Designed , developed & Hosted By Kishoo, Barkur

Fr. Tony

 

Home

This page is updated regularly, please refresh or reload on your visit.

Dear brothers and sisters, and the viewers of this web site Barkur.com, I am Fr. Joseph Anthony Andrade better  known as Fr. Tony Andrade. I was born and brought up in Barkur. My primary education was in Barkur. In 1980 I joined the seminary to become priest and was ordained to the Holy Order of priesthood on the 19th of December, 1992. I served a short period of time in Bangalore (India) and then went to the USA to serve in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in the state of Minnesota. Presently I am the parish priest of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church located in St. Paul, Minnesota (visit our web site:- www.stthomasap.org).

I Hope and pray this column "Spiritual Corner" will inspire many viewers of our Barkur.com web site. As all of us know the need of spirituality in our daily life. We walk our faith journey trusting in God our creator and we are certain one day we will meet our creator God in Heaven. Meanwhile here on earth we need good insights to enlighten our minds and hearts in our spiritual life. in this column I will write articles which will be short and precise that may help our interested viewers to reflect on their own spirituality. I welcome others also to share their articles and reflections. This column is open to all the faith denominations. What is important is that we inspire each other on our own spiritual journey.

My sincere thanks to Kishoo de Barkur, the designer of this beautiful web site, and for giving me this opportunity to share my thoughts and reflection on our Barkur.com web site.

Fr. Joseph Anthony Andrade


Called to serve and he serves with a smile. He is none other than Eric Soans  of Barkur.

“ I will sing and make music to the Lord for he has done marvelous things to me;” said  Rev. Dr. Fr. Charles Vas S.V.D. on the occasion of his silver jubilee celebration of his priestly Ordination.

Many of us who hear his liturgical and devotional songs are inspired by his music. When I go home for vacation to my beloved hometown of Barkur I attend daily mass as well as the weekend masses in my home parish of St. Peter the Apostle. There I am again inspired hearing the beautiful singing voice of Eric Soans of Barkur leading the Sunday mass choir. God has blessed Eric with a special talent to sing and make music to the Lord and he draws the people of God together as they sing and worship with one voice and one heart.  Eric uses his talents to serve the Lord and His church with a great smile on his face.

Eric Soans works with Praveen Carvalho proprietor of JAE’S Wheel Masters in Udupi. Since the collapse of the Barkur Bridge Eric and Praveen reside in the Udupi Area where they work, but they make every effort to come home to Barkur to prepare with the Sunday Choir. Eric and his choir gather early   every Sunday morning to practice the hymns they are going to sing for the Mass. Eric takes a special interest and encourages  parishioners to consider joining the choir, especially the youth of the parish. They also sing for all the important feast days of the parish. 

For   almost 25 years I was unable to go home   to celebrate our traditional “Monthifest.” But last year with the grace of God, I was home to celebrate this important Thanksgiving feast of our family. The choir did a marvelous job singing many wonderful   hymns in konkani and in kanada under the leadership of Eric Soans,  the Choir Master. 

When my American friends and parishioners from St. Thomas the Apostle visited our hometown of Barkur they also attended   the Sunday mass at 7 am. What they enjoyed the most was the singing. In their own words they said;  “ such   wonderful music and singing you have with the entire congregation singing with one voice and heart. It is wonderful to see the participation of everyone in the Sunday liturgy”.  Certainly most of the credit goes to Eric and his choir members who were present that Sunday. They were happy to have the opportunity to meet Eric.

I am sure all of you who receive “Pedruchi Chavi” admire the work of the editor, Eric Soans.  He is also blessed with a talent in writing  good articles. I especially like his editorial page. He has lot of good insight and makes readers   think about what they have read.

For all of you Barkurians who are Catholic and living in a foreign land, remember   when you go home for vacation make sure you go to your home parish, St. Peter the Apostle for Sunday mass. There you will hear the wonderful music of Eric Soans and his choir members. Sing along with them and to the Lord. As St. Augustine says “ when you sing you praise God twice.”  Don’t forget to appreciate Eric Soans and his Choir team.

Fr. Tony Andrade.

FOR ARCHIVES......

Barkur, located in Udupi Taluk, Karnataka, India. 576 210

 kishoos@emirates.net.ae

Copyright Kishoo, Barkur 2002.