God’s love above religions

An atmosphere of tolerance, an aura of prayer and an ambience of reverence pervaded the SJBHS auditorium as the students gathered at the venue to thank the Almighty through a multi- faith prayer service. The service began with a thanksgiving prayer followed by the devotional hymn ‘You’ll Never Let Me Go.’

Keeping in mind the secular nature of SJBHS and a need to sensitise students to the multitude of religious beliefs followed in India, the prayer service included readings from the Quran, the Bible, the Tripitakas, the Bhagwat Gita and from the holy texts of Judaism and Jainism. Hymns and bhajans in English, Kannada and Hindi added to the messages.

The guests on the occasion were Colonel R. V. Subramaniam and Mr. Nizam Foujdar. The thoughts they shared with the students can be summarised under the values of ‘Forgiveness’ and ‘Oneness’, both being the most important to lead a happy and contented life. It was the universal belief that communal differences should be set aside to foster an environment of love, fraternity and unity in diversity as these are mandatory to the development of the nation.

The dance by the ISC girls reiterated the one truth we try to adhere to at SJBHS, namely: ‘God has given us many faiths but only one world in which to co-exist.’

The Thanksgiving Mass for the Catholic students and staff of SJBHS is another event in the calendar which marks the closing of the academic year. The Mass concelebrated by Rev. Fr. Vivian of Infant Jesus Parish, Rev. Fr. Clifford Sequeira SJ (Principal of SJBHS) and Rev. Fr. Alwyn D’Souza SJ (Administrator of the Primary section of SJBHS) gave thanks to the Almighty for His graces and benediction during the year gone by. There were prayers for the students answering the X and XII Boards and the others answering their final examinations. The service called on the Almighty for His blessings in the year ahead as at Joseph’s the conviction is that.