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THEY SEE IT AS “ONE OF THE BEST MAGAZINES THEY KNOW.”

We published a Feedback Form in the April Issue of MAGNET, asking for the readers’ frank views about the magazine.

We tabulated the first thirty-five responses we received.

Here are the results—extremely affirming, to say the least

This is how our readers rate various aspects of the magazine on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is the highest score and 1 is the lowest:

1. RATING OF CONTENTS, STYLE, DESIGN, PRINT:

Please rate the following aspects of MAGNET, by circling the appropriate number against each item. (5 shows the highest appreciation and 1 shows the least.)

We give the average rating of each item (out of a maximum of 5)

4. Contents: 4.65
5. Language and presentation:8
6. Visual appeal (artwork, photos, design): 71
7. Quality of the paper and printing: 88
8. Does MAGNET appeal to most priests and religious? To most: 29; to many: 5
9. Does it attract educated lay persons? The vast majority said Yes.
10. How many of the articles do you usually read?

All: 15; most: 7; half: 2

1. h) Do you prefer a magazine produced: (i) on good paper with art work and colour pages (as we are doing now), or (ii) on cheaper paper with less attractive presentation (and hence lower cost)?

Responses: 34 out of 35 said  they prefer the magazine as it is now, printed in colour on art paper. Only 1 respondent would prefer the use of cheaper paper.

2. OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF MAGNET (Please circle or underline one alternative):

(5) Excellent! One of the best magazines I know: 26 ticked this option

(4) A good magazine. Worth reading: 9 chose this option.

No one ticked the other options.

(3) Average. With good and bad elements.

(2) Not enthusiastic about it.

(1) Poor in contents and presentation

Thank you, readers for giving us such a superlative feedback!

You have given us a real boost with your enthusiastic YES.

We find that it is worth aiming high and taking the trouble to maintain quality—in contents, style, language, design and print.

You are telling us that our huge investment in time, meticulous search for quality and minute attention to details have been worth it.

We shall continue along the same lines.

Feel free to give us your frank feedback any time—both bouquets and brickbats. Help us by suggesting new topics, columns, features or writers.

And help us to reach more readers who look for a magazine that promotes personal, spiritual and social awareness and integration—and do it with accuracy and grace.

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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The Miracle Worker

Director: Arthur Penn *  Cast: Anne Bancroft, Patty Duke,   Victor Jory , Inga Swenson , Andrew Prine. 1962. 106 minutes.

This is a dramatization of the relationship between two remarkable women—Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller—whose lives have inspired generations. It presents how the unique relationship between a teacher and a pupil develop.   Young Helen, the daughter of the Southern aristocrat, becomes blind and deaf after an attack of scarlet fever in her infancy. Totally unable to communicate with anyone, Helen grows into physically robust girlhood, frustrated, unruly and occasionally violent. She once even throws her baby sister out of the cradle.  The parents contact the Perkins School for the Blind for help. Twenty-year old Anne Sullivan—a  partially blind former student of the school—is offered as a home tutor for Helen. Annie has to overcome the barriers of prejudice and hopelessness from the family and has sometimes to physically battle with the unruly child who would explode at the slightest discomfort.  Arthur Keller is initially not well disposed to Annie. During the first meeting, Annie   recognizes Helen’s intelligence and curiosity. She gifts her pupil a doll. Responding to the child’s love of the doll, Annie tries to introduce Helen to the finger alphabet by spelling the word “doll” on Helen’s palm. Helen learns it but rebels when the doll is taken away from her. Annie refuses to give up and persistently tries to reach the child’s heart and make her learn sign language by touch. She demands that the girl be set up in a separate house with herself to teach her good manners and upkeep.  Persistence, strictness and genuine love win out. Finally, she is able to make Helen connect the hand signs with things. This leads to a rebirth in Helen and a discovery of herself which is the beginning of her journey of education through which the world famous Helen Keller was made. The climactic point is when Helen is able to partially articulate the word “Water” with her mouth when Annie takes her to a water pump and spells it on her palms. Love and patience have triumphed.

The Social Dilemma

Director: Jeff Orlowski * Cast:  Tristan Harris,  Aza Raskin, Justin Rosenstein,  Shoshana Zuboff,   Jaron Lanier, Skyler Gisondo, Kara Hayward, Vincent Kartheiser, Anna Lembke. 2020. 94 minutes.

This docu-drama is about a crisis that today’s world faces—the issue of online life and the hidden and overt threats that it poses for mankind.   The cell phone affects family and professional life.  The film provides commentaries by experts highlighting the challenges that it poses to civilization.  The IT companies of today are the wealthiest in history.  Their method of operation raise ethical questions on an unprecedented scale. There are no effective methods of putting them in check. The film explores how addiction and privacy breaches are features, not exceptions, in social media platforms, how much power a handful of tech companies have on the public experts and how they invisibly control individual lives. The fact is that media platforms and the manner of their design and operations are meant to cultivate and foster addiction, manipulate individual lives and governments, and spread fake news. Conspiracy theories and disinformation have become the staple of online discourses. Interviews and commentaries involving prominent tech experts are provided. These experts were former employees, executives, and other professionals from high profile tech companies and social media platforms such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Mozilla. Platforms like Wikipedia are neutral by showing all users the exact same information without curating or monetizing it. The commentators are agreed on the need for some serious changes in approach to the use of artificial intelligence in social media. The worst part is the increased mental illnesses (depression and suicidal tendencies) related to the social media. Social media addiction has led to an unprecedented increase in depression in recent decades among the youth; and the worst affected are preteens who are tied to their cell phones. A 62% increase in hospitalizations for American females aged 15–19 and a 189% increase in females aged 10–14 due to self-harm, beginning in 2010–2011.   A 70% increase in suicide for females aged 15–19 and a 151% increase in females aged 10–14, beginning when social media was first introduced in 2009.

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Prof Gigy Joseph

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Cynthia was a very attractive young girl who loved swimming. She often went to the State-run swimming pool in her town. At school she was star swimmer, and won several competitions. However, though still in the prime of youth now, she does not swim any more. She avoids going anywhere close to swimming pools. She does not watch any of the swimming competitions on TV.

She has lost interest in her studies and all outdoor activities and avoids her friends. She prefers to stay at home and read books. She has begun to binge eat and has put on weight. Occasionally she snaps at her parents and then feels sorry for it and apologizes profusely. “What’s happening to you? You have changed,” her concerned parents would often ask her. “Oh, nothing,” she would tell them. “It’s that I don’t like swimming anymore and really enjoy reading. I want to become a writer.” But her parents knew something was really wrong and encouraged her to see a therapist. She resisted for long. Finally she did go to a therapist.

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FR JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB

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Sr. Dolores Rego was born in Mangalore on 12^th September 1932 as the eldest daughter of Lucy and John Joseph Rego. She entered the Institute of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary on 14^th June 1962 in Ketti, Nilgiris. She made her first profession in Maria Assunta, Pune on 15^th December1964. Soon after her first profession, she was sent to Via Giusti, the Generalate house in Rome to help in the General Treasurer’s office for two years. She made her Final Profession on 15^th December, 1970 in Mangalore. From 1966 to 1973 she assisted the Provincial treasurer at St. Thomas Convent, Mylapore. From 1973 to 1978 she was the Provincial treasurer of Ootacamund province.

She attended Theological course in Mater Dei Institute, Goa from 1978-1980. In 1980 the five provincials of India had a new venture and needed a common Secretary for the five Provinces and Dolores was chosen as the Common Secretary. She was based in Villa Theresa, Mumbai. In 1986 Dolores was appointed as the local superior of Maris Stella Convent, Vijayawada. In 1990 she was transferred to St. Anthony’s Home, Mumbai where she was in charge of the orphans and the crèche.

In 1996 she was selected as the National Secretary of the Conference of Religious, India (CRI). She accomplished this task for 8 years with great determination, efficiency and enthusiasm. In the year 2000, Dolores was appointed as the Executive Secretary of AMOR (Asia-Oceania Meeting of Religious). As the National Secretary of CRI Dolores has organized Annual Conferences, Assemblies for the Major Superiors of India. Dolores has written a booklet, Religious life in the New Era and also contributed an article in the book “Women’s Development in India.” As CRI National Secretary Dolores has worked very closely with two CRI presidents, Sr. Hazel D’ Lima DHM  and  Fr. Lisbert D’Souza S.J.

In 2006 she was transferred to Villa Theresa, Mumbai. She was entrusted with the work of the History of Mumbai Province which she did with dedication till date. She was also doing the Province News Letter for two years. She loved to entertain visitors and guests. Music was her delight, she used to play violin, guitar and the keyboard.  She loved children, was fun loving, and above all she loved the poor and the orphans. Dolores enjoyed life and celebrated it to the full be it with her family or friends or with her sisters in the community. She had many friends and acquaintances all over the world and kept in touch with them till the end.

May you enjoy eternal bliss in heaven!

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A DRUG-ADDICT GIVES LIFE TO MANY

Sr Theresa Viegas PBVM

Just for bit of relaxation after completing the day’s responsibilities, I called a former student of mine who was now a joint Director of SOTTO-Goa (State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization).  Her unexpected reply was: “I am dead tired…just waiting for the last organ to fly and the body to be taken to the morgue.”

Prem (name changed) only son of a family in Chhattisgarh, got hooked to drugs at a very early age. A high school dropout,   his thirst for drugs made him to land in Goa in search of drugs. For a steady supply of money, he took up a job in a hotel. This particular day he was knocked down by a speeding vehicle, only to be declared brain dead when brought to the medical college. Prem’s noble parents donated all his organs and his body for research.

As the saying goes, ‘one is rich through what one gives and poor through what one refuses and keeps.’   With a million thanks to the quick response of SOTTO team, Prem’s heart beats anew in Mumbai, his liver lives on in Nagpur, his lungs breathe in Secunderabad, his kidneys gave new life to two in Goa, and other organs and tissues bring new life and hope to several other sick persons.

All a Matter of Giving

That night sleep eluded me. A drug addict who lived for himself yet lives on in others unfolded to me the profound message of life.  Prem came to give? He would have no idea of the good his giving has brought…No! The time to give is while we live, and not after our death. I wish to quote German biologist Andreas Weber, “Life is a part of a gift economy. You are given this enormous life to enrich it as best you can and then you give it back. It’s all a matter of giving.”  Once, when Dr Abdul Kalam was asked what makes him so enthusiastic, he said “I keep thinking of what I can give…”

I am deeply convinced that life’s best lessons are learnt from people rather than from clever theories. There is only one life to live. We can keep on walking, scattering petals, leaving behind a trail of the fragrance of goodness. Wreaths and crowns are sure to descend at the end of the journey. Every moment of each day is the favorable time to give, let it begin with a smile.   Give a smile:  you lose nothing, it improves the face value regardless of caste, colour, creed and complexion. The glow of joy illumines the giver and the receiver alike, reflecting the image of the creator. A smile is contagious and one is bound to get it back. As Mark twain said, “wrinkles merely mark where smiles have been.”

The Many Gifts We Can Give

Give a polite word to those you interact with, knowing you are passing by just once, and this moment will never come again. Give courage to those you find in despair. You may be the only angel the person ever encountered. Give hope – let yourself be the reason for someone to live. Give your time, for there isn’t a greater gift than that.     What joy could exceed the realization of all that the creator of the universe has given you, and, to add to it all, He has carved you on the palm of His hand?  There are countless reasons to be grateful.  The awesome gift of breath and of this new day is enough to forget all hurts and to let go … and to keep giving…

Martin Luther King once said that life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?   Show kindness to all as the only rent you need to pay for occupying a place on this earth.   Give your compassion to all who need it and let the world be a better place because of you. Be a source of inspiration around, enlightening every corner you visit with positivity. Be an optimist with no complaints. Be proactive. May you yield a rich harvest and be like a magnet that attracts others with your giving, After all, it is in giving that we receive.

After spending years serving the Dalits doing the most unwanted jobs, Sr Theresa now works as archivist for her province.

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Sr Theresa Viegas PBVM

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By Barack Obama (2020)

Barack Obama made history as the first African-American President of the US A and winner of the Nobel Prize. In this engaging memoir, the 44^th U S President recaptures his life and career.  Obama speaks about his political and personal life. Coming from a most unpromising background, of mixed ethnicity, brought up by a single mother in Hawaii, Obama’s formative influence was his Scottish grandparents. He admits with a sense of embarrassment that during the college days he cultivated a kind of pseudo-intellectualism to impress women than anything else.  At Columbia and Harvard, he developed a desire for social change which led him to undertake community leadership in Chicago that evolved into political engagement. After his initial defeats in public life, he almost completely withdrew from public life.  As a lawyer he engaged with civil rights and married his fellow lawyer Michelle. His speech at a Democratic Convention shot him to national popularity. He saw political corruption that increased his desire to fight it. Race prejudices notwithstanding, Obama made history by being elected the first African-American President. He successfully handled the economic crisis of 2008. The Nobel Prize came as a surprise.   On the personal side he makes note of how his public life put strains on his family and how he and Michele handled it.  Obama reflects that he had trained himself to “take the long view, about how important it is to stay focused on your goals rather than getting hung up on the daily ups and downs.” Aware of his own limitations, he notes how “Enthusiasm makes up for a host of deficiencies.”  He also offers this piece of wisdom: “I suspect that God’s plan, whatever it is, works on a scale too large to admit our mortal tribulations; that in a single lifetime, accidents and happenstance determine more than we care to admit; and that the best we can do is to try to align ourselves with what we feel is right and construct some meaning out of our confusion, and with grace and nerve play at each moment the hand that we’re dealt.”

The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State

by Nadia Murad and Jenna Krajeski (2017)

Nadia Murad shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Dennis Mukwege in 2018 and is UN Good Will Ambassador. This harrowing yet inspiring memoir draws attention to the horrors experienced by the victims of recent persecution and genocide by the Islamic State, most of whom are women and children. Murad recounts how the ISIS enslaved, raped, tortured and murdered the Yazidi minority in Iraq.  The Yazidis are an ancient people, a barely one million strong ethno-religious minority in Northern Iraq. Nadia Murad was the youngest of a large Yazidi family in Kocho, a village in Mosul region. A close-knit community of 200 Yazidi families lived here.  Nadia’s father was a respected man in the village. She was a bold and courageous schoolgirl who dreamt of becoming a teacher. When Iraq’s peace was shattered with the rise of the ISIS, life took a more violent turn for them. Soon they were given ultimatum to convert to Islam or face death. On 3^rd August 2014, the village was raided by ISIS militants and the people started to flee. Many died of hunger and exhaustion on the way. The ISIS executed those who refused to convert. This included six of Nadia’s brothers. She witnessed the massacre of old women. The bodies were buried in mass graves. The young women and girls became sex slaves subject to unimaginable cruelty. The ISIS militants took Nadia to Mosul to join the thousands of other Yazidi girls to be auctioned off in the slave market. She became the sex slave of an old man named Haji Salman and was exchanged among several men who repeatedly gang-raped and tortured the teenager. She escaped and found refuge in a friendly Sunni family. From there she eventually reached Germany and was able to contact other refugees with similar experiences.  With the help of human rights activists, she sought to draw attention to the plight of the persecuted people in Iraq. Murad’s story drew world attention to the continuing ethnic extermination going on in the Middle East and led to the Nobel Prize.

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Prof Gigy Joseph

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Let me start with a condolence note in the name of National CRI: Sr Dolores Rego FMM, who was National Secretary of CRI from 1995 until 2004, expired on 18 June 2021. You will find a short write-up about her on page 5. Thank you, Sr Dolores, for what you did for the Religious of India during your eight years of service, as well as for the leadership you exercised in AMOR.

I remember you, Sr Dolores, from our meeting in the year 2000. You invited me to give the keynote address at the National Assembly 2000. Held at the newly built Sathyabhama Engineering College, Chennai, on the theme, “Cost of Discipleship.” From then on, we were in touch off and on, until our last meeting in Mumbai, followed by emails. From your place with God now, help and guide us, please!

This issue focusses on something that has been on the mind of millions in these months—the first and second waves of COVID-19, and anticipation of a third wave. You will read the personal stories of three COVID survivors, followed by an interview with a nursing superintendent who has been in the thick of things for months. In fact, MAGNET is starting a regular column by medical personnel. Most of us—including most church personnel—seem to be unaware of the challenges doctors, nurses and their helpers face, especially during a still mysterious pandemic. Hats off to them for their service! We owe more to them than we know.

Another aspect of COVID that many of us may not be aware of is its impact on mental health. In an interview given to The Hindu newspaper, the director of the highly regarded medical institute, NIMHANS of Bangalore, speaks of these effects. Many people are going to need not only rest, food and medicine, but also emotional support. One of the consequences of COVID is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. You will find a clear explanation of it in the Psychology column.

Another new feature: Tips for Teachers. The vast majority of Indian religious work in education. We are also in touch with thousands of lay teachers, whom we meet everyday at work. Teaching is probably the most influential human activity, after parenting. I am trying to rope in experienced teachers to share their experiences and tips in this column. Let me know if you like to contribute.

To those of you who filled in the Feedback Form in the April Issue, and let us know what you think of MAGNET—Thank you! Your appreciation is more than positive, and your rating of MAGNET is truly heart-warming. You will find a brief summary of the feedback on page 38. Whether we ask for it or not, feel free to help us with your frank feedback, pointing out what we do well and where we need to improve.

On page 31, you will find a Chart with dates. It is a sort of time-table for the next Synod of Bishops. Why publish it here, if we are not bishops? For the very simple reason that the church is not just bishops,  nor bishops plus priests and religious. The word “Synod” means coming together. The more we get involved in the preparation, running and implementation of the Synod, the better for everyone. Pope Francis has been insisting on this time and again. No one has the monopoly of truth or good ideas. No one knows from whom the best ideas will come, nor whom God will inspire to speak for the common good. So, as in fighting Covid, so, too, in living and taking responsibility for the church, may each of us do our share. All the best! The best listeners are generally those who contribute the most. If I do not listen to you, nor try to understand your situation and your views, and only want my ideas to be heard, we will just be a loud mass of talkers. In listening to one another, and in sharing our gifts generously, we can help build the Church into the true Body of Christ. This is also the spirit needed today in handling the worldwide pandemic.

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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“To be saints is not the privilege for a few, but a vocation for everyone.” – Pope Francis

“Our concern must be to know God’s will. We must enter that path if God wants, when God wants, and how God wants.” – St Gianna Molla

“The place that God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s hunger meet.” – Fredrick Buechner

“There is no place for selfishness, and no place for fear. Do not be afraid, then, when love makes demands.” – Pope John Paul II

“The Christian vocation is first and foremost a call to love—a love that attracts us and draws us out of ourselves.” – Pope Francis

“We all have a vocation. God has placed us in this life to fill a special need that no one else can accomplish.” – St Francis de Sales

“Each woman who lives in the light of eternity can fulfill her vocation, no matter if it is in marriage, in a religious order, or in a worldly profession.” – Edith Stein

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MESSAGE OF POPE FRANCIS FOR THE 2021 WORLD DAY OF VOCATIONS (25 April 2021)

[The following text is taken verbatim from the Pope’s message. The complete document is found on the Net.]

Through his ordinary life, he [St Joseph] accomplished something extraordinary in the eyes of God.

God looks at the heart (cf.1 Samuel 16:7), and in Saint Joseph he recognized the heart of a father, able to give and generate life in the midst of daily routines. Vocations have this same goal: to beget and renew lives every day. The Lord desires to shape the hearts of fathers and mothers: hearts that are open, capable of great initiatives, generous in self-giving, compassionate in comforting anxieties and steadfast in strengthening hopes. The priesthood and the consecrated life greatly need these qualities nowadays, in times marked by fragility but also by the sufferings due to the pandemic…

Saint Joseph suggests to us three key words for each individual’s vocation. The first is dream. Everyone dreams of finding fulfilment in life. We rightly nurture great hopes, lofty aspirations that ephemeral goals – like success, money and entertainment – cannot satisfy. If we were to ask people to express in one word their life’s dream, … the answer [would be]: “to be loved.” It is love that gives meaning to life… Indeed, we only have life if we give it; we truly possess it only if we generously give it away. Saint Joseph has much to tell us in this regard, because, through the dreams that God inspired in him, he made of his life a gift.

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Sr Sandhya, whose experience includes teaching in different parts of India and leadership in her congregation, finds that vocation is a never-ending process. She recalls a formator whose love and wisdom helped her much.

“Vocation more than our own choice, is a response to the Lord’s unmerited call.” (Pope Francis, Letter to the Priests, 4 Aug. 2019)

Vocation, being a life option, is planted in us like a tiny seed by God even as we were conceived in our mother’s womb. It may be a call to seek God in the intimacy of marriage or a call to union with God in celibate life. The primacy of the path whom one chooses—reaching God through a human partner or through religious community and mission—decides the path one will follow.  To some, the discerning of vocations may seem as tangible as a gentle breeze. For some others the discerning of vocation may be an unquenchable thirst, a search for months and years before arriving at a decision.   What is important here is to know that God is the giver of our vocation.

Looking back over more than forty years of my celibate life, I can see how staying on in my chosen vocation has been a continuous process of discernment and decision-making. In the face of hardships and crises of adolescence (I joined as a teenager), midlife and post-midlife, what kept sustaining me was my decision to listen repeatedly to the unmerited call of Jesus, to see him at the center of my life and  my desire to be like Him in  prayer, community and mission.

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Sr Sandhya SND

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