To all the Parish SCC Coordinators, Archdiocese of Bombay
My dear Collaborators,
We will begin a new month tomorrow: October – a month of celebrations: Tomorrow, Sunday, October 01, we will be celebrating THANKSGIVING SUNDAY. Besides thanking God for the new harvest HE has blessed us with, we also thank God for the gift of our families, our SCC Animators and Coordinators, the parishes of our Archdiocese, and how can we forget our Clergy Teams: our priests and religious men and women are at our service, and we cannot take them for granted. We shall continue to support each of these beautiful people with our prayers and good wishes.
Our eyes and ears will be attuned to what is happening in Rome during the next couple of weeks. The first session of the much-awaited Synod with its theme: “For a Synodal Church, Communion, Participation and Mission” will be held from October 04-29, 2023 and will be attended by Bishops, priests and lay men and women from all over the world. The participants will be discussing the Instrumentum Laboris – a working document compiled from the seven continental meetings: Africa (SECAM); Oceania (FCBCO); Asia (FABC), Middle East (CPCO); Latin America (CELAM); Europe (CCEE) and North America (USCCB and CCCB). Since this is an important gathering in the Universal Church, I earnestly request you to pray for the success of the first phase of the Synod (cfr enclosed prayer). May the Holy Spirit continue to inspire the participants, so that we may be a people of communion who are challenged to participate in the joys and struggles of our brothers and sisters, ensuring no one in want (the Archdiocesan SCC Vision statement) thereby fulfilling the mission of Jesus: to break barriers and build bridges of love and unity.
We are also called to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (October 07) and Mission Sunday (October 22) and other Memorials in the month of October. As part of our reflection programme, Mr Adrian Rosario, a member of the ART (Archdiocesan Resource Team for the SCCs) has prepared a paper, entitled I AM MISSION. (download paper here) May I request you to disseminate it to all the SCC Animators and Coordinators so that the paper reaches all the families in the clusters. Please motivate one and all to study the reflection paper and answer the questions. Fr Ajit Tellis, Priest in-charge, St Anthony of Padua Church, Kalwa, has been kind enough to translate the paper into Marathi for the benefit of our Marathi speaking families.
May I remind you of the following important points:
SCC Quarterly Reports: Soft copies of all the SCC Quarterly Reports (July-August-September) should reach the SCC Office via bombayscc@gmail.com immediately, but not later than October 15, 2023.
Steering Committee Meetings: May I remind you to have a Steering Committee meeting either once a month or once in two months or once a quarter. The Minutes of these meetings should be sent to bombayscc@gmail.com.
Cluster meetings and activities: As part of our ongoing programme, may I request you to motivate all the SCC Animators to have their cluster meetings and/or activities.
Training Programme - Skills for SCC Animators: Having received an overwhelming response for the first training programme, we felt encouraged to organise the second training programme entitled Skills for SCC Animators. May I earnestly request you to motivate your Animators and Coordinators to attend. We have revised the programme, and those who have participated have given us positive feedback. Those wanting to register for the Training Programme are requested to make use of the link https://tinyurl.com/mtunsfny. Registration for the Training Programme closes once we have 60 participants; first come, first served.
The World Day of the Poor: May I also request you to start planning how best you can celebrate the World Day of the Poor on Sunday, November 19. Please do not wait for the eleventh hour to prepare for the celebration.
CELEBRATING COMMUNITY – The Christmas 2023 issue will focus on the positive impact of the SCCs and on the development of clusters. You may send articles, reports, photos, etc. to bombayscc@gmail.com. .
I am aware of the workload of the Parish SCC Coordinator. I am equally confident of your support and collaboration as we all desire to make our SCCs vibrant and alive. You have the support of my prayers and good wishes as you continue to be on a mission: to keep the SCCs flourishing in your parish community.
God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
✠Barthol Barretto Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay & Bishop in-charge of SCCs, Archdiocese of Bombay
September 30, 2023