Holy Family Joy - Happy Christmas!

Holy Family Church, all dressed up
for Christmas.

"Merry, Merry, Happy Christmas!" writes Fr. Varghese Kalapurakudy, Pastor of Holy Family Mission in Yeleswaram, India. The days preceding and including Christmas day 2013 were "very marvelous and wonderful" at his mission.

An astonishing 95% of parishioners made their confessions before Christmas. Fr. Varghese also helped faithful focus on "worship, Mass practice, carol singing, choir, wishing each other, sharing the gifts, etc...exchanging the peace."

Faithful came to construct nativity scenes on the mission compound, and one was chosen to be the "official" nativity for Holy Family Mission.

The night vigil was beautiful, although a regional power grid failure had Fr. Varghese scurrying to rent a diesel generator so the mission lights could shine. That night, gifts from mission friends allowed Fr. Varghese to distribute 223 wool blankets to his people, who traveled in for the Mass from five scattered villages.

The evening ended with a sharing of biscuits and plantains, although mission funds were too tight for Fr. Varghese to offer people rolls and tea like he did last year.

On December 23, teams of faithful came
to mission grounds to construct creative nativities.

As a special Christmas surprise, a local politician offered 25 saris for widows. These were distributed after Christmas morning Mass. The celebration continued, with "cultural programs depicting the social issues and love of Christ."

Christmas Masses were held outdoors under a tent, since Holy Family Church is too tiny to host the 1,000-plus people who attend. This year, locals who were Hindu and of other denominations came to join their Catholic neighbors at the beautiful, solemn Mass.

Fr. Varghese offered up his Christmas Mass for friends of his mission. He also keeps a list of his special supporters in his breviary, and he prays for their needs daily. 

He does have a couple of very practical wishes as the year draws to a close. Fr. Varghese needs to pay off the bill for renting the generator for Christmas. The bill is due December 31st. He says he is also "praying I will be able to give a tea for my people" after the  New Year vigil Mass, which celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.

Use the buttons at right to contribute to Holy Family Mission in a quick, easy, and secure way.  And please continue to enfold Fr. Varghese and his five scattered mission outposts in prayer.

God bless you, and Happy Christmas!

Amidst all the beautiful crib scenes, this one was chosen
as the official nativity of Holy Family Mission.

Planning for a New Year of Inspiration

Stairs up the mission hill, a Marian grotto, church repairs, a stage for events like First Communions and Confirmations -- Holy Family faithful have gathered to construct these projects by hand over the last four years. Each project is shown in a new parish calendar that will also highlight saints and liturgical readings of the year. Fr. Varghese encourages parishioners to keep the calendar on or near a little home shrine (a little table with Bible, holy water, etc.) and to use it for daily prayer. A friend of Holy Family Mission gave her entire Christmas allowance so Fr. can provide for his people what so many Catholics receive each year and take for granted -- a parish calendar.

Designing the calendar had its challenges, since statehood tensions brought store closures the day Fr. Varghese went to the printer's. He "went to the computer lab, half of the downloading is over, then came the rally, anti-Telangana people shouting slogans and closing all the shops," wrote Fr. Varghese. The shops that did not close, protesters were hitting with stones.

"Buses are stopped. Another devil incarnated in AP in the form of strikes, and so on. So today's adoration is again on peace and serenity in my state."

And just as the mother of Jesus is shown embracing his parishioners on the calendar, says Fr. Varghese, "In the heart of Mother Mary, we are."

Please join this missionary and all his people in praying for peace in Andhra Pradesh.

Praying for All Souls

Villagers scrubbed and decorated graves with loving care.

On All Soul's Day, Holy Family faithful and their neighbors cleaned and decorated loved ones' graves, lit candles and incense, and gathered for a three hour Mass and commemoration of faithful departed.

It was a historic event, says Fr. Varghese. He had tried four years to commemorate All Soul's Day in the cemetery at Yeleswaram, but something always prevented it, such as peoples' fears, deaths in the community,  objections from locals or monsoon rains.

But this year, after Holy Family Mission's beautiful lamp-lit Mass on All Saints' Day, people were open to honoring departed loved ones and praying for their souls in a new and solemn way.

After early morning Mass at Holy Family Mission, Fr. Varghese headed to Eluru Diocese to give a talk to 23 seminarians.

Honoring and praying for loved ones is a family
and community affair.

"God is great," he later wrote. "God's people, wherever they go, they will be assigned by some work. So after the talk I was asked by the rector to hear confessions. Then I left for All Soul's Day…Mass in the cemetery."

The practice of celebrating Mass near and even on loved one's tombs, dates back to ancient times, when Mass was celebrated on the graves of holy martyrs. 

Two visiting priests from Tamil Nadu concelebrated with Fr. Varghese, who spoke for more than an hour about the significance of the Feast and about resurrection after death, a concept new to those raised outside the Christian tradition.

That night, many "gave witness" to a belief in the Resurrection," said Fr. Varghese. 

"God is great."

Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary images
adorn many tombs.

The most solemn moment at Mass, the Consecration
 of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Post-cyclone storms still pound villages

Image courtesy of NOAA
Cyclone Phailin, gathering strength over the
Indian Ocean, October 11, 2013.

In a brief online chat yesterday, Fr. Varghese told how he got calls from parishioners who "lost their houses and so on...sad it is."

The situation's worsening today as heavy storms spawned by Cyclone Phailin sweep away villager's homes and crops. Concrete buildings in larger towns are faring better, says the priest, but thatch-roofed homes in villages are no match for these punishing rains. See this Times of India video of Cyclone Phailin and these photos  of the storm and its impact.

On October 11, Cyclone Phailin was named the largest Cyclone ever recorded over the Indian Ocean, measuring half the size of India. Thousands fled and were evacuated from the nation's East Coast, preventing widespread loss of life. So far, 23 deaths are reported.

Photo by Daniel Bartholomew
Co-blogger Marianna B. received birthday greetings
via Skype from Fr. Varghese, his mission children and
Gypsy the dog, just the night before Cyclone Phailin hit.

The evening before the cyclone made landfall, Fr. Varghese and his children sent birthday greetings via video chat to his Dalitjournal co-blogger. Next day, he joined missionary Fathers Bhaskar and Sridhar in traveling north to the yearly diocesan retreat for priests in the Diocese of Visakhapatnam.

In a region already reeling from strikes, power outages and food shortages from Telengana statehood tensions, people are ill-equipped to handle yet another disaster.

The scale and frequency of natural disaster and political strife in India accounts for the diocesan retreat not being cancelled due to the crisis. This is a precious and crucial time for diocesan priests to reconnect and gather in prayer, rejuvenating their faith in a region just 2% Christian. Special talks by Bishop Antony Pappusamy of the Diocese of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu and hours spent in Eucharistic Adoration, are focusing the priests on local and global intentions.

In past floods, Fr. Varghese carried people to safety, fed and housed them for up to ten weeks at Holy Family Mission and helped in reconstructing homes. Now, he's fasting for his people and will face major clean-up when he returns home.

"Ask all our friends to pray for us," he wrote.

If you would like to donate to Flood Relief at Holy Family Mission, please use the donate buttons for Paypal or credit cards on this site, at right. Thank you and God bless you.

Confirmations Postponed until June 2

A volunteer enjoys a meal break at
Holy Family Mission.

First, the good news. Activity peaked at Holy Family Mission around a week ago, when a compact diesel-powered cement mixer started churning out cement for the foundation of the new stage.  Volunteers carried stones, sand and cement, filling the forms to create foundation walls. In spite of brutal temperatures around 109-degrees F., people's spirits were high. When the forms came down, sturdy walls remained.

Something to celebrate:

Now, for challenging news. Building activity slowed this past week when funds ran dry. Fr. Varghese met with his workers and everyone agreed the work needed to pause. Father refuses to go into debt for this project, so the cement roof and floor of the stage can not be poured until more funds appear.  At this point, not enough time remains to pour the cement and let it cure for the original May 8th Confirmation date. 

When Fr. Varghese called the Archbishop's office, the secretary said, "Oh, Father. The Archbishop was asking to change the Confirmation date due to the heat." Temperatures have been hovering around 109-degrees F., so that May 8th date needed to change, anyway. That buys the workers a little extra time, but not much.

Working outside all day in 100-plus temperatures
is grueling. A worker takes a needed break.

People have signed vouchers promising donations, but struggle to cover basic living expenses in a state where 69% of the population earns less than $2 a day. Most people can't give a donation until payday, at the end of the month. Meanwhile, laborers are willing, but supplies are scarce. 

"People have learned very well" in their Confirmation classes over the past weeks since Easter, says Fr. Varghese. Their spiritual preparation is coming along nicely. So why the urgency to build a stage?

This group of faithful  took special vows of penance
 during Lent. No sooner was Easter celebrated, than the Mission
entered an intense and special period  of formation for
Confirmations, a time Father has called
 a "Way of the Cross."

"We expect nearly 2,000 people" on Confirmation day, explains the priest. "The church can accommodate a maximum of 1,000."

Since Father's mission covers scattered villages and four mission outposts besides Holy Family, tribal people will travel in from far and wide for the event.

Although Archbishop Prakash Mallavarapu feared temperatures would be too intense for participants on the original May 8th date, volunteers have continued gathering at the mission nearly daily to clean and beautify the buildings and grounds. Altar boys scrubbed Father's little house with whisk brooms, and now the house wears a new coat of paint. Everyone wants to honor their Archbishop and the coming of the Holy Spirit by making their mission shine.

Please consider donating to help these people who are so faithful and willing to labor for their God, but who need a helping hand.  100% of donations that come through the Paypal donation button at right, go directly to Fr. Varghese and his people, for their mission's basic operating costs and for their new stage, which will serve the community for years to come. God bless you for your prayers and generosity!

Altar boys scrubbed Fr. Varghese's two-bedroom house
so it could be painted.

Text by Marianna Bartholomew

Photos by Fr. Varghese