On 2nd Oct, a whole day seminar was held for Social Lay Apostolate by Fr. Bismark and his team. About 32 people attended and participated in the seminar. In the first session, Fr. Bismark took us back to the time of Jesus’ birth, 2000 years ago. He explained that four religious groups were present then, namely
a) Pharisees and Scribes:- dealing with the implementing of laws.
b) Saducees:- Concerned with rites and rituals.
c) Zealots:- zealous for the formation of the Kingdom of God’s chosen race.
d) Essenians:- bothered with the maintaining of the purity of the chosen race.
Israel at that time was under the Roman rule. People were therefore burdened by the Roman tax and the temple taxes and were feeling oppressed. In this scenario each longed for the Messiah but each group had a different mental picture of Him and His purpose. And they all rejected Him, because he did not fit into their picture. i)He did not strictly keep all the laws. ii)Some rituals he followed some he did not.
iii)He was not interested to form a strong earthly kingdom. iv)He mixed with all types of people and did not maintain the purity of the race.
So, Who is God then and How do we know Him? Which is the way to Eternal life?

To throw light on these questions, the message from the parable of the Good Samaritan was taken. God is Kindness and Compassion. External trappings of following the commandments / rites / rituals / novenas / dress codes etc does not make us holy. Kindness and compassion to our ‘neighbour’ is the way to holiness.
How does God look upon us?
The Gospel passage from “Baptism of Jesus” was read and analyzed. To God each one of us whether Christian or non-Christian is a ‘beloved’ child of His. He has compassion and concern for every child of His. The second session began with a reminder that God created the Earth for His beloved children and told them to take care of it and enjoy it. He created every mountain/hill/valley/lake/fields for all His children. There are no Catholic lakes or Hindu mountains. We find God and praise Him in His creation. If the earth is allowed to be destroyed for the gains of few, we too will be destroyed. We are called to fight to preserve it. Mountains, trees etc sustain life and should be taken care of. Slides and video clips on ill-effects of hill cutting, climate change leading to extinction of certain species of animals/butterflies/flora and fauna mining with all its horror on environment for the locality and the local people was shown. Our Hindu brothers who were part of the team, told us about the ill-effects of mining on the health of both young and old. The mine owners give money for the treatment and provide ambulance but are not interested in preventing the ill-effects. Their only livelihood of cultivating fields is destroyed. The take away message was to take religion beyond the walls of the Church to the surroundings. The PPC should go beyond organizing feasts and festivals. The question on everybody’s mind should be what can I do and not what can I gain? Be concerned. Look out for illegalities/injustice/corruption. Don’t accept that Goa is going…going…gone. With God’s power we can turn the tide of illegality, corruption and selfishness. The seminar ended with a vote of thanks. This seminar conducted by Fr. Bismark is about saving Goa from the ill-effects of unplanned development, corruption in high places, and hazards of continous mining. Its a call for the Church Associations to take an active part in solving problems faced by society.