By Novice Rakesh Mondol
For eight years now, the Jesuit novices of Calcutta
and Dumka novitiates come together for a week every year for an inter-novitiate
programme, alternatively in Kolkata and in Dumka. This year it was in Dumka; and on the 5th
of January, we, the Calcutta novices along with our socius Fr Sajeev, set out
for Dumka. We journeyed all night from Kolkata
and around 5.30 in the morning we reached Dumka. For most of us it was the first time to
experience such a thing called ‘the biting cold’. Fr Xavier and Fr Stephen, the novice master,
were very kind to come to fetch us from the bus stand. In ten minutes we reached Jisu Jaher, the
Dumka Jesuit novitiate. All the fathers
and the 12 Dumka novices welcomed us warmly.
After the morning ablutions (for which the water was too cold) and some
refreshments, we accompanied our Dumka friends to a sub-station for the Sunday mass. We were given a grand welcome by the people
in their own traditional way. We really felt
happy and blessed.
On Monday morning, we began our course, titled,
‘Walking towards God as men and women’.
Fr Xavier, Fr Saliba and Mrs Marcette very efficiently enlightened us on
various topics. The first year novices
had sessions, sharing and discussion on human sexuality. The second year novices continued from where
they left last year with an intensive course mainly focused on the vow of
celibacy. We had a lot of input sessions,
discussions etc. Mrs Marcette threw some
light on the present problems in celibate life, and the challenges and demands it
presents.
During our stay in Dumka, we also visited a
couple of the Jesuit missions in Dumka: St Xavier’s College, Maharo, and a Jesuit
run parish cum hostel at Purana Kesari.
It was quite inspiriting for us to witness the dedicated service of the
Jesuits for the uplift of the tribals.
One afternoon we went to see the famous ‘hot springs’ in the area and the
adjoining hills. “It is amazing for me to
see a mountain for the first time”, remarked Rintu, a first year novice from
Kolkata.
On the last day, we had a fitting
conclusion to our week ling course by a recollection given by Fr Sajeev. He emphasised on the virtue of openness in
the area of sexuality. It was an
opportunity for us to assimilate and reflect on all that we learnt during the week. On the 12th evening we bid good bye
to everyone and left Dumka with so much to carry home with.
Overall it was a wonderful experience for
all of us, to see things differently, and to understand the beauty of human
sexuality. It has helped us to expand
our knowledge with regard to our sexuality.
We hope to grow continually in this area of life. We are grateful to God for having given us
this opportunity.
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