Holy Rosary Church at Tejgaon, Dhaka (Photo: Chandan Robert Rebeiro) |
For nearly everyone in Bangladesh, Sunday is not a weekend day. I’m one the few ‘privileged’ guys to have a weekly holiday on the Holy Day for Christians. In an earlier post I wrote why the custom of having a day off on Sunday was changed.
Sunday has always been a special day to me especially in my seminary years from 1999 to 2007. For the first two of those years, when I was studying in grade 9 and 10 Sunday was a half day school holiday. We used to have good meals –the best of the week – from breakfast to dinner at Little Flower Seminary at Bandura. Then we could take a long siesta after lunch. From the minor seminary to intermediate then degree level seminaries, both in Dhaka. Sunday was a very welcome, blissful day for me and all the boys.
But since those times it has become less of a special day. My roommate, a bachelor like me, has his weekend on Friday and Saturday, so Saturday is the common holiday for us both and we enjoy it together. Sometimes we go to the park, or the theater or cinema, or to some other cultural function in Dhaka. But then Sunday can be a tough day as I’m alone at home, so now it’s just a rest day to me.
When in Dhaka I usually sleep late, then make breakfast, do some chores and cook lunch. The routine is often interrupted as gas, water and electricity outages are frequent. Sometimes it gets to 4 o’clock before I can have lunch, so I often opt to go out for it.
In Dhaka I try to get to 6 o’clock Mass at the Holy Rosary Church in Tejgaon, about 30 minutes walk from where I live. Five priests serve here – it’s the largest Catholic Church in the country, right in the heart of the city. Not all the priests offer Mass well and they can’t all deliver a good sermon. They often just repeat the Gospel, or they speak too much on theological matters. I feel sorry for those devoted souls who come to Mass direct from their workplace. They keep coming even though they might not be inspired by some of the priests’ sermons.
Every time I’m on my way to Mass I wonder if the priest will be one that I don’t like. Unfortunately, most times, it is. Nowadays I’ve become an irregular Sunday Massgoer, not because I have such a busy life, but because I’m afraid of Mass being boring. I’m a good listener but I lose interest in boring things.
I go to my village home, 45 kms northeast of Dhaka, about once a month. Sunday is good there as my dad and mom do everything. All I need to do is get up early and get to Mass. Then, after Mass, it’s nice to meet lots of friends. Sometimes we spend some time together and go for something to eat and drink. That makes my Sunday a little bit special.
View Original Post @ UCAN Blogs on Aug. 29, 2011
Rock Da, please try to join the mass regular not for the sermons only but only for our Lord Jesus Christ, then you will never be bored anymore and your soul will be filled with enormous joy as well as happiness. Have a nice day.
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