Our Correspondent
Kohima, Dec. 17 (EMN): A two-day golden jubilee celebration of St. Paul Catholic Church in Chiechama got underway on Saturday at the church premises on the theme ‘....Clothe yourselves with love’ (Col.3:14).
Congratulating the Catholic community of Chiechama under the patronage of St. Paul for having completed 50 years of Catholic life, Rev. Dr. James Thoppil, Bishop of Kohima Diocese said, "You are one of the pioneering communities and have lived the faith that was handed down to us for the last fifty years” adding "Fifty years is a long period of time to remember the past with gratitude, live the present with fervour and look to the future with hope."
Rev. Thoppil has attributed to the "courageous and committed life of the pioneers, who began their journey of faith with great hope and determination."
Referring to the exhortation of St. Paul to the Colossians, the bishop said that by their Christian faith, they have put on a new nature which requires a new mode of living.
"Jesus gives us the commandment of love, the practice of which will make us His friends," Thoppil said.
Thoppil asked the faithful to carry forward the legacy of the pioneers and make up for what was lacking in their faith by living a more perfect life.
"Let us live our Catholic faith fully and make a difference in our society. Let us put on the new nature in Christ by living the values of the gospel and thus give a little more taste to our community by our genuine Catholic faith," he said.
"As we grow old in our faith we must make our faith strong by a better and firmer way of life according to the gospel principles,” he said.
"When we live the present in this way with greater and fervour and determination we have every reason to look to the future with hope," the bishop added.
Earlier, Rev. Thoppil unveiled the golden jubilee monolith and Rev. Fr. John S Kavas, parish priest of St. Dominic Parish, Chiephobozou, invoked invocation.