PRAYER SERVICE AND VISITING HOUSE

Without Jesus there is no Christmas. With Jesus there is Holy Family.

After celebrating Christmas, our Community of Kurdeg was in the mood of joy and happiness and sharing. There was not gift for us in Christmas except Jesus. Jesus came as a gift and brought love, which was so sweet and digestable; that is why, the Brothers could not manage to keep in the Community so we discussed and thought to share it from one family to another family belonging to Kurdeg Parish. By visiting and praying the Holy Rosary in the family, the Brothers filled and fulfilled our expectations. Those visiting familes were very happy and they shared their good sweet and bitter experiences mainly by their  family background, their children and their studies and the difficulties and challenges which they usually have and face every day. We were listening to them very attentively and understanding their reality.

We brought with us one Holy Family picture and some calendars to give to them. We started our moment of prayer with the thanksgiving, remembering the Providence for the past and the new year. Mainly, for the new life and the betterment and the happiest life in the family as our diocese of Simdega keeps 2015 as the year of the family. Our main prayer was: the family intentions, needs and plan for the new year; we prayed for the family problems, for the unity and mutual understanding among the family members, for those members who are out and working in various places and fields; we prayed for their children who are studying and not studying, for their future aim and studies; we prayed for those who are sick and old and physically suffering; we prayed for peace in the family; and also we prayed for their livestock (animals).

All the families we visited –totally 7 families in 5 different villages– were  very happy praying and sharing with us. We told that our coming and visiting to the families was to share the joy and happiness of Christmas, and, as we belong to the HOLY FAMILY (Brothers of the Holy Family), we also form one community or one family and we also come from a family. So our purpose was to share our the family/community and our characteristic family spirit. And we wanted to bring the good news in this new year. They always welcomed us with love and care. Never did they allow us to come back home empty-stomack. We enjoyed with them as well as we saw their family members.

“A family that prays together, stays together.”                

                          Br. A. K. E., FSF

MONTH OF THE HOLY FAMILY, MONTH OF THE FAMILY

Happy New Year to all!!

First January: Today morning our Community celebrated Eucharist having only two members, the other Brothers had gone to their homes. For the Mass there were huge number of people as any other days as well as nine priests who joined for the Mass. Though there were many for distributing Communion, religious were asked to come forward.

On 4^th Sunday there was the joining of the Brothers in Community. We had a day of Gathering of Religious and Priests of our Deanery, so on that day in India we all celebrated Three Kings feast (Magi); our Community was also expecting the “three kings” who went home for New Year. Around evening our gathering came to an end, we gave some of our calendars to them so that they may have in their Communities and Schools.

With sudden change and the requirement of Brothers from the Novitiate, our Superior needed to move to Eluru to undertake the formation of the novices. It was on 8^th; we went to railway station but the ticket was not yet confirmed, so we bribed the TTE to have a seat at least for sitting down in the train. 

January 10^th: This is a “red-letter day” in the history of the Church of Kurdeg and the Church of Simdega, I hope, since it was the day of the Ordination of three Priests from the same family while elder brother already a Jesuit priest and younger one also a seminarian, doing his theological studies. Three Bishops were present on that day; we greeted our Bishop and many priests who were present to witness this historical event.  Stools were not sufficient for near hundred priests were present there.

The following day was Sunday. There was Thanksgiving Mass in the village of three newly ordained Priests; it was on the top of a hill, where there was no proper road to reach their house. As we reached there, we saw many people, even Fr. Raphael, who was the previous Parish priest of Kurdeg. There were so many people but no helpers, so we, Brothers and Sisters were helping them in the way we could.

On 14^th there was holiday here for Makar Sankarnti, which is a day to thank the lord Sun, so people decorated the sky with kites. Mostly it is known as a festival of kites, so we Brothers also did some but was failure because it was always decorating the earth rather than the sky. We greeted the Community of Tamil Nadu on this day that celebrated the festival of Pongal.

0n 16^th we started to move to do the “house visit” especially for family prayer, that was the moment we wished to share our family spirit with the family members of this Parish. The first house that we visited was our cook house because we wanted to visit families that we know better so that it will be easy to communicate and to pray together to the Holy Family.

This family prayer, we wanted to start early but because of the other programs we were delayed. Yet we were welcomed in many houses, but we had not sufficient time and means to reach all the places. In every house, soon after of the prayer, we had some moments of sharing. During that time, we had lot of enjoyments because it was about their experience in life.

On 19^th of this month we got the connection for new gas cylinder after long period of months trying. Every day our routine was smoothly, going well and good. On 21^st was the Birthday of our Br. Efraim who were supposed to be here, yet he was still in Eluru Community, and there he celebrated his birthday in that community with all Brothers, aspirants, postulants and novices.  We greeted him through Viber.

On 25^th we prayed at the house of the Catholic Shaba President, that we planned to pray at the beginning, then it was the last house where we prayed in this month honouring the Holy Family. Each and every house, as we prayed in these days, it was something new for us as well as for all whom we met.

In all the Schools of Kurdeg, they started to prepare for the Republic Day function; for that, every day they had to practice the march and so on fast. On 26^th, we celebrated the Republic Day and we paid tribute to our national flag, leaders, etc.  

On 27^th Br. Efra arrived in Rourkela safe and sound; the train was not late like other times when he came. Again we are as Community with all the members together. Next day he relaxed in the house finishing some other peripheral works of our community.

On 29^th he had to leave for Ranchi for land purpose, as he had gone that day was not successful either; God only knows when all these works are all going to be done. In the evening there was blessing of a house in Hatta village, so our Community was present there in sharing our joy as well as accompanying in the Mass and the programs.

We celebrated the month of Holy Family in different ways in our Community and we finished also this month with same spirit. Happy Holy Family Feast to all Brothers and candidates.