St. Jude’s Church Parish mark twin celebrations; former parish priests felicitated
Bengaluru, Oct 30: It was joy doubled on Sunday 30th October, for the Parish Priest and Parishioners of St. Jude’s Church (RT Nagar) with the parish annual feast coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the erection of the parish.
A new tabernacle brightly adorned and looking like an elegant throne was blessed by Archbishop Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras shortly after the communion rite during the annual feast day mass. A newly erected flag pole was blessed by the Archbishop before the mass began. An appealing statue of St. Jude known as the patron of ‘desperate cases’ or ‘hope of the hopeless’ and a statue of St. Anthony the wonder-worker was also blessed by the prelate.
Archbishop Moras in his homily about Jesus encounter with Zacheus said “Jesus asking Zacheus to come down from the sycamore tree and Zacheus responding to that call assumes deep significance. By asking Zacheus to come down, Jesus was in effect telling Zacheus that he has already received acceptance and forgiveness through the love of God. Zacheus was a a lonely and rejected man, deeply wounded inside, was healed the moment he accepted Jesus call by coming down from the tree”
The Archbishop impressively connected the parish jubilee year with his homily message saying “To all the parishioners past and present over 25 years, The Lord Jesus is saying the same thing, that we have been forgiven and accepted in His great love and mercy”
The feast day mass that began 4.30pm saw the participation of at least 500 faithful and 15 priests including nuns from the St. Joseph Cottelengo Congregation, the only convent in the parish jurisdiction.
Before and after mass, parishioners were seen joyfully greeting their former pastors Fr. Lawrence Noronha, Fr. Joseph Abraham and Fr. Uday Kumar who were present for the celebrations. Archdiocesan priest Fr. Divia Paul who hails from the parish also caught up with his parishioners on the happy occasion.
Parish Priest Fr. Kanickaraj applauded the Archbishop for constantly encouraging and supporting priests in the Archdiocese to take up various pastoral initiatives in the parishes for the spiritual growth of the Faithful. He particularly thanked the Prelate for the encouragement he showed in the Silver Jubilee year preparations of the parish.
The bursting of crackers in the vicinity over Diwali celebrations could not drown the voices and music of a melodious choir that was much appreciated by all in the congregation. The Parish Priest rendered special thanks for their beautiful singing.
A short felicitation program followed the mass where former parish priests present were applauded for the contributions they made for the development of the parish. The Archbishop draped the priests with a shawl and garland and gifted them an encased statue of St. Jude. Former Parish Priests Fr. A Michael and Fr. J. Arockianathan were thanked in absentia.
The Archbishop blessed and flagged off the sacred car procession that was the final event of the Feast Day.
