By Althea Phillips –
When it rains it pours. And poured it did that too mercilessly on Friday, the first day of the Small Christian Communities (SCCs) Hindi National Convention 2019. But neither the rains nor the flooded muddy field of the St Xavier’s College ground could deter the 5000 faithful who had turned up from 50 parishes across the Hindi-speaking parts of the country; including the 1500 from parishes across Kolkata. Held for the second time in the country the three day national convention the theme this year was “The prophetic role of SCCs today”.
Even as the choir sang hymns in praise of Yeshu, the archbishops and bishops trooped in, at sharp 9 am for the inaugural ceremony. All the guests were received on stage and welcomed with flowers and utorios. After the lamp lighting ceremony His Grace Thomas D’Souza, Archbishop of Calcutta addressed the gathering. Then a Bible Procession saw the Bible being brought on a palanquin to the stage where it was enthroned by Bishop Clement Tirkey.
Bishop Anand Jojo then started the proceedings by dwelling on the theme this year. He stressed that God wants us to be united in love and harmony despite the diversity in society. “We need to return to the Lord, listen to Him understand and imbibe his teachings. Remember there is strength in unity. We must serve society selflessly.”
After a prayer for the success of the Convention and a dance performance, Rev Fr Francis Scaria set the tone of the day by defining the term “prophet.” According to the Old Testament a prophet is one who is called by God, anointed by God faithful to God and who listens to God. No one can become a prophet by himself. God has to choose him and make him a prophet.
A prophet stands at the breach as he has the task to remove the weakness of the community. He is the guard of Gods people, a warrior for the Church.
The life of a prophet is a message. He is the one who reconciles people with the Lord.
Rev Scaria went on to outline the six points which a true prophet must follow.
- He has to listen to God
- He has to save what he has heard and learnt in his heart and make his path pure
- He has to create a special relation with God
- He has to dutifully follow His words and live according to His will and His words
- He then has to make the people listen to him by spreading it fearlessly
- He has to consult with God
We need to beware of false prophets, said Scaria, pointing out that Jesus was like the greatest prophet of the Old Testament, Moses, but also so much more.
Up next was a CD release made by the Morning Star seminary; and Rev Fr Ignatius Sarto’s vote of thanks brought the morning session to an end.
After a short tea break, the Inaugural Mass commenced with Archbishop Thomas D’Souza as the main celebrant, and about 15 other prelates and hundreds of priest concelebrating.
In his sermon His Grace dwelt on the two seas the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea: While the first was life giving the latter was not. We needed to be like the Sea of Galilee and serve society to make our lives meaningful, said the archbishop. Holy Communion saw 30 Fathers giving communion to the gathering, under colourful umbrellas.
In the post lunch session, Bishop Gerald John Mathias underlined the duties of a prophet. Our mission as SCC units was not just prayers and social service but to use SCCs as instruments to transform people’s lives. We need to light the world and bring people back to the right path. He stressed that it would be a good idea to go back to the early church by recapturing its spirit. We are living in a society full of social evils so it is our duty as prophets to clean it and raise our voices against these evils. We can make a start by doing things like carpooling, not wasting food, water and electricity, self-employment opportunities and fight for our human rights. We need to know how our brethren can use the various government schemes on offer. Christians need to shine like stars in the sky to lead the people who have lost their way.
Five people were invited to share personal testimonials on how SCCs had benefited them. Fr Avinash from Asansol; Sameer from Ajmer; Peter from Tezpur; Fr Lucas from Barielly and Custudio from Delhi, all spoke emphatically for the time allotted to them.
Rev Fr Vincent Aind the Bishop of Bagdogra then took the stage to speak on the importance of the Eucharist. It is the symbol of unity love happiness and purity and is Jesus’s presence in our lives, he concluded.
The segment of the day was the cultural programme. The SCC teams from Hazaribagh, Delhi and Khandwa put up short plays on their SCC meetings while the teams from Orissa and Assam put up suburb dance performances. The evening ended with songs from the Kolkata Christian Choir, led by Dilip Gomes. The entire event was webcast Live on the Calcutta Archdiocese website and shared on various Social platforms.
On 26 October, Day 2 of the Convention, delegates stayed at their host parishes instead of coming to St. Xavier’s. There, along with the local community they shared Mass, meals, prayers and cultural shows. Each of the 13 participating Parishes had a bishop as guest, or an SCC National Team member, too.
The Convention ends on October 27, with a Solemn Eucharist celebrated by New Delhi’s Archbishop Anil Couto.