“LET THE LITTLE CHILDREN COME TO ME”, SAYS THE LORD .

My dear brothers and sisters and the viewers of this web site www.barkur.com. We all love children and they are very precious to us. We enjoy every moment of our life being with them, we enjoy their laughs, their smiles, their talks and so on. They are a precious gift to the family and to our community.  In this article I would like to share with the viewers  of this web site  some of the activities  my parishioners  did for the children of our parish as well as  neighboring parishes.

For the last three years our parish, St. Thomas the Apostle, has successfully hosted vacation bible school for children ranging in ages from three to twelve  years.

The first year the theme was passport to the Holy Land, the second year used a circus theme linking it to various Bible stories, and this year the theme was Jesus the Good Shepherd. Bible school this summer  provided an opportunity for our children to learn about Jesus Christ, the Savior of our life. Parishioners, adults and teens, helped in various ways to make this vacation bible school an interesting and fun-filled event for all.

Each year we have had 40-50 children attend. This year we also welcomed children from neighboring churches, who wanted to attend, and their response to the events of the week were very good.

In reflecting on these recent events held at St. Thomas that have helped our children to know more about Jesus Christ, I am sure Christ must have rejoiced at seeing all the wonderful participation and joy experienced by the children. It reminds me how Jesus welcomed children to be with him saying, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such of these... Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them” (Mark 10:13-16).

Jesus loved children and taught His disciples to be like those children, humble and lovable.

We know that some of the greatest world figures loved children very much and held them in great respect and dignity. Among them was our beloved  Mother Theresa of Calcutta. In caring for the poor and abandoned children she said, “they are God’s image to me and I see God in them.” Mahatma Gandhi loved children so much they started calling him “Bapuji”, grandfather. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, had such a great love for children that he said his birthday should be celebrated as “Children’s Day.” In India even today November 14th, the birthday of our first prime minister, Mr. Nehru, is celebrated as Children’s Day.

In looking this  picture you can see  little Sohan and his friend sitting  close to each  other and smiling  at us.  Don’t you think we need to remain close to each other and smile at each other just as our precious children do??.

Let us love our children and try to see the image of our loving God on their faces. Let their beautiful smiles brighten our day and bring peace to our heart.

Fr. Tony Andrade