Saturday, September 30, 2017

Father Benjamin Costa Is Critically Sick, Needs Your Prayers




(L-R): Jerome D'Costa, blogger of the BANGLADESH CANADA AND BEYOND blog, and his friend Father Benjamin Costa, C.S.C., Acting Vice-Chancellor of Notre Dame University Bangladesh at the Mathis House of Notre Dame College, Dhaka, Bangladesh, on July 17, 2017
Photo by Dominic Rozario

The initial report received here says that Father Benjamin Costa had got chikungunya virus attack as a result of a certain type of mosquito bite, resulting in headache, muscle pain, swelling of joints and more. Later he got lung complications followed by breathing difficulty, for which he was in Square Hospital in Dhaka for three weeks. 

As his condition was getting severe, he, on September 28, on emergency basis was rushed to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore by an air ambulance. Father James Clement Cruze, C.S.C., the Provincial of the Fathers of Holy Cross in Bangladesh, accompanied him.

A prayer request has been made for an early recovery of Father Benjamin Costa, C.S.C. to his fellow priests-Brothers-Sisters, friends, acquaintances, Bangladesh Notre Dame College and University professors and students.

Since the establishment of Notre Dame University Bangladesh in the Fall of 2014, Father Benjamin Costa, C.S.C., has been acting as the Vice-Chancellor until mid-August of this year. Then, Father Patrick Daniel Gaffney, C.S.C., a U.S. Holy Cross priest and Associate Professor of English in the same university, became the new Vice-Chancellor. 

The Latest on Father Benjamin Costa's Situation:

According to Father James Cruz's emails to Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario, and forwarded to me, doctors in Singapore did two bronchoscopies on Father Benjamin Costa and "ventilation has been changed from mouth to throat. He is still stable. Doctors will say more on Sunday. He has been given high antibiotics." Father Cruz also says that Father Benjamin Costa's blood pressure and heart beat "are fine. Kidney is also good. Because of lung infections lung-support machine is helping him to breathe. Please continue to pray for him."

Further Info on Father Benjamin:

Father James Clement Cruze, C.S.C., who had accompanied Father Benjamin to Singapore, returned to Dhaka and Father Shital Hubert Rozario, C.S.C., took his place. Father Cruze writes in an October 8 e-mail to Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario: "The present situation of Father Benjamin remained the same. No change. He is in ventilation. Lung infection is grave. Doctor could not find out, either it is recoverable or not. They have done 2nd-time bronchoscopy and his ventilation has been changed from mouth to throat. He is being given high antibiotics. Doctors wanted few days more to give their opinions. Thank you so much for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for him."



(Updated on September 30, 2017 at 10:40 p.m.)
(Updated again on October 6, 2017 at 12:40 p.m.)
  (Updated again on October 9, 2027 at 12:05 p.m.)  

Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Canadian Grandfather, Father, and Grandson Share the Same Birthday, September 22


(L-R): Kevin Warner, his son Lucas Warner, and his grandson Cooper Warner share the same birthday
Photo courtesy: www.bbc.com/

Canada's Alberta province resident Kevin Warner (born on Sept. 22, 1959), his son Lucas Warner (born on Sept. 22, 1992), and his grandson (born on Sept. 22, 2017) have the same birthday and all of them are the first-born sons!

According to a mathematician, the probability of having this phenomenon is one in 130,000.

For more, please read the following:

There are other similar or quasi-similar cases that happened elsewhere. For details, click on the following:


Bookmark and Share

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Christian Numerologist's Prediction: The World Ends on September 23, 2017


According to the Bible, Jesus Christ is to come again at the end of the world
Image courtesy: www.express.co.uk/


Yes, today -- September 23 -- is the much-vaunted doomsday, the end of the world! So says David Meade, a Christian numerologist and self-proclaimed end-time prophet in the U.S. 

According to him, the verses in Luke 21: 25 -26 are the signs of the Bible-mentioned apocalypse. Our most-recently witnessed solar eclipse and destruction unleashed by Hurricane Harvey are those events of the apocalypse.

It is now, at the time of writing this item in this blog, 10:15 a.m. and still I don't see any sign of the apocalypse. When one picks and choose a verse or part of the Bible ignoring other parts of the Bible, a person makes a fool of himself. According to the Bible, Jesus Christ is God and he did not say when exactly the apocalypse would happen. He said that no one knows when it is going to take place.

For more on this prediction, please read:




Bookmark and Share

Sunday, September 17, 2017

The Quotation of the Week (September 17 - 23, 2017)


A quotation of Joanna Lumley on 'learning from nature,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Photo (A summer garden in Scarborough area of Toronto: Sept. 5, 2017) © Jerome D'Costa

Bookmark and Share

Thursday, September 14, 2017

Amazon Launches Its Audiobook Website 'Audible' in Canada



L-R: Don Katz, the CEO of the Audible, novelist Margaret Attwood, and Elizabeth Moss, an actor of The Handmaid' Tale, at the Audible-launching ceremony in Toronto
Photo © Jerome D'Costa

Amazon's audiobook website, Audible, was launched yesterday with the partial reading of novelist Margaret Atwood's book The Handmaid's Tale in a morning ceremony at the Union Station of Toronto.

In Canada, audiobooks will be available from: audible.ca/                              

For more, please read: Margaret Atwood and Elizabeth Moss reunite, have words in Toronto (Sept. 3, 2017)




Bookmark and Share

Sunday, September 10, 2017

The Quotation of the Week (September 10 - 16, 2017)


A quotation of Nelson Mandela on 'making a difference to others' lives makes our lives significant', compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Photo (Flowers on sale at the Costco superstore in Scarborough, Toronto: April 12, 2014) © Jerome D'Costa

Bookmark and Share

Friday, September 8, 2017

GLOBAL CITIZEN DIGEST: A Publication of Toronto



Global Citizen Digest: A Publication of  Toronto

Published by the Centre for Global Citizenship Education and Inclusion at the Centennial College, Toronto, this magazine provides news, features and articles on global citizenship initiatives and partnership, indigenous studies, indigenization at the Centennial College, relationship building across institutions, social entrepreneurship movement, conversations for social change, social justice fashion, and more. 

Email: gcei@centennialcollege.ca

It is also available online at: Global Citizen Digest


Bookmark and Share

Thursday, September 7, 2017

DOLCE: A Publication of Toronto



Dolce: A Publication of Toronto
This luxury lifestyle and fashion magazine, published quarterly from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), publishes features and articles on personalities, art and design, fashion, business and finance, real estate, food and drink, philanthropy, jewellery, travel, and more. 

Email: info@dolce.ca

It's also available online at: Dolce





Bookmark and Share

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

How Some People Use Religion for Their Own Interests


Sept. 11, 2017 issue of the Outlook magazine from India
Image courtesy: www.outlookindia.com

The Outlook magazine, published from New Delhi, India, in its September 11, 2017 issue details ungodly deeds of some Indian male and female charlatans using religion for money, sex and power disregarding the sense of decency, morality, and rule of law.

The magazine's cover story deals with items headlined as follows: Goddamn!, Tantric Rites In The Bed, The Unascetic Swami Of Pelf, Bleeding Plots Narrate It All, Shootout At Puttaparthi, A Scary Cort Of Bliss, Thirst Beneath The Red Lips, A Hypnotic Tale, Middlemen In God's Market, Convicted By People's Court, and The Dera Sultanates.

To read them all, you may visit: Outlook



Bookmark and Share

Sunday, September 3, 2017

The Quotation of the Week (September 3 - 9, 2017)


A quotation of Galileo Galilei on 'the free use of sense, reason and intellect,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa
Photo (Terracotta replicas of ancient Chinese soldiers at the Dundas Subway Station mall in downtown Toronto: Oct. 18, 2013) © Jerome D'Costa

Bookmark and Share