New Plan Activated for SCC in Midnapore Deanery.

 FR. DOMINIC GOMES VG 

On 21st and 22nd March 2022, 51 Parish Coordinators, Animators and veteran members of Small Christian Communities from 11 Parishes participated in a residential workshop held as a part of the ongoing process of SCC growth in Midnapore Deanery. Last year on 19-20 October an SCC Orientation workshop was conducted for over 60 participants who had gone back with very detailed parish action plans. Unfortunately the Christmas season that was followed by Covid 2nd Wave restrictions in January 2022 slowed things down considerably.  In mid-February Fr. Dominic Gomes, Vicar General visited Kharagpur and had a very fruitful meeting with Fr. Reginald Fernandez Dean of Midnapore and other parish priests and SCC coordinators with a very significant outcome – 13 Parishes and Sub-stations in the Deanery were clustered into six different Zones primarily based on the proximity of the Parishes and six Priests were each given charge to guide SCC in the Parishes in these six Zones. 

Barring two parishes who had Lenten Retreats on 21-22 March, it was attended by all those who had participated in the October workshop where the 4-Marks of SCC based on the 4 pillars of One, Holy, Catholic & Apostolic Church were explained in detail and 7-Step Gospel Sharing was elaborately demonstrated in group work and interactive sessions. This workshop was held in the backdrop of the re-formed SCC operational structure with the purpose of providing advanced inputs on re-vitalising SCCs through a systematic growth plan focusing on family participation.

As always the program started with a Solemn Bible procession and enthronement. The three lessons of focus for this workshop were - God’s plan for marriage and family; Forgiveness and handling conflict with love in the family; and SCCs Evangelize family. The methodology followed was fully participatory as the participants worked in four groups first reading aloud the inputs, accompanying Bible readings, and Church Teachings from the three lessons material in English, Bengali and Hindi, and then after reflection and discussions based on the questions provided with the lessons the groups prepared and presented their reports. Different members of the Diocesan Resource Team (DRT) facilitated each step of the process, and provided supplementary learning inputs at the end of the reporting sessions for the three lessons.

On the second day (Sunday) Holy Mass was celebrated by Fr. Dominic Gomes and concelebrated by Fr. Reginald Fernandes Dean of Midnapore. The concluding part focused on a stock taking-cum-planning exercise with 10 parishes setting up immediate targets of what they would do till the end of April 2022. This session was led by Fr. Reggie who has been constantly following up with the Priests designated to the six newly formed Zones and his enthusiasm has imparted a great impetus to the SCC growth efforts in the Deanery. The reports of the Parish after a round of discussion and planning in group.

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KOLKATA – 2nd Workshop of SCCs Evangelize Families

 Fr. Dominic Gomes VG 

Workshop for SCC Animators was held at Archbishop House on 19 March 2022, of the five Zonal Workshops conducted over the last six months this was the second on the theme ‘SCC Evangelize Family’. The day commenced with a solemn Bible procession and enthronement at 9:30. The Gospel message was “to be the leaven in our mission”. Thereafter Rev. Fr. Dominic Gomes the Vicar General and the Director of the SCC commission of Archdiocese of Calcutta welcomed participants from four parishes namely Our Lady of Holy Rosary Cathedral; Sacred Heart Church Dharmatala; St Thomas Church Middleton Row, and Christ the King Church Park Circus. Fr. Dominic introduced the SCC Diocesan Resource Team (DRT) of Mr. Ravi Samping, Mr. J C Lakra, Mrs. Manju Linda, Mrs. Christine Cramer and Sr. Rajni Marandi SMI who conducted the sessions during the day. The day was blessed with presence of Rev Fr. Peppin the director of the Family Commission and Sr. Alma Montero CSC who provided an inspiring input on why and how it is important that every family, the nucleus of the Universal Church, should and can be living examples of Christian life and living so as to glorify God and His Church.

The day was set in three sessions with the themes – (a) God’s plan in marriage and family life; (b) Forgiveness and healing conflicts with the love in the family; and (c) SCCs Evangelize the family. The entire workshop was conducted in a fully participatory and interactive mode with the 41 participants formed into three working groups and DRT members filling in supplementary information at the end of each session. 

The participants found these sessions very engaging and useful in evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of one's own family and Christian life. The sessions also instructed on ways of renewal and revitalization of one’s family life so that they may become beacons of love, service and forgiveness among the society/communities they live in. It is by this exemplary Christian family life that more and more families could be inspired and motivated to join the SCC movement and continue to serve the community and the Church with all humility to foster peace and justice all around.

This second workshop covered all the animators in the parishes in Kolkata Deanery as some had missed attending the first workshop conducted earlier in February 2022. The SCC DRT will continue with these Zonal workshops for parishes in the other three Deaneries and hope to complete this phase of spiritual growth of families within the SCC by the end of April 2022 before going on to more advanced issues to make the SCC a vibrant movement in the Archdiocese.

Sister Mary Joseph – new leader of Teresa nuns.

 By Francis Sunil Rosario

Kolkata, March 15, 2022: Sister Mary Joseph says she had spent a sleepless and anxious night before accepting to be the new leader of the Missionaries of Charity, the world renowned Catholic religious congregation founded by Saint Mother Teresa of Kolkata

The election of the third successor of Mother Teresa took place on March 12, during the congregation’s monthlong general chapter that began in February. The apex body of the congregation will conclude the meeting on March 19, the feast day of St. Joseph.

Speaking to Matters India after the morning Mass March 15 in the congregation’s Green Park convent where the Chapter is being held, Sister Joseph said that she asked nervously “Why me?” when her name was announced to take over the congregation spread all over the world. A series of thoughts and challenges came to her mind. Foremost of them was fear.

However, she felt peace at heart, when Jesus assured her in prayer that He will be with her in all her responsibilities and mission.

For her it was “a decisive night,” her dark night of soul, to say “Yes” to God. And “I prayed, ‘Make me a channel of your peace, O Lord.” She then became the first native Indian to head the 72-year-old congregation.

Sister Joseph hails from Poyya, a small interior village near Mala in the Thrissur district of Kerala, a southern Indian state. It is located 40 km south from the district headquarters, 4 km from Mala and 241 km from the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.

Sister Joseph was born in 1953. Her parents are no more. She has three sisters and a brother, all of them with well settled families. She says her simple and ordinary family maintained the cultural traditions and was deeply rooted in Jesus and Gospel values

Since her school days, Sister Joseph wanted to dedicate her life to God. She was deeply attracted by Jesus, his suffering for humanity and poverty. This helped to be drawn by the simplicity and spirit of poverty of the Missionaries of Charity and their wholehearted service to the poorest of the poor.

After completing her matriculation, at the age of 17, she went to the Trissur Vocation Centre and met a Missionaries of Charity nun, Sister Anand from Germany, who invited her to join her congregation. “Thus, I found my sacred ground to serve Jesus.”

The words of Jesus, “I came to serve and not to be served” further motivated her. It was easier said than to practice it in life.

She joined the congregation in 1970 after attending a “come and see” program. She made her first profession in 1974. She was then sent to Melbourne in Australia, where she served the aboriginals. After a year, she was made the formation director in Melbourne for five years.

After completing her term as formation director, she was sent to Papua Guinea after completing an eight-month tertian-ship in Kolkata. She made her final profession in May 1980.

Mother Teresa recognized Sr. Joseph’s qualities. She was made a formator and later the novice mistress when she was a young nun. She was made superior of several houses and as head of some regions, both in India and overseas. These roles have equipped her with sensitivity needed to become attentive to the needs of the poor and the most deprived of society.

After tertianship, she continued in formation at Premdan (abode of peace) in Kolkata for six months and for three years in the congregation’s headquarters called Mother House as the novice mistress. Thereafter, she was sent to the Philippines in 1984 as novice mistress and the superior of the house until 1990.

“Through the years living the charism of MC, I had to purify my intention to serve Jesus in the poor. In reality, we have to discover the cross of Christ daily,” Sister Joseph explained.

After the fall of Communism in Russia and neighboring countries, Sister Joseph was sent to Czech Republic in Praha (Prague) in 1990. It was a challenging task for Mother Teresa to send her sisters to Eastern Europe.

The region, historically known as Bohemia, had become an Eastern Bloc Communist state following a coup in 1948. Attempts at a liberalization of the government and economy were suppressed by a Soviet-led invasion during the Prague Spring in 1968. In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country, and on January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia was dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

This region consisted of Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Czech Republic. Sister Joseph served as the congregation’s superior in Poland during 1990-2000. She was appointed the Regional Superior from 2000-2004 a post she held for four and a half years.

In 2009, when Sister Mary Prema took over as the superior general from Sister Nirmala Joshi, Sister Joseph was elected as the first councilor, a post she held until 2015.

In 2015, she was appointed the superior of the Motijheel community in Kolkata, the place where Mother Teresa began her mission among the poorest of the poor.

Sister Joseph says the new post was for her returning to the roots of the congregation’s charism, emerging out of the heart of the poorest of the poor, the most marginalized and deprived of society.

Mother Teresa, who came to India as a Loreto nun, founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950 as a response to “a call within the call to belong to Jesus and serving the cause of the poor.”

Sister Joseph says the three years until 2018 was for her an opportunity to follow the footsteps of Mother Teresa.

In 2019, she was appointed the superior of the Kerala region.

Sister Joseph says her religious life helps her find meaning in the suffering and cross of Christ. Therefore, she finds any depth of suffering, tragedies, sickness and diseases an opportunity to love and embrace the cross of Christ. She finds fulfillment in living the reality of the poor, their struggles in life, the uncertainties and insecurity they face in life.

“My experience as MC is to feel so privileged to have the gift of this charism, God’s mercy to me, I have experienced and I am deeply grateful to God who gave me the Gospel charism. My life is to share the joy of giving and to put into practice charity among the poor and the most deprived.”

She quotes Saint Paul the Apostle to accept Jesus as the “corner stone” of her new mandate to serve Him, satiating His thirst in the poorest of the poor and face boldly whatever challenges in future with the strength of God.

SCC - A WAY FOR RENEWAL OF FAMILIES FOUNDED ON THE WORD.

Fr. Dominic Gomes

SCC Evangelises Family was the theme and main learning component of the workshop held for  SCC members (coordinators and animators) from parish units at the Archbishop’s House on  Sunday 27th February 2022 from 9 am to 4 pm. This workshop, attended by 39 participants, was  primarily meant for parishes in Zone IV of Kolkata Deanery – Christ The King, Our Lady of  Vailankanni and Queen of Peace, was also attended by SCC members from St. Francis Xavier  Church, Bowbazar and St. Teresa Church, Entally. The workshop was conducted by the SCC  Diocesan Service Team (DST) led by Fr. Dominic Gomes, SCC Coordinator for Calcutta  Archdiocese. 

As always the program started with a solemn Bible procession and enthronement. The three  lessons of focus for this workshop were - God’s plan for marriage and family; Forgiveness and  handling conflict with love in the family; and SCCs Evangelize family. The methodology followed was fully participatory as the participants worked in four groups first  reading aloud the inputs, accompanying Bible readings, and Church Teachings from the three  lessons material in English, Bengali and Hindi, and then after reflection and discussions based  on the questions provided with the lessons the groups prepared and presented their reports. Different members of the DST facilitated each step of the process, and provided supplementary  learning inputs at the end of the reporting sessions for the three lessons. 

The primary learning message in the three lessons may be summed up as follows: 

1. God’s plan for marriage and family

Marriage is a covenant willed by the Creator that Christ raised to the dignity of Sacrament of  Marriage. Consequently the Church looks to married couples as the heart of the entire family  which in turn looks to Jesus to live in affection with harmony of mind and work to help each  other to live exemplary Christian lives.

2. Forgiveness and handling conflict with love in the family

Reconciliation and unconditional forgiveness are central to the teachings of Jesus that can be  possible only with love marked by humility and tolerance. We should pray for God’s grace to  accept our own limitations and forgive our failures so that we can do the same towards others.

3. SCCs Evangelize families

Listening to and sharing the Word together is essential for spiritual growth. Every family in SCC  will grow in the love for God’s Word to transform their lives and make them living witnesses to  the Gospel in order to evangelize.

Holy Mass was celebrated by Rev Fr. Dominic Gomes and concelebrated by Rev Fr. Ambrose the  Parish Priest of St. Francis Xavier Church Bowbazar who was participating in the workshop with  his parishioners. During the homily, reiterating the message of Holy Father Pope Francis and  reflecting the day’s readings, he emphasised the dangers of gossiping that traps us in being 

judgemental about others while being blind to our own faults and forgetting that we are known  to others by our own words and behaviour. After a fellowship meal the participants re-gathered  for the concluding sessions which included a round of general planning to regularize Gospel  Sharing, Bible reading in the family, to encourage children for Sunday Catechism, and share the  learning of the workshop with their Parish Priests. 

However, to facilitate the growth of SCC in the parish it was evident that a more concerted  effort and strategy should be followed by each parish. Since each parish has a chosen SCC  Coordinator, a parish team of SCC animators should be formed with the Parish Priest and this  team should meet at least once a month on a regular basis. The SCC Deanery Coordinator and  other DST members could be invited to attend some of these meetings to facilitate the planning  of strategies and programs for raising awareness in the parish about the work SCC does and the  fellowship and support it provides so that people are motivated to make the SCC into a  Diocesan movement.  

It is during these SCC team meetings that concrete plans should be made for identifying needy  families and eligible beneficiaries to link them with the various pensions, welfare, educational  support schemes available from the Government, Minority Development Commission and  financial institutions. The workshop concluded with all singing “O give thanks to the Lord...”, 

and the Bible was closed after receiving final blessings.

Reviewing of SCC program in Midnapore.

FR DOMINIC GOMES VG

On 14 February 2022. an important SCC meeting was held at Sacred Heart Church in Kharagpur to review the progress of SCC growth in the Midnapore Deanery. The meeting was called by Fr. Dominic Gomes (SCC Diocesan Coordinator). It was attended by Fr. Reginald Fernandes (Dean of Midnapore, Fr Gregory Montiero,Fr Mohan Mandi, Ft. Sudhir Tudu, Fr. Sebastian Xalxo SJ, Sisters , Mr. Raphael Mandi, (Coordinators for SCC In Midnapore) and Mr Pabitro Joseph (Common Good Program. Seva Kendra Calcutta. One of the main points of concern taken up for discussion was the rather slow growth of SCC activities. In the Deanery mainly due to the slowdown caused by the restrictions following fears of a (Covid third wave) In January this year. In last October a very comprehensive animation workshop was held for SCC lay and religious facilitators from all the Parishes in the Deanery. Following this workshop extensive plans were made for the expansion of set and the participants went back very enthused. However, people naturally got engaged in other activities during the Advent season and for Christmas celebrations followed by covid restrictions in January,2022.

It was also felt at the meeting that because of Parishes being situated over a wide geographical area, it was difficult to monitor and guide grassroot based programs like SCC on the ground. So the Parishes were listed into six different zones according to their proximity to each other and a person suitably stationed was appointed to guide the Parishes In these Zones, There is already an extensive program drawn up for the Deanery so that the division of area and responsibilities will greatly facilitate monitoring and guiding the SCC units in the parishes. For overall coordination, it was decided that Mr. Raphael will send the details of his program and work at the end of every week to Fr. Reginald Fernandez who will then inform the Zone in-Charge to facilitate the programs in the respective Parishes. Also, another refresher-cum-advanced workshop will be organised sown on the theme of "SCC Evangelizes Families" for the facilitators who had attended the previous meeting. 

Feeding of the Poor at Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary, Kolkata.

On 5th of February 2022 at 12.00 noon, The Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary with the generous support of AnnBandhu foundation inaugurated the feeding of the poor programme in the presence of Mr. Mahesh Kumar Sharma. the Councilor of ward no 42 of Burrabazar area in Kolkata. This programme was the initiative of Fr. Franklin Menezes, the Pro Vicar of Cathedral of the Most Holy .

Rosary to feed the poor people of the area. The inaugural programme began with prayer song from Rabindra Sangeeth. sung by the Bethany Sisters of the Parish. The feeding programme was begun with the prayer and by distributing the meals to 140 poor people of the area. The programme provides the nutritious vegetarian meal for Rs. 6- for six days of the week except on Sundays. 

This meal is cooked at community kitchen run by AnnBandhu foundation with the help of general's donors and distributed to the feeding centres with the motto 'food for all". The programme was welcomed by the local councilor and appreciated by the local people as the ministry of God to feed the poor. Fr. Soumitra Makhal was the emcee of the day. 

Vicar General Fr. Dominic Gomes celebrates Ecumenism Sunday Mass.

Lynette Bain

“We saw the Star in the East and we came to worship him.”

23rd January 2022 - Church of Christ the King, Park Circus, Kolkata, Ecumenical Cell was entrusted to organise a special Mass at 8:00 a.m. on Ecumenism Sunday during this year’s Christian Unity Octave Week, being celebrated over the world from January 18 – 25 January 2022. It could only be celebrated amongst the parishioners, since they were unable to invite the other denomination churches, like other years, due to Covid-19 protocol restrictions. However, the church was privileged to have as the main celebrant at the Holy Eucharist Vicar General Fr. Dominic Gomes, along with Parish Priest Fr. Basil Mandi and Fr. Jesu Raj.

The choir sang the entrance hymn as the altar servers, clergy and members of the Ecumenism cell entered the church in procession to the altar. Then there was a short introduction - “On the day dedicated for special prayers for the unity of all Christians all over the world, to pray for unity amongst us,” by Lynette Bain. The Mass readings were done by Sybil and Dominic Azavedo, Gospel by Fr. Basil and an enlightening homily given by Fr. Dominic.

Vicar General had everyone engrossed in his homily as he mentioned that “the Holy Spirit is the uniting force while it is Satan who brings division: divisions in the family, in the parish and in the church.” He also emphasised that Christians should continue to journey together as one “in seeking God boldly and in concrete ways” and to “keep our gaze ever fixed on Christ,” while remaining “close to one another in prayer.” We all need to be like the Magi to walk together, Christians need to help one another to come ever closer to God, as division is scattering!  It is the Ecumenical Community that complete the One Church, thus we need to unite to proclaim the gospel of liberation. Other churches have gifts to offer us, so we need to divert and journey together as one flock of Christ the church. “United we stand divided we fall.”  Over 360 million Christians were persecuted and 5110 Churches were closed down in 2021. They all belonged to Christ - one baptism, one faith, one Church. He concluded by saying, “God cares nothing about our man-made divisions and groups and is not interested in our self-righteous, hair-splitting, and religious, man-made formulas and organisations. He wants you to recognise the UNITY of the body of Christ”.

The Unity Prayers of the faithful was led by Errol Gonsalves, followed by a solemn consecration, Holy Communion and final blessing. The Mass ended with a summary of the theme and vote of thanks by Fr. Basil, who expressed his appreciation to Fr. Dominic, the Ecumenism cell team, Mohit Pradhan and the choir members for making the day’s celebration a very meaningful one.

Fr. Dominic also thanked Fr. Basil and his team for taking the trouble to organise the service so wonderfully and for inviting him to celebrate the Mass.

After the end of the 90-minute celebration the congregation were treated to a hot cup of tea and biscuits bringing a close to a commemorative Ecumenism Sunday.

The mission of this Christian Unity Octave Week is to bring about communion through prayer, reconciliation, ecumenical dialogue and common action by promoting better understanding and collaboration with all Churches and ecclesial communities in a spirit of openness and love.