FIRST SUMEDHA SADHANA OF 2023 AT JHARMARI, PUNJAB, CONCLUDES SUCCESSFULLY

The first Sumedha Sadhana – A Psychospiritual Wholeness Journey— of 2023 at Jharmari, Punjab, concluded on May 02.  This 80-day programme had commenced on February 12.

There were 17 participants (8 religious women from 7 congregations and 9 priests from 3 congregations).

Sumedha Sadhana is designed as an inner journey in quest of greater healing and wholeness. Participants begin from where they are, looking at what is happening on their psychospiritual journey.

They then move on to explore the psychological dynamics that affect their well-being, get in touch with their emotional and spiritual blocks and brokenness and seek healing and transformation so that they can live and minister in more joyful, satisfying and fruitful ways. and integrate the psychological dynamics that affect their spirituality.

Insights from Christian faith and wisdom traditions, various psychological theories of development, as well as experiential tools and techniques from Bioenergetics, NLP, Psychosynthesis, Intensive Journal, Expressive Arts, Breathwork, Yoga, Qigong, Multi-media, Prayer & Meditation practices, and Sacred Scripture are used to explore and enhance one’s psychospiritual journey.

There were seven different modules in this Sadhana: Psychological Dynamics on the spiritual journey which included topics such as somatic meditations, self-awareness, prayerfulness, midlife dynamics, psychosexual and celibate integration which included Celibate Friendships, Sexual Abuse, Trauma and Healing. There were facilitated by Jose Parappully, the Director of the programmes.

Other modules were Unconscious Dynamics and the Spiritual Journey (facilitated by Johny Dominic Padinjar), Yoga and Cosmic Spirituality (by Alba Rodrigues), Breath, Spirit and Wellbeing ( by K. C. Thomas Kurianthanam), Challenge in Consecrate Life Today( by Philip Pinto), Group Therapy (by Jose Parappully and Maria Goretti Kanakaratinm). The Sadhana concluded with a Spiritual Retreat facilitated by Jose Parappully.

Methodology was very experiential using a four-fold approach of Input, Introspection, Interaction and Intercession. This was supplemented by Expressive Arts and Dance, Bioenergetics, Qigong and creative liturgies. 

 There were also time for recreation and a group picnic to Chandigarh.

At the conclusion, participates expressed immense satisfaction with the programme and felt they had benefitted from it to a very large extent:

Some comments:

The whole programme has given me the way to journey through life better.”

“This journey healed me physically, spiritually, emotionally and psychologically.”

“The programme helped me to go deeper into myself and understand myself better.”

“it gave me a new understanding of God, of prayer and religious life.”

“The retreat was a unique experience and helped me grow in my spiritual life,”

"I came here with so many masks. I gave in to the constant invitation hearing within me to open myself, to give up the masks, remove the blocks, overcome anger, reconcile with self and others -- learned to relate better with others, build healthy relationships, and I return with peace and joy, energised."

"I came here like a volcano -- anger, depression, disturbed. Now I feel relaxed, gained so much, lots of healing, physically, mentally, emotionally spiritually. No I feel like a strong mountain. I enjoy great peace."

"The programme helped me to re-direct my life."

"It helped me to be a new person. I experience a new dawn."

"The programme on the whole was well planned, nothing was lacking. Hats off to the organisers.”

"I experience warm welcome. Food and accommodation very good. I felt very much at home. Plenty of time to reflect and pray. Working together enriched our journey here."

The next Sumedha Sadhana is from July 1 to September 18, 2023. A few seats are still available. For registration contact sumedhacentre@gmail.com.

Please visit also our website: https://sumedhacentre.org  

Sumedha Centre for Psychospiritual Wellbeing at Jharmari is a venture of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Province of the Good Shepherd, New Delhi

 

 

FROM THE HOPELESSNESS AND SILENCE OF HOLY SATURDAY TO THE HOPE AND JOY OF EASTER.

 EASTER VIGIL AT SUMEDHA CENTRE

The Sumedhans Celebrated Easter celebrated Easter Vigil by themselves at the Centre on Saturday night. They had celebrated the Way of the Cross and the Veneration of the Holy Cross the previous day - Good Friday..

On that fateful Good Friday the story had apparently ended. Whatever hopes Jesus had evoked were shattered. Remember the words of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: “We had hoped…..” Now there is only a great silence, the silence of the tomb, a silence that would last all through Saturday.

Holy Saturday is the in-between time – between something old dying and something new emerging. Holy Saturday is the time between the seed falling to the ground and dying and then germinating new life. Holy Saturday is like a dead end, a time when nothing seems to be happening, when one sees no light at the end of the tunnel. 

Good Friday looks like the end of the story. But not really. The story will continue. Light will appear at the end of the tunnel. Death will be conquered. The silence and gloom of Holy Saturday will be shattered in a blaze of glory. Out of darkness a riot of colours will break forth!

This is the great message of Easter. Jesus was killed for dying the Powers Be. But His Father raised him from the dead -- and the story would continue - through so many women and men  of good will, struggling to build the Kingdom of God - where all can live in joy and peace as children of same God, challenging and fighting the Powers Be that seeks to oppress, to fragment and persecute...

When have we felt life to be a long Holy Saturday, when we felt like we have reached a dead end – with no way forward, no light at the end of the tunnel? …. And then surprised – at the happy turn of events? As a popular song says, “there is sunshine after the rain, there is laughter after the pain.”  

For the times we fail to trust in the power of your resurrection, Lord have mercy on us. Heal us of our disappointments and our hopelessness. Fill us with hope and optimism, t help us believe that pain and sorrow do not last forever, that healing is possible, that better times lie ahead....Make us instruments of hope to the hopeless and love to the forlorn. Amen

HAPPY EASTER! BLESSINGS, PEACE AND NEW LIFE TO ALL!

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.

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