Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and New Year celebrated 

For all that has been ‘thanks’;

To all that will be ‘yes’.

The faithful of St Joseph the Worker Church, Neermarga, met the New Year by Prayers of Intercession, Prayer of Petition and pondering over the three T’s: Time, Talent and Treasure and thanking the Lord for all the inexplicable benefits that indeed strengthened faith through the adoration of Blessed Sacrament led by Rev Fr Praveen Leo Lasrado – Rector Gladsom Home Minor Seminary Mangalore.   Subsequently Holy Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, the Most Holy Mother of God, was celebrated by Fr Praveen Leo Lasrado and concelebrated by Fr Anil D’Mello, Parish Priest and Fr Henry Vas .

In his homily, Fr Praveen traced the Liturgical History of the Feast of Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and helped the believers to comprehend the origin, meaning and words of the Hail Mary Prayer. Further he said “ We venerate Mary as the Mother of God and our Mother too. Today’s feast gives us an opportunity to place our hopes and plans for starting the New Year under her motherly care, as she is the patron of new beginnings”.

The newly elected Parish Pastoral Council took the word of honour  in the presence of the parishioners. Rev Fr Anil D Mello, Parish Priest and President of the PPC administered the oath of office individually to Mr. Francis Gonsalves- Vice President and Mrs Usha Fernandes- Secretary and then members of the finance committee also pledged their oath in the presence of The President of PPC.

YCS and ICYM under the proficient directorship of Fr Anil D Mello, planned and  executed a meaningful Liturgy  

After the Solemn Mass, a short cultural programme woven around the theme ‘Life is a Journey Not a Destination “ was put up by YCS under the guidance of Mr Arun D Souza- Animator.  “We are made for goodness. We are made for love…We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know. We are made to tell the world that there are no outsiders., we all belong to one family …all are welcome” says Desmond Tutu. To give expression to this inspiring quote most grateful welcome was accorded to the august gathering through a dance.  The audience was enthralled with the talent and skill revealed in each performance. There were scintillating Dances, side-splitting skits reinvigorated with a value-based skit on ‘Faith can Move Mountains “composed by Mr. Arun D Souza. The timely gap-fillers were equally entertaining and their careful planning gave away the children and youth  skill in managing time in a programme of such magnitude.

Rev Fr Anil D Mello in his Presidential Address wished the parishioners a Happy New Year overflowing with fulfilling and electrifying opportunities . He congratulated Mr. Arun D Souza and Mr. Ravi Saldanha for their excellent guidance in training the youth in putting up a wonderful and enriching  programme. Winners of Crib and star making competitions organized by ICYM were awarded  by Fr Anil D Mello  and Mr Francis Gonsalves .

Ashney Nazareth  and Freyan Vas compered the programme.