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Storms in life are sure to come.  Tossed by the storms of life, when the heart longed for calm and a sure guide, I cried aloud to God. He answered me, saying, “I am with you always.” But how can I feel for sure His presence and friendship?

Years rolled by in anxiety and fear, but with constant prayer and search.  Slowly the grace of God enlightened me to know the secret of life in the words of Prophet Isaiah (30: 15), “In silence and in confidence shall be your strength.” I remember a beautiful quote from a book, Silence as Yoga by Swami Paramananda, in which it is said, “How sweet is the sound of silence! How tender is its touch! How fragrant is its breathing! How lovely is its form!”  But how am I to quieten my anxious mind to feel this silence?

Breath and God’s Presence

I have heard and read the benefits of breathing exercise to silence the restless mind. Here I remember a famous quote by Eckhart Tolle, “Being aware of your breath forces you into the present moment–the key to all inner transformation.  Whenever you are conscious of your breath, you are absolutely present. Conscious breathing stops your mind.” Yes, twenty-one years ago, I remember very vividly, while waiting in a hall for an annual day celebration to start, there was some time in which I became aware of my breathing and began to feel God’s very presence within me. The verse from the book of Job (33: 4) says, “The very breath of God is in you.” This strengthened my faith in God and His presence within me.

Sr Nambikai Kithari SAP

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Here is a Catholic doctor who has served the sick during three epidemics. He is not only a doctor, but also an ordained deacon serving the diocese of Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.

Dr Timothy P. Flanigan MD received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in New York and completed his residency and fellowship training in infectious diseases at University Hospital of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia. He is now a member of the Division of Infectious Diseases at The Miriam and Rhode Island Hospitals and Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He is a fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America.

Remember reading about the deadly Ebola virus, believed to live in bats and wild animals? It was discovered way back in 1976. Since that time, the majority of cases and outbreaks of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) have occurred in Africa. The 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in West Africa began in a village in southeastern Guinea, spread to urban areas and across borders within weeks, and became a global epidemic within months.

Fr M A Joe Antony SJ

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The audit would have been just over and some of the Treasurers may be settling down in their normal work and some others may be trying to grapple with the unpleasant outcome and demands of the audit.  Perhaps the latter ones, especially those who are new to the field, may be at a loss too. Here are some guidelines for those in need.

1. Legal Compliances

In view of the statutory requirements of the Income Tax provisions, it is important that we pay attention to the following:

• For any donation to other trusts, ensure that the objects of both trusts match and that both are registered under 12AB.
• Ensure that there is no mutual donation between the two trusts.
• All donation receipts are to be accompanied with a letter of donation, and in case of corpus donation, with the explicit mention of the same.
• Avoid cash transactions as much as possible.
• Ensure that there is no cash donation receipt or payment beyond Rs 9,000.
• No cash donation of more than Rs 2,000 for 80G benefit.
• No cash expenditure of more than Rs 2,000 from FC funds.
• No FC funds to be transferred to anyone. Maintain the FC funds & FC accounts separately.
• Follow the TDS norms of deducting the required 1% or 2% (if a contractor’s single bill is of Rs 30,000 or more and multiple bills aggregating to Rs 1 lakhs) or 10% (to a professional’s bill(s) amounts to Rs 30,000 or more) as the case may be and depositing the same in the Government account before the 7^th of the following month.

Fr Alex G SJ

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I am Sr Hanna, the Major Superior of a congregation. Our Constitution (typicon) very clearly prescribes a dress code for our members. However, Sr Sapphira, one of our members, is going around without following the given dress code. Even after repeated admonitions, she continues to do the same. How should I proceed further canonically in this situation?

The life consecrated to God through profession of the evangelical counsels is indeed a particular way of life. By the very fact of their consecration, they embrace a life-style which involves observance of certain constitutive elements of this way of life. It would imply that they should embrace obligations which are directly and indirectly connected to religious vows which they make through public profession. It includes a wide variety of obligations referenced in the teachings of the Church, Codes of canon law and in the Constitutions (typicon) of the particular Institute.

Canon 669 of CIC and Canon 540 of CCEO enumerate the obligation of the dress code for a Religious. Both these canons emphasize that as a sign of consecration and as witness to poverty.  Those who are consecrated to God through religious profession must wear the dress which their religious institute (constitution) prescribes for them.

Sr Navya Thattil OSF

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Shared stories are beacons of hope. The shared stories of people who struggled to get out of porn to grow towards purity help those who find themselves in the same struggle.

A few years back I read the book titled, Delivered: True Stories of Men and Women Who Turned from Porn to Purity. It was authored by Matt Fradd, a married man who struggled with pornography and masturbation. The book tells the stories of men and women who victoriously came out of their addiction to porn or masturbation. If you ever felt that you wavered between loving the prison of lust and longing to be freed from it, then know that you are not alone. All wear battle scars and some of us will admit that we have a long way to go.

The book begins with a metaphoric hint taken from the movie 127 hours, wherein Mr. Aron Ralston, a mountain climber on his hiking adventure gets his hand trapped on a boulder. He takes desperate measures to survive the situation and struggles for 127 hours before he is rescued. Thinking of his wife Jessica and the desire to live, he decides to amputate his arm with a dull pocketknife. Matt Fradd explains two reasons why he began the book with the story of Ralston. First, when it comes to the topic of pornography, countless vocations hang in a balance. Potential marriages have been lost and many lose sight of their religious calling because of the spiritual blindness brought on by pornography. Second, many people feel crushed under the weight of their addiction. Many have tried countless methods to free themselves all alone, only to find that their efforts are never enough.

Fr Aneesh Chacko SDB

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Well! Here we find ourselves a year and one half into the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.  We have been praying along with all in India and throughout Asia as the infections soared and then started coming back down. We are hopeful that this pandemic, which is reported to have infected over 200 million people worldwide and has resulted in four million deaths, will be brought under control.

As alarming and tragic as this pandemic has been, it actually pales in comparison to another epidemic that has raged unchecked in the world for decades and poses perhaps a greater threat to the future of our world over the long haul than COVID does.  The epidemic and threat that I refer to is that of pornography.

I have been extremely hesitant to raise such a topic in a publication whose primary audience is priests and religious. However, over the last couple of years I have been doing a lot of reading on the health of our Church.   We are currently witnessing continued erosion in family formation, with young people choosing to put off marriage and expressing reluctance to have children.  This is a foreboding prospect for the future of the Church.

It is incumbent upon us to recognize that one of the greatest and still growing threats to the family and family formation is pornography, which continues to fuel moral decline in our world.  We need to learn how to talk about it!  The future of our families depends on it!

KEVIN SULLIVAN

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Dilip was browsing the web one day when he came across some nude pictures of women. He liked what he saw. And wanted to see more of them. He typed in “nude” on Google, and a whole series of nude pictures appeared. He typed in “sex” and graphic pictures of sexual activity appeared. The next day, when he opened his computer to do some work, sexual imagery began to pop up now and then, with links to porn sites. He began to access them. Gradually sexual imagery and activity began to fill his mind. Not satisfied with what was freely available, he began to spend money to access more and more hard-core stuff online. He was now spending an average 4-6 hours a day accessing porn… All this affected his work and his daily life and relationships. He cut out many other pleasurable activities he was interested in earlier, such as engaging in sports, spending time with friends, visiting places. He began to feel tired and exhausted. The joy and peace he used to experience began to disappear. He felt he needed to stay away from the porn sites, but could not. Accessing them became a compulsion. He began to hate himself for his inability to stay away from porn. He also began sinking into depression.

There is an explosion of Internet use today. A good deal of the Internet usage is driven by online pornographic pursuits. A sizable chunk of information available on the Internet is related to sexually explicit material. Sexually oriented chat rooms draw a large number of Internet users. Seminarians,  priests and religious are also part of the growing number of online pornography addicts. Often these forays into pornographic material begin as attempts to satisfy sexual curiosity, but develop into compulsions.

FR JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB

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I am not sure if my experience is worth sharing. I do it with the hope that it may help some people who may have gone through the same or similar experiences. Those who have not gone through such tough and shameful passages may not understand their pull or their destructive impact. I shall write it down just as I remember it.

When I joined religious life, I had only one desire—to be a good sister. I enjoyed my novitiate days and I was waiting for the day to commit myself to the Lord in service of his people. I was happy to be a religious.

After my first vows I was assigned to a community far from where I had joined. I did various types of work—volunteering in a hospital nearby and helping our community with routines jobs. I felt happy working with patients, especially children. So, too, it was a joy doing all I could for my community. I was young and full of enthusiasm.

Loneliness Sets In—and then…

One thing I missed was community support. Each one was busy with her work. We did not seem to care for one another. I started feeling lonely. As for the work, it all became dull routine after some time.

That was the time I started watching pornography. At the beginning, I watched just out of curiosity. I had been exposed to this type of pictures and videos when I was in the X standard, but had not picked up this habit. But now I found myself watching porn more and more. In fact, I feel ashamed to say, very soon I was watching porn every day.

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As I said in the Editorial, the push came from Kevin Sullivan’s unexpected article on addiction to pornography. Kevin, a wonderfully loving husband, father and grandfather—as well as a smart and experienced lawyer—is deeply disturbed by the impact of this phenomenon on marriages, youth, the treatment of women, and commitments in general. As I started looking around for people who can contribute relevant material for our readers, I also noticed that Indian press has been looking at this issue.

During walks, I stop at bookshops and newsstands. I check what seems to be the main topics engaging our most widely read magazines. Most of the cover stories about politics and politicians, or about business and money. Among the magazines laid out on the rack, I was surprised to see these two cover stories: Outlook, the Delhi-based news weekly, had “Looking at Porn” as the cover theme of their August 16, 2021 issue. The Week, the popular magazine published by the Malayala Manorama group, had on its September 5, 2021 cover: “Porn During the Pandemic: India becomes the world’s top consumer of adult content. And our children become even more vulnerable.” Indians accessed pornography on a large scale during the lockdown. This happened in other countries, too. But India topped the increase.

Shouldn’t we be at least as concerned about our children, the safety of women, and the stability of marriages, as these secular magazines seem to be?

Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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Like many others, I too want to read more books. I thought about how this wish could be fulfilled without having money to procure the books I want to read.. A mere desire to read is not enough. Most people are uncertain about what to read and do not know how to follow up their particular interests. A good start is necessary.  I used to read books, but not many. I used to follow the free resources (videos, articles, book recommendations) posted on wordonfire.org, a catholic website founded by Bishop Robert Barron, the Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles. It is through this website I virtually met Brandon Vogt, the content director of Wordonfire Catholic Ministries.

HITTING A JACKPOT

I researched a bit to know more about the person of Brandon Vogt. I was amazed at the findings. I wondered how a busy man like Brandon could put his hands on many things – reading, authoring books, writing blogs, parenting, managing multiple websites and podcasts. If you want something to be done, ask a busy man. If you wish to be inspired, seek wisdom from those who inspire.

Fr Aneesh Chacko SDB

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