Sharing: August - October 2017 1 Sharing: August - October 2017 2 Message from the Shepherd Dear Friends, Greetings and prayers. First of all I thank you all for upholding the diocese and me in your daily prayers. I thank you very specially for the prayers and support during my visit to USA. As you know well, I had gone to US for the annual mission appeal, or Mission Co-operation Program (MCP). It is one way of sharing the mission mandate of Jesus. At the request of the mission diocese, the host dioceses in US assign one or two parishes to do mission appeal during the week-end masses. A second collection is made for the mission diocese, which the parish sends to their diocese and the diocese in turn send the amount collected to the mission diocese after deducting their administrative cost. Moving to different parishes in different dioceses in a large country like US and finding a place to stay during the week days are not easy. It is very tiring and expensive too unless one has some people to host and provide transportation. I feel lucky since many cities in US I have relations and friends who are most willing and happy to provide me accommodation and transportation. This year during my stay in US, two important states and the whole of Caribbean islands were struck with strong and destructives hurricane (Harvey in Texas and Irma in Florida). My travels were not really affected since I had no program in those states except the fact that I had to cancel and rescheduled two flights. What surprised me was the way the whole state and the country prepare to face such national disasters beginning from the first warning, evacuation, giving shelters and providing amenities and rebuilding. People are very generous in helping each other to rebuild the city and home. No one is left to fend for oneself. It is a great lesson of human solidarity and patriotism. This year we are saddened with the sudden demise of Rev. Fr. Mathew Keemattam on 20th September 2017. My biggest regret is that despite all efforts I could not reach for the funeral. I take this opportunity to express to my gratitude to all who have extended their helping hands during the times of the great loss. With much love and thankfulness I acknowledge Fr. Mathew as a person charged with zeal for souls and with absolute commitment to his work and mission. He was a mentor and a guide who associated with the young and old. Let us continue to pray him. I thank all our Fathers, Sisters and Laity who planned and organised the funeral so well. This year we also lost a number of our Catholic leaders and members in different parishes. Let us keep them all in our prayers, especially as we approach and live the month of November, a month dedicated to remember and pray for those who have preceded us in death. When it comes to matters of life, we must pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We are now in the month of October, a month dedicated to Our Lady of Rosary. Let us use the prayer of Rosary as our weapon to win over the spiritual and physical enemies of our life. This year we have also began the popular devotion of novena to Mary, the mother of Perpetual help. Popular devotions help us to strengthen our Catholic faith and confidence in the powerful intercession of our Blessed Mother and all the Saints. Pope Francis has released his message for World Mission Sunday, focusing on the need to gather round the person of Jesus and to heed his call to “proclaim the Gospel of the love of God the Father in the Power of the Holy Spirit. He also emphasised the Church’s role as being “missionary in nature” and that the “young people are the hope of mission.” We as a missionary church let us come forward with cognizant of the example of our own actions. Embracing the qualities of courtesy, kindness, listening and patience throughout our day at work or at home are gifts that have no material cost, yet can be priceless in our relationships. May we also become true missionaries in actions as the fruit of our prayer and faith. Bishop James Thoppil Bishop of Kohima, Nagaland Sharing: August - October 2017 3 Editor’s Note... Dear Readers, Greetings from Sharing! The sunsets from the East to West this designates the mighty cosmic supremacy of God in creation. The monsoon ends, the Sun shines brightly, the flora and fauna welcomes the newcomers and we see the season of Harvest dawning. The yellow field gives hope and satisfaction to the farmers who toiled. It has undergone a serious of process to attain this stage. In the past three months we have experienced the knots of happenings some are favourable and unfavourable in the world in general and in our state in particular. We have celebrated series of feast days of the Saints which are remainders of God’s graciousness and love for us. The church has bestowed on us the privilege to honour our Blessed mother in this Month Rosary. Let us foster our love for our heavenly mother. It is said that life experience in the best teacher.Thus, life is to lead innovatively focusing to the full extensively. Every person is unique. He or she has irreplaceable gift of talents showered by God. Robin Sharma writing on “Cure Your Monkey Mind” says “to get the best from life, you must be completely present and mindful in every minute of every hour of every day.” Our journey of life is doing one thing at a time. It calls for much dedication, that is, to live as true person being “HUMANE”. St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, the patroness of missionaries, whose feast we celebrated on the 1st October has her, “Little Way”. She embraced God’s mercy and lived as a weak and defenseless creature. She said, “What pleases God is that he sees me loving my littleness and my (inner) poverty, the blind hope that I have in his mercy.” By doing so she became a missionary by praying for the missionaries. The world Mission Sunday is on 22nd October wherein Pope Francis exhorts us in his Mission Sunday message, “This Day invites us to reflect anew on the mission at the heart of the Christian faith. The Church is missionary by nature; otherwise, she would no longer be the Church of Christ, but one group among many others that soon end up serving their purpose and passing away.” We as faithful followers of Christ let us materialize the words of Jesus “The way” (cf. Jn 14:6) who lived His life for the Mission of His Almighty Father by following the Way, as the early Christians in the Acts of the Apostles. May we respond to God’s Mission the Truth and life by answering the question “O Where are the Reapers?” This is possible by being Honest, Authentic, and Integrated and Loving Human being. Newness brings hope in life. It brings a new chapter of life. 1st November is All Saints’ Day. It is a solemn holy day of the Catholic Church celebrated annually. May the Saints, intercede for us that we may grow towards holiness of life. All Souls Day is a holy day set aside for honoring the dead. The month of November is a specially set aside in the Church to pray for the repose Soul. Let us remember all the departed souls practice foster our zeal of living a life in the best Let our life reflect with an inspiration from St. Charles Borromeo who once said, “Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head”. Let us continue to intercede from our blessed mother in the Holy month of Rosary so that we become the missionaries with our lives example and thoughts like our Heavenly Mother. - Fr. Victor Renthungo Sharing: August - October 2017 4 CHIEF EDITOR BISHOP’S PROGRAMME Fr. Victor Renthungo October 2017 - January 2018 Ph.No. 09485210215 October 2017 Chumukedima, Blessing of Selophe Church: EDITORIAL BOARD 16-18 Kohima Mass for CRI Dimapur unit Fr. Richard Fernandes 19 To Dimapur in the evening (CMC Provincial House, 6.00 pm) Fr. Lawrence Khing 20-21 Tura Sr. Kaisa Rosalind CMC 27-30 Dubai 22-23 Shillong (Oriens) 24-27 Kohima December 2017 MANAGEMENT STAFF 28 Medziphema: FCC Profession 01-07 Dubai Catholic Publication Centre cum blessing of the Novitiate (CPC) 08 Kohima: Feast of the GB meeting of HRHC Immaculate Conception 29 Kohima: NCYM Quiz 09 Kohima PUBLISHER 30 Visit to Jalukie 10 Tenyzumi: Jubilee Celebration Diocese of Kohima 31 Tseminyu, Tesophenyu, 11 Dimapur: Senate meeting (5.30 Longsa - Mokokchung pm – BHD) COVER & LAYOUT November 2017 12 Dimapur: Priests meeting (9.00 Flora Kent am); Recollection (5.30 pm) 01 Feast of All Saints: 13 Dimapur: Consulters meeting Mokokchung-Aghunato- (BHD) CONTENTS Seyochung-Pungro 14 Kohima: . Local News 02 All Souls Day: Pungro, Phüvkiu, 15-16 Kohima: Jotsoma golden . Articles Kiphire -Shamator Jubilee . Regional News 03 Shamator, Kiphire, Meluri, Phek 17-18 Kohima . World Catholic News 04 Phek-Chizami-Razeba-Kohima 19-20 Seyochung: Women Jubilee . News in Pictures 05 Kohima: Kigwema Jubilee 21 Razeba: Jubilee of Tsupfume 06-10 Kohima 22-24 Kohima 11 Dimapur: GB NEISSR SHARING 25 Kohima: Christmas 12 Chumukedima: Jubilee of Diocese of Kohima 26-27 Kohima Bishop’s House Diezephe Church 28 Tesophenyu: Jubilee cum Post Box No, 519 12-17 Retreat Priestly Ordination Kohima - India 18 Dimapur: Official Inauguration 29 Kohima: Priestly ordination [email protected] of St.