The Pilgrims
Under the able guidance of Fr Joseph Valiamangalam, Rector of G.V.D, we the second year students
of theology had gone to Haridwar, Rushikesh and Jaiharical as part of our
contextual theology programme (CTP). It
was truly a divine experience in “Dev Bhumi”- the abode of God, in the midst of
the Himalayas . The pilgrimage to these cradles
of Hinduism opened the way for us to understand the spirituality of this multi-branched
religion called Hinduism. This enabled us to go deeper into the socio-cultural
analysis of the so called Hinduism and their spiritual formation. It was
nothing but a pure witnessing of God at work through various religions and in
particular Hinduism. It was not merely a visit to the holy lands of Hinduism
but it became part and parcel of the divine experience through the means of the
faith of Hinduism. This CTP-12 will remain a memorable one as it strengthened
our rootedness in Christ and cultivated openness to the other religions. This
experience has become a means to prepare ourselves to the new ways of
evangelization and to present Jesus in an Indian way. We were fortunate enough
to have a little taste of Ashram life at “Jeevan Dhara Ashram” in Jaiharical
run by CMI congregation. The soothing atmosphere of silence, solitude, prayer
and oneness with the nature at the Ashram blended with noble values of
simplicity, poverty and purity of thoughts in experiencing God there. We are
much obliged to our Rector for arranging
such an enriching pilgrimage and his availability. We are indeed indebted in
kindness to Fr Devis CMI, Fr Thomas Kochumattam CMI, Acharya Atmaswaroopnanda of Shivanand Ashram, Turiya
and Atmajyoti matajis for their valuable contribution to make this CTP a great
success. (Sch Nilesh Macwan)
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