Greetings from the Shrine Director....

Welcome my dear brothers, sisters, boys and girls,

“Come Near My Children Do Not Be Afraid...

 

                                         I Have Great News For You!”

As we enter our Marian month of October,

 

                                 let us reflect on the month of the Rosary...

“The Lord looks down to see if even one seeks God” (Ps 14:2)

The Bible testifies that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because God could not find

 even a few men in these prosperous twin cities to stand for righteousness. Scripture also

 accounts that when one virgin in Nazareth offered her life in the hands of God; God could

 take the form of flesh and accomplish the eternal plan of salvation for the whole of

 humankind. What the angel described to Mary bears great significance. She could not

understand how she could become a mother when she was not living with a man. The angel

explained that nothing was impossible for God. Mary immediately and totally surrendered

her life to God saying “Let it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). It is enough

for God if one person can surrender in trust to God for the work of salvation to be initiated.

Five loaves and two fishes placed willingly in the hands of Jesus were enough to feed the

multitude of five thousand. A little leaven would suffice to change the entire mass of dough

(Lk 13:21). A small candle is enough to quench the thickest darkness.

The angel of God explained to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of

the Most High will overshadow you” (Lk 1:35). The Holy Spirit is the key to understand the

mystery of salvation but the Holy Spirit needs to work in and through someone. In every

difficult situation God is seeking willing individuals who will open their hearts to the Holy

Spirit. When God does not find any it is then that the powers of sin have free rein and wreak

destruction. Hence the pain in the voice of God crying out in the temple: “Who will go for

me?” One young man opened his heart to hear the voice and became a prophet to

generations (Is 6). This young man Isaiah was himself overwhelmed by the sin that had

afflicted the community he came from. He cried “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of

unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Is 6:5). His confession

brought him the assurance of God’s forgiveness which he experienced as a burning

sensation on his tongue.

We often complain that evil is gaining the upper hand and the innocent are being

persecuted; the rich and the powerful perpetrating unjust structures and the poor being

driven to destruction. This cry, however, is a careless lament, an excuse to disown

responsibility.

The month of October is dedicated for the devotion to Mary through rosary, “The Month of

 

Rosary”! This year, the month of October has another great significance too, “The end of

 

Faith year”. And the golden jubilee year of La Salette Retreat Center in Attleboro. Hence,

 

this month of October is an occasion when God holds us responsible for the renewal of the

 

community we are part of. Our insufficiency due to tiredness in seeking holiness should not

 

pull us back. God is asking us to open our hearts to Him to enable Him to work in and

 

through us. He will surely usher in His Kingdom in us and around us.

One of the pioneers of herbal medicine in Kerala has pointedly affirmed that for every

ailment a man may suffer there is a herb planted by God in the vicinity, carrying the

healing remedy for the sickness. So also for every ailment in our society, God can work

restoration through one person who opens his heart for the kingdom of God to take root.

Are you that person, who opens his heart for the kingdom of God? This is a sacred time

when God reveals His plan to us with the good news of salvation.

Rev. Fr. Tom Puthusseril, M.S., New Shrine Director

Let us pray for each other!

This year is our jubilee year! The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette was

founded by Fr. René Sauvé, M.S. on December 7, 1953 and The Missionaries of Our

Lady of La Salette began their missionary work 60 years ago! Come be with us in

our jubilee year’s festivities!