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BANDEL: Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, be thankful in all circumstances (1st Thessalonians 5:6-8) The 26 sisters from Kolkata zonal commenced their annual spiritual retreat at Auxilium Convent Bandel from 26th December 2020 to 2nd January 2021.The preacher of the retreat was none other than vibrant FrBiji Thomas SDB. Sr Rose Ezarath the provincial welcomed the retreatants and encouraged to have a deeper encounter with the Lord during this time of grace and assured all of her prayers. It was indeed a good start as we began it with the Holy Eucharist. From the very beginning the retreatants were helped to prepare themselves meaningfully for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The entire retreat was centred around personal holiness, love for God and neighbour, stressing more on prayer life, community living, vocation and mission which are all expression of Giving Jesus to other and thus saving souls, supporting his views for the Scripture. The Old Testament and the New Testament were interconnected well for better understanding so as to delve into the depth of oneself. |
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Fr Biji dealt systematically the aforementioned points. Speaking of holiness he said that the basic awareness of the fact is that we are worthless and what we can’t learn in humility the Lord will teach us in humiliation. The grace of God is necessary in each of us which is equivalent to unjustified suffering and God. As he spoke of community life he focused on Love for neighbour which is indicated in owning up every sister in the community and to value them as St Paul says in Romans 15:1 we who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. He concluded saying we are convinced to keep our focus on where we need to focus and not to turn back, for the Lord knows how to provide if only we give Him a chance. We gratefully acknowledge the valuableSalesian goodnights given by our provincial Sr Rose Ezarath from Constitutions, Circulars, family news and reminders. The day always ended with a good thought. We are privileged to conclude our Annual Spiritual retreat at the Balcony of the Basilica of Our Lady of Bandel with the Holy Eucharist. We thank Sr Provincial for blessing us with this opportunity of making this spiritual renewal possible in a new normal way during this pandemic. Our gratitude and love to Sr.Rosy and the community of Bandel for their great hospitality and goodness in providing the best for our stay. The Retreatants |
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