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In his Apostolic Exhortation “Rejoice and be Glad,” Pope Francis suggests practical ways of achieving holiness in our daily life. “Holiness does not mean doing extraordinary things, but doing ordinary things with love and faith,” he says.

Saints: Our examples:

The saints who once were besieged human beings, are examples for us to keep moving despite our sinful nature. They guide us in our daily imitation of Christ. They teach us to persevere in the race towards reaching the goal set before us—holiness.  This is not a tag attached to a bishop, a priest or a religious. It is a call to everyone.

We find these examples in our own parents, community members, friends other loved ones or even persons whom we never bothered to pay attention to in our communities, society and in our streets, who live very ordinary way of life with love and great sacrifice. Pope Francis calls them “the saints next door.” In the same way we are called to be holy by living and fulfilling our ordinary lives with love and joy; for “There is no sadness in holiness.”

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Summary by Sr Theresa Phawa FMA

CRYSTAL

A couple of months ago, my spiritual director asked me if I wanted to be a saint. Of course, my spontaneous answer was an enthusiastic “Yes!” He then went on to ask me if I really wanted to be a saint, enough so that I would still say ‘Yes” if he said sainthood would necessitate giving up something I really enjoy, such as drinking wine. How quickly my enthusiasm for sainthood faltered once I realized that sacrifice of a favorite beverage might be necessary.

Thankfully, that conversation was an exercise in determining my desire for holiness rather than an actual request for that particular sacrifice. But it spurred an internal, ongoing search for identifying whether I really wanted to be a saint, or simply ‘wanted to want’ to become a saint. It is humbling to realize how difficult it is to honestly answer that question. I can wholeheartedly agree that more than anything else, I want to be loved by God and others. I have also long believed that at the end of our lives, we will be judged on how well we have loved. So, the only link that must be made between the two is how fervently we are willing to put aside our natural inclinations for comfort and selfishness and pride, and focus instead on the desires God has for us. The big challenge is to keep alive in our minds and hearts the awareness that living truly holy lives is worth the cost.

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Crystal and Kevin Sullivan

OTHER DETAILS TO VERIFY:

5. Check the Topography of the land. Topography gives the physical features of the land, whether it is situated on an elevation, cliffs, mountains, slope, valleys, ravines, etc. As far as possible, it is best to avoid these.  We can check this with the help of Google Earth.  Here it is also worth checking if the said land is located in a flood zone, rain catchment area, etc., and avoid such locations.

6. Check if the Public Utilities are available:  If all the above conditions are favourable, then we have to check if the necessary public utilities are available close by.   Public utilities can be many, depending on the purpose of the intended usage of the land. Most common among them are access road and transport facility, electricity, water, sewage, gas, telephone, etc.  It is very important that the land under consideration has a common public access road, without which we may never be able to use the land for anything. In case of no access road, strategically, it will be wiser to buy the plot for the access road first and then buy the inside land for the intended purpose.  Other amenities, such as school, hospital, shops, etc. can also be considered.

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Fr Alex Gnanapragasam SJ

EIGHT ESSENTIALS FOR A RELIGIOUS SUPERIOR

There is much writing on leadership today. Plenty in print and on the Net. There is no doubt that, in any organization, whether secular or religious, the leader makes a huge difference Think of Pope Francis or any head of state or head of government. Attractive vocabulary (Transformative Leadership, Servant Leadership, etc.) is not enough. We need persons who truly help the group to reach its goals effectively and in a lasting way.

Who is a leader? Definitions abound. I prefer the simplest one: A leader is someone with followers. A good leader is someone who helps followers to reach the goal or perform a task. Thus, there are always two elements to keep in mind when we talk of leadership: a group of persons and a task (or tasks) to be performed. The art of leadership is to be truly concerned about the persons in one’s care, and to get the tasks (or goals) achieved.

There are many ways of talking about leadership. Basing myself on what I have learnt from observing leaders (both religious and secular), from some experts and books, as well as from my own experience, I plan to present the essentials of religious leadership under eight heads. To make it easier for the reader to retain the matter, I am organizing the article this way: One point under heading 1, two points under heading 2, three under heading 3, etc.

Ready? Here we go!

1. Only One Leader!

A seminarian once told me about Father Rosario Krishnaraj, a charming and wonderfully inspiring Salesian priest whom I knew well: “After meeting Father Rosario, I believe more in Jesus. Many things I had heard about Jesus I find in him…

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB

‘Having all, Leaving all, Finding ALL in all!’

Herein I find the KEY underpinnings of my vocation story, synonymous with my life’s journey. To write about this love-story gives me a rush of “spiritual adrenalin” which is difficult to control or direct!  For how can a tiny finite mind capture Infinite Love and confine it to words /expressions that pale in significance before It? Nevertheless, I offer this feeble attempt of mine as a song of Glory and Gratitude to One who continues to “spoil” me with Love through the ups and downs I face, to the extent of allowing me an overwhelming Joy in finding All, my All!

Having all…

In my early childhood I remember having a totally happy, carefree life; the earliest memory of myself is at age 2, dancing with my doll. I had it all…the priceless gift of BOTH parents who incarnated for me Unconditional Love, together with four siblings, two older and two younger, who were great companions. I lacked nothing.

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Sr Manisha Gonsalves RSCJ

CRYSTAL

Here in the United States, there is a witty comeback when someone is acting bossy and trying to take charge of a group. We might say, “Who do you think you are, Mother Superior?”  While said in jest, this is a recognition that the role of Mother Superior is such that only one person is responsible for making the decisions and applying the rules that affect many. Whether those decisions and rules are appreciated or scorned, the role of a leader is important to maintain consistency and harmony in the community.

As a lay person, I have a different appreciation for the title ‘Mother Superior.”  I am a mother and in that sense consider myself the ‘superior’ of my children or grandchildren, not in intelligence or morality or worth, but in my understanding of what my responsibility is toward their growth.  As a mother, I believe that my role is to take the ‘less formed’ individuals whom God has given into my care and serve their needs.  Clearly, how this plays out in the lay world is very different from what happens in religious communities.  But, in both circumstances, I believe that the leadership role is one of service to others, exalting the other rather than oneself.  As Pope Francis has encouraged us: “Let us never forget that authentic power is service.”

Striking Similarities

Members of a religious community take vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. No such vow is required of a lay person.  However, speaking as a Catholic woman who is married and who has raised children and is helping with grandchildren, I do see some striking similarities in our roles.

For example, I see that the vow of poverty can be similar to the need for a mother to be poor in spirit. Any woman who has ever raised children knows full well…

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Crystal and Kevin Sullivan

“There are only two ways to live our life: one, as though nothing is a miracle; the other, as though everything is a miracle.“ (Albert Einstein)

A middle-aged husband and father now and an experienced management consultant, the author looks back at the years he spent in religious life and highlights the best lessons from that part  of his life. Leslie studied in a Don Bosco school, joined the Salesians, and went through several years of formation. After serious discernment, he found it best to choose the life of a layman. What did he pick up in religious life? What impact did it have on his later life and career?

Joining and Leaving

The earliest memory of transformation I have, was from being nicknamed ‘chicken’ in high school to ‘palm tree’ by the end of my novitiate with the Salesians of Don Bosco at Yercaud. Was that a miracle? I certainly felt so.

Something incredible happened to my life the moment I decided to join religious life. From a carefree playful boy, I was graduating to be a more responsible and serious person. I assiduously soaked in the understanding to the new way of life. The motto of St. Dominic Savio (‘Death rather than Sin’) captured my imagination. Despite all my seriousness…

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Leslie D’Souza

Who are “minorities” in India?

What rights do they have?

What national and international laws are there to safeguard their rights?

The protection of the minorities gradually evolved and came to be covered within the concept of human rights and fundamental freedoms as enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 declares that “all human beings are equal in dignity and rights” and prohibit all kinds of discrimination—racial, religious, etc. This was incorporated in Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as: “In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or use their own language.”

When speaking about India, we know that India is a colorful conglomeration of numerous races, religions, sects, languages, scripts, culture and traditions, with varying differences in dress, food habits, worship, customs, culture and language.  Therefore, the need to protect the interests of the minorities was felt even from the pre-independence era onwards. The vulnerability of the minorities was recognized. In the draft constitution of 1928 by Motilal Nehru, religious and cultural rights of the minorities and their protection were recognized. Emphasizing the importance of protecting the minorities, Jawaharlal Nehru stated the following;

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Sr Tresa Paul SCSC

KEVIN

I still remember some of my first impressions when Crystal passed along Father Joe’s invitation to write a column for a new magazine he was seeking to publish in India. While I have a great deal of respect and admiration for the intellect and spirituality of my dear bride, I have to admit feeling insecure about our ability to write something that might be relevant and relatable to an audience centered half a world away. Even in our short, two week stay in India I was able to identify some significant differences in the cultures of our two countries. I can only imagine how much I have not experienced and the differences that I can’t fully comprehend. All of those doubts came rushing back to me as I contemplated what we might offer on the subject of minority rights, a subject which has once again catapulted itself into forefront of cultural consciousness in the United Sates. As our politics have become ever more divisive and our appetite for identifying and sometimes self-identifying new minorities seeming to be insatiable, it is difficult to create a context to discuss minority rights these days. Life wasn’t always quite so complicated.

The American Experience

Perhaps the simplest and clearest way to express the context for a discussion on minority rights in the U.S. can be found in the Declaration of Independence authored in 1776 by a group of American revolutionaries seeking to become independent of British rule. In this document the colonists declared: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In this context human rights were clearly focused as universal, God given rights to pursue a life free…

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Crystal and Kevin Sullivan

During my 8^th and 9^th grades, Thérèse was my mathematics and faith formation teacher. She belonged to the Holy Cross Congregation. I knew she was a Sister, but we did not have to call her “Sister.” She just related with all as a sister, without any air of piety, or ‘holier than thou’ attitude. Apart from the fact that she did not wear any fancy dress, make up or jewelry, Thérèse looked absolutely ‘normal.’ She was completely ‘one among u.’ It took me years to be able to realize the generosity and distinctiveness of her commitment to God and to people.

Thérèse was a vivacious and cheerful woman. The problem was: I really loathed maths, her main subject. Thérèse thought a lot about how to help students learn and improve not only in her subject but as human beings.

One day, she came up with a new idea. She paired us, an academically strong student with a struggling one. I still remember being a bit annoyed with her plan, but she did not give us any choice. On the whole it proved a very ‘bearable experiment.’ My companion was a kind, soft-spoken boy with whom it was impossible not to get along.

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Sr Marie Gabrielle Riopel SCSM