The Nativity Novena theme chosen by the parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Kalyan west is YOUTH and THE CHURCH.
Each day of the Novena is dedicated to one problem or phenomena associated with being a youth day. Youth are the present and the future of the Church and society and the way they shape their lives during these years will certainly reflect in the form of tomorrow's leaders.
To address these topics many 'youth friendly' priests are invited to address various topics concerning youth such as : media, family , sports and careers. One important topic was Youth and Addiction on saturday evening . Fr Joe Pereira from KRIPA celebrated a meaningful eucharist and shared his experience of working with troubled youth with various problems including addiction. Fr Joe cleared many doubts regarding addiction and its causes. He explained the 12 Step method and the importance of prayer and family support in overcoming addiction.
Fr Joe kept the Congregation spell bound with the held of youth testimonies and practical examples. He spoke convincingly about a God experience as a foundation to experience freedom and peace. The role of meditation and silence is the need of the hour and Christian meditation can deepen our experience of oneself in the presence of God .
Fr Joe reinforced his homily with power point presentation and he distributed handouts of the summary points for the families to take this message home. The community at Kalyan was indeed enriched and blest with this sharing from Fr Joe. The animators thanked Fr Joe with a bouquet of flowers, in response Fr. Joe in all humility thanked the parishioners and said (quote) " I come to you selfishly to ask you to join me and become FRIENDS OF KRIPA, so as we could jointly reach out to more people suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction." (unquote).
The whole programme was well organised through the efforts of Fr. Norbert De Souza, the parish priests team, and youth leaders of the parish.
Those wishing to have a similar programme of Fr. Joe Pereira can contact us on
2640505/ 26439295
News Desk,
