By Mrs. Clare D’Souza

The Siolim Mission Congress held from the 24th to the 26th of March in our Church Hall was indeed a revelation and eye opener for most of us who attended to realize how much God is with us at all times in our lives.  He loves us so much that his love overflows even when we stray far away from him, this boundless love of God made him send his Son Jesus to the world, to redeem us from sin and give back to us, our happiness lost through sin.  A fresh meaning of the word ‘Missionary’ was brought home to us: God ‘sent’ Jesus to the world on a mission, to save man and spread his love to all.  Jesus was the first missionary.  He came, taught, preached, healed, forgave, suffered and finally died on the cross a shameful death - all for us. 

He gave his Apostles and followers the command “Love one another as I have loved you” and sent them to the whole world saying: “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (Jn 13:34-35).  They became missionaries, thousands followed them, because they were drawn to them by the way they lived.  Spreading love and sharing what they had received.  We were woken up to realize that we too are missionaries and have to take the love we receive to others to make them experience the love of God and bring happiness around.
Today, we say that we are followers of Jesus, but we realized we were not better than the others, our lives did not show that we are true followers of Jesus.
This message was repeated to us for the three days at the beginning of each day.  For many of us, it was a wakeup call as we realized each one, how God touches our lives.  This message prepared us to listen eagerly to the two testimonies given each day, which opened to us all the avenues we did not think of earlier, where we could be missionaries, not by going out to faraway lands, but where God has placed us.  The testimony of Mr. Chandrakant Amonkar showed us, how he decided to follow Jesus, because he experienced the love of Jesus and is now happy in giving to others the love he has received, his conviction came about when he learnt how Jesus, the early Christians proclaimed the word of God and lived accordingly.  Hence he converted to Christianity.  Advocate Caroline Colaco opened new vistas in her testimony.  Because usually lawyers in general don’t have a good aura over them as they defend the clients who are offenders.  But she and all her colleagues in her office lived their religion by using their time and energy to help the poor and exploited to get justice most of the time without getting paid for their services.  Another area she opened was the prison and the dismal atmosphere.  The prisoners long for contact with their home members, there is already a group that works with prisoners by visiting them and doing littler jobs like writing and posting letters to homes, teaching them, letting them feel they are loved.
Each testimony was like a film, unfolding the love of God experienced and shared, Mrs. Perpetua Fernandes’ life was not centred in the Christian environment alone, she lives in a community centred neighbourhood as she has reached out to all Hindus, Muslims as well as Catholics.  Members of all communities have learnt our prayers, they pray the rosary together, celebrate together, share their joys, turn to Jesus and Mary in their distress. 
On the final day, part of the group work was for each to say whether they benefitted from the exercises carried out during the three days and the answer was a unanimous “YES” from each one present.  They said the inputs helped them to understand their faith better and to grow in their faith and express it in deeds. They became aware of the power of faith and prayer in facing the challenges of life.  Many realized we could do a lot, due to the input given by the testimonies; some saw that in our own small way, we were experiencing and sharing the love of God with others.  But also said we could do much more.  One among us testified how she who is a nurse, when she was put to work with doctors performing abortions, refused and requested to be given duty in another area, but this was denied.  She was so upset that she contemplated resigning, but she kept contact with God through prayers and things worked out and she was given duty in another ward. 
Many of us were convinced we had to be in closer touch with God and felt a sense of inner peace, after attending this Mission Congress.  The impact on us was definitely very strong as the suggestions made for making it even better on the last day showed.
Some good suggestions were:  1. Have the Mission Congress also in smaller groups to reach out to more people e.g. vaddo wise.
2. It could be given by interspersing English also in the talks, more people would attend.
3. Have regular follow-ups to keep the faith alive and see the progress.
At the end, Fr. Saturnino Dias who conducted this Mission Congress called for forming the Parish Team for Mission, to which six members have already given their names.  This team will work to sustain the enthusiasm generated by the Mission Congress and would monitor the progress in the parish and also help Father whenever the need arises.
All in all, happy smiles were seen on the faces of each participant, who thanked Fr. Saturnino profusely for the experiences they gained, which would help them to fulfill their God given mission better.