SAR News
Bangalore, Mar 10: Preaching Christ in season and out of season is the fruit of an evangelical life witness lived by Christians, said Archbishop Oswald Gracias, president of the Conference of the Catholic Bishops of India, March 8.
He was addressing the delegates of the National Conference in Preparation of the Indian Mission Congress, at the National Biblical Catechetical Liturgical Centre, Bangalore.
"In India, it is a challenge to live as authentic Christians in our own surroundings first, so that we may be impelled to tell this good news to our neighbours, other cultures and other religions in a dialogue of life," he added.
The archbishop presided over the inaugural Eucharistic celebration on the opening day of the national convention for diocesan directors of Pontifical Mission Society, diocesan secretaries for proclamation of CCBI Commission and rectors of major seminaries of India, March 7-9.
Newly appointed Archbishop Albert D’Souza of Agra, CCBI Proclamation Commission chairperson Bishop Isidore Fernandes, Tamil Nadu Regional Proclamation Commission chairperson, Bishop Singorayan and Archbishop Peter Fernando of Madurai concelebrated with the CCBI president.
More than a hundred delegates of priests and nuns from all over India were present at the Mass. They prayed specially for women on the International Women’s Day, March 8.
Father Jan Dumon, secretary general of the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, Rome, who was a special invitee to the convention, told media persons that it was his maiden visit to India and he was delighted to witness the great progress the Church has made in India.
Dumon, who was also a mission for 16 years in Congo, Africa, said that he was sent by former Archbishop of Bombay, Cardinal Ivan Dias, the Prefect of the Congregation for Evangelisation, Rome, to speak about the objectives of the Pontifical Mission Societies to the leaders of the Church in India.
"The foremost mission of the Church is to build community as in the early Christian times," he said. "And then there is a movement towards the world which is foreign to the Christian community values and faith. This openness to the outside world is a historical sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit who impels us with divine dynamics," he pointed out.
"If a community is a closed house, worried about its own symbols and preoccupied with its own culture and rites then it is not fully open to the Spirit of God."
He said his mission was of a supportive role to assist in the financial solidarity between the Churches. "Do not shy away from seeking help to build the Church."
Archbishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore, welcoming the national delegates for the preliminary meeting of the Indian Mission Congress, reminded the audience of the effects of globalisation on the culture of the modern people.
He pointed out that youths from different parts of the country were migrating to Bangalore in drove seeking jobs in the IT industry and to do professional and technical education.
"The pastoral care for this migrant young generation is a formidable task of the Christian community," the prelate said.
He urged the delegates to give their hearts and minds to the Lord for putting together ideas so that successful strategies may be chalked out to bring together people of all walks to be evangelisers of the Good News of Jesus in India.
Father Siluvai Ignaci, member of the organising committee of the convention, reminded the missionaries that they were the Light to the Nations.
"Yahweh wants the restoration of the nation and wishes to give new life to the people. God is asking you to be light to India and carry on the dynamic Word of God to celebrate faith in our country," he said.