The Quotation of the Week (May 24 - 30, 2020)

A quotation of Father James Martin, S.J. on 'following Jesus
in caring for the coronavirus patients,'
compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Design: Jerome D'Costa

Action Is Better Than Word

Jesus preaching on the mount

Image courtesy: www.godisreal.today/

Jesus Christ taught in Matthew 25:35-36 how to be a good follower of him more by action than by word. Do we really follow him? The following poem reminds us of our failures in putting his teaching into practice. 

Pope Francis is trying to help us follow the teachings of Jesus in our life, in whatever positions we are in. Let the following poem rouse us to action!

Listen, Christian!

By Bob Rowland

I was hungry

and you formed a humanities club

and discussed my hunger.

Thank you.

I was imprisoned

and you crept off quietly

to your chapel in the cellar

and prayed for my release.

I was naked

and in your mind

you debated the morality of 

my appearance.

I was sick

and you knelt

and thanked God 

for your health.

I was homeless

and you preached to me

about the spiritual shelter

of the love of God.

I was lonely

and you left me alone

to pray for me.

Christian,

you seem so holy; 

so close to God.

But I'm still very hungry,

and lonely,

and cold...

A Christmas Poem: Christ Chose This Planet for Love's Transcendence

Merry Christmas!

Artwork by Andrea Mary D'Costa

Christ Chose This Planet for Love’s Transcendence

By Adrian D’Costa

Ave Maria and Salve Regina.
Our Lady conceived the Word.
I am Who am.
To the much feared, it means
to give them courage.
To the losers, it gives them
their strength back.
And to those who are afraid to
venerate, it gives them the humility.

I am alone by the window
on Christmas Eve
for a different kind of meaning.
I am pondering and contemplating
about a love that transcends all.
An unconditional love, bestowed
By God the Father
through God the Son
and God the Holy Spirit.

Can you fathom the depth and breadth

of that kind of love?
I wonder, and I wonder.
My thought strikes the Polaris star,
reminds me of the star that
guided the three Wise Men to Christ.

Yes. That must be the answer.
His innocent face is the answer

To all the hate of this world.
I demean myself on this day,
so that he gets elevated.
I put down the light of my life
so he can brighten up the sky without measure.

The firmament joyously dances
and makes a mark of the panoramic picture
of the Holy Family on this universe.
That’s the image you have to believe in.
That, two thousand years ago,
Christ chose this planet
to make His own.
He did not come as a King or Emperor
but was born in a manger as a humble person.
He showed us that only with humility
can we make this world
fill up with human love. 

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:

• Biblical prophecy claims the world will end on Sept. 23, Christian numerologists claim (Sept. 15, 2017)
• The world as we know it is about to end -- again -- if you believe this biblical doomsday claim (Sept. 17, 2017)
• End of the world 2017: why American Christians are getting VERY worried about September 23 (Sept. 23, 2017)
• No, the world isn't going to end on 23 September -- here's what Christians ACTUALLY believe about the end of days (Sept. 22, 2017)

The Quotation of the Week (January 25 - 31, 2015)

 A quotation of Pope Francis on 'being saints,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Photo (A statue of Jesus and Mary, St. Lawrence the Martyr Church, Toronto: Dec. 12, 2014) © Jerome D'Costa

The Quotation of the Week (April 14-20, 2013)

 A quotation of Mahatma Gandhi on 'Christ and Christians,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Photo: (A statue of Jesus with two children on St. Lawrence the Martyr Catholic Church compound in Scarborough, Toronto: Oct. 28, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

The Quotation of the Week (November 11-17, 2012)

A quotation of Jesus Christ on 'behaving with others,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

A framed metal replica of Jesus' Last Supper

Photo (Toronto: December 30, 2009) © Jerome D'Costa

Coptic Papyrus Fragment on Jesus' Wife: The Vatican and Other Experts Call It a Fake

A Coptic papyrus fragment that mentions Jesus' wife

Photo courtesy: CNN

The Vatican and some other experts in Europe cast a doubt on the authenticity of the fourth-century Coptic papyrus fragment that mentioned Jesus’ wife.

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, on its September 20 issue called the papyrus fragment a fake, reports the CNN Belief Blog.

The L’Osservatore Romano’s editor-in-chief Gian Maria Vian wrote: “Substantial reasons would lead us to conclude that the papyrus is actually a clumsy counterfeit.” “In other words, in any case it is a fake,” he added.

Karen King, professor of early Christianity at the Harvard University’s Divinity School, USA, announced the papyrus finding on September 25 at an international congress on Coptic studies in Rome, Italy, reports the Associated Press.

The Coptic language text is thought to be a translation from a second-century Greek text that gives a dialogue where Jesus Christ refers to “my wife” and means it to be Mary Magdalene.

The Associated Press also reports, Coptology professor Stephen Emmel of the University of Muenster, Germany, said the text accurately quotes Jesus saying “my wife,” but he questioned the authenticity of the document. 

The same report mentions of Germany’s University of Hamburg papyrologist Alin Suciu saying: “I would say it’s forgery. The script doesn’t look authentic” compared with other samples of Coptic papyrus script of that time.”

Most of the Christian Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, teach that Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, was unmarried.

Today Is the Good Friday

The Good Friday is the second day of the Easter Triduum. On this day, Christians commemorate the trial and death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion. In his honour, many Christians make sacrifice by fasting and abstaining from eating meat.

Christians, especially Roman Catholics, in their church services listen to the reading of the passion and death of Jesus. They also participate in and meditate on the Way of the Cross. They venerate the cross, as the symbol of Christ’s passion and death and reflect on its effect on their lives.

In spite of Jesus’s suffering and death on this day, it is called ‘Good Friday’ because Jesus, through his death, brought the remission of sins and salvation for mankind. So, the Good Friday brings hope for many of his followers.

St. Lawrence the Martyr Church in Toronto is jam-packed on April 6, 2012 during the Good Friday church service

After this Holy Communion service, the faithful will venerate the cross, unveiled and kept in the middle of the church

These two stained glass windows in the church depict the scourging and nailing of Jesus on the cross, which are the main theme of the Good Friday

Photos (Toronto: April 6, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

Bangla (Bengali) Calligraphy: JESUS

Calligraphy on Jishu (Jesus) 

Calligraphy (Dhaka: Sept. 29, 1990) © Jerome D'Costa

The Quotation of the Week (March 20, 2011)

An icon of boy Jesus Christ with his mother Mary

and step-father Joseph inside St. Lawrence
the Martyr Church, Scarborough

Photo (Toronto: Dec. 26, 2010 ) © Jerome D'Costa

The Meaning and Significance of Christmas

The Magi (three wise men from the East, on the left)
and a shepherd (right) paying homage to
new-born saviour Jesus Christ in Bethlehem

Painting (Toronto: December 24, 2010) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Today is December 25, the day of Christmas. Christmas conjures up an image of gaiety, fun, festivity, colourful costumes, exchange of gifts, and gastronomic feasting in our minds. It overshadows any speck of sorrow, pain and deprivation that we might experience in our day to day life.

The word 'Christmas' comes from two Old English words Cristes Maesse, which mean the "Mass of Christ" -- in other words, the liturgical service of Christ. These two words were first used publicly in 1038 A.D. The shorter written form of 'Christmas' is 'X-Mas.' In Greek language, 'X' stands for 'Christ' (although written with 'X', 'X-mas' in English should be pronounced as 'Christmas').

Christmas commemorates the incarnation of the second person of the Blessed Trinity at the birth of Jesus Christ. The Gospel (of the Bible) mentions that "the Word became flesh" (John 1:14). God became a human being to save men and women from sin and live among them. Without losing his divine nature Jesus assumed human nature. He is true God and true man. After the Easter or Resurrection of Christ, Christmas is the second most important celebration in the Christian Churches.

God's Promise of a Messiah

After their creation, the first man and woman -- Adam and Eve -- were told to enjoy everything in the Garden of Eden except the fruits of a particular tree, called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God had given the free will to Adam and his wife. Satan, one of the angels who were previously chased out of the heaven by God because of their extreme pride and free will, took the opportunity to tempt the newly-created human beings. Satan told them to eat the forbidden fruit and thereby be equal to God in power and wisdom. Due to their free will, Adam and Eve decided to defy God and listen to Satan's alluring advice. Ultimately, they ate the fruit and became awar of their disobedient behaviour against God. Thus, sin entered mankind for the first time. This sin is called the Original Sin, which automatically passes from one human generation to another.

Although God threw Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, he did not totally abandon them or their descendants. He promised to send a Messiah or Saviour to same mankind from sin. God told Satan: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel," (Genesis 4:15 of the Bible). Prophet Isiah also prophesied: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel [God with us]," (Isiah 7:14). This prophecy was fulfilled later and we find proof of that in Matthew 1: 20-24. About 800 years before the birth of Jesus, prophet Micah prophesied (Micah 5:1) that the Messiah the Messiah would be born in Jerusalem and it was ultimately realized (Matthew 3:1-3). There were other promises of God and prophecies of prophets regarding the Messiah and all of them were fulfilled with the birth and life of Jesus Christ. The word 'Christ' means 'anointed.' St. Peter says: "God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power," (Acts of the Apostles 10:38).

December 25 Assigned As Christ's Birthday

No one knows the exact day or date of Jesus' birth. There is no written record of it. The December 25 that we observe as the birthday of Jesus had been arbitrarily fixed by the authority of the Catholic Church. The early Christians and the Catholic Church did not bother to observe Jesus' birth. St. Mark's Gospel was the first book of the New Testament of the Bible written in about 65 A.D. The other Gospels and books were written later on. None of these books mentions of Christians observing Christmas.

The Romans were pagans, worshipping numerous gods and goddesses. Their empire comprised of countries (most of Europe, West Asia and North Africa) around the Mediterranean Sea. In Rome, these pagans observed the annual festival of the Roman god Saturn, called Saturnalia. This started on December 17 and culminated on December 25. In these days, the Romans were allowed to be rowdy indulging in unbridled behaviour of eating, drinking, and sexual activities. In 274 A.D., Roman emperor Aurelian designated December 25 as the birthday of the sun god, Sol Invictus (the unconquered sun). This day also fell on the winter solstice. When Romans became Christians, some of these cultural traditions, although inappropriate for Christianity, continued among them. To counter these pagan practices and divert the Christians' focus and attention to Christ, the Catholic Church in the early 4th century designated December 25 as the birthday of Jesus Christ. From that time onwards Christmas is being celebrated on that date.

Numerous religious and social Christmas customs and traditions (such as Advent preparations, Christmas wreaths, Christmas trees, Christmas gifts, Christmas decorations, Santa Claus, Christmas carols, Christmas plays, and Christmas feastings) gradually developed in different parts of the world.

The Significance of Christmas

Christmas is important to the Christians, because:

• With the birth of Christ, God's promise of a Saviour is fulfilled. The salvation history also comes to a full circle.
• The prophecies of the Old Testament prophets and the announcement of St. John the Baptist regarding the birth and life of Jesus Christ are also fulfilled.
• Jesus was born in a poor and humble environment. He did not come as a king or conqueror. His poverty and humility made him easily acceptable to the majority of the people who also live in poverty. They, therefore, could easily empathize with him. His lifelong example of neighbourly love makes a significant impression in the hearts of people.
• After coming to the earth, Jesus preached the good news of salvation. Through his death he expiated for our sins and opened the door for the forgiveness of and reconciliation with God. Thus salvation became accessible to mankind.

Let us observe the Christmas in a befitting manner. Let Christ be the focus of Christmas. Let Christ be alive in our heart and soul. May the joy of Christmas fill our hearts.

Bangla (Bengali) Calligraphy: "Jesus, you are sweet"

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The Bangla (Bengali) calligraphy 
that says "Jesus, you are sweet."

Calligraphy (Dhaka: May 22, 1994) © Jerome D'Costa

Bangla (Bengali) Calligraphy: JESUS BE GLORIFIED

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The Bangla calligraphy says "Joy Jishu" (Jesus be glorified)

Calligraphy (Dhaka: March 10, 1995) © Jerome D'Costa

A Doodle on Jesus Christ

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"Jesus, You Are My Saviour!" -- A doodle
Doodle (Dhaka: May 22, 1994) © Jerome D'Costa

My Doodles Series -- 8: Jesus on the Cross

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Doodles on Jesus on the Cross © Jerome D'Costa

For the Christians, Jesus on the Cross bears a great significance. They believe that Jesus died on the cross to expiate for the sins of mankind and to bring eternal salvation. So, the cross, bearing the image of Jesus Christ, means a good news of the salvation that became available to anyone who believes in him and strives to lead a life according to this teachings.

(Continued)

My Doodles Series -- 4: Jesus Christ

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 Doodles on Jesus Christ © Jerome D'Costa

 Jesus Christ is the founder of Christianity. Christian artists all over the world portrayed him in different situations and styles. Some of the greatest paintings in the world are on him.

Jesus also found a place in my doodles. These doodles came very naturally. I am proud to portray him in my humble way.

(Continued)

My Doodles Series -- 2: Catholic Religious Theme

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 Doodles on God, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ 

and the Virgin Mary © Jerome D'Costa

My Roman Catholic faith automatically found its place in these doodles.

(Top left doodle) God is the triune God. In the unity of Godhead there are three persons -- the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is the creator of everything and he watches over his entire creation.

(Top right) The Holy Spirit strengthens us in our faith.

(Below left) Jesus Christ is the second person of the Holy Trinity. He is our Lord and Saviour. Through his death on the cross he brought the eternal salvation to mankind.

(Below right) Mary or the Virgin Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ. She has a special place in the heart of the Roman Catholics.

(Continued)

My Doodles Series -- 1: "Lord Jesus, You are..."

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Doodle on "Lord Jesus, You are..." © Jerome D'Costa

From today I am publishing a series of my doodles that I drew in the past. I have been doing doodles since my childhood, although I did not know until much later that this sort of sketches were called 'doodles'.

In course of time, I lost most of them -- first, when the West Pakistan army attacked our village in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) on November 26, 1971 and burnt down most of the houses, including ours. Later I lost many others in termite attacks. In this blog I will be publishing some of the remaining ones that are still available.

Translation of the Above Writings in the Doodle

The above writings are in Bangla (Bengali) done in my own kind of ''calligraphic" style! The translation of them in red bold are as follows:

The bold letterings in the middle above the cross are: Lord Jesus, you are...

Top row (L - R): loving, kind, merciful, forgiving,

Second row: peace-giving, patient, sweet,

Third row: holy, healing,

Fourth row: consoler

Fifth row: saviour, inspirer,

Sixth row: protector, service provider,

Seventh row: glorious, living, ever-present, almighty, truthful.

I sketched them as they flowed from me. I did not visualize or pre-plan them.

Please view my series of doodles and do not hesitate in leaving your valuable comments in my blog.

(Continued)

Merry Christmas!

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Graphic design (Toronto: 2008) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa

Tomorrow is Christmas -- the solemn feast of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christianity it is the second most important feast after the Easter.

Christmas brings joy, hope and a sense of fulfillment to more than two billion Christians in the world. It brings joy because two thousand years ago Christ came to save mankind from the bondage of sin perpetrated by Adam and Eve, the first man and woman. It brings hope, for, through Christ we can overcome evil and lead a godly life. It brings a sense of fulfillment because God's promise of sending a messiah or saviour has been fulfilled with the birth of Jesus.

Christmas has two aspects -- religious and social. Religious tradition comprises special liturgical service and songs commemorating the nativity of Jesus, and the social tradition varies from region to region -- Christmas gift and card exchange, caroling from house to house, decorating Christmas trees, Santa Claus, special illumination and fireworks, wearing new costumes and enjoying local treats.

Again wish you all Shuvo Borodin (Merry Christmas)!