the goan I network
VASCO
Describing St Joseph Vaz as a messenger of Jesus who wanted to spread the love of Jesus among the poor, downtrodden, sick and troubled, Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão on Wednesday exhorted the people to follow in the footsteps of Goa’s venerated son of the soil by serving the poor and downtrodden in society.
Archbishop Ferrão presided over the Feast Mass of St Joseph Vaz, Patron of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, on Wednesday at the site of the old Church of Our Lady of Health in Sancoale. Three other Goan prelates, Bishop Allwyn Barretto of Sindhudurg, Bishop Alex Dias of Port Blair and Bishop Lumen Monteiro of Agartala, as well as a number of priests also concelebrated at the High Mass.
The theme of the Novena and Feast was, “Following in the Footsteps of St Joseph Vaz, the anointed one of God, let us be joyful messengers of the Good News to the poor through our loving service.”
In his opening remarks to the packed congregation during the Feast Mass, Archbishop Ferrão said St Joseph Vaz was “filled with the love of Jesus and wanted to spread this love of Jesus among the poor, needy, downtrodden, sick and troubled.”
“He was a messenger of Jesus who wanted to share his love for Jesus with the people of Sri Lanka through his service. Let us imbibe values of St Joseph Vaz and share this love as messengers of Jesus through our service towards the poor and downtrodden,” said Archbishop Ferrão.
Delivering his homily at the Feast Mass, Episcopal Vicar (South) and Parish Priest of St John the Baptist church, Benaulim, Fr Lucio Dias recalled that St Joseph Vaz was filled with the love of God and manifested this love by serving the poor and downtrodden.
Fr Dias said Archbishop Ferrão’s pastoral letter was also an exhortation to people to reach out to the poor and downtrodden in their wards, communities and parishes. “There are different kinds of poverty in Goa. Economic poverty deprives youth from pursuing education, while some neglect their health and some others are in debt. Many suffer from ostracism and are shunned by people in society,” said Fr Dias.
Fr Dias also made mention of Archbishop Ferrão’s suggestion of setting up a ‘Good Samaritan Fund’ in all parishes, to enable people to render assistance to the poor.
People queued up to venerate the statue of St Joseph Vaz throughout the day. Several arrangements had been made by the archdiocese in association with Sancoale Parish, the government authorities and traffic police, to cater to the huge number of devotees on the feast day.
