MISSIONARIES OF ST.FRANCIS DE SALES – MSFS SOUTH WEST INDIA PROVINCE Tel. 080 23340379 Mob: 91 9448853187, Fax: 080 23341329 Website: www.msfssouthwest.org e-mail: [email protected] [ VINAYALAYA, MSFS Provincial House P.B.No.5557, Malleswaram West P.O Bangalore 560 055, INDIA Circular JK/12 December 22, 2014 My dear Confreres, Christmas is the season of spiritual renewal and rejuvenation. The season of Advent provides us the time for the conscious preparation for this annual renewal. Our recent General Chapter Retreat made a clarion call to all the members of the Congregation to renew ourselves personally by being faithful to the personal time-table in the spirit of the Spiritual Directory of our Patron St. Francis de Sales. Spiritual growth is possible only when there is fidelity to our daily spiritual time-table by being punctual in prayers, attentive to the members of the community in their needs and by a passionate love for the ministry we are doing in a spirit of self-less service. Daily self-examination of conscience and monthly celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation are sure means of sustainable spiritual growth. The work-culture has to be balanced always with an equal emphasis on personal prayer and interior silence. Christmas, the birth of Jesus, becomes meaningful when our hearts are prepared sufficiently with the weeding of our personal vices and adorned with virtues of patience, sincerity and commitment. As we enter into the year dedicated to the Consecrated Life, let us individually and collectively take the resolution that we will make religious life attractive to the world, not by our structures or the visibility of our buildings, but by the personal commitment to the values of Christ and by being a witness of loving discipleship to Jesus. I wish you all the Joy and Peace of this Christmas and pray to God for a prosperous and grace-filled New Year! Visitation to English Province, Confreres in GAH Delegation, Spain and Belgium My canonical visitation of the SW Province confreres working in the English Province, GAH Delegation, Spain and Belgium was done from 28th October to 21st November 2014. I met all the confreres working and studying in these countries and spent time with them. A detailed report of my visitation of the confreres in these countries is getting ready with the personal plan of the confreres working and studying in these countries. It will be published in the next circular after the PIF meeting in January 2015. I sincerely thank Fr. Terry McGrath, the Provincial of English Province, for the cordial welcome extended to me and for accompanying me to meet the confreres. I thank Fr. Sunny Paul and all the confreres who work and study in the English Province who warmly received me and accompanied me during my visitation. I also thank sincerely Fr. Binod Puthenpurackal, the Delegation Superior of GAH and his council who meticulously planned my visitation to all the confreres in GAH and for organizing the Delegation Colloquium. I thank Fr. Thomas Thekkekarotte and Fr. Jeevan Prasad for arranging my visitation to them and for their hospitality. I thank Fr. Sibichen Kochuveedu, the local superior of Austria Community for organizing my visitation to the confreres in Austria and for facilitating the meeting with the Prelate and Fr. Leopold at Klosterneuburg. Internal Audit Team Visit to Communities The Province’ Internal Audit Team will visit the following communities for annual Internal Audit: 1. SFS Schools, Parish and Community Chintamani 3rd January 2015 2. SFS Schools, Parish and Community Koppal 5th January 2015 3. SFS School, Mission and Community Kukknoor 6th January 2015 4. SFS School, Parish and Community Mundargi 7th January 2015 SW Province Annual Retreats This year’s Province Annual Retreat will be during the following dates and at the following venues: 1st Retreat: from 13th-17th July 2015 – Charis Bhavan, Athirampuzha 2nd Retreat: From 12th to 16th October, 2015 – Vinayalaya, Bangalore. We have the Canonical Visitation of the Superior General to our Province from October 18th to November 14th 2015. The dates for annual retreats are finalized taking into consideration his visitation of the Province. This is the year dedicated to Consecrated Life and Mission and the focus of the retreats will be on this theme. We have only two retreats and all the confreres should make sure that they participate in one or the other of these two annual retreats. All the confreres who have not participated yet in the General Chapter Retreat conducted at Province level, are expected to attend the retreat that are yet to be done at Suvidya in February and in the other Provinces. We had a plan to organize one more retreat at Inter-Province level in Bangalore, but since there is poor response, you are requested to attend the retreat at Suvidya or in the other Provinces where it is yet to take place. Local Superiors Forum Meeting and Young Priests Formation Program As it was announced earlier we will be holding the Local Superiors Forum Meeting on 15th January 2015 from 9.00 am to 4.00 pm at Vinayalaya. This is an obligatory gathering and formation program for Local Superiors and I request all the Local and NLC Superiors to participate in this program without fail. We are also organizing the Young Priests’ On-Going Formation Program from 28th January 4.00 pm to 30th January 2015, 4.00 pm. It is obligatory for all the junior priests in the Province who have been ordained from 2008 December onwards to assist this program. Kindly inform the Provincial Secretary about your arrival and registration for this program. Directives from the Joint Meeting of General Curia and PIF In the last PIF-General Curia meeting held at Vinayalaya in November 2014, the unanimous understanding was that the Province territory includes the Missions, Delegations and Regions and all the members should have the openness and the willingness to be transferred and appointed within the territory of the province irrespective of whether it is within India or outside India. It was also unanimously decided that from 2015 all the Indian Provinces will send at least two confreres to the African mission for the coming years to strengthen the Mission. Accordingly SW Province also will be sending at least two more confreres this year to Chad-Cameroon to strengthen the Mission. Silver Jubilee Celebrations of Fr. Superior General at Province Level This is the Silver Jubilee Year of our Superior General Very Rev. Fr. Abraham Vettuvelil. In consultation with him the Provincial Council has taken the decision to have a Province level celebration of his Jubilee with a thanksgiving Holy Mass in September 2015 in Bangalore, when he returns to India next. Directions from the Superior General for the Celebration of Year 2015 as Year of Consecrated Life and Year of Mission I am glad to inform you once again that we celebrate the Year 2015 as Year of Consecrated Life and Year for Mission in our Congregation with a special thrust on Mission. I thank you for sending me the program that you have already designed in your own Province for a meaningful celebration of 2015. In our General Council Meeting just concluded in Bangalore, we have decided to make the Year 2015 very special for all the MSFS all over the world. This is a year of renewal in our consecrated life with a thrust on recapturing the missionary spirit of Father Mermier in our decisions and policies and ministries. The theme for the Year is: “OUR CONSECRATED LIFE FOR THE MISSION” (MSFS Constitutions: Chapter 3). Please make sure that the theme of the Year is displayed in all our communities and centres We inaugurate this Special Year in our Congregation with an hour of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament on January 23, 2015. Please advise the Local Superiors to animate the adoration with readings from our Constitutions Chapter 3 and praying for the Congregation and for our confreres all over the world. Have a formal inauguration of the Year in our communities Confreres who are not in living in communities be advised to spend one hour before the Blessed Sacrament, reading from Constitutions Chapter 3 and prayers for the entire Congregation (January 23, 2015) Be advised that every Community and Confrere will spend (during the year of Mission from January 24, 2015 – January 24, 2016) half hour in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament preferably in the morning with the morning prayers/meditation or in the evening with evening prayers/rosary/salesian devotions. Pointers for Celebration of Consecration and Mission Year 2015 in our Formation Houses (i) Each Province or PIF (Provincials of India Forum) with the General Secretary for Formation prepare a program of accompanied exposure of all the students at all formation stages. They also organize a training session for the Formators for such accompaniment. (ii) Organize at PIF level, or Province level essay competition on Mission issues, mission history of the Congregation, our Founder, and the Missionary Beginnings of the Congregation in India at different stages of formation. Entrust this work to a group of formators. [ (iii) Each formation house organizes various competitions like quiz competition, skit competition, drawing competition, declamation competition, song competition based on a given missionary data among the seminarians and gives them encouragement by giving prizes , especially books on salesian spirituality or life or sayings of Fr. Mermier (iv) Each of our theologates conducts a symposium on mission and MSFS (iv) Entrust each formation house to write lyrics on the missionary zeal of Fr. Mermier, and compose a song. Collate the songs from all the houses of formation in the Province and make a recorded tape (v) Each PCIC for Formation supervises the Implementation in earnestness the Action Plan of the Provincial Congress/Chapter concerning Formation.