October, 2011

NEWSLETTER – OCTOBER, 2011

Balarampur

St. Xavier’s School, Balarampur celebrated its First Annual Day on Saturday 3^rd September. Rev. Fr. C.R. Prabhu, the Vicar General of the Diocese, was the Chief Guest. A large number of parents and well-wishers attended this two hours colourful programme which was presented by the Primary School Children. We congratulate Fr. Cyprian Lobo, Sr. Jovita, the Headmistress of the School, and all others who worked tirelessly to stage this event. Congratulations!

Nativity Feast

The Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady was celebrated solemnly in different parishes of the Diocese. At St. Mary’s Parish, Bistupur, which is well known for this Feast, Rev. Fr. Raphael Montero was the main celebrant for the solemn concelebrated Holy Eucharist. He had come from Anandpur Parish with his catechists (19 in numbers) to participate in this Feast. In spite of the rain faithful had gathered in great numbers. After the Holy Mass there was candlelight procession and thereafter all joined for the common.

Rev. Fr. Camille Hembrom, the Cathedral Parish Priest, was the main celebrant of the Festal Celebrations at St. Joseph’s Cathedral. The celebration began with the procession. After the holy Eucharist there was a fellowship meal too. Faithful had gathered in large numbers. There were celebrations at Mercy Chapel and at Gyandeep. Good number of faithful had gathered in these places too.

Sacred Heart Church, Adra, too had a wonderful celebration of the Feast. The procession started at 3 pm, from Bayabi to the Church. Rev. Fr. Vijay Bhatt was the main celebrant of the concelebrated Holy Eucharist. Most of the parishioners were present for the celebrations.

The feast of the Nativity of Our Lady was celebrated with traditional ghetto at St. Barbara Church, Mosaboni, with nine days of Novena and Mass. Different priests from Jamshedpur Diocese satisfied the spiritual quest of the people.

Other Parishes of the Diocese too celebrated the feast in its traditional ghetto. The novena and the celebration of the nativity feast were a time of spiritual renewal.

St. Mary’s English School, Bistupur

On the occasion of the Feast of the Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary, the patroness of the School, St. Mary’s School, Bistupur, arranged a gathering of friends and well-wishers of the school on Sunday 11^th September, 2011. A large number of Priests, Brothers, Sisters, Teachers and well wishes joined the celebration. And on 16^th evening a Eucharistic Celebration was organised for the Christian students and parents of the School. Most Rev. Felix Toppo, SJ, was the main celebrant of the concelebrated Mass. A large number of parents and students were present for the Holy Eucharist.

Please Note

Ø The meeting of the Jubilee Finance Committee will be held on Saturday, 08^th October at 06.00 pm, at Bishop’s House, Golmuri.

Ø A special Workshop on “RTE and Educational Problems/Issues” is being organised at Vikas Bharati, Sundernagar from 30^th October to 2^nd November. Fr. K.M. Joseph and his team from Patna, will be the resource persons. All principals, Vice Principals and Secretaries of Schools are requested to attend this workshop necessarily.

Chaibasa

St. Xavier’s Boys School was the venue for the Singhbhum Basket Ball Tournament. The final matches were played on 4^th Spetember, 2011.The Girls’ Team of Loyola School, Chaira, took away the trophy leaving the St. Xavier’s Girls of Chaibasa as runners up. The Little Flower School, Telco, boys defeated the St. Xavier’s Boys, Chaibasa by a mere 1 point. The District Education Officer, Mr. Arvind Bilung, the Principal of Mahila College, Mrs. Sudalen and Rev. Fr. C.R. Prabhu, the Vicar General, gave away the prizes.

St. Monica Day: The Feast of St. Monica was celebrated as “Mothers’ Day” in St. Xavier’s Parish, Chaibasa. The youth greeted and received the mothers at the entrance of the Church; the children brought them in to the Church with dance. The well arranged liturgy helped every one to pray well. After the Holy Mass there was an input session. The theme was “Mother’s role in the development of the child at teen-age”. The session was concluded with a group discussion. Rev. Fr. Anselem Dungdung, SJ, was the animator of the session. With an agape meal the Mothers’ Day celebration came to its close.

Krus Vir Day: The Feast of the Holy Cross was celebrated as “Krus Vir Day” in the Parish. The liturgy of the day was planned accordingly to maximise the participation of the children. During the liturgy many children were inducted into the Krus Vir with a well arranged ceremony. After the mass the children put up a small cultural programme for their parents.

Parish Youth Day: on 18^th September, 2011, St. Xavier’s Parish celebrated the “Parish Youth Day”. The members of the Mahila Sangh accompanied the youth from the gate to the Church. Rev. Fr. Ranjit Kindo, SJ, the parish youth coordinator was the main celebrant of the Eucharistic celebration. After the Holy Mass, Rev. Fr. Anselem Dungdung, SJ, led an input session on the theme “How to Develop the Hidden Talents in You”. After the input session the youth elected the new office holders.

The Girl Child's Day: St. Xavier’s Parish on 8^th September, 2011, organized a liturgical programme to celebrate the Girl Child Day. The parents accompanied their daughters in to the church. St. Anne’s Sisters took lead in arranging the liturgy along with Mahila Sangh. After the Holy Mass, members of the Mahila Sangh arranged light refreshments for the girls and for their brothers too.

Maluka

A two day seminar for the mothers of St. Paul’s Parish, Maluka, was organised on 17^th & 18^th September, 2011. The theme of the seminar was “Towards the Fullness of Life: The Contribution of Women in the Family and in the Church”. The theme was very much in connection with Jubilee Theme of the Diocese. Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Horo, Mr. Paulus Bodara and Mrs. Salomi Bodra were the resource persons. The response to the seminar was great, women from far away villages too were present for the seminar. After the seminar, on 18^th, the children from the hostel staged a short cultural programme to convey their love and respect towards the mothers. The mothers dispersed to their homes after having the lunch. Fr. Junas Purty and Sr. Naveen, BS deserves much appreciation for their heard work, which made the programme a successful one.

Adra

On 11^th September, the Mahila Sangh of Purilia Deanery came together for a meeting at Adra. They spend the day at St. Vincent’s Ashram. The input sessions were dealt by Frs. John Otto and Sahay. All the participants enjoyed the sessions and were happy to interact with inmates of St. Vincent’s Ashram.

On 25^th St. Vincent De Paul Society Unit, Adra, celebrated their Feast. The celebration began with Mass. The members of the St. Vincent De Paul Society came to St. Vincent’s Ashram, and conducted some programmes for the inmates. They also shared the festal meal with the inmates.

Golden Jubilee

On 18^th September, 2011, Sr. Thomasina, SCJM, celebrated her Golden Jubilee of Religious Profession. The celebration began with the concelebrated Holy Eucharist, in which Rev. Fr. C.R. Prabhu was the main celebrant. Fr. Prabhu during his homily remembered how he met Sr. Thomasina in Bangalore and of having coffee in a park. He then continued to explain how Sister helped him at Catholic Charities. For a long period of time Sr. Thomasina worked for Catholic Charities and after a gap she has come back to Catholic Charities to render her service. Her brother from Kerala and sister from Delhi too were present for the function. The celebration came to an end with a delicious meal. Congratulations Dear Sr. Thomasina !

Spiritual Renewal

Diocesan  Recollection

In his Encyclical, ‘Evangelica Testificatio’ Pope Paul VI regarding the spiritual renewal writes: “How could you fail to desire to know better Him whom you love and whom you wish to make manifest to men? It is prayer that unites you to Him. If you have lost the taste for prayer, you will regain the desire for it by returning humbly to its practice. Do not forget, moreover, the witness of history: faithfulness to prayer or its abandonment are the test of the vitality or decadence of the religious life.” Following the urge to be united with the Master, many of our priests are spending enough time in retreats in various places. Frs. James Quadros, Benedict Minj, Leo D’Souza, Eugene Ekka and Vernon D’Souza are just back from Navasadana, Varanasi, after attending a retreat. Many of the fathers have already registered their names for the forthcoming retreats. Earlier on 13^th & 14^th September more than 40 Priests, including some of the religious priests, came together for a recollection at Upasana, Mango, which was directed by Rev. Fr. Michael T. Raj. All those who participated benefited from it and appreciated the session.

St. Joseph’s Community College - Mango

The 3^rd batch of Community College has shifted from Welfare Centre - Golmuri to Mango since the 1^st September. Regular classes are being conducted as usual; the place is beautiful, quiet and conducive for the students in their studies. We also started the Conversational English course on the same day, there are 23 students and the classes are from 5.30p.m. - 7 p.m.

There was a meeting of all the Directors and Principals of Community Colleges from the states of Jharkhand, Orissa, MP, Bihar, UP, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Uttrakhand, on 17^th & 18^th of September, at Ranchi. Along with Director and Principal of St. Joseph’s Community College, one of the staffs and 8 students too had gone for the same. Fr. Michael Raj who was the President of All Jharkhand Community Colleges Forum has been elected as the President of North Central India Community Colleges Consortium. Congratulations to him! The Ranchi University Pro Vice Chancellor who was present for the meeting has promised to take up the interests of the Community Colleges and help us get affiliated to Ranchi University. Good luck for Community Colleges!

DSWC Dhanbad

A one day workshop on the theme “Revisiting the Vision and Mission of DSWC” was organized at Nirmala Hospital, Govindpur, on 23^rd August, 2011. Fr. Chrsto Das, the Director of Regional Forum of Social Work in Jharkhand and Ms. Rajshree, the Regional (Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal) Director of CRS guided the workshop. The session was an eye opener for many as they came to know about DSWC. Along with present Director, Assistant Director, Sisters and Staff of DSWC, Rev. Fr. Vijay Bhatt, the formar Director too participated in the workshop.

Nirmala Middle School Girls baged first prizes in various programmes which were organised by the Nagarik Samity, Govindpur, on the occasion of the Independence Day Celebration, on 15^th August. Earlier, on 11^th the School bagged the second prize for the quiz competition, which was organised by the Vikas Forum.

Dr. Ruma Prasad, Gynaecologist, started to offer her service at Nirmala Hospital, from the first week of September. This would be a great benefit for many. (Fr. Ajay Tiru)

St. Xavier’s School, Taldanga

The month of September was full of excitement, hard-work and of responsibility. The students’ zeal was at its peak on Teachers’ Day. This year the Teachers’ Day was celebrated on 3^rd September for the junior school and on the 5^th September for the senior school. Apart from songs and dances they put up a few skits with good messages. The reading on Mother Teresa’s life & work was very moving.

Earlier, on 27^th August, 90 Loyolians had gone to St. Xavier’s, Purulia, to participate in the inter school contest on Patriotic Song and Dance. The performance of the Loyolians was good. They bagged two first prizes, three second prizes and one third prize in different competitions.

Shahnawaz Ansari of class XII, Science, brought much honour by winning the 2^nd prize in High Jump & 3^rd Prize in Tripple Jump, in the 15^th ASISC Jharkhand & Bihar Regional Athletic Meet 2011which was held at CMRI, Dhanbad, on 16^th & 17^th September.

Bro. Michael Deogam from St. Albert’s College, Ranchi, writes:

Greetings! We are all keeping well. … Now, I would like to share with you the news from St. Albert's Seminary. August 31, was a day of great joy for the Albertine Family as we celebrated ‘Seminary Day’. The day began with the Eucharistic Celebration presided over by Rev. Fr. Xavier Soreng, SJ, Provincial of Ranchi Jesuit Province. Fr. Joseph Prasad Pinto, the Rector of St. Albert's College in his introduction acknowledged the important role played by the Jesuits in Chotanagpur. In the afternoon we enjoyed the ‘Traditional Football Match’ between the Philosophers V/s the Theologians. The philosophers won by 4-3. In the evening, religious men and women of Ranchi were invited for a short but beautiful cultural programme.  The skit, "Changes in Jharkhand", by the 1st year Theologians and 'Fusion Dance' by the Philosophers were impressive.

"God is love and he loves you and me.  Let us love others as he loves us", Mother Teresa had said. On September 5, the Brothers form West Bengal region celebrated the memory of Blessed Mother Teresa.

"O Karam, it is in your guise that Dharmes saved the Kurukh ancestors, and so our ancestors kept the Karma festival in order to honour you and kept honouring you to this day.   So also we, too, have come to take you to our courtyard."  Recalling this prayer, we, along with the Cathedral parishioners, celebrated the Karam festival on September 8.

In  hounour of our guests from Church-in-Need, Germany, we had a short felicitation programme on September 12. They visited many places of Jharkhand and went back carrying sweet memories along with them…Please convey our greetings to all...

From JDV Pune, Fr. Raju Felix Crasta writes:

Greetings! … September Month began with a positive note, with a scholarly philosophical staff-student seminar by Professor Chad Bouman, Ph.D., from Buttler University, on the topic, “Theorizing Religion and Culture with Clifford Geertz and Andrew Walls: Organic Indigenization and the Satnami Christians of Chattisgarh”. It was mind blowing in true sense. Another important aspect I could notice in this month is the upholding of diversity of cultures in JDV. It all began with the Onam celebrations in all the houses in various capacities. We, the PG students celebrated it on 10th of September. JDV Konkani association celebrated the Nativity of Our Lady, “Monthi Fest” on 9th of September where I was the Main celebrant at the Concelebrated Eucharist. The JDV day was celebrated on 23rd of September with a solemn Syro-Malabar Eucharist in the morning and fabulous Cultural extravaganza in the evening. The theme chosen this year was, “Sounds Synchronized to Symphony.” The Jamshedpur Scholastics too were on the stage… From the part of PG students, I was involved in the ‘Chorus’ which we sang in four different languages including Malaysian and Hebrew apart from Malayalam and Hindi. … Towards the end of the month, Fr. Donald D’Silva, SJ, of Jamshedpur Province was here for a couple of weeks to impart his communicative skills to the MPh Students.

News From Divya Bharati, Chaibasa

A Training Programme on “Power Evangelization and Prayer” was organized from 5^th to 8^th September at Divya Bharati, in which 29 people participated. And on the 24^th and 25^th of September, we had 70 Women from different Parishes of Kolhan-Porahat for a 2 day Residential Seminar on “Spirit-filled Leadership”, conducted by Fr. Edwin Coelho, Dean of Chaibasa Deanery and Dr. Mukti, OSU, Mahila Sangh Coordinator for the Chaibasa Deanery. Fr. Edwin Coelho, in his inaugural address, put the Seminar in perspective in line with our Jamshedpur Diocese Golden Jubilee Preparation. Six Pastoral sisters also attended the Programme and showed their support with the Catholic Mothers. Sr. Basanti Besra, SCN, enlightened the Catholic Mothers on the need for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Inequality in the Patriarchal Society and the need for Liberation from all kind of Oppression.

At the invitation of Fr. Richard Miranda, Parish Priest, Christ the King Church, Chakradharpur, I conducted a Three Day Small Christian Community Training Programme for Laity in which around 50 participants from the urban side of the Parish attended. It was well supported by the large number of Ursuline Sisters who attended from both the convents. I wish many more women religious will continue to support our Parish Priests in their pastoral venture with the Laity in our Diocese. In case, anybody requires our help for SCC and Laity Training Programme, our Pastoral Centre Team will be most happy to help out with advance arrangements. (Fr. George Anthony, SJ)