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Social Media is having a major influence on society in the 21st century‚ enabling people to engage with each other radically in new and different ways. Social media is a collective term for websites and applications that focus on communication, community-based input, interaction, content-sharing and collaboration. People use social media to stay in touch and interact with friends, family and various communities. Businesses use social applications to market and promote their products and track customer concerns. People socialize and interact with others in their day-to-day life be it their family, friends, colleagues, or even strangers. The age of writing letters is gone. Social Media has become such an integral part of our lives that people actually cannot live without it. The Digital 2022 April Global Report found that there are 4.65 billion social media users on the planet. That’s 58.7% of the global population, many of whom are using social media as a primary source of information. The thing about social media that appeases the majority of the crowd is its user-friendly features. From advanced countries to under-developed countries, each country is using the force of social media to enhance life of the people.

K. John Don Bosco

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Introduction

In today’s technological world we are called to be limitless in our imagination.   Higher education offers an example.   Blending the best of face-to-face instruction with the flexibility of online and digital  learning have  enhanced the higher education experience for learners, and prepare them better for the world of work.

With the advancement of technology, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and  COVID 19, education is continually evolving and transforming itself.  These have impacted  education everywhere, leading to growing trends in how students  learn.  The pandemic forced educational institutions to think of online classes. Much before this, education was undergoing changes with the development of educational technology.  Many of the temporary changes that emerged during  the pandemic would be the future and how students would learn.   They look for knowledge of technology, skills training which would ensure a well-paying and rewarding career.  Institutions begin to  realise that experience-based learning is more suited for interaction between students and teachers.  Classroom material would be delivered online and technology oriented learning would be the future.

Fr V Joseph Xavier SJ

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What is Social Media?

Social Media is just a reflection of who we are. It is networking or connecting to people. It is a dialogue, not a monologue. It creates communities. It creates a comfortable and entertaining atmosphere, helping people improve their social skills, providing interesting information for users to learn and expand their knowledge, and most importantly, to establish new forms of interpersonal relationships. Social media has created radical changes in the life of individuals. The emergence of the internet as a network for communication has brought profound transformation in society. We are always updated on the latest happenings of the world through it and become more socially aware of the issues of the world.

Positive Impact on Religious Formation

In this digital world, social media is a necessity, not a luxury. It is said, “Don’t use social media to impress people; use it to impact people.” It gives birth to a new way of learning, thinking and establishing relationships. Yes, our formees are coming from the Z generation, marked by the internet. Generation Z dominates online searches for information on the post-millennial generation. According to a study, people belonging to the Z generation are more accepting and open minded, pragmatic and creative, progressive and idealistic.

Sr Benny D’ Cunha UFS

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As an educationalist, with interest in women’s development ranging from grassroots to higher education, I believe that the possibility of women using and creating social media spaces is a progressive notion and a way forward towards the goal of women empowerment. The internet has emerged as a critical tool in determining ones’ identity, social status, career success and to stay connected in a globalized world. In this digital age it is essential even for women to be internet savvy in order to survive.

Positive Change in the lives of women

Social networking sites have played a pivotal role in groups, communities and the society at large. These innovations have ignited social change and changed the lives of women.

1. A space for Self-expression

The results of the rampant spread of social media phenomenon also saw women who have had limited access to education, employability, barriers such as caste/class/gender, language and mobility, have access to social media. Encountering multiple forms of discrimination, it became an important space particularly for assertion of identities. It enabled women to express their ‘voice’ in more suitable, convenient, appropriate and in largely uncontested spaces.  Women like Meena Kandasamy, award-winning writer, Christina Dhanraj, co-founder of Dalit History Month project, Ginni Mahi, famous pop-singer, Meena Kotwal, award-winning independent journalist, Kiruba Munusamy and Disha Wadekar, human rights lawyers, amongst countless others use social media as a space for self-expression.

Prof. Sandra Joseph

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The New Year is a time to make a fresh start. It is a time to renew our thoughts, minds and souls, because it is a reminder that though all things are transient, we can still reinforce the good of the past and plan as far as we can, for a better future.

The last year has been bleak. The looming threat and the continuing fear of the Corona virus and the outbreak of war in Ukraine, all things that we had not expected, dampened our spirits and morale. These events of the past year have resulted in great damage to economies, waning employment prospects, disrupting supply chains, rise in commodity prices and inflation. The poor and the children, many orphaned by COVID have been the worst hit by these developments. Children have had tremendous learning setbacks, by missing out on school.  The average household has had to cope with unbearable hardships leaving lasting pain. Not to speak of the social disorientation and problems created by the time spent in social isolation.

The start of the New Year does not seem promising either. Yet, we have to learn to adapt to changing circumstances and learn to cope with pain and hardship. The news today is all very negative. In the midst of all this, can we retain our sanity and somehow manage to cope, with stress, mental anguish and emotional imbalance, as we negotiate the new difficulties we will meet with in the New Year?

Janina Gomes

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Some years ago, a study done of over two thousand mid-level managers in the UK found out what they missed most. What they missed—and asked for—was not a higher salary or promotion. What they missed most was appreciation for what they were doing well.

It is not just managers and other employees in companies who miss appreciation. This is a common problem in most settings. People tend to notice and point out the flaws in others’ performance, but often fail to point out and appreciate their positive traits.

Manju, a young and loving wife who used to take delight in cooking tasty meals for her family, one day prepared a special dish. After the meal, she asked her husband, “How was that dish?” He was reading the newspaper, and did not even look up. She asked him again Then he grunted, “Hmm.” She told him, “I made a special dish today. I wanted to know how you liked it.” His irritated reply was this, “If there was something wrong, I would have told you, no?”

What a negative attitude to life!

To have the habit of keeping quiet when others do well, and to speak up when you don’t like something.

In accepting to do this column for MAGNET, I decided on “Becoming Human” as my feature, since there is abundant evidence that this is a weak area of religious and priestly formation, and it is life’s highest goal. I plan to cover aspects of being human in the alphabetical order, not in order of importance. Thus, my first article was on “advice-giving”—not a very useful way of helping people. People are looking for persons who listen and understand rather than those who rush to give advice.

Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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The Government has made keeping of accounts mandatory for the registered charitable societies. Therefore, it becomes all the more important that we learn and understand accounting.

What is Accounting?

Accounting is the language of business. It measures business activities, processes data into reports and communicates results to decision makers. It is a process of identifying, recording, summarizing and reporting economic information to decision makers in the form of financial statements. It helps in decision making by showing where and how much money has been spent and the balance left, and how best to utilize it to achieve the goal of the business.

Basic Concept of Accounting:

Accounting follows the double entry system, i.e., for every debit there is a corresponding credit. Thus, debit and credit are the two aspects of every financial transaction. Every debit transaction must have a corresponding credit transaction and vice versa. A debit entry in an account represents a transfer of value to that account, and a credit entry represents a transfer from the account. A debit entry shows goods or value coming into the business and a corresponding credit entry shows goods or value going out of the business. If one item increases, the other item should decrease.  For example, a transaction involving the purchase of stationery will mean stationery coming into the business and cash going out of the business. Here, with the purchase of stationery, the stationery item increases and cash automatically decrease due to the payment made.

Fr Alex G SJ

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In preparation for this article, I asked some young religious: “Could you give me the names of some leaders?”  And they mentioned, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Narendra Modi, Pope Francis, Mother Teresa and some other great persons.  Nobody mentioned the names of their provincials or community superiors.  And yet every superior is supposed to be a leader.

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.”

                                                                                 –Lao Tzu

            To the question of what leadership is there were many answers.  Common in most of the answers was the idea that leadership is the capacity of a person to direct people to do something.  While this is a common way of understanding leadership, it is a very simplistic description as it focuses only on one aspect (directing others) of leadership, which is a complex reality.  Further, it considers leadership as unidirectional, from the leader to the followers and fails to take into consideration the impact the followers may have on the leader.

Jose Kuttianimattathil, sdb

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Dear friends,

Why this series of articles on wholeness in religious life? I am aware that the readers are people who were passionate about committing themselves wholly to God as they began their vocational journey. Yes indeed, we as religious are characterised by our deep desire for ‘complete commitment’ to God and His people. At the core of our being, we are focused on being disciples of Jesus with all of our heart, mind and soul. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). Every time we hear these words, a wave of emotion engulfs as we are reminded of our total commitment. I am happy to co-journey with the readers in this psycho-spiritual search to understand the concept of wholeness in religious life. I term it as a psycho-spiritual journey because we will be discussing concepts that are common to both psychology and spirituality; themes such as wholeness, emotional maturity, physical and social well-being, life commitments, spiritual experiences, purpose of our life and love for God.

Our deepest desire for wholeness

One of the deepest desires in each of us is to possess wholeness in our lives. I for one, have been captivated as well as intrigued by the idea of wholeness for the past 25 years: captivated – because it just seems such a lofty and a sacred idea; intrigued – because it seems so idealistic and difficult. Now then, is it truly possible to attain wholeness or is it merely a utopian dream? The dictionary meaning of the word ‘wholeness’ reveals an under-lying philosophy of life. The Collins English Dictionary explains that “Wholeness is the quality of being complete or a single unit and not broken or divided into parts.” So, wholeness is being an integrated whole.

Fr. Dr. Joseph Jeyaraj Swaminathan SDB

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I would like to share with you the experience of my own growth in the Religious life after joining a Congregation with a charism that appealed to me. I felt a definite call to be at the service of those who were poor and marginalised.

In the early days of my Religious life, I accepted in obedience, the transfers given and continued to follow the varied orders of my superiors. However I did begin to feel confused about the practice of the vow of obedience and I experienced difficulty in carrying out routine tasks in an institutional setting. As years passed, I became more aware of the stirrings of God’s Spirit deep within me, in quiet moments of prayer. I began to see more clearly what I was motivated to do and God gave me the courage I needed to articulate my desires, in dialogue with my superiors. Understanding the seriousness of my desires, the superiors allowed me to take a different path to reach out to the poor and marginalised people.

My life among the poor and the social analysis challenged me radically.  I began to understand religious life differently: the vows, community life, prayer, spirituality.  I realised that it is very hard to say ‘No’ to the set norms or established conventions and live an authentic life.

Knowing well that I have just one life to live and wanting to live it as best as I could, placing myself under the guidance of the Spirit, I chose to follow my conscience. Since others around me are on a very different wavelength, I am unable to share with them and they have difficulty understanding my ways. While I do feel sad about this, yet deep down within me, I experience a joy and happiness which is beyond what others can give me.

Manju Kulapuram SCSC

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