Queen of Peace Church, Tollygunge, Kolkata

 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".

Infant Jesus Church, Behala, Kolkata

 ABHIJIT MINJ

"Go to the ends of the World: teach them to carry out everything I commanded you". 

Matthew 28:20 .

To achieve the objectives of the 'The Prophetic Role Of SCC Today the theme of Small Christian Communities National Convention - Hindi held in October 2019 in Kolkata. SCC Animators of Infant Jesus Church,Behala under the leadership of the Parish Priest Fr. Patrick Rodriguez started approaching the parishioner safety. They visited Parishioner's to be part of the area-wise SCC units. Faith Formation Community activities were conducted not only at the Church but also at the Parishioner's houses on weekly basis. Undeterred by the pandemic restrictions members promptly took to innovative methods sharing the spirit of SCC: digital online meetings, whatsApp video meetings took shape Advocating family prayer helping elderly sick neighbours and needy children assisting the unemployed, providing online tuitions Bible' sharing sessions providing Internet connectivity and sanitary napkins to needy students paying continued salary to domestic helps by all members during the Lockdown and helping KMC cleaning staff calamity struck again with Super Cyclone Amphan causing widespread damage in the state during May 2020. The SCC members extended help to neighbours with relief operations in whatever way they could like reaching out to approximately 50 needy families, helping bustee dwellers by providing provisions, medicines, old clothes, paying house rent and also giving Financial assistance to repair houses. The Archbishop House. courtesy Vicar General, Fr. Dominic Gomes extended help by providing packets containing; rice, pulses,potatoes,onions,cooking oil, spices, kerosene oil, bread. etc: and tarpaulins. which were distributed locally to needy, supervised by our Parish Priest. As the lock down norms were eased out a concrete plan like training existing animators and members forming zonal networks consolidating existing units etc.

The First Anniversary of the SCC National Convention was celebrated on 15th November. 2020 It started at 9:00AM with a Bible procession followed by Enthronement and celebration of the Holy Eucharist by Fr. Patrick Rodriguez Parish Priest. The Bible Readings and the Prayers of the Faithful were read in Bengali Hindi and English. Alter Mass and tea break. the Input Session started at 11:00 AM with a short introductory speech by Fr. Abhay Minx followed by Sr. Pratibha sharing the importance of SCC as a New Way of Being Church. Then three groups were formed for the Gospel Sharing Session with the passage taken from Matthew 10:26-33. The Word of Life was: "Do not be afraid". The Action Plan was 'Reach out to more families of the Parish urging them to be a part of the neighbourhood SCC unit. Proclaim the Glory of JESUS CHRIST the saviour and KING without fear'. Testimony was given by Renu Valmiki a non-baptized who was inspired by the Gospel Sharing. Gospel sharing made me read the Bible more attentively and helped me understand it better. It has helped me to identify God's message all over again to lead a better spiritual and righteous life.