Celebrate Life - Report

PRAISE BE TO HOLY TRINITY .

MOTHER MARY , ALL THE ANGELS AND SAINTS  - Pray for us!

Please see below for a detailed write up of the Prolife Exhibition conducted at St.Anthony`s Friary church Madiwala on May 8th and 9th .
Here it starts :->
As a part of Days Of Grace intercession happening at St.Antony`s friary till Pentecost, Bangalore JY service team decided to celebrate each week with a special theme and the week commencing from May 3rd was selected to proclaim the "GOSPEL OF THE LIFE".Prolife ministry Bangalore took responsibility of this week to conduct an exhibition on Sunday 9th May 2010. This was the first foot step to CELEBRATE LIFE SUNDAY.


Our initial plan was to conduct one normal exhibition and close the chapter. But discussions with prolife National team coordinator Anuraj gave wings to dream an excellent large scale prolife Sunday. After a month of discussions just a week before suggested Sunday some kind of confusions came up whether to invest such a huge amount of money in an exhibition like this.Then as usual during confusions in decision making we asked confirmation from JESUS through our Elder Joy Kottaram. Jesus gave us a full green light for a large scale exhibition also gave us a small warning to keep control of the Finances for this large scale exhibition. Now that we have got a green signal from Jesus and hardly a week remaining for the Exhibition Sunday and no proper arrangements done we had to rush. .
Luke 18:27: "Jesus said, "What is impossible for human beings is possible for God."
With strong trust in our master JESUS we started full-fledged intercessions with fasting commitments throughout the week, HOLY ROSARY`s ,offering HOLY MASS etc also we passed the prayer request to prolifers around Karnataka and number of HOLY ROSARY`s were offered and the fruits began to shower .God blessed us with highly talented 5 JY's from Kerala, and the parish was fully opened to us as we got permission to work day and night .
We started our works on Wednesday morning and some new ideas came up, we go support from a professional JY designer who is aboard. JY`s from all ministries were available for exhibition, nurses ministry gave a big support in mobilization and also during the exhibition. The Bangalore Service Team gave us full support lead by its coordinator Thomson who was there with us day in and day out helping and guiding us in a every possible way.
In the interim the Parish requested us to start the exhibition on Saturday itself as there will be a Saturday evening (Sunday HOLY MASS) which will be attended by many. We have mobilized this program across Bangalore in different ways and also through the news paper media. We were not yet finished with the arrangement but had to rush and put up an incomplete stall just before the end of Saturday evening HOLY MASS. The Exhibition was inaugurated and blessed by Rev. Fr.Babu (Provincial of Friars in India). We were blessed with Dr.Arun (Kerala JY Prolife coordinator) who came to help us .
The exhibition started with lots of confusions and power failure which resulted in Video`s not been able to be displayed and lack of light inside the stalls. People came saw through and went out but we were not satisfied. That day night Anuraj and team and the members of Bangalore Prolife struggled through the whole night and by the GRACE OF JESUS after a whole nights work they managed to arrange and complete the stalls just before the end of first morning mass on Sunday 9th May. Early in the morning we were also blessed with the help of the Youth Night Vigil team from RRC who came and helped us after the end of the Saturday night vigil.
The first mass got over and the crowd came in and went out through the exhibition stalls but something was missing and some of us were depressed as there was no perfection and some issues here and there. During this time we have send in people for intercession and by this time the second HOLY MASS was over and THIS was the moment when the Exhibition really started in a full-fledged manner. The priests of St.Antony’s celebrated the HOLY MASS completed with the theme of Prolife and we even had Fr.Sandesh (Asst Parish Priest) who took a real fetal specimen and showed during the HOLY MASS to all who attended the mass.
The crowds after all the MASS were standing in a long queue to enter the Exhibition stall.
There were a large number of people who came in and viewed the entire exhibition and were blessed to receive the message for life. There were some who even showed desire to join to the JY Prolife team to work and protect life. Prayer cards and Pamphlets were distributed to all and also we got the feedback forms filled from almost all the participants who came there. We also had pretty good sales on Prolife related books, Posters and DVD`s.
Now to tell in detail what were the contents of the Exhibition lets go through the write up given by Joma who just came to help us during the exhibition.

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May be a week before, my cousin Anila (JYNPT) invited me for an exhibition at St. Anthony’s Friary Church, Madiwala. Not knowing the impact or the importance, I decided to pay a visit to the place.


Early morning after the mass on 7th May the exhibition started. With a confused state of mind I joined some young zealous and energetic prolifers in their mission to spread the message. There were all together 7 stalls depicting how precious is the life we are gifted with and how we often take it for granted.


I decided to have a look at the stalls before taking a position. As I was about to enter I saw a model displaying a womb with a new life nurturing inside. There were two hands supporting the existence of that new formation - of a mother’s hand from below and our Lord’s hand from above. Admiring the theme I went inside. As I entered my eyes got caught on a cobweb. And on it were anti-prolife agents placed. A cobweb is formed when human life activity reduces in a particular area.


Now the poster presentations started bringing into light the factors which poison our lives without us knowing how deadly there impact can be. All the themes in the poster were supported by the “Word of GOD” which authenticated the subjects. Alongside the posters were the models portraying the various biological stages of a new life right from inception .


In between the poster presentations, there were two counters, one displaying a “Touch of life Fetal Models” and the others displaying the” Original Fetuses”. Through the touch of life fetuses, they were trying to make you realize how you were inside the mother’s womb – tiny, helpless but equally beautiful. Then the counter came where people spent most of the time looking at the display – “original fetuses which ones had life in them. Each fetus displaying the growth stage inside the mother’s womb . It started from a fetus with just 6 weeks maturity and ended up displaying a full-fledged, full term unborn baby. Another counter displayed beautifully the dream world of Angels Army for Kids. The stall offered attractive books and other materials on Angels’ Army.


After going through all these, I took a place where in I could comfortably sit and be a part of the exhibition without moving around and convincing people to stand against the threats to life. And this was the stall where the real life specimens were kept. I thought these specimens were self explanatory and on top of it, there was a volunteer who was actively explaining the details and urging people to stand for life. For quite a long time I was listening to the friend of mine whom I was assisting. Gradually I realised why this fellow volunteer was zealously trying to make others understand to stop abortion.


The realisation was in fact slow, but yes it did seep in. Those tiny human forms were lacking nothing which we had except speech. They were as human as we are. It’s just that we can’t see them and hear them. Had they been given a chance to live, they would have looked as beautiful as any other beautiful creation of God. God made woman in such a way that she could help a life to sustain within her for nine months. But Alas! The mother herself for known or unknown reasons, allowed her womb to be subjected to a cruel murder. They couldn’t speak or fight to protect themselves. So it is our call to fight for those lives which cannot stand for it. You may not get paid for standing for life in worldly manner but our Lord will be delighted at your birth on this earth.


So here I say, ‘Let’s be the voice of the voiceless and stand for “Life “the most precious gift from God.


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Finally we ended up after the last HOLY MASS on Sunday around 8pm with a prayer and burning the displayed items of culture of death. This was really a day grace for all of us. The entire exhibition was a great blessing and this will open doors for Prolife in Bangalore in many different and positive ways.Special thanks JYNPT coordinator Anuraj who made this dream come true for Bangalore JY Prolife Team , Anuraj was working continuously for many days without even a proper sleep . Also thanks to the 5 members team who came to Bangalore from Kerala to help us . Thanks to one and all who helped us to make this dream come true .


Prepared By - Dino - Bangalore Service Team Member & Bangalore Prolife CoordiantorA A total of around 2000 people visited the exhibition and many more received the message of life through the Holy Masses on that day in the parish.