BIS #1496 DIVYADAAN STAGES 'UNCLE'S WALKING STICK'

Ranson D’souza sdb
NASHIK, AUGUST 17, 2009:
On August 15, 2009, the community of Divyadaan staged a three act comedy play - Uncle’s Walking Stick - in honour of our Lady on the feast of her Assumption. Br. Leon Cruz the director with the support of Fr. Valerian and the community of Divyadaan got together to stage this play. Preparations for this play began well in advance and already a month before the final show the actors were seen memorising their parts furiously. The Brothers were involved in various committees like the lights and sound, the stage and backdrop, the make-up, the costumes, the publicity, ushers etc. Almost everyone was involved in some work or the other. The brothers showed a lot of generosity in carrying out the task assigned to them, taking out time from their daily activities, sacrificing even their afternoon games and keeping aside some time in the night as well for doing their work. One could see the dedication and hard work of the brothers not forgetting all the other activities and the philosophical studies which they were doing simultaneously.
The whole program began with the Divyadaan Band playing ‘Gentle Woman’ and ‘Say, has anybody seen my sweet gypsy Rose’. There was a short presentation dedicated to all priests, keeping in mind the theme for this year which is ‘Faithfulness to Christ, Faithfulness of Priests’. The presentation consisted of three short video clippings. The first clipping included Pope Benedict XVI’s declaration of this year as the year of the priests wherein he speaks about the call of God which may come anytime, to anyone, anywhere. He encourages each one of us to be tuned in to God’s frequency so that we can hear his voice when he calls; in the second clipping the interview of the famous football star Hilgenbrinck from Chile with the CNN news channel was shown. This famous footballer was interviewed because he had made a decision to give up his flourishing professional football career and become a priest. In the interview he mentions that he had heard the call of God. He would always spend some time during the day in personal prayer apart from his daily practices of piety. He felt that he was privileged to serve the people of God by becoming a pastor. The third clipping was about Pope John Paul II’s message to all the faithful wherein he says that the Church is proud of her priests, loves them, honours them and recognizes with gratitude their pastoral work and the witness of their life. Priests are important not only for what they do, but also for who they are – men of great integrity, men of prayer and pastoral charity, always authentic in their love towards Jesus Christ and His people.
Fr. Savio D’Souza the rector of Divyadaan then welcomed the gathering and with this began the show of three acts. At the end of the first act there was a choral recitation ‘The Entertainer’ by the brothers. The show ended on a happy note. All who came had an enjoyable time and went back to their communities and homes cheerful and happy. Even the community of Divyadaan were thrilled with their success and joyfully danced at the end of the evening.