By Ayar Kujur
Participants- 38
We inaugurated the meeting by lighting the lamp with the chief guests the Cardinal of Goa, Filipe Neri along with POSA, Fr. Stany D’Souza, Peter De Melo the Rector of the Pilar Seminary, Fr. Ashley of Goa and Mr Cyril of Tuticorin. The guests were welcomed by Fr. Vijay Joseph. Cardinal Filipe Neri presented key notes sharing with us the history of PWPN and the meeting he had attended recently in Rome on Synod and emphasized that the priesthood is not a career but a service to humanity. Addressing the congregation POSA asked to reimagine the PWPN and EYM in the current situation of South Asia, especially of India. To reimagine the PWPN and EYM he presented the current scenario of South Asia and the world issues that challenge us in our mission today. These challenges have to be faced with the gospel values that Jesus has shown us. There was a release of the EYM handbook (EYM South Asia Handbook 2003) and a website (www.popesprayers.in) created by Mr. Anthony Glenn Gomez the formal secretory of PWPN. The Pope’s prayer network is available on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube channels too. At the end of the inauguration session, we had a group photo with dignitaries. We were divided into two groups; the newcomers and those who had attended the annual meetings from the beginning (old-timers). The newcomers group was with Fr. Jagdish who presented the basic history and spirituality of the PWPN and EYM while the other went to share and evaluate the activities they had carried throughout the year.
Again, we gathered together for the session taken by the national director, Fr. Jagdish who introduced the way of the heart to us; it was unique, inspiring and spiritually nourishing. The way of the heart has nine steps 1. In the beginning, there was love- a heart-to-heart experience in which one aligns his heart with the heart of Jesus. 2. The human heart is restless and needy- we were introduced to test the spirit in times of consolation and desolation. 3. The broken humanity is called to live and serve humanity in this broken world. 4. God sent His son to save us- Ignatius taught us the contemplation on how the Trinity is looking down on the earth and it is the contemplation on the incarnation. There are all kinds of people good and bad, rich and poor, healthy and sick etc. 5. Jesus calls us His friends- Jesus calls us to be with him and share his mission with us today. He also calls us to pray with Him and accept the way of being with Him and his people. 6. Christ abides in us- Jesus comes to us every day in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the form of bread and wine to abide with us to bear fruits in abundance. 7. We offer life along with Him- Fr. Jagdish said that the Eucharist is found in homes, streets, towns and among the poor people. We need to be broken and shed blood by living our Eucharist life every day. 8. A mission of compassion- all join in the mission of compassion with the Pope through praying for the intention of the Pope. 9. A worldwide Network of prayer and service and attentive to the needs of humanity- we the members of PWPN need to escape the globalization of indifference to be active in our mission and bring love of God to all. There was a scriptural passage for each step based on the theme to reflect and share in the groups. Fr. Jagdish summed up saying, “We are asked to give our lives for others. Jesus is a man of compassion. We are His mouth. We are His hands to bless his people and we are His feet to go into the periphery. Holy Father is inviting us to join this network”.
The monthly banner of intention was translated into 15 languages in South Asia and a banner was sent empty which we were supposed to translate into our mother tongue and send to the national director each month. Towards the end of the session, we released the yearly E-bulletin prepared by Fr. Chrysostom SJ. The Provincial of Goa distributed mementoes to each participant, action plan was prepared for the next year according to the CBCI Region. Next year the training and the Annual Meeting will be on 11th to 14th Nov 2024, in Lucknow and finally, there was evaluation of the whole program.
We had a half-day outing to visit some of the historical and spiritual places in Goa under the guidance of Fr. Ashley who took us to the cathedral, Basilica of Bom Jesu and sea beach. We came back for supper.