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The insights of this professional layman, who resigned early from his legal firm to do ministry full time together with his wife, may help us to understand the dignity and holiness of EVERY vocation. In India, don’t we use the word “vocation” to refer only or mostly to priesthood and religious life, and “vocation promotion” as the attempt to get more candidates to our religious order or diocese?—Editor

Each time I sit down to write this column, I am aware of the honour and privilege I am being given to share a little of my life with a group of people whom I admire and respect so deeply. You all have chosen to give your lives in service to the Lord and His people and for that I feel a strong sense of gratitude. The deeper I have gone in my faith journey, the more I have come to appreciate those who have shaped me and made it possible for me to find my own way back to the Catholic faith.  I have come to realize that there is little chance that I would be a practicing Catholic today if it wasn’t for the powerful example of the great priests and religious sisters whose lives of dedicated service made an everlasting impression on me. Likewise, impressions of faithfulness provided by my own parents were strong enough to help me to find my way back to faith after years of being seduced by the secular world

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“Covid -19 has really shaken me up,” Elizabeth, a nurse at a COVID-care hospital, reported. “I have been disturbed by so much that I have witnessed—and experienced. I have lost dear ones and colleagues to death. I have experienced firsthand the callousness and cruelty with which especially the elderly sick were treated, simply left to die. What to do? We were just helpless in the face of this deadly virus and the lack of resources to handle it. And the way the dead were disposed of, deprived of any dignity, their dear ones not able pay their last respect, not even able to see them. I have screamed at God in anger and desperation…Why do such things happen?”

Elizabeth is not alone. So many of us, from different walks of life and in different ways, have seen our world come crashing down. Our illusions of safety and security were shattered. COVID-19 has caused massive disruptions and distress in our lives. It is easy to give in to despondency and despair.

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The term needs to be understood correctly. Superiors needs not only legal authority, but also moral authority.

In the award-winning film, Gandhi, directed by Richard Attenborough, there is a scene where Mahatma Gandhi is under arrest and produced before the judge.  As Gandhiji enters the court, there is an expression of awe on the face of the judge and he rises from his chair.  Seeing the judge rise, the entire court stands up, paying respect to Gandhiji.  The judge’s action was a spontaneous response to the authority possessed by Gandhiji. The judge said, with evident admiration for the great man: “It is impossible for me to ignore that you are in a different category from any person I have ever tried or am likely to try…”

What is authority?

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 I am Sr Soja. I belong to a religious congregation caring for the destitute and abandoned.  According to our constitutions, the period of Juniorate lasts six years, which may be extended to nine years according to the judgement of the superior general and council.  But two sisters from my senior batch were posted to a new mission station to be opened in Rome by anticipating their perpetual profession by three months, while others made their profession only after the completion of six years.  This year my brother priest is selected for pursuing PhD in France.  My brother desired to participate in my perpetual profession ceremony.  So, I applied in writing to my superior general requesting to anticipate my profession by four months.  But she did not agree to it.  If they could allow two of the sisters to anticipate their profession, why did they deny the favour for me? Please explain also the importance of the document of the act of profession.

Conditions for a Valid Perpetual Profession

To answer your query, let us look into the canons on the conditions for the validity of perpetual profession.  According to CIC cc. 658, 656 and CCEO cc. 464, 532 and 526, the following are the conditions: 1) that the person should have completed at least twenty-one years of age; 2) there has been previous temporary profession for at least 3 years; 3) that the person has renewed the profession according to the norms of law; 4) the admission has been granted freely and in accordance with the norms of law, by the competent superior after a vote of their council…..

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Have you watched the movie Tuesday with Morrie, or read the bestselling book on which it is based? In it, a retired professor—Professor Morris Schwartz, “Morrie” to his friends—who knows he is going to die meets with a former student to talk about issues that matter—love, family, forgiveness, life, death, … One of the first things Morrie tells the young Mitch is: “When you know how to die, you know how to live.” “Are you going to talk about dying?” Mitch asks him. Morrie: “No! About living!”

Mitch would later write of these encounters as his professor’s last class. In it, he learnt surprising and precious lessons: “I am lucky,” Morrie says one day. “Lucky?” “Ya, I get time to say my goodbyes. Many people do not get that time.”

Another day, Morrie mentions one of his great regrets—having kept anger in his heart, and not having forgiven a friend. “What a waste!” he exclaimed. “Mitch, forgive everybody everything!”

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB

This young woman was transformed by the way her sister faced death from cancer.

Not everyone is born a saint. We are not perfect. We desire fame, money and everything that can make us successful in the eyes of the world. We don’t desire death. We programme our mind in such a way that we shut out whatever we fear or don’t want to face or accept. And, when nothing ill-fated happens or when luck is on our side, we try to prolong our happiness and shun all pain, especially the possibility of having to face death. Only a few get the chance or the opportunity to face the reality of death. This comes in the form of sickness, accident and other unfortunate events which have a lasting impact on our lives.

If our life goes too smoothly, we carry on as if we will never die. We would never let the thought of death show its ugly head.  However, when we encounter a life-changing experience, it teaches us to face the reality of death.

That was what happened to me and my family….

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Elena Kharkongor

We, at MAGNET, invited open feedback about religious from lay women and men, in these words:

“Thousands of schools and colleges—from top-rated institutions in cities to those catering to the poorest in the villages—are run by religious. So, too, hospitals and health centres of all types. And centres for street children, homes for the destitute aged, leprosaria, orphanages, media houses, retreat houses, shelters for the homeless, legal aid centres, …

As a lay person, you will probably be familiar with one or a few activities of religious. We would like to know your impressions of Catholic religious (women and men) and your expectations from them. “

Here is a frank and well-thought out feedback from a professional familiar with members of religious orders.

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Conrad Saldanha

Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) of 1968 is a law with special reference to this lockdown period

Imposition of ESMA:

“The Covid-19 outbreak has breathed life into antiquated laws,” says The Economic Times of 21 March 2020.  In April 2020, the Uttar Pradesh Government decided to put on hold the increase of the Dearness Allowance (DA) for its sixteen lakh employees which was due from January 1, 2020.  The government decided not to pay DA instalments which will be due from July 1, 2020 and January 1, 2021.  Further, it imposed ‘The Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1968’ (ESMA) and prohibited strikes in workplace for the next six months.  Similarly, the Andhra Pradesh Government imposed ESMA on health and medical services for a period of six months from April 2020.  The Madhya Pradesh Government invoked it on 3 April 2020 across the state as a measure to prevent any strike by essential services delivery system, including the medical and health services.  Therefore, it is high time we learnt the provisions of ESMA, especially during this pandemic period.

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Fr Ravi Sagar SJ

We are currently living through perhaps the worst crisis the global community has faced in the last one hundred years since the Spanish flu of 1918. COVID-19 has disrupted life on a massive scale.

Recently, in a talk to faculty and students, Fr Stephen Mavely, Vice Chancellor of Assam Don Bosco University, made a comment which later became the central point of his address at the University Convocation. He described this as time of “churning.” He presented the following characteristics of this churning: a challenging time, a disconcerting time, a revealing time, a disturbing time, an unsettling time. The talk inspired me to reflect further on this “churning.” I characterize this time with three phrases: a time of unsettling disruption, a transformative time and a time for community and compassion.

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FR JOSE PARAPPULLY SDB

Here are the salient points of the new Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act 2020, passed by the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, on 28 September 2020. It amends the previous Act of 2010.

1. General Guidelines

According to the FCRA laws 2010 and Rules 2011, the FCRA registration certificate has to be renewed once every five years. The renewal application should be made six months before the expiry of the existing registration. The FCRA registration certificate will lapse if the renewal is not done in time. This means that after the period of validity of the certificate the association will not be able to receive foreign contributions.

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Fr Trevor D’Souza FCA