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

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

This implies three things.

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

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

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

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

2. The difference I think I have made

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

Fr Denzil Fernandes SJ

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We, members of religious orders and clergy, claim to have made this choice to follow Jesus more closely. We are offered a long, expensive and specialized formation for this. In the simplest terms, following Jesus means to walk through the world as He did, as a loving, compassionate healer, centred on God’s will and not on power, glory and comfort. People who deal with us on a day-to-day basis make out pretty soon whether we are genuine in our quest or have wandered from it. The following ten mini-articles look at the dangers, failures, inspiring examples and wise choices we see in real people. We can open our eyes and learn. May we become good human beings others can learn from.

1. Do Not Become Worse, please!

She was young and smart and pretty. Being good at studies and good-looking as well, she was expected to study, get married and have a career. But, to the disappointment of her family, she told them she wanted to join the convent. The main reason was the inspiring example of one of the sisters who had taught her. The parents didn’t like the idea, but, seeing her determination, finally gave in. She went as a candidate to the congregation she wanted to join.

Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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Here are the new regulations of the Income Tax applicable to charitable and Religious Trusts

A new rule (17AA) titled ‘Books of account and other documents to be kept and maintained’ has been added to Income Tax Rules 1962. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has brought out a comprehensive list of records that charitable institutions that get income tax exemption have to maintain.  These Income Tax (24th Amendment) Rules have come into effect from August 10 and would be applicable for universities, medical colleges and hospitals as well.  It is said that such a move intends to strengthen the surveillance and ensure tax benefits are meant for right causes.

These new regulations would be applicable for universities, medical colleges, hospitals and any other form of charitable entities functioning under the umbrella of tax exemption under 12A or 10(23C). Thus, henceforth, all charitable institutions and trusts will be required to maintain an exhaustive list of documents to get income tax exemptions. These include documents pertaining to payments made domestically or abroad, PAN/Aadhaar of voluntary contributors, projects undertaken, loan taken or given, investments made, etc., details of which are given below:

Fr Alex G. SJ

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A brief presentation of the Pope’s recent encyclical on the Liturgy, and how we can live it today.

          One of the priests from our community was recently transferred.  In an informal conversation which recalled his presence in the community, one of the priests remarked: “He was the backbone of the liturgy in the community.  Whether it was the mass or the liturgy of the hours, he would take time to prepare, see to every detail and animate the community with joy and decorum.  We will miss him.”

          Liturgical celebrations are a very important part of Christian life and much more so of the life of priests and religious.  And to have someone capable of animating the liturgy well is a great blessing for a community. Recently Pope Francis invited all of us to reflect on the importance of liturgy in our lives through his Apostolic Letter entitled Desiderio Desideravi. This letter was published on 29 June 2022, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.  We shall present in brief some of the key points mentioned by the Pope.  It could be an incentive for us to give greater attention to the way we celebrate liturgy.

          The title of the letter “Desiderio Desideravi” (I have earnestly desired), is taken from the words of Jesus with which the account of the Last Supper begins in the Gospel of Luke: “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).  The Pope says that he wrote this Letter to help all of us, 1) “to rekindle our wonder for the beauty of the truth of the Christian celebration,” 2) “to remind us of the necessity of an authentic liturgical formation,” and 3) “to recognize the importance of an art of celebrating that is at the service of the Paschal Mystery and of the participation of all the baptized in it, each one according to his or her  vocation” (DD, n. 62).

• Wonder for the beauty of the truth of Christian celebration

The attitude that we ought to have in front of the Christian celebration is a sense of wonder.  We stand in awe and wonder at the beauty and truth of what happens in the liturgy.  What is meant by beauty here is an excellence that leads to a deep sense of fulfilment.

Before the Last Supper, Jesus tells the disciples: “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).  This indicates God’s great love for each one of us.  Each person of the Most Holy Trinity desires to enter into communion with us, out of their great love for us.  Jesus gives concrete expression to this great desire by instituting the Holy Eucharist.  Through the Eucharist God and humans enter into communion with each other.  We go to the Eucharist in response to the great love God has for us, a love that made him to become our food.  Pope Francis says: “We may not even be aware of it, but every time we go to Mass, the first reason is that we are drawn there by his desire for us” (DD, n. 6).

In the Eucharist, Jesus, the eternal Son, gives himself to us, unworthy human beings, out his great love.  There is, indeed, an infinite disproportion between the greatness of the gift and the littleness of those who receive it. In front of the excellence and greatness of God’s love, his great desire to draw us into communion with him, we bow in awe and adoration.

Fr Jose Kuttianimattathil SDB

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• “I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love.” (Henry Ward Beecher)
• “Friendship is “a kind of ‘sacrament’ of celibate love.” (Sandra Schneiders)
• “We must allow ourselves the exhilaration, genuinely felt and shown, and not just spoken about, which comes from loving and being loved. Only in this way, and through this experience, can we come closer to an understanding of a God who is defined as love.” (Francis Moloney)

Understanding Celibate Chastity

Remaining unmarried or not engaging in sex is not what celibate chastity is about. Both these are essential, of course, if one wants to practise celibate chastity. But these are not the essence of celibate chastity. At the heart of celibate chastity lies a profound mystical dynamic—a fascination with Jesus of Nazareth and what he called the “Kingdom of God.” Jesus and his kingdom become so important in our lives that everything else becomes relative, including sexual pleasure, family and children.

The Jesuit writer Peter van Breemen spells this out beautifully:

“In its final analysis, celibacy means being captured by Christ. He is our life (Col. 3, 4), fascinating us so completely that eventually we become unmarriageable. In its deepest sense, this is what celibacy means….  Celibacy does not mean that one has lost something, but rather that the celibate has found Someone.”

Another Jesuit, George Aschenbrenner, shares a similar view. He observed:

FR JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB

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Jones shares with us in all honesty the mistakes he made that led to his separation from his wife and son, loss of his job, desperation and attempted suicide, seeking answers from astrologers and finally finding peace and happiness in the Lord

Praise the Lord!

I’m Jones, forty-three years old, an Indian married and living in Sri Lanka. I was brought up in a traditional Catholic family. I served as an altar boy, and my biggest ambition was to become a priest, which eventually changed after my school days. My two brothers and I hated drinking, since we suffered a lot with my father, who is an alcoholic. After finishing my B.Sc. degree at Chennai, I was working as a Video Editor for a TV Channel and had a decent income.

            In 2008, I got married to one of my relatives in Sri Lanka. Life was good, and nothing to complain about. In March 2014, I left my job and wanted to do my own business, which was one of the bad decisions I took. Since I was doing work from home, I had a lot of free time and I was distracted by many things after work. I started to spend more time on social media and got caught up with my addictions. I would like to mention something here, which I think will be relevant. I always had a thought that I don’t drink or smoke which is mainly projected as the sin. I thought that other addictions are not counted as sins. So, I went on with my addictions which made me stay away from the family and into my own dark world, with evil desires.

Marriage on the Rocks

My sinfulness I fell into an unholy relationship. I started lying and cheating, started fighting with my wife, and had no care, love, or happiness inside my family. I went away from my responsibilities and there was a gap building between me and my wife, and even between me and my son. I always was feeling scared about getting caught for my wrongdoing. There was no peace at all. As is it said, you cannot hide your sin for long and it will be brought to light one day. Finally, I was caught one day but then they weren’t sure whether the relationship was sure unless I admitted it. I lied then also without accepting my sin. Fearing for my life, I flew to India to be with my mother, thinking I would never return to Sri Lanka. Basically, I ran away.

N. Jones

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Early every morning, eight-year-old Anuja (name changed) pulls a cart into town hauling water for her neighbours. When it’s full, the tank weighs about 450 pounds. After doing morning chores, the hardest part of her day begins. Instead of going to school, she goes to work in a brick factory all day long. It’s hard and tedious work, often in temperatures above 35 degrees, each family getting paid by the number of bricks they load. As Anuja’s mother was getting older and weaker and the family needed financial resources, Anuja was required to carry the family burden as she has four younger siblings.

“I wish I could go to school, but I need to make money to buy food for my family,” said Anuja in a desperate tone. “I’m afraid that I won’t be able to work enough. We owe other people lots of money. I work from six in the morning until six in the evening. But still we don’t have enough food.”. Her father died of COVID, leaving the family with a mountain of debt. And that’s how they came to the brick factory a year ago and Anuja started working. “I don’t know what to do, I wanted my daughter to be educated, so she doesn’t have to work in the brick factory like me,” said Anuja’s mother with tears rolling down her cheeks. Anuja’s dream of becoming a teacher is an impossible dream, as she is in no position to go to school. It’s hard to believe that a girl like her has to bear such a heavy burden on her tiny shoulders.

A child at this age is supposed to be on the shoulders of their parents, but it is a tragedy that a child of this age has to carry the burdens of the family on his/her shoulders. Why is there so much misery in our society? Where should a child be? He or she should be in schools, not in workplaces. Children should be playing in playgrounds, not washing vessels. Children should be doing Maths, not working in a factory. Children should eat good food, not working in fields in the scorching sun. Child labour deprives the child of her/his childhood. Are these children paid well for their work? When will our society treat children as children?

Sr Lini Sheeja MSC

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Etienne was a young European volunteer who worked in a camp for refugees in Kenya. He considered himself as agnostic or atheistic. He wasn’t interested in church or prayer. Being generous and keen on helping poor people, he went to Kenya to work in a large camp for refugees from other African countries.

His work included distributing food to the refugees. One day, after giving food to a large number of adults and children, he realized that very little food was left. Hungry people still waited in a line for food. He started giving out less and less, so that everyone would get at least a little. Finally, all he had was just one banana. Just then, a little girl appeared with her younger brother, asking for food. Etienne felt helpless. How to feed two hungry kids with just one banana? The girl was holding her little brother by the hand. She stretched her other hand towards Etienne.

Etienne did the only thing he could do. He gave the banana to the girl.

What she did then shook him deeply and changed him. She pealed the banana and fed her younger brother with that. When the tiny kid had finished eating the banana, she licked the inside of the banana skin, smiled, and left.

Etienne was shaken. “That day, I started believing in God,” he later said. He had never seen such generosity and self-sacrifice. A hungry little girl giving the banana to her tiny brother and going away happy, though evidently hungry.

Children are not simply blank sheets of paper on which adults write whatever they decide. No. Children have a mind and heart of their own. They are neither blank nor helpless. They do depend on adults for whole host of things, of course. But there is much we all can learn from them.

Ruby: Calm, Dignified, Heroic

Look at the following case quoted by Professor Robert Coles of Harvard University, who did the most quoted studies on children, including a whole book on the spirituality of children.

During the days of the racial integration of schools in the US, there was violent opposition from some Whites against the admission of Black (African-American) children in schools where only White children were admitted earlier. The US government made a law—influenced the by movement for racial justice led by Martin Luther King, Jr.—by which schools had to admit children of all races. Some White parents (those of European ancestry) protested vehemently and at times violently. Police had to accompany the African-American children to school for their protection. White parents stood on both sides of the road and shouted insults and threats at the Black children. See how Ruby, one of these kids, reacted. This is what her (white) teacher wrote about Ruby:

“I watch her walking with those federal marshals, and you can’t help but hear what the people say to her. They’re ready to kill her. They call her the worst names imaginable. I never wanted ‘integration,’ but I couldn’t say those things to any child, no matter what her race. She smiles at them—and they’re saying they are going to kill her. There must be 40 or 50 grown men and women out on those streets every morning and every afternoon, sometimes more. One of the marshals said to me the other day: ‘That girl, she’s got guts; she’s got more courage than I’ve ever seen anyone have.’ And he told me he’d been in the war; he was in the army that landed in Normandy in 1944. He told me Ruby didn’t even seem afraid—and she sure remembered how scared they all were sailing to France. I agree with him; she doesn’t seem afraid. There was a time, at the beginning, that I thought she wasn’t too bright, you know, and so that was why she could be so brave on the street. But she’s a bright child, and she learns well. She knows what’s happening, and she knows that they could kill her. They look as mean as can be. But she keeps coming here, and she told me the other day that she feels sorry for all of them, and she’s praying for them. Can you imagine that!”

Coles not only wrote about children; he listened to children. In this case, he went to meet Ruby, and wanted to find out how she found such strength.  When asked by Coles whether she did not feel frightened, this is what Ruby told him, “I do what my granny says; I keep praying,” Coles did not reduce this to a mechanism of defense, as his training would tempt him to do. He is honest enough to make this unusual confession: “My kind, trained in psychoanalytic psychiatry, has a far easier time probing psycho-pathology than appreciating the sources of strength and vitality and resiliency in the ordinary lives of people, never mind in the lives of our various heroes.”

Heroic children were by no means the only kind Coles studies. He went into classrooms, asked children about God, religion, morality and other central issues and listened to the moving conversations among children and with him. His famous book, The Spiritual Life of Children, carries the text of many such conversations, as well as the drawings done by children to represent religious themes.

Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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Practical reflections and suggestions of an experienced educator on the occasion of the International Youth Day (August 12).

“In a changing world, young people find themselves in a situation of fluidity and uncertainly, vulnerability and social unease, devoid of personal identity and experiencing exclusion. In such situations, every young person needs a person of reference—a significant other—in their lives. They look for one who can be close to them, credible, consistent and honest and able to enable, express empathy, offer support and encouragement, without being too judgmental.” (Saroj Mullick SDB, “The New Approach to Youth,” in Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, February 2018, page 105)

During this time of social-economic upheaval, when   the young are under tremendous turmoil, Fr Arturo Sosa SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus, has promulgated following four timely and valuable Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAP) to be accomplished by the Society of Jesus in their respective Jesuit Provinces under Province Apostolic Planning:

• Leading people to God;
• Walking with the poor;
• Accompanying the youth;
• Taking care of our common home.

Youth is an important part of the Church. Information technology has influenced the youth positively and negatively. Parents, teachers and guardians have a pivotal role to play in accompanying the youth in the changing times. Such accompaniment can be spelt out in the following ten guidelines.

What We Need to Do

1. Talent Development: A Jesuit school selected a rural tribal boy who walked ten kilometres daily to school for a one-hundred-meter sprint. He outclassed his compatriots in all the events, and bagged a gold medal. He maintained his speed and stamina till his college studies. Later, the Border Security Force recruited him to serve the country. In our schools and parishes, we have no dearth of talented boys and girls. We have only to be innovative to spot their latent talents in academics and extracurricular activities by giving them opportunities and promoting them in the early stages of youth.

2. Extra-curricular Activities: At the opening ceremony of the MP Province Assembly, the school band of Xavier English medium school, Pathalgaon, Chhattisgarh, performed a mesmerizing march past. What attracted the audience most was the astounding confidence of the students. It was still incredible to observe a village tribal girl, daughter of a cook, leading the whole band-group with absolute confidence. Besides having a proper syllabus, a schools needs to empower students in all  the fields through extracurricular activities.

Alexander Ekka SJ

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Dear co-travelers,

As we are already or enter the threshold of the category of senior citizens in consecrated life, our outlook on people, events, achievements, and even values of the past changes. Some, of course, continue to be immersed in various activities and some even continue to hold on to responsible positions in various capacities, which make them unaware of their seniority even though they begin to feel physically weaker and mentally less alert than before. They do not want to accept the fact that they are ‘seniors’ and want to continue as before, and even want to achieve more! They even think that they are loved and appreciated by the confreres, co-sisters, and others for continuing to hold on to their position and achievements. They feel that they are non-substitutable!

Obvious Changes

Most seniors, instead, begin to feel various symptoms of old age, like tiredness, lower physical energy and alertness, bodily pains, sicknesses (high blood pressure, arrhythmia, fibrillation of the heart, high glycemia, etc.), constant visits to the hospital, loneliness, less enthusiasm, etc. Even if we do not want to use the word ‘retired’/’pensioned’/’senior’, the fact remains. We may prefer to address ourselves as “differently-abled”! We become aware that the past is already gone and it’s not worth holding on to it. We become less attached to things and stop collecting. We begin to get rid of things, most of which are unnecessary or useless. We begin to forget our successes and achievements. Even those who surround us have already forgotten them. Instead, they seem to remember our failures perhaps more than our achievements! We realize that we have more friends in heaven than here on earth. An awareness dawns on us that it’s time to give a thought to our last and ultimate goal! Few friends and companions who still live have become seniors like us, confronting the same existential situation/problems as us. We even lose interest in spending time with them as we used to in earlier times. These experiences lead us to hold on to the present much more than the past or future, and rightly so. We become more aware that what we ‘are’ is more important than what we ‘do’. We have all the time “to be” than “to do” so many things. It is this awareness that makes us more human and more compassionate towards all and everything. We begin to leave aside the concept of religious life as one of solving problems, one’s own or of others, and start living the present in its fullness. We give more importance to spirituality than religion and religious practices!

As compassionate human beings, we seniors become aware, among other things, that we are gifted with deep sentiments of the heart more than the intellect. Thus, for example, we begin to appreciate the beauty of nature, which is the expression of the creative art of God Himself. We recognize that every being that exists is verum, bonum et pulchrum (true, good, and beautiful). What is true is good and what is good is beautiful. What is beautiful is also good and true. Beauty is the splendour of good and truth. Beauty has the same immense extension of being, truth, and good. We start enjoying the beauty of nature.

Beauty All Around Us

We become more aware that we are surrounded by beauty. We are immersed in beauty! Beauty appears to us and makes itself seen in obvious ways: beautiful is a flower, beautiful is a mountain cliff, beautiful is the sky quilted with stars in the dark night, beautiful is the mother bird who picks up her little ones and brings them to a safer place, beautiful is the child who plays with friends, beautiful is the boy who gives his seat on the bus to the elderly, beautiful are the callused hands of the worker, beautiful is the caress of the father, of the mother, beautiful is the night of the one who has assisted a sick person in the hospital, beautiful are the hands of two enemies who hug and make peace, beautiful is the choice to give oneself to God for all life…. How much beauty around us…!

Fr Scaria Thuruthiyil SDB

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