- From Archdiocesan News Network
The Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan finally moved to the action arena of the parishes on the scheduled date of 9 August, 2015 – Parish Inauguration. Many parishes throughout the archdiocese heeded the call for involving the laity in major way in attending to the Concerns of the plan. Parishes charged up their parishioners for the occasion on the Inauguration by making sure that the people were well informed in advance through pulpit announcements and banners/posters announcing the event. Parishioners were given the responsibilities of seeing that all the points given by the APPCoT were fulfilled in the best way possible and everything was ready for the 9 August date.
Brief reports from some parishes are given here. More reports will follow in our subsequent issues. Also, certain parishes including urban ones such as 1) Church of Christ the King 2) Church of OL Vailankani 3) Auxilium Parish Church 4) St. Teresa's Church 5) Infant Jesus Church 6) St. Patrick's Church, Dum Dum 7) St. Joseph's Church, Barrackpore 8) Our Lady of Happy Voyage, Howrah, deferred their celebrations to 16 August, so those reports will be awaited.
LAUNCH OF ARCHDIOCESAN PASTORAL PLAN AT
SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA
At Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Kolkata, the Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan was duly launched on 9 August 2015 – the date decided by APPCoT and the Archbishop of Calcutta, His Grace Thomas D’Souza.
Two solemn masses were celebrated in the Parish on this historic occasion – Bengali Mass at 8.15 am by Fr Timir Sinha and English Mass at 9.30 am by the Parish Priest Fr Mukul Mondal. At the English Mass, the opening song by the Choir led by Mr Morris Menezes, was fittingly “Come on and Celebrate.”
At both the masses, Fr. Timir who heads the Archdiocesan Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue, began with Christian Life and very lucidly explained the Pastoral Plans of all the 12 Concerns. (These were also very well explained by him at all the other Sunday Masses – 2 Bengali and 3 English.) He said Laity was the backbone of the Church and stressed on the active participation of parishioners who he said were the different parts of the Body of Christ. If parishioners do not come forward, Christ’s work will not progress - they were the actual stakeholders of a parish, for Parish Priests would come and go, but parishioners would stay forever.
He also reminded the people, that in today’s competitive world, it was their duty to ensure each child in the parish was adequately educated including faith formation and health awareness. He urged each family of the parish to register their names in any of the 12 Concerns.
A big Banner and booths prominently displaying flexes on the 12 Concerns were set up just outside the church. Leaflets in English and Bengali were distributed, with a tear-off portion for interested parishioner’s enrolment in any of the 12 Concerns. A short video on a message by Archbishop Thomas D’Souza on the occasion was also shown.
Reported by and Photos by: Isaac Harold Gomes
Cathedral Invites Parishioners to
take Pastoral Plan forward
On Sunday, 9 August 2015, Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary celebrated the inauguration of the pastoral plan of the Archdiocese, as did many of the parishes across the Archdiocese.
This special occasion was celebrated with a Mass that began with a procession that started from the parish gate and ended at the Altar. The procession was led by our parish priest, Fr. Peter Arulraj (Pro-Vicar) and the main celebrant, Fr. Sunil Rozario. The whole parish community actively participated in the procession by carrying the posters symbolising the different aspects of the pastoral plan and by holding candles which showed the unity of the parish community and the willingness to follow in the path of the pastoral plan.
The pastoral plan has 12 aspects or “concerns”. However, only 3 aspects were selected by our parish priest. Those aspects were Laity, Family and Youth. The three aspects are to be focused on during the year, and even while focusing on these three aspects other aspects of the pastoral plan can be touched. For instance, if the youth is strengthened with proper values and morals; then the youth will stay healthy and teach others, will be socially communicative by spreading awareness and reaching out, and they will be environment friendly and become just persons.
The youth enthusiastically participated in the choir and altar service at the Eucharistic celebration, which was followed by a small get together in the parish hall with some snacks. The inauguration of the pastoral plan in the parish was conducted beautifully due to the efforts of the parish priest and the Council Members of the Cathedral. We hope that we can bear much fruit implementing the focus areas of Our Pastoral Plan!
Reported by: Sabrina Ma | Photos: Fr. Paneer Selvam
Pastoral Plan Inauguration in Bongaon Parish
On Sunday, 9th August 2015 the Inauguration of Pastoral Plan was organized in Bongaon Parish of North 24 Parganas, zone III of Barasat Deanery in Kolkata Arch diocese. The Function started with the Eucharistic celebration oriented with stress on the Pastoral Plan.
The entrance procession with the placards of the 12 commissions introduced the function. They were placed in prominent places. The prayer of the faithful gave special importance to the Pastoral plan. The Mass intention was for the success of the pastoral plan. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, Mr. Bikash Sengupta of the Parish Council explained the idea of the II Vatican Council and St Paul’s ideal (1Cor 6:15) about the participation of the all faithful in the church activities...
After the Eucharistic celebration, the Parish Priest, Fr. V L Paul Sdb invited all the parishioners to proceed to the parish hall in procession with the placards and to have the meeting about Pastoral Plan as announced and published earlier. About 160 people participated in the meeting. The Parish Priest welcomed the Participants to the programme.
After the welcome speech, the Parish Priest directed Mr. Bikash Sengupta to lead the participants to discussion. Anup Biswas, Christina Bairagi and team started off the programme with a hymn. Mr. Bikash Sengupta introduced in gist the function of the 12 commissions with examples of the present positive & negative situations.
Action plan of 4 of the 12 commissions was presented during the first meeting:
1) “Women & Development Commission” was explained by Smt. Chhaya Das
2) “Education & culture Commission” was explained by Fr. Joy, Asst. PP
3) “Youth Commission” was explained by Mr. Bikash Madhu4) “Liturgy Commission” was explained by Mr. Anup Biswas
During the discussion, Mr. Bikash Sengupta pointed out the duties and activities of the Parish Priest in numerous departments of Parish activities. Hence priestly activities often suffer the lack of priorities. There is an urgent need to share these activities. The parishioners showed great interest in forming the various commissions and to participate in the activities of the parish as active members of the local church. It was decided to form the commissions with proper rules and procedures in the near future.
The whole function was a grand success. The Parish Priest thanked the Participants and the meeting was concluded with the distribution of tea and biscuits.
Reported by : Bikash Sengupta
A detailed walkthrough the 4 Commissions adopted by the Parish
The four commissions were introduced after the communion. The church had chosen to take up these four commissions; namely Laity, Youth, Family and Women. They were introduced in greater detail, outlining the parish’s action plan for each of them. While each of the commissions was read out, one of the parishioners carried the respective commission’s placard and walked down the aisle and then returning back from the side aisle to place the placard in front of the altar.
Lighting of the Inaugural candle and the closing note
Once all the four commission placards were placed side by side in front of the church altar. Father Hansel lit the inaugural candle, placing it in front of the 4 commission placards, briefly pausing to offer a short prayer. He then concluded with a closing note, expressing his happiness at such a good attendance on this very special day. He reminded everyone that this was just the beginning. He also requested all the parishioners to come forward and provide their contact details, so that they can be contacted for their involvement in at least one of the chosen commissions. He also set the expectation of the youths, asking the elders of the community to provide full support, encouragement and praise for their positive contribution. He then briefly touched upon the importance of the role played by women and laity, calling them the heart of the church. After the final prayer all the placards were collected for a final procession down to the parish hall.
Tea and Snack Get-together
At the Parish hall, an information-cum- registration counter was set up for each of the four chosen commissions. Tea and coffee was served to all parishioners and a projector was also set up on the stage that played the Archbishop Most. Rev. Thomas D’Souza’s introductory video. Parishioners were seen thronging each counter, making it a point to enlist themselves in at least one commission.
Buoyed by a new sense of energy, and in spite of a slightly longer mass, the Parish council members decided to meet up right after to assess the event and also decide on the way ahead.
At the Parish council meeting, it was decided that each of the commissions would meet up on a fixed date to draw up a roadmap and set milestone dates for each plan. A co-ordinator who would be responsible to ensure that action plan is followed in a timely manner, would be chosen from among those who volunteered for each commission.
Father Hansel and Sister Monica Suchiang concluded with a thank you note to all who had worked so hard to make this event successful and memorable.
The Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan finally moved to the action arena of the parishes on the scheduled date of 9 August, 2015 – Parish Inauguration. Many parishes throughout the archdiocese heeded the call for involving the laity in major way in attending to the Concerns of the plan. Parishes charged up their parishioners for the occasion on the Inauguration by making sure that the people were well informed in advance through pulpit announcements and banners/posters announcing the event. Parishioners were given the responsibilities of seeing that all the points given by the APPCoT were fulfilled in the best way possible and everything was ready for the 9 August date.
Brief reports from some parishes are given here. More reports will follow in our subsequent issues. Also, certain parishes including urban ones such as 1) Church of Christ the King 2) Church of OL Vailankani 3) Auxilium Parish Church 4) St. Teresa's Church 5) Infant Jesus Church 6) St. Patrick's Church, Dum Dum 7) St. Joseph's Church, Barrackpore 8) Our Lady of Happy Voyage, Howrah, deferred their celebrations to 16 August, so those reports will be awaited.
LAUNCH OF ARCHDIOCESAN PASTORAL PLAN AT
SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF FATIMA
At Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Kolkata, the Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan was duly launched on 9 August 2015 – the date decided by APPCoT and the Archbishop of Calcutta, His Grace Thomas D’Souza.
Two solemn masses were celebrated in the Parish on this historic occasion – Bengali Mass at 8.15 am by Fr Timir Sinha and English Mass at 9.30 am by the Parish Priest Fr Mukul Mondal. At the English Mass, the opening song by the Choir led by Mr Morris Menezes, was fittingly “Come on and Celebrate.”
At both the masses, Fr. Timir who heads the Archdiocesan Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue, began with Christian Life and very lucidly explained the Pastoral Plans of all the 12 Concerns. (These were also very well explained by him at all the other Sunday Masses – 2 Bengali and 3 English.) He said Laity was the backbone of the Church and stressed on the active participation of parishioners who he said were the different parts of the Body of Christ. If parishioners do not come forward, Christ’s work will not progress - they were the actual stakeholders of a parish, for Parish Priests would come and go, but parishioners would stay forever.
He also reminded the people, that in today’s competitive world, it was their duty to ensure each child in the parish was adequately educated including faith formation and health awareness. He urged each family of the parish to register their names in any of the 12 Concerns.
A big Banner and booths prominently displaying flexes on the 12 Concerns were set up just outside the church. Leaflets in English and Bengali were distributed, with a tear-off portion for interested parishioner’s enrolment in any of the 12 Concerns. A short video on a message by Archbishop Thomas D’Souza on the occasion was also shown.
Reported by and Photos by: Isaac Harold Gomes
Cathedral Invites Parishioners to
take Pastoral Plan forward
On Sunday, 9 August 2015, Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary celebrated the inauguration of the pastoral plan of the Archdiocese, as did many of the parishes across the Archdiocese.
This special occasion was celebrated with a Mass that began with a procession that started from the parish gate and ended at the Altar. The procession was led by our parish priest, Fr. Peter Arulraj (Pro-Vicar) and the main celebrant, Fr. Sunil Rozario. The whole parish community actively participated in the procession by carrying the posters symbolising the different aspects of the pastoral plan and by holding candles which showed the unity of the parish community and the willingness to follow in the path of the pastoral plan.
The pastoral plan has 12 aspects or “concerns”. However, only 3 aspects were selected by our parish priest. Those aspects were Laity, Family and Youth. The three aspects are to be focused on during the year, and even while focusing on these three aspects other aspects of the pastoral plan can be touched. For instance, if the youth is strengthened with proper values and morals; then the youth will stay healthy and teach others, will be socially communicative by spreading awareness and reaching out, and they will be environment friendly and become just persons.
The youth enthusiastically participated in the choir and altar service at the Eucharistic celebration, which was followed by a small get together in the parish hall with some snacks. The inauguration of the pastoral plan in the parish was conducted beautifully due to the efforts of the parish priest and the Council Members of the Cathedral. We hope that we can bear much fruit implementing the focus areas of Our Pastoral Plan!Reported by: Sabrina Ma | Photos: Fr. Paneer Selvam
Pastoral Plan Inauguration in Bongaon Parish
On Sunday, 9th August 2015 the Inauguration of Pastoral Plan was organized in Bongaon Parish of North 24 Parganas, zone III of Barasat Deanery in Kolkata Arch diocese. The Function started with the Eucharistic celebration oriented with stress on the Pastoral Plan.
The entrance procession with the placards of the 12 commissions introduced the function. They were placed in prominent places. The prayer of the faithful gave special importance to the Pastoral plan. The Mass intention was for the success of the pastoral plan. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, Mr. Bikash Sengupta of the Parish Council explained the idea of the II Vatican Council and St Paul’s ideal (1Cor 6:15) about the participation of the all faithful in the church activities...
After the Eucharistic celebration, the Parish Priest, Fr. V L Paul Sdb invited all the parishioners to proceed to the parish hall in procession with the placards and to have the meeting about Pastoral Plan as announced and published earlier. About 160 people participated in the meeting. The Parish Priest welcomed the Participants to the programme.
After the welcome speech, the Parish Priest directed Mr. Bikash Sengupta to lead the participants to discussion. Anup Biswas, Christina Bairagi and team started off the programme with a hymn. Mr. Bikash Sengupta introduced in gist the function of the 12 commissions with examples of the present positive & negative situations.
Action plan of 4 of the 12 commissions was presented during the first meeting:
1) “Women & Development Commission” was explained by Smt. Chhaya Das
2) “Education & culture Commission” was explained by Fr. Joy, Asst. PP
3) “Youth Commission” was explained by Mr. Bikash Madhu4) “Liturgy Commission” was explained by Mr. Anup Biswas
During the discussion, Mr. Bikash Sengupta pointed out the duties and activities of the Parish Priest in numerous departments of Parish activities. Hence priestly activities often suffer the lack of priorities. There is an urgent need to share these activities. The parishioners showed great interest in forming the various commissions and to participate in the activities of the parish as active members of the local church. It was decided to form the commissions with proper rules and procedures in the near future.
The whole function was a grand success. The Parish Priest thanked the Participants and the meeting was concluded with the distribution of tea and biscuits.
Reported by : Bikash Sengupta
Inauguration of Pastoral Plan at
St Francis Xavier’s Parish, Bowbazar, Kolkata
The church was pleasantly greeted with a more than the usual Sunday attendance, this was a result of the Church banner announcing the inauguration of the Pastoral Plan that was put up two weeks ago and also backed by a strong word of mouth about the new Pastoral Plan.
The opening song, “Come let us go to the Mountain of the Lord” specially selected for the occasion by our church choir group set the tone of the proceeding.
Father Fr. Hansel D’Souza, welcomed the Parishioners in his opening address by introducing the concept of Pastoral Plan and the 12 Commissions. He also informed the parishioners about 4 commissions the church was taking up, namely Laity, Youth, Family & Women, encouraging all the parishioners to take an active role in helping the church to implement them. These four commissions were chosen by the parish council members in close consultation with Fr. Hansel and Sister Monica Suchiang, based on the present need of the parish.
Introduction of the first 8 Commission
Soon after the Gospel, Fr. Hansel formally announced the inauguration of the Pastoral plan with a short speech. One of the Parish council members read out the first eight Commissions, one after another touching on its action plan, a parishioner held up the respective commission placard in front of the congregation, pausing briefly before slowly marching down the central aisles. Then they walked back up round the side aisles, each person alternating between the left and right aisle and finally placing the placards in by the 8 pillars, 4 in each side. The first eight Commissions read out were:
● Ecumenism & Interreligious Dialogue
● Christian Life
● Education
● Environment & Social Justice
● Evangelization
● Small Christian Community
● Social Communication
● Healthcare
St Francis Xavier’s Parish, Bowbazar, Kolkata
The church was pleasantly greeted with a more than the usual Sunday attendance, this was a result of the Church banner announcing the inauguration of the Pastoral Plan that was put up two weeks ago and also backed by a strong word of mouth about the new Pastoral Plan.
The opening song, “Come let us go to the Mountain of the Lord” specially selected for the occasion by our church choir group set the tone of the proceeding.
Father Fr. Hansel D’Souza, welcomed the Parishioners in his opening address by introducing the concept of Pastoral Plan and the 12 Commissions. He also informed the parishioners about 4 commissions the church was taking up, namely Laity, Youth, Family & Women, encouraging all the parishioners to take an active role in helping the church to implement them. These four commissions were chosen by the parish council members in close consultation with Fr. Hansel and Sister Monica Suchiang, based on the present need of the parish.
Introduction of the first 8 Commission
Soon after the Gospel, Fr. Hansel formally announced the inauguration of the Pastoral plan with a short speech. One of the Parish council members read out the first eight Commissions, one after another touching on its action plan, a parishioner held up the respective commission placard in front of the congregation, pausing briefly before slowly marching down the central aisles. Then they walked back up round the side aisles, each person alternating between the left and right aisle and finally placing the placards in by the 8 pillars, 4 in each side. The first eight Commissions read out were:
● Ecumenism & Interreligious Dialogue
● Christian Life
● Education
● Environment & Social Justice
● Evangelization
● Small Christian Community
● Social Communication
● Healthcare
A detailed walkthrough the 4 Commissions adopted by the Parish
The four commissions were introduced after the communion. The church had chosen to take up these four commissions; namely Laity, Youth, Family and Women. They were introduced in greater detail, outlining the parish’s action plan for each of them. While each of the commissions was read out, one of the parishioners carried the respective commission’s placard and walked down the aisle and then returning back from the side aisle to place the placard in front of the altar.
Lighting of the Inaugural candle and the closing note
Once all the four commission placards were placed side by side in front of the church altar. Father Hansel lit the inaugural candle, placing it in front of the 4 commission placards, briefly pausing to offer a short prayer. He then concluded with a closing note, expressing his happiness at such a good attendance on this very special day. He reminded everyone that this was just the beginning. He also requested all the parishioners to come forward and provide their contact details, so that they can be contacted for their involvement in at least one of the chosen commissions. He also set the expectation of the youths, asking the elders of the community to provide full support, encouragement and praise for their positive contribution. He then briefly touched upon the importance of the role played by women and laity, calling them the heart of the church. After the final prayer all the placards were collected for a final procession down to the parish hall.
Tea and Snack Get-together
At the Parish hall, an information-cum- registration counter was set up for each of the four chosen commissions. Tea and coffee was served to all parishioners and a projector was also set up on the stage that played the Archbishop Most. Rev. Thomas D’Souza’s introductory video. Parishioners were seen thronging each counter, making it a point to enlist themselves in at least one commission.
Buoyed by a new sense of energy, and in spite of a slightly longer mass, the Parish council members decided to meet up right after to assess the event and also decide on the way ahead.
At the Parish council meeting, it was decided that each of the commissions would meet up on a fixed date to draw up a roadmap and set milestone dates for each plan. A co-ordinator who would be responsible to ensure that action plan is followed in a timely manner, would be chosen from among those who volunteered for each commission.
Father Hansel and Sister Monica Suchiang concluded with a thank you note to all who had worked so hard to make this event successful and memorable.
Reported by :Sister Monica Suchiang
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