All Roads led to Sughad on 29 March -Johnson.K

All roads led to Sughad on 29 March to participate in the joy of the golden jubilee of Fr. Isudas Cueli as a priest. This celebration had the distinction of having the eldest Jesuit in the province, Fr. Pariza, as one of the esteemed guests. After a very meaningful Eucharistic celebration in Gujarati, there was a short felicitation program in which Fr. Isudas was thanked by the provincial for the great contribution he has made to the church of Gujarat. He mentioned that the Word was made flesh and it was made flesh in Gujarati by Fr. Isudas. Fr. Rocky D’Silva, the vicar-general of the arch-diocese of Gandhinagar, represented the Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes SJ who was unable to come due to unavoidable engagements outside Gujarat. Frs. Jebamalai and Malar from Gandhinagar archdiocese felicitated Fr. Isudas with a bouquet and a shawl. Bp. Thomas Macwan, who also wanted to come, had expressed his inability to attend due to pressing needs elsewhere. Inspite of being a working day and the celebration being held in the noon, a decent crowd had come to express their gratefulness to Fr. Isudas for the contribution that he had made in their lives. Needless to say of the excellent arrangements  made by the novitiaite team led by Frs. Ashok Macwan, Jitendra D’Monte and  Shekhar Manickam.  (Johnson K)

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the new Deacons!! All the best in your service to the Lord and to the people.

Ex Students Pay Tribute to Loyola ITI - Fr.Varghese Paul

EX STUDENTS PAY TRIBUTE TO LOYOLA ITI

From Fr Varghese Paul, SJ

Nadiad, Gujarat (SAR News)

    “Hard work and faithfulness have led me to success,” said Mr. Sanjay B. Surti who was the first batch student of Loyola ITI at Nadiad. Mr Surti was addressing as the chief guest in the annual day function of his alma mater, Loyola ITI on March 24.

Another guest of honour in the annual day function was Miss Arpita D. Parmar, an ex student of Spoken English and Secretarial Course of Loyola ITI. Miss Parmar giving her own example of struggle and joys called the students to work hard and aim high. Miss Parmar after completing the secretarial course went for higher studies of M.Ed. and M.Phil to become an Asst. Professor in a college at Anand.

Both the ex students paid glowing tributes to their alma mater, Loyola ITI. They appreciated not only the professional training but also the discipline, punctuality and other values of life, which they got from Loyola ITI.

The Director of Loyola ITI, Fr. K. P. Vincent thanked the distinguished guests Mr Sanjay Surti and Miss Arpita Parmar for making their valuable time available for the institute and inspiring the students for a successful future. Fr. Vincent wished the outgoing students all the best for their future works or further studies.

“Amidst much struggle and successes the two guests have done outstanding performances in their respective fields. They made the Institute proud of them. Mr Sanjay Surti has been selected as the best worker (Torrentian of the year 2012) by The Torrent Industry from their 14000 strong employees with a cash award of Rs.7,50,000/- and a certificate” said Fr. Vincent to this reporter.

The students of various studies and trades in the Institute put up a number of cultural and entertainment programmes like prayer dance, Rass of Saurashtra, Bamboo dance and Poppet dance of Kutchh.

The Annual day celebrations included distribution of prizes and certificates to students for their outstanding performances in studies, sports and cultural programmes.

Ignatian Family Confluence - Anthony Pitchai Vedam, SJ/ Ricahrd Lopes SJ

Ignatian Family Confluence

 The Province Commission for Ignatian Spirituality under the co-ordination of Fr Shekhar Manickam organized the Ignatian Family confluence on March 4, 2012 at Jeevan Darshan, Baroda. Fifteen Jesuits including Rev Fr. Jose Changa, the Provincial, along with 18 representatives including the Major Superiors of various Sisters’ congregations inspired by Ignatian charism and spirituality and working in Gujarat (thus belonging to the Ignatian family) participated in this “unique and path breaking gathering, the first of its kind.” The objective of this gathering was: Being together, sharing what is common to us both at the personal level and at the level of our apostolates, learning from each other certain Ignatian insights for mutual enrichment and charting future Common Action Plan.

In his orientation address, Fr. Jose Changa, warmly welcomed all the participants to the gathering and stressed the need to come together ‘to discover, acknowledge and celebrate our common Ignatian roots, to listen to one another’s God experiences, to speak about our ‘consolations’ and ‘desolations’ and to engage in ‘spiritual conversation.’

All the Ignatian Family congregations present (eight in all) shared “The Meaning and Role of Ignatian Spirituality in our Congregation” with meaningful presentations highlighting the importance of Ignatian spirituality in their congregations and how it is lived out in their apostolates. As we listened to one another, we sensed a heightened awareness of our common roots – Ignatian charism and spirituality – and this common and shared charism and spirituality that makes us a family. Sharing in this lived God experience of St. Ignatius is “what inspires, motivates and shapes our lives and all that we do.”

It was a positive family experience and much appreciated by all the participants. All present felt that the Ignatian family meetings should be held on a regular basis in the future for creative collaboration. Our spiritual conversation, we hope, would help us celebrate our common roots, become a vibrant Ignatian Family in Gujarat and as the recent congregation encourages (GC 35 D6, 29), to foster creative and effective cooperation, collaboration and networking at various levels and respond to the needs and challenges of our times with renewed vigour.

-          Anthony Pitchai Vedam, SJ/ Ricahrd Lopes SJ.

International Women's day

The Term “JESUIT” --- By Hedwig Lewis SJ

The Term “JESUIT”

By Hedwig Lewis SJ

The term “Jesuit” predates the foundation of the Society of Jesus. One finds it in Life of Christ (1350) by the saintly Carthusian Ludolph of Saxony: the book Ignatius read at Loyola during his convalescence. In 1539, Ignatius and his first Companions gave their group its identity in the title “Company of Jesus”.  In 1540, the title was translated as “Society of Jesus” in the Papal Bull approving the order. The word “Jesuit” is not found in any of the founding documents. Ignatius did not use it in his writings; neither did any of the companions.

However, in 1544, barely four years after its foundation, Peter Canisius in a letter to Peter Faber notes that the members of the Society were called Jesuits in Cologne – but in a pejorative sense. Canisius believed that the custom originated in Louvain, where the name was applied in mockery. In the 17^th century, in England, France and Germany, the term Jesuit was used in derision, connoting hypocrisy, intrigue and malice.

On the other hand, those who appreciated the extraordinary contributions of the Society in various fields: science, education, missions… held the “Jesuits” in high esteem.

Reference: http://en.ignatianwiki.org/THE_TERM_JESUIT

Right to Food - Bhiloda

RTF-Bhiloda

Enthused by the success of the RTF sammelan held at BSC Ahmedabad in November 2011 by JESA, Gujarat, the leaders and volunteers from Sabarkantha and Banaskantha organised a similar one at Shamlaji, the temple town of Bhiloda taluka, on 14-15 February. The objective was to spread awareness on RTF and the positive experiences of many, to more people at the village level. Over 700 leaders under the leadership of  RTF volunteers from Amirghadh, Danta and Khedbrahma talukas of Banaskantha and Meghraj, Modasa, Malpur, Vijaynagar and Bhiloda talukas of Sabarkantha participated in the sammelan. The meals and overnight stay were organized in one of the temple premises available at Shamlaji. The most notable point of the sammelan was that the OBC's, Dalits and the Adivasis came together to share their struggles and success stories and experienced the support of one another. The participants came with dhols and musical instruments and celebrated their togetherness with a cultural programme on 14th evening, singing awareness songs, dances and so on. For the 125 OBC's from Malpur and Modasa, it was their first experience of being with Adivasis and Dalits. They also gave a stunning dance performance which surprised every one present. All the participants left the sammelan venue empowered and assuring each other that they would carry the experience to every home in their respective villages.