Diocese of Jamshedpur
Vol. 47 No. 4 Private Circulation
Only April– 2017
The
Holy Father’s Message for the 32nd World Youth Day
Palm Sunday, 9
April, 2017
The following is
the extract of the Message that the Holy Father Francis is sending to young
people throughout the world on the occasion of the 32nd World Youth Day, which
will be celebrated at diocesan level on 9 April 2017, Palm Sunday, on the theme
“The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is His name” (Luke,
1:49).
Dear Young
Friends,
At the conclusion
of the Kraków World Youth Day, I announced the next stop in our pilgrimage,
which with God’s help will bring us to Panama in 2019. On this journey we will
be accompanied by the Virgin Mary, whom all generations call blessed (cf. Lk
1:48). This new leg of our journey picks up from the one that preceded it, centered
on the Beatitudes, and invites us to press forward. I fervently hope that you,
young people will continue to press forward, not only cherishing the memory of
the past, but also with courage in the present and hope for the future. These
attitudes were certainly present in the young Mary of Nazareth and are clearly
expressed in the themes chosen for the three coming World Youth Days. This year
we will reflect on the faith of Mary, who says in the Magnificat: “The Mighty
One has done great things for me” (Lk 1:49).
Our age does not
need young people who are “couch-potatoes”
According to
Luke’s Gospel, once Mary has received the message of the angel and said “yes”
to the call to become the Mother of the Saviour, she sets out in haste to visit
her cousin Elizabeth, who was in the sixth month of her pregnancy. Mary is very
young; what she was told is a great gift, but it also entails great challenges.
The Lord assured her of his presence and support, yet many things remain
obscure in her mind and heart. Yet Mary does not shut herself up at home or let
herself be paralyzed by fear or pride. Mary is not the type that, to be
comfortable, needs a good sofa where she can feel safe and sound. She is no
couch potato!
It was a long way
to the house of Elizabeth, about 150 kilometers. But the young woman from Nazareth, led by the
Holy Spirit, knows no obstacles. Surely, those days of journeying helped her to
meditate on the marvellous event of which she was a part. So it is with us,
whenever we set out on pilgrimage. Along the way, the events of our own lives
come to mind, we learn to appreciate their meaning and we discern our vocation,
which then becomes clear in the encounter with God and in service to others.
The Mighty One has
done great things for me
The meeting of the
two women, one young and the other elderly, is filled with the presence of the
Holy Spirit and charged with joy and wonder. One of the great gifts that the Virgin
received was certainly that of faith.
Belief in God is a priceless gift, but one that has to be received.
Elizabeth blesses Mary for this, and she in turn responds with the song of the
Magnificat (cf. Lk 1:46-55), in which we find the words: “The Mighty One has
done great things for me” (v. 49).
Mary’s is a
revolutionary prayer, the song of a faith-filled young woman conscious of her
limits, yet confident in God’s mercy. She gives thanks to God for looking upon
her lowliness and for the work of salvation that He has brought about for the
people, the poor and the humble. Faith is at the heart of Mary’s entire story.
Her song helps us to understand the mercy of the Lord as the driving force of
history, the history of each of us and of all humanity.
When God touches
the heart of a young man or woman, they become capable of doing tremendous
things. The “great things” that the Almighty accomplished in the life of Mary
speak also to our own journey in life, which is not a meaningless meandering,
but a pilgrimage that, for all its uncertainties and sufferings, can find its
fulfilment in God.
Being young does
not mean being disconnected from the past
Mary, in the
Magnificat, echoes the praises of her people and their history. This shows us
that being young does not mean being disconnected from the past. Our personal
history is part of a long trail, a communal journey that has preceded us over
the ages. The genuine experience of the Church is not like a flash mob, where
people agree to meet, do their thing and then go their separate ways. The
Church is heir to a long tradition which, passed down from generation to
generation, is further enriched by the experience of each individual. Your
personal history has a place within the greater history of the Church. Being
mindful of the past also helps us to be open to the unexpected ways that God
acts in us and through us. As young people, you too can do great things and
take on fuller responsibilities, if only you recognize God’s mercy and power at
work in your lives.
Some of you,
particularly those hurt by certain situations in life, might want to “reset”
your own past, to claim the right to forget it all. But I would like to remind
you that there is no saint without a past, or a sinner without a future. The
pearl is born of a wound in the oyster! We need to learn how to make past
events a dynamic reality on which to reflect and to draw lessons and meaning
for the present and the future. This is no easy task, but one necessary for
discovering the thread of God’s love running through the whole of our life.
Many people say
that young people are distracted and superficial. They are wrong! Still, we
should acknowledge our need to reflect on our lives and direct them towards the
future. To have a past is not the same as to have a history. Television is full
of “reality shows” which are not real stories, but only moments passed before a
television camera by characters living from day to day, without a greater plan.
Don’t let yourselves be led astray by this false image of reality! Be the
protagonists of your history; decide your own future.
How to remain
connected, following the example of Mary
It is said of Mary
that she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart (cf. Lk
2:19, 51). This unassuming young woman of Nazareth teaches us by her example to
preserve the memory of the events of our lives but also to put them together
and reconstruct the unity of all the fragments that, put together, can make up
a mosaic. How can we learn to do this in practice? Let me offer you some
suggestions.
At the end of each
day, we can stop for a few minutes to remember the good times and the
challenges, the things that went well and those that went wrong. In this way,
before God and before ourselves, we can express our gratitude, our regrets and
our trust. If you wish, you can also write them down in a notebook as a kind of
spiritual journal. This means praying in life, with life and about life, and it
will surely help you to recognise the great things that the Lord is doing for
each of you.
Reading the
Magnificat, we realize how well Mary knew the word of God. Every verse of her
song has a parallel in the Old Testament. The young mother of Jesus knew the
prayers of her people by heart. Surely her parents and her grandparents had
taught them to her. How important it is for the faith to be passed down from
one generation to another! Be familiar with the Bible, God’s word, reading it
daily and letting it speak to your lives, and interpreting everyday events in
the light of what the Lord says to you in the sacred Scriptures. In prayer and
in the prayerful reading of the Bible (lectio divina), Jesus will warm
your hearts and illumine your steps, even in the dark moments of life (cf. Lk
24:13-35).
Mary also teaches
us to live “eucharistically”, that is to learn how to give thanks and praise,
and not to fixate on our problems and difficulties alone. In the process of
living, today’s prayers become tomorrow’s reasons for thanksgiving. In this
way, your participation in Holy Mass and the occasions when you celebrate the
Sacrament of Reconciliation will be both a high point and new beginning.
Elizabeth helps
the Virgin to understand more fully the greatness of what God is accomplishing
in her and the mission that he has entrusted to her. But what about you? Do you
realize how extraordinarily enriching the encounter between the young and the
elderly can be? How much attention do you pay to the elderly, to your
grandparents? With good reason you want to “soar”, your heart is full of great dreams,
but you need the wisdom and the vision of the elderly. Young people have
strength, while the elderly have memory and wisdom. As Mary did with Elizabeth,
look to the elderly, to your grandparents. They will speak to you of things
that can thrill your minds and fill your hearts.
Creative fidelity
for building the future
It is true that
you are still young and so it can be hard for you to appreciate the importance
of tradition. But know that this is not the same as being traditionalists. No!
When Mary in the Gospel says: “The Mighty One has done great things for me”,
she means to say that those “great things” are not over, but are still
happening in the present.
A society that
values only the present tends to dismiss everything inherited from the past, as
for example the institutions of marriage, consecrated life and priestly
mission. These end up being seen as meaningless and outdated forms. People
think it is better to live in “open” situations, going through life as if it
were a reality show, without aim or purpose. Don’t let yourselves be deceived!
God came to enlarge the horizons of our life in every direction. He helps us to
give due value to the past so as better to build a future of happiness. Yet
this is possible only if we have authentic experiences of love, which help us
concretely to discern the Lord’s call and to respond to it. For only that can
bring us true happiness.
Dear young people,
may you too cultivate a relationship of familiarity and friendship with Our
Lady, entrusting to her your joys, your worries and your concerns. I assure you
that you will not regret it!
May the maiden of
Nazareth, who in the whole world has assumed a thousand names and faces in
order to be close to her children, intercede for all of us and help us to sing
of the great works that the Lord is accomplishing in us and through us.
From the Vatican, POPE
FRANCIS
FINAL STATEMENT
OF THE XV NATIONAL MEETING
OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE DIOCESAN PRIESTS OF INDIA (CDPI)
Held at Seva Kendra,
Calcutta, the City of Joy
On 15th to17thMarch,
2017
We, the 113 members of Conference of the Diocesan Priests of India
(CDPI),under the patronage of the CCBI, gathered from 67 dioceses of our beloved
country at Seva Kendra, Calcutta, the city of St. Teresa from 15th
to 17th March 2017,awed by the spirit of evangelization that
blossomed in this very sacred city of St. Teresa, have studied, reflected and
prayed together under the guidance of our patron Most Rev. Udumala Bala together
with His Grace Most Rev. Thomas D’Souza, the Archbishop of Calcutta and other
six bishops, on the theme: Life and Mission of St. Teresa of Calcutta Reflected
in the Life and Mission of the Diocesan Priests. As the fruit of the
deliberations at the three day-conference, we, the diocesan priests of India, find
St. Teresa of Calcutta an exemplary model of silence, profound friendship with
Jesus and evangelization through her life.
Having experienced profound peace in our hearts during our Shanti Yatracum pilgrimage from Seva
Kendra to the tomb of Mother Teresa at the Mother House and having prayed the
Holy Eucharist at her tomb, we are awed and moved by the whole-hearted total
surrender she made to her Master and Lord Jesus in intimate friendship. We are
deeply touched by her ardent (ever burning) desire to love only Jesus, to give
only Jesus and to live only for Jesus. The choices that Mother Teresa made in
her life, though might have appeared insane and illogical according to the
worldly standards, finally turned out to be the right choices of Christ
himself.
The Holy Eucharist being the pivot of her life, she not only bent
down to worship Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament, but also bent down to serve
the same Jesus whom she saw in the poorest of the poor, in the dying ones of
the gutter and in those suffering with incurable diseases. The saint of the
gutter, as she is known, taught us with her own life that holiness should not
be a luxury of some, but an urgent exigency and pastoral priority for every diocesan
priest for whom Mother Teresa had a special love always. She taught us through
her life as to how to be drawn towards the loving Father and at the same time
as to how to be drawn towards the people in love. Because of intense love for
her Spouse, she was also able to see His face in every person regardless of
caste, creed, language or status. Thus, she became a Mother not only for
Calcutta, or India, but a Mother for the whole humanity.
The echo of the cry of the crucified Jesus on the cross: “I thirst”,
which Mother Teresa heard in the depth of her heart, has been reverberating in
our hearts as well. We would very much love to carry the infinite love of the
crucified Jesus to dark holes of the poor in our own parish territories.
We, the diocesan priests, appreciating our own divine gift of
priesthood, shall strive to imbibe the important values lived by Mother Teresa,
especially her spirit of Catholicity that urged her to reach out to all the
suffering irrespective of their creed, caste or country. It shall be our
endeavor to minister to all the economically or spiritually marginalized in our
parishes – which go beyond the confines of our faith community.
We resolve ourselves:
·
To celebrate the Holy
Eucharist remembering the maternal advice of Mother Teresa: “O priest of
Christ, celebrate this Mass as if this is your first Mass, this is your last
Mass and this is your only Mass”.
·
To respect the human
dignity of every individual with whom we come into contact, without being
judgmental.
·
To carry out our priestly
ministry and all that we do with utmost love.
·
To endeavor to exercise
our priestly ministry in such a way that it becomes a source of inspiration to
all.
Most Rev. Bp. UdumalaBala Fr. I. Raymond Joseph Fr. Philomin Doss
Patron
of CDPI Executive
Secretary President
of CDPI
Bishop of Warangal CCBI
Commission for Clergy Archdiocese
of Pondicherry
International Womens' Day celebration: Golmuri
About 450 Mahilas from Jamshedpur deanery
from various parishes, Sini, Chandil (55 nos.), Moubhandar Mosabani and
Chaibasa joined together for the International Womens' Day Celebration. Most
Rev. Felix Toppo, S.J in his sermon in the Eucharistic Celebration at the
Cathedral emphasized about the importance of women empowerment and the role of
women in the society, especially in the family.
The solemn Eucharistic celebration was followed
by a one-day seminar at St. Joseph’s Welfare Centre, Golmuri. Rev. Fr. Camille
Hembrom, the dean of Jamshedpur inaugurated the seminar and thanked the women
present for their invaluable service to the society, especially the Church in
Jamshedpur. Many senior members of Mahila Sangh were felicitated in the
function. The discourses of Brahmakumari Anju and Mr D P Singh impressed all
present. Rejuvenated by the talks and the assurance of the support by society,
the women left for home with a beautiful memory to cherish. (Manisha Topno)
International Women’s Day at Catholic Charities
It was a joyous
and exhilarated day for all the women as they came from far and wide to
participate in the international women’s day celebration on 10th of
March at Catholic Charities, Jamshedpur. All were in festive mood as they
brought dhol and nagara, played them and danced. They also put up 20 stalls to
exhibit their products, Mrs. Rita and Betty grabbed this opportunity to buy
things for themselves. There were more than 500 women participants. This year,
the theme of the celebration was “Be Bold for Change.” The chairperson of Jamshedpur Zila Parishad
Mrs. Bullu Rani Singh was the chief guest, who in her speech encouraged and
highlighted the roles and contribution of women in family, society and country.
Prior to that Fr. C.R. Prabhu welcomed all and enlightened the gathering about
the works and efforts of the Catholic Charities for the welfare and development
of women. He also said that women need to be bold to transform themselves and
the society. The Catholic Charities family offers a big thanks to all the
staffs for their help and support.
International
Women’s Day at Kuchai
Samekit Jan
Vikas Kendra, Jamshedpur organized the International Women’s Day at Kuchai,
Kharswan. Addressing the gathering Mr. Simon Marandi the B.D.O. and the chief
guest said that the contribution of women in the development of country and
society cannot be ignored. Women are not less than anybody in any field. They
need to be strong, energetic and steadfast in order to change the social
circumstances. The development of the society and the country is possible only
when women are awakened. Fr. C.R. Prabhu the director of SJVK also said that
there is a distinct identity of women in the world because of their
contributions and achievements. Women play a vital role in the development of
the society and therefore they need to be strong and firm. On this great
occasion 750 women and many local leaders were present.
Mosquito nets
Distribution
In collaboration
with SIGN Ranchi, the Catholic Charities, Jamshedpur has been busy distributing
the mosquito nets to all the hostel boys and girls of the diocese. So far 20
hostels have been completed and remaining 13 hostels will be completed very
soon. Due to lack of mosquito nets many students suffer from malaria as a
result they are not able to concentrate on their studies and other activities
in a good manner. Most of the places in the diocese are malaria prone area and
therefore this small step of providing nets free of cost will help the students
to keep away from malaria. Thanks to SIGN.
Dhanbad celebrates
International Women’s Day
The International Women’s Day was Celebrated on Sunday, March, 5, at
St. Anthony’s parish, Dhanbad, with fanfare and gaiety amidst high excitement.
A huge mass of Mahilas from different parishes of Dhanbad deanery were accorded
a ceremonial welcome to the accompaniment of drum beats and singing before the
start of the programme.
The chief guest, Mrs. Manisha Minj, Rly, SP’S wife along with four
others lit the lamp. She was also the main speaker for the occasion on the
topic “respect for women’s dignity.” Opening her talk she declared “women are
not house wives but are home makers.” Home making, she continued, is a sublime
responsibility, a lion’s share of it, rests on women. Love and understanding
mingled with diligence is the ultimate mantra of crafting a happy home, she
added.
Dignity of women emanates from the fact of their being created in
the image of God. Therefore, women are as equal and deserving of respect as
men, she asserted. She batted for women and highlighted success stories of
today’s many women who have carved a niche for themselves in almost all spheres
including in the domains traditionally considered exclusively a male
preserve. Opportunities given, today,
women can define their own destiny, she said. In the same breath, she was also
critical of the man- woman disparity in this 21st century and blamed
the age – old male domineering mindset as the biggest factor for subjugation of
women whose off shoot has been the continuing gender inequality. Men must place
women on equal footing, she said.
“Nukkad” was part of the programme. So each parish represented by a
group of twelve Mahilas beautifully staged a well- rehearsed Nukkad each based
on the theme of St. John’s gospel passage, woman caught in adultery (
Jn.8:1-11) portraying the dignity of woman.
Besides the Nukkad, in a speech contest, on the theme of respect for women, one
Mahila from each parish delivered a five-minute speech. One could see how
vociferous each speaker was on the need for respect for women. As part of
entertainment a merry go round game was also conducted which all participants
enjoyed. 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes were given
away for all above events. Later, a solemn Eucharist was celebrated in the
church followed by tea before all participants made their homeward journey. (Fr.
Amatus Kujur)
Sad Demise
Mr.
Augustus Kullu (69), beloved father of Fr. Ranjit Kullu, passed away in the
Lord on March, 12, 2017 at High Tech Hospital, Rourkela. His funeral was held
on the same day in his native village, Churia Girja Toli, Salangapos Parish.We
express our sincere condolence to Fr Ranjit Kullu and the grieving family and
extend our prayers. May his soul Rest In Peace!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
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APRIL
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Date
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Name
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03
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Richard Miranda
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12
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Leo John D’Souza
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16
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Sahaya Thason
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19
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Paulus Bodra
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24
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Pascal Minj
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29
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Sushil Dungdung
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13
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Fr. Robert Toppo
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BISHOP’S ENGAGEMENTS
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APRIL 2017
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03
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Mon
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06.30 am
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Mass for
the Vocation Campers at Vianney Niwas
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Neeldingri
|
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08.30 am
|
Leave for
Simdega
|
|
||
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04
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Tue
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08.30 am
|
JH, OD
& CG Bishops’ Meeting till 04.00 pm
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Simdega
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09
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Sun
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07.00 am
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Palm Sunday at St. Mary’s Church
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Bistupur
|
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11
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Tue
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09.30 am/pm
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Clergy Meeting/
Chrism Mass
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Golmuri
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13
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Thur
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05.30 pm
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Maundy Thursday
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Golmuri
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|
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03.00 pm
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Good Friday Services at Christ The
King Church
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Chakradhapur
|
|
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16
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Sat/Sun
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11.30 pm
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Easter Vigil Mass
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Golmuri
|
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22
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Sat
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09.30 am
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Meeting of the Heads of Diocesan
and Religious Schools
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Golmuri
|
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02.30 pm
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Meeting of the Heads of Diocesan
Schools
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Golmuri
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||
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23
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Sun
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07.00 am
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Confirmation at St. Xavier’s Church
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Chaibasa
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05.00 pm
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House Blessing
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Parsudih
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||
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24
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Mon
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09.30 am
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Diocesan Consult/ JDC Gov. Board
Meeting
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Golmuri
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09.00 am
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Bishops/Leaders of Different Churches Meeting in SDC
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Ranchi
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||
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25
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Tue
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07.00 am
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Parish Feast, First Communion and
Confirmation
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Toklo
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26
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Wed
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06.00 pm
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Golden Jubilee of Sr. Eulalia
Furtado, AC (Sup.)
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Sonari
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30
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Sun
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07.00 am
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Confirmation, Guadalupe Church
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Telco
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