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Carlos Welch, one of the founders of the Christian Counselling Centre, Vellore, and a counsellor who helped many, used to tell us, “Everybody needs counselling.” He also said, “As adults, we should stand on our own feet.”

I once asked him, “How do you put these two statements together?” They seemed to contradict each other.

His reply was simple and wise, “To be mature means to realize when you need help and seek it. There are times when the best thing we can do is to go to someone trustworthy and say, ‘I need help.’”

That is right. We all need help. No one is always strong.

Three Concentric Circles

Years ago, I saw the levels of our personality represented in a drawing. It was of three concentric circles.

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB
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Here are some shocking statistics:

• In India, 21 people commit suicide out of every 100,000 persons.
• Suicide is the second highest cause of death in the 18-29 age group.
• An average of 370 to 380 persons commit suicide every day in India.
• Compared to other countries, the number of Indians affected by depression is high.

Here some statistics on suicides that should make us think—and act. (I am taking the following facts and figures from The Indian Express.) A report published in the Express on October 29, 2021 had this glaring title: 24.6 per cent of total suicides in 2020 by daily wage workers, NCRB data shows.

This report, written by Harikishan Sharma, sasys that the percentage of suicides by daily wage earners has doubled in seven years between 2014-2020.

Further, it gives these shocking figures:

“Amid the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, the number of suicides in the country increased by 10 per cent to 1.53 lakh in 2020 from 1.39 lakh a year ago… Suicides by students registered the highest increase of 21.20 per cent, followed by professional/salaried persons – 16.50 per cent and daily wage earners – 15.67 per cent.

The NCRB report ‘Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2020’ stated that suicides by students increased from 10,335 in 2019 to 14,825 in 2020 and their share in total suicides also went up from 7.4 per cent to 8.2 per cent during this period.”

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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Are you looking for Love? You are the dwelling place of Love.  Do you seek Wisdom?  Wisdom dwells within you.  Have you been desperate? Hold on to your inner faith.  Does your soul long for peace?  The source of Peace belongs to you.  Is your patience running out?  Place your attention on your breath.  Yes, “All that you need is already within you,” says William J. Bowerman.  This is ancient, yet ever new wisdom that longs to pitch its tent within you.

            A few years ago, I was puzzled with the verse from Genesis1/26, which says, “God created human beings in His own image and likeness.”  I could not understand and accept this fact.  Later, I read Rick Warren’s book, Purpose driven Life, and understood that we are spiritual beings like God; we are not just our body and mind alone.  Our original identity is that we are spirits.  Hence, we are divine within.  When I heard the call of the Divine within waiting with eager longing for my return home with Him, the world of dualism disappeared.

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Sr Nambikkai Kithari SAP

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I am making my retreat at Ennore, Chennai, as I write this Testimony. Though something special happened to me in the past few months, I did not think of writing it till I read the testimony of Royston D’Souza in the February issue of MAGNET. I said to myself: Why not give my testimony about the wonder God has done in my life. I have received many blessings in my life in the past, but this was something extraordinary and unexplainable. Until then I did not experience the power of others’ prayers; but now I know that more than my prayer the prayer of those who are close to me has tremendous impact on me. I say this with humble gratitude because I do not deserve this miracle from the Lord because I know and He knows who I am—a poor sinner. I am convinced that it is due to the prayers of those who remembered me in their prayers. Just like the servant of the centurion in the Gospel getting a cure from the Lord, not because the servant came and begged for cure, but because of the tremendous faith the humble Centurion showed in Jesus. I believe it is the faith of the people around me that made this possible.

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Fr Antoniraj SDB

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Cambodia had always been on my bucket list. As a nine-year old I could not comprehend how a country could change its name. I remember very vividly that day in April 1975 watching the news on our black and white television when the Khmer Rouge had just captured Cambodia’s capital city Phnom Penh and changed the country’s name from Cambodia to Democratic Kampuchea.

I would say that we Missionaries of Charity Brothers have, to some extent, a special link with Cambodia. It was in 1974 when our general superior, already living in neighboring Vietnam, had decided to open a community in Phnom Penh. It was the height of the civil war in both countries and even Mother Teresa had decided against opening a community there. But our superior was audacious enough to visit the city, and discern and decide in favor of the presence of a small community of love. But when, a year later, the Khmer Rouge took over, the Brothers were evacuated. One candidate decided against the superior’s wishes and stayed in Phnom Penh with the people. The last time he was seen, he was marching with the Cambodians and surely executed.

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Bro Carmel Duca MC

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Think about it. How many environmental activists inspire hope? What distinguishes this extraordinary environmentalist from others is the hope she continues to offer. Four of her twenty-one books have this word ‘hope’ in their titles. Her best-selling autobiography is titled: Reason for Hope. The fifth book, published a few months ago, is called The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times. She has also been called “the world’s best-known naturalist.” Her spectacular knowledge of animals and nature, born of patient observation, study and research, has changed a lot of our attitudes to animals and our world.

Jane Goodall was born in London on 03 April 1934. Jane loved animals even as a child. When she was just over one year old, her father gave her a toy chimpanzee. While friends feared that such a gift would cause nightmares for a child, Jane loved the toy, calling the chimpanzee Jubilee, and carrying it everywhere. Even as a girl, Jane dreamt of living in Africa to watch and write about animals.

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Fr M A Joe Antony SJ

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1. You come from a distinguished family of writers and literary figures. What made you choose a course in the sciences and become a doctor?

Yes, I come from a family of writers and had six siblings who took up the courses in Arts. My favorite subjects through school were, unfortunately, Maths and Science and I wanted to take up science. I personally felt that a world of Physics was not where I would be happy. Besides, ever since I was small, I wanted to be a doctor, as I felt compassion for the sick, including animals and birds. My parents, especially my mother was not happy with my decision, but I stuck to it.

2. As head of the Neonatology Department in Sion Hospital, a famous Municipal Hospital, you had the experience of seeing many babies die. Did that prompt you to come up with some kind of solution?

When I joined Sion Hospital in the early 70’s, there was no department of Neonatology as such. Neonates were looked after by Pediatricians. The mortality rates of neonates were extremely high. Being a free Municipal hospital and a tertiary center, Sion Hospital admitted the poorest and sickest of mothers in labour and the seriously ill babies. Besides that, there was always a shortage of staff and money. Under these circumstances, I had to try to save the lives of neonates. I found that one of the commonest causes of death in these babies was infection and we looked at various cost-effective methods to save lives. These included getting rid of infected incubators, using warmers and lamps to maintain the baby’s temperature and exclusive breast milk to feed the baby. That is when we started the Human Milk Bank. We overcame the shortage of nurses by allowing mothers to come in and clean and feed their babies. There were many more strategies that we employed, which reduced the mortality rate significantly.

3. You were Dean of the hospital for three years. What problems did you focus on at that time?

      As the Dean, I had to look at the major areas in the hospital that needed attention. One such area was the Emergency Services. Sion hospital was the first tertiary hospital on the Eastern Express way. It was flanked by the Western and Central railways. We had the maximum number of accident victims admitted, as well as the most serious patients. We needed a state of the art Emergency Medical Services Department, and we built one. What was different is that it was done through donations, planned by an international architect and built by one of the best builders in the city.

The Intensive Care Units were also upgraded by donors. So was the kitchen. I realised that, if there is a good cause, there are many philanthropists who are willing to come forward and help the poor.

4. You started Asia’s first human milk bank in Sion hospital. In what way did you see it as a solution to the problem?

Infections were one of the main causes of deaths in our babies. One way to reduce infections was to get rid of formula milk and bottles and ensure that every baby was fed human milk that had so many protective features. To ensure a continuous and safe supply of human milk, the only solution was to start a human milk bank, where milk from mothers who were tested, was collected in a hygienic environment, pasteurized and stored in a freezer and could be available anytime, for the sick babies whose mothers were not in a position to give their own milk. This was one way we saved the lives of the babies. When I started the milk bank, most of the people, including pediatricians, were not convinced of the significance of a milk bank. Today. thirty years later, milk banks are being opened all over the country because of the significant role it plays in saving the lives of sick neonates.

5. What learnings did you make in all these years you worked in different capacities in the hospital?

I think that my most important learnings were that you are faced with what feels like insurmountable problems. But you need to really put your mind to it, work hard at it and you can finally come up with solutions. Patience and perseverance ensure success.

When you have thought of an innovation that would bring about significant change, don’t let anyone dampen your spirits. Continue even if criticised, and success will be yours. The world will follow you.

6. In the same way, in order to find sustainable solutions to the problem of infants, children and women, mainly in slums in Mumbai city, you started the Society of Nutrition, Education and Health Action (SNEHA) in 1990. How did this organization contribute to the uplift of people living in the slums and in tackling the problem of gender violence?

The reason I started SNEHA is that I realized that only when mothers and babies were really ill, they landed in our hospitals. We saved some with great effort and huge costs, but others succumbed. It was more important to prevent malnutrition and illnesses by moving into the communities and changing their behavior patterns, like nutrition, care during pregnancy, immunization and accessing medical facilities in time. Sneha has worked across urban slums in Mumbai and other states and reached out to over a million families to reduce malnutrition in children and decrease maternal and neonatal deaths.

We have an excellent program on prevention of violence and have involved volunteers from the community, women, youth and even men, to identify and refer cases early, and more importantly to prevent violence. We also have counselors across slums and the medical hospitals and run the Nirbaya One Stop Crises Centre at KEM in Mumbai. Through our work, we have been able to ensure access to counseling for women and helped them with police and legal interventions, thus reducing violence in their homes.

7. You lost your daughter in her 30’s to cancer. How deep was the wound created by her death? Did your faith sustain you during the dark times?

I accepted my daughter’s illness and death because of my deep faith. As a pediatrician I had seen so many parents lose their children and I felt I had no reason to complain. I was blessed to have a daughter who didn’t even once question God on why she had to suffer. She lived her life to the fullest and made the most of the situation; that gave me courage.

The wound created by the loss never heals. I sometimes feel I’m kept so busy that I don’t have the time to grieve, which again is God’s doing.

8. On realizing that the lack of emotional support, pain management and counseling that your daughter experienced during her final days on earth, you decided to start the Romila Palliative Care Centre in 2013. You did not want your daughter’s death to go in vain. How did you go about this task?

Despite being a doctor, I was not aware about Palliative Care, which deals with all life-limiting diseases and tries to improve the quality of life of a patient and caregiver by relieving pain….physical, mental, social and spiritual.

I got in touch with doctors who were into palliative care at Tata Hospital, and decided to start a Palliative care center in her name under SNEHA.  This center offers outpatient and home based services to patients. We have a team of trained doctors, nurses, counselors, social workers and other specialists. We were blessed to be given funds, space for our OPD, and have a large number of doctors and other volunteers, who are also trained to help.

It is difficult to offer free services when you need many professionals. Fortunately, many doctors and other professionals offered voluntary services and helped the existing staff to reach out to many more patients.

9. What do you think have been the most significant contributions you have made to your profession?

The most significant contributions I have made to the profession are:

1. a) Helping a core group of paediatricians to set up the sub-speciality of Neonatology in the country;
2. b) Working significantly in the promotion of breastfeeding in the country;
3. c) Starting the first Human Milk Bank in the country, way back in 1989;
4. d) Moving from the hospital to the social sector, to impact lives of vulnerable Women and Children in the city, by using a life cycle approach;
5. e) Working on Palliative Care, both for adults and children. This palliative care has not yet got the attention it deserves in this country.

   10. You were also Medical Director of Holy Family Hospital in Bandra. What changes did you introduce there?

Nothing exceptional, but together with the cardiologists we started the iCare project that trains lay people in cardiac resuscitation, to prevent sudden cardiac deaths.

   11.  And now, at 78 years, you are still contributing to society. What inspires you to do that?

I sincerely believe that God carves a path for us to follow and that is just what I’m doing. I know that when I reach out to people, I benefit as much if not more, from that action. I’ll continue doing that as long as I am in a position to do so. I’ve received so much love in my life and I cannot but help loving others in return. Love translates into action—the action of reaching out in whatever way I can.

Dr Armida Fernandez is a leading neonatologist. She was Dean of Sion Hospital and Medical Director of Holy Family Hospital, Bandra. She is the founder and chairperson of SNEHA, an NGO that works on maternal and child health, gender-based violence, and adolescent health. She founded the Romila Palliative Care centre in 2017.

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7^th April:

World Health Day

World Health Day is celebrated on 7^th April to create health awareness world over. The first World Health Assembly was held in 1948 and the first one was celebrated in 1950. The WHD is part of one of  eleven world-wide health campaigns. It is also one of the SDGs proposed by the UNO. The WHO sponsors and organizes events and the programme of the day in collaboration with other related organizations. The theme of the current year is:  Our Planet Our Health.

Promotion of good health is founded on a number of premises. Here are some of them: Life is a gift and it must be cherished and nurtured.  God has given us life and he desires that we live to the full. A life does not belong to an individual; it belongs to a family and society. One life is at the service of other lives.

Health is a composite reality. When we think of health, we do not limit ourselves to the idea of bodily health alone. Further, health is not only about prevention or eradication of diseases. Rather, it entails total well-being of a human person. Therefore, good health is a fruit of healthy mind, heart, body and soul. In addition, environment, life-style, diet, etc., affect one’s health.

Hence, a health education programme cannot be reduced to just physical well-being resulting from sports, physical exercises and a dieting schedule. Our health education curriculum should promote an integral wellness of mind, body, heart and spirit, augmented by a disciplined and healthy life style consisting of food habits, sleeping habits, physical activities etc.

In his world-famous book The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari, Robin Sharma, a renowned motivational speaker and writer, proposes “Ten Rituals of Radiant Living”: (1) The Ritual of Early Awakening; (2) The Ritual of Solitude; (3) The Ritual of Physicality; (4) The Ritual of Live Nourishment; (5)  The Ritual of Abundant Knowledge; (6) The Ritual of Personal Reflection; (7) The Ritual of Music; (8) The Ritual of Spoken Word; (9) The Ritual of Congruent Character; (10) The Ritual of Simplicity.

The practice of these rituals could be highly beneficial for a radiant living.

22^nd April:

Earth Day

Earth day is celebrated on 22^nd April, Spring Equinox, to mark the modern environment movement begun in 1970 in USA. It is also known as International Mother Earth Day. The aim of the anniversary is to draw the attention of the world toward the environment and raise awareness about the threats to its well-being from air pollution and climate change.

The deteriorating condition of our “common home” demands high courage to protect, preserve and replenish it for the sake of all the living beings on the earth. Therefore, the theme of Earth Day 2022 is “Invest in our Planet.”

What do we invest to save our planet? Should we invest political will and power, money, collective actions at the local, national and international arenas?  Yes, we should. But, more importantly, we need to invest our mind, heart, will and spirit. Without these investments, political, social and common investment is hard to arrive at.

Let me share two examples:

Sneha Shahi, nineteen-year-old girl, is a PhD student at Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru. She is studying Conservation Science and Sustainability. As a water conservationist, she works to prevent single use of plastic materials that fill the water bodies in India. Thus far she has cleared 700 kilos of plastic waste in Bangalore. Hereby, she has improved the natural habitat of crocodiles. She says, “At the end of the day, enthusiasm for the environment comes from within. A role model can just kindle the flame or help you navigate your way to a certain extent. Your passion matters the most and is the true guiding light.”

Greta Thunberg, 21, a Swedish environmental activist, was deeply affected by the climatic changes when she was barely eight years. She went into depression and suffered multi-psychological disorders.  This was the beginning of her passionate and fearless campaign to save the earth. We know about her bold criticism of the world leaders in her famous speech in United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2018. She galvanized the environment movements with her zealous commitment towards environment.

If we desire to inculcate commitment to our earth in our young people, we need to make a shift from an academic approach to an experiential one. The young minds in our schools and colleges must be provided with the experiences of the beauty, marvel, grandeur and mystery of mother earth. That is the beginning of the all investments in our planet.

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Fr Shilanand Kerketta SDB

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Miracle of Marcellino

Director: Luigi Comencini * Cast: Nicolo Paolucci, Alberto Cracco, Alfredo Landa, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Didier Bénureau, Ernesto Lama, Fernando Fenán Gómez, Francesco Scali. (1991. 92 minutes)

This remake of an earlier highly popular Spanish movie is drawn from a medieval legend of an orphan brought up in a mediaeval monastery. Claimed to be based on real-life events, the story is partly narrated by Marcellino, a foundling whom a band of Franciscan friars rescue from a forest. Their attempts to find the real or adoptive parents fail, forcing them to raise him among the monks. Despite the trouble, they take delight in the little one and even compete for his love. The child grows up innocent, self-effacing and yet mischievous. But he longs for his mother and is told by his mentor that Virgin Mary is his mother. When he is six years old, a powerful count wants to adopt the beautiful Marcellino, claiming that the child is probably his child by his late wife. He takes the little boy to his castle. Marcellino, however, is repelled by the arrogance and coldness in the count’s household. He is put off by the cruelty involved in hunting. Dodging his pursuers with their hunting dogs, Marcellino manages to return home to the monastery.  The monks hide him in the attic of the belfry where he suddenly comes across a life size crucifix. In his innocence he feels pity for the man on the cross and talks to him. The Lord converses with him. Marcellino steals bread from the kitchen to feed Christ on the cross and he takes the bread. Again the count’s men come to break into the monastery to take him by force. Marcellino gets back into the attic where he talks to Jesus again. Jesus offers to grant him what he asks for. Marcellino wants his mother. His wish is granted in a miraculous way at the climax of the film.

Padre Pro: Father Miguel Agustin Pro Martyr of the Lord

Director Miguel Rico Tavera * Cast: Pedro A. Reyes S J, Eric del Castillo, Juan Antonio Edwards, María Aura, Anabel Ferreira. (2007. 104 minutes)

          This is a biopic of the Blessed Miguel Pro, the Jesuit priest martyred by the Mexican revolutionary regime of Plutarco Elías Calles in the 1920s. It vividly recalls the heroic life of a devout priest who stood up to brutal persecution under the Calles Law, unleashing an era of unprecedented violence in the dominantly Catholic country. Under the Calles government that took power in 1924, religious persecution assumed systematic ferocity. Under the inspiration of Marxist ideology and the recent success of the recent Russian revolution, it considered the Church as an ally of the former governments and a hindrance to the revolutionary ideals. Churches were forcibly closed, religious rituals and sacraments and catechism banned, priests and religious and anyone who opposed were murdered or expelled. Such extreme measures precipitated the Cristero War undertaken by the Catholics.

          Miguel Agustin Pro was born in a devout Catholic family in 1891 in Guadalupe de Zacates as the son of a mining engineer. He was a jovial, witty entertaining and mischievous prankster in his youth, deeply attached to his family and his faith, with a special love for working class people. At twenty, he joined the Jesuits. He went first to the U S, and later to Spain and Belgium, where he was ordained priest in 1925. He returned to Mexico in 1926. Undaunted by the raging persecution against the clergy and the Church, Pro moved around in various disguises—as a street sweeper, prosperous businessman and many other characters, catering to the spiritual and material needs of the faithful, visiting the sick in hospitals and even prisons to administer the last sacraments to the condemned who awaited execution. He and his brother Roberto (who was later released) were caught. Under the direct orders of the president, he was sentenced to execution on a trumped up charge of attempted assassination of the President. In their attempt to show Pro’s punishment as an example to the people a public execution by firing squad was arranged on November 23, 1927, in front of cameras and the general public. This attempt backfired.  During his last moments, holding out a rosary and a cross in his outstretched hands, Father Pro prayed and forgave his killers and died with the shout of “Viva Cristo Rey!” (Long Live Christ the King!).  During his funeral vast crowds filled the streets to attend the funeral. The event turned world opinion against the regime and the resistance to it increased.

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Prof Gigy Joseph

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“To me, a faith in Jesus Christ that is not aligned with the poor…it’s nothing.”  — Bono

“My work with the poor and the incarcerated has persuaded me that the opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice. ”  — Bryan Stevenson

“To live with Jesus is to live with the poor. To live with the poor is to live with Jesus.”  — Jean Vanier

“The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.”  — Mother Teresa

“The Bible insists that the best test of a nation’s righteousness is how it treats the poorest and most vulnerable in its midst.”  — Jim Wallis

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”  — Martin Luther King, Jr.

“When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed.”  — Mother Teresa

“Poverty is the worst form of violence.”  — Mahatma Gandhi

There are about 200 million people in the world who would gladly take the vow of poverty if they could eat, dress and have a home like I do.”—Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

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