Saturday itself. Sunday morning I used to hear
confessions while Mary Nabam preached in Nishi
language. I must admit that I did not understand
most of what people have confessed in their
language, nor did they understand my advice. It
is Jesus who forgives and he understood what
these simple people confessed. It seems that some
of the old ladies would be narrating their ills and
woes during the confession. I offered Mass in Hindi
and people responded in Nishi language. In some
places the pastor of the place translated my poor
Hindi homilies. During the offertory people bring
rice, eggs, vegetables, chicken, etc. In the absence
of the priest the faithful gather in these churches/
prayer-halls every Sunday and pray under the
leadership of the local pastor. People are very
hospitable and they cook good food for us. They
eat plain rice, vegetables – usually leaves from
their fields and some meat. Often it was a penance
for me to eat their food as it is without any spice.
For years there has been no yearly house blessing
done in the sub-stations. So we planned to do it
before Easter. During the Holy Week Fr Kulirany
and myself visited many of the mission stations
in the remote villages and blessed most of the
catholic houses. Though a tiring ministry, it was
fascinating. The pastor of the village will lead us to
each and every house. Besides there will be many
volunteers, especially the devout ladies, willing to
go with us. Usually the people of the house will
accompany us to the next house and a few from
all the houses follow till the end. So there will be
a small crowd. Some will take turns to carry the
offerings – rice, eggs, vegetables, chicken - given
to the priest. Many families will offer tea and
biscuits. The terrain is hilly; one house may be on
one hill and the next one in the other mountain.
Often there is no proper road to the houses and
there were occasions when people held my hands
on both sides to go up and down the hills. Even
during the house-blessings we generally do not
see the youth, especially the boys at home. Many
youth are away in hostels for study and others
seem to be disinterested in religion and prayer.
For Holy Thursday, Good Friday, holy Saturday and
Easter Sunday I was assigned to Rilow mission
station. There are three small catholic villages
very close to Rilow. Sr. Pushpa SH, Mary Nabam
and Lucy were also with me besides Alex, the
driver. We started on Wednesday and returned
on Easter Sunday afternoon. We stayed in three
different houses in three villages. We conducted
SANTHOME MISSION
15