Bishop Dr Peter Declares ‘Year of Life 2020’ & Unveils Logo during Annual Diocesan Eucharistic Procession
Mangaluru: To mark the feast of the manifestation of our Lord to the nations, a diocesan Eucharistic Procession was held from Milagres church to the Rosario Cathedral here on January 5.
Prior to the Eucharistic Procession, a mass was celebrated by the Bishop of Mangaluru diocese Dr Peter Paul Saldanha at the Milagres Church. The Bishop led the Eucharistic procession from the Milagres Church and culminated at the Rosario Cathedral.
Superior, St Joseph’s Monastery Fr Wilfred Rodrigues OCD in his homily said, “Today we have come in a procession from the Milagres Church to Rosario Cathedral. Today we are celebrating the feast of Ephiphany, which is the celebration of the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally the visit of the Magi to the Christ Child, and thus Jesus’ physical manifestation to the Gentiles.”
Fr Wilfred further said, “Jesus gave himself to us, He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people. When we accept everyone as our brother and sister and love them which is possible when God is with us. What you eat becomes part of you. In the Eucharist, we eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood. We have to respect human life and all life that lives. How to respect human life? If you love others as you love yourself. If you don’t love yourself you cannot love others. If you want to respect others you have to respect yourself. God has given 5 parts to our body i.e Eyes, Ears, Nose, Tounge and Teeth and for our soul, he has given three parts they are Wisdom, Memory and will.”
Fr Wilfred also said, “Nowadays families don’t eat together. There is no system of eating together, if you sit together to eat you see the mobile, you drink soup but see Whatsapp, you eat sausages but see the messages. you should see your plate and enjoy the food. Your family members have cooked with love, taste the food. When more senses are involved better the knowledge. Let us savor the food. We promote life by respecting others and promoting the culture of life. If we respect life we can avoid abortion, theft, rape and murder.”
The closing of the Year of the Youth was held on the occasion. The ICYM president Leon Saldanha briefed about the activities of ICYM. Bishop Dr Peter Paul Saldanha announced the concluding of Year of the Youth 2019 and declared the year 2020 as “Year of Life 2020”, by unveiling the plaque and releasing the balloons in the air.
Addressing the gathering Bishop Dr Peter Paul Saldanha said, “Today we have concluded the Year of the Youth. The ICYM, YCM, Youth for Christ and many other youth organizations have strived hard by organizing various programmes for the youth and have continued their work. Year of the Youth has concluded but we need to continue our work. On February 2, the Catholic Convention will be held in Madanthyar and the youth should take part in large numbers. Various organizations from three dioceses will take part in the convention. We will start the Youth Welfare Fund for which we will reserve Rs 2 lakh from the Diocese. In order to strengthen our community, I urge the parishioners to support this fund.”
Dr Peter further said, “Let us respect every human life. Let us love everyone without any discrimination of caste, creed and religion. If we don’t, it will against the will of God. Let us treat everyone equally. God became man and lived for us. Let us not go against God, we will bring back those who have gone against God. Let us make a pledge, “I protect life, I promote it and I ennoble it. I want to bring a smile on every face”.
Bishop thanked the gathering for their continuous support towards the mission and also delivered the vote of thanks. Emeritus Bishop of Mangaluru Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, Msgr Lawrence Maxim Noronha, priests from various institutions, parish priests from different parishes, priests and religious nuns were also present.
