By Sr Lucia Fernandez

Dharwad, May 25: Twenty-five years is not a very big milestone in the life span of an institution! An institute can go on for centuries. Yet for Dharwad province which is a very small, delicate, and vulnerable province it was a necessity that it be celebrated grandly. 

April 11 marked a glorious day for all the Sisters of Charity of Dharwad province. The VVIP was none other than Cardinal Oswald Gracias and the other VIPs were four bishops, in whose dioceses sisters are engaged in the apostolate and mission work Goa Cardinal Filipe Neri could not be present, though there are five communities serving there. Sr Rosy Cutinha, provincial superior was glad to welcome all the guests in witnessing this great event. However, there was a grand con-celebration of the Eucharist with 38 priests 4 bishops and cardinal Gracia. The choir which was led and trained by Sr Fathima and Elvis helped the faithful to connect with the Lord. The event was held in Shanthi Sadan School, Nirmal Nagar. There were representatives of sisters from the other provinces, which gave the celebration a feeling of oneness with the institute, and the spiritual presence of mother general and council and others who could not make it to the venue. At the venue, there were almost all sisters from the province and five lay persons irrespective of Religion, invited from each community especially those associated for 20-25 years. 

Sr Rosy Cutinha, provincial superior was generous enough to gather all the well-wishers who has been a great support to the province since 1998. The bishops spoke of their personal experiences with some of the senior sisters, how they carried out their mission, and worked tirelessly be it to educate the poor, unruly first-generation learners or treat leprosy patients or do any other work of evangelization; the sisters were great witnesses. A bishop even spoke of how a sadhu became a follower of Jesus because of how compassionately he was treated in our hospital. As one sister expressed, “It was a very exquisite appreciation of our sisters from the four bishops."

The cardinal in his homily spoke of how one could contribute to the Asian spirituality, "Does our community life or the work with the poor and the downtrodden give us a God experience? See if the revitalization of your province could be in that direction. The church in Asia should be peacemakers. The sisters should be bridges themselves and building bridges. We see so much of conflict, hatred, enmity, prejudice, and suspicion. Could this peace-making be our contribution? Dear sisters, this may be how you could contribute to Indian spirituality, Indian holiness… vis-à-vis to world spirituality and world holiness. We thank God for all that God has done for you. We pray God that He continues to bless you with good vocations; that your institute, your province flourishes. We thank God for all the good work that you are doing in so many places. While we thank God, we pray to God. A living organism changes, a living organism adapts to new realities; a living organism, always is relevant to the climate, to the mentality, to the ideology. That is the challenge to you, as it is to us bishops, to the priests and to the lay people. As Pope Francis says every lay baptized person is also a missionary, is also called to be a missionary disciple of Jesus, spreading the good news, and making the world a better place. May the sisters of charity who have the redeeming love and the redeeming charity as our charism, always keep this in mind: always, because of the Love of Jesus also, answer the needs of the times—responding effectively, responding lovingly and responding with aith, with hope and with courage. This is the message of Easter, the message of Jesus; and the message of the readings."

One of the highlights of the programme was a documentary video showcasing the achievements of the sisters of the province in various fields and in their evangelization work. The video presentation was systematically knit together by Sr Bevinda and team which showcased the legacy of charity dharwad province. The sisters from the provincialate community (Shanthi-sadan Convent) under the able leadership of Sr Mary Ann and Sr Divya and all the province councilors had put their heart and soul in making this day as a memorable one for each and everyone who became the part of this jubilee celebration.

A unique and memorable part of the function was the honoring of 20 special persons from various fields, besides honoring the cardinal and the bishops. These 20 were associated with us for more than 20 years and served us faithfully. Mention must be made of the faithful and efficient gardener and lady tailor who worked for more than 30 years stitching dresses for the sisters. This tailor unfortunately got Covid-19 and was paralyzed on one side; yet she managed to come for this event and was honoured and received the gift. Besides these the province has decided to gift 25 chosen, poor and deserving families with a substantial amount as a remembrance of this event. The celebration marked its end by singing a beautiful jubilee song composed by Fr Joyson Sujay Vas SJ, where all sisters of the province joined together glorifying God for His choicest blessings.