ASHA Trust celebrates Christmas with over 1000 child beneficiaries

img_20161211_114629603Bengaluru, Dec 12: Over 1000 child-beneficiaries of the ASHA charitable Trust of the Archdiocese of Bangalore came in from 38 parishes for a pre-Christmas celebration and Annul ASHA-day December 11th at St. Germain’s school in Bangalore.

Vicars General Monsignori S. Jaynathan and C Francis joined the children in the celebrations and delivered the Christmas messages.  Cherian T Ramapuram, Director-Sales-Orange County was the chief guest for the day while Chancellor of the Archdiocese Fr. A S Anthonyswamy, Financial Administrator Fr. Martin Kumar and Co-Ordintor of AHA Fr. Patrick Pinto and Victor Shaw D’Souza, retired DCP (President’s medal- Awardee) joined the celebrations.

President of the Trust, Archbishop Dr.Bernard Moras “Advent is a time of waiting to receive the Lord Jesus, but it is also a time when Jesus waits to meet all of us”. ASHA trust has reached out to over 10000 children from economically weaker sections since its inception in helping children complete their high schooling.img_20161211_114401153

Msgr. S. Jayanathan in his message said “Jesus came to save the whole of humankind from sin and to show them the way to heavenly bliss.  The word ‘KUMARA’ in Kannada stands for Jesus.  It states the purpose of Jesus’ coming to this earth.  ‘KU’ stands for ‘Kundida’ meaning ‘Suffering’.  ‘MA’ stands for ‘Manujakula’ meaning ‘human race’ and ‘RA’ stands for ‘Rakshaka’ meaning ‘Saviour’.  Put together, it means ‘Saviour of the Human Race’.  Jesus was born to bring life and light, which will never fade away from this or the next world”

Fr. Anthony Swamy, the Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Bangalore invited the children to be grateful for the financial assistance they received from ASHA Charitable Trust and to use the same wisely, to come up in life.

img_20161211_121417122_hdrChief Guest Mr. Cherian T. Rampuram, encouraged the children to “dream big and reach goals with hard work and dedication’.  He explained it with the example of Ms. P. V. Sindu, who won a Silver Medal in Athletics.  She became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic Silver Medal in the 2016 Olympics.  He emphasised that it is only through constant practice, dedication and determination, that a person could realize his or her dreams. Exhorting the children to be good and do well Cherian said “Each child is gifted by God to do something special in life. Self- motivation will go a long way in achieving one’s goal.  Today’s children are tomorrow’s future.”

Child-beneficiaries from Whitefield put up a beautiful Christmas musical tableau while other sponsored children sang carols in Kannada, Tamil and English. Children from Anekal and their parents led the liturgy and choir during the service.

img_20161211_123444201Archbishop Moras in his message told the children “You are helped by ASHA Charitable Trust to build yourself, your families and our Motherland, India.  He exhorted them to be responsible children, make the best use of opportunities presented to them, consider themselves blessed and be a Blessing to others”. Victor Shaw D’Souza retired Deputy Commissioner of police (President’s Award-recipient) an ardent proponent of Yoga for better health, shared tips on Yoga.  He stressed that, “Childhood is the most beautiful part of life and a time to learn and adopt new skills in life to reach the desired goals”.

Monsignor Jayanathan gave in his homily said “Christ is born through our good deeds.  People will recognize Jesus in us through our words and deeds”.  He appreciated the Archbishop for his initiatives in helping over 10,000 children since the inception of ASHA.  He said, “It was the best way of proclaiming Christ by helping the needy to achieve their goal through education”.