Feast of the Sacred Heart Celebrations

Dehon Bhavan, Kumbalanghy, Kerala
We decided in our community meeting to celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart with some invitations of priest and sisters and lay people.
Fr.Martin guided the 3 days tridium for the community together with our seminarians. The Founder got all the attention in this preparation.

The seminarians brought the invitations to the parishes and convents and houses of the invited people.

The night before they made a beautiful decoration in the Chapel and in the refectory, even a night decoration before the entrance of the house.
The Feast was in the spirit of the Sacred Heart Devotion and after the Solemn Song Mass in the Malayalam language, the Holy Sacrament was exposed until 1:00 pm and the invited people prayed with us from 12:00 pm on. After the Mass, “sweets” were distributed.

Then we had a chicken biriyani lunch prepared in our own kitchen. Words of welcome to the guests were made and there was a fraternal atmosphere in the refectory, because our seminarians were in a very good mood as hosts.
In the afternoon we chose a movie to watch and from 5:00 to 8:00 pm we gathered again in front of the Blessed Sacrament with our faithful people of Kumbalanghy.

The feast of the Sacred Heart was like a recollection day.

- Fr. Martin scj

We will celebrate together this memorial feast on June 24 in Aluva with only the professed SCJs from Kumbalanghy and Aluva and Senior Dehonians Communities.

______________


Dehon Vidya Sadhan, Aluva, Kerala
It is our custom in Dehon Vidya Sadhan that the Feast of the Sacred Heart becomes an opportunity to share our happiness with friends, neighbors and religious communities around. We invite them to our house to experience the love of Christ which we share through hospitality and care, in prayer and lunch together. This also happened when we celebrated the Feast on June 18, 2004.

Before celebrating the feast with the guests, we, the community, prepared ourselves for three days of reflection during the time of Adoration. Each class of the philosophy students took part in giving a talk and a reflection in the three days reflection. It was very good and inspiring which brought us to be more aware of the love that we have received from God in daily life as religious and students who dedicate ourselves to the Sacred Heart.

We began our Feast of the Sacred Heart with the celebration of the Eucharist with our own community in the morning. Fr. Teja Anthara presided at the Eucharist as the main celebrant, along with Fr. Thomas Stanley and Fr. Jose. He mentioned in his homily that the celebration of the Sacred Heart is actually a celebration of God's love as found in the person of Jesus. There is nothing we Christians could do to make God love us more or love us less, for God's love for us is infinite and unconditional. On this day of the Sacred Heart, we express our gratitude to our Lord for the great love that he continues to show us in so many ways. He concluded his homily by challenging the students to reflect on what love they have experienced in the community. After the Mass we continued our Feast by giving free time to all the students to enjoy the Feast. Actually they should go to college, but because of this Feast they did not go.

At 12:15 pm we started our Adoration with the guests and was finish at 1:00 o'clock. Many people joined with us in this Adoration. Fr. Jose led it and also gave a reflection. Right after Adoration we invited all the guests to join with us for the banquet in the dining room to have lunch together. While all third years brothers were in charge in serving them, the choir group led by Bro. Mac' performed some songs.

We were happy that we could make this Feast meaningful, deepening our relationship with our friends and neighbors. We were able to bear witness to them, especially in sharing our charism and spirituality in simple and concrete way by welcoming them into our house. It is true that we needed to work hard, but the happiness we shared made everything beautiful. May this experience of sharing hospitality help us to be able to say what St. Augustine said: "to my fellow human beings, a great love, to my friends, a heart of loyalty, to my God, a heart of flame, to myself, a heart of steel"

Shalom and Love
MoTe van Kerala

-Fr. Teja

___________________________


Dehon Prema Nilayam, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
We began Adoration at 4:30pm. It was agreed that all three SCJ communities would gather in Guntur for the celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. Everyone was able to get here in time, from Eluru, which is a 2 hour car ride, and the Novitiate, from where some came on bicycles (12 klms). During Adoration we listened to a passage from the SCJ Rule of Life, and shared reflections and prayers regarding the last 10 years of SCJ presence in India, and our hopes for the future.

After Adoration, we spent a short time for appetizers (made by Br. Leonard) and conversation. We began supper around 6:30pm. There were 43 of us, including the drivers. We had a very good and joyful celebration.

-Br. Leonard