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6 May: WORLD LAUGHTER DAY

It is celebrated on the 1st Sunday of May each year, with the aim of bringing peace in the world through laughter.

Laughing and hugging feel good, but few realize how valuable these simple tools can be in improving our sense of wellness. Laughter can help to heal and dissolve everything.

Laughter is the cheapest, most available, effective, palatable and enjoyable ‘medicine’ God created for us. 

Doctors and psychologists have researched on this wonder-drug which they call Laughter Therapy: the use of humor to promote overall health, to relieve physical or emotional discomfort. A good laugh makes us feel better, stronger, more capable of thinking objectively and creatively. We learn to overcome difficulties rather than be overwhelmed by them. It is the body’s natural physiological process to release the painful emotions of anger, fear and boredom.

When we laugh, our body relaxes. Endorphins (natural painkillers) are released into the blood stream. Laughter provides a full-scale workout for our muscles. You do not need to be happy or have a sense of humour to benefit from a good laugh. But who wants ‘fake’ laughter when we can have the real thing?

Psychologist William James said: “We don’t laugh because we are happy; we’re happy because we laugh.”

So: “Laugh and be merry, remember, better the world with a song,

        Better the world with a blow in the teeth of a wrong.” (John Masefield)

So, laugh. It helps you to:

• live longer
• Boosts your Immune System and protects your Heart
• Relieves Pain and Reduces Depression
• Improves your Breathing and Blood Circulation
• Helps You Lose Weight
• Boosts your Relationships

15^th May: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF FAMILIES

The International Day of Families is an occasion to reflect on the work started during 1994, the Year of the Family, and to celebrate the importance of families.

Is the family in crisis?

There is a widespread perception at the present time that something has gone wrong with the family. High rates of divorce, increased marital conflict, rising crime, drug-taking and anti-social behaviour among the young, are all taken as evidence that the family and the social values on which it is based are in decline.

Pope Francis speaks:

“For most of us, the family provides the principal place where we can aspire to greatness as we strive to realize our full capacity for virtue and charity. At the same time, as we know, families give rise to tensions: between egoism and altruism, reason and passion, immediate desires and long-range goals.”

Declining family values and divorce affect those who suffer the most—women, children, and the elderly: “We now live in a culture of the temporary, in which more and more people are simply giving up on marriage as a public commitment.”

How to Observe the International Day of Families 

1. Volunteer with your family

For example: join an organization that builds houses for those in need. Build a house for a family while bonding with yours.

2. Reflect on just what family means to you

Family isn’t always blood. It is the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who love you no matter what! Think about what family really means to you, and how you can get closer to the people you love.

3. Organize a community family picnic

There might be many families in your neighborhood that would love to get to know one another but just haven’t figured out the best way to. Plan a picnic together.

4. What do people do?

A wide range of events can be organized at local, national and international levels. These include:

• workshops, seminars, exhibitions
• educational sessions for children and young people;
• policy meetings for public officials and launching of campaigns to strengthen and support family units.

Family is what God gives to us. The Family Day is what we can give to one another!

Another Special Day in May: 13^th May: Mother’s Day. Don’t forget to do something special for your mother!

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Sr Esme Da Cunha FDCC

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Crystal shares with our readers how deeply and positively she has been transformed by retreats—both the retreats she attended and the ones she gave.

I can still remember with great clarity the first retreat I ever attended. It was in August of 1991, when I was thirty-five years old. Though I had been raised to be a devout Catholic, my faith faded as I attended a public high school and university. I was more wrapped up in worldly pleasures and success than in taking part in any Church activity.
By the time I was thirty-five, I had all the outward trappings of success, being married, with two young children in a comfortable home, but was increasingly unhappy with my life. Perhaps that is why the invitation to attend a Marriage Encounter weekend retreat was so appealing. I thought it would be an opportunity to improve our marriage and hopefully to get my husband Kevin to change. Little did I know as I entered that hotel with my suitcase packed with a bottle of wine, a swimming suit and a big book to read during spare hours that it would be my life that would be forever changed.

Startling and Exciting
The retreat was led by three couples and a priest, with each presentation building on the premise that their lives were renewed when they started to live God’s plan for their marriage. Needless to say, the swimming suit was never used and the book never got opened, and by the end of the weekend, the positive effect of the retreat on our marriage was startling and exciting.
However, I did have one huge hurdle to overcome, because over the years I had become an agnostic, not truly believing that God existed or, if He did, that He had anything to do with my life here on earth. As a result of that first retreat, I started a quest to find the truth about God. I read book after book about the various religions of the world and still felt dissatisfied.
Ultimately, I read a book about the alleged apparitions of the Blessed Mother in Medjugorje. It was after reading the book that I simply asked God to let me know if this could possibly be true, that He truly existed and that He loved me. What followed was to be the single most powerful experience of my life, as I was overcome with a virtual flood of powerful graces of love and mercy. In that moment, as unworthy as I was, the gift of faith had been given to me as a tremendous grace.

Embarrassing and Revealing Dream
With a newly enriched faith, I began to desire more and more opportunities to know God. Kevin and I attended a Couple Prayer Retreat, as well as other days of enrichment, where we learned how to communicate our love for God and each other in new ways. Each time I felt like I was beginning to draw nearer to God, but I desired more. Noticing the ever-increasing number of books on the spiritual life that were lining my bookshelf, Kevin suggested that perhaps I should organize my reading by taking part in a Master’s program at a local Catholic Seminary. This was how I found myself at a retreat center with a priest who instructed the students to ask God to send us a dream that would give us direction for what He wanted us to know.
The next morning, as the other students at the breakfast table recounted their dreams which seemed so holy and spiritual, I felt like shrinking away into my seat. I reluctantly shared how my dream had been superficial, as I was going around from shop to shop searching for pearls, but was unable to find any. In my dream, I returned home and was surprised to find a shop in my basement, and there were the pearls.
The priest happened to be walking by as I was recounting the dream and trying to laugh off my embarrassment that I was not good material for the spiritual world. He stopped in his tracks and pulled me aside. With great gentleness and encouragement, he explained the dream to me and suggested I read the Interior Castle by St. Teresa of Avila. It was another opportunity to learn not only how much God loved me, but how much more there was to learn about Him. It occurred to me that there would never be enough days to learn about God’s great love and mercy, even if I lived to be one hundred and read every book I could. Up to this point, all of God’s interventions and messages of love came without any effort on my part, other than showing up!

Nature Walks
More years went by and I continued to take part in different programs offered by our parish. One day, I received an invitation to take part in a silent retreat being held at an Abbey close by. Everyone that knows me knew that the first miracle had already happened, that an outgoing and talkative woman like me would even be drawn to such an experience. Once again, I arrived at the Abbey with no understanding of what to expect other than to open myself up to God’s presence. Even though I had brought numerous spiritual books along with me, I barely made a dent in them. I found myself attracted to the outdoor grounds, wandering for hours down the trails and roads around the Abbey. Not being an outdoorsy type, I was surprised by how close I felt to God in the beauty of creation, just listening to the birds, feeling the warmth of the sunshine, and enjoying the colors of the various wild flowers. As the weekend came to a close, I was reluctant to leave the quiet comfort of being alone with God, without the usual chatter that fills my days. I became determined to find this solitude and peace within my own home, dedicating a space there to enter into communion with God. With God’s grace, I have been able to continue this practice to this day, rising early in the morning before the sun comes up to spend time with my Jesus.

Learning from Prisoners
Just a few years ago, a friend shared with me the joy that she had experienced as a result of giving a retreat to women prisoners. Prison ministry had never even been a remote thought, but suddenly I felt called to be part of an ecumenical group of women who entered prison and through our witness talks brought them the messages of God’s great love and forgiveness. On my first retreat, I shared my story of some of the good and bad decisions I had made in my life. When I returned to the table, one of the prisoners turned to me with a great big smile on her face and said, “Miss Crystal, I think you belong in here with the rest of us.” And indeed I do! “There but for the grace of God go I” is the saying that applies to me. The women who are in prison are all beloved by God, and so eager to know what it means to be loved unconditionally. Most of us cannot imagine the poverty, the abuse and the addictions that have brought them to where they are. Frequently I hear them comment that they are grateful to be in prison, as it was there that they have learned about God and His mercy. In these retreats, I am constantly in awe of how much goodness exists in the hearts of all God’s people, and to never make judgments about others.

Every retreat I have ever attended has been unique, each bringing me a new gift of understanding that I had not expected. I am thankful to God for granting me the gift of faith and for giving me so many opportunities and ways to love Him. With as many years as I have left, I hope to continue to put myself in His presence and wait… for He is in fact a God of surprises!

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Amazing Grace for Those Who Suffer: Ten Life-Changing Stories of Hope and Healing. by Jeff Cavins & Matthew Pinto (Eds.). 2002

This book presents ten real life stories of suffering and faith. These are people who have gone through it and have actually experienced the work of God’s grace in their individual circumstances.
Each experience is unique. Some are plagued by physical disabilities and pain. Some struggle with unexpected losses—a child or spouse, or an unborn child Some struggle with addictions, persecution or abandonment.
Janet Moylan speaks about how she faced up to the loss of her husband and a child in the sea and she had to choose between God and despair.
Carl Cleveland was a successful lawyer who was framed on false grounds and had to spend a year and a half in prison, which changed his life in a way he could not have imagined. But he believes that God was sending him a message. “If we accept suffering in faith and turn to God without recrimination, salvation is truly ours,” he concludes. Peggy Stokes, a victim of childhood sexual abuse and its devastating consequences, finally finds peace in the assurance that in Christ there is hope, there is healing. Grace Mc Kinnnon has to struggle with poverty and cerebral palsy and survive.
In each of these stories we find people asking the question that we all ask: “Why does God allow me to suffer” Where is He when we need him? The answer is presented in the final section of the book in the words of St John Paul, “Down through the centuries and generations, it has been seen that in suffering there is concealed a particular power that draws a person interiorly close to Christ, a special grace” (Salvifici Doloris, n. 26).

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Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World
Henri J. M. Nouwen.

Henri Nouwen had a distinguished career as an academic, preacher and writer. He quit his post as a Harvard University professor and spent the last ten years of his life looking after the physically and mentally challenged. He wrote over forty books that enjoy wide readership.
This book was sparked by an encounter with a young journalist named Fred. Nouwen developed a deep friendship with him and the book is addressed to Fred. Fred’s life makes Nouwen realise that there are millions of undistinguished people who are possessed by a deep spiritual hunger. He, like Fred, is among them as a “fellow-traveller searching for life, light and truth.” The key idea is from the Gospel of Matthew 3:17: “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’” It applies to each one of us who must take possession of that belovedness and grow into it. “The greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection,” the “enemy of the spiritual life, because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the ‘Beloved.’ Each one therefore has to make that great spiritual journey to claim belovedness, transforming ourselves into that state of belovedness, letting the truth of our Belovedness become enfleshed in everything we think, say or do.”
How different would our life be, were we truly able to trust that it multiplies in being given away! How different would our life be if we could but believe that every little act of faithfulness, every gesture of love, every word of forgiveness, every little bit of joy and peace, will multiply and multiply as long as there are people to receive it…and that—even then—there will be leftovers!”

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Sr Virginia, a temporarily professed sister, contracted a serious disease, and was excluded from making her perpetual profession. She had to leave the institute. In the same institute, Sr Geneviève, who had become insane after four years of her first profession, was allowed to continue. Why this disparity?
For an answer, we need to deliberate on the relevant provisions of Canon Law. A religious in temporary profession does not have an absolute right to be promoted for the perpetual profession or renewal of vows. The major superior, with the consent or in consultation with the council, in accordance with each institute’s Constitutions, has the right to accept a religious, who has applied for perpetual profession or renewal of vows (CIC c. 689§1; CCEO c. 547§1). They may exclude a temporarily professed member due to the following just reasons: failures in observing the vows and leading a common life in charity, lacking religious spirit, ill-health or unsuitable disposition for religious life and lack of sufficient maturity to undertake the life proper to the institute. Such exclusion is not equivalent to dismissal (CIC c. 689§1; CCEO c. 493§2).
According to Canon Law of both Latin Church (CIC) and Eastern Churches (CCEO), the competent superior can exclude a member from making the renewal of vows or perpetual profession because of physical or psychological illness. But, if a member becomes insane, they can continue to stay in the institute.
Types of Illness—and What Caused it
Let us look into the Canons: (i) “Even though contracted after profession, a physical or psychological infirmity which, in the judgement of experts, renders the member … unsuited to lead a life in the institute, constitutes a reason for not admitting the member to renewal of profession or perpetual profession, unless the infirmity was contracted through the negligence of the institute or because of work performed in the institute.” “Physical or psychic illness, even contracted after profession, which in the judgment of experts renders the member in temporary vows unsuited to lead the life of the religious institute, constitutes a cause for not admitting the member to renew temporary profession or to make perpetual profession, unless the illness was contracted through the negligence of the institute or through work performed in the institute.” (CIC c. 689§2; CCEO c. 547§2)
(ii) “If, however, a member becomes insane during the period of temporary vows, even though unable to make a new profession, the member cannot be dismissed from the institute.” (CIC c. 689§3; CCEO c. 547§3)
In the former case, the competent superior is to seek the opinion of experts (physicians/psychiatrists/ psychologists) to ascertain the member’s suitability as per each institute’s life and mission. The illness can be physical or psychological. It could be contracted before or after the religious profession. The only exception to this law is when the illness is contracted through the negligence of the institute or a work performed in the institute. Here the burden of proof rests upon the institute. It has to make sure that there was no negligence whatsoever on the part of the institute and that the work performed in the institute did not cause the disease. This Canon also cautions superiors to provide reasonable healthcare for all their members and, in case of exclusion, their obligation for ensuring that natural justice, equity and Christian charity are taken care of in settling the excluded member.
In the latter case, the religious cannot be sent out because of insanity. It does not mean that the insane member is to live in a religious house at all costs. The institute is to provide appropriate treatment and care. They can be protected in a psychiatric hospital or any equivalent place for the good of the patient and the community. If the parents or relatives are freely willing to take care of them, the institute could make arrangements with them and provide required financial assistance. In this case, the religious remains as a temporarily professed member unless the treatment enables the person to make a further profession. However, if the insanity was already present before the first profession in such a way that it would invalidate the same profession, the above Canon does not apply.

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In this touching personal story, Fr Brian, an Irish Missionary in Kenya, shares his experience of being healed—and the role dreams played in it.

A remark in a recent issue of MAGNET touched a chord in me. It said something like, ‘We all need counselling and we all need healing!’ As I was growing up, I certainly needed counselling. I never got it. I also needed a very large dose of healing!

I never felt loved; I felt useless

I think I was a strange kind of creature as I grew up in Ireland! I was very shy, very scared, and always felt that God had made a very serious mistake in creating me. I never felt loved by anyone, even in my own home. I was never able to love anyone either. I felt that I was useless; I had lots of anger in me. And then I would be full of guilt about that, as I couldn’t understand why I was always so angry, especially in my home with my parents. I just had no idea who I was or why I was. I simply did not understand myself or why I was born into this world.

Anyway, somehow or other I was accepted in the seminary, though I probably would not be accepted nowadays, me being such an unbalanced character—as I thought. I was ordained priest in St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, and sent to Kenya, East Africa, where I have spent the last fifty-three years.

This inner confusion continued right through the first 14-15 years of my priesthood. I worked hard in the parishes where I was appointed, and I didn’t get into any serious issues with the people I worked with. However twice I finished up in hospital for a few days, suffering I suppose from a minor ‘nervous breakdown’, with major panic attacks, sleeplessness, etc. I used to think ‘am I going mad or what?’

I was advised by a religious sister friend to go for a sabbatical and begin to look for healing.  I knew I needed something, but I really had no idea what kind of healing. So in my 40th year I set off into the unknown. I began with a three months renewal course in Ireland with the Columban Fathers. Then I began a kind of a charismatic ‘crawl’ in the USA, as they were the ones who seemed to be involved in Inner Healing ministry. I really felt very uncomfortable in the first community I visited. I spent three weeks with them, but I found the leadership there very controlling. After that I went to a Benedictine monastery in Pecos, New Mexico, USA. And there my healing began, after forty years in my own private ‘desert’.

And to my astonishment it all began through Dreams. I always thought dreams were just ‘nonsense of the night’, and normally I never remembered them at all. However, there was a workshop for Catholic spiritual directors going on in the monastery at the time, so I sat in on it. It was directed by Reverend Morton Kelsey, an Anglican priest and well-known psychologist and author, and a really perfect gentleman. He and another sister spoke of the healing power of dreams, and I thought what kind of rubbish is this! He has actually written lots about dreams, including a small little booklet called “Dreams–the Language of God”.

Then one night I had a terrible nightmare, and I was angry because I blamed the talks I’d heard. I dreamed that I was a youth cutting a hedge, and the next thing I cut a man’s head off! I then ran into my home screaming, and my parents, brothers and sisters all came running, asking, “what’s wrong?” “I’ve just cut somebody’s head off!” And straightaway they all began shouting abuse and insults at me, saying things like, “You are such a stupid fool, you always were, why were you born at all?” I woke up feeling so terrible about myself.

 Anyway, next day I shared it with my spiritual director Sr. Donna, and she asked me a few questions about it. To cut the story short that was the beginning of an extraordinary healing for me that is still going on. Just very briefly what I began to discover then, and later I was able to confirm, was that my mother was not happy when she discovered that she was pregnant with me. I was born as World War II was breaking out, and life was not easy for them. She had just given birth to four children in the previous four years, and didn’t feel able to care for another baby just at that time. And, of course, I picked up those feelings of rejection even in the womb.

I spent one month in that monastery, and I began to have the most amazing dreams. That first nightmare more or less described very accurately how I felt about myself. The following dreams began to tell me that I was not at all as useless or a total reject as I had always thought, and that I had in fact quite a number of gifts. I began to see clearly for the first time in my life that this was true. After discussing each dream with Sr. Donna, she would ask me, “Is that you?” And always I had to say, “Yes, that is me!”

That is the story of my first forty years in this world. I am now in the 2^nd 40 years of my life which I will finish next year! I came back to Kenya after that sabbatical into a new parish, and I recall that from the day that I arrived there until I left five years later, that it was the happiest five years of my life. I began to know what love is, to be loved and to love. That was something I had never been able to experience freely before.  I have been in several other parishes since then, and have enjoyed every one of them. About eight years ago I did a short course on Spiritual Direction, and shortly after that I was invited by a large retreat centre to come and be the spiritual director for people on retreat. And here I am now, and enjoying it very much.

So from being a ‘useless’ person without any talent whatever, as I thought – I now finish up directing and helping many other people. I nearly always mention dreams to them when they arrive, and of course many of them look at me as if I need some psychiatric treatment. But then almost everyone begins to remember their dreams as their retreat continues, and more often than not the dreams become the agenda for their prayer. I often ask them after discussing one of their dreams, ‘Is that you?’, and almost always get the reply, ‘Absolutely me, no doubt!’

Basically dreams are all about you. They are like a story or a little parable about you, but usually in images about somebody else. It is important to remember that every single dream is for healing you, bringing you into a good balance in your life. You will dream every single night of your life, though you may not remember even one of them. There will be the most amazing number of characters coming, the good and the bad. You will find saints and murderers, men, women, children, ugly ones and beautiful ones, people you know and others you have never seen. And they all will represent something in your character in some way. There will be all these extraordinary stories that you could never imagine yourself.

When I was in that monastery, I had that terrible nightmare of cutting someone’s head off by mistake. Then the next dream I had was of the newly-elected Pope John Paul II. I was telling him how good he was and his many gifts, and then he told me that it was true. And these were my gifts of course that I had never known! The following dream I had was having breakfast with the Queen of England! And she represented my feminine emotional side that I was not in contact with up to then.

Just yesterday a young missionary sister who came with a very negative self-image finished her retreat glowing with happiness, after a series of dreams that showed her who she really is, and what she is like. In one of the dreams, someone was digging a very deep hole in the ground, looking for something buried there. The hole went down about ten feet, and then they saw a box that looked like a small coffin. Sister got scared, thinking maybe there is a rotting corpse inside, but when they opened it, they were amazed to find this beautiful treasure. Of course, it was just a parable about herself. Sisters often are very shocked when they dream that they are pregnant, or have given birth to a baby! This then is just a symbol of beautiful new life coming into their hearts and souls. I could go on and on with hundreds of stories–and all are for healing!

So now I’m almost coming to the end of my 2^nd 40 years of life, and I can say honestly that this 2^nd period has been a wonderfully happy time for me. There are so many people now that I love, and who love me, and I have really enjoyed my life as a priest during this time. And I know now that God also loves me a lot! I think that perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he said we must be born again.

One of the best kept secrets of modern times is that dreams are really the language of God!

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Fr Brian Treacy SPS

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When she was leading the agitation, she was not aware that the police had been strictly ordered to disrobe her and have her photographed. The ruthless dictator and the extremists thought that kind of humiliation would silence her. The unscrupulous policemen standing behind her did try to tear her dress off and managed to bare her back. But her supporters fought and succeeded in protecting her from further humiliation. But the outrage and the shock did not silence her. Asma Jahangir, described as the “gutsiest woman of Pakistan,” fought courageously against dictatorship and religious extremism till the end that came on 11 February this year.

Born on 27 January 1952  into an affluent family in Lahore, Pakistan, Asma Jilani Jahangir studied at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Lahore. In 1978 she received her law degree from Punjab University, Lahore. Right from her childhood Asma was exposed to activism and political struggle. Her father, Malik Ghulam Jilani, though a civil servant, was a fearless activist who was frequently jailed for opposing military dictators. In fact, the first time Asma appeared in court was to plead the case of her jailed father.

In 1983, Safia Bibi, a blind 13-year-old girl, was raped by her employers, and as a result became pregnant. But what happened to her can enlighten you about what really goes on in Pakistan. Her rapists accused her of ‘fornication’ and the court fined her and sentenced her to flogging and three years of imprisonment. Asma and a group of supporters staged a protest and later she defended Safia in the court. Widespread protests and pressure finally made the appeals court overturn the infamous verdict that sought to punish the victim of the crime.

Asma advocated peace with India, and so the extremist elements often accused her of being an Indian agent or a traitor.

She worked initially at the Lahore High Court, and later at the Supreme Court. In the 1980s, when she became active in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy, the regime of Zia-ul-Haq put her in jail. In 1986, she moved to Geneva, and became the vice-chair of the Defence for Children International. In 1988 she returned to Pakistan. She co-founded the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and was its Secretary General for a few years. Asma became Pakistan’s first woman to serve as the President of Supreme Court Bar Association. She served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion for six years from 2004 and on the U.N. panel for inquiry into human rights violations in Sri Lanka, Israel and Iran.

Asma spent her life defending the human and women’s rights, rights of religious minorities and children in Pakistan. She was a staunch critic of the Hudood Ordinance that decreed that victims of rape had to prove their innocence or else face punishment themselves. She also fought against efforts to bring in Proposed Law of Evidence, which reduced the value of a woman’s testimony to half of the value of a man’s testimony. In a letter to The New York Times, Asma said that “Women are arrested, raped and sexually assaulted every day in the presence of female constables, who find themselves helpless in such situations.” She had to pay dearly for criticizing Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws that were used against the minorities.

She won a number of awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award and the French government’s ‘Officier de la Légion d’honneur’ award. But the international recognition of her courage and struggles did not prevent the Pakistani government and army from harassing her. If she was not jailed, she was put under house arrest. In 2012, she came to know that an assassination plot against her had been hatched at the highest level of the security establishment. But she refused to leave the country. She said, “I will not leave. My ancestors are buried here, and my life is here.”

That life ended on 11 February 2018, when she suffered a brain hemorrhage. Writing about her funeral on 13 February, Rabia Mehmood, a Pakistani woman journalist, said, “it turned into a poignant display of women’s resistance in Pakistan… Her funeral was a staggering manifestation of her legacy, a radical send-off befitting a feminist icon. It was subversive not only because thousands of men and women stood next to each other praying, but also because those men and women were Christians, Sikhs, Shia, Sunni and Ahmadi.”

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Who is your favourite saint?

Suppose you answer, “Therese of Lisieux,” or “Francis of Assisi,” or “Oscar Romero,” or “Don Bosco,” or whatever, it says something about you rather than about that saint.

When someone says, “I follow Jesuit (or Franciscan, or Carmelite or Vincentian) spirituality, it does not mean that Ignatius of Loyola or Francis or Teresa of Avila or Vincent Ferrer is our main model or point of reference. These saints cannot invent a new spirituality. They are disciples, not masters. There is only one Master.

You join the Christian Brothers or MCs, or I join the Salesians, not to become fans of Edmund Rice or Mother Teresa or Don Bosco, but to become more like Jesus. You and I cannot differ in the essentials.

Our spirituality cannot be defined by our group affiliation, but by our Christ-like life. Our students and patients, teachers and parents, whatever their religion or professional competence, can make out whether we are Christ-like or not.

What, then, is the use of belonging to special groups? Why not be a spiritual “freelancer,” and walk through the world with our eyes focussed on Jesus? After all, he himself didn’t join any special group.

We most certainly can. There are people leading excellent, inspiring, spiritually deep lives without being part of any special group. Think of Abdul Kalam or Etty Hillesum or Mahatma Gandhi or our own saintly family members or professional colleagues.

Being in a group or structure makes sense, if we use sincerely the helps it offers. It can be a cop out or worse, if I am not serious about my spiritual journey.

I was recently in Varanasi, and heard touching stories about the Krist Bhaktas. They are Hindus, but call themselves (and are) “Devotees of Christ.” On the Lenten Friday I was there, five thousand (!) of them had come to Matridham Ashram for the Way of the Cross. They may be more serious followers of Jesus than I am.

Then why join groups? Why be part of the Church or of a religious order?

For structured helps. Like what?

If I think that the kind of structured helps this religious order offers will help me to become a better follower of Christ, then this choice makes sense. Otherwise, it can be an escape, or worse.

The helps are these:

• Example of the founder and other inspiring members.
• Good teachings: Helpful ways of praying, meditating, relating, working, etc.
• Counselling, spiritual direction, sacramental helps, fraternal correction.
• Support and challenge of community life.
• Focus on, and dedication to, a mission (which, again, cannot be opposed to or different from the mission of every baptized person, but only a particular way of living it).

Are there handicaps?

Yes, of course.

I can stay in out of fear of facing life outside, or to enjoy the security, comfort and social status this group enjoys. If so, I may become pleasure-centred, power-hungry and mediocre. I will end up more immature and less God-centred than my married siblings. This, too, happens. A mediocre or irresponsible group member simply enjoys the reputation of the group and the personal privileges he or she gets from it.

Spirituality—living lovingly, wisely and responsibility in our concrete setting, using our gifts and accepting our limitations, or trying to become the best possible version of ourselves—cannot be guaranteed by group affiliation.

To be spiritual, for the Christian, means to live as Jesus lived and taught. It is, as is well-known, a path of active and forgiving love, compassionate and just dealings and incorrupt integrity. Whoever treads that path, as He did, is spiritual. Group membership does not assure godliness. My being Franciscan or Teresian is no proof of discipleship. The final and demanding test is active love extended to anyone in need. The final “passport control,” will not check which group I joined, nor which “spiritual” practices I most assiduously cultivated. If you have doubts, read the Gospels—or check the life of your favourite saint.

Being part of a special group can help my spiritual journey—if I take responsibility for my growth and fidelity. If not, I will simply repeat the slogans of the group, neglect my personal responsibility, and end up a frightful mediocrity—or worse. There are saints, heroes, mediocrities and crooks in every group.

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This is the message of Pope Francis, for World Communications Day which will be celebrated on the Sunday before Pentecost, 13 May 2018. The World Communications Day was established by Pope Paul VI in 1967 as an annual celebration that encourages us to reflect on the opportunities and challenges that the modern means of social communication afford us to communicate the Gospel message. The celebration came in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, which realised it must engage fully with the modern world.

Here is the summary of the message of Pope Francis for the World Communications Day 2018.

Purpose of Communication

• Communication is God’s plan.
• We communicate essentially for fellowship.
• Communication helps us to express and share all that is true, good, and beautiful.

What is Fake News?

• In general, it refers to the spreading of disinformation on line or in the traditional media. It has to do with false information based on non-existent or distorted data.
• The effectiveness of fake news is primarily due to its ability to mimic real news, to seem plausible. Secondly, this false but believable news is “captious,” inasmuch as it grasps people’s attention by appealing to stereotypes and common social prejudices, and exploiting instantaneous emotions, like anxiety, contempt, anger and frustration.
• It is based on deliberately evasive and subtly misleading rhetoric and at times the use of sophisticated psychological mechanisms.

Purpose of Fake News

• To influence political decisions, and serve economic interests.
• To grab power.
• To manipulate the reader.

Evil Effects of Fake News (1,2)

• Fake news spreads fast. Even authoritative denials cannot contain the damage.
• Lack of healthy confrontation and other sources of true information.
• Unmasking fake news becomes difficult due to many people who interact in homogeneous digital environments (e.g., lack of use of other media of information).
• Fake news discredits others, presenting them as enemies, to the point of demonizing them and fomenting conflict. It leads to arrogance and hatred.
• It appeals to the insatiable greed so easily aroused in human beings.

Our Response to Fake News Culture (2-4)

• There are several efforts in net and media to raise awareness on fake media.
• Teach people how to discern fact from fake.
• Recognise truth from falsehood through their fruits: negative effects (conflicts, division…) or positive effects (e.g., constructive dialogue, mature relationships…)?
• Journalism is not a job but a mission, to protect news.
• Information is not based on speed of the news or audience impact but people who receive it. Journalists form people by generating goodness, trust, communion and peace through news.
• Promote journalism of peace as opposed to falsehoods, rhetorical slogans, escalation of shouting matches, verbal violence and sensational headlines.
• Promote journalism by people for people, of voice for the voiceless and less concentrate on breaking news and sensationalism.

Quotes

• There is no such thing as harmless disinformation; on the contrary, trusting in falsehood can have dire consequences. Even a seemingly slight distortion of the truth can have dangerous effects.
• The heart of information is not the speed with which it is reported or its audience impact, but persons.

Concluding prayer to turn to the Truth

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.

Help us to speak about others as our brothers and sisters.

May our words be seeds of goodness for the world:

where there is shouting, let us practise listening;

where there is confusion, let us inspire harmony;

where there is ambiguity, let us bring clarity;

where there is exclusion, let us offer solidarity;

where there is sensationalism, let us use sobriety;

where there is superficiality, let us raise real questions;

where there is prejudice, let us awaken trust;

where there is hostility, let us bring respect;

where there is falsehood, let us bring truth.

Amen.

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PANDITA RAMABAI SARASVATI (1858-1922) – DIED 5 APRIL 

Pandita Ramabai Sarasvati was an Indian woman, born to a Brahmin father, Anant Shastri, and his second wife, Lakshmibai. Her father, a learned Sanskrit scholar, taught Puranas in the temples for a livelihood.

Ramabai’s family became ostracised from the moment her father started teaching Sanskrit to her mother. From then on the family fell into poverty and took to the road as religious itinerants. When Pandita was sixteen, her parents and sister died of starvation. Only she and her brother Srinivas were left.

Both of them decided to carry on their father’s teaching work. They continued travelling all over India. Her passion for reading never faltered.

Ramabai’s fame as a lecturer reached Calcutta, where she was invited to speak.  At the age of twenty, she became the first woman to receive the title of pandita (female pundit or Sanskrit scholar) and Sarasvati from Calcutta University.

After the death of Srinivas, in 1880, Ramabai married a Bengali lawyer, Bipin Behari Medhvi. The marriage both inter-caste and inter-regional upset society’s traditions. The couple had a daughter: Manorama.

Among her husband’s books Ramabai found the ‘Gospel according to St Luke.’ She was fascinated by what she read. She wanted to know more about Christ, but met her husband’s resistance and gave up.

After Medhvi’s death, in 1882, Ramabai moved to Pune. There she founded the Arya Mahila Samaj (Arya Women’s Society) to promote women’s education and uproot the practice of child marriage.

From then on she travelled widely in India and abroad to bring forth women’s emancipation through education, fairer laws and attitudes.

Her speeches and addresses on the importance of women’s education had deep reach and impact. One of them even nreached Queen Victoria and incited the starting of the Women’s Medical Movement by Lady Dufferin.

While in England, Ramabai experienced the love and compassion of Jesus Christ. She and her daughter became Christian.

Ramabai travelled quite extensively. Her genuine compassion towards the plight of widows, girl-brides and uneducated women mobilized women from all over the world.

In 1888, Ramabai came back to India. She started the “Sharda Sadan” (House of knowledge) for girls.

Pandita Ramabai kept on her work and care for girls and women till she passed away on 5th April, 1922.

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PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN (1881-1955) – DIED 10 APRIL

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a French Jesuit. As a philosopher and palaeontologist, he strove to understand the links between science and faith.

He was the fourth of eleven children. From his father, Emmanuel, an amateur naturalist, Pierre learnt the observation of nature. From his mother, Berthe, he learnt spirituality.

As he grew, Teilhard’s interest in the world of nature drew him to study geology and natural sciences.

After he entered the Jesuits, his spiritual director helped him understand that he could give glory to God through following his intellectual interests.

In 1914, as the World War I started, Pierre was enlisted into the French army though he was already an ordained priest.

The slaughter and crippling of millions of men shook Teilhard’s faith. However, he could see, even in the midst of human tragedy, a sense of communion with the world and communion with God united in the crucified Christ.

He later wrote: “…the war was a meeting … with the Absolute.”

He was appointed to teach at the University in Paris, and later asked not to do so. Instead, he was “exiled” to China, where he did splendid studies in paleontology, and was part of a team that discovered the famous fossil, Synanthropus Pekinensis.

Several of his writings, combing science and spirituality in creative ways, were misunderstood by church authorities. He was not allowed to publish them. When friends outside the church published them, it made him and his ideas very well known. His ideas have been cited by Pope Francis in the 2015 encyclical, Laudato si’.

Teilhard’s unique relationship to both paleontology and Catholicism allowed him to develop a highly progressive, cosmic theology which took into account his evolutionary studies. Teilhard recognized the importance of bringing the Church into the modern world. He was both a scientist of calibre and a mystic—but very few within church circles understood him.

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CÉSAR  ESTRADA CHÁVEZ (1927-1993) – DIED 23 APRIL 1993

César Chávez was an American labour leader and civil rights activist.

He was born to a Mexican-American family of six children. During the Great Depression, César’s family lost their land and all they had. To survive, they became farm workers.

In 1942, Chavez quit school and started working full time as a migrant farmer so that his mother would not have to slave in the fields.

In 1946, he joined the United States Navy, hoping it would give him the opportunity to learn skills for his future. However, the military experience turned out to be “the two worst years of his life.”

He married, and became the father of eight children.

Chavez worked in the fields until 1952. He then became an organizer for the Community Service Organization (CSO). He became widely known later for his struggle to procure a just wage for farm workers. He undertook several “spiritual fasts,” seeing this as “a personal spiritual transformation.” These fasts were influenced by the Catholic tradition of penance and by Mahatma Gandhi’s fasts and emphasis of nonviolence.

In 1988, Chavez attempted his last fast to protest the exposure of farm workers to pesticides. He fasted for thirty-five days before being convinced by others to start eating again. He had lost fifteen kilos. It caused health problems that eventually led to his death.

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ST GIANNA BERETTA MOLLA (1922-1962) – DIED 28 APRIL 1962

Gianna Molla was a pediatrician and a mother who chose to die so that her child might live.

She was born in Italy, the tenth of thirteen children

In 1942 she began her studies in medicine. Besides her studies, she was active in the Azione Cattolica (Catholic Action) movement and an adventurous woman who loved skiing and mountaineering.

In 1949, she received her medical degree, and opened an office close to her hometown.

Gianna had planned to join her brother, a priest in the Brazilian missions, and offer gynaecological services to poor women. When her chronic ill health prevented her from doing so, she continued her work at her clinic and specialized in paediatrics.

She reflected and prayed over her vocation. Having felt called to the vocation of marriage, she embraced it with enthusiasm and resolve to wholly dedicated herself ‘to forming a truly Christian family.’ She married Pietro Molla, an engineer. They had four children.

During the second month of her fourth pregnancy, Gianna developed a fibroma in her uterus. The doctors gave her three choices: an abortion, a complete hysterectomy or the removal of the fibroma alone.

As a mother, doctor and committed Christian, Gianna felt morally bound to choose her child’s life over hers. She therefore opted for the removal of the fibroma. She told the doctors that her child’s life was more important than her own.

On 21 April 1962, Holy Saturday, Gianna’s fourth child, Gianna Emanuela, was delivered. Gianna, however, continued to have severe pain. She died of septic peritonitis one week later. She was thirty-nine years old. Among her last words were, “Jesus, I love you.”

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Reflecting on their thirty-three years of marriage, Kevin sees the inadequacy of youthful romance and of other worldly views of this way of life. While “marriage as sacrament” is certainly very meaningful, the real beauty of it is seen when couples live it as a vocation and a mission.

For over twenty-five years Crystal and I have been trying to live out God’s plan for our married life. That’s the good news. The not so good news is that we have been married for thirty-three years!

In the first years of our marriage Crystal and I were living what most would consider a successful life. We had two beautiful and healthy children, a comfortable house with two cars in the garage and enough extra money to enjoy at least one extended vacation a year. By the world’s standards we had everything one could hope for in a marriage. Why was it that we, two faithful Catholics, found ourselves struggling to be joyful and loving with one another?  What we came to discover on a Marriage Encounter retreat back in 1991 was that our relationship had developed much like so many others had in our country, drifting from feelings of love into marriage because it seemed the next right step.

Romantic Love Not Enough

Often, feelings of love and romance convince couples that they are meant to be together for life, only to find out a few years down the road that these romantic feelings are not strong enough to overcome a lack of true understanding of what it takes to give life to one another for the long haul. We found ourselves to be much like so many of the couples whom we currently meet when we facilitate their marriage preparation.  Even when these young couples have good role models, they come to us with no real conscious recognition of what it takes to live a committed married life. It comes as no surprise that more than half of these relationships fail. Relationships we fall into are much more likely to turn out differently, perhaps even badly, than those we choose to enter into with our eyes wide open.

It was on that retreat weekend in 1991 that Crystal and I committed to stop living our married life according to the world’s plan for our lives. We decided to put aside the notions we might have grown up with concerning what marriage was supposed to be. Instead, we chose to be married according to God’s plan for us. It has been a very rewarding journey full of new discoveries and insights into not only what God has in store for us, but also for what He requires of each of us. As we began to work together in marriage ministry, we grew in our appreciation for the difference that seeing marriage as a sacrament—as opposed to a mere living arrangement—could make. Over time, understanding that our lives together could be a source of grace and strength not only for us and our family but also for others was satisfying and rewarding. The more we came to appreciate the difference our sacramental life could make, the more we understood how blessed we were.

Marriage as Sacrament: A Blessing

So, clearly, marriage as a sacrament is a good thing. So much better than the “contractual” 50/50 relationship the world asks us to shoot for or even the “covenant” relationship evangelical Christians teach. Yet, no matter how good living as a sacrament was, it somehow didn’t make it that much easier to live out on a day to day basis. Don’t get me wrong, it was more comforting knowing that I wanted to do what God wanted me to do, but the demands of long hours away from home and a successful career often left me stressed and anxious.  Crystal was doing a magnificent job of raising our two children and providing for a warm and welcoming household.  Why wasn’t I at peace then? As I look back on those years I have come to understand that, while Crystal embraced her role as wife and mother, I still clung to my role as provider of the family.  It wasn’t until a few years ago, as we were working on a new retreat format for couples, that I came to appreciate that marriage was not only a sacrament;  it should also be treated as a vocation—a life’s work.

Seeing married life as a vocation has become a powerful distinction for me to try to comprehend. It pretty much changes everything. Perhaps, most significantly, vocation requires a conscious choice—a choice which, because I failed to consciously make it, I lived for too long as a career person who just happened to be married with two children.  Family was a distraction from my real life’s work of being a successful business professional. Choosing a vocation requires inquiry and knowledge of the choices available.

Foolish Assumptions about Marriage

Unfortunately for me and for too many others, we form our assumptions early in life about what our state in life is to be.  We don’t question our assumptions, we don’t explore other options and we further assume that we don’t really need to learn anything before taking on the role of being a spouse. However, I have now come to better appreciate how looking at life through the ‘vocation lens’ can be truly instructive. For example, early in life I chose to be a lawyer. I knew a few lawyers in my hometown. I had seen several on television over the years. Obviously, that ‘experience’ of lawyers didn’t equip me to be one.  Likewise, in order to be a doctor, priest, religious sister or a spouse requires more than the vicarious experience of others.  It requires that we acquire the knowledge, skills and abilities needed before we can expect to adequately serve others in our chosen vocation.  It is truly unfortunate that Catholic couples are not adequately alerted to this reality during their preparation for the sacrament of marriage. If, before they exchange their wedding vows, couples were required to have even a small measure of the education and training that priests and religious receive, they would be far better equipped to live out their married vocation.

As I have come to contemplate the power and beauty of vocations in our Catholic Church, I have reached a much deeper appreciation of the gift of our priests and religious. As difficult as it can be to live in marriage and try to bring Christ to a wife and family, I can only imagine the challenges of bringing Christ into our entire Church community.  I have come to understand that, while living out a vocation can be tremendously rewarding, there can also be periods where it may seem tedious, mundane or thankless. For me and for all Catholic Christians, it is at these times when the added dimension of the mission we have been given can provide a little inspiration. I need to recall that my vocation is not only in service to the people I meet, but also that it is work done to advance the mission given to us by Christ when we were commanded by Him “to go forth and make disciples of all nations.”

These days Crystal and I are living in a little bit of chaos, as we share our home with our daughter and her three young children.  Even as I grow weary of the noise, commotion and clutter, I know that I am being graced with the opportunity to live out my vocation as husband, father and grandfather.  I am reminded of this each time we gather at the dinner table and share how He has blessed each one of us that day. While the world would tell us that as a retired couple we should be enjoying an escape from the cold of our northern climate, I can feel confident knowing that we are right where our vocation calls us to be at this time.

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