hi everybody!

For a long time I have been thinking of getting on to blogging and especially the parish blog. So here am I, after I received an invitation from Fr. Ivo. I am happy to be here and be connected with you from my parish office. Interestingly, this first blog of mine, I am writing over a hot cup of tea after a day's work. It seems as if it is going to rain here at Nashik! It is 6.30 pm and in a short time I will be celebrating the holy eucharist; definitely I will pray for you and you too keep praying for me. Bye for now!

Relic Pilgrimage of Don Bosco to Nashik

The Relics of Don Bosco will visit Nashik on Saturday, 6 August 2011.

The van carrying the relics is expected to arrive in Nashik from Baroda in the early hours of 6 August. There will be a welcome at the Maria Vihar end of Don Bosco Marg, and perhaps a small detour into the Divyadaan compound. The Relics will be placed in Don Bosco Church, and will be available for veneration the whole day, except during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, which should be at 1830 hours and perhaps (in Marathi) at 1200 hours.

The Visit will be preceded by spiritual and other animation, and such events will continue after the visit well up to 31 January 2012, Feast of Don Bosco. The aim is spiritual revival for members of the Salesian Family, parishioners, youth, and all people of goodwill. The mission of Don Bosco is the welfare of young people, most especially those at risk in one way or another, and this can be shared and is shared by all people of goodwill.

Bishop Lourdes Daniel has welcome the Visit and extended his wholehearted support. He sees it as one more opportunity for helping the Diocese grow in faith.

In the evening, or perhaps early morning, the Relics will move to Ahmednagar, and from there to Pune, Lonavla, and Mumbai (Borivli, Andheri and Matunga).  

DBWAY.IN, a new web site on education

ROME, JANUARY 25, 2010: Educating for a happy life in DON BOSCO’S WAY (www.dbway.in) is a web resource to acquaint non-Christian parents and educators with Don Bosco’s system of education.

It was inaugurated at the Salesian Headquarters by the Regional of South Asia, Fr. Maria Arokiam Kanaga in the presence of an august assembly of superiors, secretaries, communication experts, historians and representatives of different religious congregations from South Asia that belong to the Salesian family on January 23, 2010.

The creation of the website emerged from the needs of Don Bosco Institute of Technology, Kurla, Mumbai, that was eager to include nearly 70% of its teaching staff who did not profess the Christian faith in the knowledge and practice of Don Bosco’s educational method.

Don Bosco’s pedagogy that originated in the Catholic ambient of nineteen century Italy is closely linked to concepts and language that express his Catholic belief. Today with Salesians working in 130 countries, there is the urgent need to reach beyond the confines of a strictly Catholic Salesian conceptualisation. Salesians work in countries where the presence of Catholic Christianity is minimal and where implanting the Salesian charism and educational method necessarily involves the collaboration of people from other religious backgrounds.

This website is therefore timely, and will make Don Bosco’s education more accessible. With a cosmopolitan, multi-religious perspective it presents in text, diagrams, illustrations and audiovisuals the wealth of Salesian pedagogy. It also provides a variety of resources that facilitate a deeper understanding for the interested.

The project is an initiative of Peter Gonsalves, PhD, a Salesian educator, who currently teaches in the Faculty of the Sciences of Social Communication at the Salesian University, Rome.

(Courtesy BIS #1731)