A Pastoral experience

Johnasitne Pantra, omi

A Pastoral experience

I began my pastoral in June 17, 2017 in Luxmipur parish. It was a golden opportunity to have a divine experience with divine faithful. As an oblate apprentice I had meaningful and fruitful apostolic experiences with oblate priests and faithful. These apostolic experiences will guide, lead and help me after being an oblate religious priest and will facilitate me to work with faithful in future as an Oblate. It was not an experience to convert the faithful rather to experience their deep faith in Jesus Christ. Deep faith of faithful has deepened my faith and vocation in oblate and constant conversion within me. It also was a unique and different experience with indigenous community faithful in Mogaipar Parish. So I accumulated a rich apostolic experience in my pastoral experiences.       

 

Prayer is an inevitable element in religious life. Religious without prayer is valueless and meaningless life. I have also learned to pray from faithful whose deep faith inspired me more in my prayer life and vocation life. People have a strong faith in the Blessed Sacrament. They come to the church and pray to the Blessed Sacrament.  I also prayed daily in Luxmipur and Mogaipar Parish with the hostel boys and girls and did adoration on every Thursday. I recited holy rosary on every Saturday with the faithful. Faithful have a deep devotion to mother Mary. I also shared the word of God and my experience of God with faithful. It was a wonderful time to develop my spiritual life. Faithful wants a prayerful priest who will pray with them and pray for them. 

 

I enjoyed Community life in Luxmipur. It was fraternal community, taking care, sharing and helping one another and planning together. It is beautiful that oblate and other nun community go together for apostolic need to the villages/ Punjees. It was very beautiful local community with oblate and nuns. I found it was a fraternal community life. It was a vivid community where every member could share ones opinion. I also experienced a good community life in Mogaipar where Fr. Soroj and Sudhir were in the community.  They also thought me the community life of the oblate. There was oblate spirited community in Luxmipur as well as in Mogaipar.  I was happy in both communities.

 

I helped in the rectory, cultivated vegetable and gardened flowers. I did also manual labour with hostel boys and girls. I also got opportunity to give the Holy Communion service when priests were absent in the parish. In absence of priests, I also learnt some office work in Luxmipur specially how to enlist the names of baptismal, confirmation, death and marriage information. I was also given opportunity to share the Gospel during the Holy Mass.  It was a great opportunity to me to be with young students. I studied, laboured, prayed and played with them. Sometimes I gave them conference and catechism class for the hostel boys and girls as well as for students of the village. I also helped fathers to distribute the Holy Communion during Mass and distributing Holy Communion to the sick persons.

 

As a regency apprentice, I sometimes had an opportunity to stay in the pungee/village. Faithful are advanced in multi-areas. Faithful are slightly driving away from religious spirituality. Though in every pongee/village, there is a church where people are praying, they need more to be attended on spiritual life. Priests in charge are taking care of the faithful.  For me, it was a golden opportunity to be with punjee`s faithful. They are simple, honest, faithful, loveable, hospitable and hard working.

 

So it was a golden opportunity to have pastoral experiences with ethnic group of Khasi, Garo and tea sate workers.  I stayed and associate with them. They are the field of flock that they need more shepherd. Being and experiencing with them, I fervently desire to be a servant of them.  So I prepare myself for the field of the flock as an oblate shepherd.