The Regional Bible Festival is one of the opportunities for the youth of the Region to interact and to learn the Bible slowly and steadily. The youths, boys and girls, of Allahabad, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Meerut, Jhansi, Lucknow and Varanasi arrived at NavSadhana with joy, enthusiasm and fervor to participate in the Regional Bible Festival on Nov. 1, 2019. They gathered in the Milan Hall at 8.30 p.m. for the introduction and inaugural session. The Director, Dr. Fr. Wilfred Moras welcomed them all with warm heart and introduced Fr. Romel, Sandeep and Fr. Kiran IMS, who conducted the prayer service. Thereafter Fr. RomelSaldhana from the Diocese of Jaipur conducted the Recreation. At the same time the Directors of Biblical Apostolate from various dioceses gathered along with the staff of NavSadhana and sorted out the items of presentation for the competitions based on the lot.
On the following day Rev. Fr. AnandIMS offered the Eucharistic Celebration for the catholic youth at 6.30 a.m. and presided over the inaugural session of the competition as well as declared the Regional Bible Festival Competitions open. In his speech he explained the purpose of the Festival and pointed out how the Lord Jesus is the source of love, peace and joy. The competitions were held on the following items based on the Gospel According to St. Luke: Speech, Group Song, Mime, Model Making and Crayon Colour drawing. There was also solo classical dance and folk dance in group. The competitions came to a conclusion with quiz competition at 03.45p.m. It was conducted well by Rev. Fr. RomelSaldhana. At the end the second and third position holders of the competitions were awarded with cash prize and certificate. The orderly, systematic and methodical presentation and execution were highly appreciated by all during the evaluation.
On Nov. 3, 2019 Good News Festival was celebrated; it began with the Eucharistic celebration offered by Most Rev. Eugene Joseph, Bishop of Jhansi, who also presided over the evening cultural programme, which was the culmination of the Regional Bible Festival. The colourful cultural evening had two Guests of Honour: Mr. Deepak Agarwal IAS and Mr. RajaramShukla Vice Chancellor of Sampurnanad Sanskrit Univerity. The programme began at 5.30 p.m. Dr. Fr. Wilfred Moras, Director welcomed the august audience. The items presented were the first position holders of Regional Bible Festival Competitions and Sangeet-NrityaMahotsava Competitions, which consisted of Solo Dance, Group Dances, Group Song, Mime and the special item Classical Dance performed by NSKK students titled “BeejBhone Vale kaDrastanth”, choreographed by Sir Robin A.. The students of Kala Kendra presented the special items: Prayer song at the time of lighting the lamp guided by Mr. B.P. Tiwari. All the items were stupendous and scintillating to the heart and mind of the people. Many items won the accolade of the audience. In the morning hours the youths visited St. Mary’s Cathedral Bible Exhibition portraying the salvation history. They were quite happy with it.
In his speech the Chief Guest Prof. RajaramShukla, who awarded the prizes for the winners of Bible Festival and Sangeet-NrityaMahotsava, emphasized that celebration is life, which is to be enjoyed and lived meaningfully; the music and dance unites the hearts of the people with God and people, promotes harmonious living and loving. He praised the work of the Principal, Director and staff of NavSadhana and NavSadhana Kala Kendra for the strenuous efforts, tireless and relentless work, and systematic presentation of the cultural programme. Most Rev. Eugene Joseph, Bishop of Varanasi awarded the Championship trophy to Sun beam school Bhagwanpur in SangeetNrityaMahostav and the Varanasi Diocese in Regional Bible Festival. He explained the existence of NavSadhana and exhorted the people to benefit from this institution for the integral development of the students through dance and music. It is a premier institute in U.P. for dance and music. He praised for the Principal and Staff of NavSadhana for the promotion of Classical dance and music. The Chief-guest, Guests of Honour and Directors of Biblical Apostolate were honoured with a shawl. Dr. Ramsudhar Singh anchored the programme as well as thanked all. The day ended with a delicious dinner prepared with love by Rev. Fr. Sunil Mathias and his team. The day was made memorable for all.
