The Mount St Joseph Community wishes you all a happy and blessed feast of the Nativity of our Lady. “Behold the Handmaid of the Lord; Be it done to me according to Your Word.” May we contemplate and imitate our Blessed Mother in our daily lives.
Gladwin Fernandes: The pilgrimage was a time for me to confirm my own faith in God. As a pilgrim, my heart was longing to well up with the love of God. Then, as I floated along the way to the shrine of Mother Mary, I had a slight glimpse into the “monuments of the busy souls.” Though my heart was perpetually jumping for God’s love, I noticed that the people were busy with their daily activities and at at the same time some people were eagerly awaiting to receive the love of their heavenly Mother. These scenes stunned me. I realized my own devotion to the creator as a path to check the rootedness of my faith in God. I reckon that my longing for God has borne many fruits in my life.Horizon 2011, a series of competitions and activities for the novices of Mount St. Joseph will kick start today. Four groups will compete with each other beginning with a mime competition to be held today. A potpourri of intellectually challenging activities and fun games are interspersed with the regular timetable over a good span of ten days. By giving ourselves fully during the preparations we wish to come out stronger, faster and built into a cohesive group which is better prepared to face the challenges of the mission head on.
Youthful vibrancy and enthusiasm was evident in the ambience of Mount St Joseph when the young priests of our Province gathered at Prerana for the Young Priests’ Meet. It was time to unwind with the Lord and our companions. “It is the love and acceptance of others that make us the unique persons that we are!” The meeting was held on 27 & 28 August and was attended by almost all. The schedule included talk, sharing and discussion with Fr Willie Sequeira. In his inimitable style, Fr Freddie D’Silva highlighted the need to be priests of depth, creativity and spirituality in today’s context. Of course, Fr Freddie has challenged us to be loyal, happy and creative Jesuits. Our dear Provincial, Fr Francis Serrao, banking on his immense experience offered us some important guiding principles to be faithful and fruitful priests in our ministries.
The First meeting of the young Priests was relaxing and refreshing. All felt that it was memorable and meaningful. We are grateful to Fr Freddie for accompanying us on our life journey. Fr Sunil Fernandes, the Coordinator of the event left no stones unturned to effectively marshal the activities meticulously. We express our heart-felt gratitude for the cordial and bountiful hospitality to the Mount St Joseph Community. Frs Francis Menezes and Maxim Misquith merit our special thanks for making our stay enjoyable and revitalizing. (The next meeting of the Young Priests will be held in Jnana Jyothi, Anekal on 4 & 5 of February, 2012.)
The Feast of the Birth of Mary on 8 September is a special one. The Themes of the novena help us to prepare to celebrate this family feast. The Nativity of our Lady provides us with an occasion for praise and thanksgiving in honour of the personal sanctity and vocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as the mother of the Lord Jesus. The 7 S’s of Mary - see, search, surrender, service, struggle, sacrifice and song - speak of the vicissitudes of her vocation. Br Roger Schutz says, “The more the Church models her life on Mary, the more maternal she becomes and the more a believer can be reborn of God in her and achieve reconciliation.” Mary is our mother because Christ the Lord gave her to us as a mother. We may call upon her and ask her to intercede with God.
The different themes of the Novena in honour of our beloved Mother Mary are as follows:
Day 01: Mother Mary, Our Mother and Mother of the Church
Day 02: Mother Mary, A Model of Obedience
Day 03: Mother Mary, The First and Most Perfect Disciple
Day 04: Mother Mary, Mother of the Poor
Day 05: Mother Mary, The Queen and Mother of the Society
Day 06: Mother Mary, A Model of Humility
Day 07: Mother Mary, The Model of Courage and Confidence
Day 08: Mother Mary, A Model for all Religious
Day 09: Mother Mary, A Courageous Woman
With overflowing joy and gratitude, Fr Henry (Hank) Nunn celebrated his Diamond Jubilee in the Society of Jesus on 19 August 2011. Surely another feather in his cap. The Jubilee Mass was celebrated in the main chapel at 6.00 PM. Fr Willie Sequeira, the Novice Director, gave an inspiring homily fitting the mission of Fr Hank. The community sang together to wish him “Ad Multos Annos.” during the felicitation programme. The energetic and ever lively Fr Ronnie Prabhu, the toast master, steered fast into the nostalgic old days exploring the life of Fr Hank. The presence of our neighbouring religious, well wishers and friends added to our joy. “O give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His steadfast love endures forever.” - Psalm 118:1
Inter-Novitiate Course on Psycho-Spiritual Integration - The Jesuit novices of Mount St. Joseph hosted the second inter-novitiate seminar of the year held in Prerana from August 7 to 12. Fr Kulandairaj SJ of Andhra Province was the resource person for the course. About 50 novices of five different religious congregations took part in this enriching course. In the five days covering many areas of the religious and apostolic life, the course laid emphasis on increasing self-awareness and confidence to face the challenges of modern religious life. “Let the one who wishes to live our life “take care, as long as he lives, first of all, to keep before his eyes God.” - The Formula of the Institute.
A basic knowledge and understanding about ‘Electronics and Electricals’ is perforce an useful skill. Fr Arockiasamy SJ in his 7-day crash course tried to impart to the novices the necessary practice to perform some work with wires and plugs. A well-equipped lab with 8 tables was arranged for the practical classes. With many analogies, examples and hints, Fr Arock proceeded with great care to ensure that our “wires did not get crossed!”
The course has really enhanced our taste in working with the line, the neutral and the earthing and has heightened our interest in the basic science covering this field. It has effectively dealt with our misguided fears and misgivings about electricity.
We had a relaxing time on the feast day of St Ignatius of Loyola on 31 July. The MSJ community joined the parishioners early in the morning for the feast-day Eucharist in the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Kalenagrahara. The Liturgy and the choir was the domain of the Novices. Our neighbouring religious and well-wishers joined us for a short Prayer Service followed by Agape. In the evening, two different skits on the life of St Ignatius adapted to the present world were presented by two groups of novices during the community gathering. The activities of the day coupled with a diligent spiritual preparation made this day memorable.
We the Jesuits of MOUNT ST JOSEPH,
