JULIET KARAK
'Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have. for such sacrifices are pleasing to God' Hebrews 13:16
SCC has taught us how to share and care for others.The SCC Hindi National Convention brought an awareness of unity and love among all our people. The Poor were happy that though they had nothing much to offer let people in our Parish increased their love for the community of Jesus by accommodating them in their houses. Thus the hospitality of the Calcuttans made them experience peace and love for coming forward and welcoming them into their homes. The Convention left a message for everyone that we all need to reach out to each other in good and bad times. The Parish SCC also grew as 2 new groups were formed and the inactive groups started their SCC Meetings again. The Pandemic restricted each one of us in many ways but nothing stopped the SCC and other members of Queen of Peace church to reach out to their parishioners as well as the needy as the Holy Spirit continued to work through all of us. During the lockdown our Parish having a lot of poor parishioners who work mostly on daily wages approached the SCC Animators who discussed the matter with the Coordinators and with the help of our Parish Priest. Fr. Peter Pradhan and the Parishioners came forward and helped in giving ration in March 2020 to 44 families. with a budget of Rs. 300/-per family. The second time the ration was given in April to 79 families keeping a budget of Rs. 350/- per family and again in June. 40 families were helped with a budget of Rs 600/- per family. Apart from the help that was given through the Parish. many SCC groups individually helped many non-Catholics in and around their areas: the old and the needy were given dry ration and some were also given cooked food. The Amphan (Cyclone) had affected severely 7 families of our Parish. Their roofs were flown off and in some places. trees fell on their houses and damaged the roofs and the walls. The families were helped with Rs. 50001- in cash and with tarpaulins so that immediate house repairs could be done. All the SCC members kept in touch with the Parishioners and prayed (for each other) strengthening their faith by sharing the Word of God and advising them to read small passages from the Bible and also to send small Bible quotes to each other. The 1st SCC Anniversary of the SCC National Convention which was held in October 2019. was celebrated by Queen of Peace Church on 15th November 2020 keeping the current situation in mind of social distancing and avoiding large gatherings the Parish celebrated the SCC Day by having 3 High Masses in 3 languages: in Bengali. English and Hindi. The same program was followed by all the 3 groups attending the different Masses: Bengali at 730 am. English at 930 am and Hindi at 11 am. The Eucharistic celebration started with a beautiful dance in a grand procession by our Parish kids followed by flower girls sprinkling flower petals and welcoming 'The Word'. -The Holy Bible. The Bible was enthroned at the altar by the main Celebrants during all the 3 Masses: Fr. Peter Pradhan in Bengali Fr. Subhasis Mondal in English and Fr. Benjamin Roy in Hindi. An introduction was given in the beginning regarding the "Small Christian Community".
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