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Life Journey of life in the Franciscan Missions of the North-East

Eleanor Roosevelt once shared her experience of life and she says, “The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” Such has been my journey in my regency in the North-East. One can have vivid experiences that can teach us to shape our life. And therefore, it is rightly said that one’s life experience is the best teacher. I would like to share the rich experiences of my regency in the North-East.

Feast of St. Francis

The feast of St. Francis at Salbari was celebrated with humility and simplicity. It was just like our founder whose life we emulate in order to follow to our Lord. The preparations for the feast of St. Francis began with prayers and reflections. In the novena there were various themes among which I had the privilege to share the reflections on poverty and fraternity. The FSM sisters joined us throughout the novena days. On the day of the Transitus, the FCC and FSM sisters joined us for a prayerful service in the evening. There was a candle light procession followed by the carrying of the habit in remembrance of the passing away of St. Francis. The traditional Franciscan hymns instilled in us a sense of Awe and Joy and causing us to be more like our founder. The Feast of St Francis was celebrated in the Parish on the 3rd of October with a festive mass followed by some refreshments. The festive celebration of the Feast in our friary was celebrated on the 4th with close friends like the FCC and FSM sisters. After the celebration there was a fellowship meal for all.

Parish Youth Convention

The parish of St. Clare of Assisi, Salbari organized a three day youth convention for the youth of the parish from 15th October to 17th October, 2021. We had around a100 youth present for the youth conventions for three days. We arranged for their stay too. The boys were put up at our mission place and the girls at the FSM convent nearby. There were various cultural programs such as dance competitions, singing competitions and drama competitions held on each of these days. There were many competent and informative resource persons who encouraged and motivated the youth on how to assimilate, develop, grow and sustain Christian values and how they could be a vibrant force in the parish and the church at large. A variety of dishes was served at the meals during these three days of the conventions; of which was all prepared by our parishners and catechists. I had the opportunity of conducting games for the youth on 16th of October. The games were for both individuals and groups which were as follows; lemon and spoon race, sack race, musical chairs, eating fest and many more. The convention came to end with a festive mass on the 17th October and the friars from North Guwahati joined us for the celebration of the Mass. Fr. Wilson Paul was the main celebrant. He encouraged the youth to actively take part in the parish and in living Christian faith. At the end of the celebration, the prizes were distributed to the winners of the various competitions held during the convention. After the celebration, there was a festive fellowship meal and a football match between the brothers of the apirancy and the youth.

Diwali celebration

A short prayer service was organized on the day of the festival of lights – Diwali. Joining our fellow Hindu brethren we too celebrated the festival of lights by lighting lamps in our campus. There was a short prayer conducted to recalling to our minds the significance of light, especially of Christ who is the light of the world. He came to dispel the darkness from our human world. With lights lit and prayers offered, the celebration of Diwali was indeed a memorable one.

Football Match

A football match was organized at the Salbari mission between the brothers at Salbari and the brothers of North-Guwahati. The brothers from North-Guwahati arrived on the 9th of October, 2021 with Friar Nathaniel and brother Ankit accompanying them. We had a short cultural program by the brothers in the evening showcasing their various talents. Indeed, our guests were felt entertained and were happy at the end of the program. After the program we had fellowship dinner arranged in the open grounds. There was indeed a festive and brotherly atmosphere in the air that evening as the brothers interacted with each other. The next day we had the football match in the afternoon. We had a special referee in the person of Mr. Biswas, army personnel, who is our neighbor and a former student of our school in Salbari. He had just arrived a day before for his vacations. He graciously accepted our invitation to be the referee. The match started with a lot of enthusiasm displayed by both the teams. There was a tuff fight between both the teams. In the first half the Salbari brothers had scored two goals back to back. The Guwahati brothers did struggle in the first half but they nevertheless managed to score a goal just before half time. In the second half, the Guwahati brothers were more on the offensive. They tried their best to score a goal. The defense strategy displayed by the Salbari brothers was indeed impregnable. In the second half they scored two more goals. The match went in favour of the Salbari brothers. Being the winners, 4-1, they lifted the trophy with pride. Br Albert was the man of the match.

Regents Meet

The regents of the North-East met for a day of recollection, fellowship and sharing. Br. Leomax, who hails from his regency place at the Diphu Mission and I, from my regency place at the Salbari Mission, together with our companion Br. Ankit joined the Guwahati Community for the recollection. We had a Short Introduction by Friar Wilson Paul, who is the regional In-charge for the regents in the Northeast. This was followed by a short talk by Fr. Jacob. Fr. Jacob emphasized on the need for equanimity of the mind and on how we can be one with the ultimate reality whom we call God. After the Talk by Fr. Jacob we had an hour of adoration guided by Fr. Nathaniel. In the Afternoon we had brief individual meetings with Fr. Wilson Paul. This was followed by a group meeting in which we shared our experiences and what we had learnt in our missions. Friar Wilson Paul encouraged us to give our best in our ministry in our respective missions. In the evening Friar Wilson along with Friar Brian took us around the banks of the river Brahmaputra and the Doul Govinda Shrine. There we took some snaps and shared our experiences with each-other. In the evening we had a reflective talk by Friar Brian who stressed on the importance of our commitment in religious life, especially in our Franciscan way of life. After supper we had recreation with the friars. Thanks to Friar Wilson and our regent master Friar John Shekar for giving all of us such an opportunity.

Community Service

The aspirants of the Northeast at the Salbari Mission had two days of Community Service on the feast of All Saints and on all Souls. The brothers had a huge task set before them – to clear the farm area making it fit for cultivation. This meant trimming the trees, removing the weeds, clearing the ground, digging the ground and procuring manure from it wherever available. The brothers were organized in such a way that each was given a specific task in the field. We could see some expert tree climbers cutting the branches, while others were busy digging, and some really strong aspirants pulling a cart loaded with mud and manure for the farm. There was joy and laughter in the air. The gaiety of the brotherhood mingled with the soul of the earth raising to heaven an aroma pleasing to God and to the people around.

Care for the Poor

Following the call made by the pope and the minister General and the guidelines offered by the Province, the community of Salbari, helped a poor family of the parish in the renovation of their house. The initiative was taken by friar Roshan Lobo, who visited the family and a look at house and stated that there was an urgent need to renovate the house. The Aspirants along with the workers were able to renovate and refurbish the house with new posts and tin roof. The entire community brothers included together with the village folk had a short prayer service followed by the blessing of the renovated house. The family thanked the friars for their love and help.

Village Visit

I had also had the privilege of visiting a few villages for the BCC program which was organized in the various villages of the parish. My First visit was to a village named Fulguri. I had the opportunity to mingle with the children there and I taught them one action song. After this all the catholic families joined together for the rosary and prayer. After the prayer there was a fellowship dining which snacks were served. My visit to other two villages, like Bedbari and Salbari were mainly occupied with bible sharing at which all the families came together, both young and old and participated in the bible sharing.

Provincial Visit

The Minister Provincial, Friar Praveen Henry D’souza, visited the mission at Salbari with Friars Tony D’souza, the Custos, Friars Wilson Paul, John Shekar, Rajsehkar Goppu, Vijay, Bhaskar, Thaddeus, Shanbourlang, and Friar Nathaniel who joined him. There were various programs organized by the community beginning with, the pre-Christmas celebration at St. Clare of Assisi School, Salbari. This was followed by the blessing of the Tailoring centre by Friar Tony D’souza, Custos. There was also the distribution of Scholarships for the students studying in our school, and the blessing of the extend kitchen of the Aspirants. This was followed by the meeting of the Minister Provincial with the brothers in aspirancy in the North-East. In the evening all the friars joined us in the blessing of the renovated chapel of St. Fatima at Fulguri. The Festive Mass was celebrated by Friar Wilson. In the end the Provincial congratulated and thanked the people for their love, support and generosity, and encouraged them to grow in the various fields of life. After the mass there was a short cultural program and fellowship for all. Later that evening the aspirants had organized a short cultural program showcasing the vivid cultural heritage of the North-East.

Blessing of the Senior Secondary Block at North Guwahati

The Inauguration and blessing of the Senior Secondary Block of St. Anthony’s School was held on the 5th of December, 2021. His grace Bishop John Moolachira, Arch Bishop of Guwahati, blessed and inaugurated the new block. The New Block looked simple and elegant and it had spacious classrooms and corridors with ample light. There was also the blessing of the children’s park named after the first teacher late Kyntiewlang Marboh. It was inaugurated by her sister. The new block is dedicated to our gracious benefactor Catherine Sanzi DeMuro. After the inauguration and blessing ceremony there was a short cultural organized by the school in the new auditorium. The Students performed various cultural programmes depicting the richly variegated dances of Assam. It was indeed mesmerizing. The inauguration celebrations ended with the festive lunch at the friary of St. Anthony’s, North-Guwahati.

Christmas celebration at North-Guwahati

In order to have different experiences of the various missions in the North-East, and also part of the exchange program, I was asked to join the community at North-Guwahati. On the day I arrived I had the privilege of joining the parish in their pre-Christmas celebrations. We had the Eucharist celebrated by Friar Ignatius. It was followed by the fellowship breakfast. There were various competitions conducted for the parishioners from sports to bible quiz for the children. Later that evening there was a short cultural program given by the parishioners. It was indeed a warm and lovely welcome on my arrival at Guwahati. This set the tone for the preparation of Christmas. I joined the brothers in helping them to prepare some Christmas sweets such as kulkuls, sweet puffs and ginger wine. I also had the opportunity of participating in and of leading the Christmas novena. On Christmas Eve we had the festive mass in the evening of 8:30 PM, followed by sharing of sweets, cake and tea. There was also a bonfire made and we all joined together in dancing and rejoicing as we were in a festive mood. On the 25th we had the Mass in the morning followed by sharing of sweets and some dancing. In the evening we had some youngsters and our neighbours visiting our crib and watching our decorations. All had a positive appreciation of all that was done. It was indeed a meaningful celebration.

All said and done, I can say that all the experiences that we have had in our life are meant to teach us something we need to know on how to move forward. And I can say that my experience in the North East has indeed taught me a lot of things. As the saying goes, “Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.” This is exactly what my journey in the North-East has done for me.

Br. Anthony Archer OFM
St. Clare’s Friary Salbari

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