CHRISTMAS 2011 SPECIAL ISSUE

2012-01-18T10:00:00.000+05:30

Christmas programme for the poor children

2 O’clock in the afternoon on 17^th December was indeed a bright wonderful and cheery day. We were invited by the Missionaries of Charity sisters to give a programme for the 150 children, whom they had invited to celebrate Christmas. We performed a skit related to Christmas and a dance. On seeing our program children were delighted.

Christmas for the poor children , in collaboration with MC sisters

There were four Pilar brothers who came to conduct the program. They conducted few games for children and taught them some action songs. Children were very enthusiastic and energetic and took part in every game. We distributed gifts and sweets to all the children. They were happy to receive the gifts and went home joyfully.

Pre-postulant Aibantngen Sten, Nagpur

Sharing the joy of Christmas with people of other faith

Christmas Tablo done by the Student (pre-postulants)

Christmas is a beautiful season when hearts are filled with love, joy and peace which was brought by our Savior Jesus Christ. This is an occasion when God and people from all walks are reconciled.

To make this day a memorable one and share the joy of Christmas, our St. Francis De Sales Cathedral parish had organized Christmas programme on 25^th Dec at 5.30pm in front of the Cathedral. People from the surroundings as well as people of other faith were gathered for the programme. Many of the groups performed skits, dances and sang carols etc. With the help of Sr Sushma we nine pre-postulants performed a skit and a dance with Christmas message.

We were happy to put forth our talents and efforts for Baby Jesus. It was an awesome experience for us. We thank God for this great opportunity to share His love, peace and joy with the people.

I would like to thank Sr Sushma who was always with us to support and encourage us. Sisters wish you all a blessed New Year 2012!! Thank You.

Pre-postulant Sangeeta Dung Dung, Nagpur

Christmas Get-together with Pauline Co-operators

On Jan. 3^rd, 5.15 pm to 7.00 pm, 20 co-operators came together and Sr. Vimala, Sr. Clare Ukken, (who is here for her holidays)and myself joined them. We started the get-together with a prayer by Sr. Clare Ukken

The following are some of the impressions I gathered from the participants:

Maria Pereira: “What touched me the most is the way we stood around the crib, around Baby Jesus and sang the carols. We were carol singers. All in all we started the New Year well, coming together as Pauline co-operators.”

Pelagia D’Souza: “The party was short and sweet, interspersed with prayers, hymns, games and jokes. It gave the Pauline co-operators a chance to mingle and get to know one another; plenty of love and laughter, an appropriate way to begin a New Year.”

Ladislaus D’Souza: “Very good idea, coming together. It was very warm, a lot of spontaneity. It broke the ice between members. It was a fulfilling evening, good turn out too. I enjoyed it.”

Our regular Pauline Collaborators, Mumbai

Munira Millwala: “It was nice meeting up with all the co-operators. The evening went quite quickly and what touched me the most is the carol singing together at the crib, reminding us of our purpose as co-operators.”

Margaret Pinto: “Games and good spirit. Everyone playing and getting involved.”

Jennifer Miranda: “Nice, enjoyable, all came together. We prayed and played together.”

One said: “Sr. Clare’s prayer service was very good, also the carol singing.”

Another said: “A good chance to meet all co-operators. I liked to be together.”

Sr. Mary Sebastian, Mumbai

Christmas with Hindus, Muslims and Christians

The words of Norman Brooks, “Let us make Christmas for every one......For the good you do to others is the good you do for yourself” inspired us to celebrate Christmas in a shared way with the local masses around Royd Street.

Keeping the Alberionian Charism, Pauline sisters organized this beautiful celebration on December 18th together with the faithful Cooperators. The programme started with a simple welcome to both children and grown-ups; Hindus, Muslims and Christians; friends and benefactors; co-workers and co-worshippers numbering a little more than a hundred. Carol singing followed. Fr Surendra gave the Christmas message in Hindi, Bengali and English.

A dance was organised and performed by the junior sisters and helpers, expressing the delight of receiving the Lord of the Universe in the helpless state of a human baby. Perhaps we should never forget our dear Santa Claus, in his traditional red nose and the tummy, for when he laughed it shook like bucket of honey.

The Drummer Boy added spice in the celebration singing and dancing " Rumpa pum pum. As Blessed James Alberione possessed a dynamic pastoral spirit of loving every one and thinking of every one, so those who are called in his name, our dear sisters reflected the true spirit of their founder. It was the very spirit of Saint Paul the Apostle, always striving to reach those who had not yet received the true light of Jesus Christ.

Let God's grace be with all,

With the light of Christmas,

The warmth of love and care-

Believing in Jesus Master the Truth, the Way and, the Life,

Pritam Paul, Pauline Cooperator, Kolkata.

Children’s Christmas Party at Happy Home Society

There is always a greater joy when we share with others what we have and let the others have a share of it. On 28^th December our community of Borivli celebrated a Christmas program for the children of our society. 65 of them responded to our invitation including parents. It was a joyful event with many parents and youth joining in and helping us out.

Even though many of the families here are Gujarathis and only a handful are Catholics, the Christmas spirit is in every one. The program started with a welcome speech by Sr. Jyothy the animator of the community followed by a dance on the song “Pyara Masi ha” by the children of our society. The program was loaded with games, carol action songs, entertainment dance and fancy dress competition.

Christmas with the neighbourhood children

Our community was happy to have Sr. Vimala who assisted us in every possible ways.
Thank you sister. Fr. Lester Vaz our neighbour who was at for holiday was the chief guest of the evening programme. He gave the Christmas message to the children and parents with a brief explanation on the death and resurrection of Jesus, which is the reason why Christmas is celebrated. He then interacted with the children through question and answer session.

The evening ended with the prize distribution and refreshments. We thank God for this happy occasion.

Sr. Scandya, Borivli.

Neighbourhood Christmas Celebration

Christmas Celebration with our neighbours

Christmas is a season of sharing peace, joy and love. This year we as community planned to celebrate Christmas a little broader way that is to have Christmas gathering for our neighbourhood catholic families, on 19^th December at 6.30 pm we gathered to celebrate the Christmas programme in front of our provincialate quadrangle. It was a great joy for us to have them with us for the first time.

The quadrangle was decorated with lights and balloons. A beautiful crib was prepared by our aspirants. At the outset of this programme, we took them first to our book centre after which followed a welcome speech, a short prayer and viewing the infancy narrative from “Mary of Nazareth”. We had a few games with prizes. Everyone participated with joy and enthusiasm. One of the invitees conducted a game for the sisters. It was indeed a memorable evening for the sisters who could mingle freely with our neighborhood families. At the conclusion of our programme, Sr Matilda D’Souza gave an inspiring Christmas message and we served snacks to everyone.

Sr. Neena Mathais, Mumbai

Christmas joy with neighbourhood families

We the Shillong community shared our Christmas Joy on 17^th of December with our neighborhood families who were invited for the programme. There were around 25 children of different faiths. We started our program at 10.30am with few games organized by Srs Prescilla and Mettilda. All the children as well as we, the pre-postulants actively took part in the programme. We performed a dance with the Christmas message and sang some of the famous carols. The Drummer Boy (Sonalin) dance, added more enthusiasm and joy to the whole programme.

At the end of the programme Sr. Asrita gave the Christmas message in English as well as in Hindi. We concluded with the refreshment and gave one each blanket to the families. All the children who were present for the celebration were given gifts and they were really excited and overwhelmed with the gifts. We thank God for His blessings and for giving us the opportunity to share our Christmas joy with our neighbours.

Pre-Postulants, Shillong

A visit to Mother’s children at Christmas

“An innocent smile reflects the presence of God.”

We the juniors novices along with Srs. Shalini, Meera and Neena made a visit to ‘Shishu Bhavan run by Missionaries of Charity. The innocent children who are abandoned by their parents, the children who have no one to care for, the physically and mentally challenged children are well cared for and nursed by these Sisters. They fulfill the purpose for which Christ came into this world “whatever you do to the least of my people that you do unto Me.” The Sisters are very kind and hospitable to everyone. We were inspired and touched by their great service to the church.

The words and actions of Mother Teresa always reflected in their words and actions. Mother Teresa is their great model she has given them the best, to care for the future of the world. We were indeed happy and privileged to visit these little ones and share our Christmas joy with them. We enacted the living crib and joyfully sang the Christmas carols both in English and Hindi and danced with them.

The innocent smile, the gentle kiss and the warmth of a hug always remains in our hearts. Thanks to the sisters who gave us this opportunity to share our joys. God bless them for their charity.

The Novices, Mumbai

Christmas program for the staff

Our Co-workers at our Christmas Celebrations

Sr Ancy gives Christmas gifts to one of the families

The Christmas get together for our staff was held on 23rd December. They came along with their family members to share our Christmas joy. They belong to different religions. We had arranged for them few games and small felicitation program. Our aspirants with their colourful dresses added extra colour for the singing of the carols in Hindi.

It was indeed a great joy to see our entire staff and their families, very much participative in the programme. They enjoyed involving themselves in games, dance and singing. Sr. Rosaria, our Superior gave an inspiring message on Christmas as a celebration of love in action in Hindi and Sr. Ancy our Provincial thanked all of them and appreciated their generous service in proclaiming the mission of Jesus.

We concluded our programme with sharing of gifts and a movie on “Mary of Nazareth”. We thank all our sisters, novices, postulants and aspirants for their active participation.

Sr. Stavina, Mumbai

Christmas celebration with slum children

Slum dwellers enjoying Christmas with our Sisters

The joy of Christmas is sharing a gift with the poor. We conducted a Christmas programme for the slum children in our campus on 22nd December. They were around 70 of them. We informed the children just two days before, and to our great surprise the children presented us with a beautiful skirt on Christmas story. There was lot of laughter, fun, games and cheer.

Everyone participated enthusiastically in the games and many went home with lots of prizes. We also gave gifts to everyone who came for the celebration. We sang carols and explained to them the meaning of Christmas.

Sr. Shyni, Bangalore

Christmas Celebration with the children of different faith

Christmas is a time to rejoice and celebrate the birth of Jesus and share his love, peace and joy with others. We shared our Christmas joy with our neighbouring children of different faith who wait for this event every year. On 30^th of December evening our house was filled with life and joy of young and vibrant children with their fun and laughter.

We began our program with the prayer and carols. Then the story of Christmas was narrated to them in Hindi. The children were put to the rhythm of the programme by a classical dance and they were already tapping the toes with the music. The games that we played together were the culmination of the event. Then Santa arrived majestically with the lovely gifts to cheer the children. And finally we had refreshments together and our experience was that happiness depends on what you can give not what you can get.

We thank Sr. Lilly and the community for encouraging and supporting us to organize this programme.

Sr.Shashi, Delhi.

Christmas Programme for BCC Unit - TVM

From the beginning of Advent season the youth of Althara Nagar Society regularly participated in the practice session of Christmas programme under the guidance of Sr. Gisel. Every evening of Advent thus became a Pre-experience of Christmas in our community. Finally on 18^th of December we had our Christmas celebration amidst lots of preparations and decorations.

It was organized for the members of our BCC unit. We began the celebration with the usual BCC prayer which was followed by a beautiful Christmas message given by Rev. Fr. Edison Y M, our parish priest and the Diocesan Director for BCC. Then there was the Live Crib and a Musical on Incarnation Narrative which made alive the story of the Birth of Jesus. The game session and the gift distribution multiplied the cheers and exuberance of the gathering. At the end each family present was also given a gift to carry home and the celebrations came to a conclusion with a fellowship meal.

Sr. Gisel, Trivandrum.

Christmas Programme for Non- Christians - TVM

As a result of visiting the families during Advent, on 19^th December, Sunday by 5.30 pm the little hall of our community was filled with the presence of the non- Christian brothers and sisters of our locality. We began our get-together with a prayer song and the lighting of the lamp.

Sr. Sally gave the welcome address and then it was the time for a small inter-religious prayer wherein we had readings from different Sacred Scriptures. Christ’s message was given by Rev. Fr. Justin Judin, Procurator of Trivandrum Archdiocese. The live Crib and the musical play on the birth of Jesus once again gave colour to our celebrations. There was also an open forum where each one could introduce themselves and share their views and thoughts. Many of them came up again appreciating this type of a get-together and expressed their solidarity and support with us. One of them even went ahead saying “Sisters you people are a lighthouse in our locality. We are happy with your presence here. And be sure that we are with you”. At the end we had snacks shared and each family present were given a small memento to carry home.

We the members of Trivandrum community are grateful to God for his innumerous blessings upon us during this Holy season.

Sr. Gisel, Trivandrum.

Christmas Dhamaka, Mumbai Community

Novices enterntaining at the Christmas Community Dhamaka

On 29^th December from 5.30 pm onwards the community of Mumbai, together with the formation groups had a get-together for Christmas. It was indeed a ‘community day’ as the formees and sisters mingled with each other in gaiety and sisterly spirit. This was an occasion to celebrate the Golden Jubilarians, as also to felicitate the birthday babies of themonth of December. Above all it was the CHRISTMAS celebration.

Srs Jayanthi, Birkumari and Joeyanna were the M.Cs for the day, and they did their best to make each one have a good. A beautiful skit with a meaningful message was prepared and acted out by the sisters of the Community to show are love and respect for our Golden Jubilarians. The highlight of the programme was the stalls of Snacks, Drinks and General items and each of us were given coupons to have our pick. A delicious dinner was part of the event. The enthusiastic participation in the Carol Singing Competition in the virulent colours of costumes was really a sight to see!

Sr Joeyanna D’Souza, Mumbai

CEC – Visit to the Remand centres for women, young boys & girls and cancer hospital

Visit to the Remand Centre

The spirit of Christmas is 'reaching out' to someone in need. The meaning of Christmas is 'being there' to someone in need. In preparation for Christmas celebration, the Catholic Enquiry Centre (CEC) members and collaborators went out of their way visiting Remand centres for women, young boys and girls, and cancer hospital on 5^th December.

What was so amazing to see was the cheering crowd of Juvenile boys and girls actively participating in the programme. One could see them breathing the air of freedom as they shook their hips, tapped their legs and laughing all the way.

The brothers from St. Peter's Major Seminary put up a skit based on Christmas story, dances, carol songs and games which were appreciated greatly. At the end of the programme, the CEC gave away gifts to all of them. The staff of the Remand centres and Cancer hospital was grateful to the CEC for brightening up their day and giving them a feel of a hope-filled life.

Sr. Anna Asanai, Bangalore

For to us, a child is born! To us, a son is given!” (Is 9:6)

One of the Christmas activities of the CEC

The Archdiocesan Catholic Enquiry Centre (CEC) Bangalore celebrated the Annual Christmas Get-together on Saturday, 10th December, at the Sacred Heart Church Parish Hall, with a cultural event, witnessed by some of our Enquirers. This year alone, CEC has registered about 600 “Seekers” (Enquirers) from different faiths and various walks of life, learning and experiencing our LORD JESUS CHRIST, with the help of our FREE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE programmes in English, Kannada and Tamil. About 12 have yearned for and have received their Baptism, while some others have gone further into partaking of our Eucharistic Lord through the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

This Christmas Get-Together was more special for us at CEC in some ways! Our Patron and Shepherd, Most Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras, Archbishop of Bangalore, had taken ill, but his fervour for Evangelization and the growth of CEC in particular, found him once again guiding us with his wisdom and participation. In the course of the get-together he awarded “Certificates” to those who had completed the Correspondence Courses, while also releasing the first CEC Wall Calendar, for 2012! YAY!!! Even that was done through an impromptu Q & A session where he involved all those gathered. It was indeed a real “Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us!

Sr. Clare C.L. CEC, Bangalore

Pauline News and Views

CHRISTMAS 2011 SPECIAL ISSUE