EVaNGELIZaTION: The commission God Bestowed On Us

When Second Timothy in the Holy Bible comes to an end, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus writes, “preach the Word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke and exhort, be unfailing in patience and teaching.” 2Tim.4:2.

Evangelization should mean a lot to Christians. The Commission God endowed us with to preach the Word, to spread the Good News, to be the torchbearers of the faith- and to all this is the reassuring Sunday-school hymn, “Jesus loves me, yes I know/ for the Bible tells me so”.

Commenting on the above, it was once said, evangelization is preaching. It would be a total rupture of the Word of God if we misinterpreted the command of Jesus. The Lord also gave us the unambiguous precept to pity the poor, feed the hungry, care for the old and the weak. Thereby making evangelization a humane cause for redemption and the preservation of the human body through preaching and caring.

cate the work of the Lord; to convince disbelievers and clarify the doubt in their heart and minds.

The tradition to exercise the Catechism of faith, and to believe that evangelization means preaching, has been a transporting vision of spiritual commitment for generations in the past.

A woman believes that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. The preacher understands that the way to a man’s belief is to care for his mental and also mundane reservations first. Win his trust in the Word and God gains his soul.

By MELVyN BROWN

As we contemplate life, God offers us effusive praise, especially when we reach out to glimpse the hidden lives of non-believers and delve with them into their odyssey they never question, yet follow with a stout heart.

When we Christians reach the razors’ edge to winning a soul for Christ, we should pause in evangelization and let God do the rest; a root from the Christian conscience.

Our spiritual journey through life, in a sense, sins like a sycamore seed hurling towards the end of our existence.

The laity seldom find the time or thought to assist the poor, the hungry or the weak. And should they hear a sermon on one of the days of obligation or at Sunday service, they envisage the talk with a skeptical sentiment.

I have often spoken about a Christian conscience which is simply to understand the needs of the community in a state of sincere awareness of our encounters and to reach out with our individual gifts for a common good. All this radiates the Will of God through our actions that non-believers may be inspired by our evangelization and better comprehend the meaning and demands of the Christian Faith.

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Christians do not, normally, acquiesce to destructive dictates outside the faith. On this side of Paradise heaven has the placebo effect. It also reassures the people of God not to abdi-

The Church must proclaim the Gospel because Christ has given the command. (CCC 172.)

Origin of covid-19 virus remains a mystery

Even as the deadly Covid-19 virus has started to raise its ugly head once again with an alarming rise in the number of daily Covid cases and deaths in the country, and other countries, comes the startling revelation from the former Head of Chinese Disease Control ( CDC), that there is no evidence to show that the Covid -19 virus emanated from animals. China has even denied any leak of the virus from its high security laboratory in Wuhan for the testing of dangerous pathogens.On the other hand, The World Health Organisation (WHO) which has all along vacillated on its earlier prognostications on the origins and measures to contain the spread of the virus and a delayed declaration of an emergency, is still tight lipped about the origin of the virus and preventive measures. Earlier, Doomsday charlatans were spreading the canard that it was God's punishment and the end of the wold was nigh. So, in such a bewildering situation which has now started to emerge as another pandemic, what are we helpless individuals expected to do and what is the solution, when even vaccines and booster doses are proving to be ineffective and even life threatening at times?

— A. F. Nazareth, Alto Porvorim, Goa

Keep malaria at bay

World Malaria Day is celebrated on April 25 every year. The World Health

Organisation (WHO) celebrates the day in order to emphasise the need to utilise collective energy and commitment of the global community as it moves towards its goal of a world free from malaria. The theme this year for World Malaria Day 2023 is: “Time to deliver Zero Malaria: Invest, innovate, implement”.

Malaria has always been a major disease in India till today. Large pools of stagnant water left behind by heavy torrential rains and ignored by the authorities have become the perfect breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease that spreads when an infected mosquito bites a person. The mosquito transfers parasites into that person’s bloodstream. Symptoms of malaria include fever and chills. It is learnt that among all communicable diseases, malaria is the third largest killer of children between the ages of one month and five years after pneumonia and diarrhoea. Malaria occurs mostly in poor, tropical and subtropical areas of the world. In the year 1953, the Government of India had launched the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) with a focus on spraying of DDT. Within five years, the programme reportedly helped in dramatically reducing the annual cases of malaria. In the present day, the measures to control the spread of malaria focuses on reduction of contact between mosquitoes and humans, destruction of larvae by fogging and the use of mosquito larvae predators and destruction of adult mosquitoes by indoor spraying and using insecticide-treated bed nets. The two major malaria species affecting humans are Plasmodium Falciparum and Plasmodium Vivax. India has reportedly made considerable progress in reducing its malaria burden. The risk of acquiring malaria as a tourist to India is low. In- portals of these educational edifices ever shrink from being in touch with the Alma Mater, teachers and batch mates! dia happens to be the only endemic country which has reported a decline in the numbered cases of malaria. Chloroquine is the preferred treatment for any parasite that is sensitive to the drug. Some parasites are resistant to malaria drugs. The type of medication and length of treatment depend on which parasite is causing the symptoms. Early diagnosis makes treatment more effective. It is also important to seek treatment right away to stop malaria from spreading to others.

A school achieves its glory because of the effective involvement of its alumni. The most determining years of one’s life spent in the school, forming the strongest of bonds, makes every student like coming back to his/her Alma Mater.

Coming together to exchange reminiscences about the school times, active past-pupils’ associations initiate a process of bridging and sharing memories amongst the alumni. Every informal re-union aims to strengthen the bonds between the school and the students.

So ye guys, if you have not made up your mind already, do it!

Spare a thought for your Alma Mater; call up all your schoolmates, dig up their whereabouts and plan a grand reunion in the school. Let it be a memorable day, a day kept aside for all old memories to come flooding in. After all, as a thing from the past, one can only yearn for that life!

And let us not forget our teachers! They truly deserve our appreciation!

— Jubel D'Cruz, Mumbai