08, March, 2023:-
We the Staff and students of KPRT had the joy of celebrating the Birthday of one of our resident staff members on 8th March, 2023. It was the birthday of Fr. Simon Mohta.
Fr. Simon's birthday was on 7th March but we could not celebrate it on that auspicious day because of the Visitation of the bishops of MP-Chhattisgarh to our seminary on the same day. So, it was postponed to 8th March but on that day in the evening, we the first year brothers solemnly decorated in front of his room with different types of balloons, flowers and other attractive things. Some of our brothers nicely decorated the notice board with the different images of important events of Fr. Simon’s life. On 8th March, fine morning KPRT family gathered in front of the Grotto to surrender Fr. Simon in the loving hands of Mother Mary. His hands were washed and he incensed the statue of Mother Mary and received the blessings. Fr. Antony honored him with the beautiful bouquet. His short introduction was read by Bro. Fristo.
Thereafter, we proceeded towards the church while singing hymn to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Eucharistic Celebration was celebrated with lot of devotion and solemnity. During his homily, Fr. Simon mentioned, that there should be a day, when we can thank the Lord for everything. We specially prayed for him at the time of prayer of faithful. After mass there was cake cutting ceremony in the refectory, before that Fr. Tobias appreciated him for his humility and always for his availability to help. The whole community wished him by singing birthday song while he cut the cake. In the afternoon fathers from nearby community joined for lunch and doubled the joy of Fr. Simon and made his day a memorable one.
✍ Bro. Anil Hembrom, First Year Theology
07, March, 2023:-
Every year, the bishops of M.P. and Chhattisgarh visit Khrist Premalaya Regional Theologate to have a firsthand knowledge of the happenings in the seminary. This Annual Visitation by our Shepherds gladdens our hearts and shows the providential care and love towards the brothers in the formation. This year, our beloved bishops came for the visit on March 7 to KPRT campus. This visitation reminded us of Mother Mary’s visit to Elizabeth which had brought her many good tidings. In the same manner the visiting bishops and administrators brought a lot of good tidings for our community by their very presence and their inspiring messages. We are grateful to them for this year’s annual visitation.
This year Archbishop Most Rev. Dr. A.A.S. Durairaj, Archbishop of Bhopal, His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Victor Henry Thakur, Archbishop of Raipur, His Excellencies, Most Rev, Chacko Thottumarickal, Bishop of Indore, Most Rev. Emmanuel Kerketta, Bishop of Jashpur, Most Rev. Antonis Bara, Bishop of Ambikapur, Very Rev. Fr. Peter Kharadi Administrator of Jhabua, and Fr. Jomi Panithas (the secretary of the CBMP) were present for the annual visitation.
All the bishops arrived in KPRT Seminary at around 10 a.m. Brothers welcomed and felicitated the dignitaries at the welcome programme held in the auditorium. Some of the brothers creatively presented the bio data of the visiting Bishops and Administrator and they were officially welcomed with a shawl and a sapling by priests and prefects of the Seminary. An elaborated Annual Report of the Seminary was presented to the gathering by Fr. Antony Akkanath, Dean and Vice-Rector of the Seminary during the welcome programme.
After the Welcome function, the bishops met the brothers in batches. Most Rev. Victor Henry, the Archbishop of Raipur and Very Rev. Fr. Peter Kharady, Apostolic Administrator of Jhabua, had the inter-action with the third-year brothers. Archbishop Most Rev. Durairaj and Most Rev. Antonis Bara, Bishop of Ambikapur had the inter-action with the second-year brothers, and Most Rev. Chacko, the Bishop of Indore and Most Rev. Emmanuel Kerketta, Bishop of Jashpur met the first-year brothers. In this short meeting, each batch presented their class wise reports to the dignitaries. The report consisted of an overview of the spiritual, academic, and physical activities of the brothers. The report also had a few suggestions from the side of brothers. After the meeting all gathered in the refectory for the Lunch.
After the lunch, the dignitaries had a meeting among themselves at 2:30 p.m. and at around 3p.m., the whole community again gathered in the auditorium to listen to the dignitaries. The meeting began with a short report of last year Visitation which was read by the secretary of CBMP, Rev. Fr. Jomi Panithas. Afterwards each bishop enriched us with their valuable words of advice and suggestions. After the tea break at 4 p.m. the bishops met with the staff to discuss about the future course of action for the Seminary.
The annual visitation of the Bishops had its culmination in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. His grace, Archbishop Victor Henry, presided over the Eucharistic banquet. During the homily, Archbishop Victor preached on the importance of self-denial. Brothers were enriched by his preaching. A group photo of all brothers along with the Archbishops, Bishops and Priests was taken after the Holy Mass. A sumptuous dinner was served for all at around 7.45 p.m. and immediately after the dinner, the dignitaries left the KPRT seminary for Bhopal.
Really, it was a graceful day. We received many blessings from the presence of bishops and dignitaries. We thank the Lord Almighty for His immense love for walking with us throughout the day and making it a memorable one.
✍ Bro. Arokia Jothis, Third Year Theology
01, March, 2023:-
After the Khrispo 2023, the KPRT Ground once again abuzz with sporting activities with the presence of some of the alumni of the Seminary. Almost 15 priests of the Archdiocese of Bhopal returned once again to the KPRT Playground to play a friendly cricket match with our brothers.
The KPRT community organised PUSHPA TROPHY Friendly Cricket match between the Legends of Archdiocese of Bhopal and the Stars of KPRT, Ashta. The trophy was sponsored by Fr. Melvin, the Principal of Pushpa Higher Secondary School. The cricket ground had been well prepared to mark the occasion and the audience were also present in a big number. Many fathers of the Archdiocese of Bhopal were also present to support their team. Some sisters from neighbouring community were also present to enjoy the beautiful match.
At the beginning of the match all the fathers were welcomed by the KPRT community. The guest team won the toss and opted for fielding. The opening batsman played very well and gave a good start to the KPRT team. The host team set a target of 141 runs in 15 overs for the guest team to win. In the second innings the chase started very slow as they had lost top order wickets at an early stage as the opening spell from the KPRT bowlers was terrific. However, the team put a great effort and tried to chase down mighty score. But the host team had a strong bowling unit that did not allow the runs to flow. As the consequences the chase was not successful and so the host team were able to defend their total and lifted the Pushpa Cup.
The PUSHPA TROPHY was handed over to the winning team by very Rev. Sr. Teena OLG, Vice Principal of Pushpa Higher Secondary School. Bro. Neel Kamal was chosen as the Man of the Match for his outstanding performance in batting as he scored a massive total of 46 with 5 sixes and 1 four.
After the match both the teams congratulated each other. It was a wonderful day for the KPRT community. We enjoyed a lot and shared few moments of joy filled event.
✍ Bro. Arputha Vinish, Second Year Theology
018, February, 2023:-
Dear friends in Jesus Christ, I am very happy to share with you the joy and happiness we the KPRT community had on 18 February 2023. It was the occasion of the double celebrations, the Rector's day and the farewell of our dear Deacons and fourth year brothers who had completed their formation among us.
We began the day with the positive vibrations of our Daily Morning Prayer. There after the community gathered in front of the Portico, where a short bio-data of Fr. Rector (the birthday boy) was read out by Bro. Arockia Jothis. Then the main celebrant of the day, Rev. Fr. Francis Scaria along with con-celebrants, deacons and all the brothers proceeded towards the chapel in a procession.
Rev. Fr. Francis Scaria offered the thanks giving mass specially offering it for the community, the outgoing brothers, and for himself. During the homily, he preached on formation and mission. He said that in our lives as brothers and priests, formation never ends but it would be an ‘ongoing’ process; our whole life would be a life of formation. All the struggles and problems that we would face in our life and in mission would always form us to be a better person.
After the mass the whole KPRT community had a photo session with Deacons and all fourth year brothers. At 11 O'clock we gathered in our auditorium to have the cultural program especially for the Farewell of our Deacons and fourth year brothers. The program began with a prayer song followed by the welcome address of Rev. Fr. Antony Akkanath, He highlighted the good qualities and the humble nature of the fourth year students and spoke about the great personality of Fr. Francis Scaria, who is ever inspiring and motivating person for our community.
There were a variety of cultural programmes prepared by the brothers to honour the Rector and outgoing Brothers. Bro. Nishanth and Dn. Prabhat shared their experiences in KPRT. The outgoing students also presented a song and a dance to add extra colours to the day. The deacons and fourth year brothers were given parting gifts by the community and it was presented to them by the guests. The Rector’s Day and Farewell programme came to an end with a sumptuous meal at 1 p.m.
We thank all the members of our community who put their heart and mind to make this day a memorable one.
✍ Bro. Atish Bhumij Munda IMS, First Year Theology
05, February, 2023:-
The Yearly family feast of KPRT, KRISPO 2022-23, the most awaited event of the year was celebrated from February 3 to 5, 2023. It began with the Holy Eucharistic celebration presided over by Rev. Fr. Prem IMS, the Chief Guest of the inaugural ceremony. The inaugural ceremony began on 3rd of February 2023 at 9.00 a.m. with the march-past by three teams namely, TITANS, KNIGHTS AND PANTHERS. The march-past was elegantly organized by the team leaders, in an orderly manner. After that there was a hymn to the Holy Spirit which led us into a prayer ambience.
A welcome speech was delivered by one of the members of the Organizing Committee, Bro. Sudharshan, who welcomed all the guests and participants for Khrispo 2022-23. This was followed by the hoisting of the KHRISPO FLAG by the chief guest, Rev. Fr. Prem. The motto on the Logo for KRISPO 2022-23 “One Team, One Spirit, One Dream” was unveiled by Rev. Fr. Francis Scaria, the Rector of the house and the Patron of KRISPO. The Chief Guest, Rev. Fr. Prem lit the Khrispo Torch from the light brought by the team Captains. Thereafter the Oath-taking ceremony took place by Bro. Ajith A, for Panthers team, Bro. Manu Chacko for Knights team, Pankaj Kispota for Titans team.
Bro. Sahaya Sabin M., the President of KRISPO Organizing committee, too took the oath on behalf of the organizing committee in the presence of the dignitaries.
Then the co-ordinator of the KHRISPO, Rev. Fr. Antony Akkanath, officially declared the KHRISPO 2022-23 open. The inaugural ceremony came to an end with the vote of thanks was proposed by Bro. Thrimurthy.
The games and sports were conducted during the day (9:00am-5:15pm) and the cultural competitions were held in the evening (6:15pm-8:00pm). Rev. Fr. Melvin, Rev. Fr. Antony Akkanath, Sr. Maria, Sr. Jeya, Sr. Teena, Sr. Navya, Sr. Anita helped us with the judging of the cultural items while the members of the organizing team were referees and umpires for the sports and games.
All the teams performed very in all Games and Cultural Events. They all worked as One Team, One Spirit, and One Dream. All the participants were very loyal and obedient to the leaders and did marvelous contribution to their respective teams.
The jerseys for the teams were duly selected and ordered in consultation with the team leaders and in collaboration with the procurator prior to the commencement of KRISPO. Rev. Fr.Tobias Minj made all the necessary arrangements for the snacks for the days of KRISPO.
Special thanks go to all the Sponsors of the Khrispo Events. We thank specially Rev. Fr. Varghese P.S., Principal of St. Xavier’s School, Bhopal for sponsoring the Trophies. Special Thanks are also due to Fr. Melvin for lending us some sports materials and drums for the event. We are also grateful to all the Sisters and Fathers who came to judge different events.
On 5thFebruary 2023, at 5:45pm the KRISPO flag lowered by Rev. Fr. Antony Akkanath, followed by the procession to the chapel for the Holy Eucharist, and which was presided over by Rev. Fr.Antony Akkanath, the Coordinator of Khrispo. After the Holy Eucharist, we had the Prize distribution of the KRISPO 2022-2023. Before the distribution of the prizes Bro. Kapil from first year shared his wonderful experience of KRISPO 2022-2023. After that Bro. Ajith one of captains of team shared his experience. He said that the Organizing team had done a great job in conducting games and cultural events. The Prizes were distributed by Rev. Fr. Augustine Madathikunnel. The winner of KRISPO 2023 was Panthers Team. The second place went to the Knights Team and third place to the Titans. The Emerging player of this KRISPO was Bro. Kapil Dev and the Man of the series was Bro. Stanislas Lakra. The KRISPO 2022-2023 had ended successfully, which was a great experience for all us.
✍ Bro. Thrimurthy Devarapalli, First Year Theology
21 January, 2023:-
“If I were to meet a priest and an angel, I should salute the priest before I saluted the angel. The Latter is the friend of God but the priest holds his place”. – St. John Marie Vianney.
It was a Jubilant and grace-filled evening on Saturday, 20 January, 2023 when the KPRT Ashta, welcomed the 1998 batch who ran the race of priesthood for 25 long years. Five out of the batch of 12 accepted the invitation and made it to come to KPRT; others had been caught up with different responsibilities. The Silver Jubilee Celebration of the Priesthood of Fr. Maria Francis, Fr. Robert Yesudeep, Fr. Ishwar Das, Fr. Simon Raj, and Fr. John Benito began on 20th evening with a hymn to the Holy Spirit. After that the Brothers wished the Jubilarians with a song. Then the essence of the celebration, the sharing and motivational talks by the Jubilarians began. They recalled the Formation they had received at KPRT and how it had tremendous impact on their journey during their priestly life. The Brothers gained a lot from the sharing of the Jubilarians. Rev. Fr. Eshwardas, the V.G. of Bhopal Archdiocese shared his vast experience in the village mission with a great sense of humor and motivated the brothers, by narrating how he a received a vocation within the vocation. He stressed on being with people and working for them, especially learning their language as the first step to feel one with people.
Rev. Fr. Maria Francis while sharing his valuable experience, thought-provokingly advocated that a priest should never refuse any appointment given by the superiors. He also said that we should ask God to go before us to the place where we are appointed. After the sharing of these two fathers we ended the day with Adoration thanking the good Lord for His mighty works.
On the following day, on 21st, in the morning before the Holy Eucharist, when the community gathered at the portico of the Seminary, Rev. Fr. Francis Scaria, the Rector of KPRT and the staff welcomed the Jubilarians with a garland. Fr. Rector congratulated them in his welcome address and quoted St. John Marie Vianney, saying “if there is no priest available in a particular community for 20 years, people will start worshipping beasts”. The main celebrant of the Eucharist was Rev. Fr. Simon Raj. Fr. Robert Yesudeep IMS gave a wonderful homily on the faithfulness of God and stressed on the fact that only what we have we can give to others. At 9:45 a.m. once again we gathered in the hall for the sharing by the Jubilarians and a couple of cultural items performed in between the sharings. Fr. Yesudeep captured our attention, by sharing the vast experience he gained at various appointments he received. He said that we become what we feed with. He motivated the brothers stressing four points - Passion, Vocation, Mission and Profession.
Then it was the turn of Fr. John Benito who shared his vocation-story before elaborating his convictions about formation, communion and mission. He said that we should bloom where we are planted. Finally Fr. Simon Raj shared his experience and motivated the brothers explaining how he faced challenges and overcame all obstacles by the power of prayer and God’s grace. The Jubilarians were presented a gift by the community as token of appreciation and wished them all success on their Sacerdotal Silver Jubilee. On behalf of the Jubilarians, Fr. John Benito thanked the Rector and the community for having arranged the celebration. The event ended with a Marian hymn followed by a sumptuous meal.
✍ Bro. Sudharshan Kommu Paul, First Year Theology
14 January, 2022:-
“Let the children come to me, do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” (Mt 19:14)
It was a joyous day and we, all the brothers were much excited to celebrate this day with children. We were instructed by Rev. Fr. Francis Scaria how the programme would go about. Children from both the hostels of boys and girls were invited to celebrate this particular event. It was 9:00 o’clock in the morning when all the children arrived at KPRT campus. They were brought together and were divided into different groups height-wise. Each group with at least 15 members was entrusted to a set of brothers to conduct varieties of games for fun and enjoyment. All the children from Nursery to Class XII were taken to different places in the ground and a number of games were conducted by brothers like ball-passing, kicking the ball to the goal post, throwing the ball in the basket, throwing the basket ball in the ring, frog race, 100 metre race, spoon lemon race and so on. This group-wise programme went on till noon. Soon after this, we had some common games for all the children. All were much excited and there was lot of enthusiasm among all children participating in common games.
After these games, it was the time for prize distribution. The prizes were sponsored by Ms. Anumol Lukose, Sister of Bro. Albin Lukose. All children were brought to the auditorium for gathering the fruits of their hard work during the games. Different fathers and sisters were called on the stage for distribution of the prizes to children. Children had lots of fun while receiving various prizes. We ensured that all children who participated in different games got some prizes and those who did not get any were given standard pens. Bro. Xavier Khadiya called Rev. Fr. Antony for appreciating and encouraging everyone for active participation.
Soon after this, a delicious meal was waiting for everyone which was sponsored by brothers from their collections for the missions. The mouth-watering food was enjoyed by every individual. After having yummy food all the children departed to their respected places.
✍ Bro. Kapil Dev, First Year Theology
12 January, 2022:-
Pongal is a festival of gratitude, a celebration of life and a time of sharing. It is the festival of harvest, joy and togetherness. Pongal is a four days long harvest festival celebrated in India especially in the state of Tamil Nadu and by Tamils all over the world. It is a time for farmers to give thanks for the bountiful harvest and to pray for a good crop in the coming year. This festival is marked by a number of rituals and customs including cooking sweet rice, decorating cows and participating in traditional games etc.
KPRT family also was indeed happy to celebrate the Pongal festival on 12th January 2023. The celebration began with boiling of the milk, followed by the Eucharistic celebration. Fr. Inigo IMS was the main celebrant for the Holy Mass. He enriched us with his meaningful and thought-provoking homily where he spoke about the spiritual aspects of each day of the Pongal celebration.
1. He said that on the first day ‘Bhogi Pongal’ is celebrated where one must renew oneself for the new way of life, leaving behind the old life style.
2. ‘Thai- Pongal’ is celebrated on the second day which is the beginning of a New Year according to the Tamil calendar. Fr. Inigo quoted ‘Thai Piranthal Vali Pirakkum’ a Tamil saying which means that this new year would bring us a good fortune and a life filled with hope and joy which we experience in our Lord Jesus.
3. On the Third day we celebrate the ‘Maatu Pongal’ (The day is devoted to honour the cattle). He said that this day is celebrated to acknowledge the natural resources as God-given gift and they are not to be misused or not to be used for selfish purpose. He also clarified that ‘Jallikattu’ is not to be called as ‘Bull Fight’ rather it really means ‘Eruthazhuvuthal in Tamil which means ‘Bull Embracing’.
4. Finally on the fourth day ‘Kaanum Pongal’ is celebrated in which the bond and relationship within the family with the neighbors is strengthened by visiting and sharing of gifts with one another.
Our Pongal celebration ended by the traditional dance presented by Bro. Alexander, short video presentation on Pongal and delicious lunch prepared and served by the Pongal committee. Fr. Francis Scaria, the Rector thanked all the brothers of Tamilnadu and Andra Pradesh for sharing their culture and joy with the community.
Brothers expressed their love and joy towards them by taking up their works for a day and declared holiday for them. Thus, the celebration ended with a delicious meal prepared by brothers.
✍ Bro. M. Arockiadas IVDei, First Year Theology
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