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A Morose Time—or a Lovely Time Lent to Us?

Somehow our traditional outlook on the Season of Lent is somewhat morose. The season is stressed as a time for penance, fasting, abstinence, penitential practices of every sort! In more religious times, children were counselled to give up sweets, avoid singing of songs or playing music. No radio or TV, no parties etc., etc.

How we have distorted this gracious season and made of our God, a kill-joy!

Lent—a time “lent” by God to us, is a time of preparation to be reconciled with our God who is head-over-heels in love with us, who loves us more than we can ever even love ourselves! He made us to His own image and likeness, and wants to see us grow in this likeness to Him. Not for any gain for Himself, but because this alone will bring us true happiness, the type this world cannot give us nor take away from us.

The “Scandalous” Parables

Let us look at some passages in the Gospel:

A man has a hundred sheep. He misses one of them, leaves the ninety-nine in the desert and goes off looking for the lost sheep. When he finds it, he is so happy that he carries it home on his shoulders, rejoicing! (Luke 15:4-6)

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Sr Esme da Cunha FDCC

There are many Dioceses and Religious Congregations who have the material resources, like property and finance, but lack the required personnel to carry on the activities of the registered society.  The lack of personnel can be due to a drop in numbers or lack of competence in particular activities.  There are others who may have the   required personnel but not the material resources, namely, property and finance.

In the interest of carrying on the objectives of the registered society, two societies with similar objectives may enter into collaboration with each other. One party provides the property and finance, while the other supplies the required personnel.   But it is very common to see problems between the two concerned parties. Very often, the problems arise because there is no written contract. Based on a friendly mutual understanding at the time of making the agreement, the head of one society—a Diocese or a Religious Congregation—invites the head of the other society for an apostolic collaboration or help, and gives the required land. In some cases, buildings too are given, either existing ones or a new one built for the purpose. The other party is then asked to start or carry on the activities.

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Fr Alex Gnanapragasam SJ

Gone are the days of “Caveat Emptor,” where the consumer was asked to “Beware.”  It was the principle that the buyer alone is responsible for checking the quality and suitability of goods prior to the purchase.  These are the days of “Caveat Venditor,” which means, “Let the seller beware,” for the sellers are accountable for providing information about the goods and services they sell.

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 (CPA-2019)

CPA-2019 has replaced the three-decades-old Consumer Protection Act, 1986.  The Bill was introduced in the Lok-Sabha on 8 July 2019 and passed on 13 July 2019. It was passed on 6 August 2019 by the Rajya-Sabha, received the assent of the President on 9 August 2019, and was notified in the Gazette of India on the same date.  The Act was expected to come into effect by November 2019 when the Union Government framed rules within three months in order to implement CPA-2019.

The purpose of CPA-2019

The purpose of CPA-2019 is to protect the rights and interests of the consumers and to provide for speedy, effective and simple redressal mechanisms in addition to convenient and inexpensive procedures for redressal of their grievances.  Competent authorities already have been established for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumers’ disputes providing effective safeguards to consumers against various types of exploitations and unfair trade practices.  Consumer Courts enforce the rights of consumers.

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Fr Ravi Sagar SJ

Here is a reflection questionnaire for personal use or for sharing with family or religious community.
If done in community, each one will need a copy. Time needed will be between thirty and sixty minutes.

Introduction

Jesus did not impose on his followers any special diet. The only prayer he taught was the Our Father. He did not ask us to put up expensive buildings nor prescribe costly vestments or vessels for praying.

He called us—and even those of other faiths know this—to a life of love, of service, of forgiveness. We will be judged one day on how we loved and shared, not on where we prayed, or what diet we followed, or how we dressed. What Jesus did, and what He insisted on, is pretty well known to all, including persons of all faiths.

What did Jesus bring us?

Use this Reflection Questionnaire to see how you understand and live Lent and Easter. If any question is not relevant for you or your group, reflect on questions of your own, e.g., Are we living our marriage in the way God wants? Are we raising our children in a Christ-like manner? Or: Is the way I exercise my role as religious superior helping the community to live as Jesus lived and taught? Or: Is the way I am practicing my profession in line with Jesus’ teachings? Am I honest and incorrupt?

If what we call “religion” or “faith” does not make us better people, it serves no purpose. In fact, it can even make us worse—as, for instance, when religion is used to promote division, bigotry or hatred or indifference to the sufferings of people.

Jesus did not teach that sort of “religion.” In fact, some Christian scholars even say that Jesus did not “found” a “new religion,” but showed us how to live, how to relate to God and to one another.

Being a follower of Jesus is not just a question of saying a few prayers or going to a building called “church” instead of temple or mosque, or taking part in a particular form of common worship. No! Just like being married or being a mother or father, it is a loving, full-time commitment. If real, it affects all areas of life. If we want to summarize our Christian faith in one sentence, it is about becoming Christlike, or, since we have not personally met the historical Jesus, it means becoming like the most Christ-like (loving, genuine, compassionate, just) human beings we have known.

May Lent and Easter help towards that transformation.

Fidelity or Betrayal?

What is holding me back from a truly joyful life? From becoming the best version of myself? From being a healer and a bearer of joy?

If I look honestly, I will find dark spots that need sweeping, neglected areas that need cultivation, weeds that choke the good seed, destructive habits scuttling my happiness and doing harm to others.

Want examples? Gossip. Grumbling. Words and actions prompted by jealousy. Greed. Ingratitude. Ill-treatment of subordinates. Addictions. Divisions stemming from the lust for power and money.

Further, I may find that I am committing a bigger “crime”—wasting my life on trivialities instead of doing the good I can; wallowing in mediocrity while I am called to greatness; merely plodding along, and forgetting my call to holiness.

Reflection Questionnaire

1. Are we personally, and as a family or religious community, living a life of love, unity and mutual support? Yes, very much / Yes, to a limited degree / So-so / Not really / Not at all
2. Are we setting a good example of Christian life to the younger ones in our care (children, students, formees, parishioners)? Yes, very much / Yes, to a limited degree / So-so / Not really / Not at all
3. Are there bad habits I (we) need to root out—addictions, gossip, injustice, ill-treatment of those under us, indecent or disrespectful language? Which? …………………………………
4. As persons and as a group, what are the main obstacles for our call to holiness? What is preventing me from the becoming the person God wants me to be? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
5. I (We) will be happier and more united if…………………………………………………………..
6. We speak of “new life in Christ.” In what way is our life—individual and as a family or community—better than those who do not believe in Christ? What difference does my (our) faith in Christ make to the way we live? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. How can we simplify our life during Lent (and later) and use the saving to help poor and needy persons? ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
8. Do I (we) give more importance to the luxuries we are attached to, than to the real needs of others? If so, what do I need to do? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
9. What do I (we) need to do to improve and deepen prayer life and familiarity with the Word of God? (a) More time for personal and family prayer: (b) More regularity: (c) More attentiveness and devotion during prayer: (d) More reading of the Bible; (e ) more frequent and more devout participation in the Mass and Confession.
10. Sacrifice, Love, Prayer. (Or: Discipline. Charity. Prayer). These are the hallmarks of Lent. What do I (we) need to do in each of these three areas? (a) Sacrifice or discipline: …………………………………………..; (b) Love/Generosity/Forgiveness/Compassion: ………………………………………………………………..; (c) Prayer: ………………………………………………

Decisions

What do I (we) need to do?

Let me (us) decide on two or three useful practices for Lent, which will help me (us) to become the best version of ourselves. May our way of living increase the goodness in the world, and our level of happiness.

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Thomas grew up in a devout Catholic family. He was quite fond of his religion. He liked to go to Mass and serve as an altar boy. One of his brothers became a priest and a sister a religious nun.

However, after his college studies he became a staunch Marxist, distanced himself from his religious roots and began to disparage all forms of religious practices as foolish superstition. He even participated in anti-church rallies, denouncing the clergy. Years passed that way.

Now, in his sixties, he has gone through a re-conversion. He is again a devout Catholic, joining in family prayers, a daily church-goer and an active participant in parish activities. He loves especially the Benediction, with the ritualistic ambience of incense and candles. His erstwhile Marxist friends are flabbergasted and even make fun of him. But he does not care.

Re-Experiencing the Sacred

Re-conversion experience, like that of Thomas, is quite common in the post-midlife years.

Often, during the journey through adolescence and young adulthood, the sense of the sacred recedes and sometimes disappears from conscious awareness and expression. However, as life slows down and one moves toward the sunset years, the sense of the sacred remerges.

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Fr Jose Parappully SDB

In the year 1981, Singapore, the only city-island-nation in the world, was shaken to the core by a gory event. A man called Adrian Lim, who claimed to be a medium able to commune with gods and the dead, murdered two little girls, aged 9 and 10, as part of a magical ritual. His two “holy wives” were his accomplices. All the three were arrested and sentenced to death.

It was in the aftermath of this shocking incident this Sister’s rare ministry blossomed. Sr Gerard Fernandez, a Good Shepherd nun from Singapore, was born in 1938  in a good, Catholic family of ten. After joining the Good Shepherd congregation, she co-founded the Catholic Prison Ministry in Singapore in 1977 and began visiting and comforting the prisoners in Singapore’s Changi Prison. 

When the two innocent girls were murdered in 1981, Sr Gerard was deeply affected by the tragedy, because she knew one of the victims. She knew also the father of Catherine Tan, one of the two wives of Lim, the murderer. After the three were jailed, Sr Gerard wrote to Tan. She waited for several weeks for a reply. After six months, Tan wrote, signing the letter as “Catherine, a black sheep.” Sr Gerard went to visit her in prison, and soon she discovered that her special calling was to accompany the prisoners on the death row. This meant visiting the prisoners condemned to death, counseling them and helping them seek forgiveness and peace, and preparing them to meet God.

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M.A. Joe Antony, SJ

The author writes with humour, compassion and warmth about the mentally challenged men he worked for in Peru. He lets us get to know them through their own words and thoughts. Characteristically, he does not speak of the patience, love and sacrifice involved in this type of ministry.—Editor

 From 1995 to 1998 and then again from 2015 to 2017, I was assigned to our house in Lima, Peru. It was my first exposure to South America and I soon fell in love with its people, its language, its food, its music, its culture. There, we lived with a group of thirty mentally challenged men—some with mild conditions while others totally psychotic—whose common denominator is that they have been abandoned by their family. Some of them have been with us since the founding of the ‘Hogar de la Paz’ in 1983! In the five years I spent there, I enjoyed every moment of it; there was never a dull moment with our “boys” as we still call them.

It is said that the word delirium comes from the Latin “de lira ire,” meaning “away from the ridge between the furrows (in agriculture)”, thus deviating from the norm, from what one is supposed to do or be. But, then, who decides the norm? We “normal” people? Is it true that we are normal? In front of this “locura” I am scared, but at the same time I am jealous of our boys. Being “crazy” also means losing control. I am scared of losing control, but at the same time I yearn to lose control and enter in the world of the “locura” without taboos, without norms or inhibitions. I always wondered: What do they think? What do they feel? How do they perceive the world around them? What do they dream about? How do they live their sexuality? What do they talk and laugh about among themselves? What are the rules among themselves? What do they think of us “normal” people?

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Bro Carmel Duca MC

ENJOY LENT! RISE TO A FULLER LIFE!

Have you tried exercising rather than being a couch potato? I have. It takes some effort at the beginning, but there is deep thrill after the exercise. I remember going with another Salesian for a walk on Marina beach in Chennai early morning. We would be off at 4.45 am by scooter, walk on the Marina for an hour and get back home before the community morning prayer. How energized and fresh we felt! But it meant overcoming the first moments of laziness, the reluctance to get up early, wanting to sleep a little longer.

Lent is a bit like that. Nobody likes giving up the little pleasures of life. Addicts, above all, dread giving up their addictions. Think of alcoholics, or chain smokers or foodies—or those glued to the TV set.

But, if we want to do well in any line—physical fitness or professional excellence or our journey with God—we need discipline.

We need to learn to say No to the little pleasures (which look big and even fantastic in our imagination) and learn to feed ourselves with what truly nourishes.

Like the good feeling after exercise, or the healthy feel after eating a well-balanced meal, Lent is an enjoyable and joyful season. We focus our attention, not on what is on our plate, but on the Big Heart that holds us in love and wants the best for us. Then we let ourselves be loved, take hold of the Loving Hand that longs to clasp us in tenderness, and seek the inner freedom which our hearts long for.

As poet Robert Browning said, “A man’s grasp should exceed his grasp.” To be human, we need to reach out to what lies beyond our grasp. To eat, drink, sleep, mate, grow older and die is OK for rabbits and rats, but not enough for human beings.

To cultivate our best part—a deep humanity, a life of warm tenderness and compassion, a courageous stand for justice, serenity in the midst of struggle and pain—we need to get beyond our likes and dislikes, our attachment to food and drink and comfort, our spiritual illnesses stemming from greed and selfishness, from fear and jealousy—and bring out the best version of ourselves.

This is what Lent is all about. We are helped in this by the support of a faith community, and, above all, by the memory—and nearness—of  Someone who became one of us for our sake, took up the cross although innocent, and died like a failure and a criminal—but rose triumphant.

May our Lent and Easter help us to grasp and live by what truly matters—love over selfishness, unity over division, commitment over pleasure, forgiveness over revenge, compassion over indifference.

Then, Easter will not simply be the ritual enactment of a past event, but truly the experience of newness, where we move from the house of fear and hate to the house of love and healing.

May those who see you feel like saying: “Your eyes sparkle. You look radiant. There is more love and joy when you are around. What is your secret?”

If so, the Lord is truly taking hold of your life and heart. May that happen.

Joyful Lent! New Life at Easter!

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
Director: Chiwetel Ejiofor. Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor Maxwell Simba, Felix Lemburo, Robert Agengo, Fiskan Makawa. 2019. 113 minutes

Set against the background of a drought in a poverty-stricken African village named Wimbe in Malawi, this real-life story  narrates the triumph of human imagination and spirit displayed by a young boy. William Kamkwamba belongs to a struggling family of Malawian peasants who struggle to get their children educated. The village has no electricity. It lives on subsistence farming. William, just thirteen, has to stop schooling because he has no money. The village is stricken with drought alternated by heavy rains, environmental destruction  and consequent crop failure. The government is non-existent; there is violence and anarchy. The threat of famine looms large and the family survives on one meal a day.

In this desperate situation, William educates himself in mechanics through the books that he is able to read in a free library. His natural fascination with machines and electricity is roused when he encounters an American picture book about using energy.. He forages frequently among the trash to retrieve auto parts and scrap metal to make machines that would produce electricity. His family and villages consider him stupid or even crazy.  With the help of his cousin and friends, he begins to innovate on his own, designing a windmill out of discarded metal parts. His first  creation is a dynamo which helps to operate a radio and a few electric bulbs at home. This inspires him to erect another windmill to pump water from a deep well to irrigate the dried up farms. His success wins national and international attention.  He becomes a saviour to his people. He is able to realize his dream of education when he is awarded a scholarship to study in USA. He stands out as a symbol of courage and faith in the face of adversity and despair.

Same Kind of Different as Me
Director:  Michael Carney. Cast:   Renée Zellweger, Jon Voight, Djimon Hounsou, Greg Kinnear, Olivia Holt. 2017. 119 minutes

This film tells the story of a spiritual journey of two men—one white and the other black, propelled by the white man’s wife. Ron Hall, a millionaire art, has to confront his marital infidelity that nearly breaks up his family. But his wife Deborah gives him a second chance and forces him to do community service in a house for homeless destitutes. Here they meet a violent, illiterate black man who calls himself “Suicide.” Suicide is often armed with a baseball bat with which he wrecks glass windows and cars.  The inmates are totally scared of Suicide whose real name is Denver.

Ron and Debbie have to confront the man. It is no easy task to communicate with him. Slowly, they come to know the lonely Denver’s past. Abandoned at birth by both parents and subject to racial prejudice and violence, he has to work on the cotton plantations as a virtual slave. He later escapes to a town where he becomes a victim of crime and hate and lands in prison where he turns murderer in his teens. The white couple gain greater understanding of Denver and his hatred of whites. The two men struggle towards mutual respect and trust thanks to the steadfastness of Debbie.

Ron has also to face troubles with his father, who is a drunken, quarrelsome man. Things go bad when Debbie is discovered with cancer, precipitating a deep crisis. Denver becomes part of the family now. In fact, his faith and love become a source of courage and consolation. Ron learns to forgive his father. Denver delivers the eulogy for Debbie at her funeral. He says: “Whether we is rich or poor or something in between, this earth ain’t no final restin’ place. So, in a way, we is all homeless—just workin’ our way toward home.” He notes that those whom he hated (the whites) are also “the same kind of different” as himself.

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Dr Gigy Joseph

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The Cost of Discipleship
By Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1937)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a brilliant theologian from the German upper class who could have lived a safe and long life, but chose to put his life on the line to be true to the faith he wrote about. Against the advice of friends, he returned to Germany from the US when the Nazis captured power, and was involved in the resistance to Hitler and the Nazi ideology. He was hanged in prison at the age of thirty-nine.

The Cost of Discipleship is his best-known work. Scholars and other readers take it seriously, since the author himself paid a heavy price for his discipleship. The key question that Bonhoeffer raises is the role of the true Christian in the modern secularized world which acknowledges Christ but refuses to pay the cost of discipleship. Bonhoeffer distinguishes between “cheap grace” and “costly grace.”   Cheap grace “is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without Church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal conversion.” It is “grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ living and incarnate.” “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” “Besides Jesus nothing has any significance,” he writes. “He alone matters.” Discipleship demands self-denial, which implies awareness of Christ only and no more of self, “to see only him who goes before.” When people are called to discipleship, “they find that they have already broken with all the natural ties of life.” Looking at the history of the Church, Bonhoeffer observes how, when the world became Christianized, such a realization of the costliness of discipleship receded and grace became “common property,” resulting in the secularization of Christianity and the “cheapening of Grace.” The church tried to stem this drift through monasticism, which also developed drawbacks. Bonhoeffer displays a keen awareness of the historical crises that the church had faced in the past and also at the time he was living when Hitler appeared as the new false god and idol. Witnesses in prison were moved to see the way he knelt and prayed before his execution.

The Song of Bernadette
By Franz Werfel (1941)

Franz Werfel was a Jewish German writer living in Austria when Hitler annexed Austria in 1938. Being Jewish and a critic of Nazism, he was hunted by the Nazis and he fled his country along with his wife Alma to France. But soon France also fell to the Nazis. Suffering fear, destitution and hunger, the Werfels were told about Lourdes where they found a hiding place among the hospitable villagers there.  They heard about the miraculous shrine that made the village famous. Werfel vowed to write a book about the Lourdes if they could escape safe.  Though written in the fictional mode, most of it events are based on the life of St Bernadette’s encounter Virgin Mary who revealed to the girl as “The Immaculate Conception.” The novel became a best seller and was later adapted into a successful Hollywood movie.

  The story focuses on the peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous experiencing a series of eighteen visions in a remote part of Lourdes between February and July 1858. Bernadette is initially ignorant of what she was seeing. She calls her “Lady of Massabielle” whose vision provides her ecstatic experiences during the visitations. But she has to face disbelief and ostracism from the skeptical community and has to face trial on account of her claims.  The lady once leads her to discover a small stream springing from beneath the grotto which becomes a source of miraculous healings for many. Its fame spreads and crowds gather. In one vision the lady asks Bernadette to build a chapel on the spot. She conveys the matter to the authorities. Bernadette’s spiritual radiance and behavior makes converts from among the skeptics. But she faces severe opposition, both from the Church and from atheistic and agnostic authorities Her persecutors slowly become protectors. Bernadette refuses to seek cure from the lady for her own tuberculosis.  She enters a convent and performs humble duties there. Not long after death Bernadette is canonized.

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Dr Gigy Joseph

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