20th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF SUMEDHA CENTRE

The 20^th anniversary of the inauguration and blessing of Sumedha Centre was celebrated today, 19^th March, the feast day of St. Joseph, Patron of the Centre.

Sumedha Centre was set up and inaugurated at Don Bosco specialized Training Centre, Don Bosco Provincial House, New Delhi on 19^th March 2003. In March 2009 the Centre shifted operations to Jeolikote, Uttarakhand, in the diocese of Bareilly, and on 19^th March 2022 the Centre was again moved to the current location on the premises of Don Bosco Sr. Sec. School at Jharmari, Punjab.

The celebrations today were simple with a Holy Eucharist of thanksgiving and a festive lunch.

Most Rev. Ignatius Mascarenhas, the Bishop of Shimla-Chandigarh diocese, within whose jurisdiction Sumedha Centre now falls,  inaugurated the celebrations by lighting the lamp.

Bishop Mascarenhas also presided over the Eucharist. He was joined by Rev. Fr. Davis Maniparamben, the current Provincial of New Delhi Province, of which Sumedha Centre is a unit, and Rev. Fr. K. A. Joseph, the first Provincial of New Delhi who had encouraged and promoted setting up of Sumedha Centre, and several priests.

Among the congregation were the participants of the current Sumedha Sadhana program and some invited guests.

Ate the beginning  of the Eucharist, Dr. Jose Parappully, the Director of Sumedha Centre, welcomed all and introduced the Bishop and the two Provincials and the invited guests. He also gave a short history of Sumedha centre.

He also thanked the late Most Rev. Anthony Fernandes, retired Bishop of Bareilly Diocese, who had provided facilities for Sumedha Centre at Jeolikote and the Most Rev. Ignatius D’Souza, the current Bishop of Bareilly diocese, who allowed the Sumedha Centre to run from the same premises for a number of years, and the former Provincials of New Delhi Province for their support and encouragement.

In his homily, Bishop Mascarenhas expressed great appreciation for the kind of service that Sumedha Centre offers, and siting his own experience, the example of St. Joseph and insights from the day’s Sacred Scripture, he exhorted the current participants of the programme to be open to whatever the programme offers, as it will truly enhance their psychospiritual wholeness and wellbeing.

After the Holy Eucharist, Fr. Maniparamben inaugurated the new Sumedha Centre webpage- https://sumedhacentre.org – and Dr. Parappully presented its main features. The website was created by Dr. Shalu Tandon, HOD of the IT department at Don Institute of Technology at Okhla, New Delhi.

At the beginning of the festive lunch Bishop, Provincials and the Josephs present (today being the feast of St. Joseph) cut an anniversary cake.

FIRST SUMEDHA SADHANA OF 2023

 The First Sumedha Sadhana – A Psychospiritual Wholeness Journey programme at Sumedha Centre, Jharmari, began on February 12^th. 

There are 17 participants from different parts of India and one from Indonesia. There are 8 women from seven different religious congregations (1 each from Apostolic Carmel, Holy Family, Presentation, Notre Dame, Ursuline, Ursuline Franciscan, and 2 Holy Cross of Chavonod), and 9 men from three different congregations (4 Jesuits, 3 Salesians of Don Bosco, and 3 Missionaries of St Francis Sales)

Sumedha Sadhana is a programme of inner journeying together with fellow seekers in quest of greater healing and wholeness, so that one can live one’s life in more fulfilling and satisfying ways and be more effective in one’s service to others. A variety of approaches and techniques are used to reach these objectives.

A major portion of the programme is devoted to the exploration of the psychological dynamics affecting our spiritual journey.

The programme began with a module on Self-Awareness in which participants were helped to look at all that was going on their lives at this current period of their life and discern what m might be telling them through all this.

The next module was on Cultivating Prayerfulness, in which participants were exposed to various forms of contemplative prayer and had opportunity to practice them. Both modules were facilitated by Jose Parappully PhD, the Director of the Sumedha Centre.

In Somatic Meditation, Jose Parappully used a combination of Qigong, Yoga, Music, Dance and the Word of God to help participants to loosen up all the knotted energies in their psychosomatic system and experience rejuvenation of psyche and soul.

The next module was “Unconscious Dynamics and the Spiritual Journey” in which Johny Dominic PhD helped participants explore the dynamics behind the helplessness that they often experience in not being able to do what they want and doing what they do not want.  Using concepts from Freudian, Jungian, NLP and Transactional Analysis theories he helped participants unleash the powers of the unconscious to facilitate healing and wholeness.

The next module was “Midlife Dynamics and the Spiritual Journey”. In this module Jose Parappully used insights from various psychological theories, tools and techniques from Expressive Arts and Journaling, as well as movies and music to help participants explore and integrate dynamics of midlife and engage in required transformational processes to enhance their wellbeing as they move into  the second half of their lives.

In Yoga & Cosmic Spirituality, Alba Rodrigues MA, BEd used ancient wisdom traditions and evolving spiritual insights and practices to offer participants tools, ancient and new (including Yoga and Dance and cosmic rituals), to awaken the deep wisdom lying dormant within the participants and reconnect with the capacities of their body, mind and spirit and experientially deepen and expand their spirituality in alignment with the evolving cosmos

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The remaining modules are: "Breath, Spirit and Wellbeing" by KC Thomas Kurianthanam, Sexuality, Celibacy and Intimacy by Jose Parappully, “Challenges of Consecrated Life Today” by Philip Pinto, Group Therapy by Johny Dominic, Jose Parappully and Maria Goretti Kanakaratinam, and Spiritual Retreat by Jose Parappully.

The programme concludes on May, 02.

The next Sumedha Sadhana begins on July1. Registrations are open. Contact: sumedhacentre@gmail.com