India's Morning Star

The Miles Jesu Communities in India were founded in the 1980’s after our Father Founder was invited by the All India Laity Congress to address them regarding evangelization and the problem of atheism in the world. Fr. Duran also met with several members of the hierarchy and others active in helping the poor in India, including Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. He saw an opportunity to bring Miles Jesu’s lay charism to India, where India’s 20 million Catholics are at the cutting edge of education, health care, and social well-fare.

The first Miles Jesu Communities were started in Bombay, one for laymen and another for laywomen, consecrated to God, bearing witness to their faith in the workplace. Many families and young people in Bombay became active as well, after attending retreats given by Father Founder and other members of Miles Jesu. The “Little Angels” work was begun in the neighborhood of Gundavli in Bombay and still provides a hot meal and basic education to poor children from families that can barely provide them with food and a place to sleep.

Later, an invitation came from the Bishop of Karwar India, His Excellency Bishop William D’Mello, to begin our work in his diocese, in the town of Sirsi. Karwar is in the State of Karnataka, just south of Goa, where St. Francis Xavier spent most of his missionary life heroically spreading the Faith. Sirsi is located in the mountains along the coastal area. Its dryness and coolness have made it a well-sought-after area to live in.

Bishop D’Mello and our Father Founder became good friends. He became the first Bishop member of Miles Jesu, taking a great interest in Miles Jesu’s spirituality and the growth of its communities in India.

This past January, Very Rev. Fr. Mark Gelis, MJ, General Director of Miles Jesu, visited India to attend the inauguration of the new Miles Jesu Formation Center and Home for Boys in Sirsi. The visit was an opportunity for Father General to see firsthand the Miles Jesu foundations in India, especially the recent progress of our work for underprivileged boys that was begun seven years ago. The Miles Jesu men’s community had been living in a small rented house while taking care of 24 boys. The new center to which they have moved is much more spacious and is owned by Miles Jesu, thanks to the generosity of our benefactors.

Father General’s first stop, after landing in Bombay, was a meeting with Miles Jesu Bishop Member Ferdinand Fonseca, now retired Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay, who expressed his delight in seeing that Miles Jesu is continuing its commitment to its foundations in India. Bishop Fonseca has spoken several times at the International Path to Rome Conference and has been a tireless promoter of evangelization and the formation of priests and laity in India. Bishop Fonseca continues to give retreats for priests in his retirement.

From Bombay, we traveled south to the Diocese of Karwar, to meet with Bishop member William D’Mello, also now retired. Bishop D’Mello was especially joyful to meet Father General and pledged his continued commitment to Miles Jesu’s communities in the Diocese of Karwar. It was Bishop D’Mello who donated the four acres for our new Formation Center and Home for Boys in Sirsi.

Before the meeting with Bishop D’Mello, Father General spent some time getting acquainted with Bishop D’Mello’s successor, Bishop Derek Fernandes. Bishop Fernandes gave us a cordial welcome and expressed his desire to know more about the spirituality and charism of Miles Jesu. At the inauguration ceremony, after his private meeting with Fr. Gelis, Bishop Fernandes declared his confidence in Fr. Gelis, predicting that Miles Jesu would reach “new heights” under his direction. He also recognized the unique contribution Miles Jesu was poised to make in India with the newly constructed center in Sirsi. He pointed out that it has the unique quality of combining a residence for consecrated men, a formation center for candidates to the consecrated life in Miles Jesu, and a shelter for boys that provides them with a real home.

The inauguration ceremony took place on the 14th of January. The new center is called “Udaya Nakshatra” (Morning Star) in the state language of Kannada. The inauguration ceremony was attended by priests and lay faithful from around Sirsi and as far away as Bangalore and Bombay. The Miles Jesu women’s community from Sirsi was also present. The ceremony provided an opportunity for all to tour the new center, enjoy entertainment provided by the boys and other local friends, and to partake in a meal together.

One priest, Fr. Santos, made the twelve hour bus ride from Bangalore to be with us. Fr. Santos has been particularly inspired by the spirit of Miles Jesu and submitted his application as a diocesan priest member to Fr. Gelis. Fr. Santos has been active in bringing boys from broken homes to the center as well as vocation candidates who are receiving deeper formation through the guidance of Miles Jesu members.

After receiving an Indian prayer shawl, presented by the boys as a token of appreciation, Fr. Gelis spoke about the purpose of the center. He said that the center was not just a building, but a home. Referring to the Marian name for the center, Morning Star, Fr. Gelis pointed out that at the center of each home is a mother, and that at “Udaya Nakshatra” each of the boys will receive not only a roof over their heads, but a real opportunity to grow in the knowledge of God’s love for each one of them, with the Blessed Mother as a special patroness to protect and guide them.

The crowning piece of the new center is the stained glass window in the chapel. The window depicts Our Lady, already bearing the Son of God in her womb. She is wearing a sari, the traditional garment worn by Indian women. The window immediately appealed to all those who attended the inauguration ceremony, who recognized in the image of Our Lady a mother who loves them. Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart, depicted in the image, shines through the window, burning like the morning star before the sun rises. The window will be positioned in the chapel, directly behind the tabernacle in such a way that, when the sacred host is exposed in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the host and Our Lady’s heart will meet in the same place. This is the same design made by the Servant of God Paul Murphy for the Chapel of the Cursillo Center in Phoenix, Arizona. In fact, the chapel itself is a replica of the Cursillo Center Chapel. The whole “Udaya Nakshatra” center is constructed in such a way that the chapel forms the real centerpiece, with the other rooms surrounding the chapel.

Many of the boys who are being cared for at “Udaya Nakshatra” come from troubled backgrounds. Although India has the fastest growing economy in the world, poverty is still a stark reality. Many fathers have great difficulty finding work. On days they don’t find it, their families don’t eat. The urgent need for evangelization in India is embodied by the story of two of the boys who are with us, two brothers, who come from a home where their father brutally killed their mother. In the Hindu culture, if a woman comes from a poor family and they cannot pay the expected dowry, the dowry is still expected to be paid eventually. Providing a home for these boys shows all those involved that Christ stands for the respect and dignity of each and every person.

The gospel has never taken root in any culture or civilization without sacrifice, and even persecution, and the same is true for India. Many Hindus, who make up about 80 percent of the population, recognize the great contribution of the Catholic Church in India. The Catholic Church alone carries 33 percent of the educational, medical, and social responsibility compared with other organizations on a national level. This helps to make non-Christians more open to Christianity, but we can’t forget the importance of evangelization. Only God can fill us with hope of salvation and give each and every person the gift of eternal life. Much labor and sacrifice in the Lord’s vineyard is still required to change the people’s mentality on a large scale. “The Love of Christ urges us.” (2 Cor. 5:14)

Ronald Saldhana, MJ, a Miles Jesu member from Bombay, supervises the home for the boys, including the construction of the center and the daily life and schedule of the boys. It includes daily prayers, tutoring for the boys so they do well in the schools they attend in Sirsi, chores and responsibilities in the care of their living quarters, sports and outings in the surrounding areas. Ronald lived in the Miles Jesu Bombay community for several years with other consecrated laymen. He brings his training as a banker to this project, which has helped him to coordinate all the elements of constructing the center and guiding the multifaceted activities of those who live in it.

Besides Ronald Saldana, MJ and myself, Miles Jesu member Taras Dolynski, MJ, has been helping to build up this center in Sirsi for the last two years. Taras is from Ukraine where he gained a lot of experience working in our home for boys there. I was originally sent here from our missions in Eastern Europe, as many of you know, “on temporary loan.” Having already visited India once in 1984 and again from 1990-1993, I have relished the opportunity to be here again and to see all the progress that our communities have made here over the years.

Besides reaching out to the poor, which is an essential part of the Church’s proclamation of the gospel, our formation program for vocation candidates focuses on providing them with the spiritual backbone and human qualities necessary to live the vocation to the consecrated life faithfully as laymen in the world. Many Catholic young men are flocking to centers of business in India, like Bombay and Bangalore, the “Silicon Valley” of India. The consecrated laymen of Miles Jesu in India can be a very dynamic force in the present stage of this country’s development, bolstering the Christian minority in their evangelizing mission.

Father General’s visit to India ended with a return trip to Bombay, where we had a special Mass for the members who continue the “Little Angels” work. Many of these people knew our Father Founder well and attended retreats given by him. They have remained faithful and have continued to dedicate themselves to this beautiful apostolate in Bombay for almost thirty years. Father General’s visit gave new impetus to keep the work on behalf of these children in Gundavli going, including inspiring younger generations to take up the project and continue this important witness of charity on behalf of the least of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Close window