austraLasia 1420
ITM - statues mark
Don Bosco day in Indonesia
JAKARTA: 31st January 2006
-- Benefactors and council members of the St. John Bosco
Parish in Jakarta, Mr and Mrs Henry Chandra have donated not one
but four statues of St. John Bosco to the four SDB
communites in Indonesia. They are fibreglass statues similar to the one
found in the General House at the Pisana.
The
celebrations for enshrining these statues started on the 30th of
January with a Mass presided over by Fr. Yohannes and the blessing
of the first statue in the Sunter Post-novitiate. After a good
supper, the FMA, SDB along with parents, benefactors and some
parishioners were entertained by brief skits from the post-novitiate
Salesians and the Sisters. On the morning of the 31st, Tigaraksa
Community held the usual children's games for their Islamic neighbors.
About 250 kids participated in the event, along with a handful of
children from the nearby parish. By noon time, the games ended as
the visitors from Jakarta arrived, including the FMA, the aforesaid
post-novitiate Salesian community from Sunter and St John Bosco
Parish, Jakarta. The second statue was blessed and unveiled
despite a brief shower of rain. Lunch was served for all who came and
afterwards everyone left for the next activity....another blessing of
another statue! This third event was the blessing of the
statue in the St John Bosco Parish itself, at 5:30pm. The Solemn
Mass was presided over by the parish priest, Fr. Noel Villafuerte.
Supper and cultural presentations capped the day's festivities..
The fourth
statue for the new novitiate is still on its way to the island of
Sumba. For now they won't have the statue to remind them
of Don Bosco's zeal for souls and for the welfare of youth. But no
worries, they have the presence of Fr. Andres Calleja, the
Provincial! He has been there since the 29th and planned to stay
with the novices for the Feast of Don Bosco.
____________________
AustraLasia is an email
service
for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions
as an
agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
