Dear confreres!
Hearty Greetings from Salespuram!
Salespuram has received a new face, the painting job is done and the construction is almost completed. It is amazing how things can change with colours. Let me add here a picture of our main building so that you get a small idea how it looks like from outside! And I even have the feeling that our community at Salespuram has changed a little bit since then. The brothers are a little more serious and we on the staff try our best to keep our communications channel open. We celebrated the feast of Saint Francis de Sales with our neighbors and friends on February 2nd. Under the guidance of Fr. Baiju the day was a success in all areas and it provided us with a good opportunity to share our charism. And so, I feel the new year has well started and I come to you to share with you some of my thoughts and of course some information.
On January 24th on St. Francis’ feast day we celebrated the perpetual vows of Reji, Bosco and Bruzily. I was fortunate to welcome them into our Congregation and reminded them of the hope they bear for the entire Congregation. During my reflections I mentioned a passage of St. Francis the Sales about honey and the bread. Let me quote it for you as well!
St. Francis de Sales in his Treatise of the Love of God speaks about the true love of God. He says: “Many indeed take no delight in divine love unless it is candied over with the sugar of some sensible sweetness. They would willingly act like little children who, when someone gives them a piece of bread with honey on it, lick and suck out the honey and then throw away the bread. If the sweetness could be separated from the love, such would leave the love and take only the sweetness. The reason is that they follow the love for the sake of sweetness, and when they do not find it, they hold love to be of no account.” TLG IX
I wondered myself how this passage had touched me. Why did I want to make our brothers aware of the fact that a true love of God consists of bread and honey during their perpetual profession.
I see several reasons:
One is that I just got back from the General Council meeting before the perpetual profession and we talked there a lot about restructuring the Congregation. We experience in different parts of the Oblate world difficulties especially personnel wise. Many of our confreres are to eat ‘bread’ at the moment. Almost without honey. If I write this here I would like to recommend to your prayers the intentions and needs of our Oblate brothers throughout the world. I believe it important that we keep always the whole Congregation in mind when we talk about ourselves. We experience an exciting time in India: Professions, Ordinations, growth, and discussions about which apostolate to start. Honey is almost overflowing. Honey and bread are one, our Congregation is one. Saint Francis de Sales invites us not to follow the love for the sake of sweetness. If by loving God we experience honey, fine, if we do not, fine as well. We need to support each other in order to be able to accept the bread of our lives, especially the bread we may experience as Congregation. And we can share the joy of the honey as well.
Another one is that I sometimes have the feeling that I have to offer you bread only. The decision of the last meeting of perpetually professed members concerning the Philippines was rather clear and as a consequence it means a lack of community life for an Oblate already in the Philippines who has been waiting now for almost five years for someone else to come and join. Fr. Ceresko is still waiting. How long will he be able to? Bread means that due to our own personnel situation, Oblates have to change, alternate, and postpone personal plans, valid visions and hopes. The compatibility between own desire, legitimate call and practical feasibility is not always possible.
One more reason is my experience with my own life. I feel sometimes being this child Saint Francis de Sales speaks about. I would love to lick the honey, and leave the bread alone. You may feel differently. I can be very selective in my desires and discover my own limitations. By quoting this passage during the perpetual profession I spoke somewhat also to myself, reminding me to look for bread and honey in my life, not only for honey. I request your continuous fraternal support.
We who live in the DeSales Oblates community are here to support each other in the undertaking to love God. We share our joys, our great moments, our successes, but we also share the moments where to love God tastes bitter, where we feel to have lost, where the call to love God seems unbearable and hard. We live in community to challenge each other to keep our commitment to surrender ourselves without any reserve, to challenge each other when we loose track of our commitment, when we pretend rather than do. We are called to share the honey and the bread of God’s love as a community and we already do it. Let us continue to do so.
During my visit in Samarpanaram I experienced a good climate and fraternal love that is able to speak about areas of growth without hurting each other. I would like to applaud the community in Samarpanaram for their continuous efforts to grow, for their hard work in organizing feasts and making them so enjoyable.
As I write this letter Fr. John Sankarathil has reached homeland for his annual holidays, retreat, medical check ups and so on. I welcome him wholeheartedly at home.
As you all know all nine Oblates with perpetual profession living in India had a meeting on January 25th to discuss our possible apostolates in India. I would like to officially acknowledge Fr. Shaju’s competent work for the region in this matter and thank him for it.
Find here what he wrote to me as a result of the meeting.
“We had a detailed discussion on the proposals made by the Superior General, the scholastics, regents, Frs. Ceresko, Koeltringer and Sankarathil. Then each of the participants also presented its own proposal. After having had a very generous consideration of all the proposals we decided to propose to the advisory board the following fields for consideration as our future ministry in India:
- Education
- Psychology
- Parish Ministry
- Social Work
Education:
Considering our declaration, the tradition of the Congregation and the need of the church and people in India, the meeting felt that we need to involve ourselves in educating the people in India. This field could involve formal education, education in the field of psychology and spirituality. The first step in this field could be to begin schools and gradually colleges, which could also give professional courses.
Psychology:
Considering the signs of the times and the need of the people in India, the meeting felt that the Oblates in India should get involved in the field of psychology. More concretely, in establishing mental health/counseling centers, rehabilitation center for the mentally retarded, psycho-spiritual education centers, Youth center for holistic growth etc. (all these can be combined).
Parish Ministry:
The meeting suggests that we have to involve ourselves in parish ministry, both in India and abroad.
Social Work:
The meeting also suggests that social work, especially among poor, should become part of our ministry.
In our list of priority we felt that we should begin with the youth center, primary school and later on followed by colleges. We need to have a master plan and buy sufficient land (not less than 30 acres, together or in different places) as early as possible.
NB: Any ministry we begin, we look for generating income for our region.”
The advisory board has, in its meeting on January 25th , decided to pursue at present two ideas:
- Fr. Josef has been asked to prepare and submit to our General Meeting in October 2004 a concrete proposal concerning the beginning of a school run by the DeSales Oblates.
- Fr. Shaju has been entrusted a similar task concerning the start of “Salesian Psycho/Spiritual Workshops” that may eventually lead into a “Salesian Youth Center”.
I congratulate the work of the meeting and am happy that the advisory board has decided to move on into these two directions. They are concrete steps into our future and I personally welcome both ideas. They are the fruit of serious reflection; they reflect very well the spirit of our Constitutions and also the availability of talents among us. You know that according to our criteria the formation will remain a priority. Therefore we have to walk in small steps, continuing to ensure a proper formation for our brothers. I trust that both proposals will be substantial enough that we will be able to act on them in October. I am sure both Fathers welcome any input from your part in their undertakings. Feel free to dialogue.
What else have we decided at our last advisory board meeting!
is transferred for the remaining time of his deaconate to
St. Sebastian’s Church
Nagalore – Anthiyur
(via) Erode District
638 501 Tamil Nadu
Phone: 04256 – 261 256
After accomplishing his deaconate on March 15th, Vincent will prepare for his priestly ordination which will take place on Thursday, April 15th in his home parish. His first mass will be on Friday the 16th of April. It is planned to send Deacon Vincent for a year of priestly parish ministry work to the diocese of Salem.
will finish his deaconate ministry in Idukki. His ordination and first mass are scheduled for Saturday, April 24th. It is planned to ask the diocese of Idukki to allow Maichael to do his first year of priestly parish ministry work there.
are going to be ordained deacons on Saturday April 3rd at 3:30 PM in Salespuram by the Bishop of Kannur. We are looking for a place for deaconate for Xavier in the diocese of Guntur, and for Reji in the diocese of Idukki.
May I recommend Vincent, Maichael, Xavier and Reji to your prayers in a special way! What a joy for the Congregation! Honey!
- Attendance at ordinations
As of the new academic year 2004/2005 only a delegation will represent the community at the ordinations of confreres.
- New Assignments for 2004/2005
- Fr. Mathew is sent for a formator’s course in Pune. Only by the end of May will we be able to know definitely if he is accepted.
- Fr. Shaju will assume a one year contract as staff member of a Counseling Center in Mysore. He remains member of the community in Samarpanaram. With May 31st he is released from his obligations as Assistant Novice Master.
- Next meeting of the advisory board
The next meeting of the advisory board will be held in Samarpanaram from Saturday May 1st to Monday May 3rd. It will mainly deal with the evaluations of our postulants, novices and scholastics as well as with the budget.
Vocation Promotion
Our new Vocation Promoter, Fr. Mathew, has initialized the production of a new and more attractive leaflet for our Congregation. With Fr. Josef’s help it should be printed soon. We will next year be able to welcome again brothers after +2 as well as candidates after 10th. Let me at this moment encourage each one of you to support with creativity and activity the work of Fr. Mathew. Vocations remain a gift, but we have to work for this gift together. If someone approaches you, let Fr. Mathew know his data, so that a contact can be made. And continue to pray for vocations, please.
Guests in India
Finally I would like to announce the visit of three DeSales Oblates from the Wilmington-Philadelphia province in the near future.
Fr. Jim O’Neill and Fr. Richard Reece will visit our Region in February. Fr. Jim O’Neill’s work is to investigate our missions all over the world in order to be able to do a better work with the Chablais Fund. Let us welcome both Fathers wholeheartedly among us. I know you will do it. Hospitality is a quality of our communities.
Fr. Richard De Lillio has agreed to give the annual retreat for our scholastics and novices by the end of May. We are looking forward to his esteemed presence among us!
At the end of this letter I thank you for your endurance and perseverance. I continue to request your openness and your readiness to help each other to eat the ‘honey and bread’ that our Lord provides in his love.
May God bless you!
Your brother
Sebastian
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