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PAASAM HOSPICE INAUGURATION

We all must have heard of a familiar quote which says: “There is no place like Home” 
 
It is because of the love we receive from our loved ones, especially our parents, who will stand for us against all odds, even when the world rejects us.
 
What can equal a mother's love says the world and it is true and that is the very reason Jesus also gave us His Mother so that we could run to her in times of need to be loved, protected, nurtured and much more, etc.
 
Many Senior Priests/friars said that they don’t go home for a long vacation anymore and upon asking why? They said, “It no longer has that true love of mum and dad in them anymore, and they wished they were still alive”.
 
Now why am I talking about this love which holds us so dear? It is because we postulant brothers experienced one similar to that when we were invited to the Pasathotam at Dindigul for the inauguration of the Paasam Hospice, a place where the ones rejected by society, the ones who are looked down upon because they are infected by HIV-AIDS, are given dignity and sheltered, are loved and taken care of.

 
We all the fourteen of us postulants, who along with our postulant Master Fr. Arvind Kerketta OFM, started our journey, in response to the invite, on the 8th of November 2022 from our formation house in Madurai to Pasathotam, Dindigal, by local public transport. After 3 hours of journey, we reached Dindigal and were welcomed warmly and picked up by Fr. Peter Saleth OFM and Fr. Felix Vijay OFM who took us to Pasathotam and explained to us about that place. Later, we quickly settled in our designated stay rooms, changed our clothes, had lunch and got ready to work. We started working towards getting things clean and getting the place ready for the next day’s inauguration. It was a rainy day but nothing could stop us. We only had one thing in our minds: that it is a blessing to love someone more than to be loved, and we wanted the best for the ones for whom it was built for. The spirit of that place, Paasam, had won us over and we worked until late evening and satisfied, and we settled down for the night.
 
The next day was bright with all the guests and religious from various congregations joining us for the opening ceremony and Fr. Praveen D’Souza, Minister Provincial OFM graced it in the presence of all and we also were blessed by the presence of the 14 friars. We had the Holy Eucharistic Celebration at the new place at around 9:30 AM and in the Mass we learnt that it was a challenging journey to get this hospice from an idea to an actual one. Many friars, benefactors and people who worked for it were acknowledged and prayed for.
 
Our benefactors from Germany from the Asha Trust, i.e., Mr. Hans Schwarz and Mrs. Maris Woste were also present among us and were acknowledged and prayed for too.
 
Many friars i.e., Fr Arun Junes, Fr. Vijay Amrit Raj, Fr. Sagayadas, Fr Xavier Durairaj, Fr. Rajshekar Gopu, Fr. Felix Vijay, Fr. Peter Saleth, Fr. Arok Sundar, Fr. Eugene, Fr. Steven was all very instrumental in having this project completed and having that place stand true to its name.
We had the Minister of Co-operation of Tamil Nadu, Mr. I Periyasamy who inaugurated the place and, in his speech, he assured us full support and love, which was nothing less than tasting sweet honey as we found favour with man after God.
 
An inauguration and no cultural programme, that’s not possible. Well, our brothers, the local client kids and the local postulant sisters from the order of St Charles Borromeo later lit the place with happiness and performed some amazing cultural dances and skits. It all ended on a high note with hearts filled with joy and an assured future.
 
After all the hard work and an amazing day, tasty food was a must and so was it. Our own dear friars served us lovingly and we had a sumptuous meal. Now with a happy heart and a blessing tongue and wonderful memories, we returned to Madurai Friary, the postulancy house safely.
 
 

 

 

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