The Mumbai
Salesians Provincial Community Day commemorating St. Francis Xavier,
the Patron of the Province was held in the Don Bosco Kapadvanj Campus in
Kheda District of Gujarat on 03 December 2019.
Salesians from across the
Province, numbering 62 in all, gathered around the Provincial and his team in
camaraderie to celebrate the zeal and fidelity of the
Salesians past and
present with the theme "We are because He is."
Father Savio Silveira, Mumbai Salesian Provincial presided at the
concelebrated Eucharist inviting the confreres in his
homily to,
"acknowledge the marvels accomplished thus far, while embracing changes around providing exemplarily consistent and constant life-witness to the
common Salesian identity, as Don Bosco wished, that the primary aim of the Society
is the sanctification of its members ." Further on alluding to the launch
of theProvince Golden Jubilee, he emphasised, "we are called, commissioned
and sent with this identity that unites and makes each of us contribute to the enlivening
of our communities, boosting our efforts to accompany the young, enabling us to
broaden our horizons and cast out into the deep like St. Francis Xavier with
purpose and commitment."
After the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist, Fr Alexander
Fernandes, the visionary founder of AmrutDhara Don Bosco launched 'Bhajanavali'
by Fr John Kengar sj and 'Vadhai: Nonstop Christmas Garba'. The confreres were
then presented with a audio-visual presentation of the Salesian Works at
Kapadvanj, after which the confreres proceeded to the blessing of a water
conservation tank, an auditorium, and the planting of a sapling to commemorate
the Silver Jubilee of AmrutDhara Don Bosco .
Father
Ashley Miranda, ViceProvincial presented the Golden Jubilee triennial programme,
with a demo of the Jubilee Anthem, distribution of the Jubilee Display Poster,
followed by a musical narrative of the Jubilee theme by the scholastics of
Divyadaan. The programme continued with the raising of the toast, felicitation
of the Provincial team and a sumptuos banquet-spread of local delicacies
prepared with love by a team of local cooks drawn from Kawant, Dakor, Kapadvanj
and ChhotaUdepur.
All who
trudged and trundled along from various corners of the Province, the young and
those aging like fine wine extended their gratitude to
fellow Salesians at
Kapadvanj for their warm hospitallty, lively cordiality and accomodative generosity
in hosting this grand moment of Province fraternity. Each confrer went home
with a keepsake stole, a cloth bag with a souvenir cup and the Gujarati book on
Don Bosco 'Italano Kadiyo'.
