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It must have been around the beginning of 2000, when this lady, whom I used to see every day at Mass in Saint Francis Church in downtown Bogotá, approached me. She asked me whether I was a seminarian and when I said that I was a religious brother, she just asked me point blank whether I would be interested to help her with giving catechism classes to a group of ladies who were involved in prostitution. At that time I was in charge of our postulants and I was looking for some apostolate outside formation to breathe some “different kind of air.” The lady who spoke to me, probably in her mid-forties, a bit on the heavy-side, with short hair and wearing a sweater and skirt, turned out to be a nun. Together with two other members of her community, they were running a centre for women who were trapped in prostitution.

My first contact with the world of prostitution goes back to 1988. At twenty-three, I was the president of the Third World Group and that year we had decided to try our luck with offering our voluntary services in an area of Malta where prostitution was rife. At that time, prostitution in Malta was a profession which ran in the family from mother to daughter. That also meant that while the “business” was run from the family home or in the nearby bars, children were around. One of the most prolific areas was a street in the capital city popularly known as Strada Stretta (Narrow Street). Almost one kilometre in length and between three to four metres in width, it was the narrowest street in Valletta. Bars and shabby dwellings ran along both sides of this street. Previously, my only exposure to this street was a furtive look here and there, when I had to cross the area for some office work.

Brother Carmel Duca MC

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Out of the blues came this invitation to share a bit of my journey along the path of Consecrated Chastity. Though this was not in my itinerary, while I am immersed in some other business, I take it as God’s challenge to look inward, and well … to give Him His due!

Recalling his own mandate, the prophet Jeremiah exclaimed: “The word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.’” (Jeremiah.1:5)

I see this call, not as a deliberate choice that came from me one fine day, when I had to decide how I would like to spend the rest of my life. Looking back, it seems something that flowed naturally into what I seemed made and moulded for, a kind of predefined path that unfolds before you as you walk along. Seemingly so natural, and yet?  Later I wondered how the others around me, my friends and siblings, did not seem to choose it as their way of life.

I am happy to share just a little bit of my story. At the age of sixteen, my SSC examinations just over, I somehow felt I had to move on – whatever that meant. My dad, a teacher, had his ambitions for me, and he took it for granted that the next logical step was to enter a college.

What next?

Though I did very well and had a passion for study, it did not seem to me then that this was the time for it. I did not give it even a first thought, let alone a second thought! Yet, I had not articulated with certainty what that next step would be. There followed three days of reflective silence at home. My mother thought I was unwell. But in those three days I had gone to see a priest of our parish who knew me well. I blurted out: “So, what do I do next?” He was surprised, for he too thought it natural for me to go in for higher studies. I told him clearly and with no reservations that I intended to enter a convent. He was a young priest. He asked me to consult our former parish priest, who knew my family well. In the meantime, he told me there were different congregations, engaged in different apostolates – no one spoke of ‘charisms’ then. It was before Vatican II.

The call within me was so strong; which congregation I would join seemed immaterial to me. When I said that I loved teaching, he pointed to some of the congregations I knew – including the Canossians with whom I did my schooling. I had no special attraction for them – but I saw it as a possible way of living what I felt within.

The next hurdle was: Why so soon? You could wait for two or three years and finish your college by then. Again, I felt the tug that it had to be NOW. I went to see that senior priest. After hearing me out, he agreed that if I felt so strongly that it had to be ‘now’ – then go, now.

Back to the young priest. He told me I should be telling my parents about all this. I must have been really dumb, or obsessed or possessed – for I had not even thought of this. After all, it is my life!  Coming back to my mother, I told her that I was okay; but yes! I want to join the Convent!  A bombshell! She told my father about it. Even today I marvel at their faith and belief in me. Neither of them questioned my decision; nor did they come in the way or try to dissuade me. Then I was told I should approach the Superior with my request. All these steps seemed mere formalities for me – if God calls me, who is to oppose me? The innocence and freshness of a sixteen-year-old!

Anyway, in three months’ time I was already a postulant.

Sr Esme da Cunha FDCC

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Christ’s celibacy found expression in His consecration to universal love, which was His response to His Father’s love.  Jesus experienced this love as extending to Him personally and to all His brothers and sisters.  He realized that in Him,  God was making an absolute gift of love to  the entire humanity.   The response of Jesus to the Father’s love for Him was His celibacy, by which He gave Himself completely to His Father and to His fraternity—the whole human race. “Into Your hands I commend my Spirit.”

         The Father’s love creates, integrates, unites, heals, forgives, reconciles unto fulness and for eternity. Jesus completes this in His life and returns to the Father. The resultant emanating Holy Spirit continues the integrating love of the Father in the disciples. Each of us is called to be a vehicle of that love.

          Two Models

Becoming aware of the loving presence of this Father God in the most suffering and needy humanity, Mother Teresa and Brother Andrew (co-founder of the MC Brothers) embarked on the adventure of initiating these religious orders (Missionaries of Charity).

Mother Teresa was exemplary in living the Corporal Works of Mercy: (1) Feed the hungry; (2) Give drink to the thirsty; (2) Clothe the naked; (4) Shelter the homeless; (5) Comfort the imprisoned; (6) Visit the sick; (7) Bury the dead.  All the time she became more aware she was doing it to Jesus Himself.

Brother Andrew lived the Spiritual Works of Mercy: (1) Admonish sinners; (2) Instruct the uninformed; (3) Counsel the doubtful; (4) Comfort the sorrowful; (5) Be patient with those in error; (6) Forgive offenses; (7) Pray for the living and the dead.

          Every genuine human love entails eros and agape.  In marriage, there is the mutual dependence of partners.  In agape, instead, there is a freeing dynamics.

Volumes can be written on discovering the mystery of Infinity in each suffering person, and in being a caring, sharing presence—a healing, forgiving, integrating presence—to each of them.

           Enlightenment is not only asceticism or detachment from worldliness and self-centred ambition. It is also about being a caring sharing total presence to the needy ones—to bring the other to fullness of life and to have that as a source of joy and completion. This is the purpose of life—just as God the Father loved Jesus and humanity.

Bro Peter Swaminathan MC

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Till I understood celibacy along with the other evangelical life principles of obedience and poverty, I had to struggle to find true joy. Till I understood these as pillars of my spiritual life, I had to grapple with personal relationships with God and people, personal possessions and personal plans. Till I realized the truth of scriptural anthropology, I had confused concepts about celibacy, obedience and poverty. Now really these life principles have become a source of joy in my life. I would like to share my realizations regarding celibacy in my life.

At my diaconate and priesthood ordination, I vowed celibacy. Since I had the understanding that it is connected with the physical instinct of sexuality, I suppressed my feelings and was affected psychologically, trying to sublimate these emotions.

When I was consciously making the anointing of the Holy Spirit received in Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders into real inner experiences, then I realized deeply that celibacy and chastity are sourced from the spirit within. As mentioned by Paul (1 Thessalonians 5: 23), my body, soul and spirit together must be kept blameless. When I live chastity in my spirit in communion with the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:13), celibate life has become a joyful one. Obedience of my will has become a possibility and poverty in my needs has become a reality. While I realized that these three life principles are for every human being, even the married ones when they fulfill their duties towards their partners, celibacy is for me a great opportunity to live a chaste life with an in-depth spirituality.

When my lifestyle is based on minimum needs for a healthy life, poverty becomes easier and happier. When I come to realize that God’s plans for me are far higher than my own, I can surrender my plans to God in total obedience. When I enter into the spirituality of conscience, I begin to live conscientiously, respecting my own body, respecting others and their bodies.  This helps me to be free from self-abuse and any form of sexual abuse.

Fr Panneer Selvam, Diocesan Priest

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Sometimes even a thousand waves hitting the shore continuously one after other also cannot erase the few footprints on the seashore …A Legacy Left Behind

“In order to follow Jesus Christ, and as an expression of the total gift of their life to God, the Brothers commit themselves by vow to live a chaste celibate life in community. Consecrated chastity, a gift of the Holy Spirit and a mystery of death and resurrection, sacrifice and fruitfulness, bears witness before the world to the value of a life in which love is put at the service of all. It also manifests the hope of a promise, based on Jesus Christ’s resurrection, that this love has an eternal value. The vow of chastity makes the Brothers totally available to meet the requirements of their vow of association for the service of the mission.”  (Mt. 19 – 11-12, PC 12, Can. 599, Med. 201: 3) THE RULE of THE BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS, Article 36.

Why live celibately? Efforts to answer this question are rarely satisfactory. After they are over, I rarely feel any more certain about the value of celibacy for myself or others. The question deserves an answer. It challenges young people contemplating religious life. The question haunts some celibates most of their lives. They are not half-hearted in their religious dedication or unsure of their vocation. They simply wonder occasionally why they have chosen and continue to choose a style of life which foregoes experiences which most men and women consider hard but attractive. The question poignantly presents itself to celibates from time to time when they meet married people who appear to have combined the appealing human fulfillment of marriage with zeal and service for God’s Kingdom—the very zeal and service for which the celibates renounced the attractions and satisfactions of marriage. Celibacy for the sake of Kingdom of God does not mean that celibacy must necessarily be a disagreeable way of living and its choice always painful violence against oneself. It means that celibacy, weather assumed easily or with a struggle, is directed to the Kingdom of God.

A Gift More than a Choice

For me, celibacy is a gift before it is a choice or commitment. It is first a gift because it issues from personal history, which is not entirely of my own making. No one selects one’s basic temperament or the fundamental orientation of one’s personality by parents. Many other influences of life are not chosen, but simply given. Some influences are chosen, of course, and the impact of others freely accepted, but most of these choices are at least partially contributed by unwilled or and even unknown factors. In any case, the freely chosen influences constitute only some of the factors which now prompt me to adopt or continue in celibate life. The initial or continuing choice of celibacy is the acceptance of a gift—my ‘self’ as the culmination of my personal history unfolded under God’s choice. Because the vocation to celibacy is as complex as a person’s whole life, the choice of celibacy is never fully explainable, even by the celibate making the choice. Celibacy is ultimately a personal mystery which is scarcely touched by abstract propositions and never explained by arguments. More satisfying than discussions of celibacy are testimonies of personal celibate experience. These testimonies portray in concrete form the value of celibacy, thus providing for the appearance of the good and so giving others the opportunity to discern if they are, or are not, comfortable with that good.

Brother T. Amalan FSC

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Here are questions people inside and outside the Church ask about celibacy today.

1. What are the essential elements of a celibate life?

Three, basically: (1) A focus on the life and teachings of Jesus, with a sincere interest to live as He taught, and hence a genuine cultivation of one’s inner life;  (2) Simplicity of life, by which one is more interested in service and sharing one’s life than in going after comforts, power and money; (3) a free and joyful decision not to marry and not to have sexual partners.

2. What are the signs of a heathy celibate life?

Fr Peter Brocardo SDB, a highly respected formator of international students in Rome, told us the difference between the vows of poverty and celibacy. Poverty, he told us, can be seen directly: People can see how I dress and travel, what I eat, what I have in my room, and how I spend money. Celibacy, instead, is seen indirectly, he told us. It is seen in a life of love and joy. That is, just as a good marriage is seen in a happy and loving family, celibacy is palpable if we life joyful lives of love. If a community is not happy and loving, it is simply a group of spinsters or bachelors living under the same roof. It is not celibacy. Why waste one’s life on that?

3. Is celibacy higher and better than married life?

There are no higher or lower calls in the church. In fact, the Synod we are preparing for insists that the highest dignity is that given by Baptism. Becoming a celibate religious or priest does not make a person higher or closer to God.

Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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The writer member of a secular institute, a medical doctor with specialization in neurology.

I belong to a Salesian secular consecrated order, the Volunteers of Don Bosco (VDB). From early childhood, I felt attracted to the idea of belonging to God alone, to Him who loves us best. This pull and desire was so intense that no human love, however great, could come close. This was despite being born in a very loving family and being blessed with some close and wonderful friends. As a child, I remember seeing the profession and ordination of many religious and being told about the vows that they were making. But to my mind, as I grew older, I preferred the term “evangelical counsels” better, as advised by Jesus in Matthew and St Paul in 1 Corinthians. This is a very special desire and a grace that God gives to those whom He has chosen, to be able to love chastely and with an undivided heart.

I like to picture it as having our human hands, metaphorically speaking, hands that are limited and hence can only hold so much, being so full of gifts that one could not hold more items. So, I would liken celibacy to putting down the items in our hands, in order to hold something bigger, brighter and immensely more precious, in response to a call from the Lord. This means seeing and having God as the first and only choice and never as a compromise or as a second choice.

The Joy of Being in Love!

What a joy it is to be in love with God! This treasure within that seems so unbearably precious that it makes one feel like shouting it out from the roof tops, is what I have experienced from early on. When I was little, I didn’t know how to articulate my thoughts, and I just felt so specially loved by God. I always felt that He had chosen me for Himself, despite me being a stubborn, self-willed child who was very far from anything angelic.

Mine is a late vocation, entering my congregation at thirty-four years and making my perpetual profession just last year, ten years down the line. My profession for me was a deeply moving experience. I will always be grateful to God for this gift of vocation and for choosing me. I grew up in a family where we were always taught, quite early on, about healthy sexuality. I had a very supportive and open relationship with my father, who was trained in psychology. I remember him anticipating my growth, both physical as well as mental, and telling me that it was natural as a teenager to feel attracted towards boys. I also remember growing up amidst many of my classmates at the time (as I studied in a big metropolitan city) who had boyfriends, feeling a dissonance that nothing and nobody compared to having Jesus for my best friend and partner. I felt this way from very early on. It was difficult for me to explain to my friends or peers how deeply I felt this, all while enjoying the usual fun things that teenagers did. Being from a strong Catholic family, I followed all that the church prescribed, but I wasn’t particularly religious. I just often felt very deeply moved by readings from certain saints, who spoke about the love and heart of Jesus, such as St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and St. Faustina, and had the constant prayer, “Jesus, make my heart burn more and more in love for You.”

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As I write this, Easter is just a week away. During the Easter Vigil you’ll see the Easter candle standing tall and majestic near the altar. But in the church you’ll see – if you care to see them – hundreds of little candles in the hands of men, women and children. They are small and so they are not seen as much as the Easter candle. But they, too, in their own little way, drive the darkness away and spread their light.

Most often, we keep looking at people who are famous, who have won awards and recognitions. But there are thousands of ‘little’ people – quietly illuminating their own little area, wherever they may live.

I think of a Little Brother of Jesus, called Marc, whose sharing I read in their newsletter three years ago. Using only their first names and hiding their second names, I guess, is their way to remain hidden – as Jesus of Nazareth did as long as he was in Nazareth.

Marc lives with another Brother, Regis, in Lille-Sud, in Northern France.  He talks of the ways in which he tries to bring God’s love to people. First, he helps them fill in their administrative papers, as it requires a computer and they don’t have one. He understands that more than this service they need attention and friendship, as we humans need someone to listen to us, someone who would see us without judging us, someone who would love and respect us unconditionally. He tries, therefore, to bond with people and build trust, so that they feel free to share their struggles, their stories. He sees his efforts are fruitful, when a young man who recently went into rehab for alcoholism, trusts him enough to say he has started drinking again.

Fr M A Joe Antony SJ

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I was a perpetually professed member of a religious institute, and worked as staff nurse of a prestigious hospital. Due to some personal issues, I left the institute a year ago. I was drawing a good salary for past ten years for the institute. Now I continue my nursing profession in another hospital. Some people have advised me to demand a huge sum from the institute. Can I make such demand?

Religious profession is an act of commitment based on religious faith. By the profession, any income received by the religious as salary, pension, subsidy, insurance, or under any other title, remains with the Institute (CIC c. 668 §3; CCEO cc. 468, 529 §3).  The Institute in return assumes the obligation of supplying what is necessary according to the proper law of each Institute. Therefore, one who leaves the Institute has no right to claim for oneself any remuneration for the service or ministry s/he rendered while being a member of the Institute.

Whatever the modality of separation, Canon 702 §1 of CIC and canon 503 §1 of CCEO legally exclude the right of the departed member to demand compensation for her work in the Institute. This norm must be viewed in the light of the understanding of religious profession. It is clear that it is unfair to lodge a petition in civil court against the Institute by the dismissed member for any kind of monetary allowances or for continuation of any ministry (job). When a former member demands such payment, it may be because of seeing a Religious Institute as merely any other Trust or Voluntary Organization.

Sr Navya Thattil OSF

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12^th May: 

International Nurses Day

May 12 is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, “the Lady with a Lamp.” And the world, fittingly, celebrates International Nurses Day. The theme of the day for 2022 is: Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in nursing and respect rights to secure global health. The theme focusses on “the need to protect, support and invest in the nursing profession to strengthen health systems around the world.”

May we never forget the millions of nurses who fought the onslaught of Coronavirus 19. Today, it is appropriate that we think of securing their rights and respect for nurses all over the world. No payment is enough for the lives they touch and heal.

I propose three words as a way of rendering honour towards nurses all over the world:

1. Respect: Nursing is not primarily about money. It’s about service to humanity – to the broken bodies, minds, hearts and souls. It calls for sacrifice to serve day in and day out. It demands undying commitment to be at the bedside of the sick. It takes great deal of courage to face all kinds of diseases. They deserve respect, honour and justice.
2. Gratitude: A thank you note from the patient or their dear one’s can certainly lift up the spirit of nurses. They are human beings like any of us. A care-giver does need care expressed in a simple note of appreciation or a token of gratitude.
3. Vocation: For a healthy and happy world, it needs more generous young people who will offer their life in the service of humanity as nurses. The quality of life of a society can be gauged with the care given to the weakest. Millions of sick people need to know that they matter. And the world needs millions of generous young people to tell them that through health care.

I was moved to tears by the performance of Northwell Health Nurse Choir at “America’s Got Talent” Season 16 in 2021. The audition got the golden buzzer with emotional words of appreciation and affection from the judge Howie Mandel. The show capsules thousands of untold heroics and commitment of the millions of nurses. It inspires hope and carries respect and gratitude that we owe to the huge army of nurses all over the world. I suggest that you watch it too to be touched by their performance and stories.

15^th May:

International Day of Families

The theme of the International day of Families of 2022 is “Families and New Technologies.”

Social media and more importantly personal media are invading the private and hallowed space of families. Marriages are breaking up on account extra-marital affairs augmented by indiscrete use personal media; Impersonal relationships and familial disconnect are on the increase. Intimacies and close bonds of families are replaced by digital bonding and virtual relationships.

In such scenario, strengthening of family life is a sure protection against the tendency to seek refuge in the virtual world.  Relationships among siblings, parents and children need to fostered through various family moments, such as meals, prayer, dialogue, picnics, outings, etc. In addition, ground rules for the use of personal media should be laid down so that they do not encroach the sacred times of family life.

The governmental, non-governmental, religious and social institutions have to make a concerted effort to protect, promote, preserve and re-instate the pristine dignity and absolute importance of family life to provide a healthy environment for children’s growth.

Addressing a gathering of Catholic men’s and women’s association at Ranchi, Benjamin Lakra, ex IAS officer, gave three decisive tips to create a happy family:

1. Daily prayer moment as a family: God is the origin and source of a family. He unites a man and a woman in a marital union and blesses their conjugal love with children. A family needs to live by this spiritual truth and nourish itself every day through family prayer.
2. One Daily meal as a family: A family meal binds, bonds and unites members of a family emotionally and spiritually. Hence, a family must come together at least for one meal every day.
3. Welcome a guest as a family: When every member of a family welcomes a guest, respect and esteem is accorded not only to the guest, but also to every member of that family. This is a very important message for children and the aged members of a family.

Fr Shilanand Kerketta SDB

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