Exclusive Report for Goa-World.net by Fr. Maverick Fernandes.
Photographs by William Rodrigues.

Curtains come down on Jezu Krist Jayanti 2000

Finally the year long Great Jubilee 2000 celebrations came to an end on 7th January 2001 at the Se Cathedral at Old Goa. The closing ceremony was divided into three parts

1) Presentation of the reports of the activities during the preparation for the Jubilee
2) The thanksgiving celebration of the Holy Eucharist
3) The blessing of the life size statue of the Blessed Joseph Vaz, the Patron of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.

The convenor of the Jezu Krist Jayanti 2000 (Goa), Fr. Almir de Souza welcomed the Archbishop Patriarch, His Excellency Raul Gonsalves and the representatives from many parishes of the diocese. Fr. de Souza explained the composition of the JKJ 2000 Committee and its sub-committees namely

a) Faith Formation
b) Inter-Religious Dialogue
c) Social concern

The long preparation of three years by focussing attention on each Person of the Trinity (1997 on Jesus Christ - 1998 on the Holy Spirit - 1999 on God the Father) was ably handled by the Faith Formation Sub-committee: the report of which was presented by Mr. Agnel Borkar.

The efforts to build bridges with people belonging to other faiths was based more on the theoretical front. This was done by preparing booklets and a book explaining the feasts and festivals of the other religions. Besides, the report of the other activities conducted by this sub-committee was given by Fr. Alexio Menezes.

And the call to begin Social Concern Cells in each parish in order to execute the prophetic mission of the Church was prominently sounded by the sub-committee for Social Concerns. The bulletin 'Zagrut Za' carried important input on awareness of the various social problems. In order to face them squarely the work of this sub committee was placed before the
congreagation by Fr. Maverick Fernandes. Next Fr. Leonardo Pegado, the secretary of the JKJ 2000 Committee placed on
record the celebrations held during the Jubilee Year. "The thrust of the celebrations were deliberately kept at the parish level so that a larger section of the faithful could participate in the celebrations" he said. Only a few celebrations were held at the dioscesan level i.e. the declaration of the Blessed Jose Vaz as the Patron of the Archdioscese of Goa and Daman; the Pastors Day; the three Grand Rallies of Small Christian Communities, of the Religious, and of the Confraternities and other Church
Associations. "The novenas of St. Francis Xavier was specially organised by each dioscesan Centre in a very meaningful manner" Fr. Pegado said. And the feast was a real Jubilee Celebration, he further remarked.

The Thanksgiving Celebration of the Holy Eucharist then commenced. The Liturgy was inspirational. The various parts of the Mass were organised and executed in a festive manner. The Archbishop, in his homily, reminded everyone present that such a Jubilee will arrive only after a quarter of a century. And meanwhile we have to continuously strive to keep the doors of
our hearts open to the Redeemer, who comes daily to knock at our door in various forms.

A special highlight of the Liturgy was the Profession of Faith, wherein lay faithful, religious men and women, priests and the Archbishop lit their candles from the Paschal Candle and then went on to light the candles of the congregation. With lit candles the faith was professed in a question - answer form. The choir was trained and directed by Fr. Romeo Monteiro.

Towards the enbd of the Eucharist, Fr. Almir de Souza, the Convenor, thanked the Archbishop for his constant support and encouragement during the past years. He also expressed his special gratitude to the Auxillary Bishop Msgr. Fillipe Neri Ferrao for the continued concern shown towards the preparation and celebration of the various events. Fr. de Souza thanked each of his committee members and offered tokens of appreciation through the hands of the Archbishop.

Continuing with the note of thanks, the Patriarch expressed profound thanks to Fr. Almir de Souza for shouldering this great task with dedictaion and commitment. Before the final blessings, the Archbishop called on the members of the Church in Goa to lend a helping hand in whatever way possible to Fr. Cristorao Caldeira, the convenor of the  Goa Diocesan Synod.

After the Holy Mass, the third part of the celebration began. In a brief introduction, the Patriarch explained why a new lifesize statue of Blessed Joseph Vaz was procured. A short prayer service preceded the final blessing imparted on the new statue by the Archbishop.

The entire service which began at 9.30 a.m. wound up at 12.00 noon.

Credits

Exclusive Report for Goa-World.net by Fr. Maverick Fernandes.
Photographs by William Rodrigues

Goa-World Team thanks: Fr. Maverick Fernandes. William Rodrigues. Cecil Pinto (Pinto & Pinto, Panjim, Goa).
C Copyrigths Reserved