OFM Franciscans - India

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MESSAGE OF THE MINISTER GENERAL FOR WORLD AIDS DAY 2020:

MESSAGE OF THE MINISTER GENERAL FOR WORLD AIDS DAY 2020: “GLOBAL SOLIDARITY, SHARED RESPONSIBILITY”

1 December 2020: My dear brothers, may the Lord give you peace!Every year, on December 1, the world community is invited to pause and reflect on the reality and impact of HIV and AIDS on the human community. It is a time to remember and pray for all 38 million of our brothers and sisters who are living with HIV, their families and friends, and to pray for the millions more who have lost their lives to AIDS (more than 32.7 million).

The year 2020 has been marked by the SarsCoVid-2 pandemic (CoVid-19), which is affecting the lives and livelihoods of the global human community. CoVid-19 is showing us just how interconnected global health is with other critical issues, including increasing social and economic inequalities, assaults on human rights and dignity, and threats to the environment. As the world turns its full attention to the CoVid-19 global pandemic, there is a danger that the ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic could be forgotten, that the battle to defeat it might experience a setback, and that national and international attention and funding could be reduced.

Pope Francis in his recent encyclical Fratelli tutti warns us that “In today’s world, the sense of belonging to a single human family is fading, and the dream of working together for justice and peace seems an outdated utopia… [We fail] to realize that we are all in the same boat” (30). For the Pope, it is only when we come to realize that “no one is saved alone; we can only be saved together” (32) that we will be able to confront the challenges we face and, working in collaboration and solidarity, overcome them with the grace of God.

Much progress has been achieved in recent years, but many challenges remain. Let us unite our energies and our prayer as we contend with the two viruses and their terrible consequences: HIV/AIDS; and CoVid-19. Let us urge our national leaders to continue to guarantee adequate financial support for safe, effective, and affordable antiretroviral and other necessary drugs to combat HIV and treat related illnesses, and to make special provision to ensure that there is no interruption in the production and distribution of these life-saving antiretroviral therapies. As disciples of the risen Lord Jesus and followers of our Seraphic Father Francis, may we never cease to love, support, and pray for our brothers and sisters who are living with or affected by HIV and AIDS. Let us also pray for our own brothers who live with the virus and who, despite the challenges they face, continue to serve the needs of God’s people, especially the poor and forgotten.

2000 World AIDS Day Prayer:

O God, Trinity of love, pour out upon us a torrent of fraternal concern and care. Grant that we may respect the presence of Christ in every human being, especially in the lives of our brothers and sisters living with or suffering from the consequences of HIV and AIDS. May we reach out in fraternity and solidarity, recognizing that we truly are ‘part of one another, that we are brothers and sisters’ in the one family of God. Amen.

 

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

ST. FRANCIS

ST. FRANCIS

FRIARS' BIRTHDAY (July)

Date

Name of the Friars

Events

Year

01

Anthony Alex Martis

Birth

1976

02

Pratap Reddy Salibindla

Henry Jose

Birth

Birth

1960

1992

03

+ Thomas the Apostle – Patron of the Province

Amaladass Manickam

Atma Jyothi, Mysore

Abhishek M.

Feast


Solemn Vows

Blessing

Birth



1982

1987

1995

04

Praveen Henry D’Souza

Ordination

2007

05

Martin Sangma

Birth

1992

06

Jugal Kishore Lakra

Birth

1976

07

+ Michael Haliday

Baikim Chandra Minj

Stephen Lamin Gashnga

Home

Birth

Birth

1976

1982

1983

08

Dominic C.J.

+ Bede Worham

Birth

Home

1959

1991

09

Mukti Prakash Ekka

Arun Junes

Solemn Vows

Ordination

2000

2006

12

Anto Leo

Birth

1988

13

Sidney J.M.

Arvind Kerketta

Birth

Birth

1941

1970

14

Michael Anand

Simon A.

Deepak Xalxo

Avinash Toppo

Birth

Birth

Birth

Birth

1977

1981

1992

1996

15

+ Bonaventure

Feast


20

+ Blaise Lobo

Home

1997

21

Lawrence of Brindisi

James N.

Feast

Birth


1966

22

+ Leonard Fernandes

Home

1980

27

+ Cornelius D’ Souza

Phyrnai Lyngdoh

Home

Birth

2009

1983

28

+ Alphonsa

Feast


30

Trevor D’ Souza

Entry

1985

31

Joseph Prasanna Kumar

Birth

1985