Saturday, October 31, 2015

Sabbath Day....Rest day For CPO8....Cardinal Visits...Ordinations in my Province

 His Eminence Berhaneyesus Demerew Cardinal Souraphiel, Archbishop of Addis Adeba......

 Cardinal gives a small talk...very interesting...loves the Capuchin and grateful to the Capuchin missionaries...considers to be lucky to be with the Capuchins.....

Friars listen to the good words.....making each one of us proud of our missionary friars who have worked hard in Ethopia
 He imparted his blessing to all of us...in the refectory and then joined us for the recreation....very simple and down to earth man.....

 This year our province is blessed with 7 new priests....four are getting ordained today...at this moment in Bassein...Mumbai.....This is Br. Suresh.....worked for number of years and then joined us....an artist...
 Br. Leon....one of our parishioners of St. Joseph, Umralla.....good administrator and organizer....good preacher too....
 Br. Cajetan, simple capuchin....loves to be with poor....always smiling....
Br. Amol, is a good musician....very talented.....good in studies....he is the nephew of Br. Rajesh D'Souza, Capuchin friar

Friday, October 30, 2015

Friar Henryk Cisowski, Krakow - Work among the homeless



The social economic context: in Poland there 31 million people without shelter
1/3 of these live on the street, 25% of the are women and children
In Carcovia there are 2200 people are without shelter
All the social works begin from the Parlour of the Convent
In 1999 and 2004 the friars created some camps in the garden of the convent with bathrooms and toilets....the aim of the friars was to be close to these people...to listen to the people...to accompany these unfortunate people in their search for meaning of life...
The centers become points of consultations and psychological and psychiatric help is being given by the friars to the people who are poor.....the people who come to this center of the Capuchins feel accepted and welcomed.....they feel belonged to the center...
Point of consultation: in 2013 about 911 persons visited and were helped. Every month about 260 meetings are conducted with specialists in order to help the people who come to our centre.
Psychiatric and psychological treatment: In 2013: Meetings 3610 meetings and 336 people were helped....156 meetings with the priests.
Bathrooms: every month about 250 persons who come here...there are bathrooms for men and women.....
Laundry and clothes collected from the people are distributed among the poor....
The friars along with sisters serve food in refectory where many people come to eat hot meal.....
The clinic which attend people who need immediate medical treatment
Professional help for those who are seeking work....many were helped to find jobs.....

Group Discussion and Lunch time....













JPIC - The Ministry .........Testimony by Br. Benedict and Br. Jim Donnegon


Br. Benedict presented the working of the JPIC in the order....he explained the aim and purpose of the commission and how they go about doing it in the Order, Church and the world at large.
The basis of JPIC in the documents of the Order - Franciscan tradition
The revised constitution Art. 63: 1, 72:4, 147:5
Balanced spirituality. This is what yahweh asks of you, only this: that you act justly, that you love tenderly, that you walk humbly with your God. Micah, ^:8
1. walk humbly with your God: call to religious conversion - personal relationship with God.
2. Love tenderly: call to moral conversion , which deals with interpersonal relationship
3. walk humbly: call to political conversion, and speaks of moral matters in the sphere of public political life. 
Ecological compassion......
why justice peace and integrity of creation: restoring right relations with oneself, others, creation and God.\
Identifying and responding to the signs of times.
making a preferential option for the poor
dealing with the cause of injustice and not just the consequence.
we seek to enlighten our capuchin friars as well as people of God, about issues of national and international justice, development, human rights, peace and the integrity of creation.
solidarity with the poor...calls for concrete expressions of fraternal issues.
JPIC is part of our DNA: as way of being , style of life which desires to respond to great projects of humanity. 
we pray, we play we work...
A JPIC method of working
Analyze the reality and what is happening
make known the teachings of the church, capuchin charism and the signs of the times....
see justice: Human rights, just wages fro our workers, extreme poverty. Responsible investment, Human trafficking
see judge and act....
Ecology Ladauto SII: the goal of the document in this encyclical i would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home
a call for a change in lifestyle and consumption....a call to conversion



Br. Fernando Ventura - Work in the Bible - Continues...

On the 5th day of CPO began with Br. Fernando presenting on the theme of “Work in the Bible”. He as a Biblical scholar with deep and solid knowledge of the Biblical world did a fabulous job in presenting the meaning and significance of work in Bible and how we Capuchins need to look at work in that sense. He said that we, Capuchins need to enter into the lives of people, their fraternities, to stay with them and this is how we will celebrate the Eucharist and break the bread with them…distribute to them in their own conditions. He further said that We have a mission and challenge to face like st. Francis who re-built the house of God which was in ruins. He invited all the participants to Enter into the grand vision of Biblical work.

In our days, and always, and always increasing, it is a number of the ‘gods’ that command human work. Today, a time of exodus and of many exoduses continues to be the time of walking beside many who continue to be forced to serve ‘their lords’. Toda, a time of exodus of may exoduses, it becomes ever more urgent that we  ;”friars” without fear of being ‘being branded,’ walk and struggle along with those who are not able to pass their ‘Jordan’….

The speaker said that as poor people we are obliged to obtain with our work all that is necessary to provide for our life and for the life of the poor with whom we must hare our existence. The poverty to which we are called is not that of ‘not having’ but that of ‘not possessing.’  The poverty of the ‘anawim’ to which we are committed by religious profession is that of sharing in the light of the challenge of the beatitudes.  We are living in hard realities, challenging times that touch us in our lives in the challenges proposed by Christ and fleshed out by Francis, to ‘be people with the people, so that ever more people might be people and no one ever ceases to be a person.’

The speaker further noted that all human effort that is not a search for God is without direction; all work that is not perceived in the light of the establishment of the kingdom is converted into chastisement, into punishment, into the sweat of uselessness of a ‘monastic life’ full of religion and empty of faith.
He said that the ‘beginning’ of the Biblical reflection on work is not Genesis, as we have seen, but the Exodus! The human being, with his work, becomes the one who continues and cares for God’s work of creation; it’s not about a punishment but a ‘being with….,’ of being a relationship! He explained that to be people with the people, so that ever more people and no one ever ceases to be a person.  A God of relationship that challenges to relationship, a  ‘provoking’ God that drives the people in their exodus of the dream of freedom to meet themselves, in order to then understand what we must all accept: God has turned to us….

Work is not a punishment, but an exercise of liberty! This is the Biblical genesis of the concept of work. We are lost at the point of losing what is essential in our life and in our mission: to be people with the people, so that ever more people might be people and no one ever ceases to be a person. We continue to ‘cry for’ a paradise lost and we do not realize that what we are called to do is not to ‘cry’ or to have nostalgia for what was lost, but instead to have nostalgia for what is, yes, the task of construction…to inaugurate the Kingdom.


The speaker said that we work in order to realize the dream of establishing the kingdom, we work to realize Eden; we don’t have nostalgia for the past, but rather we dream of the future.  It is not work that gives dignity to the human being; it is the human being that gives dignity to work.

Br. Fernando Ventura - Work in the Bible

We build up relationship with the world....a world made up of words....which can be destructive....this journey we need to walk hand in hand with Francis.....a dream of Francis becomes a reality....challenge to move from religion to Faith...what kills faith is religions....re-visit the way from Jerusalem to Jericho....the men who passed by the man lying on the road...those who passed by were good men but had to fulfill their religious obligations....




 Hugo presenting the speaker to the delegates
 Fernando our speaker this morning

 our Moderator......Jose Maria from Spain...
 Fernando and General Minister..exchange a light moment before the talk...
 Damien ready to move around in the hall....

 Pawal and Joaquim are a great help for the CPO...they are in the technical field....

5th Day of CPO - Morning Prayer and Eucharist by Br. Pio Murat


 Br. Pio Murat...wished everyone a Happy Friday ...connected with the Gospel of the day....He in his homily explained the importance of the Sabbath and its origin Greek...

 Brothers Dennis and Mark proclaiming the word of God

 Brothers Jose and Ammanuel doing the readings.....


 Br. Pio is a good preacher.....he is charismatic in his preaching the word of God...a well read friar....
 The friars receive the Lord....the Communion with Him is going to create communion with each other....

Thursday, October 29, 2015

A Friar Carmelo Saia sent from the fraternity in the ambience of Prisoners...

He works as a chaplain in the prison...where there are prisoners and others who work in the prison....there are sufferings which we see and experience...as a friar i look to build up relationship and a rapport...to exchange with them...to listen and to be with them....i don't give liberty and freedom...when they are listened they feel happy...some of them have no families and no contact...no values and sentiments...




In the morning when i enter...there are emergencies....the imprisoned ones share their moments of weakness....sometimes they have critical moments like attempting suicide...
i listen to them when entered into their cell...small ones...invite you and want to offer you tea....sweets...cant refuse....they allow me to enter into their families...show the photos of children and letters of the family members....some ask for prayers, confession and some talk about football...
Saturday and Sunday we have 5 masses....practically all come for the Mass....if the Mass is celebrated before one hour...they do feel bad...
There is violence in the prison....the death in the prison....it is very sad picture...not cared for the dead ones...but i go to bless the dead bodies....the others see it with emotion...
Confessions are very interesting...with penance and repentance ....they pray before confession....they want to open up themselves...
They are prepared for various sacraments...many of them have not practiced Catholicism....