JAMSHEDPUR DIOCESE

                                                 

 

“ It is difficult to remain indifferent before the Holy Shroud. Indeed, the face speaks to the intelligence and heart. It speaks to the believer, the seeker, and the non-believer. For the believer, what counts above all is that the Shroud is a mirror of the Gospel. In fact, if we reflect on the sacred Linen, we cannot escape the idea that the image it presents has such a profound relationship with what the Gospels tell of Jesus’ passion and death, that every sensitive person feels inwardly touched and moved at beholding it. Whoever approaches it is also aware that the Shroud does not hold people’s hearts to itself, but turns them to him, at whose service the Father’s loving providence has put it. Therefore, it is right to foster an awareness of the precious value of this image, which everyone sees and no one at present can explain. For every thoughtful person it is a reason for deep reflection, which can even involve one’s life. The Shroud is thus a truly unique sign that points to Jesus, the true Word of the Father, and invites us to pattern our lives on the life of the One who gave himself for us” { Pope John Paul II}

 

 

 

 St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Golmuri : The New Year dawned with Holy Hour and Mass at the Cathedral. Fr. Boniface Kujur, OFM was the Chief celebrant of the solemn Mass. Though there were many revelers on the road, everybody had the occasion to greet each after the Mass while having coffee together. All are grateful to Lakshmi Tent for their generosity to give coffee during the Christmas and New Year services. Fr. Cyril made a quick visit to homestead to be part of an Ordination ceremony. Fr. Leo is on the move to organize ‘Purnima Mela’ with a lucky draw and souvenir. The Parish Council members are really at it to bring more action into the campus. Mela -committee meetings are held daily from 6.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. to monitor the progress of various departments.  Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J. confirmed 125 parishioners on January 30, during the solemn Mass at 7.30 a.m. The rain indeed curtailed many to participate in the solemn liturgy. 

St. Anthony’s Church, Kutkudungri : The Kutkudungri parishioners returned after the pilgrimage to Goa on January 03. Everybody was happy that they had a safe journey and got a golden opportunity to pay respect to St. Francis Xavier at Goa. Pastor, Fr. Vijayan took off for a short homeward journey midway after the group entrained to Tata from Mumbai. He returned to the pavilion on 15^th relaxed and inspired.

 

St. Xavier’s School, Purulia : The New year brought a  lot of hope and optimism for the growth of the school. The pre-ICSE Examinations commenced from 3^rd January 2005 for 36 students. It was for the first time that our 8 athletes participated in the all Purulia Athletic meet of 300 athletes at the local M.S.A grounds bagging six medals. Angela Mahato, the only Catholic girl in the school bagged 2 medals. Our staff and students generously contributed Rs.54,560 towards the Thalassaemia victims organized by EDU-CARE, an NGO from Jamshedpur and Rs.13,000 towards tsunami. Meantime 16 of our students participated in the annual Science Fair at the District Science Centre and 19 students joined the Republic Day parade at M.S.A stadium in Purulia (Hilary Lobo, S.J.)

 

Kripa Sadan, Bhilai Pahari : Frs. Cyprian Lobo and Herman Tigga had a strange visitor on January 18 morning at 6.00 a.m.- a wild Tusker. He came in through the canal path to have a taste of the fresh vegetables and removed all the barbed wire protection of trees to salute the Director as he got out of his room. ‘Ramboo’ the faithful Doberman, had a trying time to chase the huge visitor about the campus. The Cook, Sukhram almost dashed into the tusker as he was rushing with  cooking utensils to the water tank. Later the visitor knocked off the stonewall to visit the next compound. On 19^th early morning he came back through another new path and returned after a good feed of the left over vegetables.

 

Sacred Heart Convent School, Jamshedpur :  The School Diamond Jubilee celebrations began with the presentation of “MY FAIR LADY” at the Tata Auditorium, XLRI on January 15. Bishop Felix Toppo, S.J. was the Chief Guest. The superb presentation of the play mesmerized the guests almost 3 hours. The function began with a video clip on the growth of the school and then a value dance to lead the audience to the vision of Bernard Shaw. Bishop Felix congratulated the staff and students for the beautiful presentation to mark the jubilee year. The play was again staged 2^nd time on Sunday, 16^th and the Deputy commissioner of Jamshedepur, Mr. Sunil Burnawal was the Chief Guest. Congratulations to the staff and students of Sacred Heart School.

   

Sr. Wilhelmine A.C. of Carmel Jyoti expired on January 29 at 8.30 p.m. Fr. Edwin Coelho presided at the funeral liturgy on Sunday, 30^th at 3.00 p.m. at the convent Chapel. Later the body was interned at the Beldih cemetery. Sr. Wilhelmine had been sick since sometime. Sr. Vincent, the Mother General of Apostolic Carmel was present for the funeral.

 

St. Robert’s School, Parsudih : At the initiative of Fr. Gualbert Furtado, the school staff and students raised Rs. 45,600.00  and contributed towards the ‘Tsunami relief fund’ . The school conducted a special prayer service on Monday, January 17, at 8.00 a.m. Bishop Felix Toppo was the Chief Guest. During the prayer service the Principal, Fr. Sahay Thason presented a cheque for the full amount to the Bishop. The school also gathered some cloths for the same cause. Bishop Felix congratulated the staff and students for their good work in reaching relief to the victims of Tsunami.

 

 

St. Robert’s Church, Parsudih : Fr. Sahay Thason returned from his short home visit and having seen the damage caused by the Tsunami killer waves in his own village on January 09  in  time to admit Fr. Gualbert to Mercy Hospital. The whole parish is in action to reach help towards the relief of tsunami victims.

 

Bishop’s House, Golmuri : Msgr. John Bodra got  admitted in Mercy Hospital on January 15 and returned home hale and hearty on 21. He was with Fr. Gualbert sharing the same room and supporting each other to overcome the pains. The doctors and nurses were indeed very gracious and Msgr. almost decided to have his permanent translation office set up in the hospital itself. But opted to be out as soon as he got the news that he is free to go home as visitors started rushing in from all over Jharkhand. He has a dozen of different tablets to be taken daily but slowed down a bit after having started seeing stars during the day.

The 42^nd birthday of Fr. Joe Surin was celebrated on January 31 with Rosary in the evening. It was also an occasion thank and wish bon voyage to Mr. Alex Fiato and Fr. John Crasta.

 

St. Theresa’s Church, Sindri :   January 23, 2005 was a day of grand celebration for St. Theresa’s  Parish. On this day Bishop Felix confirmed 9 members of the Parish during the concelebrated solemn Eucharist and gave ‘First Communion’ to 17 children in the Church. The parish community greeted the Bishop at the entrance of the Church and a dancing troupe led him to Sanctuary. Soon after the Mass the community felicitated the Bishop. The Bishop met the parish organizations and had an open discussion with them.

 

Gyan Deep Vidyalaya, Birsanagar : The 11^th Annual Sports Meet was held on January 29, Saturday at 12.30 p.m. at the School Grounds. Fr. Augustine Vattamattam, S.J., Principal, Loyola School, Jamshedpur, was the Chief Guest. The Parents, Invitees, and villagers enjoyed the March Past, Drill Display and the many sports items. It was indeed a superb event at Gyan Deep. Congratulations to the staff and students of Gyan Deep.

 

Catholic Charities & Sameket Jan Vikas Kendra : The month was filled with the many developments seminars/workshops and villages awareness programs. In collaboration with AFPRO, Ranchi, CC/SJVk launched the three month training on watershed management in Vikas Bharati. Sr. Damayanti together with the field coordinators conducted trainings in Chandil under a government project ‘Swayamsidha’. The Association for Stimulating Know How {ASK} organized another training on ‘Legal Framework Analysis’ for field supervisors and coordinators. Sr. Lata conducted a training on “Gender & Social Equity’ at the Vikas Bharati. TSFIS youth group had three days camp on ‘Adolescent and Reproductive Health’. The Diocesan Health Coordinator, Sr. Jayamma arranged a meeting of the Nurses with Bishop Felix Toppo at the Vikas Bharati 0n January 16 and Fr. Gerry Martin D’Souza was elected as the Diocesan Priest Animator. Mr. Ralf Tepel and Mr. Rainer [from Germany] arrived at CC on January 17 and camped at Tonto for 10 days as part of their research study on the ‘HO” tribe.  The Auto-mechanics are at their best with over load works. They have done marvelous jobs on the 4-wheelers of Toklo, Anandpur and Cathedral Parish. They are at work to give a new heart to the Sumo of DSWC. {Raju Crasta}

 

The Holy Shroud of Turin : Mr. Alex Fiato flew in to Ranchi from USA with the Holy Shroud of Turin on 25^th afternoon. It was exhibited at St. Albert’s College Ranchi in the same evening for the benefit of the seminarians and the Religious communities of nearby areas. Bishop Felix Toppo, Fr. Joseph Surin and Fr. Fabian Bhuinyan were at the Airport to receive the Holy Shroud. On 26^th morning the Holy Shroud was taken to Jamshedpur and placed in the Cathedral. From 4.00 p.m. faithful began coming to pay respect to the Holy Shroud. The official service began at 5.00 p.m. Bishop Felix Toppo introduced Alex Fiato to the faithful and  Alex gave a detailed presentation of shroud which was translated into Hindi by Fr. Joseph Surin. This was followed by Rosary, confession, Mass and veneration of the Shroud , anointing and blessing all the faithful with the special cross . There were over 6500 faithful devotionally participating in the 4 hour-long liturgy. On  27^th the service was arranged for the Clergy and Religious but again over 1000 laity took part in the liturgy. All day there were devotees coming to pray at the shroud. On 28^th the Shroud was taken to Chaibasa Parish and Bishop Felix Toppo presided at the Liturgy after an introduction by Fr. Fabian Bhuinyan. Alex Fiato explained in short the greatness of the shroud and the faithful over 1500 took part in the liturgy with much devotion and fervor.

On 29^th the Holy Shroud was taken to Dhanbad Parish and it was exhibited in the School Hall. The solemn liturgy was presided at by Fr. Fabian Bhuinyan  at 7.30 a.m. and concluded at 11.00 a.m. Over 1000 faithful took part in the liturgy. Soon after the lunch the team returned to Jamshedpur with the Holy Shroud. Alex Fiato will leave for USA on 1^st February.

 

 

 

N A T I O N A L  - I N T E R N A T I O N A L   R O U N D – U P S :

 

Are fizzy soft-drinks really bad for teeth?  Yes, though some types are worse than others. Their acids dissolve tooth enamel, and that can lead to cavities. To find out the worst beverages, American scientists exposed enamel to 15 drinks.

Canned or bottled iced tea and lemon-lime sodas dissolved enamel fastest; root beer was least damaging. Colas fell in the middle. A diet drinks were no better than full-calorie ones.

No need to give up on fizzy drinks. Just drink them with meals [food helps absorb acid] or in one sitting[sipping them all day constantly bathes teeth in acid]. Rinsing your mouth with water after every drink helps too. { Health action – January}

 

Eggs ward off obesity :  Eat an egg a day for breakfast to stay healthy. A new research conducted by researchers in Michigan suggests that having an egg for breakfast is more filling than having anything else. Thirty women aged between 18 and 60 years and who were not diabetic, participated in the study. Their body mass index {BMI}was 25-35 putting them in the overweight to obese range. They tried the breakfast on two tests days, two weeks apart.

The egg eaters felt fuller after breakfast and stayed full longer hours and hence they ate less at lunch. Based on the studies, researchers stated that eggs have a 50 percent greater satiety index than breakfast cereal or bread. {Times of India, 6/12/04}

Then we started to go to the nearby villages along with the children. We all sang and danced together to give them the foretaste of Christmas. I am proud to say that I have visited all the Catholic families of Tepasai parish. It is the only parish I think where carols are sung in all the house, no matter how far the village is. It was made sure that we visited each house even if we had to walk for hours on the hills or through the jungles. On December 19, we  had the solemn installation of the statue of St. John de Britto by Bro. Bene Kichingia. On the same after noon we had the ‘Christmas Milan’ for the parish youth. On 22^nd and 23^rd we had the ‘Krus Vir’ camp for the children. Bro. Isac taught them hymns. These children sang for the Mid Night Mass.

 

The life in Tepasai was very hard yet interesting. The simple people with no formal study have deep faith in Sinbonga. It was a great lesson for us when one person said “Jisu do aleren Singbonga ondo: banchawni ini : re biswastanale”. “It is true when God measures a man, he puts the tape around the heart instead of the head”. The hard work of the parish team is being rewarded by the many catechumens that are flocking towards Christianity. I am glad that my Christmas ministry at Tepasai was very fruitful and enriching. Long live Tepasai”. {Pradeep Marandi}.

 

“Beware, 69% injections in Govt. hospitals unsafe!” Admitting that 69 per cent of the injections given at government hospitals are unsafe, the government on Friday told Rajya Sabbha that a decision had been taken to introduce Auto Disable syringes, which can be used only once. Quoting the draft report of a study funded by the World Bank, Health Minister A. Ramadoss said during the Question Hour that 35 per cent of injections given at Government Hospitals were unsafe because of improper sterilization, while another 34 per cent were unsafe because of wrong injection habits of injection givers”. (Hindustan Times, 20.12.2004)

 

 

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