Thanksgiving The LORD has done great things for us; We are glad. Psalm .126: 3 BIRTHDAY WEDDING ANNIVERSARY 2nd Omana Thomas 14th Annie & Nikhs Prabha 6th Irene Susan Shine 23rd Aleyamma & Eappen Thomas 15 th Cherian Kandapallil 25 th Ben Kurian 26th Swarna Prabha 10th Krystle Thomas Theme : Light on the Lamp Stands Unity Sunday Where? St. Thomas Marthoma Church, Lombard When ? February 22 at 10.00 AM Lessons Zech. 4:1-14 Psalm 27 1 Cor. 3:10-15 Mat. 5:14-16 Readers Kiss of Peace & Elements Ben Kurien Aleyamma & Benjamin Lukose Eapen Thomas Swarna Prabha Abraham Joseph& Sheela Joseph Holy Communion will be celebrated in Malayalam in CSI Order. Come !Participate ! & be blessed! Church Location: 306, S. Prospect Avenue Park Ridge, Illinois 60068 Web: chicagocsichurch.org Email: revshinemathew@hotmail.com Vicar : Rev. Shine John Mathews Phone: 847-212-5787 Parish News Parish News Dear All, Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! We enter into the season of Lent. It is during this season we reflect more on the need of repentance and forgiveness. Easter Sunday. Sundays are not counted in these forty days, as they are generally set aside as days of renewal and celebration . The number forty carries great biblical significance based on: the forty days of rain Noah and his And he asked them, “But who family enWhat is dured in Lent? do you say that I am?” Peter the flood, The good answered him, “You are the the fornews ty years of the gosChrist.” And he strictly Israel pel is that charged them to tell no one spent in God has the wilderacted in about him. [MARK 8:27-30] ness, Jehistory to sus’ fortyconquer day fast in the wilderness, the evil and reconcile sinners to himforty days Jesus spent on the self through the life, death, and earth after his resurrection, and resurrection of Jesus. For those so much more. Forty days has who have been united with this been used by God to represent a Jesus (who have submitted to period of trial, testing, and prepaHim as savior and Lord ) have ration. been united with Him in the likeness of His death and will one Likewise, Lent is a season of day be united with Him in the likepreparation and repentance durness of His resurrection (Rom. ing which we anticipate the death 6:5). Lent, therefore, is about liv(Good Friday) and resurrection ing out of our union with, and (Easter Sunday) of Jesus. It is identity in, Christ. Lent is first and this very preparation and repentforemost about the gospel making ance that gives us a deep and its way deeper into our lives. powerful longing for the resurrecOn the Christian calendar, Lent from Latin, meaning “fortieth” is the forty days beginning on Ash Wednesday and leading up to tion, the joy of Easter. Page 2 tinued to be followed in politics and laws yet in 1879 when Pope Leo XIII proclaimed the system of Aquinas to be the official catholic philosophy. Renaissance laid the foundation for humanistic tradition in education. It exalted the individual, and recovered the ancient languages and the classical literature of Greece and Rome. It was a secular movement in the main stressing the delights of living, the ideal of The Renaissance, beginning in the liberty and among those who found Christian morality too binding a freelatter part of 13th century developed dom from moral restrains. the concept of natural science which [To be continued] brought on the decline of scholastic metaphysics; although it approach conThe early church fathers notably; Augustine, incorporated Plato‟s doctrines and Neo-platonic thought into Christian theology. The 13th century was marked out with the works of Aristotle. Thomas Aquinas is regarded as the greatest achievement of the scholastic age and the ultimate triumph of the effort to “christianize Aristotle.” Too much emphasis in reason brought a shipwreck in Christian education. Join our Sunday School for the Fund Raiser banquet and Talent Show Feed my starving children - volunteering for children Venue: Auditorium When: February 15 Page 7 Parish News Parish News Theology and Philosophy of Christian Education ~Dabai Bamalyi ~ T he shifts in Christian edu- Charles the great Frank Law, and cation, which began in the later, Alfred of England attempted educational reforms. fifth century, Due to a religious lasted until the beThe union of diversion from Bibliginning of the sixstates and church cal theology, a sort of teenth century. Facpopular theology detended to elimitors that contributed veloped that comto the languishing nate high moral bined Christian docof Christian educastands, since it trines and superstition in the sixteenth tion . century era: the erased any imclergy began to In the 11th Century, portant differdominate more and scholasticism, develences between more, while the reoped. The basic sponsibility and in- believers and un- scholastic thought in fluence of individual the use of reason to believers. laity diminished. determine the truth of The union of states the scriptures, and ultimately to and church tended to eliminate give a rational content of faith, it high moral stands, since it erased formal beginnings are identified any important differences be- with St. Anselm, who tried to tween believers and unbelievers. prove the existence of God by The “institutional” church contin- purely rational means. Abelard ued to exist and even to stressed the rational approach in “christianize” the barbaric tribes, considering the topical question of but Christian education suffered the 12th century, the question of enormously. It was during this universals. period in Europe that men like Page 6 The journey of Lent is to immerse ourselves in this grand story so that it might increase our appreciation of Easter and love for Jesus. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season. The aim of Ash Wednesday is threefold: to meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need for a savior; to renew our commitment to daily repentance in all of life; and to remember with confidence and gratitude that Jesus has conquered sin and death. During a traditional Ash Wednesday service, ashes are applied to the worshiper’s forehead (the “imposition”) in the shape of a cross. In Scripture ashes or dust symbolize mortality (Gen. 18:27), mourning (Est. 4:3), judgment (Lam. 3:16), and repentance (Jon. 3:6). It is also a call to “Consider yourself dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11). ness, looking to Jesus as our perfect example and substitute, and being heightened in our worship of his victory over Satan, sin, and death. On the cross, Jesus took our place to appease God’s righteous anger toward our sin and rebellion. He was separated from God so that we could experience union with God. He was crushed by God so that we could be adopted by God. He was raised with God so that we too might be raised with God. As Peter confessed his faith with the confidence in the person of Christ, let us also proclaim our faith by saying , “ You are Christ”. Let our good Lord help us to grow more spiritually through the faithful observance of the Lent. Shalom ! Yours in Christ Shine Achen After all, Lent is not about our faithfulness, but rather meditating on the faithfulness of Jesus on our behalf. He is the faithful One! Lent is a journey to the cross: meditating on our sin and weak- Page 3 Tony Philip & Susheela Philip Thomas Koshy Johan Shine M Sophia Shine M 06:30 pm Feb 18 HC IN MALAYALAM Ash Wednesday HC IN MALAYALAM 09:30 am Feb 15 HC IN MALAYALAM Cross: A Call to Self-Denial Joel 2: 12- 20 Psalm 32 Gal. 2: 15- 21 Luke 9: 23 – 27 Gen. 45: 1- 15 Psalm 85 Eph. 2: 11- 22 John 2: 1-11 Lent: A time of Reconciliation 7th Sunday before Easter Healing and Wholeness HC IN ENGLISH 09:30 am Feb 08 Mathew Prabha & Swarna Prabha Abraham Joseph Joshua Kurian Jain George T. A Joseph & Sheela Jospeh Tony Philip Jonathan Kurian Bindu Thomas Job 42: 1-12 Psalm 6 2 Cor. 12: 1- 10 John 5 : 1-9 Healing Ministry Sunday 8th Sunday before Easter HC IN MALAYALM 1ST Sunday in Lent 09.30 am Feb 01 Elements & Kiss of Peace Thomas Koshy & Omana Thomas Babu K George Hanah George Soma Lukose Gen. 1: 24- 31 Ps. 104: 1- 13 The Goodness of Eph. 1: 3- 14 Creation Matt. 6: 9- 13 9th Sunday before Easter snares of the Devil. As you all know, we have been praying and making every effort to bring CSI Malayalam congregations together. For that, I request all the St. Marks members to avoid any unofficial talks with anybody outside or inside of our congregation regarding unity without the knowledge of the Vicar or Parish Committee. I will update all the developments during the Notice on Sundays time to time. “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking Festival of Unity will be ob- someone to devour”. 1Pet. 5: 8 served on February 25 at St. Thom- Let us hold our peace till we get as Marthoma Church, Lombard into a final solution. Page 4 [Address: 710 N. Main St. LomAnnual General Body : Annual General Body is scheduled to be held on Jan 25th During the Divine Service. It is going to be a spiritual meeting which reflects on our ministry during the last year and focus more on the goal which is set before us in our spiritual journey in the days to come with the confidence that our „Eternal Contemporary‟ will be with us in every thick and thin. All are encouraged to attend the meeting. Readers Visit: Rev. Dr. Oommen George will be visiting our Church on FebA Memorial Prayer will be held ruary 08 Sunday. at our Chapel on February 7 at 6.00 Courtesy Reminder to all the pm. The prayer is hosted by the Members: I just want to remind all family members of Late Mr. Ku- the members of our congregation rian C. Kurian. about to be vigilant about the Lessons bard, IL 60148]. All are encouraged to make note this in your calendar. We will not have service at our Chapel on the day. Theme Cottage Prayer: Cottage Prayer will be held at the home of Ben Kurian ( Address: # 11 Sequoia Road, Hawthorn Woods, IL 60047) on Feb 28 at 6pm. All are encouraged to come and participate. Day News & Notes Date & Time Parish News