Ranchi March 8, 2018: was a day of immense blessing in the splendid history of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany, as the installation ceremony of the Provincial Superior of the Eastern Province and her Councillors took place. It was a day of prayer, jubilation and festivity in the Bethany Provincial House, Kadru, Ranchi when Sr Shaila, BS, and her Councillors, were formally installed by Rev. Sr Rose Celine, our Superior General. A number of Sisters from our communities from all over the Province were present to witness this event and to pray for them. Sr Shaila, BS, was adorned with the mantle of shepherding the Sisters of the Eastern Province for a second term of office with Sr Jessy Maria, Sr Bridget, Sr Anita Moras and Sr Oliva, as her Councillors. Sr Lilitta BS, the General Councillor, led an hour long meaningful prayer service during which a thanksgiving prayer was made for the outgoing team. Thereafter, she highlighted the special gifts of leaders as being servants, shepherds and stewards.
Breaking the Word of God from the Gospel of Jn 21: 15-17, Sr Rose Celine, the Superior General, called on the Provincial Superior and her councillors to grow in their commitment of serving the sisters of the Province, the Church and the people they encounter, with greater love, draw from the fountain of mercy and share the love to the highest degree in shepherding them which entails cross.
She exhorted Sr Shaila and her team to nurture the Province in such a way that through the life-witness and selfless service of its members, we become powerful channels of God’s mercy and compassion, responding to the needs of the time and of the people. The final prayer of blessings by Sr Rose Celine, the Superior General, ushered in them a torrential flow of graces.
The infant Eastern Province consists of 115 Sisters spread across the States of Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. We are engaged in a host of service-oriented ministries that give integration and fulfilment to our consecrated life and to the holistic welfare of God’s people, the reason of our being religious.
Further, we were strengthened and nurtured by the Eucharistic celebration officiated by Fr Deepak Tauro, the Rector of St Albert’s College. Thereafter, the team was felicitated during a short cultural programme. Congratulating Sr Shaila BS, and the Councillors on this occasion, Sr Rose Celine, the Superior General, placed on record the contribution made by Sr Shaila during her first term and also that of the former team members and the Provincial Procurator. She called upon them to collaborate and cooperate with each other and to work in union to make their service effective and efficient. She gave a clarion call to the sisters of the province to maintain the spirit of simplicity, poverty and its missionary spirit. In response, Sr Shailaexpressed her sentiments of gratitude to the Superior General and her team for the encouragement and reassurance of support and guidance from them and from the Sisters of the Province. She also thanked Sr Margarita, the outgoing Councillor, for her committed service to the Province. Following this, Sr Bridget,on behalf of the Provincial Superior and her team,thanked everyone present and all those who contributed to making the day what it was. After the ceremony, all shared in a sumptuous fellowship meal.
We pray that God, through His Spirit, fills the newly appointed team with wisdom, understanding and good counsel! May Mary, Queen Mother of Bethany, assist them always to live their fiat in joy and in total abandonment to God’s ways and plans! May St Therese, the Patroness of the missionaries, obtain for our missionary Province, God’s choicest graces! May the Servant of God RFC Mascarenhas, intercede for them! And finally, may the Divine Mercy, under whose protection we are, bless all our endeavours!