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Large dose of unexpected kindness

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The students of St Alphonsus School, Bengaluru, the modest educational institution run by the Society of Sadasahaya Sangham in Richards Town, were in for a surprise even as Covid-19, the global pandemic, was in full swing. The school management at the initiative of its manager and correspondent Rev Dr John Mathew began a series of charity drive for the families of their students most of whom come under the low income group.

     

      With Covid-19 and the lockdown confining daily-wage earners indoors without any income, Dr John Mathew together with his governing body comprising of select members from the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer realised that “hunger will kill the families of their students even before Covid-19 would.” Thus, they rose to the occasion and from the funds of the school trust they first distributed two kilograms of rice and a kilogram of dal each to all the parents of their 400-plus students. Following up with this initial drive, the school has also given a “10 item pack” termed as “the survival pack” consisting of 10 daily important groceries to keep the families surviving until the extension of the lockdown that ends on May 3. 

      Lakshmi Mary, a widow whose son is a Class 10 student at St Alphonsus School, testifies joyfully, “I was out of any provisions when the school distributed essential items to the families of their students. This help was very timely and brought much relief."

      The school has also waived the huge arrears of unpaid amount on the fees for this academic year and has decided to reduce the annual school fees structure for the next academic year by a whopping 50%. With the collaboration of Dream India, an NGO run in the city, the school has also been distributing about 1000 hot lunch packets to many slum dwellers surrounding the Cantonment Area of the city, including Bagalur Layout, DJ Halli, Pottery Road and Tannery Road.

      Together with the services of the Sisters of St Joseph’s of Tarbes and other volunteers, Dr John Mathew has been instrumental in getting the school management involved in these relief measures. The timely help has brightened up the lives of the  beneficiaries besides bringing joy to all those involved in helping out. As Arun, a businessman who helped buy the provisions and in its packing put it, “It was a deeply satisfying experience to do something during this crisis without the expectation of anything in return.”  

In the middle of the pandemic, kindness is indeed bringing smiles to people!

A beneficiary receiving provisions from Rev Dr John Mathew together with the other volunteers who helped in the drive.

 

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Redemptorist Outreach during the Coronavirus lockdown in Bangalore

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       (Bengaluru, India)  On 24th March, the government announced a 21-day nationwide lockdown. The Redemptorists of Holy Redeemer Church and Sadupadesha Community together with the parishioners began an outreach program towards the needy in Bangalore. A positive side-effect of this lockdown is that the Redeemer seems to be directing our gaze to those aspects of our personal and ecclesial life that need most attending to. The Lord also seems to be leading us closer to the spiritual and material needs of the poor and the abandoned. As the Holy Week was nearing, Fr Rector, Louis Christopher invited us to have Adoration every evening during Holy Week. Discussion in our community meals often revolved around how we were going to respond to this situation.  Around the same time, a parishioner approached Fr. Christopher Ponnuswamy, the parish priest of Holy Redeemer Church, with a generous offer of Rs. 100,000/- to supply provisions to poor families within the parish limits. In discussion with this parishioner, it was decided to feed at least 100 poor families with a supply of basic provisions like 5kg rice, 2kg pulses, 1 litre of oil, soaps, detergent powder, salt, potatoes, etc.

      A Good Samaritan Team consisting of Parish Council members and other volunteers was formed to identify these families and distribute the provisions. Other generous benefactors from the parish soon came forward to support this project. Provisions were ordered via an online portal and soon the supplies arrived. Since no parishioners were allowed into our campus due to the lockdown, the entire Sadupadesha community was involved in packing the provisions neatly into large sacks for the distribution. That includes 16 seminarians at Sadupadesha who could not go out for their holidays before the lockdown. They played an important role in completing the packing in record time and in supplying it to the distribution desk at our gate. However, keeping in mind their safety, they were not involved in the actual distribution to the beneficiaries. The Parish clergy and the Good Samaritan team distributed the provisions to a hundred families on 7th April in the middle of Holy Week.

         However, on that very first day, we noticed many more poor rushing to our gate unannounced, including migrant workers. Our hearts broke to see the desperation on the faces of these abandoned people, yet we could not serve all of them on the first day. Thus, a fresh appeal was issued to the parishioners and further supplies were sought. Over the remainder of the Holy Week, approximately 250 families have been served with provisions. And in the coming days, as the poor continue to approach us for help, the target is to reach aid to at least another 100 migrant families. Towards this end, the Archdiocese of Bangalore arranged for 100 bags of provisions to distribute to the migrants. This would make the tally of the poor served irrespective of caste, creed or language to a total of 350 families up to now. As more supplies and yet more poor and migrants seem to be approaching us, this number may increase to 500. It was a very extraordinary Holy Week and Easter for all of us!

           We are all very grateful, that in this very sad moment of the global pandemic and of the nationwide lockdown. It appears that God has opened up a way for us Redemptorists of Holy Redeemer Church and Sadupadesha Community in Bangalore to proclaim the Good News of God’s Love in a new way to the poor and abandoned. Could it just be a coincidence that this happened during the Bicentennial Death Anniversary of St. Clement Hofbauer, our saintly confrere? Not likely! Through his intercession, may we Redemptorists all over the world experience a missionary reawakening even in the midst of this crisis. May new opportunities to evangelize the poor and abandoned open up to us while keeping the safety of all in mind. May we all become increasingly aware of the ways in which, as St. Clement used to remind us, we can exercise our apostolic zeal with “courage” because “God is still in charge”!

Fr. Sandeep Menezes, C.Ss.R.

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Lending a hand in the time of COVID 19 by the Redemptorists of Fatima Shrine Church, Kolkata

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The COVID -19 virus has suddenly overtaken our lives and has changed all that we have considered normal. It has altered our perspective on our work and personal lives and is making us rethink what is most important to us. The national lockdown has given us a time to reflect on what is a priority in our lives – family, prayer, God. However, not everyone has the privilege to reflect and think. Not everyone has a nice home to be safe in, to constantly wash their hands and to stay safe and protected.  Photographs after photograph, news after news has shown how the poor and marginalized are affected by the national lockdown.

Through all the tumultuous time, we are constantly reminded of what Jesus said in Matthew 25: 40 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink”

Taking this to heart, the Redemptorist fathers of Fatima Shrine Church, Kolkata, decided to walk the way of the Lord. Under the leadership of Fr Francis Mukul Mondal (Rector), Fr Amar Bagh (Parish Priest), Fr Richard David, Fr Francis Satish Makal and Bro. Samson (Scholastic) took the initiative to address the needs of the poorest in the parish.

In a church of about 925 households, an estimated 600 households depend on daily wages to sustain their families. A social movement of sorts was galvanized to address the needs of a large section of our parishioners – the daily wage workers. They are mainly those who are occupied as daily laborers, rickshaw pullers, taxi drivers and maids.  With the support of members from SVP, the Family and Health Cells, the priests set up a modality to address the issue.

The initiative was to provide rations to all 450 households that would help sustain them for some time. Through the generous collection of funds from parishioners, dry staples were purchased from the wholesale market and family packages were made that would help tide over part of the lockdown. A total of 24 quintals of rice, 6 quintals of dal and 12 quintals of potatoes were purchased. It was estimated that each family package would consist of 4 kgs of rice, 1 kg of dal and 2 kgs of potatoes.

 Volunteers came from all walks of life and of all ages from the parish. They spent time in sorting and packing the family packages. Physical distancing and protective gear were maintained during the sorting and packaging.

The areas where the households resided were divided into three distinct areas. A local leader was selected who went around identifying the most vulnerable and needy. A list was drawn up and the identified households were asked to collect the family rations from the church on the day specified for the area.

The distribution of ration was held from 5th to 8th April at the church premises. The church set up the required parameters for the distribution. Not more than 4 people were allowed into the church premises and they had to stand 1.5 meters apart. Fr Mukul and Fr Amar wore the necessary protective gear to hand out the packages to a member representative of the family. At the end of 4 grueling days, everyone was happy to have made a difference in someone’s life during this difficult time.

As the pandemic comes closer to our doors, so does empathy and compassion light up our lives. We realize that we are all in this together, for the long haul. And thus we need to support and help each other through the dark days and nights till a new day dawns. For a new dawn will come and what we have considered normal for all our lives, will no longer be normal. And through all this, we internalize and demonstrate what Jesus said – “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brother, you do unto me”.

Fr. Mukul Mondal, C.Ss.R.

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Online Redemptorist Lenten Mission – Province of Bangalore

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The first-ever such Mission, reaching out to the Most Abandoned at a time of Global pandemic !

     The Global Pandemic – Covid 19 has brought the world to a standstill, with the deadly corona virus claiming already so many thousands of lives across the globe.  This has forced most parts of the world to shut down everything and ensure people stay safe within the confines of their home through a lockdown in order to prevent further spreading of the virus and loss of lives.

     As a result of this lockdown and period of quarantine, Redemptorists were obliged to cancel all their Lenten missionsacross India. We had to think out of the box to see how as Redemptorists of the Province of Bangalore, we could still reach out to those deprived of Church services at this moment of global crisis and uncertainty, and so bring the message of hope and comfort to where people are. 

     Thanks to the Redemptorist Media Center, Bangalore and the initiative of Fr. Charles Vijay andhis team, Fr. Juventius Andrade and Fr. Joe Royan were roped in to serve in this first-ever venture of an Online Mission. Within 3 days, the team planned the week-long Mission from 29 March to 4 April 2020 with relevant themes and appropriate content in order to respond urgently to a situation of crisis with the message of redemptive grace. The program comprised of a daily Eucharist at 7 am with a reflection on the day’s reading. The Prayer of Spiritual Communion composed by St. Alphonsus Liguori was prayed at each of the Masses that were webcast. The evening service consisted of a period of prayer, a kerygmatic proclamation of God’s Word and concluded with Benediction.

     The response has been overwhelming from across the globe. There were over 4000+ homes that were plugged in through their mobile phones, TV and Computers, and several thousand continued to view it after the live sessions were over. We were flooded with messages and pictures each day about how grateful they were to the Redemptorists for bringing God’s Word of comfort and hope at a time when the Churches were closed and the daily Eucharist which was a source of strength for so many was not possible.

     Despite the overnight lockdown, the Media Centre organised this at such short notice with a shoe string budget, basic equipment, and limited personnel (not more than 4 persons)on account of social distancing. But that did not dampen the enthusiasm of the team of Frs. Juventius Andrade, Charles Vijay and Joe Royan. Their passion for God’s Word and the prayerful support of the confreres made the dictum of St. Clement Hofbauer, take flesh: Preach the Gospel ever anew. This was true, in more ways than one, and a venture that not only has borne fruit but also holds great promise for the future.

               

 

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Strong in faith, rejoicing in hope, burning with charity, on fire with zeal, in humility of heart and persevering in prayer, Redemptorists as apostolic men and genuine disciples of Saint Alphonsus follow Christ the Redeemer with hearts full of joy

 

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