by Oswald Aranha
KUWAIT, FEBRUARY 12, 2014: The New Year in Kuwait begun with a bang! The young altar servers were all excited and couldn’t wait until Saturday for their All Kuwait Altar Servers Rally and to meet the altar servers from other parishes.
The courtyard of St Therese Church in Kuwait was bustling with activity as 105 altar servers excitedly gathered to depart for the All Kuwait Rally. After a roll call and briefing, the exuberant team departed for the City Cathedral where they were met by the teams from the other parishes. The energy in the city church was electrifying as 368 young boys gathered together as God’s field, waiting to absorb his seed.
A lively Praise and Worship session led by Fr. Noel Almeida spiritually set the stage for this momentous event. The Vicar General Fr. Mathews lit the ceremonial lamp and officially declared the rally open. After a short briefing of the day’s events by Fr. Francis Kharjias db, the altar servers moved into their junior or senior altar server groups.
Fr. Lionel Braganza sdb and Fr. Valerian Pereira sdb were the speakers for the morning and they alternated between the groups. Fr. Valerian Pereira was invited from India specially to animate the altar servers rally. Their sessions shed light on the theme of the day – receiving the seed that God has sown in our lives and being the fertile soil he created us to be.“I really liked the inspiring talk given by Fr. Lionel” said Ashmen Braganza, to which Rhys Rodrigues added “Yes! Me too! It also made me understand the wrong I was doing”.
Fr. Franco Pereira sdb then celebrated an inspiring and enlightening Holy Mass. Throughout the Eucharist, he carefully explained each part of the liturgy, its significance and its purpose. “I learned things I never knew even though I have been going to mass for so long” said Ashwin Correia.
The boys then gathered together for a quiz on the Gospel of St. Mathew animated by Ursula Lobo and Siovin Landers. After much screaming and shouting the St. Daniel Comboni Parish boys walked away as the clear winners. After all this excitement, it was time for some more drama.
The St. Daniel Comboni Parish boys put up a short yet informative audio-visual presentation and drama explaining the Syro-Malabar Rite. For those who attend the Latin rite, it was a real eye-opener. This was followed by a skit on the parable of the sower, by St. Therese’s parish, as it applies to our modern times.
It was evening already and time to call it a day. Certificates were distributed to all the participants. A special thanks was extended to all the priests for their participation and support and to the team of volunteers for their dedicated service. The young boys left for their homes bidding farewell to their new friends from other parishes. Benson Daniel Cosman commented before leaving “I liked the altar servers rally because I could meet all the altar servers from different parishes and I was able to take part in the quiz”.
Let us continue to pray for these young boys that they may continue to be God’s field, receiving and discerning God’s seed and one day heeding to His call.