By Fr. Blasius Tete, SDB –
Tadubi: St. Joseph’s Parish, Tadubi of Imphal Diocese in the north-eastern state of Manipur, celebrated its silver jubilee (1996-2022) cum parish feast on 19 March 2022. The Jubilee theme was: “The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy” (Ps 126:3).
After the blessing of the holy rosaries that was to be given to the first communicants and those who were going to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation by his grace Most Rev. Dominic Lumon, D.D. Archbishop of Imphal, the jubilee cum parish feast celebrations kicked off with the Holy Mass at 10.00 am. His Grace Most Rev. Dominic Lumon presided over the Holy Eucharistic celebrations. A total of eight priests concelebrated with his grace.
After the entrance hymn, Fr. Athew Mathew, the parish priest of St. Joseph’s Parish Tadubi, officially welcomed his grace Most Rev. Dominic Lumon D.D., Archbishop of Imphal. He also welcomed other fathers, sisters, catechists and the faithful people of the parish.
Speaking on the occasion, Fr. Athew Mathew said: “On behalf of all the fathers, sisters and parishioners of St. Joseph’s Parish Tadubi, I would like to propose a word of welcome to his grace Most Rev. Dominic Lumon D.D., Archbishop of Imphal for having left aside all other programmes in the diocese to come to this very place, St. Joseph’s parish Tadubi for the parish feast as well as for the establishment of our parish. Your grace, a very hearty welcome. You have given this parish a very special place in your heart and we are grateful to you.”
He also officially welcomed Fr. Mark (secretary to Archbishop), Fr. Kholi from Makhan parish, Fr. Johns George SDB from St. Mary’s parish Punanamei, Fr. Titus, Fr. Sanjiv Linda SDB, Fr. Blasius Tete SDB, Fr. Albert and the sisters from Punanamei.
“Today is the feast day of so many centres. Today is the feast of the Archdiocese of Imphal, St. Joseph’s Cathedral. Today is also the feast of our Archbishop Joseph Mittathani emeritus” said Fr. Athew, the parish priest of St. Joseph’s parish, Tadubi.
“On this day, as we celebrate the parish feast as well as the silver jubilee, we remember the founders of our parish sent by the Archbishop Joseph Mittathani. Fr. John Kashüprü was the first parish priest. Today he could not come because he had to replace Archbishop Dominic Lumon in St. Joseph’s Cathedral Imphal to officiate there” said the parish priest.
“Today is also a very special day because 100 of our children are receiving the first Holy Communion. We also have 105 of our members who are going to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. Your Grace, thank you so much to come and confirm the Sacrament of Confirmation upon our parishioners as well as to give Jesus into the hearts of these many young boys and girls. We are grateful to you. Now I request his grace to celebrate mass for us, bless us and pray for us and we in our turn, all the parishioners from all the eight villages of our parish, assure you of our humble prayers” said Fr. Athew Mathew, the parish priest.
In his introduction to the Holy Mass, his grace Most Rev. Dominic Lumon D.D., Archbishop of Imphal, thanked Fr. Athew for his kind words of welcome and introduction. On the occasion of silver jubilee, his grace extended his heartiest congratulations to Fr. Athew, Fr. Titus, fathers, sisters, catechists, parishioners, villagers, institutions, convents and St. Joseph’s parish Tadubi.
Speaking further, his grace said: “Secondly, the 19th of March every year is a very special year because on this day the entire universal Catholic Church and in our diocese we celebrate the solemnity of St. Joseph. We pray to St. Joseph, the protector of the universal church, patron of our Archdiocese, patron of the Archbishop emeritus, Joseph Mittathani, the former vicar general Rev. Fr. Joseph Kachiramattam and all the fathers who bear the name of Joseph, all the sisters who bear the name Joseph (Josephines), that under his protection, they may all enjoy the blessings of God, of good health, spiritual health, material wellbeing, and many other benefits, protection from all harms, from all dangers, from every evil. May St. Joseph pray for us in a very special way today. We turn our hearts, we raise our minds and hearts to God on this solemn day that God, through his mercy, grant to us whatever St. Joseph will be interceding for us today.”
In his homily, his grace Most Rev. Dominic Lumon D.D., Archbishop of Imphal said: “On this beautiful day, God has given us a bright sunshine and a gust of wind. In every circumstance, we always praise God, God be praised. I wish everyone present here a very happy feast of St. Joseph. God had a plan to form a nation, a family, a tribe, a nation and through this nation to bring all the nations of the people and to save them. For that he chose Abraham. Abraham had personal plans but God asked him to go to the place where he was going to send him. And Abraham willingly, happily in faith obeyed God. Later on God asked Abraham to look at the sky and count the stars and told him that such would be his children; his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of heaven. But Abraham was getting old and he had no child at all. He had already passed beyond child bearing age and yet he believed in God, he trusted in God and placed his faith in God. God achieved his plan. We can achieve wonderful things in life. God’s plan is better than our plans. When we place our trust in God, when we surrender our plans and dreams to God, God can do better than what we plan. Abraham trusted in God. And today Abraham is the father of faith, of all believers.”
“After the fall of Adam and Eve, God planned to send a redeemer into the world. He wanted to send this redeemer into a particular clan, the clan of David. So from the clan of David, Jesus was born. So Jesus is not the son of Joseph. Joseph had a dream. Joseph had personal plans. He was thinking of getting married to a lady of his love, to build up the family. He was comfortable with his plans, he was sleeping but God woke him up and told Joseph to leave aside his plans and told him that God had a better plan for him. Joseph was betrothed to Mary but before he came to live together, she was found with a child. Joseph was very much disappointed, worried and ashamed. He wanted to leave Mary quietly. But God woke him up and told him that Mary’s child is not a human child but got through the Holy Spirit and that he was appointed to look after Mary and her child” said his grace,” he said.
“If it were to be in our times, someone like Joseph was in that situation, definitely he could have reacted differently. He could have filed a case to the village authorities against the clan of Mary for bringing disgrace; there could have been fight clan to clan. But Joseph was a just man and so he refused to act in that way. For Joseph, God’s will was the best. So he surrendered to God’s plan in faith,” said the Archbishop.
“My dear faithful people of God, it is by faith that salvation came about-faith as obedience to God’s plan. Adam and Eve did not obey God. They lost paradise. And we also lost paradise but by faith in God Abraham, the prophets, different kings, Joseph, and our blessed mother in obedience to God’s plan brought salvation to humanity. Today we can bring about God’s grace only through faith in God” said Most. Rev. Dominic Lumon.
“Pope Francis has written a short and beautiful prayer to St. Joseph. We can print and pray this prayer privately or in common. The prayer goes like this: “Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To you God entrusted his only Son; in you Mary placed her trust; with you Christ became man. Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father and guide us in the path of life. Obtain for us grace, mercy and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.” St. Joseph is very powerful today because he cooperated with God’s plan so well that God listens to his prayer for all our needs and requirements. So let us pray to St. Joseph in our daily life” said his grace.
“A word about Confirmation. The Sacrament of Confirmation is the basic Sacrament that distinguishes itself from the sacrament of Baptism but they complement each other like ‘money notes’ written in both sides. In the early church, we see in the Acts of the Apostles, the apostles received the power of the Holy Spirit and they imparted the power of the Holy Spirit to others. So, the Sacrament of Confirmation is receiving of the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Acts of the Apostles, there were believers in the Lord Jesus but they had not received the power of the Holy Spirit. The apostles placed their hands upon them. They prayed over them. They received the Holy Spirit. The Sacrament of Confirmation is given by laying on of hands and anointing with the holy oil. Anointing with holy oil symbolizes anointing with the power of the Holy Spirit. Imprinting of the seal means ‘ownership’, God claiming us. It also means our ‘identity’ that we are children of God and he protects from all harm especially from eternal death. We read in the book of revelation Chapter 14:1 ‘Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.’ St. John was allowed to see 144,000 people dressed in white. When the Holy Spirit puts a mark in our soul and God’s name is written on our forehead, God is protecting us from harm, danger and eternal death. God is claiming us as his own and we are redeemed people,” said the Archbishop.
“Dear children, you are going to receive the Holy Communion for the first time. Jesus came into the heart of your mother, father, brothers and sisters but today he is coming into your soul. You have prepared yourself well to receive him. Jesus will not come by force. He will come only when we invite him. So you pray like this: “Come to my heart Lord Jesus. Come and stay in my heart. Be a part of my life. Give me peace, joy and happiness.” When Jesus comes, he will give us his peace, joy and happiness. And today is a very special day for you because Jesus comes to you for the first time. When Jesus comes to you, don’t leave him alone. Pray to him. Speak to him. You pray to him to bless your mommy, daddy, sisters, brothers, teachers, fathers and sisters, who teach you. God is going to listen to your prayers,” said the Archbishop.
Soon after the Holy Mass, there was a short felicitation programme. No sooner the felicitation programme was over, sumptuous meal was served for all the people who came for the jubilee cum parish feast celebrations.
St. Joseph’s Parish, Tadubi, is under Senapati District of Manipur. The parish also runs a higher secondary school. This is a Catholic Ecclesiastical parish under the aegis of Archdiocese of Imphal, Manipur. It is run by the priests of the Archdiocese of Imphal. Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians (MSMHC) collaborate with the fathers in running the parish and the higher secondary school.