Finally, what is the outcome of our family camp, is it mere enjoyment? On a Sunday morning we
see each other in our best clothes and best behaviour; when we lived together for two days, we
got to know each other a little better. Every one young and old contributed to the success of the
camp.
May this experience make us more tolerant, forgiving ,supporting and encouraging towards each
other. We have to go a long way to be truly a worshipping and witnessing community when
others look at us. The positive attitudes that we discussed about should bind us together to
march ahead.
By, Mrs Mary John
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NEWS
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THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH INC

Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

KIDS ONLY
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UR

O
OL

Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

ME

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Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

BIRTHDAY - December 2015

Angela John (2 December)
Dr Lekha George (3 December)
Sharon Joby (3 December)
Joji Varghese (3 December)
Abel Varukunnel Mathews (4 December)
Feaba Mariam (4 December)
Ken Cibu Jacob (4 December)
Kevin Cibu Jacob (4 December)
Simon Mathew (5 December)
Shibu Jacob (7 December)
Sarah John (8 December)
Nancy Philip (10 December)
Annie Jenu Thomas (11 December)
Smitha Jacob (13 December)
Joel Suraj Raja (15 December)
Sarath P Thomas (15 December)
Vitty Jacob (15 December)

Mabel Mathew (16 December)

Reny Elizabeth Mathews (17
December)
Sneha Elizabeth (19 December)
Sharlynn Simon (19 December)
Reemamol Cibu Jacob (20 December)
Asha Susan Titus (20 December)
Alara John (21 December)
Reny Thomas Varkey (21 December)
Allen Anil George (22 December)
Shradha Mariam Shibu (22 December)
Tintu Sara Mathew (23 December)
Jancy Thomas (24 December)
Jerry Cherian (27 December)
Binu Jacob (27 December)
Shalaka Thomas (28 December)

God Created You with his own hands; He Knows your name and your thoughts; He Blesses you with life,
with love; And the joy of another year to know him.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!

WEDDING ANNIVERSARY - December 2015

Benz Mathew & Anila Benz (9 December)

Toms M John & Mary Toms (27 December)

Prince Babu & Smitha Thomas (14 December)

Philip Ramacha & Nancy Philip (28 December)

Reny Thomas Varkey & Rekha Anna George (17

James R Rajesh & Dhanya Rajesh (29

December)

December)

Jinu Johnson & Sheen Mathew (19 December)

Abraham Kurien & Prinsu Ann Mathew (29

December)

Ninan K Thomas & Elizabeth Joshua Ninan (20

December)
May the Almighty God continue to bless your family more and more in the coming years. May you be an inspiration
and example for others in the days to come.
WISHING ALL CELEBRANTS HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

GREETINGS
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THE MAR THOMA PARISH PERTH INC

Volume 06 / Edition 12 / December 2015

Messenger Notes
Please feel free to drop in your comments and suggestions regarding our Parish
Messenger at admin@perthmarthoma.org.au.
We are looking for articles to be published in our monthly newsletter. Those who can
write articles, poems, drawings (kids) please contact the Webmaster at
admin@perthmarthoma.org.au. This is another opportunity to use our God given
talents for the Glory of God.

PARISH FAMILY
CONTRIBUTION
ACCOUNT DETAILS

PARISH BUILDING
FUND
ACCOUNT DETAILS

the National Australia Bank

the National Australia Bank

BSB - 086 136

BSB - 086 136

PARISH GIFT FUND

ACCOUNT DETAILS
the National Australia Bank

BSB - 086 136

Account# - 865 285 498 Account# - 195 940 763 Account# - 848 646 298
preferred transaction mode is electronic transfer to the Parish account.

For more information, please contact

Rev Biju George
(Vicar)
Mob: 0406 485 240
Landline: 08 6161 6797
email:
vicar@perthmarthoma.org.au

Mr Sam Koshy
(Secretary)
Mob: 0406 689 139
email:

Webmaster
email:
admin@perthmarthoma.org.au

secretary@perthmarthoma.org.au

The Mar Thoma Parish Perth, P.O. Box 3104, Shelley, WA 6148
for private circulation only
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