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.
