Vol. 16 No.

11, November 2008

from the provincial’s desk...

“CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN...” (Barack Obama)

Barack Obama, an African-American candidate for U.S. President has captured the
imagination of millions across the world, including India. His message is simple: in keeping
with his youthful dreams at age 47, he dares to proclaim the need for “change” in the
world; a change that is to be brought about by ordinary folks like you and I. Therefore,
his slogan: CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN. It’s a change of attitude and behaviour. A
change to foster greater unity in the world rather than tear it apart through strife and
division. It’s change we can all make possible, change we can believe in.

A similar feeling of change is also gripping the Society of Jesus in the post-GC 35 season
of reflection and introspection. Father General in his recent letter of October 19, 2008, to
the whole Society reflects on the challenges posed by GC 35 and urges all Jesuits to be
open to change and responsive to the signs of the times. In the Goa Province we have
moved with urgency to initiate several “renewal programmes” for fellow-Jesuits. Already
the GC retreat by Fr. Rocha, the prayer and reflections at the Province Days at Raia, the
meetings of Superiors and Directors of Works, the two GC driven workshops by Fr. Paul
Vaz at Raia and XTC have launched us off on the road to change we can believe in.

How can we now sustain this momentum toward change? The first locus of all change
has to be our individual Self. Personal familiarity with the GC 35 decrees through prayer,
reflection and discussion is an absolute requirement. The next step is for the Jesuit
community to own these decrees through a similar process of prayer and community
discernment. Local Superiors could use the monthly community meetings to bring to life
the various decrees of the GC. Resource persons in our Province have expressed a
willingness to assist communities which are in need of inputs and presentations. The
Assistancy monthly magazine JIVIT has been running excellent commentaries on all the
decrees starting with the June, 2008 issue. The final step is of course to translate the
decrees into action in our daily apostolates. Our Province Commissions have offered
some tentative action plans in this regard. Copies of these have been widely circulated
during the renewal programmes at Raia and XTC. The heads of Commissions can be
contacted for more details. In addition, the Province Vision statement was re-visited and
updated according to GC 35, by participants of the two renewal programmes. A final draft
will be sent to all the communities for your suggestions and reflections.

The visit of Father Lisbert D’Souza could not have come at a better time, as the Province
opens itself to new possibilities and post-GC 35 challenges. I look forward to the feedback
from the Province members and Fr. Lisbert as we give shape to a vision of change that we
can believe in.
Anthony da Silva SJ
Provincial
PROVINCIAL’S PROGRAMME
• November 01: Sawantwadi: Sawantwadi Project Meeting
• November 14: Jesuit House, Panaji: Consult
• November 19 – 20: Asha Kiran, Mangalore: Visitation
• November 22 – 26: ICM Sisters – General Chapter: Resource Person
• November 27 – 29: Satya Nilaya, Chennai: Visitation

TSKK, PORVORIM
On October 5, 2008 Fr. Nelson Pinto released a CD entitled, Hanv ani Mhozo Dev during the monthly
cultural programme of Mandd Sobhann at Mangalore. The lyrics are written by Fr. Pratap Naik and
music is composed by Eric Ozario. The CD is available at TSKK for sale. On October 12, 2008 Fr.
Pratap Naik’s devotional song book, Bhokti Sobhann was released by the Chief Minister, Mr. Digambar
Kamat at a function organized to felicitate eminent persons from different fields of Konknni. In a
Konknni essay writing competition organized by Dalgado Konknni Akademi Sch. Jose Silveira
won the first prize consisting of Rs.2,000/- and a certificate. The topic was “Gandhijichim totvam aiz
kitlea faideachim? (Gandhi’s Principles: Are they relevant today?)”.

Frs. Pratap Naik, Braz Faleiro and Conrad Mascarenhas of Bombay Province attended a Pauline
retreat for priests, religious and lay leaders at Divine Retreat Centre, Muringoor, Kerala from October
19 to 24. More than 500 persons attended this retreat. It was my first retreat at Muringoor. Basically
it was a preached retreat. Community praise and worship through singing was given a lot of
importance. It was not a charismatic retreat; however certain features of it are incorporated. There
was sufficient time for personal prayers. When I reflect about my experience at DRC two things
struck me. In our Jesuit formation we wrongly introduce meditation and contemplation methods
before mastering vocal methods of prayers. Due to this most of us face difficulties in our prayer.
Therefore, I humbly request all Jesuits of our Province to attend a retreat at least once at DRC and
experience the power of Prayer and presence of Risen Christ. Secondly, Bom Jesus Basilica is the
spiritual mine which is given to us. If we organize one day open retreats (by ‘open’ I mean without
prior registration) from morning till evening for 365 days thousands of people would benefit and
Old Goa will become one of the centres of spiritual renewal. But to do this we must be kindled with
the fire of Christ and the spirit of Magis.
Pratap Naik SJ
COMMUNAUTÉ PIERRE FAVRE, FRANCE
French here and French there! That is what we did for the two months of July and August here in
France. The first ten days of September were spent in the serene surroundings of Manrèse, a Jesuit
spirituality centre at Clamart in the suburbs of Paris, praying and contemplating under the direction
of two Jesuits. Our Academic year at Centre Sèvres commenced with a good punch on September
15, 2008. The year at Sèvres begins with a Session on a designated topic, a tradition they have
maintained for years. “Christ according to the early Fathers of the Church” was the theme this
year. Two weeks of conferences, debates and group discussions gave us a good glimpse into the
thinking of the early shepherds of the Church. There are about 252 regular students in all, representing
about 41 countries. The other astonishing fact is that there are quite a lot of lay people who pursue
theological studies here in the Centre. This year they constitute 19 percent of the student strength.

On the other hand our lives in the different Jesuit communities have begun full swing. Sch. Shannon
Pereira is well settled in the Sevrès Community while I am at home in the Bl. Peter Faber community
which includes 36 Jesuits of different nationalities. Life in the community is very lively too. Quite
many activities bring the whole community together during the week, one among them is the
community Eucharist followed by the get-together every Monday. Knowledge of each and every
person, discussions on the recent issues of the Society, presentations of countries and cultures
keep us on our toes.

The weather, though cool, is quite pleasant. The mercury is descending day by day even while we
get some light showers every other day. At the same time the season of autumn is slowly making it’s
appearance.
Allwyn Cruz SJ
LIGHTS OF THE WORLD MOVEMENT
“There is going to be a five-day camp at Ajra
during the Diwali vacation...’’ This was the
starting of an amazing experience. The camp
was based on the recent experiences of MAGIS
‘08, a Jesuit gathering for the youth in Australia.
Magis signifies the desire ‘to give more, to be
more and to let go of what holds us back in
our quest for more’. This is exactly what we
did during the five days in and around Ajra
mission. Twenty-two youngsters from the
Margao and Panjim Lights of The World youth groups left for Ajra on October 23, 2008 along with Fr.
Agnelo Mascarenhas. There was a good sense of unity and bonding in the group since we had spend a
lot of time together preparing and practicing the various items to be presented in different villages.

Fr. Joe Monteiro, the Parish Priest of Ajra, invested a lot of his time in making all the necessary
arrangements in three different villages. He also planned a joint interactive session with the youth of
Ajra parish which proved to be very enriching. It enabled us to see things through the eyes and minds of
the rural youth. The next three days took us to
some remote villages. Though we found it very
difficult, we did our best working along with the
villagers in cleaning the village Chapel
compound at Dhangar Molla and the Rosary
School compound at Vatangi. Our experience at
Budhar Ghad, a 16th century fort built by Shivaji,
proved to be an unbelievable experience. For
the first time in our life we participated in an
Eucharistic celebration in the traditional Indian
style. We all took turns to perform the ‘arathi’
and at the end we also joined the local non-
Christian youth in touching the feet of the celebrants before receiving the blessing. In the evening we
joined the villagers for Rosary and the Celebration of the Eucharist followed by the variety cultural
programme. The daily prayer and reflection helped us to remain focused. Sometimes we were really tired
but the joy seen on the faces of the people was worth much more than all our pains and aches. This is
what some campers had to say:
1. There was a lot of unity in the different villages that we visited
2. Even though we Goans are so different from them, they accepted us wholeheartedly
3. There was a nice feeling of goodness in our hearts after helping the people.
4. People everywhere went out of their way to make us comfortable.
5. Our eyes were opened to new things. We were able to see how poor people live and
thehardships they face everyday. They have few things and they are happy. Their faith
and devotion is very inspiring.

All in all the camp was simply amazing. I hope

more youth like us get to experience
something wonderful like this. I conclude by
saying a hearty ‘THANK YOU’ to the Jesuits
Fathers and the volunteers for giving us the
opportunity to experience the exciting world
of Magis wherein we gave more and expected
less... but in the end received much more.

Sonia Fernandes
ST. BRITTO’S, MAPUSA
St. Britto’s has launched a new venture in the form of a community college. We began with a
weekend course in computer graphics which was held in the month of September 2008. There were
20 people who have successfully completed the first course. Certificates were awarded to the
participants. We are very grateful to the resource person, Mr. Allwyn Vaz, an ex-student of
Britto’s who has specialized in Computer graphics besides doing his Bachelors in Fine Arts.

After having seen the success of the first course, the second course has now commenced in
Computer Basics from October 2008 with daily classes. The course caters to the parents of the
students and the non-teaching staff of Britto’s with the main objective of providing basic computer
knowledge which would be of help to the participants at their work places. Mr. Prem and Miss
Fabiola have meticulously planned the course and are currently conducting both theory and practical
classes. Fr. Peter Rodrigues is also assisting the resource persons in conducting the practical
classes. We are now in the process of starting another course in Digital Photography which will be
conducted by Mr. Fredrick Noronha, a renowned journalist and photographer. There are also plans
to start a basic Spoken English course for the drop-outs and the marginalized groups who have no
background in English.

All this would not have been possible without the support of St. Britto’s community. In a special way
we are grateful to the Principal of St. Britto’s Fr. Apollo Cardozo, who readily made available the
school premises and the computer lab to conduct these courses.
Pedro Rodrigues SJ

DNC, PUNE
Scholastics Orville de Silva, Richard D’Souza, George Menezes, BIRTHDAY WISHES
Solon Fernandes, and Augustine Trinidade are doing well at
De Nobili College - a place where days are long and silent and NOVEMBER
the nights are always young. Each one has created his own 16 – Abraham Painumkal
niche here at DNC. Sch. Augustine is elected the Cultural Denzil Rodrigues
coordinator at JDV. He played a key role in organizing the JDV 19 - Eric da Silva
22 – Guy Moraes
day, besides other activities. Sch. Solon helped out in Fr. Cyril
23 - Allan Baptista
Desbruslais’ play, ‘No, No, Jeremiah.’ Sch. Orville is the
Jimmy Mendes
treasurer of the Kitchen Committee at DNC. Sch. Richard has 27 - Cedric Mascarenhas
his hands full with his extra classes in Astro-Physics at the Pune 28 - Reinhold Kiess
University. Sch. George, as usual, is the key entertainer of the 29 - Francis X D’Sa
community and Sch. Vicky is brushing up his skills in cooking
DECEMBER
and marketing through his 6-month stay in the slums along 02 - Joseph Fernandes
with two other Scholastics. He claims that it has been a great 08 - Braz Faleiro
experience and a good lesson in home management. All the Goa Agnelo Mascarenhas
scholastics keep themselves busy with the ‘Young People’ Richard D’Souza
magazine besides their studies. The circulation of the magazine John Fernandes
has reached a record 5000, in Mumbai and many more schools 11 – Paul Ankush
in Pune, Goa, Belgaum and Sawantwadi. 12 – Solon Fernandes

The first term exams are just over and the new-comers are THE DEPARTED
preparing for their educational tour to Ajanta and Ellora, while
Sch. Vicky is the coordinator for the second years’ Goa tour. • Fr. Leonard Lakra (RAN)
Preparations for the forthcoming Balmela are in full swing and 05/10 55/32
Sch. Orville is appointed as one of the coordinators for the mega • Br Chandy Myladoor (KER)
event. Do visit DNC occasionally and be a part of the celebration. 29/10 79/58
• Sister of Fr. Jacob Carvalho
Augustine Trinidade SJ (Cecilia D’Souza) 29/10 66
XTC, DESUR
Xavier Training College has recently been
the hub of spiritual conversations and this
time it was not just the novices who were
at the heart of it. On October 7, 2008
we were blessed with the presence of
26 Jesuits who had arrived for the three-
day renewal programme based on the
General congregation 35. Fr. Anthony
da Silva, the provincial of Goa, along
with Fr. Paul Vaz of the Bombay province
lead the “Province Renewal Programme”
in a prayerful manner enlightening the
group on the decrees of the GC 35 and
the election of the new Superior General.
It was all done in the context of revitalizing the province in its vision and objectives for the further
enrichment of our missions. The Programme was a great success and will surely help to keep the fire
burning. A special thanks to Fr. Benito Fernandes, Sch. Denzil Rodrigues and the novices for
making all the necessary arrangements. Kudos
to them!

The novice master, Fr Lawry Trinidade, is

prayerfully preparing and leading the novices
into the Long Retreat which will shortly
commence on November 1, 2008. Please keep
the first-year novices – Francis Lobo,
Lindsay Lobo and Menoy D’Souza - in your
prayers. The altruistic second years, who have
joyfully completed their work and earn
experiment last month, have now been sent
forth on their mission experiment to Ajra,
Sawantwadi and Deshnur. Our erudite Fr.
Reinhold Kiess continues to nourish the novices through his sharings on the exquisite History of
the Society and the Church. Fr. Vijayanand continues his spiritual ministry by guiding souls to
inner freedom and in moving them to be slaves only to the Will of Christ.

Fr. Benito, with the help of Sch. Denzil, is trying to extract the best from the farm. The two are
often seen sprinting between the house, farm and the market with baskets of plantains and papayas
on their heads and cans of milk in their arms. No wonder Sch. Denzil has earned the nickname of
“Dood walla” from the villagers of Desur.
Denzil Rodrigues SJ

LOYOLA HALL, MIRAMAR

The vocation promotion team conducted vocation camps at Loyola Hall from October 22 to 26,
2008. The underlying theme for these camps was, “find your purpose in life and the means will
follow”. In all Forty-six boys from Loyola - Margao, St. Britto – Mapusa, St. Xavier – Velim, Red
Rosary – Miramar, St. Aloysius – Benaulim and St. Xavier – Mapusa participated in these camps.
There were sessions on God’s love, making proper choices in life. The life of St. Alberto Hurtado
captured the interest of the boys. Thanks to the efforts put in by Fr. Joseph Cardozo, Schs. Varun
Rodrigues and Jude Carrasco along with the pre-novices to make these camps memorable for the
campers.
Jude Carrasco SJ
MILAGRIS, SAWANTWADI
Taking a break from the hectic schedule the communities of Ajra and Sawantwadi spent a day
together at the beach at Shirodha. The full community was present for this outing and we had a
good time together. The swim, the fellowship meal and the sharing refreshed out minds and bodies.

For the first time an educational trip was organized

for 100 students of Milagris School. As a part of
Kolhapur darshan the students were taken to see
the new palace of Shahu Maharaj and the museum
in it. The Mahalaxmi temple, the Warana dairy
farm, the temple built like the titanic and Bahubali
were some of the other places the students
visited. The dairy farm seemed to be the most
exciting as the students got to see the process
of producing ghee, milk powder and lassi. They
also got an opportunity to see how the milk bags
are packed. The second day was spent in the Gandharva Water Park where the students enjoyed
themselves in the water park, amusement park, and
also got a chance to dance, watch a puppet show,
magic show, Rajasthani dance. At the end they had
the opportunity of expressing their talents during
the camp fire. Later the catholic students were taken
for a three-day retreat to Old Goa. In the mean
time eight students travelled to Punjab to represent
the State at the inter-school national athletic meet.

Cecil Fernandes SJ