Mangalorean Community Day-2012 observed as part of the Silver Jubilee of the Holy Spirit Church, Gha

By Valerian Lobo, Thirlapalke
Bellevision Media Network

Muscat, 13 May 2012: The Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Ghala, is celebrating its silver jubilee year under the dynamic leadership of  the Parish Priest – Fr. Albert D’Silva. OFM Cap, with the theme : “Celebration of Unity in Faith and Parish Life”.  To commemorate this special occasion, many events and activities are being held throughout the year.

To strengthen this move initiated by the Parish, the Mangalorean community with mother tongue “Konkani” as their common identity gathered at the Parish Hall on Friday, May 4, 2012 to celebrate “Mangalorean Community Day 2012”.  The meet began with the solemn High Mass in Konkani at 9.30 am.  Fr. Albert D’Silva, in his homily said “Jesus” is the centre of our lives and in him we can achieve wonders.”  He called for common unity in the community to the greater glory of God. The choir consisting of Rony Lobo, Hubert D’Souza, Francis D’Mello, Jawahar Pinto, Alwyn Baptist, Lancy Barboza, Rion D’Souza, and Charlotte Cutinha, Gladys D’Cunha, Meera Saldanha, GracyBarboza with AvilCutinha on the Key Board, led the singing excellently with full devotion.

 

After the Mass, while registrations were on, breakfast was served to the participants. Nirmala Goveas, in her unique style with melodious poetry in Konkani, took the centre stage to conduct the programme and welcomed the gathering for the celebration. The Choir team sang the Prayer Song “PoyleTuka Harshitelyavu Somiya tuvemth dillyadenyadwarih” with GracyBarboza, presenting its relevance in dance form to mark the beginning of cultural programme.

Parish Priest, Fr. Albert, together with John Gonsalves Coordinator and Community representative to the Parish Council, Michael Goveas – General Secretary, Helen Sequeira – Treasurer, Lavina D’Sa – Cultural Secretary and advisory members: Hubert D’Souza, Philomena Mendonca, Jawahar Pinto, were invited on to the stage.  As usual, traditional lamp was lit by the Parish Priest and executive committee.  John Gonsalves, in his key note address to the gathering appreciated the efforts by the past committee, acknowledged the support with gratitude by the present committee and sub-committee, gave a brief gist of future challenges and sought wholehearted support from the community.

Prominent personalities from the community, namely, Lawrence Alva, Rosanna Mendonca, Melanie Tauro, Stany Menezes and Hubert D’Souza, were honoured by the Parish Priest for their relentless service to the Parish in the past.  John Gonsalves, presented a memento to Fr. Albert D’Silva, for his extra-ordinary support to the community.

Fr. Albert  also spoke and expressed his gratitude to the community.  He gave call for the entire community to come closer for common benefit of the Parish and urged to shoulder more responsibilities to strengthen the Parish.
The second part of the programme consisting of Songs, Skit and Fun games was conducted by LavinaD’Sa, extremely well to the expectations of the participants and meeting the time frame.

Songs by Rony Lobo, Hubert D’Souza, Francis D’Mello, Alwyn Baptist, Rion D’Souza, Charlotte Cutinha, with AvilCutinha on the Key Board was a great treat for the music lovers.  Skits by Edward Mendonca, Salu, Peter and Jessy, gave homeland touch to the celebration and tickled the funny bones with laughter. Dance performance by Priyanka Mendonca, enthralled the young and old.

To generate closer interaction among the members, the whole gathering was divided into four groups namely Red, White, Pink and Green.  To make the process simple and more innovative, the concept of a King with his two ministers visiting the groups or regions was set to know the well-being of his subjects.   During his visit the king would express his desire through his ministers.  The king’s desires were items on which the groups were competing with each other.  The idea was to judge how best participants were interacting within the team for co-ordinated efforts to achieve results in the competition in a fun environment.  The performance of each group was judged by the points the king allotted for their performance.

Valerian Crasta, performed the role of “King”, while Jawahar Pinto and Edward Mendonca, performed the role of King’s two important Ministers with their respective costume and ceremonial headgear.  They fully justified their respective roles by their majestic look, graceful appearance and royal conduct.  The participants fully enjoyed the fun and entertainment.
Fr. Albert sought God’s blessings on the meal and invited one and all to partake in the community meal. DJ Lester Sequeira entertained the young crowd with good music. The singers entertained the gathering with songs during lunch and the young crowd danced to the tunes fully utilising the opportunity.

The arrangements for  food and beverages for entire day weremade by Sylvester Alva .Housie-Housie was conducted by Jawahar Pinto and Edward Mendonca.  While lucky few won the prizes, the rest sportingly cheered the winners. The gathering ended with Fr. Albert, thanking God Almighty for his blessings on the gathering.