Bro. John Malvino Alfonso OCD –
Sancoale: “St. Joseph Vaz was a faithful follower of Jesus. He experienced Jesus and proclaimed him through acts of love,” said Archbishop Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão, Cardinal Ferrao while delivering a homily for the feast mass on the theme “Let us truly follow Jesus after the example of St. Joseph Vaz.”
Archbishop Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao presided over the Eucharistic celebration on the feast day of St. Joseph Vaz, Patron of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman. The event was celebrated at the site of the old Church of Our Lady of Health, Rua Escravo de Maria, Sancoale. St. Joseph Vaz wrote a letter of bondage to Mother Mary at this church on 5th August 1677. St. Joseph Vaz is a Goan saint, canonized on 14th January 2015 by Pope Francis.
Bishop Alwyn Barretto, Bishop of Sindhudurg, Bishop Alex Dias, Bishop-Emeritus of Port Blair, Fr. Jose Remedios Fernandes, Vicar General of the diocese, Fr. Valerian Vaz, Rector of Seminary of Our Lady, Saligao, Fr. Donato Rodrigues, Rachol Seminary, Fr. Dominic Noronha, Dean, Margao Deanery, Fr. Kenneth Teles, Parish Priest of Our Lady of Health Church, Sancoale, Fr. Manuel Dias, Rector, St Joseph Vaz Sanctuary, Fr. Nazareth Fernandes Sfx, Superior General, Society of Pilar deacon Movin Fernandes, deacon Mowin D’Costa and 45 priests concelebrated the Mass.
Recalling the devout family of St. Joseph Vaz, the Cardinal said that the spiritual activities in the family helped St. Joseph Vaz, to be in union with Jesus as a child being called as “Supurlo Santulo” (a small saint). “He became the lighthouse to the youngsters in his youthful days and as a priest, he has faithfully followed Jesus and made Jesus as a Centre of his life inspite of hurdles and difficulties,” said the Prelate.
Cardinal Ferrão reminded the faithful of their responsibility to strengthen their relationship with Jesus and to deepen our experience with Jesus with the help of Word of God, Prayer and the Sacraments. “St. Joseph Vaz proclaimed Jesus through the service of love. He continued serving Jesus by building communion, involved the faithful as leaders, catechists in his collaborative ministry thus encouraged participation and continued his service of love as his mission,” said Cardinal Ferrão. “Let us thank God for the gift of St. Joseph Vaz to the Church, and taking inspiration from him, let us build communion, participate in the pastoral activities of the church, thus continue our service of love,” he said while concluding the homily.
Other masses on the feast day were celebrated by Fr. Aleixo Menezes, Rector, Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol Fr. Nazareth Fernandes, Superior General, Society of Pilar, Fr. Soccoro Mendes,, Parish Priest of St. Anthony’s Church, Fr. Simiao Fernandes, Director, Pastoral Institute, Old Goa, Fr. Jose Baptista Sfx and Fr Eufemiano Miranda. Mass in the Oratory room of St. Joseph Vaz was also celebrated by Fr. Aidan Fernandes, Assistant to the Parish Priest of Cortalim.
Deanery-wise masses, mass for the sick and the elderly and masses in Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil were held during the days of Novena.
Archbishop Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão welcomed the Concelebrants and the faithful. Sr. Cloissal Cardozo sfn was the liturgical commentator while Fr. Afonso Mendonca, Director, Diocesan Centre for Liturgy made the liturgical arrangement. Clifford Pereira led the liturgical choir. Fr Manuel Dias, Rector of the Sanctuary of St. Joseph thanked all.
Booklets on Synod Released
The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman’s main coordinating team synod has published two booklets on synod ‘Synthesis of the feedback of the consultations in view of Synod 2023 2024’ and ‘Categorization of the feedback of the consultations in view of Synod 2023-2024 for revisiting SDS and DPP 2002 were released at the hands of Archbishop Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão and Bishop Alex Dias, respectively on the feast day of St. Joseph Vaz at Sancoale.
The convener of the main coordinating team synod Fr. Simião Fernandes introduced these booklets. ‘Magnneacho Jhelo’ a booklet of prayers published by the committee for the promotion of the devotion to St. Joseph Vaz was released at the hands of Bishop Alwyn Barretto, Bishop of Sindhudurg. Fr. Manuel Dias spoke on the contents of these booklets.