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Rather than discuss ideas and theories, Sr Marian shares with our readers some of the precious lessons she has learnt about education through experiences that touched her heart. These events also show why teaching has meant the world to her.

I have not done anything very big in my teaching and in the administration of schools as a principal. Yet I would do anything to continue to teach. Why? The following experiences will hopefully answer this question.

Heart-warming experiences, after all, touch us and change us far more deeply than beautiful theories. Allow me to go back to some such experiences which I was blessed to live as a teacher and as a principal.

“Thank you for teaching my wife!”

 One evening I received a phone call from someone whose voice or name I did not recognize.  I responded to it rather carefully.  “Are you Sister Marian?” a man’s voice asked me.    To my answering Yes, the person said he was Justin (all names in this article have been changed).  He continued, “I want to thank you for teaching my wife Julie.”  I could not recall who Julie was, since I had worked in schools for more than thirty years, either as a teacher or as the principal.   He said, “Sister, a few days ago, my wife and I had a quarrel.   I was so angry with her, that I closed the bedroom and left her outside. She too was upset and angry. An hour later, she knocked at my door. I did not open it. She continued to knock, but I refused to open the door. At last, determined to give her another piece of my angry mind, I opened the door.  As I did that, before  I could even open  my mouth, she said, ‘Justin, I am sorry  for making  you angry,  and I want to apologize for that. Even if you do not want me to enter the room, it is OK , for I cannot rest  till I do that. Sr. Marian’s words are ringing in my mind, ‘Do not go to sleep till you settle your squabbles.’

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Sr Marian Mathew PBVM

Background

I have been associated with Catholic educational institutions all my life—both as a student and as a teacher. I stepped into a convent school at the age of three. I am fifty-two now. I am the Head of the Department of English in a First Grade College run by Sisters where only young women study. All my life I have been surrounded by Catholic values, vision, mission, motto and the like and I think I am fairly well-equipped to write on this topic. But I also know I have to distance myself a bit if I am to write anything at all.

I am me because of what I received in St Joseph’s Nursery School run by the Canossian Sisters, St Joseph’s Lower, Upper, Middle, Higher & Secondary Schools again run by the same team, St Joseph’s College and St Berchman’s College (where I did my UG & PG) and, of course, Bishop Kurialacherry College, Amalagiri, that made a teacher out of me—all of them beautifully, convincingly and unwaveringly Christian/Catholic institutions then and now. (This is what I meant. The Lucasian dilemma!).

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Prof. Rekha Mathews

I remember reading: “We need saints without cassock, without veil… We need saints in jeans that listen to music… Saints that place God in the first place… that are not afraid to eat pizza…” It’s part of a poem thought to be inspired by the words of John Paul II.

Regardless of its authorship, this poem’s view of holiness resonates in me. Moreover, I feel privileged to have met a number of persons who fit the bill. Katy is one of them.

I first met Katy in a school where we were both teaching. She had just finished her teacher training and had been teaching for about two years. At some point, we were asked to jointly handle the school choir. Soon, what started as a work relationship evolved into a deep friendship.

Katy has a sense of style and a clean elegance. I always wonder how she manages to be both fashionable and, in a way, detached from her personal appearance. Her grace is a gift she shares just by being.

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Sr Marie Gabrielle Riople SCSM

CRYSTAL

We all know that parents can strongly influence their children’s development and learning, in effect becoming their first ‘teachers.’ However, determining how much influence we have is not always as straightforward as it may seem. In fact, one of the things that used to frustrate me when I was a young mother was hearing that parents can control the outcome of their children’s habits by modeling those habits themselves. The wisdom of the day was that if you wanted your child to be a healthy eater, provide and eat healthy food yourself; if you want them to be readers, let them see you reading.

It made perfect sense, and I did my best to model behaviors and habits that would last a lifetime.  Imagine my consternation when our young son became the age when he could have been a reader, and getting him to sit down and enjoy a book was considered a torture tactic. I still remember him rolling around on the kitchen floor holding the book he was supposed to be reading and moaning as if in pain. And this was in spite of the fact that reading for me was a pleasure and a constant part of my daily life. What had I done wrong?

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Crystal and Kevin Sullivan

WHAT EVERY NEW ADMINISTRATOR NEEDS TO KNOW

For most priests and religious in India, the month of May is the time for transfers or appointments.  I am therefore addressing the issue related to transfers and appointments from the point of view of administration.

It is only natural for anyone to feel uncertain and to some extent nervous and frightful too, when he/she is appointed the first time in any administrative post—be it the Bishop, Provincial, Vicar General, Councilors, Bursar/Procurator/Treasurer, Superior, Principal, Secretary, Manager, Director, Parish Priest,  Minister, Administrator,  farm or kitchen in-charge.  If the person has no one to guide him/her, then the feeling of insecurity is all the greater.  This article is an attempt to guide such persons.  Some may be given more than one responsibility, such as Principal and Superior, Minister and Treasurer, Secretary and Treasurer, etc.

We will first discuss one of the most important topics applicable to us, namely, administration, and then within the administration, what is common for all, irrespective of what post one is to take up, and then deal with the matters specific to the general administration, financial administration and property administration.  Finally, we shall also see the roles (job description) of some important officials in administration.

What is administration?

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Fr Alex Gnanapragasam SJ

Using her experience and knowledge as a lawyer, administrator and provincial, Sr Regis presents the basics of administration for superiors and administrators.

1. Registered Society
A Registered Society is a juridical person or a legal entity. In legal terms it is known as Association of Persons. It has a registered office.
Each society is an independent legal person. It is represented by the President and is governed by the governing body. The registers and reports of the Society are to be maintained up-to-date by the secretary.

2. Five Documents
A registered Society has 5 important documents: Memorandum, Society Registration Certificate, 12A Certificate, FCRA Certificate and PAN Card. The name and all other information in all the documents should be the same. All the units attached to a particular society will use the same documents for any needs, like KYC for bank accounts, registration of vehicles, payment of TDS, etc. So we need to keep a copy of these documents in every community in the province.

3. Memorandum
Just as every Religious Order has its Constitutions and Regulations, every registered association has its Memorandum with its rules and regulations. A memorandum has Two parts: Aims and

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Sr Regis Savarimuthu SMI

She was in love. Her parents did not approve. She ran away from home  in the middle of the night to be with the one she had chosen.

When Love required that she leave her country, Italy, there was no looking back. She remained in her adopted country, and never went back. She never saw her family again. With her beloved she lived happily ever after, as in the fairy tales.

Sounds like the stuff romantic novels are made of, right? It is a love story—with this twist: Our ‘heroine’ was real, the one she was in love with was Jesus and when she left her home it was to become a religious Sister.

I first met Sr. Flamenia when I joined our congregation in Canada. She had what we would call a “humble job.” She was in charge of the hospital’s laundry department. She also took care of one of our Sisters who had remained partially paralyzed after a surgery.  She looked quiet and plain, but when I came to know how she had become a sister I was intrigued.

She wouldn’t speak much but I soon noticed two things about her: the constant quiet joy on her face and the patience with which she looked after the Sister entrusted to her care.

Some thirty years ago, when clothes were washed in common, I would see her pick up soiled clothes or linen without making a fuss or showing disgust. The way she worked gave dignity to whatever she did. She held herself with such serenity and grace that I could not think her work as demeaning or ‘low.’

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Sr Marie Gabrielle Riopel SCSM

Everything in the universe, being a system, works in a systematic way.  Each system has its own uniqueness and peculiarities.  Hence, when I am placed within a system, the rules of that system will apply to me and influence me. Even my survival may depend on that system.  Hence, I must have a fairly good knowledge of the system – how it operates and applies to me.  Similarly, knowing the Indian Legal System  is of immense help in our day-to-today living.

Components of the Indian Legal System’ (ILS)

One is able to get things done easily and efficiently when one knows how a system operates and the inter-connectedness of its components.  In the same way, ILS and its components have their own way of functioning in the justice delivery system.  The practice of the court is the law of the court (Cursus Curiae est Lex Curiae).  If you are compelled and dragged to the court in an inevitable litigation, you must know the rules of the game, lest you be an odd player.  On the play-ground, a player cannot say that he does not know the rules of the game.  In the courts, one is called upon to show that there is not only violation of law but also miscarriage of justice, whether it is in the civil, criminal, labour, revenue or administrative matters.  I shall enumerate six major components of ILS around which any litigation will revolve.

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Fr Ravi Sagar SJ

Youth are the NOW of God!

A warm, personal letter to the young—and to everyone else

This Papal Exhortation differs from other Vatican documents in contents and style. It is not only addressed to the young. Its contents and language will make the young want to read it. The heroes and chosen ones it mentions are young people—from the Old Testament right down to our days. It is a long document—in 299 articles, followed by 164 footnotes. This summary cannot really do justice to its rich contents.

The document starts on a note of enthusiasm: “Christ is alive!…He brings youth to our world…He wants you to be alive!”

The Pope then adds more words of hope: “He is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However far you may wander, he is always there, the Risen One. He calls you and he waits for you to return to him and start over again. When you feel you are growing old out of sorrow, resentment or fear, doubt or failure, he will always be there to restore your strength and your hope.”

He addresses this “Apostolic Exhortation” to all young people “with great affection.”

To show the young their call to holiness, Pope Francis mentions the young people God called in the Old and New Testaments, adding that Jesus himself was a young man.

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Fr Joe Mannath SDB

CRYSTAL

Reflecting on Scripture every morning has become a regular part of my prayer life, and there are those occasional moments when the words seem to jump off the page with God shouting… “Pay attention to this!”

This happened recently as I read the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians. Paul is describing his continued attempts to throw off any worldly goals and attain perfect holiness in a life possessed by Jesus Christ.  Paul counsels: “Just one thing: forgetting what lies behind but straining forward to what lies ahead, I continue my pursuit toward the goal, the prize of God’s upward calling, in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)

At first glance, this might not seem to be an overly momentous verse, but just a few moments earlier I had been reflecting on God’s love and forgiveness and this verse summarized and confirmed where my thoughts had led me. As a little background, Kevin and I had recently gone to the theater and watched the movie “Unplanned” about a woman who had worked for Planned Parenthood and had (indirectly) been involved in over 22,000 abortions.

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Crystal and Kevin Sullivan