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| Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Rangamatia |
The Bell Rings!
The simple belltower standing upright the sky close to
the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Rangamatia comes alive three times a day –
morning, noon and evening. The ringing of the bell sends soundwaves across
villages dotting vast, lush green paddy fields bisected and washed afoot by a serpentine
canal that connects the massive, legendary Belai Beel (marshland). The
sound of the bell is a proud declaration of the centuries-old faith, joys and
anguish, struggles and triumphs of a simple, resilient and extraordinary
Christian community.
The parish has more than 3,700 Catholics from diverse
backgrounds and professions, from farmers and day laborers to government and
private jobholders, from permanent residents in six villages to non-residents living
in cities and towns. Every family has remarkable stories of challenges and
achievements, from the impoverished agrarian life to modernities, from
illiteracy to academic excellence and from plunging to pitfalls to rising like
phoenix bird.
Every story is blended with the strong faith in God inherited from their ancestors and love for family. From birth to death the life of local Catholics evolves around the simple but historic parish Church that marked glorious centenary in 2023. This wonderful saga of faith, hope and love is a testimony to the advent, growth and progress of Catholicism in Bangladesh in the past centuries.
