By Nirmala Carvalho
Cuttack-Bhubaneswar: Four nuns took temporary vows and four others perpetual vows during Mass on January 16 in Cuttack’s cathedral.
Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswa, who led the Mass January 16 hailed the nuns as “God’s channel to reach the poor.”
The nuns belong to the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of Annecy. Nirmala Jose, Vimala, Keerthana and Mary Hyma took perpetual vows, while Biddika Radha, Jhumuri, Pushpa, and Shushmita Lakra took temporary vows.
Because of pandemic-related health restrictions, only a few people attended the ceremony.
“These sisters belong to the first congregation that came to work in the diocese,” Archbishop Barwa explained. “They bring hope and change into people’s lives, offering them opportunities to meet their spiritual and material needs.”
The nuns are involved in education, health, development, but also in catechesis and evangelisation. In practice, the catechism of children, young people and adults is entrusted to them.
But they also take care of school dropouts, helping them learn skills for work in tailoring, computers, the hospitality industry, and nursing. They also have a special program for women, to educate and empower them.
“The sisters take care above all of the children in the villages, giving them a taste for prayer and faith. In the district there is abysmal poverty. They are God’s channel to reach the poor, the weak, the sick and the elderly, making them experience God and the richness of their lives and quickly making them conscientious citizens of our beloved India.”
Sister Leena, the provincial, thanked Archbishop Barwa. “In his homily, the bishop underlined the figure of Mary Mother of God and asked the Sisters to take Mary as a model for their religious commitment in times like today’s, full of adversity, materialism, and the confusion produced by social media. In the age of coronavirus, it is important to follow the crucified Christ and expand the kingdom of God.”
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