“Fantastic” WMD-Day! Wow!

“Fantastic” was the adjective used by Jacob & Meena Jadhav, Clement & Lucy  to describe their couple  experience of the celebration of World Marriage day after the Eucharistic celebration on 12^th  February Sunday  day in St John the Baptist Church, Bhingar Ahmednagar. Regan & Sapna,  recently married, said it was the reenactment of their marriage day.On 12, February all around the world is celebrated as World Marriage Day. Favors were pinned up as if  preparing for a wedding.. the Nuptial of the Lamb according to Theology of the Body Spirituality.  A Group photograph was shot outside the church. Procession to church of 27 couples with Holy water sprinkled by a Main Celebrant, Fr Jerome Gonsalves, SJ and then all wedding anniversaries which occurs this year  were celebrated. Twenty seven couples plus parishioners participated to make it a full church.

Liturgy commenced with opening prayer, readings and homily.  Creed, Prayer of the faithful prayed and Symbolic gifts presented. After Communion, people prayed for their marriage as for those of loved ones in a special invocation “ Prayer for Married couples.” The average collection being Rs 12 hundred  and odd rose to Rs 26 hundred and odd, a difference of a thousand and odd. Fr. Jerome spoke about Asha Kiran Project for HIV/Aids children set up by the Jesuits on the Aurangabad-Ahmednagar Road at the Shendi Village . The Final Blessing and a Special blessing  was delivered.The Parish Priest remarked, “Fr. Bento has worked a miracle” seeing few couples who rarely show their face, turn up... the ECG type.i.e. the Easter, Christmas and Good Friday Catholics?

 The day convened by Marriage Encounter and  Engaged encounter movements in the Catholic church celebrated the sacredness of marriage and couple love, as the foundation for the twin adult sacraments  of Anointing and family life. The guidelines for the celebration are  found in <www.worldmarriageday.org> for animation of the couples in our parishes  to make this day relevant to 99% of the baptized, is the central focus of the Sunday Liturgy and the point for couples to appreciate the gift and blessing of marriage as covenant of fidelity and symbol of God’s love & life.   The indigenous locals whose vernacular is Marathi pronounced their prayer for marriage and prayed for fidelity during the 8.00 am Mass officiated by the Parish priest Fr. Michael Bansode.

Zenith declares that couple are most helped in their lives by the Movements in the church especially Engaged and Marriage encounter. Certain parishes celebrate this moment in their churches and some even screen the film ‘Fireproof’ for couples. This year a new film declares the beauty and affirmation of pro-active fatherhood, in the new film ‘Courageous.’ The latter is worth screening for couples.

In St. John the Baptist, Bhingar, Ahmednagar as well as  Don Bosco Parish, Borivli   a special mass is celebrated, and  was animated by the Family Cell with and special planning & handouts. 

Parish Priest B'day / Visitors / Inauguration of Bosco Club Gym

Ms Roswitha Maus, Program Manager of DB Jurgen Driette Welt, Bonn, Germany  made an official  visit to Bosco Bhavan, Bhingar to attend the meeting of the 30 health workers formed at BGVK  on meeting the health needs of the populace and the education of the village children.

There are days when nothing happens at Bhingar but 21st October was an exceptional day of love. It was the birthday of the Parish Priest Michael Bansode. His parents and family visited him in the morning to give him birthday greeting and all through the day people trickled in to wish him on this joyful occasion. Next followed the visit of Ms Roswitha Maus who attended a meeting of women health workers conducted by Mr Dattu of BGVK, who accepted felicitations and flowers, who listened and spoke to the  leaders of thirty communities, where the Village education program for thirty school going children was being held around Ahmednagar. The others who were present were Fr Savio Silveira, Fr Manuel Murzello, Fr Michael Bansode Mr Ian Lemos and Fr Bento D’Souza.

In the evening, the liturgy was animated by Bro Ramesh symbolically comparing the life of Fr Michael to a jar into which the soil, seed, roses leaves and water have grown in time. Fr Thomas D’Costa inaugurated the use of new rooms and services like the Bosco Club Gym for youth, the new parish office for archives and records,  the Assistant Parish Priest office and the children study centre were launched. Supper followed with confreres and guest having cutting of the cake and a supper together to celebrate the event of the birthday of Fr Michael. All ends well that begins well. 

160th Anniversary of the founding of the Parish Church

The Parishioners of St John the Baptist Church, Bhingar united together in an auspicious and significant Eucharistic Celebration at 5.30 pm. around Fr Bhausaheb Sonsare, Provincial of the Jesuit Province of Pune  on September 16^th Friday. The Catholics of the parish have a proud statement to make. “ We are oldest Catholic Parish in the area and second built church structure after Kendal,  the starting point of 130 year old Jesuit mission. Today we celebrate a milestone of our existence in this region.” This historic church has existed for 160 long years and previous to this, 185 years ago the Bhingar Parish was securely founded with the forming of the parish. The archeological Department of India also invites visitors to the nearby fort, hoisting the second largest size National flag in India, to spend time in our Church and when people do come they are  briefed about the transition of pastoral service  from Diocesan, Carmelite, Jesuit to Salesian these last decades.  

In the introduction it was mentioned that this church has been built on mud and stones. In the homily the Preacher, Fr Sonsare stated that inspite of this church being built on mud and stones, it embodies the faith on which the people‘s lives were founded and also the martyrdom of  past  apostles. Under the shadow of such a structure of mud, walls and roof, the faith of people has been sustained.

Ten priests belonging to the two charisms, the ancient Jesuits and modern Salesians joined together in prayer and concelebrated worship. It was historical moment where two giants in the church exchange batons and look back with nostalgia in responding to the cry of the church in dealing with the ethnocentric pastoral care of souls.

From this Mother Church, four other institutions have grown, St Anne’s, Collectors’ office,  Don Bosco Saved School Boarding Parish & Junior College, Bosco Grameen Vikas Kendra, Khedgaon and Our Lady of the Rosary Community Chapel,  Jeur, on the Aurangabad Road.  St John the Baptist Bhingar has been the fountainhead of new developments in the area, by its immersion in the lives of the people at the grassroots in different areas and variety of services.  The words of Bible ring round and clear as warning and a threat to complacent and mediocre missionary endeavour: “If you will not serve the poor, others will come in your stead and serve my people.”

St John Bhingar provides significant services of the people on the planet. Fr Anton D’souza recounts  that an Irishman came in search of the 1904 baptismal records of his Irish grandfather and ancestry and was successful in tracing the death  of a son from the remarks . D’Souza also records that the gravestone of the four year old was never traced. Needless to say, Baptism certificates are issued in fifteen minutes and people need not wait a day long for the certificate as in other municipal offices. The Irishman documented a film of the search for his lineage.

Brief History: Back ground of the Bhingar Mission : Founder church of the Nagar Area.

Three diocesan parish priests worked here from 1833 to 1854.

Then, From 1852 – 1854 the Carmelites took charge.

Twelve Jesuits Parish Priests then entered from worked from 1854 -1878. Then, it became a Jesuit Marathi  Mission with 30 parish priests ministered to the people from 1878 – 1986 and the last three Jesuits were Baptist D’Souza, Swami Vijayanand and Jacob Felix. Then the baton of command changed hands.

In 1986, under the leadership of Fr Chrysanthus Saldanha, Provincial,  dynamic Fr William Falcao was sent to pioneer a new Salesian missionary vision and venture. The most outstanding task he did was to uproot stable city bred urban settlers and transplant them into a new sprawling residential settlement which became Prem, Daya and Shanti thus feeding his new parish, boarding and school complex. No one today has achieved such a phenomenal and ambitious developmental mission strategy single-handedly to promote a new educational Project, DB Savedi to date. This year 2012,on December 3^rd, Provincial Community Day,  we will witness the inauguration of the new Junior College in Savedi, the plum on the Nagar pudding & the climax of the Silver Jubilee celebrations.  

The Salesian stalwarts that lifted this mission to its present status and glory have been: Nelson , Lloyd, Dominic, Xavier, Anton, Ivan  and finally now Michael Bansode. Now St John the Baptist is shinning and flying to new heights of community bonding, mobilization and accomplishment under its ‘son of the soil’ artist, painter and Parish Priest Michael Bansode. Keep the flag flying high, Parish of Bhingar. You  have long way to Go!

At the end of  the Mass, a Satkar of the Jesuit Provincial was held in Church. After the Eucharist, a huge cake with the logo of the Bhingar church and spire was cut. A musical  hip hop dance by the youthful football team was followed by an Agape fellowship meal, that brought the memorable day to a close.

Maha-Aradhana in St. Anne's

On 30th July Fr. Michael Bansode along with the youth group team animated and conducted a grand Adoration Service with audio-visuals and a lively music team. The Adoration was held in St. Anne's Church to prepare the people for the forthcoming visit of the casket and relic of Don Bosco next week.

The whole event was a Spirit filled and electrifying experience for the people. People turned out in large numbers for this spiritual experience. The youth of St. John's, Bhingar under the leadership of Fr. Michael gave their best and created a memorable evening for the people.

ALTAR SERVERS GO WAKA-WAKA

 The altar servers of Ahmednagar region plunged into an inter-parish football tournament organized by St. John’s Church, Bhingar. It was pleasant to see the different teams in their colourful uniforms warming up and planning their strategies. The mini tournament witnessed participants from the three Salesian parishes of Ahmednagar – St. Anne’s, St. John’s and Don Bosco, Savedi. It was a sight to see the budding players play with a lot of enthusiasm and energy. The final match was played between St. John’s and Don Bosco, Savedi. Don Bosco lifted up the trophy after a tough competition from the hosts St. John’s Church, Bhingar.

The winning teams celebrated the occasion with a great deal of fanfare. Despite the results all sports lovers of the Parish enjoyed the day, meeting others, exchanging pleasantries and creating a bond of friendship amongst each other.

Parish Priest's Note

History of the Parish

St. John’s the Baptist Church; Bhingar Camp was first established in 1833.  The present Parish Church was built in 1851.Ten years later the residence was set up in the same campus by the Jesuits.   In the early years of parish the Capuchins were in charge then there were diocesan priests.  The Jesuits followed and had the care of the parish for 130  years.   Till 1996 when the Bishop of Pune entrusted the pastoral care of St. John’s Parish to Salesians of Don Bosco.  

In 1995 St. John’s was bifurcated into another two new parishes namely: St. Anne’s and Don Bosco Savedi.  Thus St. John became the smallest of the three parishes.  From 1995 till 2002 St. John’s and St. Anne’s had an independent existence. At the end of 2002 a new centre was inaugurated at Kedgaon for the growing activities of BGVK which was in the Bhingar campus. But since June 2003 the confreres of the two presences have been joined together as a single community with a Rector who resides at St. Anne’s.