A follow-up gathering in 1977 (BJEP001)

We gathered at Loyola, Aluva in '77 - 6 priests, 5 girls and 4 young men. Of course, Fr Paul Lanthaparambil, SJ was the superior of Loyola and we gathered there for the weekend as I was staying there and doing my studies at UC College, Aluva. This was a follow up meeting of a few of us from the 1976 Charismatic youth retreat held at St Paul's College Hostel, Kalamassery. 

The five-day residential Charismatic Initiation at Kalamassery was quite special. Fr Marcelino Iragui OCD the main resource person was a professor at Aluva major seminary, and his proximity was a blessing for all of us. In June '76 we already had a first seminar at St Teresa's College, Ernakulam after which Fr Marcelino had started a weekly prayer group at that College. Some of us were actively participating in it. Then when this September program was proposed some of us were eagerly got involved in it. 

Fr Marcelino Iragui OCD (now in Spain)

St Paul's program was mainly for college students, a first of that kind. A few priests also came to attend, mainly from Quilon (4 of them in the picture). In a way we had a first experience of youth coming together and experiencing a deep renewal in the Spirit. With my earlier exposure to the spirituality, prayer group experience and song teaching role, I was like an organizer of the program.

Many like me were already active in AICUF (All India Catholic University Federation) and came to the retreat with that background. Anita and Vira (standing on either side of me in the photo) were from TCSA (Thoppumpady Catholic Students Association), an Aicuf unit. Philomina and Shoba, the two girls sitting, were from St Xavier's College, Aluva Aicuf unit. Fr Marcelino understood our inclination and integrated group discussion and other youthful dynamics into the retreat. Fr Joseph Manakil (sitting next to Fr Paul) was the warden of St Paul's and so the host.

The '76 retreat at St Paul's and '77 follow up at Loyola were quite significant in many ways. This was a beginning youth networking in the Charismatic Renewal of Kerala. (For the follow up, one person from Malaysia also attended). Different groups got started, and we were in touch with one another.  Fr Manakil was already an accomplished song writer and this exposure made him write Malayalam songs modelled after the famous English Charismatic hymns. That too was a path breaking initiative. 

Later in May 1978, when Fr Fio wrote to Kerala Service Team (KST) to organize youth in the renewal KST entrusted the key responsibility to me. In June '78 when youth consultation gatherings were organized in 5 different centers in Kerala to kick off the preparations for the first youth gathering in December that year, the above network became quite handy for me, in addition to the KST support. Later in 1981, when I named a team for preparing a blueprint for a youth network in Kerala, Philomina from this group was also there. 

This photo thus becomes a keepsake of all those precious milestones.