Bindu Michael – Page 4 – Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Author: Bindu Michael

First Holy Communion at Corpus Christi Parish, UK

Posted on 22/07/2017 by Bindu Michael

This year we have been blessed with preparing 88 children for Reconciliation and First Holy Communion, between January and End of July 2017 in Corpus Christi Church Boscombe. These children ranged in ages between 7 and 10 years old, and were from over 6 different primary schools

The communion celebrations were spread over 4 family masses, 3 in May and 1 in July. The children spent the first half of their meetings preparing for reconciliation, followed by a family service of reconciliation. We concentrated on celebrating the love of a forgiving God, and reassured the children that God is always reaching out for us, and trying to bring us back to him.

The second half of the meetings focussed on preparing for full participation in the Mass and Eucharist. We looked at the sections of the mass, and encouraged the children to think about how we are called to join and gather as a community, the Body of Christ, in the Introductory Rite, and that God speaks to us through the Liturgy of the Word. We then think about our offerings at the offertory and the words and actions of Jesus at the Last Supper, and how this is the Gift of Jesus; his love for us, nourishing and strengthening our faith. We conclude our meetings remembering that the reason we come to mass is in order that we can be ‘sent out’ to serve God and others.

The children have had the opportunity to join the congregation of both the Saturday 6.00 pm vigil Mass and the 9.30am Sunday Mass. They have participated in the offertory and bidding prayers at these masses. During their preparation they have also participated in group activities of prayer and meditation, and a church visit, familiarizing with areas of the church, and concentrating on reverence within Gods house. The groups who prepared for communion in May also explored the topics through role play, Taize singing, art activities and examining simple prayers. They were also able to participate in the Corpus Christi Procession on our Feast Day, and enjoyed a celebration afterwards.

We have been very appreciative of the help from parent helpers, as they all volunteers, with full time employment and families. It has been a great Joy to share the gift of the Eucharist .

Sr.Janet Andrade.aci

Handmaids presence at St. Thomas Garnet School, UK

Posted on 18/07/2017 by Bindu Michael

It has been a great Joy for Jo Harvey ACI and Janet Andrade ACI to be part of St. Thomas Garnet School. Jo accompanies the students of year 3 with support reading, and Janet conducts mindfulness prayer exercises in each class and then spends her time with the preschool children. We also animated the penitential service during lent. Through our being and our doing we are able to share the education of the heart which is very dear to the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We began in March 2017 the months have passed so quickly, we found ourselves at the leaving ceremony of Year 6.

This is the farewell message that Janet aci shared with the parents and the students.

“ It is a great Joy for me to be part of this very important day in the life of St. Thomas Garnet School. Today some of the children who you have nurtured, cared for and educated for six long years will be moving on to new schools. Teachers and School staff I am sure this is a proud day for you, because you can see that your efforts have borne fruit. You do not get an award, but your joy is in the fact that these young people are continuing their journey, not only proud of their academic ability but because you have helped them to be people who want to make a difference to the world. And this difference can only be brought about by people who care deeply about themselves and about those around them.

Here at St Thomas Garnet’s School they have been experiencing its three core values – happiness , integrity and wisdom . It is a happy school , and we have all witnessed the children’s great joy in working together as they performed with amazing talent and enthusiasm the musical ‘ Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat ‘ – something they will I hope always remember.

Year six students, today is a day for looking back and looking forward. And as you do this I pray that you do it with the values that are very dear to St. Thomas Garnet, to St. Rafaela the foundress of the handmaids of the sacred heart of Jesus and to all your teachers, and I am sure to your parents too. What are these values? They are values of the heart.

First I hope that you really know that each one of you is precious, precious to God, to your Parents, to your teachers, but also precious because you are important to the future of this country and our world.
The next thing I hope you have realised that you are gifted. Each person is gifted, and your gift is there to be developed and shared. So appreciate your giftedness, and cherish that gift in each of your companions and friends, enjoy life, and develop your talents.
And finally respect. Respect your elders; respect your peers, but most of all respect yourself. Often we think that Respect is bowing to the will of others, yes that is important if you agree with what is being asked of you. But remember you have a mind of your own. Develop it, form your own judgements on what is going on around you. Do not be just a follower, be a leader. Remember some lead from the front; others lead from within a group. Remember a real leader knows his/her own mind, checks her values with the Lord in quiet times of prayer, and asks for the light to follow those promptings, remember you are not the only one who has the truth, so speak with others. And if things do not go the way they should, be ready to say sorry.

As I said this is a day of thanksgiving to your parents who supported you through your time here, to your teachers who were always there for you and most of all your companions with whom you have shared these special years.

I have said a lot to you, and now since I have been a small part of your lives I will let you know that I will always keep you in my heart and prayer. I pray that you will respect people, that you will love yourself, so that you may be confident, kind and gentle in all your dealings.

Thank you and I congratulate all the other children who receive their awards and wish all the very best and God blessings on the year 6^th students you have received a strong foundation at St Thomas Garnet you can move ahead with great hope and confidence”

Sr.Janet Andrade.aci

St. Raphaela Mary’s Convent (Novitiate House)

Posted on 16/07/201716/07/2017 by Bindu Michael

Novitiate: There are five novices in the Novitiate of our region. Four are in the second year and one in the first. The second years go to Mother Theresa’s home to help out the inmates every Saturday. They say that it is a different experience to be with them and they are using different creativity to entertain the 34 inmates who are old, depressed and even some of them who are not in their proper sense. They organise games, singing, and also spend time talking to them and reaching out to their other needs. Other days they intensely help out in the play School. Once in a month they go out for the different talks at the Jesuit retreat house and other days they have classes at home based on the Novitiate time table. The second years are looking forward to go for the community experience in different communities of the region during the months of October and November.

Family ministry:As part of the family minister the sisters and the novices visit families every Sunday.

Play School: St.Raphaela Mary’s play school re-opened on 5^th June 2017.The number of children enrolled for the new academic year was 11. But later, the number of children started to increase. Just last week 3 new admissions joined us. So now we have 18 children in the play school aged between 2-3 years old. What gives us happiness is that children love to come to our play school. Parents are happy that the children show interest to come to school even if they are sick.

We are trying to give our best to our children through audio visual teaching aids, nature visits, learning activity through play methods, yoga and physical exercises by using Japanese drill music. Even though the Children speak Konkani, Kannada or Tulu in their homes, they started to pick up few English words within a short period of time. The experience of being with little children in the play school is a joy, and sense of fulfillment, but it needs lots of patience. Sr. Regina says that she is happy to give her best to transmit the basics of education to these little ones.

St: Anne’s School Kelarai:

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela

Sr. Dorethi Dabre, Started teaching in St. Anne’s English medium school, Kelarai. Neermarge, Mangalore, in year 2016. This year she is the class teacher of First Std, and teaching them English, Maths and E.V.S and for the second standard students she takes English. Also she is teaching the catechism for the students of 8th, 9^th and 10^th.

She says too be with the smaller children we need lots of patients, listening ears and need to enter in to their shoes. The experience of being with them she feels that they are very innocents and loving. And since she teach the catechism to the bier students she feels that it is totally different experience, she says that it gives her an opportunity to share her God experience to them and also enjoy sharing her faith at the same time listening to them and learning the bookish knowledge from the text books. She thanks the Lord for His abundant and merciful love.

Sr. Suvarna Fernandes Aci

The Spirit blows where He will

Posted on 07/07/201707/07/2017 by Bindu Michael

I am Sr. Noella Pereira and have been in the UK for 7 years. Before that I worked with intellectually disabled children in Dilkhush Special School , Mumbai India, and was also involved in training teachers who wanted to work with these children.

My mother had two brothers who were Jesuits, one was a lecturer in De Nobili College the formation house for Jesuits in Pune, India, and the other worked with tribal people in Dahanu, a small village on the outskirts of Mumbai.My mother was very close to her brother who was a missionary, and so we spent quite a lot of our holidays with this uncle. They were very interesting holidays. We mixed with the Adivasi, tribal children and were always surprised by these people who lived with so little. Also we were in awe of our uncle who lived a very simple life, and was always available if his people needed him. He was priest, father, teacher, doctor, and also government officer seeing that they got their rights. And this meant that when the people needed to go to the hospital at night he was ready to help as he had a jeep.

My Parish was not a Jesuit parish, but I went to school in one of these parishes, and because of the close ties with the Jesuits we often went for mass and belonged to groups set up by the Jesuits. I was an active member of the CLC and when I finished school I Volunteered to support one of the sections at Seva Niketan the Jesuit house that was the centre of the CLC. I was one of the people who prepared people who came to the city looking for jobs in the city. These people had some English but did not speak fluently enough to face a job interview, so I gave English classes, using the newspaper as our text. In this way the clients did not only gain fluency in English but learnt to talk about current topics. This was a very important experience for me. I enjoyed hearing about how they managed to speak and impress the interviewers enough to get the job, and shared their joys and frustrations.

My youngest brother was intellectually disabled and so when I felt drawn to dedicate my life to the Lord I was attracted to the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a Congregation that came to India at the invitation of the Jesuit Provincial in India to work with people who are intellectually disabled. One of the Jesuits at St Xaviers College, had pioneered a study on the education of people who were intellectually disabled. There was only one school in India, in Mumbai so he got our sisters to train in Dublin, before they came to India. Our sisters began with this school and later set up their own school.

Till then I did not see any pattern in what was happening. But I feel that the Lord was leading me to a Congregation and it had Ignatian Spirituality. With time I realise how the Lord was leading me and that my love for the handicapped which was kindled by my love for my brother now widened to a special vocation.

Being with people who are disabled marked my whole life, it was a choice to work with the poorest of the poor, but it spread to those who in different ways needed a helping hand, first it was with the families, and then with those who worked with us and also through the Teacher Training Centre, which served people from all over the country, most of whom were not Christians.

Here Ignatian Spirituality helped a lot. One thing that we learn about prayer is to use contemplation. People who were Intellectually disabled do that very easily, and helping their parents to use this type of prayer to face situations that they found very difficult to accept helped a lot. This is for me one of the greatest gifts of Ignatian Spirituality. And now that I work in a school as a Catechist, I help prepare the weekly Mass, and this method of Prayer is something that children pick up easily. They love to think that Jesus is with them, and he is sharing their experiences, and they talk to him. I hope that these simple experiences help them in future to grow in their relationship with Jesus, and make choices that will be ones God wants for them.

Noella Pereira aci.

Thank you Lord

Posted on 09/09/201609/09/2016 by Bindu Michael

It is good to give thanks to the Lord for He look down on His Handmaids and has been faithful with His promise to His servants…….Yes……It was indeed an occasion of great thanksgiving for Srs. Mary, Prisca and Janet and so for all the Handmaids very specially to all of us who were present with them on 22^nd August at st. Joseph’s church Juhu.

It was also witnessing moments of appreciating the consecrated life as we celebrated it along with the parishioners. We had a solemn mass thanking God as a Parish Community along with all the Handmaids, present and praying for the Jubilerians.

The priest in his homily reminded the Jubilerians to be rooted in prayer and to continue growing in their relationship with Jesus and to transmit it with Joy and in service to the poor.

After the mass, the parish community went forward to wish and bless the jubilerians and all of them were given refreshment meanwhile all the sisters, priests and family headed to the hall for the felicitation and supper.

It was well arranged by sr. Janet’s family and it was indeed sharing of warmth, love and friendship.

Sr. Asunta too was felicitated for her 40 years of life and service shared in India. We had a memorable evening where we along with our dear and near ones celebrated the beauty of belonging to God as the Handmaids of His heart.

Regional Congregation – August 2016

Posted on 09/09/2016 by Bindu Michael

The Regional Congregation of the Region of India began on the 14^th of August, Prior to it as a preparation we had a day of recollection on the 13^th. All the participant arrived at Dilkhush, Mumbai by 12^th evening. We had Fr. Salvaratanam SJ the President of JDV who came from Pune. He guided us to get into prayerful mood.

On the 14^th Morning we began with Eucharistic Celebration celebrated by Bishop Savio Fernandes, the Auxiliary Bishop of Mumbai. The Juniors and the candidates led us with a dance to the entrance procession.

At 9a.m we the participant along with Sr. Margaret Durom our Regional superior had the procession with the statue of St. Raphaela Mary to the hall where we were going to have the Regional congregation and as we walked we sang a hymn to the Holy Spirit. Everything was well set with a prayerful atmosphere.

Thus we started our Regional Congregation. Every day we had different priests to celebrate the Eucharist. The adorations were very creative based mostly on the theme.

All the discussion got over by 19^th noon and we concluded the Regional Congregation with a Te deum. Then we had an official closing ceremony by having a pilgrimage to Mount Mary Basilica on the 21^st. Were Bp. John Rodrigues the Auxiliary Bishop of Mumbai celebrated the Eucharist for us. As there was the door of indulgence, Bishop led us into Mercy prayer and we entered the Mercy door with a procession followed by the Eucharistic celebration. These days of coming together were an experience of Prayer and grace. We really felt that the Lord was with us all through.

Speech therapy Unit at Snehanilayam Special school

Posted on 11/07/2016 by Bindu Michael

One more long awaited dream of Snehanilayam Special School was fulfilled on 30th JUne – “A Speech therapy Unit” with all the facilities!

The unit was sponsored by a Company called V- Guard Industrial Ltd . It was inaugurated by Mr. Cleffy Alveiro, the Deputy General Manager of the company who was accompanied by other 4 members their CSR project !

Thanks to V- Guard Company! God bless all your endeavors!

“You alone Lord…!”

Posted on 11/07/2016 by Bindu Michael

Yahweh, I know you are near

Standing always at my side,

you guard me from the foe,

And you lead me in ways everlasting

Where can I run from your love…?

If I climb to the heaven you are there

If I fly to the sunrise or hide beyond the sea

Still I would find you there!

Marvellous to me are your works;

How profound are your thoughts, my Lord

This psalm speaks to me aloud of my 25 years of life journey as a Handmaid. I am filled with awe and wonder for all that He has done in my life and I have no words to express my gratitude to Him. Where can I run from your love Lord: Yes! I am so filled with Lord’s passionate love for me. What always bring tears in my eyes is that the Lord always surprises me by fulfilling my desires…

Everything in my life is a song of gratitude- Magnificat! The tremendous Love of the Lord for me has brought forth a response from my heart. Anything asked of me has generated a humble “yes” to His service. The Lord’s tender love, His compassion, His trust has led me to put my faith in His hands. Many times I tell myself that I am not worthy Lord for so much love, yet I know He spoils me. This is my experience of my God. I am aware in everything that

I am His Beloved Handmaid – small, weak, fragile, yet loved and blessed. With this experience I am convinced that He loves me with an everlasting love. He says, I have called you and you are mine.

I thank the Lord for choosing me to be a Handmaid of His heart. He and troubled me with the same question which He asked St. Margret Alaquoque and during my month’s retreat I wrote “You alone Lord”. Though I have failed Him at times He has always been faithful

For my first destination after my vows I was sent to Roha. I experienced a great joy to go to the less privileged and learn from their poverty, later on to reach out to the hostel girls and to their families. The best time was spend in the villages. The mission united us in the community especially during the time we were questioned of converting the tribals. Yes, during this time of trial, I learned this mission belonged to the Lord and we are only collaborating in this mission.

Having our Eucharistic – reparative mission- St.Raphaela Mary is a strong motivational force in my life. Her life has been an example, grace and challenge. My great desire before joining was the deep thirst to know God and Love Him. Yes…I am convinced the Lord loves me, He prepared a banquet for me through the exemplary life of St. Raphaela Mary. (Sr. Aleena Rodrigues. aci)

Happy Birthday Sr.Aleena !!!( 27th June)

“Merging my springs in the sanctuary of His great River of life….

Posted on 11/07/2016 by Bindu Michael

When an axe is pierced into the heart of the sandal tree, it said to the axe: “ Each one shares what each one’s nature is; your nature is to cut down and mine is to give fragrance even to the one who cuts me down..” and indeed it was, the axe smelled so strongly of the sandal. Yes, each one shares what we really are. When I trace down my memory lane of my desire to be a consecrated person, there were two dreams that alimented it – one was to remain close to God and another one was to live happily with so many sisters. Though I could find so many sisters praying in many congregations, what attracted me to the Handmaids were the adoration and the joy of the sisters that I met. Of course, there was a bonus too. I felt very much at home with the Handmaids in spite of all the pain that I felt leaving behind my world and my own. I heard an inner voice saying to me: “at last you have reached your home”…that voice and that feeling are still fresh in me no matter wherever I am.

When I look back at those days, I still remember that super nervous, hyper active girl who had a lot of good will and passion to love and serve the Lord and His people but with a lot of low self esteem, fear and uncertainties. Today I can say that it was really worthwhile to go through the process of “digging one’s own grave, dying and rising and the painful but beautiful process of “Reparation and Healing” before the Eucharist. He has found a “good crackpot mended” so that in His hands it can reach out to wherever He take me very specially to the outskirts and peripheries where the main stream is aloof to reach out. Thanks to all those instruments of formation that with their help the Lord had made me discover the “Pearl” that I am. I am the pearl that He holds out to the world to show them what God can do with the “little stones of pain and suffering in the shells of our comfort zones”. When any one asks me what is the happiest thing in my life… I tell them that it is to be a Handmaid of His heart that I belong to Him… what greater joy than being the “Esclava (slave) of a God who is pure infinite Love, continuously whispering to me like a mantra, “I love you and I am with you”. It has changed my perception towards life, love and people, the way I relate with people, the way I do things. It gives me the joy of owning who is not of my own blood, culture or language, to love even when it is not reciprocated, to cry with those who are vulnerable, heal the wounds of suffering, to be with the people in need, to fight for their rights but with compassion and justice, to forgive and move on even when it hurts.

Since I know by experience that it is God alone who heals, I find a lot of meaning in the words of St.Raphaela when she says, “ Bring the people to adoration”, I have heard witnessing of people about this greatest treasure of Eucharist that heals and consoles ,may it be the tribals, children, women or the fisher folks. I have found the Lord in their laughter and tears, in their simplicity, generosity and richness of humanity. St.Raphaela Mary says, “A Handmaid’s heart should be large enough to embrace the world”. I think it has affected our lives so much, I feel so happy to belong to this universal family, I appreciate our wider perceptive in life and mission, our freedom and openness to be with the people wherever they are and wherever they may be, open our houses for the people to enter and experience the warmth and friendship of our consecration.

There are certain experiences that never fade away from my heart. The most beautiful experiences are that of Roha, where I really felt so fulfilled as a Handmaid who live the reparation, where people confirmed that our lives are the 5^th living gospel. The only one which they will read! During one of the village meeting in the tribal hamlet, the leader of that village told: “You know my grandfather was killed in front of my father who stood so helpless. But now they are frightened to molest us because they know that you are with us and justice will be done…what a joy to know that our presence itself communicate a sense of security to the little ones…another occasion during the women’s meeting…one of the ladies told… your God- Jesus – is very good…I asked why? Because you are good. You come to us to help us in spite of the sun and rain, you do not cheat on us, we are no one to you, still you treat us as if we are your own…

I have come across many people saying about us that you all are very happy and free, very original and spontaneous, you have disagreements but soon you are together, laughing or working. You are so special that we felt at home with you all. You are our sisters. I think that is the beautiful thing being a Handmaid – owned by God, by the universal family of Handmaids and by the people with whomever we live and work. I conclude by stating the sacred God experience of flowing like a river along with God and with my sisters and the universe. A river that springs forth from the deeper self of my being and flows out embracing all the shores. It is a special joy to flow like Handmaid because it means sharing the streams of healing from the sanctuary of life- the Eucharist. And in the course of flowing together with Him I realise that my spring has completely become one with the living water in the sanctuary of His life in me. I am blessed because I am the Handmaid of His heart. Sr. Brigit Viji Aci

Happy Birthday Viji !!!( 17th June)

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“So that the world may know that you are my disciple…”

Posted on 09/06/2016 by Bindu Michael

I would say that living of consecration is just like a tiny star giving the powerful light to the darken world. In the context of Timor, I feel the symbol of star is very significant. Bazartete, the mountain area, the place where I live, there are neither big buildings nor any illumination. Therefore even a tiny star radiates its powerful light for us in the night. Very many times, this tiny star shows the way back home while I walk around.

My life as a consecrated woman is also just like a tiny star…… radiating the tender love, joy, peace and mercy or Christ to the simple people around me; especially the broken people. And I strongly believe that, the profound experience of God gives me the courage to challenge my life each moment even to the unknown.

There are many experiences, but I would like to share one of the experiences while I was in Pune just before I came to Timor. While I was transferred to Pune, I got a job in ENNS (Mrs. Erin Nagarvala School) as a remedial teacher to deal with the LD (Learning Disabled) children. It was a very old non catholic school with day scholars and the residents, run by Parsees. I was placed in a residential school. Soon after my interview, I was asked to be in charge of one class with sixteen LD children. Since I didn’t have any idea about their academic level, I requested to observe the class for one month in order to build the relationship with them and also to get their level. And my Principal was agreed to my request, and I began my observation. But I was shocked to see the injustice was going on in the class. The lady who was in charge of that class was not a teacher, but the clerk who had done some short term course on LD. But in reality, she had no idea about the LD at all. Therefore she used to torture the children physically, mentally and psychologically; especially the girls were her target. She couldn’t stand the girls, even one of the girls called Anjali was the victim of taking all her anger. With the result, the child lost all her self confidence and was not been able to say one word. With the fear, she used to stammer and when the lady hears her stammering, all the more she used to get angry. Together with the children, I suffered a lot in the class feeling total helpless. Soon a moment came that I couldn’t bear any more. After the prayer and reflection, I decided to speak to the Principal and tell her everything what was happening in the class. When I spoke to her, she asked me to write an evaluation in detail. Soon after that the Principal appointed me as a class teacher of that class. Even though I had to bear the consequences from that lady, I was very happy to see the tremendous change in the behaviors and in the academic are of the children. They began to believe in themselves and thus began to perform well in all areas. Even Anjali could speak without stammering. The Principal and all the teachers were surprised to see the noticeable change, and that gave me credibility as a Religious Sister. Even in a non Catholic school, the management respected me more than any other teachers who were working for so many years and always consulted me in any of their official matters. This was possible only because of my Handmaid vocation. Even today, some of the children from that group often write to me. Recently Anjali had written to me saying that “What I am today is because of Sister”. It is not that I have done something, but it is the Christ who lives in me. I really thank God for the gift of my Handmaid vocation.

Our vocation to be a Handmaid is a free gift of God. It is not because of our greatness we have obtained this gift. But it is God’s mercy which made us worthy to be a Handmaid of His heart. Therefore we have to take care and nurture our vocation with an attitude of gratitude to the giver. Every moment of our life is important, and there is not even a single minute to waste. The broken world needs us….. Listen to the cry…. So live our vocation more meaningfully for the service of others radiating the tender love, joy, peace and mercy of Christ. “So that the world may know that you are my disciple”. Keep your eyes fix on the eyes of the Lord….. And never get tired of sharing…….

Happy Birthday Sr.Aleena !!!( 27th June)

Happy Birthday Viji !!!( 17th June)

Happy Birthday Sr.Julie ( 25th May)