Feast of Don Bosco:
As per long-standing tradition, the month of January was nick named ‘Bosco Month’ with a variety of activities to honour and to learn about Don Bosco and the congregation. The community of DBYS was indeed blessed to have the Bishop of Jabalpur, Bp. Gerald to be with us for the Feast day mass. He was also kind to be with us for the evening academy and fellowship meal. The Bosco academy put up on the 30th as well as the 31st was well appreciated by all. The first day of the show was meant for the young formees numbering about 90 from the nearby formation houses. Our immediate Catholic neighbours were also invited. On the feast day, around 50 priests and religious graced the occasion. The main attraction of the programme was the One Act Play, “The Bishop’s Candlesticks.”
Conclusion of the Preparatory course:
The preparatory course (post matric) consisting of 14 boys concluded their year with the annual exams by the end of February. Encouraged by the invitation of the Provincial Chapter and the GC 28 about new initiatives in formation, an idea was mooted to involve the parents of the preparatory boys along with the formation team. The venue was DBYS, Bariatu (Ranchi). The one-day programme (arrival on 28th of Feb. and departure on 1st of March) was meticulously planned out by the vice-provincial and financially supported by the province. The initiative helped the formators, parents and the aspirants to understand at depth the roles and responsibility in the nurturing of the Salesian vocation. It also gave a chance to the formation team to understand better the background of each of the boys.
Final Board Exams (XII): Sixteen of our Class XII boys began their board exams on the 4th of March. The exams (commerce stream) was scheduled up to the 31st of March. Unfortunately, in the wake of the Covid 19 Pandemic, two of the exams have been postponed indefinitely.
The Harvest is Great:
Thanks to the hard work put in by the confreres and the boys, DBYS has been rather self-sufficient in the area of vegetables for a number of weeks. The entire land around the house is utilized. There is a steady supply of a variety of vegetables. This has been a great blessing under the present scenario of restrictions. Our farm in Barela too has a good crop of wheat. Indeed what is now awaited eagerly are for the “labourers” as they are still locked down within the ‘lakshman rekha’ of their homes !
JBP Correspondent