Delving into Laudato Si of Pope Francis

Aug20

CRI.On 17th August 2015, CRI unit of 24 Parganas deanery consisting of fathers, brothers, novices and sisters numbering about a 100 came together at Auxilium Barsat at 10 a.m. to have an exploration of the encyclical of Pope Francis, “Laudato Si” delivered by Fr. Francis Sunil Rosario.  The aspirants of Auxilium Barasat initiated the meeting with a prayer dance, ’you are precious to me’ commemorating the year of the consecrated.  Fr. Anthony Rodrick the dean of 24 PGS introduced Fr. Sunil Rosario with glowing praises.

From the beginning to the end what emerged was that Fr. Sunil Rozario was an ardent admirer of Pope Francis.  He commenced his session with Francis effect on the church and the world at large screening one of the interviews in which Cardinal Sean O Malley OFM speaks of his experience in the conclave as a Pentecostal experience, expectations of dramatic changes, his election to the Consultative Committee on Reforming the Curia and his great and humble experience with the pope who is so natural and serene in dealing with daily challenges.  Pope Francis with his characteristics of humility, simplicity and closeness to the poor has initiated a fundamental reform of Vatican’s government, challenged the globalization of indifference and became the most talked about person.

The session continued with the introduction of the encyclical and its various chapters and contents.  At 11.30 a.m. during the tea break Fr. Maurlin Fernando SJ called for a short meeting of the CRI Core team and the formators of religious communities to plan for the “Day of the consecrated in the parish”.    In the meeting it was decided that the each formation house would present a 20 minutes musical on the founder, the   charism and their present status in the world.  Fr. Anthony Rodricks suggested that the laity should be given active participation in the event.  The date suggested for this celebration was Dec. 6th 2015.  A meeting of the core team was scheduled in the coming month for the planning and organization of the programme.

CRIIn the second session Fr. Sunil Rosario delineated the encyclical   in depth drawing our attention to the plea of our holy father to take responsibility towards the sustenance of our common home, earth and  the need to pay attention to the  perils of     pollution and climate change, waste and throwaway culture, issue of water , loss of bio-diversity,Decline in the quality of Human life and the Breakdown of society and  Global Inequality .

Laudato Si -‘Praise be to you’Pope’s intention is to include all of creation. We are the crown of creation and all creatures including sun, moon, stars, nature together must praise God in all things.

  • Nearly 40,000 word encyclical is very challenging.
  • Pope Francis has dared to name the reality of the huge ecological issues which threaten our world and us.
  • He goes on to offer us a deeply personal and radically political spirituality, one which nourishes the spirit while being fully down-to-earth.
  • This is a truly integral ecology, a rich synthesis of the material and the spiritual, the ecological and

Pope Francis maintains that ‘Christian communities have an important role to play by respecting the environment and educating others to do the same. He insists that ‘Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork are essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.

In the encyclical Francis emphasizes the point that ‘nature is … a continuing revelation of the divine.  Towards the end he also relate to the sacramental theology and says,‘The Sacraments are a privileged way in which nature is taken up by God to become a means of mediating supernatural life. … Water, oil, fire and colours are taken up in all their symbolic power and incorporated in our act of praise’He adds that ‘the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love’

Fr. Sunil’s session came to the conclusion with another interview with Josephine Lombardi PHD who in her talks highlights the amazing  Pastoral sensitivity of our holy Father. Meeting came to an end with the vote of thanks conveyed by Fr. Varghese Tor the treasurer of the CRI Core team of the deanery of 24 Parganas and the thanksgiving prayer by Rev. Fr. Aloysius Carvalho.

Let us hearken to the invitation of the Holy Father and become protectors and sustainers of our common home, our mother earth with our unique contribution.

Sr. Stella P.

   Bicentenary  Celebration of St. John Bosco at Snehalaya – Palm Gaon

Aug20

DB 200 - Palam Gaon

On 16th August 2015 the children of Snehalaya celebrated the birth of Don Bosco with grandeur. The day began with the animated Morning Prayer through power point presentation and followed by Eucharistic celebration. Whole day was dedicated to Don Bosco our Father and friend of youth.

In the evening at 7.00 p.m. children paid homage to St. John Bosco through songs, dance and skit. Rev. Fr. Swanoop Choudhury the Rector of Ashalayam and one of his friends Mr. Francis were present for the festa.  The programe was concluded with the distribution of gifts.

Boarders  were also part of the celebration of the  Past pupils of Don  Bosco technical school, Okhla to mark the celebration of the bicentenary of Don Bosco’s birth.

Sr. Anima Xalxo

‘A Gift from Don Bosco’ – Salesian Sisters (FMA) open house in Kandhamal (Kurtumgarh)

Aug18

Kurtumgarh - fma presenceThe Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, popularly known as Salesian Sisters opened their first house in Kandhamal, a district in Odisha state that witnessed the worst anti-Christian violence India witnessed seven years ago.

Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar opened the Auxilium Convent at St. Sebastian’s Parish, Kurtumgarh, 317 km west of Bhubaneswar, capital of Odisha state, on August 16, when the Salesians celebrated the birth centenary of their founder St John Bosco.

The house was opened as the Church in Odisha is preparing to observe the seventh anniversary of the 2008 anti-Christian mayhem that claimed more than 100 lives and rendered some 50,000 homeless.

The house belongs to the FMA Province of Mary Help of Christians Kolkata,.

“Salesian Sisters have joined in our missionary journey and started their first community at Kurtumgarh parish. On behalf of the archdiocese, I welcome the Sisters whole heatedly and wish them a fruitful ministry for the development of our people and building up of God’s Kingdom,” said Archbishop Barwa, who was a member of the Society of the Divine Word.

About 1500 people from far and wide, including Hindus and Christian of other denominations attended the event and shared the fellowship meal, said Father Jugal Kishore Digal, parish priest.Kurtumgarh - fma presence 1

The Salesian provincial, Sr. Rose Ezarath, who was present, noted that the new convent was “a special gift” from their founder St John Bosco during the bicentenary of his birth anniversary. “A long cherished dream has been fulfilled,” she added.

The new convent has three nuns who started their mission on the same day of the opening.

The vision of the province is to become evangelizing educators like Don Bosco for modern young people. The convent aims to become “a sign of the foreseeing love of God and motherly care of Mary Help of Christians to the young people of the working classes, especially of the poorest through educative and promotional activities, both in Christian countries and in those not yet evangelized.”Kurtumgarh - fma presence 2.

The Salesian Sisters or Figlie di Maria Ausiliatrice (FMA-) work with the young and the poor in 92 nations within the five continents. Founders are: St. John Bosco and St. Mary Domenica Mazzarello.

Originated on August 5, 1872 at Mornese in Italy, the congregation began its presence in India in 1922. The FMA has its provinces in Chennai, Shillong, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Guwahati.

The Salesian Sisters share Christ’s mission in the Church especially through Christian education in the style of the Preventive system – a system of loving kindness, drawn from the heart of Christ Himself—“We are a family united in Christ, To witness, to serve, Reaching out to the young, In every part of the world.”

The Kolkata FMA province was formed in 1987. They now work in 24 centers spread out across seven states of Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and the neighboring country of Nepal. Odisha is the latest state with its new presence.

Published on: 11:52 pm, August 17, 2015 Story By: Santosh Digal

http://mattersindia.com/

The Past Pupils of Auxilium Dum Dum Unit celebrates Don Bosco Jayanti 200

Aug18

The Past Pupils of Auxilium Dum Dum Unit celebrated Don Bosco Jayanti 200, on 16th August 2015. The participants of the event were 50 evening school children, 60 senior citizens and 15 past pupils.

P.Pupils DB 200 celebrationThe celebration started with an opening speech from Sr. Dominica. She enlightened everyone about the importance of bicentenary celebration of Don Bosco. Sanghamitra Bhattacharya, Secretary of the Dum Dum Unit narrated some memorable events from the life of Don Bosco and urged the little children to follow the footsteps of Don Bosco. It was followed by hoisting of the flag as a mark of respect for Don Bosco and singing a hymn to Don Bosco by the past pupils. A beautiful and energetic cultural event of the children added a spark to the day and mesmerized the audience.

The programme concluded with a vote of thanks delivered by Ajanta Dutta, Vice President of the Dum Dum Unit. Thereafter the past pupils distributed biscuits, sweets and potatoes to all the senior citizens and the evening school children.

It was indeed a great moment of pride for the past pupils in being able to do their bit towards the bicentenary celebration of Don Bosco.

Sanghamitra Bhattacharya

Auxilium Dum Dum celebrates Don Bosco Jayanti 200

Aug18

DB 200DB 200..

On 12 August 2015, the middle and the primary students of Auxilium  Convent  School, Dum Dum celebrated the bicentennial of Don Bosco’s birth. They portrayed the virtues of Don Bosco through dances, dramas and speeches. The  performance  helped the audience to know his works, struggels and the hard time he had to face, to be a teacher and friend of youth. Superior Sr. Teresa A. appreciated  the programme and thanked  the sudents for their creative presentation  of Don Bosco’s life.

Sr. Dominica T.

Independence Day Celebrated – HCA R.K.Puram

Aug15

Independence dayThe Independence Day was celebrated on 14th August, 2015 at Holy Child Auxilium, Junior School, R.K.Puram, New Delhi with great pomp and show. The school premises were decorated with flag-coloured balloons which kindled the patriotic spirit in children. We commenced our celebration with the lighting of the lamp by our dear Superior Sr. Lily, Sr. Asha and Sr. Alphonsa invoking God’s blessings for our country and its citizens.

The programme put up by the children included prayer service, poem, patriotic action songs and dances. All the items focused on the values of unity in diversity, truth, honesty and justice. The English and Hindi speeches were also given by our children where they recalled how on this day Pt.Jawaharlal Nehru had unfurled the National Flag for the first time, which was a proud moment for our country. Our India today is a result of the sacrifices of our freedom fighters and leaders. It is our privilege to make our country best among all the nations, they said.

In the speech given by our dear Superior, Sr. Lily, she spoke about Pt. Nehru who always loved the children and made them laugh with his simplicity. He was the one who struggled for our country’s Independence. Sr.Lily’s speech also kindled in our children a strong spirit of patriotism and a feeling of a proud nation we belong to.The programme concluded with the National Anthem and created a spirit of enthusiasm and oneness among all of us.

Jai Hind  !

Mrs. Ashu Bhatia (Coordinator)

Twin Celebrations – FMA Communities of New Delhi

Aug14

Foundation Day FMA..On August 5, 2015, the 143rd Foundation Day of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians was celebrated solemnly by the four communities of New Delhi: H.C. Auxilium Vasant Vihar, R K Puram, Palam Goan and Najafgarh at Vasant Vihar at 6pm with a solemn Eucharistic celebrated.  On this occasion we also celebrated the Silver Jubilee of Sr. Gracy Parekattil. The liturgy was solemnized by all the four communities sharing the animation of the various parts of the liturgy. The Holy Mass was presided over by Fr. Jose Mathew SDB the provincial of Delhi Province together with 16 other celebrants. In his homily he emphasized on Mary’s presence and active role in the life of Jesus’ mission. After the homily the sisters approached the altar singing with the lighted lamps as a sign of letting the light of Christ shine in all its radiance as we forge ahead to be missionaries of hope and joy together with our young people. foundation Day fmaTo mark the bi-centenary of the birth of Don Bosco united with the entire Institute, the sisters then received once again the Constitutions from the hands of Rev. Fr. Jose Mathew the Provincial as a sign of their willingness to welcome in a new way, the project of life that Don Bosco gave and which contains this dream for the Institute. The celebrant consigned the Constitutions by saying: Practice them and you will live to which each sister answered: Amen. On this foundation day of the Institute in the presence of the young people, laity and representatives of the Salesian Family and the local church the Sisters then renewed the Religious Profession, the covenant of love with God. These two gestures took place in a meaningful manner with appropriate introduction. After the Holy Mass there was a short felicitation programme put up by the sisters and the Snehalaya children followed by the fellowship meal.

Silver Bells ringing in Nirmala Niketan, Jaigaon

Aug11

JaigaonOn 5th August 2015 in the community of Jaigaon two memorable events marked on the same day. The Silver Jubilee of Sr. Amali John Joseph and the Foundation day of the Salesian Sisters. The celebration of the day began with the Eucharistic Celebration with the participation of around 300 people. A few people from the parish, teachers, well wishers and young people were invited for the celebration. The Eucharistic Celebration was headed by the Bishop of Jalpaiguri Diocese, Rt. Rev. Clement Tirkey along with six other priests of different parishes. By 10:30 am all started singing hymns of love and gratitude to God for the gift of our jubilerian. Bishop in his homily stressed on the love of God for each one of us. He also appreciated the mother and father of Sr. Amali, who looked after nine children with so much of love. After the homily Sr. Amali was crowned and garlanded by Bishop and the animator, Sr. Lily D’souza.

Focusing of the foundation day, the sisters of the community remembered the foundation of the congregation at Mornese, where the first eleven sisters received the Constitutions from Don Bosco, following the footmarks left by the first sisters; the sisters of Jaigaon community renewed their vows and received the Constitution from Bishop Clement Tirkey. After which the Sisters sang the Magnificat thanking God for the wonders the Lord had done in their lives.   The solemn Eucharistic Celebration ended with all the people wishing Sr. Amali a very Happy Jubilee, and to all the sisters a very Happy Feast. It was followed by a short cultural programme put up by the boarders of the community. They wished Sr. Amali in a very creative way; they portrayed her missionary journey of serving the Lord. The songs and dances showcased by them were very commendable. The days programme concluded with a short speech given by Sr. Rekha Joseph the elder sister of Sr. Amali. Lastly Sr. Amali expressed her love and gratitude to everyone with a short vote of thanks.