As we are celebrating the Year of Constitutions and Rules an one day Symposium was organized by the Indian Delegation on 14th January 2013 at our Mother House Arulagam, Samyapuram. It was well planned and organized by The Very Rev. Fr. LourduRajan omd, The Delegate General of India and his Council. The programmes were started around 10.00AM, with the Prayer Dance by the girls of our Pallividai St.Mary’s School. It was followed by the Lighting of the Lamp, Scripture Reading and the Reading from our Constitutions. The Very Rev. Fr. Delegate explained the purpose behind the Symposium and welcomed the gathering. We had 4 sessions.
In the First session The Most Rev. Fr. Francesco Petrillo, Rector General OMD, presented his paper on the topic “The Role of OMD in the life of the Church”. Starting with the quotations from the Book of Wisdom(6,18) “Loving the Wisdom means keeping her Laws”, he connected Love with Laws. To Put Christ first of all we should observe our Constitutions. He also remembered how Our founder St. John Leonardi and his companions observed the Constitutions. Observing our Constitutions will add colors to our religious life and help us to live the Gospel in our day to day life, he added. The Talk was moderated by Fr. Beno Omd.
Then the Second session began with the paper “Renewal of the Constitutions of the Congregations” by Mons. Y. Irudhayaraj, Canonist and emeritus professor of St. Paul’s Seminary-Trichy. While his presentation, he insisted “If you want to bring changes we have to follow these four things, ie. 1. Fidelity to Christ and his Gospel, 2.Fidelity to the Church and its Mission, 3. Fidelity to the Religious Institute and its Charism, 4. Fidelity to Humanity and its Needs. The session was moderated by Fr. Manohar omd. The Third session began after the lunch. Around 2.00 PM, a small video was projected to portray the growth of Indian Delegation during the past years.
The Third session started around 2.30 PM. This time it’s Rev. Fr. Arul Xavier OFM Cap, Rector of Francesco, Capuchin Theologate, Manachanallur, came forward with his idea on the topic “The Problems which we are facing in the Community life”. He explained the Six Dimensional Wellness – Social, Intellectual, Spiritual, Physical, Emotional and Occupational Wellness and mentioned some of the problems which we are facing in our day to day life in the communities, like Frustrations, Caste mindedness, Consumerism, Power-chasing, Lack of Conviction etc., The Session was moderated by Fr. Donthaius Omd.
The Last session of the day began around 3.45 PM. Rev. Sr. Julie, Holy Cross Sister came forward to share his thoughts on “Formation in today’s situation”. While sharing her thoughts, she mentioned Formation is basically the prime work of Holy Spirit. She quoted some role models from the Bible, Mary of Nazareth, St. Paul, and Jesus. She insisted more on Personalization Formation. The session was moderated by Fr. Starlin Omd. The whole day came to an end with the Vote of Thanks delivered by Rev. Fr. Delegate. Finally a historical event took place. The very Rev. Fr. Delegate and his Council handed over to The Most Rev. Fr. General the copy of Constitution in Tamil. Then it was released by Father General and the first copy was received by Rev. Fr. Tommaso, Previous Delegate general. The whole day programme was co-ordinated by Bro. Francis omd. In this historical event many religious from the other congregations and some lay people from our parishes, teachers of our schools, friends and Well-wishers participated.
13 gennaio 2013
