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

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

Fr Richard Mascarenhas SJ

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

2. The difference I have made

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

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

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

Sr Sunitha Fernandes UFS

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1. How to make a difference

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

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

2. The difference I tried to make

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

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

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

Sr Latha Crasta SCCG

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tired and Business-like Supervisors

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

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

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

Sr Esme da Cunha FDCC

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1. The difference we, religious, can and should make  

Most people are looking for spiritual leadership in uncertain times. Therefore, as religious and priests, we not only need to engage in various services we provide for people, but do it as an expression of our faith in the Triune God revealed to us through the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This implies three things.

Firstly, a religious must be a man or woman of prayer with a personal encounter with God. It is only when we have this deep personal encounter with God, that we will be able to share this encounter with others and lead Catholics and people of other religious traditions to a similar encounter with the Divine.

Secondly, men and women religious need to accompany and serve the people entrusted to our care in collaboration with other men and women of goodwill. In this regard, we need to be humble to walk with other people and organisations doing similar work, so that we may not only improve the quality of our work, but also reach out to a larger number of people. People look up to religious men and women to be a prophetic voice calling for justice, equality and social harmony.

Finally, religious men and women have to be counter-witnesses in a consumeristic society by living eco-friendly lives and promoting an ecologically sustainable lifestyle in response to the call of Pope Francis to “care for our common home.” The two or three activities or areas I consider most urgent and relevant is the promotion of social harmony and ecological sustainability.

Religious life and priesthood can be relevant in these modern times only if religious and priests are able to communicate their faith in God through spiritual leadership in accompanying and serving people while promoting justice, social harmony and ecological sustainability.

2. The difference I think I have made

I think I have made a difference to the lives of a few people. I recall a couple of instances in my life. In the first instance, while I was Assistant Parish Priest at Rosary Church in Ajara, in Kolhapur District of Maharashtra, I used some money gifted to me to financially support the professional education of some village youth. With this help, they have become professionals working in reputed companies in India. As a young scholastic (seminarian), I volunteered to work with the people’s movement Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) for a couple of months, when I accompanied them in their struggle for justice and just compensation. Later, as a young priest, I completed a study on the status of rehabilitation of the Sardar Sarovar Dam oustees, which was used as an authentic document in the case in the Supreme Court. Though they lost the legal battle, it was due to such struggles that the Government of India passed a new law on rehabilitation and resettlement in 2013, which has benefitted a large number of people displaced due to development projects.

Fr Denzil Fernandes SJ

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1. The difference we are called to make

A consecrated person or a priest should be what he/she presents oneself to be—men and women of true human maturity, social and moral integrity and spiritual depth, with all these traits perfected in the universal and selfless love of Christ.

We are living in a difficult time due to a corrupt socio-cultural milieu. We experience the building up of the web of social media and the breaking down of the web of human relationships. Education and medical systems have also lost their purity of purpose. They have become the biggest money-making institutions.

Respect for human life and values is diminishing (see the staggering number of abortions and increasing percentage of the exploited people and the rise of hunger index, especially in our country). In addition, there is serious lack of profound solidarity among all world religions to the point of almost promoting a war of religions. The moral and social hypocrisy among religious leaders, who are supposed to live moral values, is hot news in the media.

Some influential people want to turn the wheels of history back for their political gains and affirm the narrow domestic walls of caste and every form of discrimination of human beings that breed inequality. Such ideologies discriminate people socially or economically, making some sections subservient to the other. This is a blow to the Christian values of sacred dignity and equality of all human beings.

We urgently need to shed the role and the omnipresent image of a priest and nun as a functionary and an administrator and not a disciple of Christ merely in name and doctrine. People no longer find Christ in some of our institutions. They can find HIM only by our interpersonal and fraternal caring relationship, making present the servant Jesus (Matthew 20:20-25).

People eagerly look at the consecrated persons with admiration and expect to see a true example of a counter current of joy and integrity, in contrast to the debased destructive culture.

As Pope Francis says, “The joy that you have freely received from God, please, freely give away; so many people are waiting for it! So many are waiting for it from you!”

People look at us to affirm these values even if we have to face the inherent hatred instigated by some for political ends. During the Covid pandemic, many of us hid ourselves from the contagion and from the poor, leaving a few doctors and nurses to bring solace to the least and lost, some of them abandoned to die a terrible death.

As the Second Vatican Council said, “The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and hope, grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well” (Gaudium et Spes).

We do not have to force ourselves to be relevant. But we will become relevant as we become the light, salt and yeast of the society we live in.

  “All religious, therefore, with undiminished faith, with charity towards God and their neighbours, with love for the cross and with hope of future glory, should spread the good news of Christ throughout the world, so that their witness will be seen by all people and our Father who is in heaven will be glorified.” (PC 25)

2. The difference I think I have made

As a homeopathy physician, besides giving medication, I listen to patients a lot.  In fact, most need healing of mind and heart, and don’t require medicines for their illnesses. They just want to be understood, listened to, and appreciated. Giving heed to the hearts of the people heals three fourth of their illnesses and helps them to have a hearty smile. “Do everything in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14). I do it with much love for the people. The love I experienced from God, I spread to the people, so that they may experience the same and spread that love to those around them.

Sr Dr Mary Deepa OSM

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1. What we, religious, need to be and to do today

 Today religious and priests can and should express the essence of fraternal openness that allows us to acknowledge, appreciate and love each person, regardless of physical proximity and where she/he was born or lives.  And sow seeds of peace and walk alongside the poor, the abandoned, the infirm, the outcasts, the least of our brothers and sisters and to live in harmony with all

Activities or areas that are most urgent / relevant today:  Religious and priests should work for democracy, freedom, justice, unity and common good. We need to build closeness between people and a culture of encounter. Life is stronger than death when it is built on true relationships and bonds of fidelity.

To make religious life and priesthood relevant today:   We need to be open to being mobilised, challenged, broadened and enriched by others and thus open to further growth and development.

      2.The difference I have made: 

I have tried to be kind to all persons and magnanimous in sharing my gifts and money and ever ready to volunteer to labour for a common cause in spite of my personal difficulties.

I have worked for shared goals that transcend differences and tried my best to go beyond all discriminations.

     3. An inspiring religious Brother

 A religious Brother who has made a very positive difference in the lives of others is Brother James Edward Kimpton FSC (1925-2017), a De La Salle Brother, founder of “Reaching the Unreached (RTU).”

Brother James built thousands of houses for the poor, houses for foster mothers, homes for orphans, HIV positive children and free Schools.

A great champion of the poor, man of prayer and a deep lover of Mother Mary and St. Joseph.

Born and trained in England, he moved in Sri Lanka in 1952, at his earnest request to work with the very poor. Started a new printing press and school of printing for deaf and for blind boys. In 1964, he came to Madurai, and built the Boys’ Town as an ITI for poor boys. In 1974, he started a Boys’ Village near Batlagundu, Tamilnadu. In 1975, seeing the extreme poverty in the remote villages, he started the “Reaching the Unreached” Society.

Bro T. Amalan FSC

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Every consecrated religious and priest thinks that we’re set-apart, which is fair enough, but the question is, are we ready to become the heart and soul of God’s mind and mission? This is the high expectation that one owes to humanity as consecrated clergy and religious.

Today’s nuclear family plays a great role from where the priests and religious respond to the calling.

In the 21^st century, we have seen communication skyrocketing from radio, to television, to internet, to the fast-moving e-world, with all its e-transaction, e-banking, with all its technological dimensions with which our present generation is growing up. Religious and priests are an integral part of this society. It has both positive and negative impact on the individual’s calling.

At the same time, the price one needs to pay for this is really frightening because the struggle is within: to bridge between values, spirituality and charism of their calling. Today’s people want to see  in religious and priests, a real leader or a guru who is integrated in prayer, humility, kindness and service to all strata of the society.

According to Fr. Marie D.Philippe OP, “Authority is authority only when it seeks the truth…when power has replaced authority, we must be careful not to fall into powers’ clutches.”

In his revolutionary book, Religious Life: A Prophetic Vision, Fr. Diarmuid O’Murchu MSC, a social psychologist, claims that what Catholics still call the religious life, can no longer be contained within the framework of Christianity. We need to look beyond. If not, in his words, “the vowed life is doomed to stagnation and death”.

As lived today, religious and priestly life can seem fruitless, and even when we try to revive different approaches to religious life, they are often seen as incompatible with the cultural context of our society.

Today we need to re-visit our Gospel values and go back to the root of Jesus’ life.  Fr. O’Murchu urges those living a consecrated life to learn from the creation-centered spirituality of Matthew Fox.

Sr Agnes Antony MSC

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Knowing that school education is a very important medium to improve the lives of the people and bring about the desired social change, many dioceses and religious congregations run schools. In fact, there may not be many dioceses or provinces of a religious congregation that do not run schools. Thus, school education has been a traditional as well as a much-needed ministry for us. Some of our schools are government-aided, either fully or partly; others are not. Even if fully supported, we still need funds for the other needs of the school, such as building repair and maintenance, infrastructure development, teaching aids, office maintenance, etc. Thus, finance is a real need for any school.

We are good in starting and running good schools. Our schools are known for their educational standard, discipline and all-round development of the students.  There is a good demand for admission in our schools. Normally, through a process of screening and selection, we admit the best of the students, provide the best of the facilities and create a record-performance by way of producing the best results in the city, district, state and even at the national-level. But, as days go by, and we re-look at our educational mission, we ask ourselves whether we are justified in doing just that.  We ask: “What about the vast majority of those who cannot afford to pay the required fees and get the benefit of our schools? Are we not to serve them in a preferential way as our Lord Himself did?” Such an awakening has posed a great challenge to us.  Thus, the main challenge for us is to keep the school educational ministry more and more relevant and meaningful to the present times by serving the poor, downtrodden and needy. The challenge for us is to educate the ordinary poor students and make them extra-ordinary citizens. It is to have our option for the economically poor in our institutions and works. This means that we must open our schools to the more and more economically deprived sections of society. This can be done by either fixing a quota for the poor in our schools or by starting schools in the rural areas specifically for the poor.

Fr Alex G., SJ

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Thomas, one of my companions, told me recently: “These past eighteen years I have worked day and night without any rest.  I have killed myself working.  Now I am sick.  I am going to ask my superiors to give me a break and relieve me of the post I am holding.”

From our young age the importance of hard work is drilled into us.  Take, for example, the story of the team of ants and the grasshopper.  The ants work hard all through summer, storing up food for winter, while the grasshopper goes around playing.   When winter comes, the ants are happy as they have enough food, while the grasshopper languishes in hunger.   While stories like this are meant to teach not only the importance of working hard but also of the need to give proper place to work and relaxation in our life, we somehow associate hard work with working without taking any rest.

The importance of work is driven home to us also through the motto some of our founders and foundresses have given us like “Pray and Work” (St. Benedict); “Work and Temperance” (Don Bosco).  While the need to work hard remains imprinted in our mind and we feel guilty if we do not do so, we forget the lesson we have learned through proverbs like: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

Self-Care is a Duty

Superiors are duty-bound to take care of others.  In the process, they run the risk of not taking care of themselves, as it happened to my companion.  Actually, it is a duty to take care of ourselves.  We have an obligation to look after ourselves.  A duty is an act or course of action that we have to do because it is good and right to do it.  Taking care of ourselves is a duty, because by doing so we value ourselves,  nurture ourselves, grow properly in the various dimensions of our life and are able to make our contribution in this world.  It is our way of appreciating what God has given us and honouring God.  If we do not care for ourselves, we are relinquishing the responsibility we have for our well-being and abandoning ourselves to be hurt and damaged.  Therefore, it is important that we take self-care seriously.

Fr Jose Kuttianimattathil SDB

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