Ministries
Jesus Christ came to the world with a vision of the ‘reign of God’: In order to continue his vision the church was established. The one and only mission of the church, as Pope Paul VI stated, is evangelization, by which the ‘reign of God’ will become a daily experience of the people in the world. The structure of the parish is based on the four principles of participation, decentralization, subsidiary and resource mobilization from within. The activities of the Church are clubbed under three independent commissions and five boards. The three independent Commissions are:
The five boards are:
Commissions and Boards
The three commissions are
Commission for Basic Christian Communities
BCC is the extension of the life and times of the apostles, soon after the crucification of Jesus. They feared persecution and death in the hands of his killers. Their faith and belief in him was beginning to set in and doubts disappear by the working of the Holy Spirit who had descended upon them enabling them to speak many languages, filling them with a noble rage to go out into the world and spread the gospel. So intense in sprit where they at that time, that they met within closed doors and talked in chaste whispers. They forsake everything they had and shared among themselves, whatever they had. Not only the apostles, the people who heard them, also brought in whatever they had in cash or kind and food was served to the people who gathered there in the name of resurrected Jesus.
Today, the situation is different only in that the word of the lord has been heard all around us. But, like the seeds that fell on the rock or perhaps the wayside, they do not produce any fruit. Our faith in the resurrected Christ and his presence in the Holy Eucharist has to percolate down into our very elements. There is no more places for’ Doubting Thomases’ and people who take the word of our Lord with a pinch of salt. Even in India, which is the largest democracy in the world, where freedom of religion is enshrined in the constitution, persecution of Christians is rampant ,especially in the north.
Many of us fear and most of us feel shy to speak about the Gospel of our Lord. It is the opening of our ears and the embolden of ourselves that the BCC aims to achieve.
Characteristics of the B.C.Cs
Faithfulness to fellowship
The "Word of God" becomes the source of their life and relationship
They minister to each other in their pastoral, social and educational needs.
They become an Eucharistic community.
The first characteristic of the B.C.Cs is deepening the relationship between the members and the reconciliation between each other, so that they can be witnesses to the love of Christ by breaking all divisions in the community. This experience of fellowship gives them a sense of belonging and they come to the understanding that Christianity is not commitment to some ideas but commitment to persons.
Commission for Media
A regular time for a meditative reading of the Sacred Scripture helps to shape one’s life according to God’s will. In this way the person acquires the ability to seek God’s guidance through the continuous study of the Word of God. Members should read and meditate on the scriptures i.e. the Bible.
Commission for Youth.
There seven Sacraments in the Catholic Church. Frequent and active participation in the sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation are a pillar. Frequent and active participation in the Sacraments of the Eucharist and Reconciliation contributes to a life of wholeness and strength, and aims at growth in holiness so as to fulfill the mission.