REFLECTIONS FROM THE PROVINCIAL CHAPTER
The 12th Provincial Chapter of the Salesian Province of Dimapur was held from 04 to 08 April 2016. It was ably moderated by Rev. Fr. Chittissery (CM) Joseph. As the deliberations of the said Chapter will be in our hands after their approval, below we have some of the precious thoughts shared by Rev. Fr. K. A. Joseph sdb (former Provincial of Kolkata and New Delhi Provinces) who preached for the full day recollection on 4th April and delivered the keynote address on the first day of the Provincial Chapter on 5th April, by Bishop Joseph Aind SDB DD of Dibrugarh, Bishop George Palliparambil SDB DD of Miao and Rev. Fr. Bosco Perianayagam sdb, IND Vice Provincial.
is crisis in religious life. Vocations are dwindling. Once Ranchi was a vocation centre, not any more. Society and culture have changed. One SMI Sister was speaking to her nieces about vocations. They replied: “How did you get this silly idea of becoming a Nun?” Today’s secularized society feels God is not needed. It is necessary to imbibe “passion for Christ and passion for humanity”. A group of superiors studied religious life from another perspective: Why are Congregations still flourishing with vocations and are relevant?
Full day Recollection:
Those congregations are vibrant who remember why they were founded. There were 4000 MC Sisters when Mother Teresa died. This was unique and had also a Congregation of contemplative Fathers and Sisters, friends of mother Teresa, collaborators all over. She had touched the heart of humanity. She ensured that the Sisters remain zealous. They had a fourth vow: work for the poorest of the poor all their life. She closed all diversions from her aim of serving in the streets. She objected to the idea of starting a boarding for children. She would not have electric pumps, no fans. She wanted the living standards of the poor. Poor Bengali families would serve a cup of tea and two biscuits. Sometimes they had nothing and so they would excuse saying that they would not be at home. So Mother Teresa passed a rule that her Sisters would not take even two biscuits and a cup of tea anywhere outside. Once five bishops stayed in the MC provincial house. They visited Mother Teresa’s home. They found the stench of the poor hard to bear but no-
In order to prepare spiritually for this important triennial Provincial event, a full day recollection was held on 04 April commencing at 9.00 am. It was well-animated by Rev. Fr. K. A. Jose sdb, former Provincial of Kolkata and New Delhi Provinces. In his first talk Fr. K. A. Joseph said he was happy to return to this missionary province, like the South American missions. Instead of using papers he preferred to speak from his heart: During his visit to Lousiana for mission appeal in 1992, his cousin working in a Franciscan college of Sisters in Iowa took him for a wedding jubilee Mass in the convent chapel. He was shocked to find that most of the Sisters were very old. After Mass Sr. Provincial cut the jubilee cake. She was 75 years, the youngest member in the Congregation! But she was quite positive about her Congregation. But today will that Congregation be existing? There
Fr. Vigano spoke about this: how in the midst of all the negatives, there are such positive signs. There are five areas of vibrancy:
Dimapur Links: May-June 2016
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