austraLasia 1420
ITM - statues mark Don Bosco day in Indonesia
JAKARTA: 31st January 2006 -- Benefactors and council members of the St. John Bosco Parish in Jakarta, Mr and Mrs Henry Chandra have donated not one but four statuesof St. John Bosco to the four SDB communites in Indonesia. They are fibreglass statues similar to the one found in the General House at the Pisana.
The celebrations for enshrining these statues started on the 30th of January with a Mass presided over by Fr. Yohannes and the blessing of the first statue in the Sunter Post-novitiate. After a good supper, the FMA, SDB along with parents, benefactors and some parishioners were entertained by brief skits from the post-novitiate Salesians and the Sisters. On the morning of the 31st, Tigaraksa Community held the usual children's games for their Islamic neighbors. About 250 kids participated in the event, along with a handful of children from the nearby parish. By noon time, the games ended as the visitors from Jakarta arrived, including the FMA, the aforesaid post-novitiate Salesian community from Sunter and St John Bosco Parish, Jakarta. The second statue was blessed and unveiled despite a brief shower of rain. Lunch was served for all who came and afterwards everyone left for the next activity....another blessing of another statue! This third event was the blessing of the statue in the St John Bosco Parish itself, at 5:30pm. The Solemn Mass was presided over by the parish priest, Fr. Noel Villafuerte. Supper and cultural presentations capped the day's festivities..
The fourth statue for the new novitiate is still on its way to the island of Sumba. For now they won't have the statue to remind them of Don Bosco's zeal for souls and for the welfare of youth. But no worries, they have the presence of Fr. Andres Calleja, the Provincial! He has been there since the 29th and planned to stay with the novices for the Feast of Don Bosco.
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AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
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AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For RSS feeds, subscribe to www.bosconet.aust.com/rssala.xml
