Catholic Surobhi Minj never misses a Sunday Mass. And, the November Sunday of the feast of Christ the King has become a harvest festival for her community in Bangladesh.
On the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe on November 21 Surobhi and family members wore new clothes to go to the church. They carried with them 15-kilogram rice from the latest harvest and offered it to Christ the King.
Surobhi also carried a cake she baked from the newly harvested paddy and shared it with everyone including the priest and nuns after the priest blessed the harvest offerings.
Local Catholics like Surobhi offer a share of their farm produce during the feast, making it a sort of harvest festival for indigenous Catholics across Bangladesh.
Surobhi planted paddy in her 0.251 hectors of land. “We harvested and stored it in the house. I am yet to measure this year’s yield but it’s better than previous years. I devoted a little to God because, without His grace and blessings, we cannot consume this crop at home,” the 34-year-old Oraon indigenous farmer said.
The premises of her Saint Anthony’s parish Church in Rajshahi Diocese were flooded with a variety of fresh crops on Sunday morning.
Like Minj, several Catholics in the parish had come to offer their harvests to Christ the King. Some even sold a part of the yield to gift new clothes to the priest.