Come on and Celebrate

29 June 2012 was a great day for the Novitiate community as it was a day to rejoice and thank God for the gift of life to Fr. Willie, our beloved Novice Director.

Noel’s experience with Fr Willie

My experience with Fr Willie has been very positive. Father has been generous to guide me in the novitiate. Having Jesus as his role model he has been effective in his ministry. The imagery that comes to my mind when I see Fr Willie is of a mother embracing a child. Fr Willie has guided me like a mother when I  failed to make progress in the novitiate. He  has helped me to grow in every aspect of life in the novitiate. Fr Willie through his simple and humble nature has been my role model.

Called to Love and Serve

“Love is shown more in deeds than in words” - St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Dear

Calvin George Michael

Nithin Lisbon Coelho

                                  Leston Baptist Lobo

  Albert Vasanth

  Joyal Sandeep

Jaison Lobo

Sudeep Pinto

Sameer Francis

Sharun Roy D’Souza

Vincent Vijayakumar

Praveen Kiran Martis

Vinod Mathias Saldanha

were united with the mind and heart of Christ by pronouncing the vows of Poverty, Chastity and obedience and thus committing themselves to the Lord on 21 June 2012. Our twelve brothers, like the twelve apostles have responded to the call of Jesus to love and serve the lost, least and last of the society, without counting the cost like our founding father St. Ignatius did. Let us earnestly pray that our brothers may grow stronger in their personal conviction, commitment and courage and forever be united with God’s love and dedicate their entire life for the service of God’s people.

Inspired by the Missionary – Fr Paulose

When we listened to the adventures of Fr Paulose, it seemed as if we were listening to another St Francis Xavier. The Novitiate community was privileged  to have Fr Paulose Vellacada SJ to celebrate the Eucharist in the Novitiate chapel on 29 May. He is a Jesuit of our province serving as a pastor in British Guyana. We were gripped by the narration of his experiences, struggles, joys, challenges and the miracles experienced by him in the course of his pilgrim journey. Each and every word carried the force of inspiration that a missionary possesses due to his hard life in the frontiers. We are grateful to Fr Paulose for sharing his experiences with us. We silently wish that many of us would follow his path to serve Christ in the needy. “Wherever you go, go with all your heart.” – Confucius

An occasion for bonding

The novitiate community opened the doors of its heart to welcome a special group of guests this weekend on 27^th May. The residents of Asha Niketan – centre for mentally challenged came to Mount St Joseph for an outing which gave us an opportunity to interact with them. During this friendly encounter, we came face to face with the life-struggles of the mentally challenged persons. We were also entertained by their song and dance. After a couple of relaxing  games, we accompanied our guests to have our campus darshan. All this was a rich experience for us. The programme was planned by novices Sharun, Vinod and Vincent who served in Asha Niketan for almost a month this April for their Hospital Experiment. Novice Sharun would like to share his experiences of the day.

Sharun: For my Hospital Experiment, I was placed in Asha Niketan – the centre for mentally challenged. L’Arche is the international symbol of the organization founded by Jean Vanier in France in 1964. Its mission is to make known the gifts of the disabled people. Asha Niketan is a home of hope for all those who are born as mentally challenged. These people may be weak mentally but are very rich at heart. During my three-week stay, I experienced the warmth of their love intimately. Here I need to consider the assistants who served them as their own family members. Through them I learnt to love, be patient and accept them as they are. Since my experiences were very rich, I wanted my community to experience it. Their coming here on the feast of Pentecost was a unique experience for all of us.

Experiences of the Work Camp Shared

Noel: “Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” The experience to be with the poor was an aid for me to grow in the vow of poverty. It was the Spiritual Exercise graces that boosted me to belong to the people. My own learninds from this experience are 1. To be happy with what I have 2. To love until there is nothing left to love.

A Sudeep: I joyfully emerged into the camp with love and convictions. My inward journey of the retreat strengthened my relationship with the Lord. Humility and selflessness lit the fire of love in me and led me to understand my companions and the Society.

Cannon: Truly the world became my home in Pannur. I was evangelised by the life and the faith of the poor.  I became one with them and could see God in my daily activities. Moreover, I was inspired by the works of the Jesuits and it brought within me the burning zeal for missionary work.

Roydon: St Teresa of Avila says, “Our God does not care so much for the importance of our work as far as the love with which they are done.” After being energized with the power of the Risen Lord this Easter I went to my work camp to be the message and the messenger to the people of Pannur. I was touched by the life of the people, their hospitality and love for others.  

Kiran: Fr Jerome Nadal said, “The world is our home. The same thought came into my mind when I went with my companions to work in Pannur mission station. Personally I enjoyed each moment of the camp. I experienced the love and the care which the people and the children showed us. It is true that all of us need love. With love we can do anything. I thank God who was my strength to work.

Joseph: Work camp was a golden opportunity for me to integrate spiritual life and physical labour and to grow personally. Spiritual life was the only means with which I could continue my work, especially during the trying times. The times of emptiness, tiredness and humiliation helped me to feel how Jesus must have felt during His passion

Labouring with the Creator - Work Camp 2012

Work camp 2012 was a breathtaking experience. The first year novices went for the work camp to Pannur, a tiny village in Raichur District from April 13 to May 7. They were accompanied by the Assistant Novice Director, Fr John Pradeep SJ. The camp coordinator was Scholastic Joyson Vas SJ. It was a time to integrate prayer and action, to evangelize and to get evangelized by the people, to know the Jesuit mission well and moreover to be strengthened in our vocation and to grow into a united group. The work consisted of building foundation for a water sump, shifting bricks and stones for foundation. To relax for a day from fatigue, we a historical picnic to Hampi was organised. Truly it was a time of grace for us and we have profited a lot from this camp.

“Cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you.” (Psalm 55:22)

A Praying Family - Province Retreat

Beacon of Prayer

The Jesuits of our province have come back to their mother house for a week of prayer and stay with the Lord. Fr Tony J D’Souza SJ of Bombay Jesuit province is guiding the retreatants and ensuring the re-load of their spiritual batteries. Mount St Joseph has again become a spiritual powerhouse by supporting 54 province members this year in the retreat. The 8-day retreat commenced in the evening of 15 April and it is scheduled to end on 23 April. We join the retreatants in praying that the power of Jesus may empower every work of our province.

“The family that prays together stays together”.

Time to be Time-Conscious - A Poem

Here is a short and spontaneously written poem by Novice Maxim D’Souza. Read it. It will not cost you a lot of your time.

Punctuality can be learnt from nature.

The sun rises at the exact time set by the creator.

No one needs to remind it. It knows to shine according to the time.

The sun teaches us the value of punctuality.

Our human tendency is to delay our work.

If the sun makes its own time to rise, the world would suffer.

At the due time, the sun prepares itself to set. 

Let us be like the sun in our day-to-day activities. 

When we value time, we value life.  

"To have what we want is riches; but to be able to do without is power". George Macdonald

Celebrating Commitment – Province Jubilee

Mount St Joseph chapel became the point of intersection for the province Jesuit family on the way to greet the seven jubilarians. The province jubilarians – Frs Simon Furtado (60 years as a priest) Claude D’Souza, (50 years as a priest) Maxim Rasquinha, Stanislaus Miranda (60 years as Jesuits), John Mendonca, Boniface Lewis and Pradeep Sequeira (50 years as Jesuits), with the testimony of their lives have inspired the entire province. In one voice, the province family thanked the Lord for the gift of these seven committed lives during the Holy Mass in the morning. Many were too willing to speak and shower praises on the jubilarians during the felicitation function. Fr Francis Serrao SJ, the Provincial thanked them for playing a crucial role in building our province. The ever-young in spirit, Fr Denis Coelho with his cheeky humour took the function by storm as he proposed the toast. In the course of their many years in religious life, the jubilarians have gleaned a lot of experience, which was shared by Fr Pradeep during the homily and by Fr Maxim during the felicitation programme. The entire event took on a festive mood and it became a great occasion to spend time with the other. We congratulate the jubilarians and pray that they may continue to inspire many by their lives of unflinching commitment to the Lord and the Society of Jesus.

“The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that costs.” Mme. Du Deffand

A Talk with Fr Henry - Lit with Literature

Fr. Henry D'Almeida

Fr Henry D’Almeida SJ is a professor of Indian Philosophy and Religion at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune. His philosophical expertise is as well known as his command over Kannada language and literature. Every year, he makes his way to our Novitiate to give Kannada course to the Novices. This year we thought it good to know more about the Kannada guru’s personal interest in Kannada. This interview was taken precisely for this reason. 

Father, what urged your deep study in Kannada Sahitya? When did it begin? 

 Kannada has a rich history of 1500 years. The earliest record goes back to Halmidi shasana of 450 CE. This language abounds in literary and spiritual beauty. The early interest nurtured during my high-school days urged me to cultivate a deep personal interest.

You spoke about auto-formation in the course. Is your fascination and expertise in Kannada a result of auto-formation?

Though I studied as a Kannada medium student till my SSLC, my present interest and knowledge to a great extent are a result of personal study. A crash course given by Fr Jerome D’Souza SJ during my Juniorate also contributed towards this end.

Can you tell how the study of Sahitya (literature) enriches one’s spiritual life? 

Sahitya or literature means life. Kannada literature has rich religious literature belonging to Jainism, Veerashaivism and various traditions of Hinduism like Dvaita, Advaita and Visistadvaita. Even Christian literature is quite much. One can mention two recent epics on Jesus Christ – Siribhuvana Jyoti by B. S. Talwadi and Yesu Mahadarshana by Lata Rajashekar. I strongly believe that the study of Kannada literature can enrich one’s spirituality.

Which Kannada literary figure approaches closest to Christian thought and faith? 

The compositions of Basavanna and his followers strongly advocate the values of the Kingdom of God i.e., equality, classless society, dignity of women, work as worship, human being as the temple of God, etc. The Dasa Sahitya celebrates the love of God and servant spirituality in the Kirtans.

What does a person lose if he/she fails to at least become familiar with the literary treasures of his/her culture? 

We cannot be abstract human beings. Our identity is formed by a particular socio-cultural milieu. If a person fails to acquaint oneself with the local literature, I would say that he/she has become a less of human being.

What is the greatest lesson you have learnt in pursuit of your Kannada studies? 

It has broadened my view of other religions and given me a greater sense of belonging to my land and my people.

Thank you, father.

Au Revoir Fr Sunil; Welcome Fr John Pradeep

Thursday, April 12 was a happy-sad day for the Novitiate community. With the handing-over of the Assistant Novice Director’s files to the Fr John Pradeep, our dear Fr Sunil Fernandes brought an end to his colourful 4-year term as Assistant Novice Director. In order to give him a fitting farewell, the Novitiate community gathered around the altar in the Novices' Chapel for the Eucharist in the morning. Fr Willie Sequeira, the Novice Director thanked his outgoing Socius and faithful companion Fr Sunil for his support, and welcomed the newly ordained Fr John – both his former novices. Sadness was tucked in amidst smiles and laughter during the farewell & welcoming ceremony held in the afternoon. It became a suitable occasion for the Novices to utter words of thanks to their dear Fr Socius. Fr John Pradeep will take over Fr Sunil’s role as the blog administrator. We thank Fr Sunil for his contribution in the successful running of our blog. We are immensely grateful to Fr Sunil Fernandes for his generous service in the Novitiate community and we wish him luck as he steps out for his tertianship. 

"This body is for service to others" Kalidasa 

Novitiate Life - Tracing God (Calvin)

Calvin George Michael: I was planted in the “School of the Heart”, where I grew slowly and steadily, turning out to be a flowering plant. I became attractive and admirable. Behind the attractiveness, there was painful pruning and also joyous growth, which enriched my life. Close to me, I heard the whisper of Jesus, “I came that you [they] may have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Unconditional love was lavished on me by God. The bridge between Jesus and me was the Month-retreat. Jesus became the superhero for my imitation. This was, in short, the story of how I started bearing beautiful and fragrant flowers. 

“The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude.” Dennis S. Brown