Monthly Recollection: 3rd August 2021

On 3rd August, the community of St Pius X College had its monthly recollection in order to prepare for the feast of St John Marie Vianney. This Recollection was a bit different since it was given by two priests. The recollection for the Propaedeutics and Philosophy students was conducted by Fr Leon Viegas in the Seminary Chapel. And for the students of Theology, as they reside outside the Seminary, it was held online, conducted by Bp. Dominic Savio Fernandes

For the Theologians, Bp Dominic Savio focused on two aspects of St John Marie Vianney. The first was St John Marie Vianney’s love for God and the second was his love of the people entrusted to him. In the morning session, he concentrated on the Love for God. The Bishop mentioned that we too need to have love for God by making time for personal prayer since it’s the Lord who will be able to strengthen us in order to carry out our mission of serving the people. He also mentioned real-life examples on how we can make time for prayer as well as the need for prayer in our life. In the evening session, the Bishop focused on the love for people and said that sometimes we need to sacrifice our time for the sake of others. We need to serve the people in our ministry rather than being served. He also stressed the need to pray for our people as well as be available to them so that their needs are fulfilled.

For the Propaedeutics and Philosophers, Fr. Leon in the 1st talk preached on the theme of the life of St. John Marie Vianney. He helped us to realize that we have a unique calling by quoting different scriptures. He preached about the love of God and how due to our sins we separate ourselves from God. He ended the 1st session by giving us an exercise. The 2nd talk in the evening began with going through the exercise that was given. He also emphasized the need to forgive others and also preached on the Holy Spirit. He differentiated between the gifts, charisms and the fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The Recollection ended with a Community Mass that was meaningfully celebrated by Fr Leon wherein he focused on the Gospel and the need to have complete faith in God.

We pray that just like St John Marie Vianney we may come closer to God and also develop a good relationship with others so as to concretely fulfil the mission entrusted to us by God thereby making our life meaningful.

Br. Conrad Pereira - 2nd Year Theology

& Br. Angelo Silveira - 1st Year Philosophy