Platinum Jubilee Grand Finale - Felicitation & Community Dinner - 27 April 2014, 6.30 PM Back

Mr. Victor Correa and Mrs. Felcy Lobo, the compeers of the evening thanked our Beloved Bishop and all the concelebrants for partaking in the Thanksgiving Eucharistic celebration and for praying for Parishioners of Derebail Church. Now it was time for felicitation programme.

Accompanying our Bishop, Most Rev. Dr. Aloysius Paul D’souza to the dais, our Parish Priest Fr. Peter D’souza welcomed all the dignitaries and Parishioners to the celebration.  The Bishop then presented prizes to the winners of the slogan and logo contest of the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations and the winners were:

• Darryl Daydel D’souza
• Edrina Sequeira
• Gerry Concessao

On this occasion, Rev. Fr. Harold Menezes, Rev. Fr. Mark Castelino and Rev. Fr. Godfrey Saldanha who had served as Parish Priests in Derebail Church and were present for the Jubilee celebrations were honored by the Bishop with shawl, flowers, fruits and the Jubilee memento.  Fr. Mark Castelino and Fr. Godfrey Saldanha shared their thoughts and messages with the gathering on this momentous occasion and prayed that the same unity and bond continue and grow even more for the Centenary celebrations. The Assistant Parish Priests who had served at the Derebail Parish were honored by the Bishop on this occasion and were presented with a memento and those who were present included Fr. Stany Fernandes, Fr. Maxim D’souza and Fr. Naveen Pinto.

Derebail Parish has been known for many vocations in the Priestly and Religious Orders and many Parishioners are currently engaged in contributing their service in different religious organizations all across the country and abroad. Many of them were present to be a part of the celebrations and were honored by the Bishop and were presented a memento.

Right from the time, the Jubilee celebrations were inaugurated last Easter, many cultural and spiritual programs involving the entire Parish Community have been organized all through the year. A slide show recapitulating the events of the Jubilee Year was presented to the audience in an artistic manner under the direction of Fr. Edwin Monis. On this occasion, the Jubilee Song was presented before the audience by the Choir Members, the lyrics of which were penned by none other than our Vice President and Choir Master Mr. Anil Patrao and the music was put in place by him along with Mr. Roshan D’souza.

To commemorate the Jubilee celebrations, the message containing the blessings from Pope Francis was read out to the gathering by the Bishop and the scroll was presented to our Parish Priest by him. The Jubilee Souvenir containing the history and all the memorable events associated with the past 75 years of the Parish was then launched by the Bishop and the other dignitaries on the dais. Mr. Victor Correa who is the editor of the Souvenir was also present on the dais. The lucky dip results were declared on this occasion. The prize winning tickets are:

• First: 7882, Second: 10372, Third: 5587
• Consolation Prizes: (1) 5241 (2) 298 (3) 794 (4) 133 (5) 5148 (6) 4092 (7) 6233

Our Bishop, Most Rev. Dr. Aloysius Paul D’souza has been our support and guide just like the Good Shepherd.  He has spent his valuable time in our midst during the celebrations and as a mark of love and respect, was honored by our Parish Priest Rev Fr. Peter D’souza. The Bishop conveyed his message and good wishes on this occasion and urged the Parishioners to continue the deep faith and belief in our Lord Jesus. He requested the Parishioners to ensure that faith gets strengthened among our youth and our children. On the occasion of our Jubilee, Rupees one lakh was presented to the Same mission (Tanzania, Africa) to our Bishop by Fr. Peter D’souza.

No event is successful unless all the Parishioners join together and work as one team towards a common goal. Many committees were formed to ensure the Jubilee celebrations were truly meaningful and all of them have worked relentlessly towards the success of this evenings programme. Vice President of the Parish Pastoral Council Anil Patrao came forward to thank the entire Parish community for contributing their mite and support for the success of the Jubilee celebrations.  To show our gratitude to our beloved Parish Priest Rev Fr. Peter D’souza for his immense contribution to our parish, the parishioners honored him at the hands of our Bishop.

Fr. Edwin said the grace before meals and the dinner which the Parish Community got together and prepared was served. The arrangements were meticulously done so as to ensure order and quick serving. More than 100 parcels of the dinner were delivered to the sick and aged parishioners at their residence. The band continued to play the music and it was the time for the Parish Community to join together and celebrate the abundant joys, happiness and blessings showered on them on this day. The yearlong Jubilee celebrations thus came to an end on a happy note and it was a joy to see the contentment on all gathered to have been a part of this historic occasion in the history of the Derebail Church.