My dear parishioners,

"What Child is this

Who laid to rest

On Mary's lap is sleeping?

Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,

While shepherds watch are keeping?

So bring Him incense, gold and myrrh,

Come Peasant, King to own Him

The King of Kings salvation brings,

Let loving hearts enthrone Him.

This, this is Christ the King...."

This Carol summarises the

beginning and destiny of the

Babe of Bethlehem.The whole

of Christmas is an attempt of

the Church to relive the story

o f S a l v a t i o n H i s t o r y

beginning with the start of

creation and split into BC and

AD due to the Birth of the

Messiah.

Christmas conjures warm images of a Baby,the

Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, the Angelic hosts and

lowly animals. This domestic scene typical of the

days of yore instils in us the sentiments and

blessedness of God's plan and purpose.

Often we get lost in the razzle and dazzle, the

glam and the glitter, the sweet and the nectar of

the storekeeper and the chocolatier. And

somewhere in the heap of our thoughts and

presents, lies the Babe

who is actually the star

of the season.

The Advent Season

liturgy seeks to refocus

our attention on the

essentials and prepare us

for the true meaning of

Christmas... ie the Love of God made visible in

Jesus His Son. This love is to be spread far and

wide, beyond our immediate horizon to the back

of beyond: to the poor, the

weak, the oppressed, the

prisoner, the widow and the

orphan.

This understanding of the true

meaning of Christmas should

grip our hearts and propel us

into the brand new 2019 -

ready to face the possibilities

and challenges of justice,

peace, compassion and love,

only then will our vision-

mission of “reaching out to the young and the old,

the poor and the needy with love and security” be

a reality.

May the New Year be doubly blessed by the Lord

and His Blessed Mother. May St. Vincent De Paul

continue to intercede for us. Happy Christmas

and A Happy New Year 2019.

Fr. Austin Norris

Parish Priest

December 2018

s we wait in joyful anticipation of the birth of

our Lord, Jesus Christ, let us go beyond the Acustomary preparations for Christmas. Let

us look beyond Christmas trees, stars, lights and

sweets. These are valuable as outward expressions of

our joy. But we have to be careful that these do not

become the sole purpose of our celebrations. The core

of Christmas is to remind us that Jesus came in to this

world to free us from sin.

The “O” Antiphons - see article inside - are a

wonderful reminder of the essence of Christ – serving

as a link with the roots of our faith and calling out to

Him to come again. We are sure those of you who

know the “O” Antiphons will be happy to be

reminded of them. To those of us who have a hazy

understanding of them at best, this is a good article that

sheds light on them.

The coming year 2019 is dedicated by UNESCO as the

International Year of Indigenous Languages. We have

some surprising facts for you. We would like to invite

our parishioners to shed light on any indigenous

languages in our country that require to be preserved

for posterity.

The Editorial Board wishes all our parishioners

A Very Happy Christmas and

A Prosperous New Year.

From the Editor's Desk

hristmas carols, Advent wreaths, Christmas

trees, Midnight Mass and Christmas sweets – Cwhether they are family or Church customs,

the many traditions associated with the Advent and

Christmas seasons make these special times of the year

for us.

One of these traditions is the O Antiphons: seven

responses, or antiphons, that are sung or recited to

introduce the canticle of Mary (the Magnificat) at

evening prayer from December 17 to December 23, the

octave before Christmas. These antiphons are based on

Isaiah's prophecies and refer to the different ancient

titles given to the Messiah and call out to Him to come

again:?

O Sapientia, O Wisdom, you come forth from the

mouth of the Most High. You fill the universe and hold

all things together in a strong and gentle manner. O

come to teach us the way of truth.

O Adonai and leader of Israel, you appeared to Moses

in the burning bush and you gave him the Law on

Sinai. O come and save us with outstretched arm

O Radix Jesse, O Root of Jesse, standing as a sign to the

peoples. Kings fall silent before you whom the peoples

acclaim. O come to deliver us and do not delay.

WHAT ARE THE "O" ANTIPHONS?

O Clavis David, O Key of David, and sceptre of the

House of Israel, what you open no one else can close

again and what you close no one can open; O come and

lead the captive from prison; those who sit in darkness

and in the shadow of death.

O Oriens, O Rising Sun, you are the splendour of

eternal light and Sun of Righteousness. O come and

enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow

of death.

O Rex Gentium, O King whom all the peoples desire,

you are the cornerstone which makes all one. O come

and save man whom you formed from clay.

O Emmanuel, you are our King and Judge, the one

whom the peoples await and their Saviour. O come

and save us, Lord our God.

We can bring these responses into our own prayers, as

simple reminders throughout the day of the One

whose coming we are joyfully expecting, as

introductions to our own prayers of praise of Jesus, or

as words of thanksgiving for God's faithfulness

throughout the ages and our lives. Regardless of how

you incorporate these ancient words into your Advent

prayer life, let them speak to you, and maybe they will

become part of your family traditions.?

(Courtesy: Loyola Press & The Catholic Herald)

aiting in line can be one of two

experiences. See if you identify with the

examples below:??WFirst Example: Waiting in Dread??You're standing in line at the post office or the grocery

store, waiting for your turn. You're tapping your foot

and keep looking at your watch. You don't want to be

in this line. Before long, you begin to think, “Oh,

I can't wait for this to be over!” Often

times, the other people in line with you

feel the same way! No one speaks to

anyone else. Clearly few are

enjoying the experience; the

impatience or irritability you feel

might even be visible on your face.

Such an experience of waiting in

line can seem isolating, almost

lonely.??

S e c o n d E x a m p l e : Wa i t i n g i n

Excitement??Now think about the times when you waited in

line at an amusement park, to buy tickets to see your

favorite cricket team, or to hear your favorite band. In

these instances, the waiting is much different. People

are excited and you might even be talking to some of

ADVENT WAITINGthem about the ride you're getting ready to

experience, the sports team that you love, or the band

you're about to hear.?

This second example is the kind of waiting we are

called to in Advent.

Waiting in Joyful Hope

At Mass, after praying the Lord's Prayer, we hear “as

we await the blessed hope and the coming of our

Savior, Jesus Christ.” This prayer reminds

us that during Advent, we wait in joy, in

hope, and in anticipation for the

wonderful event we are about to

e x p e r i e n c e – t h e f e a s t o f

Christmas, the coming of Christ

into our lives in new ways, the

return of Christ in glory at the end

of time. As the Church, we wait

during Advent and look forward to

celebrating the fact that God loves us

so much that he sent his Son into the

world to save us. This waiting is far from

empty; rather, it is full of the hope that God promises

us as we prepare for Christ in the feast of Christmas.?

- D. Todd Williamson

thThe SSC training session was held on 15 November,

2018 at St. Theresa's School basement. I was delighted

to see a number of youth present from various parishes

of Bandra. The session started with an ice-breaker

where each of us was placed into a group. Each group

would represent a family, with each member of the

group was assigned a role, e.g. mother, father, child. To

make the role playing more effective, each group

(family) took on a family name.

The senior members were a joy to be around and they

were very lively. They were warm and friendly in

making the youth feel welcomed. After the icebreaker,

Fr. Savio explained that as seen in the icebreaker, each

family was different as was the case with each parish. ??

BANDRA DEANERY SCC TRAINING SESSION??Father delivered a meaningful talk about the link

between the SCCs and the NYGs. He beautifully

explained that the SCCs guide the youth who form part

of the NYGs just like parents' guide their children. He

reminded us that our Catholic Faith stands on the

traditions of The Catholic Church and the decrees of the

Pope. ??

He explained how the SCCs and NYGs came into

existence and highlighted the fact that the youth are a

part of the Community family, stating their importance.

He mentioned that just like every member in a family

plays an important role, similarly the SCCs and NYGs

form a part of one big family. He reminded us that the

Holy Father wants every youth to be a part of the

Church.

-Janice Gonsalves

ome December and preparations for

Christmas start. I recall when we were young Cseven siblings - five brothers and two sisters -

how mum would take the two of us shopping to buy

dress material as she would stitch our dresses at home.

The boys would go to Bob Tailors to stitch new shirts.

Then came the list of ingredients for the sweets. Mum

prepared all the sweets at home - plum cake, thali

sweet, gram sweet, cordial, sojee sweet, milk cream,

marzipan, nankaties, nevries and kulkuls -the list was

endless, half gone before Christmas. It was fun as all

put their hands together with the mixing and stirring-

no mixers and grinders! Grinding was done manually

on the grinding stone. All this would go on daily till

late at night even though we had to get up for the

Christmas Novena. We saw that we collected the

coloured coupons for those who attended, as we were

given a gift at the Christmas party for all the Catechism

children in the parish. After sweet making, the

decorations would start with making of the crib and

the hay was brought by one of the boys from the tabela

at the foot of Mt. Mary's steps. Of course, the wheat

was planted a month in advance. The lights and the

star in our veranda shone brightly.

Christmas Day at last! We all

attended the mid-night

mass,after that a party at

home,all waiting to have

the sweets.Then in the

morning the distribution

and exchange of sweets

with our neighbours. The

Chris tmas lunch was

sumptuous as we had a big

spread of food -vindaloo,

sorpotel, chicken or pork roast,

duck moile, pulao and lots of

salads.

NOW though we do meet for Christmas

lunch with our children and grandchildren, we

don't prepare sweets in such an elaborate way but do

recall the fun we had with Mum and Dad and keep

beautiful past memories in our hearts.

- Gwen D'Souza

Traditions at Christmas

200g flour/Maida 2 eggs beaten 150g powdered sugar1tsp cinnamon powder 250g chopped dry fruits soaked in a little rum overnight or more 150g butter½ tsp baking powder

* Sieve the flour with baking powder * Cream butter & sugar till it becomes creamy & fluffy* Add beaten eggs then mix with flour* Knead it to form a smooth batter * Roll out the dough & cut out circles * Line a few pie shells or cellophone muffin moulds with this* Fill each one with the marinated dry fruits * And seal with another layer of dough of any Christmas shape eg star, Christmas tree, etc * rick on top with a toothpick so that the batter does not puff while baking * Bake the pies in a moderate oven for 20 mins * Optional - while serving can sprinkle icing sugar on top to give it a snowy look

Christmas Sweet Pies

- Colette D’Souza

he Parish of St Vincent de Paul celebrated

its Platinum Jubilee this year - a

c o m m e n d a b l e m i l e s t o n e i n a n y Tinstitution! As part of the Platinum

celebrations several programmes were organised

throughout the year. A gala musical was staged on th thNovember 17 and 18 in the School Quadrangle,

which drew a large appreciative audience. The thchief guest for November 17 was Rev. Bishop

Bosco Penha, Emeritus Auxiliary Bishop

Archdiocese of Bombay. On the following day, thNovember 18 , the chief guest was Rev.

Fr. Aniceto Pereira, Rector, St. Pius X Seminary,

Goregaon, Mumbai.

Rev. Fr. Austin Norris, the Parish

Priest, in his introduction

explained the title of the

musical – “You will never

grow old”. It has been scripted

by Fr. Austin Norris with its

c h a r a c t e r s , m u s i c

and songs to reflect the typical

journey of a family that has a

strong Catholic upbringing and

maintains its Catholic tradition

with an emphasis on Gratitude.

So with a clash of cymbals from the live Band in

attendance - the play began! The characters

played their roles well and were extremely

amusing - Rudolph Alves, who played the lead

role as Henry, wins over the audience completely

with his ready wit and flamboyance. He is joined

by his equally well-versed cast—Marian Pereira

as Eliza, Dorelle Fernandes as an extremely

effective narrator, Stuart Bocarroas the father of

young Henryet al. There were several dance

sequences which involved a host of young people

ranging from six-year old children to teenagers.

The costumes were well designed and added

glitter to the show! Priests of the Parish: Rev

Celebrations of the Parish Feast of St. Vincent de Paul 2018‘A Musical - You Will Never Grow Old'

Fr. Ashlyn Chand and Rev. Fr. Xavier Pinto played

their part ably in their true role as priests

celebrating the marriage of the young couple and

the golden wedding of the parents respectively as

the play progressed!

Alison Rosario was the compere for the show and

also played a key role in the drama. All the other

actors were a lively, vibrant group who generated

spontaneity and enthusiasm and even

encouraged the audience to come on stage and

dance the waltz – an eternal favourite

emphasising the theme 'You will never grow

old!'

Several prizes were won by the

audience including some for

lucky programmes. Awards

were distributed to some

parishioners for meritorious

s e r v i c e t o t h e p a r i s h .

Sponsorship banners were

displayed and the colourful

programme was well designed.

An Apostolic Papal Blessing by

Pope Francis that has been bestowed on

the “Parish Priest, Fr. Austin Norris, Parish

Clergy, Religious and all the Parishioners of St.

Vincent de Paul Church in Khar West, Mumbai on ththe occasion of the 75 Anniversary of the Parish's

Foundation invoking through the intercession of

the Blessed Virgin Mary, an abundance of Divine

Graces, September 30, 1943 – 2018.”was received

from the Vatican and read out by the Parish Priest,

Fr. Austin Norris as he blessed the audience. The

musical concluded with the lilting tunes of the

perennial favourite `You Will Never Grow Old”

as the audience literally danced their way home,

filled with hope and happiness!!!

- Serena Franklin

UNESCO has dedicated 2019 as the International Year

of Indigenous Languages to raise awareness of the

urgent need to preserve, revitalize and promote

indigenous languages.

There are some 6,000 -7,000 languages in the world

today. Yet 97% of the world speaks only 4 % of these

languages, while only 3 % of the world speak 96% of all

remaining languages.

2019 – INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

A great majority of those languages, spoken mainly by

indigenous peoples, will continue to disappear at an

alarming rate. The loss of languages and their

associated history, traditions and memory would

considerably reduce the rich tapestry of linguistic

diversity, worldwide.

Courtesy: UNESCO

SPOT THE INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES OF INDIA

Answers: Wadari, Kolhati, Golla, Gisari (spoken by nomads of Maharashtra, Karnataka & Telangana), Moran, Aiton, Tangsa (Assam), Mavchi, Haldi, Korku, Pauri (other tribes).

GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE DAUGHTERS OF THE HEART OF MARY

he Daughters of the Heart of Mary gratefully thank

God for calling them “To followHim and find Tfreedom, to love as He loved and bring peace, to

spend their lifetime for his Kingdom, to want it to grow and

increase.”

Fifty years in Chuim is a Golden Celebration of blessing and

thanksgiving of “walking hand in hand with each other, for

sharing with the burdened their pain, for comforting the

people who suffer, helping them in need for no gain”.

With hearts overflowing with gratitude the Dhm of Chuim

Community celebrated the Holy Eucharist with the Priests,

His Lordship Bishop Savio Fernandes, and the faith-filled th

community of St. Vincent de Paul on Sunday, November 4

2018.We thanked the Lord for His abiding presence and

inspirational guidance of our mission in the St. Vincent de

Paul Parish and in the extensive urban slum communities of KharDanda.

In this bicentennial year of Marie

Adelaide de Cice, foundress of

the DHM, the school children of

St. Elias excelled in portraying the

h i g h l i g h t s o f t h e F r e n c h

Revolution of 1789 the context in

which the DHM Society came into

being.Through their acting these

school children surpassed the

stature of the French nobility and

culture, the French hierarchy, the

Army, the Court scenes and the

milestones in the life of Marie

Adelaide de Cice. The DHM

Society came to life as lived in the early years and we were awakened to the reality of our times when we first

arrived in Chuim. The women and youth of the Khar Danda community enacted their daily struggles and

participation in their families and in work place. The simple yet unique history of the mission of the Dhm was

flashed before us with our partners in the Parish, local Government, like minded agencies, collaborators and

benefactors.

- Sr. Gracy Fernandes, Nirmala Niketan

- Carolyn Mendes

QUIZ WINNERS FOR OCTOBER BULLETIN

1) Clint Mathias VIII 2) Brandon Coutinho Std VII3) Celeste Cardozo Std IV4) Ethan Cardozo Std VIII

Std 5) Joe A. Banze III6) Ashley A. Banze Std VIII7) Aneira D'Souza Std II

Std

Name :

Std. :

Address :

Rush your answers by20th January 2019

Milestones October - November 2018

BAPTISM

MARRIAGE

FUNERAL

21-10-2018 Krystal Xavier Pereira s/o Xavier & Pooja

11-11-2018 Amariah D'Souza d/o Paul & Gloria

18-11-2018 Aiden Leon Fernandes s/o Reagan Rameses & Leann Greta

03-11-2018 Denzil Lino Dias & Anne Marina Williams

02-10-2018 Albina Vincent Almeida (64 years) Bharat Rahivashi Sangh Gazdhar Band, Santacruz (W)

28-10-2018 Oven Thomas Fernandes (50 years) 58-A, Chuim, Dr. Ambedkr Road, Khar.

31-10-2018 Cicil John D'Souza (73 years) 101, Vaidehi Apts. 33-B, Azad Nagar, Andheri (W).nd19-11-2018 Raju Ramaswami Armugam (72 years) 12B, More Niwas, 2 Floor, Chuim Villaage,Khar.

21-11-2018 Vincent Joseph Fernandes (71 years) 26, Chuim Village, Khar.

FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLYPublished by Rev. Fr. Austin Norris and the SVP Editorial Team (264 97116)

Carolyn Mendes, Rudolph D’Souza, Serena Franklin, Janice Gonsalves, Nisha Shenoy

Forthcoming Eventsnd 2 Dec 2018 : Advent begins. Community - wise Advent Wreath Prayersth 7 Dec 2018 : First Friday

th 16 Dec 2018 : Confirmation Class Visit/Recollectionrd 23 Dec 2018 : Catechism Children's Partyst nd 21 - 22 Dec 2018 : Confessionsnd rd 22 - 23 Dec 2018 : Christmas Bazaarrd 23 Dec 2018 : School Christmas Partyth 24 Dec 2018 : Christmas Eve. No evening Mass. Carols at 10.00 pm followed by Christmas Massth 25 Dec 2018 : Christmas Day. Masses at 7.30 am and 9.15 am. No evening Mass (Day of Obligation)st 31 Dec 2018 : New Year's Eve. Holy Hour at 11.00 pm. Mass at 12.00 midnight

st 1 Jan 2019 : New Year's Day. Masses at 7.30 am and 9.15 am. Evening Mass at 7.00 pmth6 Jan 2019 : Filing of PPC nominations.

th 13 Jan 2019 : Parish Picnicth 26 Jan 2019 : Republic Day

Printed by : Ganesh Offset, Dadar. Tel.: 2437 86 88 Email : ganeshoffset1@gmail.com

Wishing all our dear Parishioners

A Happy and Joyous Christmasand A Healthy Prosperous and

Unifying New Year 2019Frs. Austin, Xavier & Ashlyn