by Nirmala Carvalho

Students at St Andrew's College stage a musical performance to celebrate the feast of their patron saint and mark the end of the Year of Faith proclaimed by Benedict XVI. Songs and dances are interspersed with readings on topical issues like drugs, family problems, violence against women and suicide.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - Students at St Andrew 's College in Bandra, Mumbai, decided to celebrate the feast day of St Andrew and bid farewell to the Year of Faith in a two-hour show that included gospel music and topical monologues inspired by Ecclesiastes.

Held on 24 November, the musical extravaganza was organised by Fr Aniceto Pereira, rector of the Catholic school. "In this Year of Faith," the priest said, "we received graces many times over. Our life in God's presence is always a mystery, whether as adults or youth. What we have in common are questions, and all of us want answers."

The show was called 'Ecclesiastes', from the Book of the Old Testament. The boys sang some gospel songs, inspired by the book's main themes, such as 'Vanity of vanities; all is vanity'. After the show, Fr Pereira told AsiaNews: "Our life in God's presence is however a perennial mystery...no matter how young, or how old we may be... What we all have in common are questions! But do we have the answers to any of our questions? This evening does not promise to give you answers... But perhaps if you listen to the songs carefully, you might just about sharpen the questions and make your search meaningful".

Monologues inspired by issues that affect young people today like divorce, family problems, drug and alcohol abuse, exploitation of women and suicide interspersed the moments of dancing and singing. According to Fr. Pereira "the project therefore becomes a great ministry to the youth who are participating, interacting, questioning, articulating and celebrating! They also learn to minister to the audience!".

 

• india
• mumbai
• bandra
• year
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• faith
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• feast
• day
• musical
• extravaganza