VASCO: Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão was delivering his homily during the Eucharistic celebration at the Sanctuary of St Joseph Vaz, Sancoale, on Sunday to bless the revived group of “Friends of St Joseph Vaz” and to ‘commission’ them for their mission.
He exhorted the faithful to preach the gospel enthusiastically in the footsteps of the great and ardent missionary St Joseph Vaz, in the midst of all odds of life.
The Archbishop also lit the lamps of the 19 representatives of the 19 deaneries and ‘sent’ them as luminaries on mission.
The representatives were individually given symbols of ‘commissioning, including the Holy Bible and the Diploma with the ‘commissioning’ precept uttered solemnly by the Archbishop-Patriarch, which spelt out the mission entrusted to them.
Along with their symbols, they were also handed over packages of the same symbols and were requested to distribute the same to “Friends of St Joseph Vaz” from the parishes they represented.
The group has been revived to consist of 750 members, both old and new, especially in the context of the Extraordinary Missionary Month October 2019.
The main role of this group is to spread the gospel and, more specifically, to promote the devotion to St Joseph Vaz in their respective parishes and families, with five members chosen from each parish to form a parish team named ‘Team for Evangelisation’. At the diocesan level, all the teams put together are called “Friends of St Joseph Vaz”.
Fr Manuel Dias, Rector of the Sanctuary of St Joseph Vaz, announced that the next ongoing formation seminar for the entire group has been scheduled for March 22, 2020 at St Joseph Vaz Spiritual Renewal Centre, Cruz dos Milagres, Old Goa.
