Wednesday, February 27, 2013

MARCH, 2013

POPE RENOUNCES PAPAL THRONE
Vatican City, 11 February 2013: The Holy Father, at the end of day's consistory for causes for canonization, announced his resignation from ministry as Bishop of Rome to the College of Cardinals. Following is the Holy Father's complete declaration, which he read in Latin: "I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is." 

"Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer."

MESSAGE OF BISHOP FELIX TOPPO, S.J.

My dear Brothers and Sisters,
One hundred and seventeen (117) bishops of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), gathered at the Shrine of Our Lady of Health, Vailankanni, Feb 5-10, 2013 for the XXV Plenary Assembly and to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the Conference. The main topic of our deliberations was the “Pastoral Plan for the Church in India”, considered as a milestone in the onward journey of the Conference. Several ecclesial events made our Plenary Assembly more meaningful: - the Promulgation of the Year of Faith by Pope Benedict XVI on the Golden Jubilee of the inauguration of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th Anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), as also the Golden Jubilee of the declaration of the Shrine of Our Lady of Health at Veilankanni as a minor Basilica.

In the final Message to the faithful in India the Bishops said, “We fervently pray that all sections of the People of God be filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit and walk in newness of life. We appeal to you, lay people, to be conscious of the dignity of your lay vocation and never forget your call to be witnesses to Christ in an increasingly secularized world of today. We appeal to you, beloved children, to open your hearts always to Jesus Christ our loving Saviour who blesses children, and wants everyone to be childlike. We appeal to you, young people, to make Jesus Christ your Friend, and know that he is the answer to your life-questions. We appeal to you, men and women in consecrated life, to never diminish in zeal for the Kingdom of God and loyalty to the Church. We appeal to you, dear priests, our beloved coworkers in the vineyard of the Lord, never to cease in your efforts to conform to Christ, the Priest, Prophet and Shepherd.”

+Felix Toppo, S.J.
Bishop of Jamshedpur

GAUDALUPE CHURCH, TELCO: SENIOR CITIZENS DAY
With the initiative of Fr. Leo D’Souza, a day was celebrated in honor of senior citizens of the parish in Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Telco. To thank and glorify the Lord Holy Eucharist was celebrated with all the parishioners. The prayers of thanksgiving were offered to God for their selfless services and exemplary life in the parish.  This was the occasion to show spiritual solidarity with all the senior citizen throughout the world. Fr. Emile Coelho was the Chief guest who presided over the Mass. Fr. Dincher and Fr. Manu Parapuram were present to grace the occasion. Rita and Betty (Canadians) who are at Vianney Niwas with the candidates were the guests of honor. The parishioners organized some entertainment programmes to cheer the hearts of senior citizens. At the end of the programme all present shared a delicious meal. Thanks to Frs. Benedict and Leo for their love and concern that they have shown towards them.

GOLMURI : ST. JOSEPH’S CATHEDRAL
Priestly Ordination: The Salesian province of Guahati was blessed by another young energetic priest Fr. Pradeep Ekka SDB who was ordained by Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J. on Sunday the 3rd February, 2013 at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Golmuri. His vice provincial and rector along with some of his guests from Belgium were present to grace the occasion. The Ordination ceremony was coloured by varieties of liturgical dances and meaningful singing during the Holy Eucharist. At the end of the Mass all present on the occasion congratulated and wish new life to the Newly Ordained priest, and gave honour to the Bishop, guest priests, religious and faithful for inspiring and guiding Fr. Pradeep Ekka in his priestly vocation.

The Parish Priest, Fr. Camille Hembrom gave the vote of thanks and welcomed all to share the joy with snacks and tea. The parishioners and relatives joined together in the traditional rhythmic dance. The companions of Fr. Pradeep from Belgium also joined with cheerful dancing crowed.

Retreats: For a better preparation of the lent a retreat was held at Gyandeep and Mercy chapel from 15th to 17 and 22nd to 24th Feb. Many people benefited from this renewal program.

SUNDERNAGAR : PREISTS RETREAT
In preparation for the joyful celebration of Easter, a five days retreat (18-22 February) for priests was organized at Catholic Charities, Sundernagar. Fr. Anil Dev, IMS a renowned retreat preacher from Matri Dham, Varanasi guided the priests with his inspiring talks which helped the priests to meditate and spend the fruitful time with the Lord. He encouraged them to be united with Vine to bear the fruits. 24 priests from the diocese participated in this retreat and profited from it.

BURIGORA :
Every village in Burigora mission got the chance to spend a day in recollection as a part of Year of Faith and lent activities. The faithful of the village had the opportunity for the celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation and Eucharist. To show solidarity with the devout of Saraswati Mata on 16th February, 2013 quiz, singing and dance competition was organized. Many people participated and enjoyed the programme. Congratulation to Fr. Sanjay Kujur and group!

KUMADUBI, TALDANGA : LOYOLA SCHOOL
While the 2013 ISC & ICSE batch students were busy with their MOCK tests and preparation for the finals the rest of the school was drowned in a patriotic fervor.  This year the REPUBLIC DAY has gone down in records with the performance of the children in the tableau. The theme was ‘WOMAN’. The great women leaders in various fields were shown and then female infanticide – dowry – eve teasing depicted the darker side of the society. But finally the mother image of the country and how and why we all must respect and honour her was the final sentence that was driven into the minds of all.

The serious mood continued as the ISC exam is postponed this year. As the month of February set in the boards and the annual exams began. (Rita Sen)

BISTUPUR : ST.MARY’S ENGLISH HIGH SCHOOL
St. Mary’s English school had its sports day on the 12th of January 2013.The chief guest was Mr. Charles Borromeo & the guest of honor was Fr. Augustine Ezhakunnel. Both of them appreciated & applauded the students for their fantastic performance .On the 30th of January we had the Graduation night for the outgoing students of std. XII. The chief guest was Mrs. Nerurkar, she enlightened the students to dream high in order to succeed in life. It was very solemn & prayerful ceremony afterwards we had delicious dinner everyone enjoyed it. On 9th February the school bid adieu to Mr. Peterlake & Miss Rajendra somlok. The management, staff & the students acknowledged & appreciated their contribution to St. Mary’s family. On 11th &12th of February we had the orientation given by the former Provincial of Sisters of St. Joseph of Tarbes Sr. Euphrasia. She gave lot of insight to the teachers with regard to class room management as well as positive self esteem. All the teachers were enriched energized & sharpened their self image in order to become an effective teacher. Thanks to Fr. David Vincent the principal of the school for organizing such an inspiring class for the teachers. (Sr. Mariam, SJT)

MANGO : ST. JOSEPH'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The construction works on the college building is going on and hope to finish it very soon. Our 4th batch students are all in Mercy Hospital for their internship, all the students are happy with the practical training they are getting in the hospital. The Sisters as well as the nurses are very kind and helpful to the students in every way possible. We are very grateful to Mercy Hospital Sisters especially Sr. Elsy Joseph - Nursing Superintendent and to Sr. Jessy - Hospital Administrator for their support and collaboration.

Forms are being given out for the next batch; those interested may please come to the College office on week days (Monday to Friday) from 9 am to 5 pm. At the moment we are conducting only two courses. Diploma/Certificate course in Health Assistant (DHA/CHA) and Diploma, in Desk Top Publishing (DTP).

This is a one year programme. In Health Assistant course the basics of nursing are taught, students learn all the nursing procedures and are able to assist the nurses in the hospitals or clinics. In DTP the students learn the basics of Computers and Windows, Page Maker, Corel Draw, Photo Shop. These arc the core subjects but besides these we also teach them Conversational English, Life coping skills, Communications Skills, Basic Computer and Yoga. The students learn not just a trade but also to be a useful citizen.

Our humble request to all the parish priests, please help us to help your parishioners especially those who are not able to go ahead with their studies for some reason or another to come and join St. Joseph's Community College and we will help them to learn one trade and make themselves useful. (Sr. Miriam, PDDM)

MANGO : UPASANA / JESU BHAWAN
Fr. Dick McHugh, S.J. along with Fr. Giorgio Mennini, S.J. guided 29 participants for the NLP (Basic) which concluded on the 6 Feb . Fr. Benedict Minj, Parish Priest, Telco, participated and profited from the course along with 28 other participants. Later on the 9th of February, 14 participants joined for the NLP (Advance) Course which concluded on the 19th of February. They all were very happy with their stay and food arrangements as well as the course content wherein the sessions were intensely demanding and practical skill development oriented. Many were happy with the Self discovery, Self Confidence, Freedom experienced, along with the practical skills, help and support they received from the mentors, Fathers Dick and Giorgio. They enjoyed the green ambience of Upasana and Jesu Bhawan Campus. Fr. Jerry Kujur, helped by Br.Tony and the Novitiate team, made sure that all left happy. On the 23rdof February, 9 Diocesan Regents joined 8 Jesuit Regents, for their monthly recollection, in Upasana. They were guided by Fr. Cyril Tigga, Director, Divya Bharati, Chaibasa. Fr. Rajesh is helping the Novices for the Lenten Ministry in various parishes of the Diocese and Jesuit Province during the coming month. (Fr. George Anthony, S.J.)

CRI: A BRIEF REPORT OF CRI CONVENTION
 The CRI Annual Convention was held at Jan Vikas Kendra, Sundernagar, Jamshedpur on 9th and 10th of February, 2013. The theme of the convention was “Profession of Faith in the context of the multi-cultural and social situations in our Diocese of Jamshedpur”. The resource person was Fr. Francis Kurien, S.J. Provincial, Hazaribagh Jesuit Province. The total number of participants was 84. The key note address was delivered by Fr. Mike T. Raj, S.J. Provincial and Regional CRI President encouraged   the congregation to look at our innovation as creative fidelity which is a call for dying to oneself and rising again. We need to look into the way we live our community life. Fr Mike further emphasized that if we want practice creative fidelity to our vocation we have to shake off the inertia of upper middle class comfort and strongly come to terms with raw reality of poverty and human right violations. Our mission must shape our life style. Mission ought to shape our religious life, not our religious life to shape our mission. Today we would rather look for a mission which suits our convenient conviction and our comfort zone. He challenged each one with a reflective question “Is there a desire to shape one’s life according to the need of the mission?” A big question to ask all of us religious.

Soon after the key note address, the reports of three Deaneries of Chaibasa, Dhanbad/Purulia and Jamshedpur were read out by the respective secretaries chaired by Fr Sunny Jacob S.J. The session on follow up action taken was chaired by Fr. Hilary Lobo, S.J. the CRI President who drew the attention of the audience to three major areas for action plans decided by last year’s convention were 1) Learning the local language 2) Faith formation in schools and colleges 3) Training in Mass Media. Except for the third one, the other suggestions were implemented at the Deanery level.

The second day, 10th February saw Fr. Kurien’s vibrant and enriching power point presentation on the theme of the conference: the profession of faith in the multi-religious and social context of Jamshedpur. After painting a detailed account of multi-ethnic groups, Fr. Kurien went straight into the theme of convention and the identity of the religious in the Church especially the CRI. Our profession of faith, he stressed, should be a commitment to the Church inspired by the experience of personal prayer and action, celebration and reflection of doctrinal theology. The questions raised by him were very reflective and pin-pointed: What according to you is the specific role of the CRI, as distinct from the role of Religious in the Church? What specific contribution can CRI offer to the Church of Jamshedpur? (Distinct from the contributions already being made by individual Religious Congregations).

After some clarifications regarding his presentation, Fr Kurien chaired the session for action plan to be taken in this year of faith. He conducted a fruitful discussion about the identity of CRI and how we can ‘get out of our box’ and work collectively as a group for church in Jamshedpur. A youth commission of Sr. Gracy, SCN, Sr. Heleena JMJ and Fr Jotin, OP was formed to work with Fr. Emile Coelho, S.J. who is already involved in the ministry of unorganized university students.

In the business  session, the annual accounts was presented by Sr. Elsy Cherian, SCJM, Treasurer  and dates for the next year’s convention was fixed for 8th and 9th February 2014.  The format of CRI directory was handed out to collect the statistics of each community. After the Holy Eucharist presided by Fr. Kurien and  the sumptuous meal served by Fr. Halan Bodra and his team, the delegates left with true determination and motivation as a CRI Unit for the service of the Church in Jamshedpur.

 Fr. Hilary Lobo,S.J.
CRI President, Jamshedpur

CHAIBASA : ST. XAVIER’S ENGLISH SCHOOL
The school reopened on 2nd of January, 2013 after the winter break. We had a small prayer seeking god’s blessing on everything that we have planned for this year.

Pre-board results were distributed on 11th of January. A hearty farewell was given to the students of std X on 19th of January. The students of std IX presented some cultural programs. It was a heart rending moment for students as well as teachers as teary-eyed students recounted some wonderful moments experienced in this school, some of them lightened the mood by sharing some hilarious moments.

Parents’– teachers meets were held for different classes on different days to discuss the problems faced by the parents and teachers while dealing with the children. Parents were also informed about the new syllabus and new fee-structure.

The founder of our school Fr. Cyril Fernandes visited Chaibasa on 24th of January. We had been preparing for a science exhibition for a while and we timed it on 25th of January so that Fr. Cyril could be present for its inauguration. True to expectation he managed to spare some time from his busy schedule and graced the occasion by being present as our chief guest. The principal of S.P.G Boys school, Chaibasa, Mr. Purushottam Sharma and the Professor of physics, Tata College, Chaibasa, Dr. Sanjay Kumar Gorai judged the projects exhibited by our students. Presence of such luminaries greatly influenced our young scientists. The judges appreciated their projects and acknowledged their talent and hard work. Such acknowledgements mean a lot to their budding talents.

We had a grand celebration on the occasion of Republic Day on 26th January. Students performed colourful dances, skit and songs. During the program Fr. Cyril released the school magazine “ARTIFEX” (Creativity) the second Epoch. It’s a collection of creative ideas bursting forth from our talented students minds. This school was Fr. Cyril’s dream child and it was a moment of pride for him to see the school standing tall and its students growing in stature in every sphere, he delivered a small speech on the occasion which was quite touching and inspiring. All the students lapsed into a kind of trance as he spoke about the humble beginning of our school and about the time when he was oscillating between hope and despair to complete his dream project of building this school, to keep it from coming to a standstill. Through his speech he succeeded in conveying the message that all the good in our life comes from god. Both the power to do good, and the will to do it have a divine source. His philanthropic work that he did in India and the things he is doing in America has motivated our students to think beyond the words I and mine. They have been inspired to love others, less privileged ones.

From 4th of February to 7th of February we had teachers’ seminar in our school. Various methods of teaching were discussed. Tips were given for better management of classes.

Annual exams commenced on 9th of February and ended on 23rd of February. Thus our session 2012-13 has come to an end and we are gearing up for the new session 2013-14.    

 CHAIBASA : DIVYA BHARATI
A Two Days training program for catechists and lay leaders was organized on February 6 and 7, 2013.  35 participants from 12 parishes including Sisters and brothers prepared themselves to preach Lenten retreat in the Year of Faith in their respective areas. Thanks to all the Parish Priests who sent their leaders for the program. Resource persons- Fr Edwin Coelho, Dean, Fr. Kishore Lugun and Fr. Jerry shared their insights which were appreciated very much by all the participants.
Lay leaders are assets in our parishes. We need to prepare them with proper trainings. Here are the opportunities at Navjyoti Niketan, Patna – 800010 (Ph. No. 0612 2262284/2277144).
1.      Vatican II Revisited  (1st March pm to 4th pm) in Hindi – Rs. 100 for everything
2.      Evangelization Training (13th April a.m. to 15th pm) in Hindi - Rs. 100 for everything
3.      Training of Lay Leaders for Faith Formation Team- phase I (15th April pm to 19th pm) Eng/Hin - Rs. 100 for everything.
4.      Catechism of the Catholic Church and Faith Formation (19th April pm to 22 p m) Hindi – Rs. 100 for everything. (Fr. Cyril Tigga, S.J.)

Birthdays (March)
Date
Name
13
Chonhas Xalxo
14
Elvius Dungdung
21
Dilip Marandi
27
Raphael Monteiro
29
Hermon Tigga
31
Henry Sequeira
31
Nicholas Kerketta


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