Dance 2 - Bardipada Tribal Dance Festival

Bardipada Tribal Dance Festival 2013

The young artists from the boarding.

The Pyramid part of every tribal dance.

 The Tribal Dance festival was organized at Jivan Jyot, Bardipada in South Gujarat, India on the 22nd Feb 2013.
Ten groups from different parts of Gujarat took part in the Festival of highly colourful and fast dances. The Festival encourages the tribals to appreciate and preserve their own cultural forms.

Bardipada Adivasi Nrutya Mahotsav - Tribal dance festival Dance 1

Rev. Bishop Thomas Macwan (Ahmedabad Dio.) on Year Of Faith 2013 c/o BBN

Bhavai - Sailesh Trivedi

Gujarati Modern Theater - Sailesh Trivedi

Alboan English Version 17 min 50% Quality

World Youth Days Inspired Jesuit Scholastic to Join the Society

Christayan’ - a Hindi Film on Jesus

‘Christayan’ - a Hindi Film on Jesus

Copies of this film will be available from Gurjarvani on DVDs from next week.

Rs 250 per copy.

‘Christayan’ a Hindi Film on Jesus
By Varghese Alangadan 
        Indore:                                      




A six-hour-long film on Jesus in Hindi, 
directed by a Catholic priest, 
was released on Dec. 2 after 
he worked seven years on it 
with a team of some 200 amateur actors and technical staff.

Divine Word Father Geo George's unique movie with the name 
‘Christayan’ (the journey of Christ)
 was released in Indore.

Most part of the film was made in Madhya Pradesh 
but the team of actors had to visit 10 states including 
the northeastern part of India.

Media Training for Priests, Brothers, Religious

Media Training for Priests, Brothers, Religious

On January 24^th, 2013 – the Feast of St. Francis de Sales (the Patron Saint of Journalists and Writers) – Vatican released Pope Benedict’s message for the 47^th World Communication Day. The theme of this year’s message is – “Social Networks: Portals of Truth and Faith; new spaces for evangelization.

The Pope challenges everyone to appreciate the potential of social media sites and urges believers, in this Year of Faith to consider how their presence on these networks can help spread the Gospel Message of God’s love and the values of human dignity to all people.

Keeping in mind the growing demands to keep oneself in communication with the others effectively, Jeevan Darshan and Gurjarvani has organized a 10-day workshop: Media Training.

This course is meant for those in formation or those who already work in parish, mission school or social centers. The course will equip the participants to use the media in its best way. We are aiming to impart scientific knowledge and professional skill in mass communication. The subjects are following: Basics of communication, Media education, Film Appreciation, Sound recording, Radio programmes, Digital photography, Videography, The World of Documentary Films, Use of internet, Making power-point programmes, Creating Personal Blog etc.

Details of the Media Training Workshop

Starts on 23^rd April (evening) - Ends on 4^th May (morning)

Course Fees: Rs. 5500/- only. (board & lodge inclusive)

Registration Fee: Rs. 500/-

Limited seats for better attention to each of the participants. Register your seat before 28^th February.

Register your name with:

Fr. Ashok Vaghela SJ                        Fr. Chandresh Christi

Gurjarvani                                       Jeevan Darshan

St. Xavier’s College Campus,             5 Camp   PB 2096

Ahmedabad – 380 009                      Vadodara – 390 002

Cell Phone: 9427312342                    Cell Phone:9978065275

Email id: gurjarvani@gmail.com         Email id: chandreshsj@gmail.com

The Pope's Legacy

The Holy Father’s resignation

 is a selfless and noble act done for the good of the church that he has loved and served for decades.  The resignation, announced this morning and set to take effect on Feb. 28, while surprising to almost everyone, is not completely unprecedented.  Several popes have resigned, including Gregory XII in the 15^th century, in the midst of the Western schism; and, most famously, Celestine V who was "litterarily" consigned to hell in Dante’s Inferno for his resignation in 1294.  More recently, there had been speculation around the time of Blessed John Paul’s declining health as a result of his Parkinson’s disease, but John Paul opted to continue in his job, providing a sign of human suffering for all to witness.  The pope is old and sick, John Paul would say frequently, but his suffering is part of the human condition.  For me, it was a moving testimony to John Paul’s desire to serve even during a time of struggles.  

Pope Benedict sees things a different way.  In his statement today, he explicitly pointed to his declining health as a reason for his resignation.  “I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise.”  He continued: “In today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of St. Peter and proclaim the gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”

“For this reason,” he continued, “and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom, I declare that I renounce the ministry of bishop of Rome, successor of St. Peter.”

The pope’s dramatic resignation seemed to shock many in the Vatican, including the papal spokesman, Federico Lombardi, SJ. “The pope took us by surprise,” he said.  To find a similarly surprising event one can look to Pope John XXIII, who served as pope between 1958 and 1963.  John XIII caught the Vatican, and his cardinals, by complete surprise when he announced the convening of the Second Vatican Council, which he said, came upon him after much deliberation, but rather, as he said, something that “came forth like the flower of an unexpected spring.”  For all the bureaucracy in the Vatican, the pope is still his own man.  

In the past year or so there has been increased speculation as to Benedict’s ability to do his job, and carry it out the way that he would like to.  Trips have been curtailed and shortened on various occasions, and even his appearances in the Vatican have included his moving around on portable devices, as an aid his walking.  Like anyone of his advanced age, he had to ask himself whether or not he could do the job.

(A few years ago the Jesuit superior general, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, SJ, became the first Jesuit superior general to resign.  Interestingly, Father Kolvenbach, who was also aging and in declining health,  once confided to his Jesuit advisers that it would be difficult to tender his resignation to John Paul II, who had decided against resigning as pope.  Tendering it to Benedict, who accepted it, should have been seen as a sign of Benedict’s acceptance of this path.)

Thus, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II reached entirely different conclusions to the same question: Should an ailing pope resign?  For John Paul, the image of the suffering, sick pope was of spiritual value to his flock; for Benedict, the job needed to be done.  Discernment is always very personal; and it is important to see how two holy men reached two entirely different decisions.  God speaks differently to different people facing the same question.  In the lives of the saints, for example, we often see how the same situation is handled differently by different saints.  When St. Francis of Assisi was facing a painful malady of the eyes, brought on, doctors thought, by excessive tears during Mass, St. Francis decided that he would continue as he had with the celebration of Mass.  When St. Ignatius faced similar problems with his eyes, the physicians warned him, he decided to curtail his devotions, in order to have sufficient health to do his work. Both were responding to what they felt were God’s promptings in their lives.   The pope also shows great spiritual freedom in his resignation, what St. Ignatius calls a freedom from "disordered attachments."  Rare is the person today who can relinquish such power, voluntarily.  

Pope Benedict XVI may likely remembered as a pope who in his relatively short pontificate, sought primarily to strengthen the orthodoxy of the church in a variety of means, who authored several important encyclicals, notable for their theological depth and appeal, and who continued a full set of public appearances, and who, despite his full schedule, published three well-received books on the life of Jesus.  Never the media superstar that his predecessor was, Pope Benedict XVI, a lifelong scholar, exuded his own brand of charisma, which came from his profound theological acumen and his personal relationship with Jesus.  Perhaps his most often neglected talent was his series of superb Angelus messages, delivered every Wednesday during his public appearances in St. Peter’s square.  

His most lasting legacy, I would suggest, will not be in the various “newsworthy” acts of his papacy that were highlighted in the media so often (his long negotiations with the breakaway Society of St. Pius X, his strong actions against the sexual abuse accusations made against the powerful founder of the Legion of Christ, the revised English translation of the Mass, his own response to the sexual abuse crisis, or the controversy over the comments that angered the Muslims, and so on) but something far more personal: his books on Jesus.  Far more people will most likely read those moving testaments to the person who is at the center of his life—Jesus of Nazareth—than may read all of his encyclicals combined. Others may disagree about this aspect of his pontificate, but in these books, the pope brought to bear decades of scholarship and prayer to the most important question that a Christian can ask: Who is Jesus?  This is the pope’s primary job--to introduce people to Jesus--and Pope Benedict did that exceedingly well.

James Martin, SJ

Pope Benedict to step down

Pope Benedict to step down

Pope Benedict XVI is to step down

Pope Benedict XVI is to step down, the Vatican announces

Pope Benedict XVI has announced he will resign in two weeks. Here is his full statement:

Dear Brothers,

I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.

Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.

From the Vatican, 10 February 2013

Faith today - ROLHEISER, OMI

RON ROLHEISER, OMI Speaker, Columnist and Author

FAITH THROUGH MYSTICISM

Karl Rahner once said that the time is fast approaching when one will either be a mystic or an unbeliever.

He's right. None of us can rely much longer on the fact that we were once given the faith and that we still walk within a community that, seemingly, has some faith. These things are no longer, of themselves, enough to sustain faith in an age which is as agnostic, pluralistic, seductive, and distracting as is our own. In the past, a certain cultural (sometimes, ethnic-based) faith was still very powerful and could carry individuals in a way that is no longer possible today.

Twenty-five years ago, Henri Nouwen had already said something similar. While teaching at Yale, he commented that even among the seminarians he was teaching the dominant consciousness was agnostic. God had essentially no place in their normal consciousness, even within the very discussion of religion. That is basically true of all of us today, not just of seminarians, though it should be affirmed with more sympathy than sarcasm.

Faith is not easy today for any of us. To have real faith, an actual belief in God, requires something more than simply continuing to roll with the flow of our own particular faith communities. I say this because it is becoming clearer that today it is much is easier to have faith in Christianity, in a code of ethics, in Jesus' moral teaching, in God's call for justice, in an ideology of Christianity, and even in the value of gathering for worship, than it is to have a personal and real relationship to God.

Being born into a Christian family and worshipping within a Christian church can give us a relationship to a religion, to an ideology, to a truth, and to a community of worship; but these things, of themselves, are not the same thing as an actual faith in God. Just as we have people who believe but do not practice, many of us practice but do not believe. Subscribing to an ideology, however noble and inspirational it might be, is not the same thing as believing in and actually worshipping God.

To actually believe in God today, one must at some point in his or her life make a deep, private act of faith. That act, which Rahner equates with becoming a mystic, is itself difficult because the very forces that help erode our cultural, communal faith also work against us making this private act of faith.

These forces are not abstract. Nor are they the product of some conscious conspiracy by godless forces. What are the forces that conspire against faith? They are all those things, good and bad, within us and around us that tempt us away from being alone, from praying privately, and from taking the time and courage to enter deeply inside of our own souls.

 To make an act of faith requires an inner journey, a journey into the   deepest recesses of the soul where I must face:

·      My weakness, my sin, my infidelities, my lies, my rationalizations, my constant avoiding of the  searing truth.

 ·      My fear that ultimately I am alone, that I will end up alone, unloved, and not worth loving.

 ·      My mortality, the fact that one-day I will die and that already my body is aging, my options are  narrowing down, that my best dreams will never be realized.

 ·      My jealousies and angers, my bitterness that life has not been fair to me, that others have things  I don't have, and that I never forgiven them nor made peace with my loss.

 ·      My ambitions, my need to succeed, my need to create some immortality of whatever kind for  myself before I die.

 ·      My sicknesses and addictions, the fact that I am not whole, that inside me there dark corners and dark demons that do not show up on my photographs, on my resume, and in the things my  friends know about me.

·      My sensuality, my lust, the power of sex within me, my laziness, my pathological need for  distraction, my incapacity to sit still.

 ·      My godlessness, that black hole of fear, insecurity, chaos, and emptiness within me.

British writer, Anita Brookner states in one of her novels that the great tragedy in most marriages is that the man and woman cannot, in the end, console each other and that what each really needs from the other, but generally never gets, is a good confessor, someone to whom each can reveal all the secrets of his or her life so as to let go of the tension and finally just be himself or herself without pretense and effort. 

Ultimately, that is what each of us needs from God - someone who can console us and someone to be for us that trusted confessor, that person before whom no secret need to be hidden.

To relate to God in this way is to have faith. And this means consistently sharing all of our secrets and fears in those lonely, private hours when there are just the two of us and nobody else is around.

Sandhya N. Bhatt - poem 1 Gujarati

Changda Village shoot

Shoot in progress

Changda shoot [ near Tarapur - Gujarat ] which was reported in the previous post is presented with these stills.
Script by Krishnaben
Directed by Ashok Vaghela

Scott at the house of Babu.

Grena at the Camera.

Scott

Reflectors for the shoot.

Krishnaben and Scott with Babubhai

Changda village Sunrise

Photo by Khrisnaben

Gurjarvani team was shooting a story at Changda village [ near Tarapur in Gujarat, India] with the Valmiki Samaj  for three days - 4, 5, 6 Feb 2013.
It is the story of a boy Babu who is one of the first to get educated up to 10th std and get a job in Ahmedabad. He returned to Changda Village with the intention of improving the family situation and helping the Valmiki Samaj to be more self reliant.
This will be also the story of the struggle of the Valmiki Samaj of the last 20 years showing the changes that took place in the Village.
And how Krishnaben as she is called at the village experienced the change in her and Babubhai and the Samaj till today.

Krishnaben and Scot from Canada are producing the movie with Gurjarvani.
The Photo shows the Sunrise at the lake of Changda Village at 6.30 in the morning.
A time-laps shoot for the movie is going on.
Devasia