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The author, a husband and father of twins, as well as principal of a school in Chandigarh, looks back on his happy years as an Irish Christian Brother, and shares the lessons he learnt from religious life, as well as the joys and challenges of his present vocation.

At forty-six years of age, I, Louis Lopez, am a married man with an affectionate wife and two adorable twins aged seven and a half and presently an educationist in Chandigarh.

After eleven years at St Columba’s School, New Delhi, I was inspired by the Christian Brother who taught me, and I decided to join the Congregation. It was the first time I left home for such a long period. After the first few glorious months of being away from home, at sixteen years of age, I was struck by extreme homesickness. On returning to Delhi for my first Christmas vacation, I was certain that I would not return to Shillong even at the cost of losing a year in my academic progress. That decision changed mysteriously, and I found myself on a train, heading back to St Edmund’s College, Shillong. This was my first significant learning; to stay away from loved ones and yet learn, grow and develop.

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Louis Lopez

Here is a short summary of the Document published by the Vatican in March 2020, on an unusual theme—water!

Water is the source of life. Our survival and health depend directly on water. So does the production of food, energy and many consumer goods. Not all the planets are blessed with this precious gift, an indispensable element for life as our planet Earth. Therefore, we (human beings) should be more aware of its multifaceted value.

The latest church document, Aqua Fons Vitae, spells out four values of water:

1. A religious value: In many religions, water has been and is still perceived as holy and connected to divinities and their benevolence. In liturgical and devotional gestures, water indicates a transcendent value – water cleanses from sins and gives a new birth of innocence by water and the Holy Spirit at Baptism. Water cleanses, heals, quenches, purifies, and so on.
2. A socio-cultural and aesthetic value: Water is an essential part of human daily life – its cultural dimension is involved with human customs, navigation, farming, fishing and cultural exchanges between civilisations. It inspires literature, music and artistic expressions. Water is also symbolic in various social functions and celebrations.
3. An institutional value and a value for peace: Water has a vital link with our social life through all generations. Hence, as a connector, it has institutional value and a value for peace. It is an element that drives the creation of bridges, collaborations and dialogue. Therefore, much peace would be gained if countries could collaborate to resolve water conflicts in the world.
4. An economic value: Unfortunately, in many cases access to safe drinking water and for other purposes as well has a cost. This is a powerful message to all of us to consider how much we lose by not respecting nature and by not taking into account even the smallest negative impact we make on the environment. We should also appreciate the fact that adequate access to water brings about a happy and meaningful life.

Commitments to be taken:

The document further distinguishes the three dimensions of water: (i) water for human use; (ii) water as a resource used in many human activities, especially farming, crafts and industry’ (iii) water as a space: rivers, underground aquifers, lakes and above all seas and oceans.

The document looks at each of these dimensions. The challenges are analysed and suggestions for concrete commitments towards sustainability of water are made. The Church gives particular emphasis at the local level (in all parishes, monasteries, schools, canteens, oratories and health centres) to the following:

• Guarantee access to drinking water and sanitation.
• Abandon the use disposable plastic bottles.
• Create public water access points where possible and in particularly needy areas.
• Avoid food waste (food has been produced using water…).
• Motivate citizens to find justice in case access to drinking water is violated.
• Encourage and urge participation in water management policies.
• Adopt effective and environmentally friendly water systems.
• Celebrate and give greater visibility to anniversaries connected to seas and oceans.
• Avoid disposable plastic objects, wherever possible, in our facilities and activities.
• Contribute as much as possible, to the cleaning of beaches or river banks, involving groups of young people, families, religious people and scouts.
• Facilitate the outdoors, hands-on studying of ocean/river issues and participation in coastal restoration projects in Catholic schools at all levels.
• Avoid and reduce pollution from riparian and coastal parishes, schools, canteens, and health centres.

Education for a New Humanism

Furthermore, the Church continues to give strong emphasis on education for a new humanism and for a culture of encounter and collaboration about water. We must educate ourselves and others:

• In gratitude for God’s loving gift – the world where we live in
• In ecological education and habits – restoring harmony with God, with others, with nature and within ourselves
• In the contemplation of all forms of water, avoiding a merely utilitarian mindset
• In living a lifestyle of moderation that makes us care for the others
• In a culture of encounter and relationship
• In compassion and solidarity

Summing up, an education rooted in values is a strong remedy against water-related corruption. We are called upon to reflect and act conscientiously towards ensuring a safe environment and universal sustainable access to water, for the future of life, the planet and the human community.

Summary by Sr Theresa Phawa FMA

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The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (CPA-2019) was enacted to provide for protection of the interests of consumers, and to set up appropriate authorities for speedy and effective settlement of consumer disputes.  These authorities are consumer dispute redressal commissions, mediation cells, consumer protection councils and a central authority.  CPA-2019 continues the 3-tier quasi-judicial mechanism for the speedy redressal of consumer disputes and their grievances. They are the District Commission, the State Commission and the National Commission.

1. District Redressal Commission:
   A District Consumer Disputes Commission, usually at the district headquarters, is established by the state government, consisting of a president and at least two members regarding goods or services valued up to rupees one crore.  In order to make a complaint to the District Commission, either the complainant must reside or personally work within its local jurisdiction or the cause of action must arise, or the opposite party must live within the territorial jurisdiction of the Commission.

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Fr Ravi Sagar SJ

I am Sr Lea serving as assistant to novice mistress from 2017.   A new mistress joined our community some six months ago.  She is much younger to me and her behaviour with the novices makes me feel that she is not fit for the post.  Would you please explain the qualifications required of a novice mistress, role of the major superiors in formation and whether novices are bound by the vow of obedience?

Your questions are very relevant. We shall deal with them one by one.

1. Qualities and Qualifications of a Novice Mistress
   The Constitutions of each institute should specify the qualifications of a novice mistress in their own institute.  The first necessary qualification is that the persons entrusted in forming new members in the life and spirit of the institute should themselves be steeped in its spirit, charism and experienced in many dimensions of its life.  Secondly, personal qualities must include an inner serenity, availability, maturity, patience, understanding and a true affection for those entrusted to their care.  Thirdly, she is to be a role-model to the novices.

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Sr Licia SMI

In 1962, Thomas Kuhn, a social scientist at the University of Chicago, wrote a book entitled The Structure of Scientific Revolutions that soon became a classic in social sciences. That book introduced the concept of Paradigms, paradigm shifts and resistance to paradigm shifts.

Twenty years later, the physicist Fritjof Capra wrote a book called The Turning Point, in which he tried to explain Kuhn’s concepts in a lay person’s language. Capra focused on two paradigms. One, the Dualistic which influenced thought and behaviour for thousands of years, to which was added the mechanistic understanding in the Modern Era to form the Dualistic-Mechanistic paradigm. The paradigm that has emerged recently is the holistic to which is added the ecological to form the Holistic-Ecological paradigm.

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Fr Jose Parappully SDB

KEVIN

Many of us would have to admit that to a greater or lesser extent we are creatures of habit. At different times in our lives, a predictable pattern seems to set in, one day to the next, month to month, year to year. Some of us may find comfort in the consistency of those rhythms of life and seek to maintain them.  At other times, particularly times such as Lent, we seek to disrupt the normal pattern of our daily lives in order to grow in holiness.  If you are like me, it really takes sustained energy and attention to make any change to the familiar patterns and behaviors that have been such a big part of who I have become.  Most of us don’t do change well. We really don’t like disruption to our accustomed lifestyle and we tend to resist it as best we can—that is, until we are faced with a situation where we are forced to adapt and change. We usually call such times a crisis.

New Situation, New Answers

At these times we come to realize that there are forces beyond our control that clearly and dramatically signal to us that the life we have been living has been changed in meaningful ways. When we come face to face with such life-altering times, like the recent/current pandemic, we are naturally inclined to give in to our human nature and judge ourselves as endangered and accursed.  We are not only inconvenienced, …

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Crystal and Kevin Sullivan

Important changes in the Income Tax Act 2020 affecting Charitable and Religious Organizations, with effect from April 1, 2020.

The Finance Bill 2020, which proposed some major amendments to the Income Tax Act 1961, applicable to Charitable and Religious Organizations, received the assent from the President of India on 27/03/2020, thereby becoming a law. Below is a discussion on some of these amendments.

For the sake of convenience, the word entity is being used as a common word to cover all types of charitable and religious entities, such as, society, trust, company, fund, institution, universities, education institutions, hospitals, etc.

Various short forms have been used: S means Section, CIT means Commissioner of Income Tax, FA means Finance Act, and ITA means Income Tax Act 1961.

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Fr Trevor D’Souza OFM

What candles can we hold aloft in these dark, dreary days?

Candles can be identified only when we try to fathom the darkness they fight. What is the darkness? Surprisingly, this is something that many have not thought about.

“Our well-being depends deeply on the well-being of animals, birds and nature as a whole. When different species live harmoniously in their natural habitats, there exist powerful barriers between us and deadly, unknown pathogens. Destroying the distances nature planned between species means opening our doors to such deadly diseases,” said an insightful newspaper editorial (Times of India, April 4, ’20).

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Fr M A Joe Antony SJ

Short Term 12
Director: Destin Cretton. Cast: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr, Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, Lakeith Stanfield,  Kevin Hernandez. (96 minutes)

Drawn from the director’s own experience of working in a rehab home for teens in California, the movie centres around the young girl Grace and her boyfriend who are working there. Herself a victim of domestic abuse, Grace as a counselor can connect empathetically with the depressed and psychologically wounded youngsters, some of whom are suicidal and violent. Grace is confident and balanced in dealing with her own life as well and at one point gets engaged to be married to her longtime boyfriend and colleague Mason. Trouble starts when Marcus, a black boy at the doorstep of eighteen, is about to leave as per statutory requirement. Marcus is frightened of leaving because he has nowhere to go and they are afraid he may commit suicide. He expresses his deeply troubled past in a rap song that depicts a youth of parental neglect and abuse.  The arrival of the new girl named Jayden makes matters worse for Grace. Jayden has a past similar to that of Grace.  Hence she has a special interest in the withdrawn girl who refuses to mingle with the others, insisting that her father is coming to get her out. Grace gains access to Jayden’s heart when she discovers that they share an interest in pencil drawing.  This activity helps the counselor get to the heart of Jayden’s problem. It also brings out Grace’s past before us. At one point Grace’s relationship is threatened when she is haunted by her past, provoked by the tragic situation of Jayden in which she is involved. She rescues Jayden from her father. Though Grace splits up with her fiancée, Mason’s patience wins her back. It is a celebration of the healing power of empathy and an affirmation of life in the midst of tragedy.The movie has useful lessons for youth workers and counselors.

Happy (Documentary)
Director: Roko Belic.  Narrator: Marci Shimoff. (Runtime: 75 minutes)

The film takes a trip around the globe in search of the secret of happiness. We meet positive psychologists, sociologists and spiritual leaders who have insights into this issue. The movie was provoked by a remark by the Hollywood director Tom Shadyak that he did not find many of his wealthier neighbours happy and that in America, the wealthiest nation, only 25%of the people are really happy—and those are not the rich. It is a fascinating journey that delights and provokes thought. Happiness is not related to wealth and material comfort. Genetic factors matters for 50%. Intentional activity constitutes 40% and 10% by changing our circumstance. Physically active people are happier than idlers.

The most important lessons about happiness are not learned from the psychologists or even the spiritual leaders. It is from ordinary people as diverse as the pygmy tribes of African Sahara, to the World War II survivors of the Japanese island of Okinawa, the slum dwellers of Kolkata and the little hermit kingdom of Bhutan. In Kolkata they discover the rickshaw puller Manoj Singh and his neighbours, who do not even have a proper home to live in. But he is happy and contented among his extended family and neighbours. Japan offers a world of contrast. In the big cites people live their lives bound to the clock work routines and have little time for family or relaxation. They are “literally working themselves to death.” On the island of Okinawa, instead, razed to the ground during World War II, life expectancy and happiness are at the highest. Their community bondings are firm to such an extent that they keep the ashes of their dead in a common coffin! Children grow up well cared for and loved because the whole community looks after them. A small village in Denmark has a community kitchen and shared spaces where children say that they have forty or fifty grandparents and seventy brothers and sisters. Bhutan is unique among nations in having a “gross happiness policy” at national level. Among the unhappy people are religious fanatics spewing hate.

The picture that emerges is that happiness depends on strong nurturing relationships. Highly individualistic communities tend to be less happy in spite of better living conditions. One case: Ambitious American Banker, Andy Wimmer, found happiness at Mother Theresa’s home in Kolkata as a volunteer servant among the destitute.

Dr Gigy Joseph

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Little Princes:  One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Children of Nepal
by Conor Grennan (HarperCollins, 2011)

During 1996-2006 Maoist Civil War in the mountain kingdom Nepal, children from the villages were regularly abducted for slave labour by the guerillas. Child traffickers exploited the  situation, promising protection for the children in return for money and took them to be sold into illegal adoption or slave labour and begging. Conor Grennan, a young and bored American, had planned a world tour. He volunteered at the Little Princes Children’s Home, near Kathmandu. He picked up the language and familiarized with the local customs, and grew to love the children in the orphanage. He slowly learned that most of the wards in the orphanage were not orphans; they had been taken from their families by traffickers. Around 2004, when the Maoists were forcefully taking children from their families in a village, a trafficker named Golkka had taken a woman’s sons, promising safety at a huge price which reduced the family to lifetime debt and destitution. Golkka kept the children in custody and threatened them to keep silent about their mother. Though their mother had traced them to the orphanage, they were afraid to talk to her, fearing the trafficker’s death threat. Grennan and his friend Farid took a huge risk to rescue the children put them in the orphanage and arranged local volunteers to take care of them. He barely managed to escape when the Maoists invaded Kathmandu in April 2006. Back home, Conor was haunted by the experience. When informed that the children had again been abducted by Golkka, he started a nonprofit organization titled Next Generation Nepal (NGN) for support and returned to Nepal.  Conor discovered the value of prayer, which he had given up at the age of ten.  Liz, a devout Christian, whom he met online, shared his interest, led him back to his lost faith and eventually to marriage. Liz believed that God wanted Conor to find the lost children. Conor and his friends succeeded in tracing all the lost boys and the NGN is now involved in reaching out to the orphans in Nepal.

Girl Wash Your Face
By Rachel Hollis (Thomas Nelson, 2018)

This popular book showshow stereotyping and judgmental attitudes, especially towards women, can hamper growth. Its striking subtitle tells us what the book is about: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are, so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be. Though addressed mainly to women, it can be useful for anyone. The key idea is to overcome limitations imposed upon us through cultivated stereotype mindsets. If one desires to change one’s life, the Lord will forge a path. We are often cultured in social environments that inculcate dos and don’ts to which people conform unthinkingly and become frustrated in our self-realization, leading to unhappiness. Hollis calls these mental blocks “lies” that we must ignore in order to grow and gain joy of life. The girl has to “wash her face” and become alive to the reality and take charge of her life. The lessons that she puts forward are taken from her own experience and illustrated engagingly with anecdotes and observations.  In twenty chapters Hollis spells out twenty “lies” that she had believed about herself and how she overcame those obstacles. Hollis says that all of us grow up fed on such lies that put us into stereotypes and unconsciously make us fit into the frame of thought and behavior that others around us provided. The book covers a whole range of human experience starting with our search for happiness to social acceptance, relationships with the spouse, family and society, role models, the jobs that we choose. The key message is: “You, and only you, are ultimately responsible for how happy you are.”  Small achievements are important in building our confidence to achieve bigger goals. ‘No’ is not always a final answer to discourage us from forging ahead. Sexuality is a very important part in spousal relationships and should not be ignored. Motherhood is not something that is done through prior training. Faith is the belief that your life will unfold as it was meant to, even when it unfolds to something painful and difficult to navigate. God has given each one special talents and He intends them to be shown forth. We should have the courage to act according to our convictions even when others may disapprove.

Dr Gigy Joseph

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