INTENSIVE JOURNAL WRITING

Knowing and improving oneself is an important aspect of human life. This course of intensive journal writing did give us an opportunity to discover our true inner self and the beauty that lies within each one of us. Sr. Mercy T. belonging to the congregation of the Mercy of the Holy Cross spent her five days with us to help us to discover our unique selves and appreciate the worth we are.

The intensive journal writing included daily logs, life history log, dream log, various intersections and crossroads in our life, dialogue with persons, work, body, events, society,  circumstances, inter process spiritual meditation log etc. All these helped us to pay attention to our thoughts and learn to direct them skillfully and through reflection we were able to see our areas of fear and pain that kept us away from our self-body, emotion and mind.

It is said that we cannot touch the same water of a river twice so also there were moments in our lives where had made  choices which were good and also not so good ones, it gave us a chance to relive those choices made and enhanced us to take the routes which we had not travelled. Minds nature is to think, plan and divide, it separates us from our inner self, until we become aware of our old wounds there will be still roots of unfulfilled desire, anger and confusion these will pop out again and again until we reconcile with it. This course gave us a new beginning, a new way to look at life, a chance to appreciate our inner self and life. Our existence is transitory but there is unchanging web of life. Nothing is disconnected, ever changing, unstoppable process, expansiveness, interconnectedness and freedom. This is the mystery of life. 

We thank our formators for this enhancing experiencing provided to us to grow in wholeness. We thank Sr. Mercy for her precious time and guidance.

Christmas with the poor

The Christmas at Anandwali

Anandwali

Jesus was born poor, lived poor and died poor and so to make this Christmas a memorable event we had a meaningful Christmas celebration for the poor children of Anandwali. Sr. Jyothi Pinto along with two novices Priti Kemu and Shilpa Gonsalves organized this event on the 20^th December 2015. 

 Since these poor ones had no knowledge about Christmas they were very excited to know what Christmas was all about. The programme began with a short prayer highlighting the need of God in ones life. This followed the long awaited dance competition which boosted everyones spirit. Then there were very interesting and exciting games which kept the children enthused and busy. After the games Sr. Jyothi through a question answer session revealed the Christmas story which the children appreciated much and also learnt who Jesus is and how his birth took place.

Anadwali

The most important moment was the distribution of prizes and sweets.  The winners were awarded with the prizes and all the children received a Christmas gift which made them truly delighted.  Finally novices distributed some sweets prepared at home with much love which children enjoyed a lot. This was indeed a moment of meeting Jesus in the poor. We thank God for the opportunity and the platform provided to grow in love for the poor and the needy and do our bit as Pope Francis urges us to go to the peripheries.

Christmas celebrations with the boarders of Maria Vihar

Maria Vihar

On the 20^th December 2015 we had Christmas tree for the boarding children at Maria Vihar.  It began around 2 o´ clock in the afternoon with a meaningful prayer moment.  Both the communities were invited to witness this celebration and share the joy of Christmas with the children.

Maria Vihar

There were a number of dances, carols and skits giving the message that Jesus does not want big gifts but a clean and a generous heart. There were also some exciting games conducted like bombing the city, coin relay, preparing boats and advertisement on Christmas which the children enjoyed to the full.  Around 4 o´ clock we finished all the games. Sr. Anelfreda Miranda our Novice Mistress gave away the prizes and delivered the Christmas message. Santa Clause had a special gift for every child which made them very happy.  After exchanging Christmas wishes and distribution of sweets we concluded this short Christmas celebration. 

 

Communicators of Good News

Our beloved Pope Francis in his message for the 49^th World Communications Day states that, “The womb of a mother is the first school of communication, and the family is the place where we first learn to communicate. On 5^th December 2015, we the Sisters and novices of Sacred Heart Training Centre, Nashik celebrated the World Communications Day with bubbling joy and great enthusiasm in our hearts.

The day was full of surprises, beginning with a beautifully animated morning prayer, portraying the theme: “Being effective communicators for a fruitful mission.”  This was followed by a Photo Language meditation, by sharing our thoughts and feelings through the pictures. To make this day a reality we had different initiatives. Sr. Jyothi Pinto helped us to reflect on the message of Pope Francis written to the faithful on the occasion of the world communications day. The session by Fr. Robert Pen sdb on the topic “Parenting in the digital age” was enriching, wherein he made us aware of the recent negative trends online and the need of educating the parents to the media world. There was a creative display of the different means of communications in the Chapel before the altar as also on the notice board. The different liturgy groups animated sessions on joy, life and doing things extraordinarily. Advertisements for different forms of communication were staged too. We also paid a visit to our novitiate blog. During the intervals we had action songs taught by the different groups. To end the note with the theme of communication, we viewed a movie at night on the topic of being where God wants us to be and to find our joy in fulfilling His Will, and we also had a discussion/evaluation on it.

It was a really wonderful learning experience of the media world all loaded in one beautifully organized day.