Parish council meeting, 11 June 2011

Parish Council Meeting just concluded, and also a Zone A leaders meeting.

One of the main topics was the Sunday School: how to have a better attendance. Suggestions: (1) A complete register of children, with marking of attendance; (2) Follow up of attendance through our 3 Catholic schools, and with parents; (3) Follow up through area leaders; (4) arrangements for transport to be worked out in the Areas.

Another topic was the planning of the 20 years anniversary of the parish (1991-2011), which coincides also with the Visit of the Relics of Don Bosco (6 August) and the International Year of Youth. Tomorrow, at the 1830 mass, the anniversary will be inaugurated.

Yet another important initiative was Training of Leaders and Catechists. Bishop Edwin Colaco will give a session to both groups, 1600-1800 hrs, Sunday, 3 July 2011. Fr Michael Gonsalves will give a session to Catechists, 1600-1900 hrs, Saturday, 9 July, and to Parish Leaders, 1000-1300 hrs, Sunday, 10 July 2011.

Zone A has decided to have an outing to Swami Shilananda's Ashram, Sinnar, on 26 June 2011. Your area leaders will contact you with more details. 

Parish council meeting

The parish council of DB sector met this evening at 1730 hours as usual. About 14 religious, mostly women, and 8 laypeople attended. The agenda including planning for the Marian Academy on 15 August; and the request to the Salesian provincial for land for a new parish church.

Fr Nelson reminded the council of what the provincial had said: to improve the functioning of the SCCs, the catechism classes, the youth group, the Sunday Collections, the Church support, the attendance at Sunday masses. An interesting discussion followed, with several practical suggestions, among which that the Parish Priest should pay pastoral visits especially to families that were not regular. A list of catechism children is being drawn up by Bro Velasli, and each zonal priest in charge and the parish priest and zonal and area leaders will follow up the attendance. The parish councillors will also be reminded to attend the meetings, and efforts will be made to revive the SCCs.

Provincial meets parish council

The provincial met the Parish Council of the DB sector yesterday at 1700 hours. The chief topic for discussion was the request made by some parishioners for allocation of a plot of land for a self-standing parish church. There was a very straight and frank discussion. The upshot was that letters to the provincial should be sent through the parish council meeting under the presidency of the parish priest. The opinion of the house council also would be sought. The provincial had, nevertheless, replied to the private letter sent to him; he was still awaiting a firm and official reply.

In his letter, the provincial had asked some questions, chiefly about who would finance the building of the proposed church.

In his dialogue, the provincial also said that he would first like to see the parish community built up, and church collections and church support increase. The parish councillors - and other parishioners who had joined the meeting - pointed out that this was already taking place.

The provincial concluded by thanking those present for their frankness.

Parish Pastoral Council meeting, DB sector, 5 September 2009

The Don Bosco sector Parish Pastoral Council met yesterday, 5 September 2009, the first Saturday of the month. Since Viviana was not able to be present, Fr Nelson read out the minutes. Viviana is due to get a transfer, so there might be need for a new secretary.

There was a longish agenda, of which I remember the following:

Marian Month: some leaders reported that not all families were keen on having the statue of Our Lady in their house, so this year the statue sometimes remained 3-4 days in a particular house. The reason for this could be the 'competition' between families - the snacks that are served after the rosary. Zone B, however, said that everything had gone well. Agnelo had drawn up a list, and there were no gaps. If a family wanted to shift the day, they had to work it out with another family.

Fr Nelson suggested that we have some special ceremony to mark the conclusion of the Marian Month. It was decided to have a rosary at the grotto at 1810 hours, before the Sunday evening mass, on Sunday, 20 September 2009.

The SCC prayer meetings will begin once the Marian Month is over. The meetings will be within each area, once a month, and in different houses every month. No snacks are to be served.

A Liturgical Committee has been set up under the guidance of Fr Vinod Mascarenhas, consisting of 2 members from each zone. It meets Monday evenings, together with the Zone that is supposed to animate the Sunday evening mass two Sundays later. This committee is not a substitute for the zones; it will only help the zones in their job of animating.

The idea of Zone B to distribute the mass animation among the different areas was found good. The other Zones might also adopt this idea.

Fr Nelson spoke about the Ministry of Lector, and suggested that parishioners be trained for this ministry.

A signature campaign is going on to request the Salesian Provincial to allot a piece of land for a future parish church. In the light of some rumours going around, some clarifications were made. The Salesians are putting up an Auto-Mechanics Workshop and Training Centre, which will be run with the help of Mahindras. There will also be some shops on the periphery; the rental income will go towards running the Workshop as well as the formation houses. A piece of land has also been leased out to the Capuchins, who are constructing a 'study house' for their brothers who will attend classes at Divyadaan.

Fr Nelson suggested that parishioners take advantage of the retreats and prayer being offered by Tabor Ashram. A largish group of seniors and youth from Satpur had gone there, and had returned with good experiences.

He also said that we should begin training of parish leaders.

A large bill of Rs 25,000 has been received from the Cemetery. It seems we have not been paying the bill for some years due to some reasons. Negotiations are on.

The Youth Group has some difficulty with animating the Sunday evening mass, since many of the boys come for the morning mass, while the girls usually come for the evening mass. The parish council was open to giving them a Sunday morning mass for animation, but this will be discussed by the youth before finalizing arrangements.

I requested the zone and area leaders to give me a list of youth in their zones / areas; we would follow them up and invite them to join the youth group.

Music ministry. Fr Nelson said that two parishioners are willing to accompany the mass singing, and have taken the music books. Others who wish to learn should take advantage of the training being offered by Bosco Monsorate and Gordon Noronha.

Confirmations at DB: Fr Nelson said that not all the youth are attending the confirmation classes regularly, and that it would not be possible to give confirmation to these if they came at the last moment. It was suggested that he meet each of these together with their parents.

NB: Fr Nelson celebrates his birthday on 30 September. After the 1900 hours evening mass, we will sing for him and wish him. All those who can come, please make it for the mass.