DIVYA KRIPA CHURCH, KHARGHAR, CELEBBRATES DEDICATION MASS

- by Mathew John, a Parishioner

The zeal of your House will consume me.” (John 2:17)

Allow me to take you back in time a little - the roots of the Kharghar catholic community are
traced back to May 2003, when there was the first attempt made to bring the community
together by Mr. Clifford D’Souza, the stalwart who took front seat in the community activity all
these many years. There were then 18 Latin Catholic families in Kharghar, who used to attend
Mass at St. Joseph’s Church at Belapur, which itself was quite arduous, since there was no direct
public transport to this church. Fr. Ralph Fernandes, the Dean of Navi Mumbai took the initiative
of starting mass for the laity at Kharghar on Saturday evenings, in the hall of the Convent of
Jesus and Mary. The Small Christian Communities started in July 2003 in Kharghar, and Mr.
Clifford D’Souza was the co-ordinator of Kharghar, and became the extended community of St.
Joseph’s Parish Belapur. There were 25 Catholic families in Kharghar at that time. This
community grew to 120 families in 2006. By then, with the intervention of the then Bishop
Agnello, a second priest was appointed to St. Joseph’s Church, Belapur, which helped initiate
conducting Mass on Sundays in the auditorium of Prem Dan Ashram, an orphanage run by the
sisters of Convent of Jesus and Mary. On the 1st of June 2009, our long-cherished dream of being
recognized as a separate parish community became a reality when the Bishop Agnello visited
Kharghar and announced in an animator meeting to go ahead and work towards formation of
a separate parish in Kharghar. In the year 2009 Fr. Gerald (Gerry) Fernandes was appointed as
the first Priest-in-Charge of Kharghar, who initiated the effort of building a Church in Kharghar
and commenced collecting contributions from the parish community. In the year 2012, Fr Louis
Kajar took over as Priest-in-Charge and picked up the gauntlet and pushed hard on the church
project, navigating the labyrinthine government maze to get a plot of land allocated in the year
2015. Coincidentally, this plot of land was adjacent to Prem Dan ashram. Fr Louis continued the
fund-raising activity within the parish, and also completed the competitive bidding process of
appointing the civil construction contractor. By June 2018, when our current Priest-in-Charge,
Fr Lincoln Rebello, took over, there was a momentum built. Fr Lincoln took this forward,
stepping up gears to give the church project a renewed sense of vitality and a renewed focus to
realize the dream church of the now burgeoning 400-family strong parish community. While
pushing hard to get CIDCO to approve the building plans and obtain several other approvals to
commence work, Fr Lincoln simultaneously made relentless fund-raising efforts, including
visiting other Parish communities in Mumbai, that yielded an overwhelming response. People
across parishes opened their hearts and wallets to contribute generously. On the 26th of Jan
2019, Bishop Allwyn D’Silva laid the foundation stone for the Divya Kripa Church and from then
onwards there was no looking back. In early February 2020, His Eminence Oswald Cardinal
Gracias visited Kharghar and was happy with the progress of the church project. However, the
pandemic played spoilsport as work came to a grinding halt in April 2020. Eventually, the work
recommenced in September 2020, albeit at a much slower pace, on account of lack of labour,
most of whom by then had emigrated back to their respective villages. The work picked up pace
by December 2020 and by around September 2021, the Church was up and ready and awaiting
regulatory approvals, including the final OC, which took its time, as is wont. Finally on the Feast
of our Lady of Lourdes, i.e. 11th February 2022, we were given our final Occupation Certificate
(OC) by CIDCO, triggering off a huge sigh of relief by the entire parish community and an
avalanche of thanksgiving prayers. We immediately, thereon, called on His Eminence Oswald
Cardinal Gracias, who was very kind and gracious to agree to our proposed date of 3rd April 2022
for the Dedication of the Church, which necessitated His Eminence to cancel out on a prior
commitment, as this Dedication was considered to be of utmost importance.

To celebrate this momentous occasion of the dedication of our long-awaited Divya Kripa Church
building, we - the entire parish community with a sense of joie de vivre, a large section of the
religious community of the Mumbai Archdiocese including our erstwhile parish priest Fr Louis
Kajar and the Dean of the Navi Mumbai Deanery, Fr Henry D’Souza, the many contractors and
vendors who helped build the church, gathered at the New Church on Sunday, the 3rd of April
2022 at 5.30 PM. His Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias would be celebrating Mass along with
Bishop Allwyn D’Silva, Bishop John Rodrigues, and the Priest-in-Charge Fr Lincoln Rebello.

We have patiently anticipated this day for over ten years with dogged determination to have
this, our very own church. In many ways, the challenges of the past 24 pandemic months have
been a metaphor for the challenges that we, as a parish community, have faced over the past
ten plus years, in the ultimate construction of this church building. This is a day of rejoicing and
we give thanks to the Lord for his blessings. Today we come together to consecrate and dedicate
our New Church. More importantly, this new Church gives glory to God as a fitting dwelling for
our Eucharistic Lord as a place where we will gather day after day to offer the Holy Sacrifice of
the Mass. We are hoping that this Church will become the centre of our lives as we come here
to be enlightened by the sacred scriptures and to be nourished by the Body and Blood of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me give a brief sense of the physical structure of our Church, which is a culmination of all
our hard work and determination; the church stands tall, with beautiful windows and a
stunning, 4 storeyed statement abstract mosaic of divine mercy on the stairway's external
walls, that draws attention to the church from quite a distance. The modern take on the
traditional elements of the church and its volumetric abstraction does not go unnoticed. A lot
of natural light enters the church through the windows. The church has a bell tower and a
beautiful balcony with GRFC structures that act as shade and give the church a unique look.
The 4 storied building includes the stilt area in the ground floor, the main Church with a
mezzanine structure in the 1st / 2nd floor, a multi-purpose hall in the 3rd floor and the parsonage
in the 4th floor.
The church sanctuary has arches that draw our attention to the beautiful stained-glass
backdrop of divine mercy with the crucifix in front of it. The altar, which is central to the
sacrifice of the Mass, is made entirely of teak wood and features an incredible mural of the
Last Supper etched in the front. Both the reading stand and the lectern have murals depicting
the ten commandments and the divine mercy, respectively.
The celebration commenced with a small procession that started off from Prem Dan Ashram
next door, which marched towards the church to the strains of the Hymn ‘Jesus! You are My
Salvation’ played by an accompanying Band. The Procession was led by the Youth of our parish
community, followed by; the members of the Parish Pastoral Council, the members of the
Church Building Committee, flower girls decked in white with flower baskets who adorned the
pathway with flower petals for the Cardinal, Bishops and Fr Lincoln following them. The Cardinal
was escorted by four canopy bearers drawn from our Youth. The rest of the 30-strong priest
contingent trailed behind.

As the Cardinal stepped on the red carpet stretched out from the main gate of the Church area
to the Church main door, the Flower Girls, standing on either side of the red carpet, showered
rose petals on the Cardinal, Bishops and Fr Lincoln. From the main door of the Church, Fr Lincoln
escorted the Cardinal and the Bishops to the stilt area of the Church’s ground floor to unveil the
commemorative plaque, the historical marker for this Church. His Eminence Oswald Cardinal
Gracias then went on to unveil the plaque with joyous fanfare to a large resounding applause.
Fr Lincoln then escorted the Cardinal, Bishops and the contingent of priests to the first-floor
landing where the wall is adorned with a large life-size main frame of the Divine Mercy. His
Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias then unveiled and blessed the main frame of Divine Mercy
and proceeded thereon to the first floor, the Main Door of the Church.

In a brief ceremony, the Dean of the Navi Mumbai Deanery, Fr Henry D’Souza, presented the
Church keys to the Cardinal, who in turn presented the Keys to Fr Lincoln, who accepted the
keys with a sense of pride for a job well done, in terms of successfully building the church, and
with a sense of humility, in terms of serving the Lord and administering to his priestly duties of
leading his parish community. Fr Lincoln then unlocked the door and His Eminence Oswald
Cardinal Gracias then cut the ceremonial ribbon and opened the Church doors to a round of
applause from the religious community and the parish community gathered there. As the
Cardinal opened the doors, the girls from the Prem Dan orphanage performed a prayerful
welcome dance and led the celebrants, Fr Lincoln and the Bishops, and the main celebrant - His
Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias towards the main altar. As the Celebrants stepped up
towards the altar, the Choir joyfully sang the hymn, ‘Come into His Presence’.

The first part of the ceremony was the Rite of Blessing and sprinkling of water. The Cardinal
blessed the water in the baptismal font. The Cardinal, assisted by the other Mass Celebrants,
sprinkles the main body of the Church, the people, the wall and the Altar, as the choir sang
‘Water, Water and the Spirit’. The people were sprinkled with blessed water to help all focus
on the life of God, who ‘made a home’ in each when they received Baptism. The altar and
walls are then sprinkled to ‘cleanse’ the building for its dedication. Other Celebrants went
around to bless the entire Church Building. With that, the Cardinal prays that our God dwell
in this house of prayer and that the Holy Spirit cleanse us, for we are the Temple of His
presence. Cardinal then called to praise and glorify God for this gift of this New Church,
prompting the Choir to sing ‘Glory to God in the highest’.

We then moved to the second part viz., ‘Liturgy of the Word’. The Lector approached the
Cardinal and handed over the Lectionary to the Cardinal. The Lectionary, the book of scripture
readings read in Masses, is the written Word of God, which are a means for drawing on the
power of Jesus, the ‘Word made flesh’; into areas of our lives to which the scripture meanings
relate. The Cardinal held up to the Lectionary to the people and blessed it, and then handed
it over back to the Lecter to go ahead and proclaim the word of God. The first Reading was
taken from ‘Nehemiah’ 8:1-4a, 5-6, 8-10. The second Reading was taken from ‘Philippians’
3:8-14. Fr Louis Kajar, our erstwhile Priest-in-Charge, proclaimed the Gospel.
In his Homily to the people of Kharghar, His Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias conveyed the
following messages;

a. That 3rd April was a significant day and a milestone in the history of the archdiocese of
Bombay, as we now have a new church, a new place of worship, a new family set up
where we can praise God and receive His countless blessings.
b. Recalling his need for a Jeep to travel from Belapur to Kharghar 25 years back, as there
were no proper motorable roads here, the Cardinal noted that Kharghar has since
seen a huge transformation, both in civic administration and the size of the parish
community; from a few prayer services being held on and off and an odd Mass being
celebrated amongst the small catholic community to a 1400 strong parish community
having full-fledged Sunday and daily Masses and regular prayer services. Very clearly
the Lord has blessed us and we now have this beautiful Church being dedicated for
the benefit of the 1400+ strong, parish community.
c. The Cardinal also paid tribute to the three priests who, in God’s providence, were His
instruments who helped in the structure coming up; Fr Gerald (Gerry) Fernandes who
was posted as the first Priest-in-Charge initiated the exploratory process of building
the Church, Fr Louis Kajar, who pushed hard to get civic permissions and helping the
project see the light of day, and Fr Lincoln then ultimately had the structure built
ground up, raised the funds and bringing the project to completion, as per God’s way,
where each of us play significant roles to realize God’s plans
d. The Cardinal made the reference to the first reading from Nehemiah mentioning
about Solomon building the Temple in Jerusalem, and then comparing Priest Ezra’s
preaching the word of God to the people who were tearfully thanking God, to exactly
what was happening at Divya Kripa Church thousands of years later at the Dedication
Mass and the parish community being aware of what God had done for us. Reference
was also made to the Gospel of the day that clearly conveyed ‘God is Merciful’ and
how Jesus, in his mercy, touched the misery of the woman, and she was transformed
and we in turn are transformed, and this is what the priests here should be preaching
‘the mercy of God’, ‘the benevolence of God’, ‘God calling us - the prodigal sons - back
to him’.
e. The Cardinal said, it would be in this church that the parishioners will meet God by
way of; baptism, confirmation, marriage, to make that last visit before the eternal
reward, for praying, to seek consolation, to be in touch with the lord, which can
transform a sinner to a saint. The Cardinal called upon Fr Lincoln to help people be in
touch with the Lord, to understand the Lord, to keep the Lord in their hearts and in
their homes.
f. Explaining the process of the dedication, the Cardinal said that through the Litany, we
would pray to all the Saints to bless the Kharghar catholic community. The Dedication
involved the process of anointing the walls and the altar of the Church with chrism oil,
which signified consecration, and that our Lord is ‘Christ the Anointed One’ and with
this Dedication, this church will be like ‘Christ the Anointed Building’. Further, the
burning of the Incense signifies our prayer going up to God, then the lights would be
lit signifying the presence of Christ - the Light of the World. The Eucharistic sacrifice
would then be offered on this altar, signifying that we are all immersed in the Lord’s
passion and death and resurrection.
g. Congratulating the parishioners of Kharghar, the Cardinal said that he was amazed at
this beautiful Church edifice and that while this church gets consecrated, along with
the walls and the altar, each one of us parishioners are consecrated, and that while
the beautiful church building is important, what was more important is that each one
 of us would need to become the church, to become Jesus, each parishioner need to
touch Jesus to be transformed, to be anointed, to understand the Gospel, to be
witness to everybody around that Jesus is God, Jesus is mercy, that God loves us that
God wants to look after each parishioner. While congratulating Fr Lincoln and Bishop
Allwyn, the Cardinal prayed and blessed that our parish grows in holiness, and that
each one of us experience the peace of Jesus in our homes and that He becomes the
king of our homes and His light becomes the light of our world.

We then moved to the third part of the rite, viz., the prayer of Blessing and the Anointing of
the Altar. Cardinal’s prayer expressed our desire to bless our church perpetually and
exclusively to the worship of God and invited the people to pray, asking our blessed Mary our
Mother and all the Saints to intercede for our parish community as we dedicate the altar and
consecrate the Church for exclusive use of glory to the Lord. The Choir then sang the Litany
of Saints. We then moved to the anointing of the Altar and the Sanctuary walls of the Church,
so that they may continue to become holy through God’s grace. As the Choir sings ‘Come Holy
Spirit’, the Cardinal, wearing a linen gremial pours Chrism on the middle of the Altar and on
each of the four corners and using cotton wool, spreads the chrism on the altar and anoints
the altar and the four walls of the Church making the sign of the cross. The next was the
incensing of the altar and the Church. Incense was burned on the altar to signify that Christ’s
sacrifice, there perpetuated in mystery, ascends to God as an odour of sweetness and also to
signify that the people’s prayers rise up pleasing and acceptable, reaching the throne of God.
Fr Lincoln then walked through the Church, incenses the people and the walls, while the Choir
sang ‘Let Our Voices Rise Like Incense’. The Altar is then covered with a sheet and an
appropriate decorative cloth, the ‘unlit’ candles and the crucifix were then placed on the
Altar. The Cardinal then lit the baptismal candle as a symbol of Christ’s presence after which
the candles on the Altar were lit, and the altar floral decorations were put in place.

With the Altar now blessed and consecrated, we commenced the Liturgy of the Eucharist with
the presentation of gifts, and the Choir sang the offertory hymn ‘Bless Now O Heavenly Father’,
followed by the Holy Communion Rite with the Choir singing ‘How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place
O Lord’ and ‘Yeshu Terma Naam, Sab Se Ooncha Hain’.
The ceremony came to a close with the blessing of the New Tabernacle, with the Cardinal
genuflecting in front of the altar and incensed the Blessed Sacrament. Then he took the
Consecrated Host and placed the Consecrated Hosts in the Tabernacle, the door of which
remained open. He then put incense into the censer, knelt and incensed the Blessed
Sacrament. After a brief silent prayer, the door of the Tabernacle was closed. Fr. Lincoln then
lit the lamp, which will burn perpetually before the Blessed Sacrament.

Fr Lincoln then came forward to deliver a vote of thanks to the key people who helped him
and the Parish for building the Church, which included; (a) His Eminence Oswald Cardinal
Gracias for the support that he provided, (b) Bishops Allwyn D’Silva, Bishop Dominic Savio,
Bishop Barthol, and Bishop Rodrigues, (c) The Archdiocesan Estate Office and Archdiocesan
Finance Office for the support and guidance, (d) The pioneers of the Parish Community Fr
Ryan and Mr. Clifford D’souza, (e) The erstwhile priests-in-charge Fr Gerald (Gerry) Fernandes
and Fr Louis Kajar for the initiatives taken during their times, with help from parishioners Mr.
Franklin Santiago and Mr. Santan D’Souza, (e) The Building Committee, with special mention
to Mr. Vijay Rego and Mr. John Britto, (f) Mr. Marshal Soj for his help in assisting the
regulatory approvals, (g) The Parish Pastoral Council, (h) The Finance Committee Mr. Mathew
John and Mr. Vijay Rego, (i) the 14,700+ benefactors with special mention of Mr. Lancelot
Fernandes and Ms. Simmi D’Souza, (j) the Sisters of Convent of Jesus and Mary (Prem Dan)
for all their support during the past many years including providing the hall for celebrating
Mass every Sunday and Weekdays, (k) the Brothers of Mother Theresa’s home, Jeevan Jyoti
Ashram, (l) the two families of Mr. Agnelo Pereira and Reena Anthony for the personal care
during the tough pandemic times when this church was being built, and (m) sthank His
Eminence Oswald Cardinal Gracias and felicitated him with a the entire parish community.

Fr Lincoln then felicitated the Cardinal, Bishops Allwyn D’Silva and Bishop John Rodrigues, Mr.
Clifford D’Souza for the pioneering role he played in this parish community from 2003
onwards, the Civil Contractor Team Work, the MEP Contractor Triozone, the Project
Management Consultant Mr. Deepak Bapodra, Mr. Marshal Soj, the Building Committee
Members, the Sisters of the Convent of Jesus & Mary, and Mr. Justin Justna for his work in
the altar and the external mosaic work.

The Cardinal then expressed his happiness with how the Church has turned out, and
presented the Church with a Missal, and a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe which he had
picked from Mexico in November last. The Cardinal also announced a generous cash support
for the Church project.

The Vice-President, Mr. Samuel Martis, of the PPC then delivered the vote of t hanks on behalf
of the parish community.

The Cardinal then gave the final blessing, post which there was some cake cutting and all the
people who attended the Mass were served cakes and then a good dinner spread.

It was indeed a memorable day for the parish community of Kharghar