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“Will give thanks to you O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds”. Ps. 9:1

A Jubilee is an occasion in one’s life, or in the life of an institution, to look back on our goals and achievements, which we set on the day, we embarked on this journey. We have crossed miles, we have grown and many events have taken place. In all this, one thing is sure, that the God of History has walked with us especially with the pioneering sisters and all those who rendered their labour of love. God has walked with us as a cloud by day and a fire by night. All through the past years, He has been faithful to us, therefore with gratitude and humility we say, ‘Thank you, O Lord’.

The Jubilee year started with golden rays emerging brightly on 12th September 2017. It became a meaningful and a joyful celebration as our Provincial Superior was with us on her Canonical Visitation. The inauguration of the Jubilee year started with the Eucharistic Celebration in our Chapel. During the year we continued the remembrance of our Golden Jubilee mainly by giving att ention to our spiritual life. We are here for the people and so every day we lifted our people up to the Lord at prayer. We increased our visits to the families, especially to the needy. Efforts were made to get help for some who were helpless.

As the community is small in number and among them 60% on the bonus group, we were wondering whether it is possible to invite others for our celebration. But with the boost given by our Provincial Superior Sister Carmel Rita and Sister Rose Agnes we started our preparation vigorously from the month of September itself. Our newly elected Bishop Peter Paul Saldanha before he took charge said ‘yes’ to our request to be the main celebrant at the Eucharistic Celebration and the President for the programme in spite of his previously fixed programme. We were also lucky to have our dear Superior General Sister Susheela who agreed willingly to be present though it caused her inconvenience as she had her Visitation Programme in our Province. We are extremely grateful to both of them.

We are grateful to the sisters of our convents who helped us with cash and kind to get things ready for the celebration. Our special thanks to Sisters Lavi Shanthi, Carmel, Santhosh Mary, Pramila, Vijaya Crasta, Jenita and a few of our parishioners for spending so much time for choir practice to make the Liturgy meaningful with their melodious singing. It was very kind of Sister Irene Noronha to have spent four days here to see to every little detail of the celebration. We appreciate the generosity of our Sisters at Stella Maris, Kotekar, who spent so much time in putting up all the decorations. May God bless them all.

The most important part of the Golden Jubilee of our Convent was the Eucharistic Celebration. Our newly ordained Bishop of Mangalore, Rt Rev. Peter Paul Saldanha was the main celebrant together with six priests as concelebrants. As it was his first visit to the parish, we, along with the parishioners welcomed him at the gate with garlands and bouquet of flowers, followed by the entrance procession with 50 sisters holding lighted diyas and a golden family tree representing the 50 golden years of service at Pavur.

Gratitude overwhelms in the heart of every person in the village of Pavur. These are the wandering tribe of S.C families whom Fr Alexander Camissa s.j. took the initiative to settle them to a normal life and sowing the seed of faith baptized them. The Bishop in his homily appreciated the selfless service of the sisters in this remote area for the past 50 years. After the Eucharistic celebration all were served cool refreshments and then all of us assembled in front of the open air stage for a short programme.

Sister Maria Shubha was on her toes to compeer the programme. We began with a prayer song led by the sisters. It was followed by a welcome dance by the students of the Don Bosco School. Sister Monica our animator accorded a warm welcome to the gathering. The history of Pavur of the past 50 years was made alive by Sister Evelyn Marie. Since the President of the programme, our Bishop had to leave early, the Presidential Speech was anticipated. He spoke to us on being a ‘light to the people’ of this place. He compared the role of a religious in the church to that of a mother in the family whose presence is valued when she is absent. The Bishop was then honoured with a shawl and a garland. A sapling of an evergreen tree was presented to him as a token of our love.

It was now time to honour the pioneering sisters and the Superiors who had endured all the pains and aches during the early years and had toiled hard for the growth of the Institute. The day’s programme was more meaningful as Sister Bertine, one of the first band of pioneers was in our midst. Though old and feeble she had made it!

We could not think of leaving out the priests who were generous in joining their hands in our mission and reaching out to our spiritual needs too. Though six of them were invited only Fr. James D’ Souza, Fr. Aloysius Santiago and Fr. Varghese Chakala attended the programme and were honoured. All the guests of honour appreciated our mission here and wished us well. The Superior honoured all the dignitaries with a shawl and a potted plant as a sign of gratitude. Sister Shanthi Laveena then proposed the vote of thanks.

If Pavur mission is existing today, it is because of Sister Frances Therese, the strong pillar who continued with a daring spirit in spite of the Superior General asking her to close down the mission. Since she was unable to travel to be present for this unique day, Sisters Dulcia and Monica D’ Souza went to Fatima Convent, Goa to felicitate her personally. She was over joyed to be honoured and to see the photos of the programme of the day as past memories came alive to her. We remain grateful for her selfless, dedicated and committed life which is an example for us to admire and imitate.

The most important and the final part of the celebration was the fellowship meal, a symbol of love and togetherness with the people among whom and for whom we lived and worked. A sumptuous meal was served for all the parishioners and the sisters. It was a beautiful opportunity for all our guest sisters to mingle with our poor people. The old and the young enjoyed the meal to their hearts’ content. We had sufficient food left to share with the inmates of Snehalaya Ashram, a home for the Destitute nearby.

May the Golden celebration of this mission be a means to strengthen the faith of the people and to bring many opportunities for their integral growth. Through the intercession of St Joseph the worker, may the people of Pavur come to realize that they are God’s people and He is their God.