“Chosen to Labour with Christ, the Son"

Thirteen of our brothers (two of them for Andhra Province and Eleven for Karnataka) have responded generously to the invitation of our Lord Jesus “To Labour with Him.” That is to be rooted and grounded in love and to be witnesses to His values, to establish the Reign of God. They feel assured of His comforting presence, and vibrate with Him while He says, “I will be with you always.” We had a two-fold celebration. First of all, thirteen of our brothers (Karri Kamalakar, Vijay Kumar Surthani for Andhra Province; Ashwin Praveen Cordeiro, Avinash Ajay Lobo, John Rayan Pereira, Lestan D’Souza, Venancius Naveen Fernandes, Olwin Arun Fernandes, Prashanth Kumar, Roshan Pinto, Royston Pinto, Vincent Jaison, Wilson Fernandes) placed themselves at the service of the Kingdom. Secondly, we celebrated the feast of a young saint of the Society of Jesus, St Aloysius Gonzaga who showed us that it is not important how long we live but how lovingly we live. Our Vovents made perpetual vows of Poverty (i.e., to be completely dependant on God’s providence, care and protection), Chastity (i.e., an act of emptying oneself totally to Christ our spouse) and Obedience (i.e., to be sent on a Mission in the Church and for the world). Our Vovents placed lamps as a symbol of their lives at the feet of the Sacred Heart of Jesus promising to continue His work of sacrificial love in today’s broken and wounded world. The theme of the Eucharist was “Chosen to Labour with Him” Fr Francis Serrao, the Provincial of the Karnataka Province, presided over the Eucharist and received the vows. Fr Dion, the Novice Director, inspired us with his moving message. Soon after the Eucharist, we had a short felicitation ceremony in the community refectory to greet the Vovents. During the Programme, the Annual bulletin of the Novitiate "Navataranga-2009" was released by Fr Vijay Prabhu, our former Provincial. The vovents feel grateful to Frs William (our Rector), Dion, Manoj and Sunil for their encouragement and leading us to commit ourselves entirely to the Lord. They remember with gratitude all the Fathers of Mount St Joseph community for their prayerful support. Above all, we thank the Lord and all of you for making this day a memorable one.