Jan 03rd - Kuriakose Elias Chavara

Canonized in 2014, Kuriakose is a fairly recent saint of the Church. I am intrigued by the lives of recent saints because often they overlap the time frame of my own experiences. I ask myself - I have lived in the same world as they - have I done enough to get into Heaven like them? The saints show us it can be done even today! It is not a race or a keeping up with the Jones, but a life lived for Christ. With entreaties to the saints and daily self-examination, each of us can prayerfully undertake the task to more fully live in Christ and he in us. It does not matter if we are cleric, religious, or lay - our vocation lies where we are and it matters that we live it!
Kuriakose reminds us that our example is what keeps the Church strong and 'suffers the little children to come unto it' and therefore Christ. How sad if we let one 'little one' be lost because of our actions!
Let us constantly pray for our Eastern and Western brothers and sisters.

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Your children are divine investments and they shall be brought up in the best way possible and you shall extend to them all kinds of protection. They are to be purified in the Holy Grail, made his disciple and to be committed to Him on the Day of Judgment. This is the responsibility that Lord Jesus has assigned to you. All the members in a family shall have a deep rooted love for one another. This underlying love can bring in peace and friendship in the family, which in turn enables them to face the troubles and tribulations with utmost calm and thereby they overcome all the tragedies in life.

-- Oru Nalla Appante Chavarul, 2-3