11th
September, 2013
“To
accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan,
but also believe.” Anatole
France
Ever
since St. Albert’s College started forming and training priests for the Kingdom of
God, it not only acted according to the mandate of Christ, “Go and Proclaim,”
but also had dreamt of Kingdom values; not only planned its course of formation but
also was enabled to believe in the Kingdom. And today, those priests, proud of having sown the seeds of the Kingdom of God all-around the world for the last One Hundred
Years, are here back in their alma mater
and exclaim, “How nice it is to be here.”
Here,
as students, some of them underwent formation for four years, some three, some
two, some 10 or more. Not only they gained knowledge here; they also fructified
the knowledge gained in various fields. In its fruition, they climbed the rags
of the ladder, higher and higher. Today, St. Albert’s is proud to count on the
blessings in terms of thousands of priests it trained, 35 bishops and a Cardinal
which it gifted to the Mother Church. It is a “homecoming day” for them. Dear
fathers, “St. Albert’s was your home, is your home and will be your home for ever.”
Bothers
were busy in assisting the alumni to register their names and address on 11th
morning. Every alumni was given an ‘alumni bag’ with necessary things needed
for various sessions.
This
was followed by the inauguration of the Alumni Re-Union. It was held in the
auditorium. Fr. Rector, His eminence Telesphore P. Cardinal Toppo, and Rev. Fr.
Abraham Puthumana S.J. lighted the lamp.
Fr. Joseph Prasad Pinto OFM Cap., the Rector, welcomed the gathering with affection and humility.
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| Rector, Fr. Joseph Prasad Pinto OFM Cap. |
As
we began to prepare for this Alumni Gathering on the occasion of the Centenary
of our St. Albert’s College, we had made a list of all the priests, who had
passed out from this College and sent our cordial invitations to each one of
them through their respective Bishops or Major Superiors. We presume that our
invitations have reached all of them. In fact, many enthusiastically expressed
their interest to come to this Gathering but expressed their inability to do so due
to unavoidable circumstances. It is also possible that several Alumni did not
receive our invitations for reasons beyond our control. We deeply regret this
fact.
All of you have come here with fond memories and powerful experiences of your student days. With nostalgic spirit you are at your Alma Mater St Albert’s College. This College was established in 1914 with only 6 seminarians. The number of seminarians had been rather small till 1950, on average about 30 of them each year. But with the subsequent growth in Catholic population and the construction of spacious buildings, the number of seminarians steadily grew to 100 in 1957, 170 in 1970 and around 300 in recent years. However, since a few years the trend seems to be a steady decline in priestly vocations all over; and that has affected our College too. Over 40 dioceses and 20 religious congregations benefit from this premier institution in some way or other. From its inception the seminary was fully managed by the Society of Jesus till 2002 when it was entrusted to the Board of Bishops of Bijhan - Bihar, Jharkhand, and Andaman. More than 2000 priests have come out of this seminary, out of whom 36 have become Bishops, some Archbishops and one Cardinal. We may say that this premier Ecclesial institution is the power house and the nerve centre of Christian faith-formation and Christian Faith-renewal in this region.
Historically
the local Church here had its origin from Lutheran Mission begun in 1845,
Anglican Mission in 1868 and Jesuit mission in 1869. Thus the local Catholic
Church here is only about 144 years old.
Yet, by and large, we may boldly say that the Christian Community in
Chotanagpur today has become formidable. Christian Community’s growth, and its Gospel
commitment and contribution to the Universal Church and society at large are
keenly felt all over India and even abroad. Many of the local Christians,
priests and nuns have begun to cross the local geographical and cultural
boundaries and have reached other parts of India and the world; they have established
their strong Christian presence in places like Andaman, Jalpairguri, Tezpur,
Dibrugarh, Bagdogra and several other parts. Thus the little flock of
Chotnagpur has become the Biblical leaven in the mass of India. Today the
Catholic presence in North India is significant only in the tribal belts of
Chotanagpur and North East. About 15 percent of the Christians of India are
found in these regions. One has only to travel a little in the remote areas of
Chotanagpur like Gumla, Simdega and Jashpur. One will be pleasantly surprised to
see even the remotest tribal areas dotted with small and big churches,
convents, hostels for the poorest boys and girls, children going to schools and
the faithful returning from the churches. Among the most well known Catholic
institutions of this region are: the Jesuit run St. Xavier’s Autonomous College,
Ranchi; XISS, Ranchi and XLRI, Jamshedpur.
And
you yourselves, the honoured Alumni of this College, have taken the Good News
of Jesus to several other parts of India. You are indeed the Fruit, the Joy and
the Fulfilment of this College and God’s Glory. You are here to refresh your
lived beautiful memories of Seminary days, to celebrate your priestly life and
empower your life of ministries in Jesus.
Session One: Key note address
The Rector's welcome address was followed by the key note lecture. The resource person for the day was, Rev.
Fr. Abraham Puthumana S.J. The Master of Ceremony Fr. John Crasta introduced
the resource person. The topic for the day was, “Challenges to the priestly life in the Present Modern World.” The following
is the excerpts of the talk delivered by Rev. Fr. Puthumana.
The
basic challenge of priesthood is to share in the ministry of the Church to
build itself into the People of God, Christ’s Body and the temple of the Holy
Spirit. This means that the priest has to be aware of the unchangeable aspect of his
life, namely he must resemble Christ. He should be able to contextualize himself
viewing himself from today’s society and the church. Today people are deeply
aware of human dignity; there is the thirst for justice and peace, a more
lively sense that humanity must care for creation and respect nature. There is
the thirst for God and an active meaningful relation with him.
 |
| Rev. Fr. Abraham Puthumana S.J |
On
the negative side, the challenges are as follows;
Rationalism:
Rationalism at work can make a person insensitive to an encounter with the
divine transcendence. Many would not think of anything beyond the here and now,
that is the lived reality of the world. There is the all pervading search of
pleasure that again locks a person into himself/herself without feeling any
need for God. Distorted sense of sexuality leads to break up in families in many
parts of the world. There is hesitation to accept the magisterium of the Church
and often this results in superstition and religiosity without God.
 |
| Fr. Puthumana delivering key-note address |
There
is a thirst for freedom, authenticity and sincerity. There is search for a more
just and sympathetic and united world. We can see in many parts of the world
various forms of voluntary service especially with regard to the poor. In many countries the materialistic ideologies
have collapsed.
There
are challenges arising from ethnicity. Often the question of one’s caste or
tribe is raised and a person is accepted or rejected on the basis of family or
group origin. [This is very much seen] again when it comes to appointment to
some important offices in the diocese itself or appointment of bishops.
Would
it be right for me to say that the basic problem here is that priesthood has
become a career and not a vocation to serve God and the people? In the course
of study and/or priestly ministry such persons may have lost their original
vision and inspiration for entering into priestly way of life.
The
challenge today for the person would be to go back to his original call and
rediscover the roots of his call; and for
the believing community to expose such personal career / ambitions on the part of
the priest who initiates conflicts.
Unless
we go back and rediscover what it was that prompted us, in the first place, to
accept this call we are surely going to get into a three-fold struggle for power,
prestige and possessions. Today, these three Ps keep many priests in bondage and
these are at the bottom of many conflicts in the dioceses and
religious congregations.
Another
problem is the tendency on the part of some priests and religious to
appropriate what belongs to the parish or community for the benefit of oneself
or one’s own family. This happens when one makes one’s own the goods belonging
to the parish or gives them to one’s own family.
Multiculturality among the clergy is
another challenge facing our churches. If a multicultural clergy group is able
to rise above ethnic considerations the situation will be a powerful lived
witness to the power of the Risen Christ that can bring people of various
cultures and languages to work together for the establishment of God’s Kingdom
in today’s world.
The Laity complain of the lack of
preparation on the part of some of the celebrants. There is hardly any
preparation for the liturgy or the celebration of the sacraments. The homilies
are not prepared and they instead of being inspiring become a hurdle to the faithful
in their worship.
Both
the positive happenings and the conflict situations described above pose
challenges to the priest of today.
Holy Eucharistic Celebration
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| Decorated altar |
Group Discussion
In
the afternoon, group discussions were held. The whole house was divided into
twenty groups. Each group was given four questions to discuss. The questions
were as follow:
Groups
were spread in the whole seminary. Every class room, library and hall were
occupied to discuss the issue. This way, again the alumni re-lived their student
life.
Colourful Cultural Evening
Most
Rev. Paul Toppo conducted the evening prayer. By means of a colourful and meaningful slideshow he lead us all to the
divine. It lasted for 20 minutes. After this we had a colourful cultural
programme.
The Sister
students of the college came up with a meaningful prayer dance. This was followed
by various other programmes by brothers such as Nepali dace, Kharia dance,
Karam dance, Santhali dance, Bhojpuri and Bangra dance.
In the meantime, distinguished alumni were felicitated. One of the prominent alumni was, Rev. Fr. Xavier Toppo.
He joined
the Albertine family before independence and is a priest for over five decades.
He was invited to the stage and was felicitated by Fr. Rector. This was followed by
bishops and jubilarians.
 |
| Most Rev. Paul Toppo |
In the meantime, distinguished alumni were felicitated. One of the prominent alumni was, Rev. Fr. Xavier Toppo.
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| Rev. Fr. Xavier Toppo addressing the gathering |
Sumptuous
dinner was served at the SDC, Ranchi.
12th
September, 2013
The
day began with the solemn Eucharistic celebration. His Eminence Telesphore P.
Cardinal Toppo was the main celebrant. Bishops Francis Kalist of Meerut
Diocese, and Thomas D’Souza, were among other concelebrants on the altar.
Soon
after the Mass, we had the group photo session. Photos were clicked as a whole
group, and also in various smaller groups, besides many more interested parties.
 |
| Holy Eucharist, presided over by Cardinal Toppo |
Reporters
were ready with their camera and interview. Local TV channel was recording
every movement.
Key note address of the day
Key note address of the day
At
9.00 a.m, began the first session of the day. Rev. Fr. Sebastian Tirkey was the
resource person. The theme was “Relevance of the Seminary Formation in Today’s
Socio-Pastoral Context.” The following is the excerpts of his address:
According
to the Albertine calendar, many subjects and topics have been taught in the
seminary by the competent professors. The calendar indicates the all round
development of the Seminarians. It is a very good sign for the growth of the
future priests. In olden days some of the courses were not present explicitly
(like accountancy, project planning, youth animation etc) but implicitly. However, I am in a dilemma whether the
insights given by the professors are really grasped by the students or studied
just to pass the examinations.
 |
| Fr. Sebastian Tirkey |
In
olden days, much stress was laid on prayer life, pastoral work and forming of
good parish priests. It seems with this changing world the priests of the
modern age do need prayer and pastoral formation. They need the intellectual
insights and degrees. The pastoral life becomes the secondary matter.
It
is becoming difficult to get good parish priests and good assistant parish
priests in this modern age. Good priests are fit for any type of work. Drinking habit is increasing among the clergy. Some
priests are becoming alcoholics and it is a problem of the dioceses. Such priests
work for worth Rs. 5. 00 and the diocese has to spend Rs. 500,000.00 for their treatment.
If a seminarian is found in taking an alcoholic drink, he should be sent out from
the seminary without any excuse. There is no need of asking or informing the
respective bishop.
In
spite of all the short-comings of priests, the faithful respect the priests. Therefore,
I request the seminary staff to train the future priests as men of pastoral concern
and to be responsible to the assigned duties.
This was followed by an open discussion. Many came
forward and expressed their views. All were very much grateful to the seminary
staff. They gave several suggestions to
make the seminary a ‘model seminary’ in the world.
Reporting session
Reports
of the group discussion held on the previous day were placed in this session. All the
twenty groups elegantly presented their views.
Vote of Thanks
At
the end of the programe, Fr. Rajesh Minj proposed the vote of thanks.
The Masterminds
Fr. Jacob T.K was the main co-ordinator of this Alumni Re-union Programme along with Frs. Rector, Michael Ignatius, Deepak Tauro, and Rajesh Minz.
Months of preparation and effort turned the finale a ‘grand success’. Fr. Raju Felix Crasta was the official media
person who recorded every action of the programme.
Rev. Fr. John Crasta, the professor of Moral Theology and alumni effectively anchored two days programme.
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| Fr. Rajesh Minj proposing vote of thanks |
Fr. Jacob T.K was the main co-ordinator of this Alumni Re-union Programme along with Frs. Rector, Michael Ignatius, Deepak Tauro, and Rajesh Minz.
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| Fr. Jacob TK, the Chief Coordinator |
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| Fr. Deepak Tauro |
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| Fr. Michael Ignatius, the Minister Man-of-the-Match and Man-of-the- Series |
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| Fr. Raju Felix Crasta, Media and Photography |
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| Fr. John Crasta, Master of the Ceremony |
Report
and photography by,
Fr.
Raju Felix Crasta
For more pictures: click below:
https://picasaweb.google.com/112747257174044050675/AlumniReUnion1112September2013?authkey=Gv1sRgCOyVudbH1Njn7gE
Recipe for success: Study while others are sleeping, work while others are loafing, prepare while others are playing, and dream while others are wishing.”
William A. Ward
Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us.”
Dr. Dale Turner
