eastern tidings december 2010

8/13/2019 Eastern Tidings December 2010

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ET No. 21 For Private Circulation Only December 2010

May the Heart of Jesus Live in the Hearts of All Peoples


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Eastern Tidings 2 December 2010

INDIA EASTERN PROVINCE

A Word from our Visitator General...General Visitation: A dialogue with Cultures

Probably some of you have different understanding

of visitation, may be as visitater General coming andlooking, what happens here, a little bit of control, a

little bit of correction etc. Probably something of it

should also happen.

But we understand in the Generalate the visitation

more as a dialogue between the generalate and the

provinces, to understand how to answer to the

challenges of today as good religious and good

missionaries. It is not easy.

Therefore, focus of this General Visitation is

emphasized towards the religious life and missionary

service in the light of the last

two General Chapters. For

whole of of ASPAC zone

the same focus is

formulated because we are

looking in the society for

new ways, methods,

expressions of our religious

life and missionary service.

And the largest number of

confreres is in ASPACZone. Indian confreres are second largest group in

the Society of the Divine Word. So your contribution,your partnership in this dialogue is very importantand essential. I am very happy to be in the EasternIndian Province because Eastern Province in the pasthas taken many missionary initiatives. Sometimeschallenged by cultures, other contexts etc. but youare not discouraged even in some attacks and

persecutions. You go ahead in the Spirit of servicetrying to find new ways in spite of difficulties and

problems. So therefore I am here to be inspired byyour missionary service, by your religious life. Ofcourse, always taking the focus of evangelization, weare inspired by cultures, but also challenging cultures.So may be in some cases I would also raise somequestions of new challenges, but in the spirit ofdialogue. And I hope this visitation you also understandin this spirit.Therefore we can be enriched, we canenrich the Society of the Divine Word, and also

through the Society the Church and the Whole World.

A Tribute to Mother TeresaJharsuguda, August 26, 2010: If not as much as

that of Mother Teresa, at least one percent of what

she did if each one of us could do towards the needy

in our life time, the world would be a better place to

live in, said the main speaker and the chief guest Mr.

Tapas Rai Chaudhry, the former Municipal Chairman

of Jharsuguda, on the occasion of Mother Teresa Birth

Centenary Celebrations, August 26, 2010 at UtkalJyoti Premises.

The Celebration was organized by the INE

Province in collaboration with St. Arnold Vikas

Sanchar, the Communication Centre of the Province

and the CRI Jharsuguda. A life size plaque of Mother

Teresa also was erected at the Road Junction close

to Shanti Bhavan indicating Mother Teresa Road to

popularize her name and the Cox Colony road which

was named after her by the Municipal authorities in

2005, the year of her beatification.

The Celebration began with a floral tribute to

Mother Teresa by dignitaries from various religions.

Fr. Joseph Topno,SVD, the Provincial Superior of

INE, welcomed the guests and introduced the

occasion. Prayerful songs and dances were performed

by different religious communities of Jharsuguda. Fr.

Sunil Damor screened a collection of various video

clips captured during the life time of Mother Teresa.

Fr. Sundar Tandi as the Master of Ceremony and Fr.

Christopher Kerketta saw the smooth running of the

stage show. ET News Desk

SAVS Celebrates 44th India (World)Communications Day 2010

Jharsuguda, 14 Nov. 2010: New Media should

be used to connect people and strengthen human

relations and not to increase distance and individualism

said Fr. Sunil Damor,SVD, the Regional Secretary


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December 2010 3 Eastern Tidings


for Social Communications, addressing the Parishioners

of Jharsuguda, on the occasion of 44th World

Communication Day Celebration (in India celebrated

as India Communications Day) on 14 November,

2010. He also highlighted how our Holy Father Pope

Benedict the XVI keeps in touch with millions of young

people through the New Media like Youtube etc. He

Mentioned that the Holy Father wants his priests,

religious and lay leaders to discover new possibilities

for carrying out their ministry to and for the Word of

God through the New Media.

On this occasion St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar,the

Regional Communication Centre of Orissa organized

song and dance competitions for the Parishioners inwhich many youth and children tried their talents with

lot of enthusiasm. The winners were awarded to

encourage their talents. The evening was marked with

a melodious Orchestra. Professional singers like Ms.

Rita, Ms. Seema, Mr. Sameer etc. captured the

audience with their sweet voice.

Samblapur, 17 Nov.2010: Mother Teresa

Communicating Gods Love was the theme of the

44th World Communications day celebrated at

Regional level along with the Birth Centenary ofMother Teresa, at St. Josephs School premises

Sambalpur, organized by St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar,

the Regional Communication Centre of Orissa and

Signis-Odisha, on 17th November 2010.

Mr. Arun Pujari, the vice-chancellor of Sambalpur

University and the chief guest of the day highlighted

the new media as the source of vast knowledge. The

chief speaker of the day and a senior journalist Mr.

Bhagbat Prasad Nanda, stressed the Role of Media

in building the Nation in the spirit of selfless service

like that of Mother Teresa. Rt. Rev. Lucas

Kerketta,SVD, Bishop of Sambalpur, Rt. Rev. John

Barwa, SVD, Bishop of Rourkela, Rev. Fr. Joseph

Topno,SVD, Provincial Superior of India East, Rev.

Sr. Suma, M.C., the Regional Superior of the

Missionaries of Charity, Mr. Ajit Kumar Nayak, the

Secretary of the Sambalpur Press Club, Fr. Roy, the

Deputy Secretary of Orissa Bishops Council, andheads of various other religious communities were themain guests for the day.

The Day was marked by a special tribute to MotherTeresa and a variety Song Dance program performed

by St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar, Jharsuguda, Utkal Vani,Balasore and St. Marys Kala Vikas, Rourkela. A biggathering from all walks of life participated in the

program. Fr. Alphonce Toppo, the Secretary ofSignis-Odisha introduced the occasion and the guestsof the day while Fr. Sunil Damor,SVD the Regional

Secretary of the Commission for Social Communications,welcomed each guest with a bouquet of flowers.

It was a unique day for the Catholic Church of

Orissa, to highlight the life and service of Mother

Teresa and the role and importance given to media

by the Universal Catholic Church. The event was

widely reported by the Regional press and TV

channels.

ET News Desk

100 Years of Christian Presencein Puri

Puri, considered being the abode of Lord

Jaganath, and one of the most holy city for our Hindu

brethren, celebrated 100 years of Christian presence.

The Catholic Community has traveled for hundred

years through thick and thin and given witness.

Today there is still more urgency to give witness ofour faith to unite all people in peace, harmony and

integrity, said Rt. Rev. Raphael Cheenath, the


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SCHOOLS ANNUAL DAY

CELEBRATIONS 2010

Annual day is a long awaited occasion by children

in any of the schools. Come the months of November-

December and begins the round of Annual Day

Celebrations in all our schools.

I appreciate the bold step of the Divine Word

Society for establishing an English medium school

away from the city surrounded by the tribal villages

and I am sure St. Arnolds School, Jhartarang will

cater immensely to the education of the tribals and the

poor, said the chief guest, Mr. Sarada Prasad Nayak,

minister of state for food supplies & consumer

welfare. He was speaking on the occasion of the 3rd

Annual Day Celebration of St. Arnolds School,

Jhartarang, Rourkela, on 5th December, 2010. It was

the day of the children and the parents as the duo had

a wide smile on their faces. Parents looked overjoyed

seeing their children on the stage, in shining costumes,

dancing to the tune of variety of music and singing

along harmoniously with melodious instrumentals

played by their teachers.

The two hour long program consisted of varietysongs, dances and skit performance blending together

east and west. Amidst the big applause of parents andaudience the children conveyed the message very loudand clear, Nourish Love and Flourish Peace. The

show was indeed superb spreading the message ofpeace and harmony in our multi-religious andmulti-cultural society. The School has the strength of

1278 students with 55 full-fledged staff within the shortspan of three years of its existence. And it was not aneasy job to prepare 672 students to perform perfectly

on the stage.

Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, speaking

during the solemn celebration at the Catholic Church

premises on 12 December, 2010. Mr. Surendra

Kumar Mohanty, a well known personality in Puri, who

has seen the Christian Community from his childhooddays, addressing the audience on the occasion said,

In hundred years one gets old, but here it has

happened just the opposite. The Christian Community

in 100 years has become so young and vibrant.

During the British rule French and Spanish

Missionaries took care of the pastoral needs of the

British Soldiers. In 1905 Govt. had given a little place

for the Catholic Community in Puri and Missionaries

from Cuttack and Khurda looked after the pastoral

needs of this community. In 1910 Catholic Communitywas established in Puri and in 1911 a small residence

for the priest was built. The records show that Mr.

Remo Anthony was the first baptized Catholic of Puri

in 1949. Gradually the Catholic Community grew and

various Religious communities like C.M. Missionaries,

Sisters Adorers, Missionaries of Charity both Brothers

and Sisters etc. C.M Fathers took care of the

Community till 1975. And it was in 1975 that the

Parish was given to SVDs and Fr. Marian Zelazek

was the first SVD to step in Puri. Fr. Marian did not

limit himself to Catholics but spread his arms to serve

all types of people specially the lepers, poor and the

marginalized. He too began the dialogue and research

centre for the rich and the elite group so that no

section of society is left neglected.

The Community has grown steadily though mainly

migrants from other parts of India. Today Puri parish

consists of 60 families with the Hindi saying coming

true Chota Parivar, Sukhi Parivar. After Fr. Marian

Zelazek, Fr. Thomas R.A., Fr. Peter Vattakeril, Fr.

Mathew Poovanpuzha and Fr. Luke Veliaparambilhave served the Catholic Community of Puri as

Parish priests though the list of co-pastors goes long.

Presently Fr. Luke with his co-pastor Fr. Birender is

doing his best to keep the small Catholic Community

as vibrant as possible. It was their hard work that

made the 100 years come alive on 12 December,

2010.


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No doubt, the whole credit goes to Fr. K.C.

Thomas the principal, Fr. Symporian Kujur, Fr. Tomy

Geogre and the entire staff for their hard work

nourishing the little ones with the values of love, peace

and harmony for a better tomorrow.Another SVD School, St. Pauls School Hamirpur,

Rourkela celebrated the annual day on 16th of

November, 2010 with equal festivity. St. Lawrence

School, Tentloi celebrated Silver Jubilee Cum annual

day on 19th December and St. Arnolds School

Bhubaneswar on 21 December.

ET News Desk

INE Gold and Silver Men

1. Bro. Joseph Kerketta (Golden Jubilee)

2. Archbishop Raphael Cheenath (Archiepiscopate

Silver Jubilee)

3. Bp. John Barwa (Silver Jubilee)

4. Fr. Joseph Antony (Silver Jubilee)

5. Fr. Baptist DSouza (Silver Jubilee)

6. Fr. Francis Pereira (Silver Jubilee)

7. Fr. Francis Soreng (Silver Jubilee) and

8. Fr. Rudolf Crasta (Silver Jubilee).

Bro. Joseph Kerketta was born of Mr. MorisKerketta and Mrs. Veronica Dungdung, on 30 June

1932 at Samlaimunda-

Darupisa in Sundargarh

District. After having

finished his Secondary

School he joined the Society

of the Divine Word on 3rd

July 1957 and made his first

vows on 8 September 1960.

He made his final vows on 8 September 1966. He wasfirst appointed to INC where he served from 1962

to 1976 in different capacities like hostel incharge

and teacher at Dhani, teacher at Rajeswar Vidhyalaya

Mhow, and again Headmaster at Dhani. In 1976 he

was transferred to INE and became hostel incharge

at Gaibira till 1982. He was later made director of

Brother Formation house at Bagdehi and brothers

coordinator for India till 1991. After being relieved of

duties he still remains staff member at Brother

Formation house and dedicates his time in conducting

awareness programs and writing a lot on tribal

awareness and conscientization.

Archbishop Raphael Cheenathwas born on 29

December 1934 of late Mr. Francis and Theresa at

Manalur in Trichur diocese of Kerala State. After

having completed his high

school he joined SVD atPalda in 1953. he made his

first vows in Khurda on 31

May 1957. He completed

his philosophical and

theological studies at Pune

from 1957 to 1963. He took his final vows in 1963

and was ordained a priest on 21 September 1963.

From 1964 to 1972 he served in various places in

various capacities like Rector of St. Johns

Seminary Changnachery, Asst. Rector of PuneSeminary, Novice Master in Khurda and later as

provincial in 1972 for half a year. The same year he

was made as Consultor General of the Society of the

Divine Word in Rome. He stayed there till 1974. on

28 February was elected Bishop of Sambalpur and

consecrated as Bishop of Sambalpur on 18 May

1974. Later in 1979 he was transferred to Sambapur

as the Bishop of Sambalpur diocese and on 11

August he was made Archbishop of Cuttack

Bhubaneswar. All through his episcopate he has served

nationally and internationally in various capacities. In

1999 he celebrated his Episcopal Silver Jubilee and

this year he Celebrates Archiepiscopate Silver Jubilee.

Most Rev. John Barwa was born of Cyril Barwa

and Carolina Ekka on 1 June 1955 at Rengali in

Sundargarh District. Of the 6 sisters and two brothers

he is the fourth child in the family. He joined the Society

of the Divine Word after

having completed Graduation

in 1976. The first vows he

made in 1978 and the final

vows in 1984. He was

ordained a priest on 14 April

1985. He served as Asst.

Parish Priest in

Singarmunda, Gaibira and

Asst. Director at RPC. Later he went to Rome for hisLicentiate in Liturgy. After returning from Rome he

became the Director of RPC from 1993 to 1999. Hewas elected vice provincial in 1997 and then

provincial in 1999 till 2005. Then he became parishpriest of Rajganpur for a year and was appointed asco-adjutor Bishop of Rourkela in 2006. He took upthe charge as Bishop of Rourkela in 2008.


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Fr. Joseph Anthonywas born on 4 March 1952 at

Vickramasingapuram in the diocese of Palayamkottai

in Tamil Nadu, in the family of Mr. A. Ignatius Muthu

and Mrs. Lourdu Mary. He

is the eldest of the three sonsonly in the family. He joined

the Society in 1977 after

Graduation and made his first

vows in 1979. After his

final vows in 1984 was

ordained a priest in 1985.

He has served as Asst. Parish Priest in Gaibira from

1985-1986, in Birmitrapur from 1986-89, as parish

priest in Thakurpali from 1989-1995, in Kiralaga from

1995-98. Later as Asst. Director of Upaya from

1998-2001, Asst. Parish Priest in Gopinathpur from2002-2005, in Phalsa from 2005-2006 and now Par-

ish Priest of Bhodra Parish from 2006 onward.

Fr. Baptist Michael DSouzais the 5th child of

Mr. Louis and Mrs. Alice from Balakuuje in

Mangalore. He was born

on 7 April 1956 and joined

the Society of the Divine

Word on 30 May 1969

after completing high

school. He pronounced thefirst vows in 1979 and the

final vows in 1984. He was

ordained a priest on 4 May

1985. He is hard core Ho Missionary because most of

his life has been with his dear Ho Tribals. He served

in Pallahara, Gopinathpur and again Pallahara from

1985 to 1994. Later he became parish priest of

Sundargarh from 1994 to 1996. From Sundargarh he

was elected the Provincial Superior of INE in 1996

for one term. Again he became the Parish Priest ofPallahara in 1999 and from 2009 he is the Parish priest

of Duburi in the Ho Mission.

Fr. Francis Pereirawas born in Kathavara of

Belvai Parish in Mangalore on 13 March 1956 in the

family of Mr. Ignatius Pereira

and Mrs. Lilly Pinto. After

having completed his M.E.

School he entered in the

Society of the Divine word at

Kirem on 30 May 1969. Hepronounced his first vows on

8 June 1979 and the final vows on 12 June 1984. He

was ordained a priest on 4 May 1985. He holds a

Licentiate in Theological Anthropology and Doctorate

in Tribal Theology and Sacred Theology. He has a

wide range of experience as pastor and a formator.

He served as Asst. Priest in Jolda, Sundargarh andSambalpur and as Parish Priest in Kiralaga. For two

years he was the province youth director and then Shanti

Bhavan Rector. From 1994 he has been in the Khristo

Jyoti Mohavidyaloyo, Sason in various capacities as

professor, dean, Rector and Resident staff. From 2002

he had been provincial councilor and vice provincial.

Till date he serves as dean and formator in Sason.

Fr. Francis Soreng,born on 16 June 1948 is the

5th child of Mr. Mathias Soreng and Mrs. Magdali

Kullu of Rajabasa-Dantatoli inSundargarh District. In 1972

after high school he joined the

Society of the Divine Word

at Jyoti Bhavan, Sambalpur.

He pronounced his first vows

in 1978 and final vows in

1984. He was ordained a

priest on 20 April 1985. He

has been a pastor all through his life and has a wide

range of experience as Asst. Priest at Birmitrapur, Jalda

etc. He has been a prish priest in many parishes like

Jhorabahal, Gaibira, Rajgangpur and Gomardihi. At

present he is the parish priest of Kiralaga Parish.

Fr. Rudolf Crastafrom the village Kannada

Kudru in Mangalore was born on 14 August 1956 in

the family of Mr. Rosario

Crasta and Mrs. Cecillia

Crasta. He joined the

Society of the Divine Word

after High School andpronounced the first vows in

1979. Later in 1984 he

pronounced the final vowsand was ordained a priest on 9 May 1985. He holdsM.A. in Anthropology. He was Asst. Priest atMadhupur for two years. In 1987 he became theSecretary to the Archbishop in Bhubaneswar. Laterin 1988 treasurer in the Archdiocese of Bhubaneswar.In 1998 he became the rector and procurator at St.Lawrence School Tentloi. From 2001 to 2003 he was

the spiritual director at Brother formation houseBagdehi. He was the Asst. priest in Gomardihi from2003 for a year and transferred to Sundargarh as Asst.

Priest where he continuous to serve till date.


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MISSIONARIES REJUVANATED

Our National Mission Secretary Fr. Dominic

Emmanuel has been time and again organizing

Seminars and workshops to re-strengthen our

missionaries. The Assistant parish priests had the

privilege to re-vitalize their missionary zeal in a

Seminar from January 21-25, 2010 at Atma Darshan,

Mumbai. Fr. Baptist, the Mission Secretary of INE

Province took lot of personal interest, contacted and

encouraged our confreres in the Province to attend

the seminar. As a result eleven of them from our

Province attended the seminar.

According to the participants the seminar and

Workshop was over all excellent. The evaluation

rating clearly indicated that the participants liked the

course and found it useful for the mission work in

parishes. They also recommended many such programs

in the future. They expressed that it is very useful

course for all age groups, for ongoing formation and

should be conducted not only at National level but

also at regional levels so that more can participate.

As an immediate follow up a four day seminar

Mission Accompaniment was conducted at

Ishopanthi Ashram, Puri, from March 9-12, 2010,for all the young Missionaries of INE who are

ordained and have taken final vows between the years

2000-2010. The Seminar was organized by the INE

Mission Secretary Fr. Baptist DSouza and Fr.

Frederick Santhumayor and Ronald Pereira guided

and led the young confreres into deeper reflection on

the life in the mission. Most of the confreres in the

above said group attended the seminar and renewed

their missionary zeal.

After getting the positive response from the

confreres as the felt need Fr. Dominic Emmanuel, the

National Mission Secretary has organized one more

such Seminar and workshop for all the SVD Parish

Priests and the heads of the Institutions, form January

25-27, 2011.

ET News Desk

A Jubilee Celebration With ADifference

I never even dreamt of seeing this day. I never

imagined that hopeless alcoholics who had lost name,

fame and family life would remain sober for as many

as 25 years, and one day would celebrate their jubilee.

Twenty-five years ago I had begun it just on a trial

basis. Therefore, today I stand before you I raise my

heart in thanksgiving to God, our Higher Power for

the gift of liberation from alcohol. It is your depth of

faith which has lifted you up from the abyss ofdarkness into his marvelous light. This is how I

addressed the gathering of 190 members of Maitri

Sangathan with their spouses who had gathered at

Kalunga for their Silver Jubilee.Maitri Sangathanis

the local version of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) in

our Province.

Ever since I began this ministry among the

alcoholics in Jalda, diocese of Rourkela in 1985, I

carried it on for the last 25 years without any specific

appointment by the Society of the Divine Word for

this work, and without any project for funds from the

SVD or any funding agency. I tried this ministry along

with my other official appointments, of course with

the active support and encouragement of the Society.

The participants for awareness and healing

programmes paid for their boarding and lodging.

I adapted the recovery programme advocated by

the international fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous

(A.A.) to our situation here. We have 16 groups of

sober alcoholics in various parishes through which

around 250 men who were once hopeless alcoholicshave given up drinking and are living a sober life,

excluding those who have relapsed. We celebrated

this jubilee on the 25thand 26th of September at Nava

Jagriti, Kalunga, not in a normal way of any external

celebration, but in a different way.

First, in the name of the Jubilee, we had a gathering

of all the groups along with their spouses. It was a

family gathering of recovered alcoholics to thank the

Lord for the grace of new life, and for sharing their

experiences of spending so many sober years. Secondly,we organized a special Awareness Programme on the

problem of alcoholism and other behavioural

addictions to TV, mobile phone, computer, internet,

work, eating, etc., for all the Fathers, Brothers,

Sisters, and candidates, postulants, pre-novices and

novices of all the nine religious congregations and

Church institutions in Jharsuguda on the 13thand 14th

of November. Over 150 priests, religious and formees

of all congregations attended the programme.

As we know, the rates of alcoholism/drug addiction

and other modern (behavioural) addictions to things

such as TV, film, mobile phone, computer, internet,

etc., are on the increase, affecting the mental and


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spiritual health of so many people in our families and

society. There are several similarities (and also

dissimilarities) between alcoholism and all other

addictions. When priests and religious come across

these people in their ministry, they are at a loss howto deal with them and how to counsel the families

who are affected by these addicts. Normally, they

scold, condemn, advise and sermonize these addicts

for their misbehavior and lovelessness. They need to

understand that it is a psycho-spiritual illness, and these

traditional methods will not change these people. Most

priests and religious think that addicts have no will

power or strong determination to give up drinking or

the uncontrolled use of drugs, mobile-phones, internet

and watching TV, but need to understand that they

have lost will power over the use of alcohol, drugs orTV, etc., though they have will power over other

matters.

This special programme for the clergy, religious

and the formees of nine religious congregations was

organized with the objective of making them aware

of the causes of alcoholism and other modern addictions,

and common factors among all these addictions; ways

of understanding and helping the addicts and their

families; and steps to be taken to prevent these

addictions.21 laymen (ex-addicts) gave testimonies about

their experience with alcohol and how they came out

of it and how they manage their lives now. Besides

understanding the problem of addicts, and coming to

know the recovery programme for them, the

participants benefited for their personal life also in

two ways: (1) If not to alcohol, clergy and religious

also can become victims of modern behavioural

addictions. This programme helped them to read

danger signals in their own behaviour. (2) Since the

recovery programme for the addicts is mainly a

spiritual programme, it can help priests and religious

to overcome their own personal weaknesses such as

anger, workoholism, tensions, resentment, etc.

Fr. Frederick Santhumayor, SVD

CHRISTMAS GATHERING & JUBILEE

CELEBRATIONS

The Combined Celebration of Christmas Gathering

and Jubilee of eight of our missionaries in the Provinceis scheduled for December 27, 2010 at Shanti

Bhavana, Jharsuguda.

As one SVD family in the Province we come

together on December 27, 2010 to acknowledge our

deepest gratitude to these confreres and to pray and

thank God for the gift of these zealous and committed

missionaries to the Province.

ET News Desk

Community Welfare SocietyDedicated for the upliftment of poor

As the year is coming to a close, I take this

opportunity to wish to share with you my last 35 years

of experience working among the slum dwellers in

collaboration with people of good will.

The presence of altruism in human being in some

shape or the other cannot be refuted; similarly, thereexists in the hearts of every human being a will to live

in brotherhood, a thirst for dignity, justice and peace

and to build a better humanity. However this altruism

or the desire to build a better world mostly remain

untapped and unexplored because every human

being does not get an opportunity to express his/her

inherent thoughts and put them into action at the right

time in the right environment. A platform or opportunity

is necessary to bring together such individuals.

It was this lacuna which was realized by Late

Bishop Westermann, SVD who initiated to fill this

vacuum by entrusting Fr. John Alapatt, SVD to work

out a strategy for Rourkela Steel City in Orissa. He

allowed him to buy a piece of land in Civil Township,

Rourkela and to construct a building for this purpose.

However in 1974 he left India and this work was

entrusted to Rt. Rev. Raphael Cheenath, SVD and

thus the Seva Sadan came into existence in 1975 to

work with people of goodwill, to create a ground for

human development encompassing peace, harmony

and mutual respect.


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Seva Sadan with the permission of Bishop

Cheenath, SVD sponsored the Community Welfare

Society (CWS) to work independently as a regis-

tered society by keeping its link with the Seva Sadan.

Community Welfare Society (CWS) thus, founded in1976 which has a strong belief that there are number

of good hearted human beings who if brought together

can give valuable service to humanity. The belief turned

into conviction over the last 35 years in which in-

dividuals from various walks of life, who were as-

sociated with CWS as office bearers, members, or

well wishers put their efforts to transform the life of

the poor slum dwellers of Rourkela urban area. Many

of these good hearted people are qualified Engineers,

Doctors, Educationists, Industrialists, Administrators,Lawyers, Social Activists, Priests, Nuns and so on

who render their selfless service at different stages. It

has been successful in bringing about attitudinal

changes through their participation and makes them

feel the quality of better life. The members and the

beneficiaries enabled the CWS to take up the initial

stage activities such as digging well, laying slum roads

and drainages, housing for poor industrial workers

living in the slums, schools for slum children, creches

(Day Care Centre) providing primary health care,

establishing vocational centers such as exercise note

book manufacturing unit and tailoring Centers etc.

Since 2002 our focus has been shifted to human

resources development. As a result we formed

hundreds of Self Help Groups (SHG) and 54 Women

Organizations (Mahila Samiti) which enables them to

develop themselves. We also expanded our activities

to 60 slums covering 80,000 people. It is the women

who became the agents of change in the slums. Theyhave taken up both economic and social causes for

people in their own localities and brought about

development in living standards, health hygiene,

sanitation, childrens education and overall peaceful

environment in the slums. The women have

developed self confidence to voice their problems and

views in public as well as before the Govt. officials.

They even arbitrate and settle various domestic

violence, disputes and other cases, without seeking

police assistance. Their anti-liquor struggles have ledmany people to change their way of life. More than

1000 ladies either individually or in groups have

developed income generating schemes which will

sustain their families. The activities and achievements

enumerated briefly are only a tip off the ice berg.

Hospital

CWS hospital is another land mark collaborating

activities. The CWS hospital presently a 100 bed

general hospital provides comprehensive medical care

to the people of Rourkela & the inhabitants in the

sub-urban areas & periphery villages. Over the last 8

years of its existence, there has been a steady increase

in the flow of patients not only from the immediate

neighborhood but also from distant places in the

district and the neighboring states of Jharkhand and

Chhatisgarh. This has only been possible due to the

dedicated services rendered by the Doctors, Nursesand Para medical Staff of this hospital. All services

are provided at an affordable cost keeping in mind

the needs of the weaker sections of our society.

Besides free consultation facilities to poor patients in

the OPD at a fixed time daily, treatment on

concession is given to deserving indoor patients.

The hospital renders round the clock emergency

medical service in addition to the major disciplines of

Medicine, Surgery, Orthopedics, Gynae an Obs,

Pediatrics, EYE & ENT. It has the services of Nutritiontherapist & Physiotherapist as well. The Diagnostic

facilities include well equipped full automated

Pathology, Biochemistry, Microbiology &

Histopathology Labs. Radiology Dept. equipped with

a Spiral CT SCAN., 500 mA X-ray unit & a Mobile

unit, whole body ultrasound, Echocardiography, Color

Doppler, Upper GI Video endoscopy, KCG & TMT,

Video Colonoscopy, Sigmoidoscopy facilities and

facilities for bone marrow Exam & FNAC. We have

a well equipped Blood Bank and Modern OperationTheatres. In this year we have also started Health

insurance scheme for the BPL (Below Poverty Line)

Card holders by subsidizing their premium. We want

to cover 5000 BPL Card holders in the coming five

years.

The CWS while taking up various activities, kept

always in mind that due respect should be given to

the religious feeling of various communities and to

remain non communal and non religious and non

political in its various activities. This type ofcollaboration shows that the development and the

transformation of the world could be a common


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effort which can invite religious or non religious groups

or institutions to participate in transforming the world.

Thus, the people of good will acting together can serve

as catalyst in transforming humanity. During his

interaction with the office bearers and seniormembers of CWS , Very Rev. Fr. Konrad

Keller,SVD Vice General of the Society of the

Divine Word, said CWS could be the role model

for individuals and organization of diversity of religion,

language, creed, sex and territory to work together

for transforming the humanity. He writes in the

Arnoldus Nota, the official news letter of SVD for

the month of November, the Community Welfare

Society .could be and example of inter-

religious dialogue with the poor in Orissa. Thiscollaboration shows that the development and the

transformation of the world could be a common

effort, and include the contributions of any religious

or non religious groups or institution. The people of

good will acting together can serve as catalyst

in transforming humanity and build the kingdom

of God irrespective of caste, creed or religion,

ethnic or cultural origin. By this type of

collaboration like the one experienced in the

Community Welfare Society where the people

give witness to the possibility of overcoming

prejudices and lead all towards mutual

understanding.

The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;

therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out

more laborers into His harvest Mt.9:38. Hence ask

the Lord to send more workers from every caste,

creed, race, religion or sex to build up His Kingdom

of peace, harmony, love and justice.

In the present day world, it is not enough and notpossible for one individual to scratch here and there

and try to develop or transform the society. It is only

a collective approach and effort which can make a

dent in the transformation process. It is here that the

Church, for that matter any religious or non religious

organization and institution can contribute by acting

as catalysts to bring together people of goodwill

irrespective of caste, creed, and religion in order to

transform the humanity and thus to realize Gods

Kingdom on earth.

Fr. John Alapatt,SVD

Santragachi A New SVD Parish Now

St. Joseph the Worker Church , Santragachi is

renovated and ready for rededication. The 42 year

old church was finally declared a Parish on 1st May2010 and Fr. Ranjit Kerketta SVD installed as the

first Parish Priest of St. Joseph the Worker Church .

The first brick of the church was laid down on the

feast of St. Joseph on March 19th 1967 by Fr.

Castelino sj and was blessed by Archbishop Albert

DSouza. The church then catered to the spiritual

needs of the catholic community who primarily

comprised of the Anglo Indian Community. Over the

years most of them immigrated to Australia and En-

gland . Over the years the catholic community hasgrown and now comprises mainly of the adivasi com-

munity. In the year 2000 the parish was entrusted to

the society of the divine Word Missionaries.

Our parish has taken active part in all inter parish

events and has earned many laurels. We may be

located in the tiny railway colony, but that has never

deterred our spirit. We have always worked as a

family through everything that has come our way. The

happy moments as well as the sad, we have stayed

together through thick and thin. We fondly remember

the contributions of all the priests that had worked

tirelessly to see the community in Santragachi grow

nurturing our spiritual needs and help build our faith.

Starting with Fr. Castelino who was in a way the

founder of this small but vibrant community in

Santragachi. He passed on the mantle to others who

carried on from where he left with great dedication

and charisma. We fondly recall Frs. Reginald

Fernandez, Rebello, and Stephen Raphael. Cyril

Fernandez, Jyotiraj Babu, Paul Moras, Isidore Kindo

and Peter DCuhna.

The 1stof May 2010 will always be a memorable

day for all the parishioners. The entire parish got

together to celebrate this wonderful occasion of being

declared a Parish. The church compound wore a

festive look with the bright and colorful decorations.

We had with us the Chief Celebrant Archbishop Lucas

Sirkar sdb Concelebrants Rev. Fr. John Mohandas

VG, Fr. Handel DSouza the Chancellor of the Arch

diocese, Fr. Telesphore, Fr. Dilip Tirkey Fr. Ranjit

Kerketta our Parish Priest and many other priestsmaking it all the more joyous. The church looked beau-

tiful like never before thanks to some of our parishio-


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ners who worked tirelessly to make it look that good.

The servite sisters under Sr. Rosary the superior and

Sr. Saluja Principal of St. Marys school contributed

greatly in making this event such a huge success. They

put together a lovely program and also helped in theliturgy together with members of the PPC who did an

excellent job.

The program started at 5.00pm with His Grace

being welcomed in the traditional tribal style with

dance by the Adivasi community and the parish youth,

under the guidance of Mr. Michael DCruze, secretary

of the PPC didnt leave any stone unturned in making

the choir sound as melodious and lively as possible.

All the children of the parish were given ice-cream to

relieve themselves of the heat. A cultural programfollowed in the church campus. His Grace and the

other dignitaries were presented with a token of

appreciation. The parish youth put up an entertainment

program which included songs, dance and skits on

St. Joseph . Above all we ended the occasion with

sumptuous community meal.

Fr. Ranjit Kerketta SVD

Biblical Apostolate at theService of the Local Church

As members of the Society of the Divine Word,

proclaiming the Word of God to all is our priority.

Our very name compels us to consider the biblical

apostolate as one of the characteristic ways of placing

ourselves at the service of the local church. Keeping

this priority in mind, the Eastern Indian Province tries

to render this service to the dioceses of Rourkela and

Sambalpur. One of these contributions was made

when our former Biblical Coordinator, Fr. Paul

Ethakatt SVD took up the task of getting the SadriNew Testament published in 1986 revised and

printed. Fr. Frederick Santhumayor SVD took up the

work of revising the Sadri NT with the help of a team

of priests, Sisters and lay persons. The revised ver-

sion was published in 2004. Now the local church is

privileged to have a Sadri NT with a much better and

polished Sadri language.

The second service, not only to these two

dioceses but also to the Church in India, was

rendered by our Province when we published a book

authored by Fr. Frederick Santhumayor SVD on anew approach to gospel reflections titled Power of

the Wordin 2007. Though there are a number of

books of this sort, what makes this volume different

from all other books of homilies/reflections is its

creative style in presenting the message of the gospel

texts, prescribed for the three-year cycle of Sunday

and Feast Day Liturgy, in precise columns andcryptic statements (called focus-statements) written

in common (non-technical) language. This volume can

rightly be called a multi-purpose book with a number

of options for readers. They can develop the focus-

statements on their own into personal or community

prayer, or a homily, or as a guide to pastoral action in

Indian situation. Alternately, the readers can also make

use of the applications to their life-situation given by

the author in a separate column (box). Outside the

liturgy, the readers can use this book by picking up

any gospel passage and developing the focus-statements into personal or guided (community) prayer

for any other occasion such as adoration of the

Blessed Sacrament, Bible Vigil, Bible meditation,

Gospel Sharing, etc.

The third service was rendered to the local church

by translating and publishing the same Power of the

Word book in Sadri language with some additional

explanations and a general introduction to the spirituality

of the Bible for the benefit of the laity. Besides its

usefulness for gospel sharing and family prayer, it isan invaluable aid for the catechists who conduct the

Sunday Service in the absence of priests all over the

Sadri-speaking areas of Orissa and Jharkhand.

Besides this, the biblical coordinators, Frs. Paul

Ethakatt and Frederick Santhumayor have visited the

various parishes, institutions and formation houses of

both the dioceses to conduct bible animation

programmes on regular basis. In the last two years

alone the present Biblical Coordinator, Fr. Frederick

Santhumayor has conducted one, two or three-day

biblical animation programmes in 49 parishes and

institutions of both the dioceses.

Fr. Frederick Santhumayor SVD

St. Larence School Tentloi,

Turns Silver

Saint Lawrence School, a premier educational

institution in the district of Angul, Orissa is completing

25 years during this academic year. It is a moment of

joy for all to celebrate the Silver Jubilee.

It is our Almighty God who has efficiently guided

the School under the patronage of Saint Lawrence.


12/16



St. Lawrence did everything for the poor. Hence he

is declared the patron saint of the poor. A preference

for the poor therefore is a priority of our school in

educating the masses.

Saint Lawrence School owes its origin to theSociety of the Divine Word, the congregation founded

by Saint Arnold Janssen who was a Catholic Priest

from Germany. He was a mathematics teacher himself.

Society of the Divine Word today gives priority to

education apostolate and runs many schools, colleges

and universities all over the world.

Fr. Shilanand Kamath SVD was the first to come

to Talcher in 1975 to cater to the needs of the Catholic

community. With the arrival of Fr. Jose Kurianthanam,

a diocesan priest from Sambalpur diocese anemphasis was given to educational ministry and began

kindergarten in 1984. A man of short stature and agile

nature took keen interest in the field of education and

felt the need of starting an English medium school. At

this time Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, then bishop

of Sambalpur diocese was offered an infrastructure

by Nalco to begin an English medium school at

Nalconagar. He approached the Society of the Divine

Word to take up this responsibility. As the terms and

conditions were not agreeable to both parties, it was

decided to start an English medium school at Tentoloi

village. This place was chosen to start the school

because it was a central location for Angul and Talcher,

thus could easily cater to all people of this area. Fr.

Cyprian Pinto SVD who as a treasurer of the

province took keen interest to support Fr. Jose

Kurianthanam for buying the land. Both of them faced

difficulties to obtain the land. Words cannot express

our gratitude for the wonderful work that Fr. Jose

has done in this place. Later Fr. Emile Soreng SVD

and Fr. John Maliekal SVD as provincial superiorstook initiatives and encouraged our confreres to

establish this school at this place.

The arrival of Fr. Felix Padanilath SVD to this place

was a blessing. The efficient leadership of Fr. Felix,

the first principal of Saint Lawrence School has been

responsible for what the school is today. As a person

with lot of experience in the education field was a

right choice to begin an English medium school at

Tentoloi. Thus Saint Lawrence School came into

existence on 22nd

June, 1986. The then provincialsuperior Fr. John Maliekal SVD inaugurated the first

academic session for nursery and first standard with

16 students. Within a week there were 40 each in

nursery and class 1 with two teachers to teach.Today

the School has 1550 students, making the dream a

reality.

Fr. Abraham Vakkaparambil succeeded Fr. Felix

as principal of Saint Lawrence School on13.04.1998. He was succeeded by Fr. S. Joseph

from June 1, 2001 to 22ndJune, 2009. There are many

confreres who have toiled hard as Rectors, Treasurers

and teachers to bring up the School. The self-sacrificing,

energetic and enthusiastic team of teachers over the

years has been a blessing for the School.

Situated on the bank of Nandira River in a village

Tentoloi, Saint Lawrence School has a wonderful

discipline and ambience for education. It is affiliated

to the Council for the Indian School Certificate

Examinations on 15thApril, 1999 and has been

imparting quality education to the children of Angul

District. Over the years, batches of students left the

portals of Saint Lawrence School with not only

excellent academic results but also fully formed persons

prepared to face a world of challenges. It was in the

year 1996 that the first batch of ICSE students wrote

Class 10 examination. For the past several many years

our students have secured 100% result with many

distinctions.

A big challenge lies before us to mould everystudent into an integrated personality so that they

cherish eternal values and live upright lives in order to

make this world a better place to live in love, peace

and harmony. And we are sure God Almighty will bless

us and our school through the intercession of Saint

Lawrence, the patron and Saint Arnold our founder,

to fulfill this dream.

Fr. Victor Rodrigues, SVD

MINORITY EDUCATION RIGHTS AND

RIGHT TO EDUCATION ACT

The long awaited Seminar on minority rights and

Right to Education Act (RTE) was conducted at Shanti

Bhavan, Jharsuguda, on 11thand 12thof December

2010. Fr. K. M. Joseph SJ (Justice and Human Rights

Forum and a senior practitioner in Patna High Court)

was the Resource Person. He is an authority on the

topic and has vast practical experience in this field.

The participation was very encouraging as many non

SVDs too from all the other five diocese attended theSeminar cum Workshop.

(Courtesy: Province Circular)


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Silver Bells Ring in the

Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Diocese

The archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswarcelebrated the Arch-Episcopal Silver Jubilee of Most

Rev. Raphael Cheenath, SVD, on August 11, 2010.

It was a very graceful and meaningful celebration to

thank and praise God for all the blessings showered

upon Bishop Cheenath during this past quarter of a

century. Ever since His Grace Raphael Cheenath,

shouldered this responsibility as Archbishop, in the

year 1985, the diocese has grown in faith and the

people have proved it during the black days of its

unfortunate communal violence in Kondhamal. We

pray for the entire archdiocese and Congratulate our

beloved Archbishop Raphael Cheenath on completion

of 25 years as the Archbishop of Cuttack-

Bhubaneswar.

(Courtesy:Province Circular)

INTER PROVINCIAL MEETINGS

An Inter Provincial Planning, Formation,Communication and other Commissions meetings took

place from September 18-21, 2010 at Shanti Bhavan,

Jharsuguda. About 55 SVD confreres including the

members of various commissions like Formation,

Justice, Peace and Integration of Creation (JPIC),

Communications, Arnold Janssen Spirituality etc.

gathered to take stock of the past one year and to

plan for the coming year. A Seminar on PR was also

organized on this ocassion by the National Mission

Secretary. Mr. Alwyn Fernandez as the resource

person enlightened the participants on the topic stress-

ing the need of more Public Engagement than Public

Ralations.

A Power House Divya Dham

in INE

Divya Dham (Holy Abode) has been gradually

picking up as the devotees visit every friday for prayerand reflection in this silent surrounding.

This long awaited house of prayer and pilgrimage,

named Divya Dham (A Holy Abode) was inaugurated

and blessed by Most Rev. John Barwa, Bishop of

Rourkela diocese and Fr. Joseph Topno, Provincial

Superior of INE, on 29 January 2010 in a simple

ceremony at H. Kantapalli village, six kilometer away

from Jharsuguda town. The mercy prayer group has

been taking active part every week to pray for self as

well as for the whole Church and for all.

ET News Desk

SAVS NEWS IN BRIEF

Computer & Journalism Courses:From April

to September 2010 St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar

organized various courses. A journalism course was

attended by 27 participants from various dioceses and

religious congregations. Computer course for four

batches, both for beginners and advanced, was

conducted and 48 participants both lay and religious

from all around Orissa, including the Novices of

Handmaids of Mary and Salesians of Don Bosco

made use of the opportunity provided.

Music Courses: A one month intensive course

was conducted and around 50 participants from all

over Orissa worked hard to improve their talents in

various forms of music and dance. Besides such timely

courses Arnold Music and Dance Academy runs

regular Music School. This year there are around sixtystudents from Jharsuguda town learning various dances

and musical instruments. They will appear for their


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exams conducted by Prayag Sangeet Samiti,

Allahabad.

Outreach Programs:SAVS has been reaching out

to public with its dance-drama and musical group.

The group presented religious and value basedmusical program at Jharsuguda and Sambalpur in

November. Our troupe has presented its religious

dance-drama at Putrikhaman and Thakurpali and

some more Parishes have booked for program during

the Christmas Season 2010.

Arnold Music and Dance Academy:This year the

Academy has 60 regular students for various courses

like Key-board, Vocal, Tabla, Guitar, Bharatnayam

and Oddisi etc. The Academy celebrated Xmas with

their parents and neighbours on 20th of December.The students of the Academy presented a colorful

cultural show and won the hearts of the audience.

ET News Desk

CONTEXTUAL THEOLOGICAL

FORMATION AT DIVYA JYOTI, SASON

Having focused on the vision of Divya Jyoti,

Illumined by the Word we step into the World, to

reach out others in Faith and Love, the community isbrimming with life as we grow in numbers and in

various activities. Divya Jyoti, the new SVD

Seminary was blessed on 21stSeptember 2008 by

Most Rev. Lucas Kerketta, SVD, Bishop of

Sambalpur and inaugurated by Rev. Fr. Joseph Topno,

SVD, Provincial Superior of INE in the presence of

the staff and the students of Khristo Jyoti

Mohavidyaloyo, members of other formation houses

like Adhyayana Bhavan, Carmel Sadan, priests,

sisters and lay people from Sambalpur.By establishing this house of formation, the Society

of the Divine Word emphasizes the need to provide

contextualized theological formation to our future

missionaries. The seminary became operational on 1st

October 2008, with the shifting of our residence from

Khristo Jyoti Mohavidyaloyo (KJM), Majhipali. We

began with seven SVD Scholastics who werepursuing their Theological studies at KJM. Among

them four have been already ordained as priests who

are active in the Missions, of whom Fr. Antony is a

missionary in Argentina and Fr. Biju a missionary in

Ghana. Frs. Kashmir and Soby are missionaries in

Bezda-Kolkata and North East region respectively.

Among those seven three are in their final stage of

their formation here. They are Deacons Justin Jayaraj

and Santhosh Paul DSouza and Frt. Binoy Augustine.

At present we have twelve Scholastics: 4 in the first

year of theology, 5 in the second year, 1 in the third

year, 2 in the fourth year of theology.

We hope that there would be a steady increase in

the number of SVDs opting for contextual theological

formation provided here. This has enabled our SVD

scholastics to have their own community formation

programmes. In order to encourage fellowship among

the SVDs, this house welcomes our SVD missionaries

working in Sambalpur and other neighbouring dioceses,to spend some time to refresh and update themselves

by reading books provided by KJM library and just

to relax and pray. Regularly district meetings and other

fellowship gatherings for the SVDs are being

organized here. We also plan to begin soon activities

such as retreats, seminars and other renewal

programmes for the religious as well as lay people.

The contextualized theological formation is based

on a methodology of action-reflection-action. This

action-experience-analysis-questioning-reflection-action is an ongoing and cyclic process and

it forms the kernel of a contextualized theological

formation programme at KJM. Content-wise the

courses in theology offered at KJM are of high

standard like those offered elsewhere in other

theological seminaries. However, while elsewhere the

courses are offered in their classrooms without much

reference to particular context, the courses offered at

KJM are given in the field where the people too

contribute towards evolving a theology relevant to them

by their participation. In the academic year 2008-

2009 two students representatives along with


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Principal Fr. Francis Pereira, SVD, represented the

Seminary at North Indian Students Theology

Conference at Shillong in the North East India. One

of the student representative was our own scholastic

now Fr. Soby Pulickeel, who is serving in the NorthEast region.

Weekend interaction with the people in the

villages in the neighbourhood exposes them to reality

outside, through various apostolates, such as tuition

for the poor children, visits to the families, providing

guidance and inspiration to Small Christian

Communities by praying with them. During the class

days an hour of manual work helps them to appreciate

the dignity of labour and show solidarity with the poor

and the working class.

SVD formation is a formation for mission. Today

we take into account the factors that affect the formation

and training of our scholastics, in a society which is in

rapid transition. While economic growth and

globalization have brought tangible progress, social

inequalities, public corruption, rural and urban poverty,

exploitation of weaker sections, negative impact of

the media and other social evils continue to affect large

sections of India today. Such a context presents newchallenges in our formation:

1. In the Gospels, Jesus taught that new wine

needs new wineskins i.e. new ways of reception,

practice and transmission. Likewisenew challenges

in formation call for new responses, approaches

and measures in the ministry of formation.The

goal of all priestly formation is to enable the formandi

to grow into mature manhood and experience

freedom with responsibility to the measure of the

full stature of Christ (Eph 4:13 cf. Pastores DaboVobis, 43).

2.Future priests should therefore cultivate a

series of human qualitiesnot only proper to their

own growth and realization of their self, but also with

a view to their ministry. These qualities are needed

for them to be emotionally balanced people, strong in

faith and free in their decisions, capable of bearing

the weight of pastoral responsibilities. {Pastores

Dabo Vobis, 43)3. We understand that integral human formation,

the foundation of all priestly formation, implies an

ongoing self-transformation. This process involves

integration of all aspects of the whole person: physical,

affective, intellectual, moral, communitarian,

socio-cultural, spiritual and pastoral. During the

summer vacation our scholastics are given opportunityto learn and equip themselves for various skills. 7

scholastics attended the course on journalism, one in

music and dance, two attended the course on

Psycho-spiritual and Personality Development and

two of them had experiential knowledge at

KurushimalaAshram in Kerala.

4. Time has come to interrogate the hypothesis

that if we just pray and worship regularly and

faithfully, somehow everything else in ones life willautomatically fall into place. The conscious or

unconscious assumption that if we keep reinforcing the

spiritual superstructure, the human base structure will

somehow be fortified appears to be false. Therefore

formation houses like ours need to design and

implement a well considered programme of human

formation coupled with spiritual orientation and

accord it the central place in the scheme of

formation. In the times to come we hope to focus on

this very vision Illumined by the Word Incarnate, we

step into the world to reach out our brothers and

sisters in faith and love.

I would like to conclude with a quotation from

our ex-president of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam: Past is

experience, Present is experiments, Future is expec-

tations. Use your experience in your experiments to

achieve your expectations. Thank you and may God

bless you all.

Fr. Lancy Rodrigues, SVD

Rector, Divya Jyoti, Sason-SambalpurVisitator General Rt. Rev. Fr. Konrad Keller,SVD

In INE:


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celebrated Christmas with the Parents and Children

of Arnold Music and Dance Academy on 20th

December. On this occasion the meaning and

Significance of Christmas was shared by Fr. Sundar

Tandi. The Children of the Academy, all of them whoare non-Christians performed melodious songs and

wonderful dances participating in the joy of

Christmas. Fr. Provincial and team organized a

Christmas celebration with our neighbors on 23rd

December. Many of our Hindu friends and neighbors

gathered to share our Joy of Christmas. Vikas Sanchar,

Asha Niketan and Sacred Heart presented religious

and meaningful dances and songs. Fr. Bartho Bilung

gave a short and sweet Christmas message to the

audience. Mrs. Sanchali, the Principal of Blue BellsSchool, lauded the efforts of Shanti Bhavan to

celebrate the feasts together to foster harmony among

various cultures and religions.

ET News Desk

Published by St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar for the India Eastern ProvinceP. Box - 4, Jharsuguda - 768 201, Orissa, India

News Gathered and Edited by Fr. Sunil Damor, SVD

Tel: 06645 - 273411 / Fax: 270811; Mobile : 99 375 29718Lay Out: Ms. Ajita Ekka

E-mail: [email protected] / ssimon_37@ yahoo.co.in

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

The need of the hour today is much more than

Public Relations which could be termed as Public

Engagement, said Mr. Allwyn Fernandes during theone day Seminar on Public Relations, organized by

the National Mission Secretary Fr. Dominic

Emmanuel, for all the heads of SVD National

Commissions on 20th of September.

True to the saying of Mr. Fernandes many of our

confreres are trying their best to involve themselves

with the public through various activities in socio-

economic, educational and religious fields. The

headquarters of INE, Shanti Bhavan, and our

Communication Centre, St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar tooare trying their best in the local situation to involve the

neighbors to foster peace, harmony and national

integration. St. Arnold Vikas Sanchar

eastern tidings december 2010

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