This attitude of service and humility was exhibited by Mary, carrying the Son of God in her womb, gladly going to help Elizabeth, big with child. Even after being chosen as the Mother of Jesus, she did not claim any right or privilege, but, filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaimed, “He has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant”

Never be reluctant to recite the Rosary in the family and to do meditations. The Rosary is the simplest and easiest prayer but it is highly fruitful.The Church wants everything to start from the family. Only then the Church can become a communion of families and save the world.

I had been afflicted with constant fever. During the treatment, it was discovered that I had breast cancer. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation followed. I prayed earnestly and pledged my testimony on complete cure. The Lord heard my supplications and I am healed. Jiji Sevi, Thannickamparambil, Thirumuppam, Olanad, Varappuzha

I am a Vachanol-savam worker. My 1½ year old daughter Ananya had a lump on her shoulder. We tried different treat-ments. We prayed earnestly and pledged our testimony if the lump disappeared by itself. Our prayers were heard and the lump disappeared without a trace. Jose S.S., Vettikkonam, Ozhukupara, Vattappara, Thiruvananthapuram

The Catholic Church in Kerala plans to scuttle an upcoming bill to legalize surrogacy in India. An Orientalrite Catholic Church in Kerala, southern India, says it plans to try and torpedo an upcoming bill to legalize surrogacy in India, which it says will destabilize a family system already struggling “under Western influence.” “This law radically changes our society and the structure of the family and its values,” said Card. Varkey Vithayathil, SyroMalabar major archbishop of Ernakulam–Angamaly in Kerala. “A child that develops over a ninemonth period may no longer have a biological tie under the law with the mother.” For him, a child’s biological nature is in the hands of God, not science. The federal government has finalized the draft for the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill 2010, which will legalize surrogacy and sperm banks. It is planning to table the bill before parliament for approval. Under the proposed legislation, “renting” a womb would be banned and only nonprofit surrogacy permitted for women aged 21 to 35. Critics say this leaves the door open for gay couples and single heterosexuals to become parents. Commercial surrogacy in India has been practiced since 2002. “To have a child, one cannot take recourse to any and every means and technology possible,” said Kerala Church head Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil. “We shall not play God and opt for fabrications of humans at our own designs,” Cardinal Vithayathil said. For Pascoal Carvalho, a member Pontifical Council for Life, “This draft bill is legalising something immoral and unnatural.” Speaking to AsiaNews, he said that the propo-sed legislation “completely separates the procreative dimensions from the sanctity of marriage, leading to a human ecological disaster.”