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I am Sr. Christi, a newly professed Sister. As I have begun my ministry, I have come across different categories of Consecrated persons. The differences that I perceive confuses me and questions come into my mind. Can you explain about the juridical implications of various Institutes of Consecrated Life?

The origin of the Consecrated life in the East and the West may be traced from the letters of St. Paul dating back to 50-65 A.D. In the Pauline corpus we read that in the early church, celibate women dedicated to prayer and charity were honored. The historical evolution of this way of life, reveals that Church admires this vocation “as belonging to the holiness of the Church”. Therefore, Ecclesiastical authorities have given recognition to various forms of Consecrated identity. Latin Code (CIC) recognizes three forms, and the Oriental Code recognizes five forms. Apart from these two the Codes approve the vocation to hermitical life and the life of consecrated virgins.

According to CIC, there are Religious Institutes, Secular Institutes and Societies of Apostolic life. CCEO explains about Monks, Orders, Congregations, Societies in the manner of Religious, Secular Institutes, and Societies of Apostolic Life. Some of the specifications of each category are to be noted to know their juridical status.

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Sr Navya Thattil OSF

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Son of Man (2005) 87 minutes.

Director: Mark Dornford-May

Noluthando Boqwana, Andile Kosi , Pauline Malefane , Andries Mbali , Mvuyisi Mjali , Gwebile Jim Ngxabaze, Zorro Sidloyi

This movie closely follows the Gospel story with a focus on Mary and Jesus set in a startlingly contemporary African setting. It contrasts the essential message of the Gospels with the stark realities of the post-colonial African world. The action is presented against the background of a fictional town named Judea which could be any country in Africa.  The African Jesus is presented as a black man who sacrifices himself in the battle for peace in a world of military dictatorships, political unrest and violence. His mother, fleeing political suppression under a dictator, hallucinates that she is going to have a baby boy, announced by a mysterious angelic person. The child is born during an exile when her husband is taken away by the military and she is left with the child. Shepherds and wise men visit the baby too. His enemies set about to hunt him down in a sequence that recalls the slaughter of the innocents. As Jesus grows into a young man, he leaves his mother behind and begins a ministry much like the Jesus of the Gospels.  He is a strong advocate against exploitation and violence.  He builds a community of followers around him whose names are those of the disciples mentioned in the Gospels. One of them is a greedy Judas who betrays him for money. He is arrested taken for trial and killed. Unlike the Gospel narrative he is made to disappear like in the case of dictatorial regimes that make their opponents disappear. When Mary gets the news of her son’s disappearance, she goes searching for his body, recovers it and sets him upon a cross as a reminder of the violence and brutality of the establishment.

The inhabitants of the township are enraged by the injustice poured out upon Jesus, but are apparently still unwilling to stand up against the tyranny that oppresses them. It is only when Mary refuses to cower before gun-toting soldiers that the people follow her example as she follows that of her son. A community of peaceful protestors sing hymns around him and face up to the gun toting soldiers.

The opening sequence presents an encounter between the African Jesus being tempted by Satan and is rebuffed, but Satan declares “this is my world”. The ending sequence recalls the same when the women in the congregation resisting violence raises the question for the sake of their children: “whose world is this?”, but on a strong note of hope with Jesus surrounded by his angels.

The film is to be seen as an expression of postcolonial agency, as a call to constructive political action, as an interpretation of the Gospels, and as a reconfiguration of the Jesus film tradition.  The film itself concisely asks on behalf of the children featured in it and their politically active mothers, ‘Whose world is this’?

The Pilgrim’s Progress –  82 minutes

Director- David Kirk West

Cast Jeremy Oliveira, Matthew McAuliffe,Danielle MacDowell, Mera Oliveira,Sean snyderLary Anderson, Josh Oliveira.  

There have been several film adaptations of this classic Christian allegory of the 17^th century, considered one of the most widely read pieces of fiction in English. Its unfailing popularity rests on its combination of adventure, journey, dream, and bringing together of key Christian doctrines into popular imagination thereby appealing to people of all ages and cultures. This adaptation of Pilgrim’s Progress is rendered in the musical form with rhymed dialogue and engaging gospel music. The story is set against a rural setting and as a dream within a dream.  A pastor named Christian is the chief narrator as imagined by John Bunyan the author of the literary work.  Christian who reads ‘The Book’ is overwhelmed by a sense of the burden of sin and the vision of an impending destruction of the city of doom where he lives. He is mocked and rejected by his family when he exhorts them to leave with him to escape doom. He sets out alone guided by the ‘Evangelist’ who appears at crucial moments to guide him. He faces temptations on the way but resolutely journeys on to free himself from the burden of sin.

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Prof Gigy Joseph

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November is a time when we celebrate the memories of our loved ones who have gone to the Lord before us.  At the start of the month many cultures and religions round the world have rituals and ceremonies to remember the deceased.    In Mexico, there is Dia de Los Muertos, the Mexican holiday of remembrance; in Sumpango, Guatemala – the Giant kite festival to honour the dead; in the Catholic tradition All Souls Day, all of them weaving a thread of connectedness with the souls who have lived among us.  I have vivid and endearing memories of many village communities, that have been a part of my missionary landscape, clean up the cemeteries, decorate graves of loved ones, ask pardon from each other, cook and share food in the burial ground, and above all consciously create spaces to honour the dead, communicate with them and give new life to their living memoirs.   Memories are refreshing because through those reminiscences love lives on in us and flows out through us.  Our Eucharistic celebration is one such space that we create every day to remember, to celebrate and to commune with a divine love that transforms us into channels of gratitude and compassion.

Magnet is yet another space of remembrance where we bring together our success stories and the live anecdotes of people who suffer, who are wronged, threatened and bereft of a space.   In these pages we see how women and men religious and other committed people make of their lives a continual offering in love.   The features in this edition are both thought provoking and heartening.   On one side is the celebration of communion and on the other the human instinct for immediate solutions leading even to mass provocations as we see in the first article on Sumpango; the feeling for prisoners who are often locked inside unjustly, the sunshine emanating from a pastor who decided to live happily and spread joy,  meaningful tips for living authentic friendships,  the touching life of the military officer who excelled as a fine human being,  the story of a young sister’s call,  Canon Law for a meaningful religious life, self-care practices for all,  basic financial procedures for safeguarding religious, people who made a difference because of their goodness and review of two movies and books that touch one’s soul.

This issue has the NEP 2020 as its cover story.   The NEP created a stir in the hearts of people both for the right and the wrong reasons.  We have our brother Bosco, hailing from a rural setting in Karnataka, presenting to us in the main Cover Story article an appraisal of the New National Education Policy 2020 highlighting its pros and cons.  Three responses from different perspectives – Higher Education, School Education, Minorities; and The Way Forward gives us a glimpse of the multifaceted consequences of this new proposal.

The soul of a magazine is its writers.  They give life to it and create its identity. The Magnet community expresses its gratitude to Fr Jose Parappully, SDB who has been part of its august group of columnists from almost its inception.  Fr Jose, who will not be continuing to write in Magnet due to time and health constraints, took care of the psychology wing, and has written 60 episodes.  This means he has been writing with unstinted commitment for the past six years.  He covered topics which were very useful, practical and meaningful.  Good researchers make good writers.  All his writings came from his continuous study and exploration of themes that matter to each of us.  Many in the early years of their religious commitment would thank Fr Jose for his clear perspectives on many aspects of life that raised queries in them. Thank you Fr Jose and we wish you continued inspiration as a writer and a psychologist.

Let’s celebrate life through the words of humans who have felt passionately about the topics that you are about to read. Wishing each of you enjoyable reading.

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Pushpa Joseph

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I am Sr. Augusta, a perpetually professed religious. I often read in our Constitution about the need of Superior General/Provincial to seek the consent of the council to decide certain matters. We also read in other places about consulting the council. Therefore, I would like to get clarity about these terms in decision-making.

Canon 127 of CIC and canon 934 of CCEO deal with the juridical notion of the words consent and consult in the legal sphere.

An ecclesiastical superior has much power in the exercise of his or her office.  But there are determined instances in which he or she is obliged by law to seek either the consent or the counsel of certain organs or persons before making a juridic act (any importance decision). These requirements are introduced in canon law not only for motives of prudence, that is, in order to assist the superior in avoiding mistakes or rash decisions, but also for a more sublime reason, that is, to assure the superior of real cooperation of persons (council) who depend on him or her according to the ecclesial principle of co-responsibility and participation. Canon 127 of CIC and canon 934 of CCEO establish the principles for guiding this cooperation and participation.

Wherever the law requires that the superior must have the consent of her/his counsel for a valid act, the superior must “obtain” the consent with an expressed voting of any mode. Through voting of any kind, she should look for an absolute majority of those present in order to decide on  the act. The obligation of consent stipulated in law juridically binds the superior who cannot “validly” act against the vote duly formulated and clearly expressed by persons (council) concerned.

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Sr Navya Thattil OSF

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Visiting my country (Malta) after five years in India created curiosity among family and friends. Due to the easy access of social media, people seem to be more knowledgeable about social and cultural issues in India now than when I first visited in 1988. This time the type of questions I was asked usually started with, “Is it true that . . .?” “Are the people still . . .?” Maltese were amazed and intrigued that certain practices are still very much in vogue and that others unfortunately are being lost. But one of the hottest questions this time was, “Is the caste system still very much alive?” I tried to explain that a lot has changed since, say, Gandhi’s time, but that there are still marriage announcements every Sunday on the Times of India seeking brides and grooms based on caste, religion, money earned and even shades of skin colour. And there are still some Catholic dioceses without a bishop because one caste would not accept a bishop from another caste.

Climbing the social ladder might be a little bit more accessible nowadays than say seventy years ago, but still, one will always be reminded of his or her own roots. Shilpa Raj, a South Indian girl, featuring in the Netflix series Daughters of Destiny and who wrote her biography The Elephant Chaser’s Daughter, is a clinical psychologist PhD at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. She comes from a Dalit class in Karnataka. In one of the interviews she gave, she said that even though she is reading a doctorate in the US, she will never be able to marry an Indian boy from a higher caste. And then again, which Dalit boy in his right frame of mind would think of marrying a PhD graduate?

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Brother Carmel Duca MC

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Striking Numbers

India has, right now, the largest number of religious in the world—about 130,610, belonging to 399 religious orders. The largest section, by far, are women religious—about one lakh and two thousand in active orders and about 890 contemplatives. Religious priests number

25,523, belonging to ninety orders, and the 2,031 Brothers belong to seventeen orders.

According to the 2021 CRI Directory, the average age is 47.73.

A large group, most of whom are well educated, and run well-known institutions imparting education, medical care and other services. Most religious congregations are also financially stable and secure.

A strong force—large, trained, disciplined, well accepted by beneficiaries. In fact, the rush to get into Catholic schools and colleges is well known. Our 3400 medical presences offer a huge service to the sick, particularly in rural areas.

Such a body of educated and specially trained women and men certainly makes a difference.

What is the difference we make? Are we making the difference we are meant to? How can we do it better?

That is what this issue looks at.

A Hidden Life

Let me start with what most people know least about—our contemplative religious.

Among our contemplatives are smart, well-educated women who could easily have had a successful career, but chose to follow a Love that fascinated them. I have been impressed by two such young women and several older ones. One, a novice, has a doctorate in astrophysics. The other was student leader in a prestigious college. Both took a vocational decision that shocked family members, companions and well-wishers. Theirs is not a decision we can easily understand. It can seem to be a foolish waste of talent. But a mystic’s heart sees differently from what human calculations show us.

The number of contemplatives in India is not high. Most orders have very few younger members. But, unseen by the world and contributing nothing visible or measurable to humankind, these hidden hearts sustain the world through a life of prayer, universal love and a spiritual quest unmediated by direct ministry.

Mere Social Work or a God-encounter?

Most religious are engaged in visible activities—teaching, medical work, social services, media ministry, pastoral work. The largest number are involved in teaching.

All these settings provide us chances to do good. But, if all we do is just to perform the assigned tasks—teaching some subjects, being a doctor or nurse or social worker, or being engaged in social action and political consciousness-raising—we do not need faith in Jesus or a deep spiritual life or celibacy to do it. Anyone with common sense and a reasonable level of education can do it. No need of vocational discernment, retreats, hours of daily prayer or long years of formation for it.

We are not simply English teachers, or principals, or accountants or nurses or social workers. As Mother Teresa put it, “I come from a happy family. I would not have left it to do social work.” For her, responding to Jesus and meeting Him is what mattered. That is what energized her and kept her radiantly happy. She saw Jesus in the dying destitute person who smelt bad or had maggots in his wounds or was covered with dirt. When our inner eye is open, the world around us looks different. We see people and events through God’s eyes.

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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We, priests and religious, should be good and exemplary teachers. I think it was St John Bosco who, in dealing with the young, realized how important it is to be a loving teacher and invited all the formators to be good and exemplary teachers in forming the young minds and hearts. Here is a letter written (I found it recently while preparing a message for Teachers’ Day) by a student to her teacher– Fr Richard Mascarenhas SJ

1. Be a human being, not just a teaching machine.
2. Do not teach only a subject, but rather teach us students.
3. Let me feel that you are interested in me as a human being not just a number in your notebook.
4. Do not judge me only by the marks I get in my tests, but rather by the effort I make.
5. Do not expect of me what is beyond my talent or power, but give me more encouragement from time to time.
6. Do not expect me to think of school and studies as the greatest pleasure of life. They are not, at least for me.

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Fr Richard Mascarenhas SJ

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1. The difference we are called to make
   1. Be a soothing and healing presence: As religious or priests we need to be a soothing and healing presence to others, especially in our workplace. Sadly, some of us become dictators, cruel and heartless bosses, adding pain and sorrow to those who approach us with helplessness. Since we see the brokenness everywhere, it is our duty to spread healing through our kind words, empathetic gestures and sincere moral (and if need be financial) support and strive to be in the midst of the suffering humanity.
   2. Be with the people: Some of us seem to have forgotten to visit the houses of the people. Instead we live a comfortable and luxurious life inside our institutions. Therefore, we are less respected today. It is when we go to people with a large heart, listening ears and a blessing on our lips they feel free to approach us. When they see a glimpse of Jesus in us, we gain respect. Then, boys and girls may be attracted to our way of life. People should see us walking like Jesus to meet people without discrimination and with a joyful and compassionate heart.
   3. Be women and men of prayer: We religious or priests are called first and foremost to be persons of prayer. We are given special privileges to pray in the morning and evening and attend the Holy Eucharist everyday. But we don’t find change in ourselves. Today we see many lay men and women who spend hours in prayer and spread the good news. People flock to them for healing, rather than come to religious or priests. I need to ask myself: Why am I a religious or a priest today? What is the purpose of my call? Am I really true to my call?

2. The difference I have made

As a religious, I was posted in different fields.  I spent most time in the formation ministry I feel happy and contented to have done this service.

1. 1. As a formator, I have come across a few formees who had been victims of sexual abuse. I spent a lot of time with them, dealing with the issues through therapy and constant accompaniment. The main skills I used were empathy, non-judgmental attitude and unconditional acceptance, accompanying with positive feelings and by healing prayer sessions. These sessions were meaningful to me as well as to them. It made them love and accept themselves and build their self-esteem. Though some of them have left the congregation, they still are in contact with me and remember with gratitude the help they received.
   2. Being a counsellor, I spent a few years counselling school children on various issues. Here is an incident I like to recall. A child was suffering from lack of self-confidence, unable to face anyone directly or in the crowd. When he came to me for counselling, he used to sweat all over. The sweat would drip on the floor and even wet the place. I was very patient and kind towards him, accepted him as he was with continuous positive strokes and with the “Circle of Excellence” (an NLP exercise). The regular sessions brought tremendous changes in the child. At present he is able to look at others with a smile, freely communicates with others and is comfortable in facing the crowd.

Such experiences make me happy and grateful to God for being able to do little things for the needy.

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Sr Sunitha Fernandes UFS

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1. How to make a difference

We should consider each individual as precious gift from God.  We need to respect and uphold the dignity of the other without looking at a person’s caste, colour, religion or intellectual quotient. We are called to instil the values of Christ and see in them the image of God. We need to become leaven in the dough even though our number is less. Our simple style of life and the way we go about and relate to people should be free of self-interest.

Our vowed life obliges us to be balanced, live in the spirit of poverty, putting on the attitude of Christ in our service. Our prayer life is also a boost for us to evaluate our own action and have a change in our attitude. Our service should be self-less and only for the good of people. Like Jesus, our master and model, we need to understand the unexpressed feelings of the people. The smile which we give to the people with whom we live and work is a sign of our God experience which brightens the life of the unwanted and the neglected, children in our boarding houses, the elderly, the  mentally challenged, the people in prison , the sick, the lonely. Each individual is unique and special, and  we need to give a listening ear to them. We religious need to give more importance to the spiritual wellbeing of people, specially through the sacraments, taking part in the liturgy meaningfully. Above all, we are called to be more human in our dealings.

2. The difference I tried to make

As a religious for twenty-five years, I feel happy about the way I worked with the mentally challenged people for one year—that, too, as a  junior sister. That was the best part of my life I can say. Though I am not a professional nurse, I could take care of them with love and affection. Though I have faced insults and abuses from them, I had sincere love towards them. Once, when a lady disappeared from the house, I was terribly upset, felt helpless and worried. I went in search of her for many days. Finally, when I found her, my joy was really boundless. When I look back on this incident, it gives me immense joy and satisfaction.

Another case: I taught in a school as my first real job. I did my best to teach the students entrusted to my care—not just the lessons, but values for life. Now when they visit me, they tell me: “You taught us to stand on our own feet. We can never forget you. You are the best teacher we have come across and our favourite one.” I feel happy about it when I hear this from them. As the famous quote says “The mediocre teacher tells, the good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates and the great teacher inspires.” This is what I am called to. Thus I can make difference in the lives of my students by moulding  them  to be good human beings, and promoting their all-round development.

When I noticed that one of them needed to improve his/her behaviour, I would them for a personal chat, and meet with their parents to solve their problems. This was the case of one student who was irregular in coming to school.  I visited his house, spoke with him about his future. He came back to school, and passed high school with a good grade. So, I have seen that we can make a difference if we take a real interest in our students.

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Sr Latha Crasta SCCG

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It was a ‘Drawing Competition’ for the Primary School children of one of our Convent schools.

The topic: My teacher.  A child had drawn a Nun standing in front of a class:  serious, and with a ruler (scale) in her hand.

Unfortunately, this is what many of the laity might see in us, religious and priests: administrators, disciplinarians, in-charge! They have to meet us in our ‘office,’ and our meetings with them are on ‘official stuff.’

Or as ‘disciplinarians’! We may appear rigid and cold even with our own staff. I know I am generalizing. But at times we do come out as stiff and unapproachable, with no time for patient, compassionate listening or accompaniment. As our numbers dwindle, there will be fewer and fewer of us in our Institutions, and even these will be pinned down to such starchy posts!

How would it feel like for our students, teachers, patients, nurses, workers, the laity at large, if they could just casually ‘bump into us,’ find us relaxed, with time to spare, and willing to share with them some ‘niceties,’ which could pave the way gradually for what they want to share with us in confidence, of their everyday joys and sorrows?

How beautiful it would be if they could see in us a friend, interested and willing to converse with them. A person of God who would enlighten and guide them, someone they could turn to for guidance, and understanding! Someone who is familiar enough to visit them in their homes, to spend a moment of prayer with them and to enquire how they are getting on! God’s protecting shadow, to whom they can spontaneously turn in times of need or perplexity!

Tired and Business-like Supervisors

Instead, most of us seem so tense, overworked, time-conscious, tired and business-minded.

Somehow, we tend to give the impression of not trusting others in our workplace. We want to see, do or supervise everything ourselves. The others feel watched. We unconsciously take on a ‘superiority’ stand, a know-all attitude that only creates a distance between us and others. We seldom seem to involve them in our decision-making. They just have to take orders from us and ‘report’ to us. These attitudes keep them at a distance. Can we call this ‘shepherding’?

Honestly speaking, was this what we were dreaming of when we first felt drawn to the priestly or religious life? Were these the type of religious or priests whom we held as models and whom we wanted to emulate? Persons whom we could trust, confide in, consult. Persons who would neither use nor abuse us! Reliable, spiritually minded, other-centred persons who would guide our steps to God! Persons who showed that they had time for us; who loved, cared for and were available to us.

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Sr Esme da Cunha FDCC

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