PRAYER:  ST. JOSEPH CHURCH BUILDING PROJECT

God, our Father, Creator of the universe, you made us in Your own image and likeness.  You gave us wisdom and understanding, grateful hearts and creative minds.  We thank you and praise you.  In response to Your love shown to us through Your Son, Jesus, we desire to thank and praise You in the best way we can.  Your Spirit empowers us to call You “Abba-Father” and to reach out with loving concern to all people, especially to the poor and needy.

We, the Parishioners of St. Joseph, are confident that in responding to the call of the Spirit in our hearts, we will be able to complete the work undertaken by us; so that seeing our good work others may give praise to You. 

May our PARISH CHURCH be a symbol of our unified community that will gather to praise and thank you; and may Your love in our hearts overflow into all the works of our COMMUNITY CENTRE ..... touching the lives of the poor and needy with love, concern and opportunities. 

Mary, our Mother, pray for us.  St. Joseph, our Patron, intercede for us.

MY EXPERIENCE AT THE FUNDRAISER-September 2006

 Malcolm Diaz

Through the intercession of our patron, St. Joseph and our Blessed Mother Mary, we, the parishioners of the soon to be built, St. Joseph’s Church, Goregaon(East), were able to start in earnest, the fund raising drive at the Bandra Fair this year. This was to generate funds towards the building of our church. The entire idea was conceived, planned and executed by our Priest in charge, Fr. Austin Norris.

The efforts put in by our parishioners to make this drive a success was overwhelming, Starting 6^th September, a stall was set up at the Mount, where we had the collection as well as sale of mouth watering delicacies prepared by some of our parishioners. Volunteers were recruited well in advance, from our parish of course. And considering the scale and magnitude of such a venture, we did require a lot of people to help us in our endeavor. And yes, they came by the droves. A master list was prepared and displayed showing each volunteer his designated day and time. Each of us was given a photo ID card, a sash and a cap with the St. Joseph’s logo imprinted on them. Those really made us stand out in the crowds. It gave us an air of professionalism and responsibility and we did look a class apart from the regulars. Well, we the volunteers had to take up our positions before 6 in the morning and the day ended only at 10 in the evening. We had an interesting mix of people, from children, the youth to senior citizens, from housewives to office-going crowd, thereby correctly proving the adage “To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth”. Every one of us gave our best, contributing our time and energy towards our goal, waiting patiently and tirelessly for “our turn”. We were stationed at all the entry and exit points, complete in our “uniform” and armed with collection boxes and distributing our fliers, the request forms to one and all who would pass by us. And yes, our “relievers” relieved us regularly too for our “mini breaks”.

As for me, the entire experience was unique and novel. It was the first time I was doing this kind of a thing and I was really, really surprised at how much I enjoyed doing it. People would stop not once, not twice, but thrice just to read about our church. And the collections kept pouring in. While the stall was doing excellent business, the collection boxes too were setting the cash registers ringing. How then  would you explain the collections from the first four days, exceeding well over a lakh!. A word about the non-Catholics here whom I cannot thank enough….for donating so generously to a cause quite foreign to them. A big Thank You and May God Bless you!

The last day of the collection was Sunday, the 17^th September. As you can well imagine, on this day the crowds were the most. That day, time was inconsequential, immaterial…of no essence. Hours flew like minutes. We were so busy taking and soaking in every moment of our drive, that we just didn’t know how time flew…in fact we wanted more time that day! Yes, it was tiring, but the joy, satisfaction, the dedication, the sincerity and commitment of the volunteers clearly overshadowed that feeling. For me, it was a unique learning experience….of inestimable value… and truly exhilarating. And for each one of us, an experience which will not be forgotten easily. “What one has not experienced, one will never understand in print”…nothing could be closer to that statement!

I would be doing grave injustice if I were to name anybody here as I would be missing out on so many others. The whole fundraiser was possible due to the untiring, uncompromising efforts and real hard work put in by all of the volunteers who in some way or the other, have contributed in making the fundraiser a stunning success. May God Bless them and their families. On behalf of our Parish, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the volunteers, the people working behind the scenes, preferring to remain anonymous, controlling the organizational, managerial and technical aspects…a big Thank you to all of them. And no….I’ve not forgotten Fr. Austin, but for whom, this would just have not been possible. I really appreciate the toil, sweat and cheers, put in by him. Words are certainly insufficient to express my gratitude and thanks to you, Father. May God Bless you and your loved ones!