(Diocese of Mandya - Syro Malabar Rite)
+91 7090424365 | stsebastianssmc@gmail.com
Pithruvedhi
Pithruvedhi is a community of men in our church who are married. It is a group formed to bestow all fathers the accountability and responsibility to be a wonderful father and live a meaningful married life by setting an example for others to follow. The diocese has long since recognized how key, are these various roles essayed by Pithruvedhi group in all churches.
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We take inspiration from St. Joseph, in inculcating a belief and value system that is profound. The challenge faced initially was to introspect, interpret and practice the Christian doctrine to involve all in our parish community. We realized that we need to take initiatives in church activities.
Our group has an adequate governance by designated / appointed office bearers who provide a guidance into the list of activities. We have our Parish Priest who provides his untiring guidance and support for all pastoral activities. At Pithruvedhi, all of us look to learn in many spheres, the qualities essential to lead a better life.
What we do currently? Not much, but we sure are a spirited bunch of volunteers who are encouraged and enthusiastic in doing the following and much more.
Fund raising activities: We love our Parish and earnestly look forward to having our own place of worship for all our church members. For this, we venture out in lending our hands, time and much more, for achieving a sale of Christmas Cakes of a great magnitude; Helping to promote certain real estate developers to market their projects; Ushering in Onam with all festive fervour by organising some interesting sales drives spreading clothes, food, other curated merchandise. We look forward to our weekly treats / sales
after our Sunday sermons (all organised by our Church members itself). We are a part of the team who have pitched a creative raffle draw with high stakes for winners; and then there is so many more endeavours in the pipeline, for which we seek the support of many contributors and volunteers. The importance of Monthly contribution which serves as Subscription fees for each family is stressed, as we look to pool the collected amount to a couple of chits. The profit made from this is being used for charitable purposes and church development activities.
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Enjoy: We participate in social, cultural and sport activities; sometimes even bickering with the youth and Mathruvedhi too, in our zest for the events (be it any) and we joyfully realize how blessed we are to live our lives each day. Our Pithruvedhi dance for Onam 2022, a day's outing in July 2023, are only few of the categorical references with respect to our list of activities.
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Church liturgical activities: We realise how important it is to revere the Lord; it is in the preparation of the Eucharist, involving oneself in the mass and being a responsible individual in the society through active participation in Choir, Carols, Competitions in the diocese level. Pithruvedhi strives for all members to lead a family life that is prioritized with spiritual teachings, adoration, prayer, value system; to bring all in the parish together. We take a leaf out of the book of Mothers, in practicing selflessness and instilling the same in our children and ourselves. The Parish feast and all other events in the calendar that form a part of Christian festivities, are celebrated with an intent to understand its significance.
We look to structure ourselves, by holding regular meetings on a specific Sunday each month after the holy mass involving all Pithruvedhi members to gather and discuss about the activities to be conducted. We are always looking for initiatives to be taken by the members and executed. Brainstorming exercise is ongoing to outline a list of activities to pursue, such as:
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Visiting and Communion offering for the sick every Friday / Saturday at their domiciles.
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To arrange a visit each year to a holy place -places of Christian worship renowned in India.
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Visit to Old age homes, Orphanages, distribution of free food.
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To continue to contribute in earnest as Catechists -faith formation activities; administration of many Church activities.
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To facilitate the opportunity for one and all in the Parish to pursue learning to read, write and speak comfortably in our mother tongue, as many in the Parish have been born and brought up outside Kerala. This will empower us in the long term.
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Holding Workshops, facilitating Seminars, Counselling, etc