On 31st of
March, in Pushpalay community (Santa Teresa del Niño Jesús) Salun, Gujarat, the
National Assembly of CMS in India was held for the first time. There were 8 CMS
from Junagadh (North Gujatat), 2 from Ahmedabad (The capital of Gujarat), 3
from Mumbai (The capital of Maharashtra) and 19 from Dediapada (South of
Gujarat). It was like a group Babel. Because
the group from Mumbai does not understand Gujarati and the group from Dediapada
does not understand English. Therefore the assembly was held in two languages
(English-Gujarati) simultaneously.
The session began at
9am with the lighting of the lamp. Our Provincial Sr. Marykutty Mathew and CMS
representative from each group lit the lamp. Sr. Shiny Thomas the in-charge of
the CMS group of Dediapada, conducted the prayer. After which our Provincial spoke on the
importance of being a CMS and motivated them to partake in the mission of
Christ by accepting and living the Charism given by our Fr. Francisco Palau.
She also gave the message of the Holy Father to the laity in order to be active
in the parish.
The photos of the CMS
from different countries were shown to them in order to encourage the
participants as majority of them were just the beginners. After a short break, Sr.
Fiona D’ Cruz, in-charge of Mumbai group conducted a ‘game’ so as to divide
them into four groups and for getting to know each other. They introduced
themselves very creatively. It was time for the Holy Eucharist, so we proceeded
to the parish church ‘The Divine Mercy shrine”.
The Holy Eucharist was
celebrated by the Parish Priest Fr.Ambrose Dabhi and Fr. Piyush Parmar SJ
During the Mass the two of the CMS from Mumbai made their promise for the first
time and the 6 CMS from Junagadh renewed their promise. Our Provincial Sr.
Marykutty gave each one of them a copy of the statutes and the emblem. After
the Mass we felicitated them by cutting of the cake which was followed by a
lunch.
In the afternoon 2
members from each group shared about their way of functioning, where as the
others shared their experience of being a CMS, after which they met in their
own local groups and discussed about their experience of the gathering. They
shared about their expectations and suggestion for improvement as well.
Many of them expressed
that they learned a lot from each other. They want to be committed seriously
and begin some activities for their own people and wish to inspire more members
to the groups as well. They want to meet
every year at different region in order to learn from each other and promote
communion.
Over all it was very
enriching experience for all the CMS and the sisters of the groups. We are
indeed inspired and encouraged to be committed in transmitting the Charism of
the founder.
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