Chennai – A traditional feast that has been celebrated throughout the centuries in India is Ayudha Pooja, (Feast of Thanksgiving). On October 22nd, the fathers and brothers of the community cleaned all the tools used for garden work, for tilling and cultivating the land, and for harvesting purposes. All of the two and four wheel vehicles were also cleaned. Fr. Samson, local superior, prayed and thanked the Lord for giving us good strength, land to work and fruits of the earth to enjoy. After the short prayer concluded, brothers took all the vehicles for a ride. It was a time of joy and thanking God for His care and concern in the life of farmers who completely depend upon farming to sustain their families. The feast also reminds us that everything we use must be given respect and care.
New Provincial Superior of the Divine Providence Province: Fr. Soosai Rathinam, SdC
What is a game changer? It is an idea, a strategy, a product or service, a process or person that can create a breakthrough and take an organization to the next level. We could say the ‘iPod’ did it for Apple, breakfast did it for ‘McDonald’s’, and cell phones and the Internet were game changers for the whole world.
We approach the New Year, 2014, with hope, joy and expectation! Let us have a quest for a moral and spiritual renewal in restoring respect for life and truth and to rebuild trust in proclaiming and living the sanctity of human life. God wants to win with His love and wisdom, and He wants to build you up spiritually so as to live in His love and walk in His ways.
The message of the Holy Father for the celebration of the ‘World Day of Peace’ on January 1, 2014 was, “Fraternity, the foundation and pathway of peace”, needs to be discovered, loved, expressed, proclaimed and witnessed.
The UN has declared 2014 as an International year of Family Farming ( IYFF). Family farming includes all family-based agricultural activities and it is linked to several areas of rural development: organizing agriculture, forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production. Therefore, family farming has an important socio-economic, environmental and cultural role and is inextricably linked to world food security.
“Our Mother May is full of beauty because she is full of grace,” said Pope Francis. We are blessed to bless others! Her grace, generosity, and recollectedness are with us. Let us pass on and discover the joy of a never-ending cycle of blessing, joy and peace to others. The mighty forces that will come to our aid are Father, Son and Holy Spirit and let us be SMARTS! (Simple-Meaningful-Actionable-Relational-Transformational-Scalable) and become the Spirit-filled Evangelizers of 2014!
Servants of Charity 