Ma: Maha Tirth – MOTHER: Tabernacle of God

Introduction

Ever since it was declared by the holy Catholic Church to celebrate the year 2014 as the YEAR OF EUCHARIST, I, as the Pastor at Unteshwari, was deeply reflecting on the importance of the Sacrament and the sacramental aspects of the Holy Eucharist. As a flash back I immediately recalled the learning of my theological days on Eucharist and what I wrote finally in the comprehensive thesis under our humane Dr. Bandhu Ishanand, SJ for my Bachelor of Theology in 1997 at Premal Jyoti, Ahmedabad. Let me mention below a few assimilated points on our daily Eucharistic life and its celebration.

·         The Kingdom of God is the central mission of Jesus and it is a gift and task for humans. The Eucharistic celebration clarifies the mission of Jesus.

·         It gives a fascination of the mission. It gives energy to carry on the mission which is unfinished by Jesus. By this we are called to establish the World Family Ideal (cf. vasudhaiva kutumbakam) where everyone will be as brothers and sisters.

·         This ideal is grounded on –

Ø  SHARING all that we have and all that we are.

Ø  EQUALITY through table fellowship and calling God alone as One Abba Father.

Ø  SERVICE LEADERSHIP by washing each other’s feet and always choosing the least.

Ø  FORGIVENESS by reconciling with one another; with creations; and with God.

Ø  POSITIVE JUDGEMENT to see good in others; to be compassionate with one another; to condemn the sin and to love the sinner.

Ø  OPTION FOR THE POOR by opting to be poor and to be with the poor and marginalized.

Ø  BRINGING FAMILILAL JUSTICE among the lost and the least members of the family.

·         Today, in the context of the broken people, the Eucharist will become meaningful only when we break bread with the broken people, their brokenness will be broken; and their hunger and thirst will be subsided.

·         Only in this way the Eucharistic celebration can reflect the establishment of the reign of God. This is what each Eucharist celebration of ours must aim at!

Today, after these many years while living and loving, moving and meeting all kinds and categories of people in the villages and towns in North Gujarat, I fondly once again recall the above mentioned bullet points and try to live out the Eucharist in the context of our inclusive mission in our region. In this context, I as a pilgrim pastor, along with other pilgrims of the Unteshwari Tirthadham (Shrine of Our Lady of the Camels), try to accompany them in the process of searching and finding God in all persons, things, events and situations. One such process is to accompany the socially and economically poor pregnant women of our local and neighbouring villages. By such an attitude we feel that they are the living tabernacles of God who deserve our reverential bow!

Meaning and Mandate

In our biblical understanding we are aware that the tabernacle it meant a fixed or a movable dwelling place. In Old Testament it meant a tent used as a sanctuary for the Ark of the Covenant by the Israelites during the Exodus and until the building of the Temple.

In our context today, as Catholics, besides adoring with full devotion the Blessed Sacrament in the Chapels, Churches, Shrines and Basilicas, we with our clear inclusive Faith – Justice mandate felt like accompanying such living and moving tabernacles with full respect and reverence for we feel that such wombs of the pregnant women are the dwelling presence of God our Creator – Redeemer - Sanctifier! Hence, such precious living sanctuaries (garbha gruha) deserve our humble veneration and adoration. Keeping this socio-pastoral thrust in our inclusive mission, so far we have identified and gathered about 40 such pregnant young women and on 6^th November, 2014, on an auspicious FULL MOON day (Dev Diwali) at Unteshwari Matrudham we had the inaugural function in the presence of the village head persons and a few local well wishers.

Objectives

·         To promote pro-life and to make participants realize their self-worth as precious persons and to join joyfully in the co-creative works of God.   ·         To improve the nutritional and health status of foetuses and children in the age-group 0-1year. ·         To lay the foundation for proper psychological, physical, social and spiritual development of the child. ·         To reduce the incidence of mortality and malnutrition. ·         To achieve effective co –ordination of policy and implementation amongst the various government and non-government departments to promote child development. ·         To enhance the capability of the mother to look after the normal health and nutritional need of the child through proper nutrition and health education. ·         To advocate as a disability prevention programme. Methodology ·         Every participant will go through the full 12 months course for 12 times from the date of admission. ·         The monthly meeting is arranged on every full moon day for two hours from 9.30am – 11.30am. ·         Every meeting will have one professional resource person to accompany the pregnant women on various integral themes. The sessions will be conducted by using the multi-media tools. ·         At the end of the session a nutritional kit (1kg gol - jaggery, 1 kg soji - semolina and 500ml tel - oil) is shared as a token of nurturing love to the mother and child. Conclusion Having heard about this novel initiative by our Unteshwari Sammilitalayam, the local and neighbouring Hindu, Muslim and Christian well wishers have already appreciated our Early Childhood Intervention programme and have promised their continuous physical and financial support in accompanying their own community pregnant women. Thus, in this way the local and neighbouring villagers too are indirectly motivated through our interventions to participate in such corporal social responsibilities. Well, in this way the Eucharistic action is actualized and a miracle of modern multiplication has started taking place at our Marian hillock. Hence, another world is possible! At this juncture we seek for the blessings of our Eucharistic Lord to bless all our poor pregnant women and their children, their husbands and families, village communities and our centre. Sincerely it has been a new experience for all of us to encounter such pregnant women entering the Shrine with full reverential devotion and gaze at the statue of the fertile Unteshwari Mata with her infant son Jesus. Certainly, it looks how this blessed and beloved Mother Mary is very appealing for these young pregnant women for they too long to experience such motherhood by bearing children! Finally, I must articulate that along with other objectives our humble attempt is to make all humans of our times to encounter from the beginning His dwelling presence in such a tabernacle of God, which is a real Divine centre, locally called Tirthadham! Hence, it is apt to proclaim Ma as Maha Tirth; Mother as Tabernacle of God! Girish Santiago, SJ