CRI Regional Secretaries Meet

CRI Regional secretaries meet was held at National CRI Centre  Masihgarh, New Delhi  from 12-13 August spearheaded by Fr. Joe Mannath SDB the National CRI Secretary.

The regional secretaries who participated were Sr. Mary Joseph Sap from Andhra Pradesh, Bro Cyril Chettiath SG from Bihar, Sr. Lalita Roshini Lakra DSA from Jharkhand/Andamans, Fr. Stifan Alvin Perera OCD from Karnataka, Sr. Modesta CTC from Kerala, Fr. Paulose Mangai SJ from North, Sr. Francis SMI from North East, Fr. Cherian Joseph SVD from Odisha,Sr. Sahaya Mary FBS from Tamil Nadu,Sr. Cecilia FSLG from UP,Rajastan, Uttarkhand, Sr. Stella D FMA from West Bengal Sikkim, Fr. Cleophas Braganza SDB from  Western.

The forum commenced with a prayer and inaugural address by Fr. Joe Mannath SDB the CRI national Secretary.  The secretaries presented one by one their power point presentation on the statistical data of the No of major superiors, no of Religious priests, sisters and brothers and no of  religious institutions in the region, the major activities carried out at regional CRI level.

The second day was engaged in learning from each other’s presentations and planning for the programmes at national level.  The meeting was an eye opener and valuable learning experience especially for those who have taken up the responsibly newly.    The stay of just two days were made unforgettable  by the warm hospitality, varied food provided, clean and cosy accommodation and above all  for the love and care  by the duo outstanding team of Fr. Joe and Rita and  the perfect assisting staff.

CRI -North 24 Parganas Deanery celebrates the sainthood of St. Teresa of Kolkata and concludes the year of Mercy

 

A felicitation ceremony for the sainthood of St. Teresa of Kolkata  and thanksgiving  for the year of mercy was organised  by the CRI unit of the North 24  Parganas deanery at Auxilium convent Barasat On 29^th October 2016.

 The grand celebration was set on track  with the inaugural ceremony  which included the lighting of the lamb  by the chief guest Rev. Fr. Anthony Rodrick the dean of  North 24 parganas, the Guest of honour Br. Varghese MC and the core team of deanery , welcome speech by the president of the deanery  Rev. Fr. Simon Xalxo OFM,  presentation of Bouquet by Sr. Biola RNDM and the  invocation prayer by Sr.  Stella D FMA the secretary of the CRI Deanery.   Rev. Fr. Varghese Tor introduced the  Resource person of the day Rev. Br. Varghese MC  who kept  the audience enthused  and enamoured  for more than one hour with his inspiring  and igniting  talk on St. Teresa of Kolkata. Some of the key points highlighted were Compassion and Mother Teresa is synonymous, her life could be summarised as prayer, service, silence, single mindedness, Christ orientedness.  She preached without preaching for her actions spoke louder than her words.  She was an excellent teacher as a Loretto nun and she continued to be a teacher later through her actions. She proved by her life that compassion and mercy are more powerful than money and power.  She exhorted often,” our religious life is to belong to Jesus and let Jesus use you without consulting you’.  Obedience to the will of God will take care of you.

Rev. Fr. Thamasin SJ the Director of Arunoday , the  anchor of the day  and organizer of the cultural programme set the stage on motion with the commencement of the cultural fiesta.  Auxilium boarding students initiatedit with theme song on divine mercy, Blessed are the merciful followed by 12 formation houses Bethany novitiate, RNDM  aspirantate, Anujyoti  AC postulantate , Arunoday SJ pre novitiate, St. John Mary Vianney Diocesan seminary, Providence novitiate  Barrackpore, Apostolic Carmel Novitiate, MC aspirants from Green Park, Prado novices, Novices of sisters of charity of Oasis Capitano, novices of  Daughters of St. Ann and  Aspirants of Auxilium Barasat who set the stage on fire with their creative and captivating staging  on the life of Mother Teresa and  year of mercy themes enthralling the audience. The sisters and fathers of Barasat communities    surprised the audience with a melodious  song on St. Teresa of Kolkata composed by Sr. Baia  AC.

The solemn Eucharistic celebration  commenced with an entrance dance performed by the boarders of Auxilium Barasat.  The choir of Bethany novitiate with their harmonious and  mellifluous voices gave a heavenly ambient for the main celebrant Fr. Anthony Rodricks and other 9 co-celebrants to offer the thanksgiving Eucharist for our new Saint, St. Teresa of Kolkata and conclude befittingly  the year of mercy.  Fr. Anthony in his homily exhorted all to follow the footsteps of our saint who was truly the icon of the year of mercy.  He  also congratulated the CRI core team for organizing and executing the event so beautifully.  After the Eucharistic celebration Sr. Biola RNDM gave  the eulogy of thanks to all those who had been instrumental in making this day a memorable one in the annals of the CRI unit of north 24 Parganas .  The eventful day drew it’s curtain with a fellowship meal in the grounds with lots of chit and chats and sharing.  May the Lord whose everlasting mercy we commemorated continue to assist us in being agents of mercy in the footsteps of St. Teresa of Kolkata.

 

CRI Meeting at Krishnagar

On 21^st February 2016, CRI Meeting was held at the SMI Mother House, Krishnagar with the recourse person Fr. Amalraj. 70 religious participated in the meeting. The purpose of this meeting was to come together to celebrate the concluding of the Year of Consecrated Life and reflect on the message of Pope Francis for the Year of Mercy.

The inaugural Mass was celebrated by Rev. Bishop Joseph Gomes and concelebrated by Fr. Robin Gomes. At the onset he told us that this coming together of the CRI is celebrating an event of joy as a right arm to work in his diocese and renew ourselves so that we can insert ourselves according to our charism in the society, family, congregation and the Church and thus fulfill the mandate of Christ.

Sr. Rosilda Lobo read the Annual report followed by Fr. Amalraj’s input session through power point presentations, wonderfully portraying the Holy Father’s messages on the Year of Mercy, through video clippings, anecdotes, stories and statistics. Fr. Amalraj said, “Faith is an important part of our celebration and we got to focus on our Catholic faith, nourished, lived and celebrated”.  He dealt with the Motto, Message and its Content.

It was followed by the elections of the new President and Vice President, Secretary and a few members. Sr. Rosina Thomas was unanimously elected as the Vice President of the CRI. Few future plans were seen for the Regional CRI. The clarion call is “The Church calls each one of us to be merciful like the Father” We heed to this call in joy, love and compassion.

 

Delving into Laudato Si of Pope Francis

On 17^th August 2015, CRI unit of 24 Parganas deanery consisting of fathers, brothers, novices and sisters numbering about a 100 came together at Auxilium Barsat at 10 a.m. to have an exploration of the encyclical of Pope Francis, “Laudato Si” delivered by Fr. Francis Sunil Rosario.  The aspirants of Auxilium Barasat initiated the meeting with a prayer dance, ’you are precious to me’ commemorating the year of the consecrated.  Fr. Anthony Rodrick the dean of 24 PGS introduced Fr. Sunil Rosario with glowing praises.

From the beginning to the end what emerged was that Fr. Sunil Rozario was an ardent admirer of Pope Francis.  He commenced his session with Francis effect on the church and the world at large screening one of the interviews in which Cardinal Sean O Malley OFM speaks of his experience in the conclave as a Pentecostal experience, expectations of dramatic changes, his election to the Consultative Committee on Reforming the Curia and his great and humble experience with the pope who is so natural and serene in dealing with daily challenges.  Pope Francis with his characteristics of humility, simplicity and closeness to the poor has initiated a fundamental reform of Vatican’s government, challenged the globalization of indifference and became the most talked about person.

The session continued with the introduction of the encyclical and its various chapters and contents.  At 11.30 a.m. during the tea break Fr. Maurlin Fernando SJ called for a short meeting of the CRI Core team and the formators of religious communities to plan for the “Day of the consecrated in the parish”.    In the meeting it was decided that the each formation house would present a 20 minutes musical on the founder, the   charism and their present status in the world.  Fr. Anthony Rodricks suggested that the laity should be given active participation in the event.  The date suggested for this celebration was Dec. 6^th 2015.  A meeting of the core team was scheduled in the coming month for the planning and organization of the programme.

In the second session Fr. Sunil Rosario delineated the encyclical   in depth drawing our attention to the plea of our holy father to take responsibility towards the sustenance of our common home, earth and  the need to pay attention to the  perils of     pollution and climate change, waste and throwaway culture, issue of water , loss of bio-diversity,Decline in the quality of Human life and the Breakdown of society and  Global Inequality .

Laudato Si -‘Praise be to you’Pope’s intention is to include all of creation. We are the crown of creation and all creatures including sun, moon, stars, nature together must praise God in all things.

• Nearly 40,000 word encyclical is very challenging.

• Pope Francis has dared to name the reality of the huge ecological issues which threaten our world and us.

• He goes on to offer us a deeply personal and radically political spirituality, one which nourishes the spirit while being fully down-to-earth.

• This is a truly integral ecology, a rich synthesis of the material and the spiritual, the ecological and

Pope Francis maintains that ‘Christian communities have an important role to play by respecting the environment and educating others to do the same. He insists that ‘Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork are essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.

In the encyclical Francis emphasizes the point that ‘nature is … a continuing revelation of the divine.  Towards the end he also relate to the sacramental theology and says,‘The Sacraments are a privileged way in which nature is taken up by God to become a means of mediating supernatural life. … Water, oil, fire and colours are taken up in all their symbolic power and incorporated in our act of praise’He adds that ‘the Eucharist is itself an act of cosmic love’

Fr. Sunil’s session came to the conclusion with another interview with Josephine Lombardi PHD who in her talks highlights the amazing  Pastoral sensitivity of our holy Father. Meeting came to an end with the vote of thanks conveyed by Fr. Varghese Tor the treasurer of the CRI Core team of the deanery of 24 Parganas and the thanksgiving prayer by Rev. Fr. Aloysius Carvalho.

Let us hearken to the invitation of the Holy Father and become protectors and sustainers of our common home, our mother earth with our unique contribution.

Sr. Stella P.