President’s Message

Dear Members,

Happy Easter and Happy Tamil New Year! We are celebrating Divine

Mercy Sunday today in our TCA mass. May Lord bless all of us with his

spontaneous Love and Mercy.

Congratulations to two of our TCA kids who are getting the Holy

Sacraments today in our TCA mass. Kayal Jesurajan is getting First

Holy Communion and Nithila Jesurajan is getting Baptism. May Lord

bless both of them with his Love and Holy Spirit.

We had very good Palm Sunday celebration at St Bernard Church,

Bridgewater on Mar 20th. Fr. James Selvaraj gave us Lenten

reflections around what problems we are facing today and how we

can find solutions at our Lord. Also Fr. James Selvaraj heard

confessions and many of our members made use of it. Big thanks to

our beloved Counselor Fr. Albin Roby for being there and

coordinating all celebrations. Thanks to RAP team for organizing the

entire event.

Youth Group coordinators are planning to have new redesigned

activities for Youths including Bible Study and Charity Activities.

Please see EC Youth group coordinators Shanthi Thangaraj,

Immaculate Sahayaraj, Roselyn Joseph to engage your Youth kids and

be part of the discussions.

Please mark your calendars for our upcoming Annual pilgrimage to

Blue Army on June 18th and Summer Picnic on July 16th.

James Rethinam

April 2016 Newsletter

Tamil New Year

By Anusha Mathias

April 14 is a special day for all Tamil people across the world and marks the first day of the traditional Tamil calendar and is a public holiday in both Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, This is the month of Chitterai, On the eve of Puthandu, a popular custom is 'kanni' which means the auspicious sight. Following the ritual, people start the Puthandu day by watching auspicious things like gold and silver jewelry, betel leaves, nuts, fruits and vegetables, flowers, raw rice and coconuts. This is done under the belief that a good start to New Year will ensure prosperity and happiness in the coming year. A bath and a visit to the temple usually follow Kanni. After this people read the Panchangam (almanac). Puthandu Celebrations marks the occasion of Tamil New Year people wear new clothes and relish best of festive food including 'Maanga Pachadi', a sweet, sour and bitter dish made of raw mangoes, jaggery and neem flowers to signify different aspects of life. Many even get their houses painted for the occasion. People also visit friends and dear ones to exchange greetings for New Year - “Puthandu Vazthukal”. Youngsters are particularly excited about Puthandu as they receive small gifts from all their elders. As Tamil Catholics we celebrate it as a thanksgiving for a good harvest season. Although, this may not relate to many people here in the United States who are not farmers we still celebrate it to thank the Lord for the blessing of a brand new year and to pray that 2016 will be a blessed and prosperous year each of us, our families and TCA.

The Sacrament of Baptism

By Angelin James

The Sacrament of Baptism is important for many reasons. One major

reason being that it removes original sin. It forgives all sins that may have been

committed before a person becomes baptized including original sin, mortal sins,

and venial sins, and it relieves the punishment for those sins turning the newly

baptized person into “a new creature”. Also, this Holy Sacrament turns the person

into a member of the church.

During the Sacrament of Baptism a person is immersed in water. He or she

goes all the way into the water and then comes out. This action is a symbol of

dying sin and rising to new life in Christ. Sometimes water is poured over a

person’s head. The priest then proclaims “I baptize you in the name of the Father,

and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

The person being baptized is anointed with two oils: the oil of

catechumens is put on the chest, and chrism is put on the top of the head. Oil is a

symbol of strength and healing.

As you can see, the Sacrament of Baptism is a very important sacrament.

As Pope Francis stated, “We are called to live our baptism every day, as new

creatures clothed in Christ.”

Congratulations to John L. Jesurajan and Daphne Christine Joseph on

baby Nithila Charlotte Jesurajan’s baptism and Kayal Jesurajan’s

First Holy Communion.

Kayal

Nithila

Nithila

v

Nithila

Nithila

God’s Remedy

By Athalya Joseph

The Sacrament of Reconciliation and Penance is a gift given to us, to grow closer to

God’s love. However, Rev. Fr. Michael Whelan says that most people receive this

sacrament with the wrong mindset. He states, “Among other things, to refer to the

Sacrament as ‘confession’ actually misses the point” But isn’t that what we are

physically doing by saying what we’ve done wrong to God? Fr. Michael also states, “The

focus should be God and God’s gift and action in Jesus Christ—we are reconciled!” Also,

God already knows what we’ve done because…well…he’s God—he knows us. So,

through this sacrament, we are being united again with Christ, and saying “yes” to him

after all the times we’ve turned away and said “no.”

This brings us to another important sacrament: The Eucharist. The Catechism of the

Council of Trent, London says that by receiving the Eucharist, we are pardoned for

venial sins, or smaller sins. Pope Francis reminds us that, “The Eucharist, although it is

the fullness of sacramental life, is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine

and nourishment for the weak.” This makes me think of my social studies class, where

we learned about why Christianity appealed to so many people in the Roman Empire.

Christianity came to a rise because it provided for those who had nothing. It comforted

the lonely and gave hope to those who had essentially nothing to live for. This still

applies to us today because through the Eucharist, those who are weak with sin, are

cleansed and strengthened.

We should also call to mind that we sin all the time. But God provides us a way to free

ourselves from sin every week. This is why it’s so important that we go to Church every

Sunday to receive Christ. Pope Francis states, “I must receive it [the Eucharist] always,

so that it may always forgive my sins. If I sin continually, I must always have a remedy.”

Our remedy is right in front of us, in the open doors of the Church. We just have to be

willing to receive it.

Please remember to pay your membership fees for 2016 if you

have not already. Contact Agnel Bestus @ 201-286-7969 or any

of the members of the executive committee. Thank you!

Happy Birthday… Ahila Selvaraj 3/1 Albert Xavier Arulswamy 4/5 Allen Ramasamy 4/23 Amal Jayakumar 4/16 Angelin James 4/11 Anita Jayasingh Mathias 3/24 Anu Alex 3/18 Anusha Annah Mathias 4/13 Anusha Sabina 3/13 Arul Suji 3/22 Athalya Joseph 4/4 Austen GabrielPillai 4/27 Catherine Joseph 3/16 Christina Simpson 3/1 Claris Infanta 4/11 Cynthia 3/7 Cynthia Clement 3/9 Daniel Ganeshananda 3/3 Deepthi Baskar 3/17

Doss Britto 4/4

Eskalin Joe 4/7

Jayden Joseph 3/20

Jeevana Thevarajah 4/8

Jeffrey Kamal 4/14

Jenitta 4/8

Jeremy Earnest 4/7

Joephil 4/8

Johana John Peter 4/24

John Anantha 3/8

John L. Jesurajan 4/13

Johnathan Paulraj 4/15

Jonas Kevin Peter 3/27

Joseph Earnest 3/30

Joshna John Peter 4/24

Kavitha 3/6

Leanna Melner 4/12

Marc Mariyampillai 4/10

Michail David 4/18

Nevin Dhanaraj 3/22

Nirmal Sagayaraj 3/12

Patrick GabrielPillai 4/3

Praveena Vijayakumar 4/14

Tad Kamalappan 4/15

Vimala Arockiaswamy 4/10

Raira Indra Anton 3/21

Remus Liam 3/4

Happy Birthday...

Ruban Soundrapandyan 4/10

Serene Anbu 3/20

Sheryl Christhuraj 4/25

Soosai M Raj 4/3

Stell Joseph 4/27

Happy Anniversary…

Agnel Bestus & Latha Bestus-

4/22

Anton Antony Arockiasamy &

Abini Cross-4/25

Anton Santha Vijayakumar &

MaryAnn Vijayakumar-4/25

Francis Dhanaraj & Regina

Dhanaraj-4/22

Joseph Earnest & Raji Earnest-

4/11

Manikandan Radhakrishnan &

Nirmala Robert-4/27

Paulraj Rathinasamy & Vimala

Charles-4/17

Stephen D. Alex & Emerald

Michael-4/18

Tad Kamalappan & Shibi

Kamalappan-4/15

Ordination Day

Rev. John Berchmans-April 22

Rev. Sahaya Justus-April 14

Rev. Theesmas Pankiraj-April 22

Upcoming Events

June 18th: Blue Army Lady of Fatima Pilgrimage

July 16th: TCA Summer Picnic @ Johnson Park Piscataway,

NJ

Kids Page

The Sacraments

S Y N M P Q F M Q E W T W B H

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P O E U I R B X Z V J I Z C X

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C A T I R R A H N D A A A J T

B Q A O I O C M P S Y H L G Z

S G G M Q Z Y I R C J C F M C

E H Z W H Z I L S I G U U A I

L L U B F N V R O R F E F D P

A F X A C J Y Z Q H R N H D E

S A V P C I C W I Y N G O L N

X W V T K M G Q D T E X P C A

B L R I T N N G A Y W O Y S N

A W B S K G T Z B B G Y F R C

I G Y M S Q H E H K Q F F T E

BAPTISM

CONFIRMATION

EUCHARIST

HOLYORDERS

MARRIAGE

PENANCE

Help the butterfly get to the flower!

Spring Has Sprung! Use the pictures and the word bank to complete the crossword puzzle below!

Egg

Caterpillar

Kite

Lamb

Rabbit

Raindrops