People look for community experience
Fr. Shajan Manickathan, a young Indian Schoenstatt Father who does parish ministry in Germany, shares with us his personal experiences:
Greetings from St. Stephen’s Church, Graefelfing!
This parish is in the suburb of the metropolitan city of Munich. The lovely city itself is a big tourist attraction. At a corner of this peace loving mega city of Germany, I am doing my humble priestly service. The parish has more than 4000 members. With regard to the size, it is one of the average parishes of the Diocese of Munich-Freising. I have been happily working the parish ministry here since last October. The parish priest, a deacon and I comprise the main pastoral team of the parish. We plan and execute the programs of the parish and work together as a good team. Normally the programs of the parish are pre- and well- planned. The pastoral work here is entirely different from that in India. I have to get myself adjusted to that. One Indian religious priest who worked for a long period here in Germany made a fundamental difference in the pastoral approach which is prevalent in India and in Germany. In India, the pastoral work is mainly concentrated on the transmission of faith, whereas in Germany the main accent is laid on the experience of community. This is also my own personal experience. Here we can experience many programs where people come together, to exchange their views and become strengthened as small groups in the parish. This experience is also present as the youth come together twice a week in the “Youth Cabin” of the parish house. The community aspect comes is expressed very well as the Women’s Union of the parish meets together once or twice a month. One of the striking points for me here in the pastoral work is the time spent meeting with elderly parishioners. This is conducted creatively, and each time there are programs (musical programs, sitting dances, seminars, etc) which seem to inspire their hearts. This coming together gives them a real community experience. In this way the parish takes care of the elderly people very well and gives them the feeling that they are well-accepted and integrated within the parish community. I am impressed with the Youth here. They independently organize their programs and carry them out with the consent of the parish priest. At certain times, I have been very much impressed with regard to how well these youth work together and lend their helping hands for the programs of the parish. We also have an active Altar Boys’ and Girls’ Group. For the Sunday Mass, we expect ten or twelve of them. Both, the Saturday Evening and Sunday Masses are well-attended.
I feel happy to be here for a few years. It is really a change for me. I feel myself very integrated in the parish. I would recommend that each Indian Schoenstatt Father has such an experience for at least two years.
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