GOOD FRIDAY AT SUMEDHA CENTRE

 Good Friday was celebrated at Sumedha Centre with  a Scripture based Way of the Cross at dawn.

The text of this Way of the Cross was composed by Jose Parappully, the Director of the Centre.

The Way of the Cross was conducted, meandering through the campus of Sumedha Centre and Don Bosco School campuses. 

Each station had been set up at various locations on the campus.

different members read the text at each Station and Fr. Parappully, read out a commentary linking the particular station to today's human situation, showing that Jesus' Way of the Cross, made over two thousand of years ago is continued by the suffering and oppressed humanity today.

"Over two thousand years ago Jesus of Nazareth made his Way of the Cross. It ended in ignominious death, and unexpectedly in a glorious resurrection which brought us salvation and redemption.

Today we trace that same path, carrying our own crosses—and humanity’s crosses—, our cares, our anxieties, our problems, our pain, our sorrows and our sins."

At 3 pm, the Sumedha Community celebrated the Veneration of the Holy Cross with the reading of the Passion Of Jesus according to St. John, Intercessions for church and society, and Communion Service. prsided over by one of the members, Ajit Hembrom.

Good Friday: Sunrise Way of the Cross at Sumedha

The Sumedhans gathered at sunrise on Good Friday at the foot of the Sumedha Hill to begin their Way of the Cross.

Starting with the First Station at the foot of the hill they went up the winding footpath, carrying a heavy wooden Cross,  to the top of the hill where there is a sculpture of Calvary - Jesus on the Cross and Mary his Mother and John his disciple stand grieving.

The fourteen Stations of the Cross are marked with a Cross along the footpath leading to Calvary.

The Way of the Cross used today, based on Sacred Scripture and a meditative reflection on the realities of our every world of suffering, was specially composed by Dr. Jose Parappully, Director of the Centre.

"Good Friday: ...The story has apparently ended. Whatever hopes Jesus had evoked  have been shattered.... Remember the words of the disillusioned disciples on the road to Emmaus: "We had hoped..." (One of the saddest phrases in Sacred Scripture) Now there is only a great silence, the silence of the tomb..."

UNIQUE HOLY WEEK EXPEREINCE

The Sumedhans observed that they found their Holy week experience at Sumedha very special. Many of them said this Holy week was very different from the ones that they were used to. "Unique," "Special," so very meaningful" were some of the words and phrases they used to describe their experience.

Participants of the Sumedha Sadhana attended services on Holy Thursday and Good Friday at the parish church, and enriched especially the good Friday Liturgy through their singing of the Passion of the Lord.

However, they had their own Way of the Cross on Friday morning and the Easter Vigil Service on Saturday night.

At sunrise on Friday morning, Sumedhans went up the Sumedha Hill carrying a large and heavy wooden Cross. This Way of the Cross was composed by Fr. Jose Parappully, the Director of the Sumedha programme. He built it around the Word of God and made reflections at each Station of the Cross applying the Word of God to the existential sufferings of humankind. Participants took turns to lead each Station as well as to carry the Cross.

The Way of the Cross ended at the Calvary on top of the Sumedha Hill. The reflections at each station, the participants said, were very meaningful and helped them reflect deeply on human realities as they trudged up the hill.

The rest of Friday was spent in quiet reflection and prayer. Participants reflected on their one month experiences at Sumedha in the light of the Paschal Mystery.

Saturday was spent in preparing (cleaning, decorating, singing practice) for the great celebration of the Easter Vigil which began after nightfall. After the lighting of the  new fire and the new Paschal Candle, and singing of the Paschal Proclamation, participants sat in the dark in the light of the paschal candle, listening to the great stories of our Salvation History.

Fr. Parappully who was the main celebrant at the Easter , made reflections on each of the stories in the light of the members' experiences at Sumedha in the past one month.

In his homily, Fr. Parappully focused on the theme of newness and transformation that the Resurrection of Jesus represents.

The Sumedha experience of the past one month had concluded with an invitation to reflect (questions had been given) on the Galilee Song (the Sumedha theme Song) which spoke about "voices deep within my heart"  calling me to "leave my boats behind,""leave them on familiar shores," "to walk past horizons that I know," "to walk into evening shadows one more time" and to "set my heart upon the deep" and "follow you again my Lord."

Fr Parappully weaved the words of the Galilee Song into his brief reflection on the resurrection event.

Participants had written their responses to the questions on the Galilee Song and had drawn a picture giving visual representation to the answers their reflection  had provided. These were shared during the liturgy in the context of newness that they had experienced so far at Sumedha and the further newness to which God  was inviting them. The drawing were presented as their offering around the Paschal Candle, along with their prayers.

Listening to the stories of salvation history sitting in darkness around the paschal candle, weaving the Sumedha experience into the meditation on the resurrection of Christ, sharing of their experiences and the invitations they were hearing and expressed in their drawings, and offering them to the Lord in prayer and thus being fully involved in the liturgy made this Easter Vigil celebration "very meaningful" and "different" from the ones the  participants were used. to.

GOD FRIDAY AT SUMEDHA

The Sumdhans made a Way of the Cross at sunrise to the Calvary on top of Sumedha Hill.

this way of the Cross was specially composed by Dr. Jose Parappully, Director of Sumedha Centre. It focused on humanity's perennial way of the Cross, the many ways men and women and children today suffer all over the world, continuing the Way of the Cross that Jesus of Nazareth made to Calvary more than 2000 years ago.

WAY OF THE CROSS AT DAWN - JOURNEYING TOWARD SUMEDHA CALVARY

 The 31st edition of Sumedha Sadhana commenced on March 15. It will conclude on May 16.

There are 18 participants - the maximum we could accommodate - 13 women (3 from Thailand) and 5 men,

This morning at dawn, the Sumedhans made their Way of the Cross, journeying together toward Mount Sumedha, at the top of which is a representation of Calvary.

This Way of the Cross, was one that was specially composed by the Director of Sumedha Centre, Jose Parappully, and based entirely on Sacred Scripture, with commentary that connects the everyday realities - daily crucifixions - that are part of our world today, to the suffering that Jesus of Nazareth endured on his painful road to the infamous Calvary/ Golgotha where more than three thousand unfortunate ones had been crucified before him by the Romans and whose skulls and bones littered the hill.

GOOD FRIDAY WAY OF THE CROSS AT SUMEDHA

Participants of the ongoing Sumedha Sadhana (10 women and 8 men) made their Way of the Cross at sunrise this Good Friday.

The Way of the Cross, based on Sacred Scripture, was written by Jose Parappully.

Participants took turns to carry a rather heavy Cross up the Sumedha Hill and lead the meditations at the different stations.