Feast of the Sacred Heart 2006

ELURU COMMUNITY

The Eluru SCJ community started the preparation for the Feast of the Sacred Heart with Adoration, devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on Wednesday.

Thursday night, we began Holy Hour with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, at 9:00pm. We had our prayer in silence for sometime. After Br. Michael A. read a Gospel passage, he shared his insights and reflections on the passage. He spoke about the value of being humble and gentle in one’s life. He spoke of the humility of his mother, and her virtues, and that it is the duty of everyone to make humility a part of their life. He also strongly stressed the meekness does not mean weakness. After a while, A Hindi bhajan was sung in praise of God by Br. Sunderaj. Then we prayed Night Prayer.

The Blessed Sacrament was exposed throughout the night, so the Brothers were assigned in groups to pray and be present before the Lord during the night. Each group was requested to spend an hour before the Lord in singing, praying, and contemplation.

The Solemn Mass took place on Friday evening, at 6:00pm. Br. Beppe was the main celebrant. The parish priest from the Cathedral, Fr. Ratnaraj also joined us in this celebration, as well as the Sisters of Little Christ, our Telugu teach and family, and Tommy, the computer technician. Fr. Beppe gave his homily based on the love of Christ for us, and above all he said that our response to God was more important. He added that the Heart of Christ is beating for the love of his creation, namely for human beings. He also said that God makes Gethsemane become a paradise for all of us by His suffering, that we may learn to love Him in return. He reminded us of the purpose of celebrating Mass, that it is for all the people of the world, to bring them closer to God. The Eucharistic celebration was followed by dinner, together with the guests from outside.

On the following Sunday afternoon, the Eluru community went to Nambur the SCJ novitiate to celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart. Arrive about 4:00pm, we took some time to talk with the novices, and had a nice time.

Adoration began at 6:00pm, with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Our Eluru community led the prayers. First, the Gospel passage was read, followed by a bhajan as a response to the Gospel reading. After praying for some time in silence, Br. Sanil presented some reflections on the meaning of celebrating the Feast of the Sacred Heart. He stressed the need to be more attive and aware of the Heart of Christ this if full of God’s abundant love for us, that we may follow the footsteps of our founder in showing compassion for the people around us. With the blessings of the Lord, Adoration ended.

There was a cultural program, conducted by the novices. Br. Khranti was the coordinator of the program, which included prayer dance, riddles, songs, short skits, and games. The SCJ Fathers were invited to cut the cake, and soft drinks were shared.

We had quite a few guests from outside: The Little Sisters of the Poor, the JMJ Sisters of Aloysius Gonzaka and their postulants, and also Frs. Ananda Jothi and Prakesh from the pastoral center were present. They took part in the Adoration, cultural program and dinner. Fr. Sebastian, the novice master, thanked everyone for sharing our presence with the Novices. After the dinner, the Brothers from Eluru left the novitiate at 9:00pm to travel back to Eluru.

Br. Hurdayaraj, SCJ