Dear Parishioners of Corpus Christi Church
Loving greetings from Fr. Paul Sequeira, the Parish Priest. Hope you are all fine. I am sure all of you have received the invitation for the Golden Jubilee Celebration of the foundation & establishment of our Parish. On this Golden occasion, I am extremely happy to share my feelings with you. Yes our Parish was Established on 2nd May 1971, on 2nd May 2021 we completed 50 yrs. We wanted to have the celebration in May but the pandemic has created havoc, hence we postponed to date which comes as 22nd November 2021. On this Golden occasion we gratefully remember our Bishop Basil D’souza, founder Fr. F.X D’souza, Donor of the land Mr. B.A Saldanha, I.L Pinto who supervised the construction work of the church building assisted by Raymond D’costa and the Parish priests who served our parish. We pray to God to grant them eternal rest as the reward for their hard work.
Yes, the 1st Parish Priest – Fr. Henry Machado laid the foundation for the new culture of the parish, devotions tried his best to build the relationships with the parishioners and with the non-Christians and strived hard for the development of the parish and Moodbidri at large
The successive parish priests have contributed their mite for the development. Fr. Mark Walder when he was the parish priest it was the silver jubilee time. Under his leadership meaningful celebration were planned and useful projects were planned and executed. I, Fr. Paul Sequeira the present Parish priest is the eleventh one. Hence totally eleven parish priests have served the Parish and contributed as per their capacity keeping the well being of the parishioners. We are grateful to all these eleven Parish Priests. Out of these, seven have gone to eternal rest, four are living. We pray for them.
We do remember with love the Vice Presidents, Secretaries, Gurkars and Parish Pastoral Parishad Members whose contribution in the Progress of the church is immense and needs appreciation. No less important are our donors whose generosity has been the cause for the completion of the projects and other genuine needs of the parish. We remain grateful to them. Golden Jubilee is an occasion to thank God, to sing his praises and to be grateful to all those who contributed to the growth of the parish in a small or in a big way. We have planed the programs for all our parishioners as per their age group to feel that they are one of our Parish family. All these have been executed effectively. We have renovated and restructured the campus in view of the jubilee. It looks jubilant.
We have arranged two hours adoration to thank god through our patron Jesus who is in Eucharist. We also arranged Vojem Purshanv / Hore Kanike, in view of our Jubilee Day’s function. We are having it for the 1st time in 50 yrs which is a need historical. It is to show our existence in Moodbidri, to witness Christ in a public place, to feel the unity and the feel the jubilee event. Eleven wards will bring things in eleven vehicles in a procession with the parishioners exhibiting jubilation. The days program is on 22nd November at 3:45 P.M which will start by welcoming three Bishops in procession, starting from the nearby junction by the main gate, a short prayer and blessing the new gate and entrance, Eucharistic art work, bible words written in cement and digital church Name board followed by inaugurating the documentary, praying the jubilee prayer in the church and the holy Eucharist, Stage Program and a small cultural programs and meal.
To remember the jubilee we have instituted a golden jubilee Health Fund for our parishioners amounting ten lakhs which will be kept in F.D and the interest will be used for the medical expenses our needy Parishioners .The fund is a Growth Fund.
We will be honouring all the vice presidents, secretaries, gurkars and the donors who served our Parish in these 50 yrs to show our love and gratitude. Also the parish priests, priests and nuns of this parish will be honoured with the Three Bishops. The huge pendal which accommodates around 1500 people, well protected from rain by putting the aluminium sheet roof over it. The Jubilee program is culminated by a jubilee meal for our parishioners. The meal is prepared by the parishioners, for the parishioners and partaken by the parishioners which expresses that we are one united family with the lord who partook in the Eucharistic meal now in the parish meal.
The whole jubilee celebration is planned and executed by the jubilee celebration committee with the help of the parishioners which worked round the clock to make it a success. I am extremely grateful to them. Let us participate in this golden jubilee function by attending it for those who are here and by viewing it on line for those who are not able to attend. Let us pray for the success of this golden function. May Jesus who is our patron bless this jubilee function. I wish you all happy Golden Jubilee.
God Bless you
-Fr. Paul Sequeira
