SUMEDHA OUTREACH AT AGRA

Dr. Jose Parappully, Director of Sumedha Centre, was invited to facilitate two workshops on “Formative Accompaniment and Emotional Maturation” at Agra. 

These were organized by Most Rev. Albert D’Souza, the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Agra Region, consisting of 12 dioceses and President of the Regional Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Both Workshops were held at the Archbishops’ House, Agra. The first, on 9 and 10^th December 2019 was for 27 Rectors of Minor Seminaries and women Formators. (Formators are those engaged in the training of future priests and religious men and women.)

The second from 10^th to 18^th December was for the staff of St. Joseph’s Regional Theologate, Allahabad, Masih Vidyapeeth and Orientation Centre at Agra.

Dr. Parappully explored with the participants what formative accompaniment meant and required, characteristics of emotionally healthy persons, tools for assessment, some issues in psychosexual development and characteristic of the spirituality of a diocesan priest.

Participants found the workshop very useful. Following are some common comments:

It was a wonderful and enriching workshop. It was an occasion for soul-searching. It helped to look 

into oneself, to introspect and analyze oneself.

It touched my life and was holistic, interactive and very practical. All the topics were very relevant. It helped to clarify many things/issues.

The process followed was very helpful.

It was a workshop which integrated science and faith. Very few psychologists do that. The workshop was quite unique in this sense.

SPIRITUAL RETREAT IN JAIPUR

Fr. Jose Parappully, Director of Sumedha Centre, facilitated a spiritual retreat for the Priests of the Catholic diocese from 4th to 9th November 2018. It was held at the Bishop's House, Jaipur.

There were 29 priests, including the Bishop of the diocese the Most Rev. Oswald Louis. Most of the priests in the diocese are quite young.

The retreat was focused on the theme: Priest: Bearer of the Mystery of God and doctor of the Soul."

On the first day Fr. Parappully presented the retreat as a Desert Experience in which retreatants were led to experience like Jesus in the desert "Wilderness" and "Paradise" - the "wild beasts" and the "ministering angels" mentioned in Mark's Gospel.

He then further explored the theme of "wilderness" and "paradise" using the experiences of the great prophets of the Old Testament - Abraham, Moses, Hosea and of Paul in the New Testament.

Following this, Fr. Parappully presented "The Identity and Mission" of the priest - bearer of the mystery of God, doctor of the soul, and community builder.

The culminating talk was on "Jesus of Nazareth - Compassionate Son of a Compassionate Father" - the model for every priest.

The talks were help for personal prayer around the Word of God. The retreat was enriched by meaningful celebration of the Eucharist, Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, Sacramental Confession and a Healing Service.

"Very enriching and very useful" was the unsolicited feedback from the retreat participants.

(The two buildings in the blog: 1.  A beautiful little church built in 1761 with exquisite interiors in the Mughal  an Jaipurian style on the campus of the Bishop's house and 2. the newly built Bishop's House.

FABC CONSULTATION ON ASSISTING PRIESTS IN DISTRESS

Dr. Jose Parappully, Director of Sumedha Centre, was one of the nine select experts invited to a “Consultation on Helping Priests Distress” organized by the Office of Clergy of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC).

The Consultation was held at the Baan Phu Waan Pastoral Centre of the Archdiocese of Bangkok on 23-25 July, 2018.

The Consultation meetings were facilitated by Most Rev. Mylo Vergara, Bishop of Pasig, Philippines and the Chairman of the FABC Office of Clergy. He was assisted by Fr. Philip Lazatin SDB, Ex. Secretary of the FABC Office of Clergy. Present and participating in the discussions was also Most Rev. Buenaventura Farmadico, Bishop of San Pablo, Laguna, Philippines and Chair of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Philippines.

There were four experts from the Philippines, three from India and two from Thailand.

Bishop Mylo Vergara explained the rationale for the consultation: Creation of a pan-Asian organization for information sharing, liaison with church leadership and synergy-creation out of best practices in regard to assisting priests in distress.

Bishop Mylo invited the participants to introduce themselves and then to share their “Best Practices” in helping priests in distress. This led to discussion of common problems and issues and actions that need to be taken in the Asian Context.

Based on these discussions, the group came up with four proposals that will be submitted to the Central Committee of the FABC and to the Chairs of the regional Conference of Bishops.

RETREAT AT YESU ASHRAM, BHOPAL

Director of Sumedha Centre, Fr. Jose Parappully, facilitated a spiritual retreat for the priests of the Catholic Archdiocese of Bhopal from 9^th to 14^th October, 2016.

The retreat was held at Yesu Ashram, some 20 km from Bhopal on the Bhopal-Kanpur road, in very pastoral surroundings. The Ashram is run by the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. The current director is Fr. Paul Pattathu, CMI.

There were 32 participants at the retreat, including Archbishop Leo Cornelio.

The retreat was based on the theme: “Priest: Bearer of the Mystery of God and Doctor of the Soul” Besides the inputs by the facilitator on the theme and the well-animated liturgies, participants were given ample time for personal prayer around the Word of God. 

Everyone, including the Archbishop Cornelio, was very appreciative of the retreat. A common observation was, “This was a retreat with a difference,” The Archbishop commented that he was “personally touched” and was appreciative of the way the priests made this retreat.

One priest commented. “In my 26 years of priesthood, I have made many retreats. This was the most unique of them all.”

Fr. Parappully will be facilitating a second retreat for the priests of the Archdiocese of Bhopal in the first week of December, 2016.

YOUNG SALESIAN PRIESTS AT SUMEDHA CENTRE

Twenty six young Salesian priests (ordained within the last 10 years) of the Province of the Good Shepherd, New Delhi attended a four-day programme (August 18-21, 2016) on renewal of priestly life and ministry at Sumedha Centre.

The programme was organized by Fr. Naresh Kujur, the Vice provincial of the Salesian Province of New Delhi.

It was facilitated by Johny Dominic PhD, the Assistant Director of Sumedha Centre and Jose Parappully, the Director.

On the first two days Johny Dominic dealt with “Emotional Maturity.” He helped the young priests to look at their emotional reactions and suggested ways to handle their emotional life in more helpful and effective ways.

Jose Parappully facilitated the last two days. He explored with the young priests "Psycho-Sexual and Celibate Integration." He helped them to look at what is going in their lives in this area and explored with them some of the problematic issues related to the topic and helped them discover ways to address these issues in keeping with their status as men vowed the celibate chastity.

The young priests had opportunities to share win dyads or small groups about their experiences.

These explorations were enriched with creative liturgies in which they were able to celebrate  their joys and challenges in this area.

During the programme Fr. Jose Mathew, the Provincial of New Delhi and Fr. K. C. John, the Economer of the Province, visited the group.

In the afternoon of the last day, the group went on sightseeing tour to Nainital.

The young priests said they found the entire programme very enriching.  The topics were dealt with very competently and openly. They suggested such programme should be organized also for the senior priests of the Province.