Farewell sentiments

(This is the farewell speech given by Novice Lumnesh Swaroop on 9th April, as the MSJ Community gave a warm send-0ff to Fr Manoj D'Souza)

"GREAT ACHIEVEMENTS ARE BORN OF SMALL BEGINNINGS"

Today is a special day for us as we felicitate and thank Fr. Manoj for his splendid service to this community as the Socius to the Novice Director. Determination, hard work, committed service, creativity and imaginative approach to life situations has enabled Fr Manoj to achieve success in life. We thank God for his marvelous gift to us. One can draw strength and inspiration from him. He endures trouble with fortitude; no event is negative for a positive thinker. He is always available to render his ministry to anyone who approaches him. He has a good rapport with the novices. His smile drew every child close to him during our summer camps. He conquers the hearts of the poor through his simplicity; he is a great intellect but down to earth with utmost humility.

“Knowledge is the food of the soul”. He is well informed in computers, commerce, theology etc; he is an inspiring teacher always sowing the seeds of reflection, self interest and self excavation of knowledge; he is a melodious singer - his singing throbs every ear and every heart. He has shared his talents of music, singing, teaching, computers, basketball etc with us all for which we owe a great debt of gratitude. He has served our community for two and a half years here and has blossomed like a wonderful flower at Mount St. Joseph.
He is very compassionate to the sick, and the poor. His spirituality is blend with work. It is true that “Being” is very important than “Preaching”. His presence and life style speaks louder than words. He has the skill to melt the hardest metal and help it flow. His dealings with the novices are a blend of compassion and rectitude. He was a novice-friendly Socius. The way he spoke and partook in our joys and sorrows is praise worthy. His gentle corrections and firm reflections made us feel sorry for our mistakes and rectify it.
Fr Manoj, some things that we remember and cherish among the many contributions that you have made to this community are: Introducing the blog, creative ideas for community prayers, taught singing, water therapy, handwriting and tiffin box system for the sick.
Our hearts explode, explore and express impressionable thoughts about you. I feel your heart overflows with joy as you have accomplished your role as a Jesuit Priest. We pray that all your endeavors may be blessed and guided by the Lord and wish you all success. All the very best to you dear Fr Manoj.

Novitiate Memories of Recent Years

Hi, if you were at Mount during the last ten years, certainly you would be interested to know how you looked, right? May be it is too difficult for you to go to Mount and search the photo archives. Well, msjblog takes you to those days of your young age to show how bright and cheerful you looked. Just click on the image below and relish all your memories of novitiate days along with your friends...!!!

Novitiate Batches 98-06

From the bottom of the heart...

Dear friends, you all have been part of the msjblog family. It is indeed great joy to know that so many of you really browse our blog and appreciate it. Your comments on the blog page were really encouraging to go ahead. I would like to mention in particular Jossy D'Mello and Nelson Vaz who constantly kept this blog encouraging. Do you know the b'day of msjblog? It is April 10, 2007. So, it is the First Anniversary of the blog. Over the last year msjblog has spread its wings beyond imagination. It is a moment for us all to feel happy about....

The time has come for me to hand over the administration of blog to Fr.Sunil Fernandes. He has already taken a lot of interest to make it more relevant, appealing and popular. I wish him all the best. I request you to support him by contributing your comments and valuable suggestions. Remember, the very fact you read this, you belong to the msjblog family.

Once again, a big Than Q 2 U....

Manoj S. J

Novices' Day in Mylasandra

The Novices' Day (for the novices of the C.R.I Bannerghatta zone) on the 30th of March was well organized by Frs Dion SJ and Jolly (Congregation of St John the Baptist). It was a memorable day for all. "Go and Proclaim" was the theme of the day. In the morning session, Fr Freddie D'Silva SJ gave an inspiring talk on the day's theme followed by a group discussion.

The cultural programme in the afternoon brought out the talents of all the novices. The highlight of the programme was the thanksgiving song by the novices expressing their gratitude to their formators (Novice Masters & Novice Mistresses). All the novices were nourished spiritually, intellectually and emotionally. It was time for our novices to interact with the novices of other religious congregations. Unity, collaboration, sharing with one another were the objectives of arranging such a programme for the novices. Some are already looking forward to many more inter-novitiate ventures of this kind.