Pictures -1

Josie Marfori

It is with a sad and heavy heart that I remember the life of Josie Marfori who passed away in 2002.She is from the Philippines , worked for the US Govt and belonged to the parish of St.Matthew's Cathedral,Washington D.C.I met her while I was at St.Matthew's.  I  was invited to bless her apartment and she was a regular participant at the masses at the Cathedral. She was very supportive and helpful.She even bought a car in order to give me rides. She took me to the University of Maryland to meet a professor. She used to invite me to meet her family at some of their important functions.I feel very sorry that she passed away so quickly . She lay unconscious in her room for three days and it was her sister who finally found her and took her to the hospital.She regained her memory but lost her speaking ability.She would babble without making much sense .I have visited her at the hospital in Virginia a few times. It was after I moved to Chicago that she passed away. If I knew earlier about her demise and funeral  details, I would have gone to Washington DC to attend her funeral. She was the first of my friends who passed away. 

 

Billy Graham-Seven Lessonsfrom his Life

Rick Warren in one of his essays in the book "Billy Graham:Hear My Heart" mentions seven lessons he has gathered from the life of Billy Graham.According to him Graham is an unshakeable beacon of integrity and stability and that he has left footprints that will remain vivid to the entire world for generations to come.
The lessons are the following:
1.Maintaina lifestyle of integrity and humlity.Three temptations he avoided(1Jn.2-16): Lust of the flesh,lust of the eyes and the pride of life.
Rick says he and his team, following the life of Graham pledged never to be alone with a woman who was not our wife  in a room with the door closed.
2.Reach beyond our evangelical boundaries.
Graham rached to all Christians and non-Christians.He never deviated from his focus: Bring people to Jesus Christ." You should build bridges of friendship from your heart to theirs so Jesus Christ can cross that bridge into their lives."(Rick)
3.Broaden the Agenda:
Social integration.He worked for  racial integration.
4.Global Vision;
Just preach the Gospel to all  the nations of the world.
5.Maintain a single focus:
His focus only on Jesus.
6. Use the latest technology.
7.Build your ministry on a team:
Not on himself but on a team.

Rick: " The Greatest influence the man had on me came not from what he taught but simply from what he was."He is irreplaceable.
Acts 13: 36---'Now when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep."
The sermon Billy Grhaam preached was his life.
Billy Graham: 'For many years I have made it a practice  to read five pslams and one chapter of Proversbs every day." Psalms taught him how to praise God and Proverbs helped him to relate to people.
"If the Bible does not inspire us in the privacy of our rooms , then we can be assured that our messages will not move those who listen to us preach. If it does not reach our hearts , it will never reach their hearts.If it does not stir us , it wil never stir our hearers.'

My Mother

In the first picture is  the family at the silver jubilee of the parents. In the second picture, mother is standing in front of the house  with Linu and in the third, mother has come to the Ernakulam airport to see me off on my first flight to the US via Bombay.Seen in the picture is our uncle ,M.P.Pailo, too.