Alex D'Mello
BORIVLI, OCTOBER 04, 2011: On October 2, we celebrated the hundred and forty second birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, Father of Nation and the Apostle of Peace and Non-Violence. On this occasion, Fr. Allwyn together with the members of the Bombay Catholic Sabha, St. John Bosco Parish Unit, organized an "Inter-Faith Prayer Meeting" in the school hall with the theme "I pray that they all may be one".
The program started with the traditional lighting of the lamp by all religious leaders and a prayer for the country. Each leader was presented a tree sapling instead of the traditional flower bouquet representing peaceful co-existence of man and nature. Fr. Allwyn compered the whole program in his own inimitable style. Religious heads from six different faiths enlightened our minds with the message of peace and love. Sr. Reena from the "Brahmakumaris", Bondhe Guruji gave us the message from Vedas. Imam M. D. Ali from the Quran, Sikh Guru, Giani Sevak Singh talked about unity amongst all religions. Fr. Ronnie Menezes, quoting from Sacred Scripture said that peace is a quality that is emphasized in the Bible. . Bhante Mahindra Bhonti, the Buddhist monk was all praise for all the religious heads who spread the message of peace.
The messages were interspersed with beautiful audio-visual presentations by Mr. Harry Menezes. In conclusion all present took a pledge to work for peace and communal harmony.