By Lissy Maruthanakuzhy
Panaji, Oct. 1, 2021: The archdiocese of Goa and Daman on October 1 concluded the laity week.
The September 26 to October 1 laity week was held online for the second consecutive year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Father Jorge Fernandes, director of Diocesan Centre for the Lay Apostolate, told the participants that the laity plays an important role in evangelizing through reading the Word of God, reflecting and preaching as well as taking care of the temporal goods of the Church.
He also observed that the Church has throughout history charged the laity charged with a special role in bringing the Word of God to the secular world, from the family to the profession such as doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, engineers, farmers, government officials, and vendors.
The lay people, he added, fight for social justice and peace, and promote arts, culture and traditions. They also get involved in health care and provide services through their professions and jobs, Father Fernandes added.
The daily program included one-hour sharing by people from various fields—through short films, documentaries, and interviews with eminent personalities. It was followed by an hour of adoration which was televised by Catholic Charismatic Renewal Channel Television (CCRTV) run by a group of lay faithful.
Father Fernandes noted that the lay people have more influence in society than bishops and priests. Their very engagement in secular activities can transform their routine job into an apostolic work and touch lives of others and change their hearts, said the priest, who is also the chaplain at Goa Medical College.
Speaking about how laity can live their vocation the priest said, “We are called to serve and evangelize right where we are, with those we know. The sacrament of Baptism gives us these rights to witness Jesus in our life.”
Selma Barretto, president of Catholic Nurses’ Guild in Goa who serves as a nurse at the medical college, said she reads the Bible with her patients and their relatives at the hospital. “We pray with them, counsel them. If they are poor, we provide them with food and clothing. We nurses share the expenses. I encounter Christ in them through my mission.”
The nurses buy copies of the Bible in Hindi and Marathi and distribute among the relatives of the patients, said Barretto, who has completed a yearlong course in biblical studies.
Goretti Martins, another participant, began her mission in villages with missionary priests. She said she was touched by the plight of their situation and wanted to do something to help them. Later she began going along with her husband. Gradually her friends too joined her and now it has expanded and is called “Amazing Grace mission.”
Martins says, “I focus on the education of children, on families going without food. They don’t even have a meal a day sometimes. But they are happy. I am inspired by their lives. My desire was to do something for them. We now provide food and clothing for children, contribute and make houses for those who do not have. God has been gracious to us. Kindhearted people help us when we need it.”
The laity in the archdiocese has been addressing the needs of the people in issues related to literacy, homelessness, social evils, crisis pregnancies, prison outreach, and homebound visitation.
They played a major role by forming Covid care Team in parishes and reaching out to patients and their relatives in the past months.
Lay people contribute to the “Daily Flash,” a booklet published by the Diocesan Centre for the Lay Apostolate. The reflections in it are written by persons from various strata of society. Over 30 years into publication the English edition has a circulation of 9,100, and in its 25th year the Konkani edition has the circulation of 21,150 copies.
The lay mission in the archdiocese includes various associations, and movements and groups such as parish pastoral council, youth, catechist, altar servers, Small Christian Communities, Vincent de Paul Society, St Luke and Nurses’ Guild, Legion of Mary, and Catholic Charismatic renewal.