The Family Santa Rosa – the adopted name of the congregation of the Arima Parish – will be gathering for its Sports and Family Day next Sunday, July 27.

The day begins with Holy Mass at 8.00 a.m. at the Santa Rosa Church followed by a Parade of Teams from the Church to the Arima Velodrome at 10.00a.m

But the event will be more than track and field, fun and games and eats and drinks. It will be a demonstration of the commitment of the parish to the special Pauline Year launched by the Holy Father to mark the 2000th anniversary of birth of the Apostle Paul.

The day will see communities of the Santa Rosa Parish forming themselves into various Sports Teams, each of them represent one of the Letters of St Paul. This is being done as one way to keep the Parish focussed on the letters of the New Testament written by the great Apostle.

In furtherance of this, the committee preparing for the event has proposed that the communities and their congregation be divided up according to Masses, colours and the particular St Paul Letter as follows:

This formation will be in greatest evidence in the march past when participating teams will try to depict a characteristic of the particular letter they represent.

This will be counted by the judges as one area for marking the points to determine the winner of this aspect of the day’s competitive events.

Santa Rosa Parish Priest, Monsignor Christian Pereira, says it will also be an opportunity for the wider parish to become even more familiar with the scriptures.

“The Sports Day will be as much a fun day as a Catechetical and Biblical day for all of us at Santa Rosa,” Msgr Christian said. “Our sports and family day will be in the light of the Beijing Olympics and the culture of life preached by our Church.”

The list of events includes special races for the elders, for the clergy and religious, the recently confirmed youths, married couples and children of all ages will be provided with opportunities for fun and activity.

There will be a test of strength in the Tug-of-War which will be at different stages during the day. An “All fours” competition will show the skill of parishioners to work with one another in competing against others.

The Day will begin with the celebration of Holy Mass at the Santa Rosa Church, followed by a procession to the Arima Municipal Stadium (Velodrome) where the judges will inspect the march past. From then there will be an “AEROBICS FACE OFF” as individuals show their stamina and skill while the teams are being prepared for the various events. 

Some refreshments and food will be on sale, but parishioners are invited to bring and share their food items. Children are being provided for and everyone is welcome to participate in a community and family exercise to build the Body of Christ in Santa Rosa.