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Romans 12.:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Mother Mary is the model to transform oneself unto the fullness of Christ. Transformation is not a call to passivity, it’s a call to action. The Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven is the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into heaven at the end her earthly life. Mother Mary’s assumption into heaven is a call to each of us to live our earthly life as a self-surrender to God alone.

I had a unique experience of transformation of my life and got empowered through the guidance of others. To share with you honestly, I faced many problems in life when I was a young religious mainly because of my ignorance of the situation and listening to negative people. At times I was arrogant, angry and not aware of the inner potentialities to help balance my life. This was made known to my spiritual guide by my sisters in community. One fine day my spiritual guide called me and asked me how I was coping in my life as a religious. I told her it is good and I am happy.  Further she asked, are you really happy? This question struck a chord within me, causing my conscience to surge forth and express itself.

Sr Benny D’Cunha UFS

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“Where the mind is without fear […]; where knowledge is free;

where the world has not been broken up into fragments by domestic walls; […];

into that heaven of freedom, […], let my country awake.”

– Rabindranath Tagore

A few days ago, I came across a report by United Christian Forum titled, “Atrocities Against Christians Increasing Drastically Year-On-Year.” It states, “The violence in Manipur has been raging for over two months now, and hundreds of churches and many precious lives have been lost. This year we have just completed half a year of 190 days and we have already witnessed 400 incidents of violence against Christians across 23 states in India with Uttar Pradesh leading the chart with 155 incidents. Last year during the same period (January to June 2022) 274 incidents of violence against Christians witnessed […]. This year the month of June in 2023 has witnessed the highest number of incidents against Christians with 88 incidents (almost 3 incidents a day).”

Addressing the issue of Manipur in his article, “Human Lives Matter” in the Indian Currents (10-16, July, 2023), Archbishop Emeritus of Guwahati Thomas Menamparampil SDB reacts that “Today our interests ought to coincide with hearts and minds united in shared human interests. Manipur matters. The Prime Minister should speak up.” He further comments that “Modiji remains unmoved, He coolly raises the issue of Uniform Civil Code [UCC] and diverts the nation’s attention from the tragedies of Manipur. Is the government deliberately adding insult to injury by keeping the Manipur horrors as a non-issue?”

Fr Arnald Mahesh SDB

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If a celebration does not give any joie de vivre to a person or to a group of people, it becomes a meaningless event. Colourful ‘social media posts’ alone do not create any meaningful celebration in the hearts and minds of the people. These thoughts are relevant as we celebrate Indian Independence Day, which marks the end of British rule in 1947 and the establishment of a ‘free and independent’ Indian nation. On Independence Day, when the Indian tri-colour flutters in the air, it is apt to reflect on the importance of ‘freedom and responsibility’, since every celebration is an opportunity to refresh the memories, to revive the ‘original spirit’, and to analyze the holistic growth progress of a person or an organization in responsible freedom.

Freedom has nothing to do with the amount of physical space we occupy or the bodily capabilities we possess or fulfilling our instinctual needs.  In fact, it is more about respecting the ‘space of the other.’ Freedom is to choose, express and to live without infringing on the personal freedom of others. One of the secrets of happiness is to exercise responsible freedom. Freedom without responsibility is destructive and responsibility without freedom is frustrating. As far as a person does not exercise responsible freedom, no holistic growth happens in the life of that person. As a foetus experiences freedom in the mother’s womb, every human needs to experience freedom in the earth’s womb.

Fr Binny Marydas

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Investment is a very important part of financial management. It is only common sense that whatever extra funds (other than what is needed for the short-term) we have are kept invested. Investment is done in order to earn interest, an additional income to support our needs. It is also meant to beat inflation.

Goal oriented investments: Any investment is done for a specific goal.  A financial goal is a very important and necessary element of investment. We may have many financial goals such as buying a school bus for Rs 20 lakhs, setting up a computer lab costing Rs 10 lakhs, putting up a new block for Rs 6 crores, setting up a poor students’ scholarship fund of Rs 5 lakhs, etc.

Kinds of Investment: Investment can be of different types such as fixed deposit (FD), bonds, mutual funds, shares, etc. Each category is meant for a specific purpose. We know what a fixed deposit is. It is an assurance given by a bank or company which accepts a fixed amount from an investor for a fixed duration of 1 year or 3 years or 5 years with a promise to pay a fixed percentage of interest. A bond is an assurance given by the issuing party, usually the government, which borrows money from its lenders, the public, for a duration of 10 years or 15 years to pay a fixed percentage of interest. A mutual fund is a fund managed by a company which pools together the money of the investors, invests the same in specified stocks of the stock market and earns profit on its investments and distributes the same to the investors proportionately. Here, neither the duration of investment nor the percentage of income (return) is fixed. However, we need to remember the exit load (penalty paid if exited before the expiry of the load period) levied by funds for various categories of funds. Return on the mutual funds depends on the performance of the specific stocks in the stock market. Unlike investment in a mutual fund, investment in stocks is a direct investment in the stock market where an investor invests his/her money directly in a stock (buys shares of a stock with the price per share of the stock at that particular moment) and duration of his/her choice (sells the shares bought earlier at a current price of the stock per share). The difference between the purchase price and sale price of the shares of the stock is calculated as the gain or loss for the investor.

Fr Alex G SJ

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“Your brain is pounding and every part of your body aches. You want to rise from the cold concrete sidewalk, but your attempts induce vertigo and you sink back to the ground. Crowds of people stream past you… but most stare straight ahead when they approach you, some even move away, afraid that something might happen if they get too close. Meanwhile the acid in your stomach causes you to groan. It has no food to break down. You never eat regular meals. Then an older man stops and asks your name. He has short, graying hair and kind, tired eyes. His name is Claude Paradis. Claude is a Catholic priest in the archdiocese of Montreal, Canada”.

This is how Peter Rajchert begins his article on this extraordinary Canadian priest in Messenger of St. Anthony (September 2022).

Fr. Claude understands homelessness – all the sufferings and indignities people who live on the streets face, because he has experienced them all.

Born and brought up in the Gaspé region of Canada, he worked in Cowansville as a nurse. Wanting to experience life in a big city, he came to Montreal as a young man. Unable to find a job for months, he was forced to live on the street. “Isolation and despair took hold of me,” he says. He became an alcoholic and a drug addict. In a city of more than a million people, Claude felt he was all alone and that he did not belong. He decided to commit suicide and attempted to end his life three times.

Doctors saved his life and decided to send him to a psychiatric institution. But after he was discharged, he roamed the streets of Montreal, as he had nowhere to go. One night he saw the glowing lights and the open doors of an old chapel, called Notre Dame de Lourdes (Our Lady of Lourdes). An encounter happened that night in the chapel. Claude entered and knelt down and asked God to give him a purpose to live or just end his life.

Our God is a God of life, isn’t he? So God gave him a purpose to live – to become a priest and serve his people. Claude joined the seminary and, after several years of priestly formation, was ordained a priest in 1997. After his ordination he could have asked to serve in a parish in the vast archdiocese of Montreal. But he did not. He joined Fr Emmett Johns, the founder of ‘Dans la Rue’ – a programme to reach out to homeless youth and give them a shelter.

Fr. M.A. Joe Antony, SJ

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One common temptation many of us face in life is that of living either in the past or in the future and failing to live in the present moment. We live in the past when we remain controlled by past events, sins, hurts etc. We live in the future when our mind is constantly obsessed with that which is out of our control. All that we need to focus is the present moment. How can we enjoy this present moment? I had two golden opportunities to train myself to be aware of the present moment, for which I am grateful to God and my Congregation.

Two years ago I did Vipassana at Igatpuri, Mumbai, where I experienced the purification of my entire body, especially my mind and sensations. Vipassana taught me to live in the present and helped me to develop a calm and clear mind. It is the practice of mindfulness which helps us to reduce stress and anxiety and improve the perspective about our current situation. Recently I did the ZEN Meditation at Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, where I learnt to focus my mind to the present moment. This meditation helped me to increase my attention and focus, to gain a new perspective in life. The main goal of both the meditations is to let go of our thoughts and regulate our attention to the present moment. Living in the present is as important as all other virtues for healthy and holistic living.

Sr Benny D’Cunha UFS

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Mindfulness has become  popular in the field of psychology and well-being in recent decades.  It is related to positive psychology.  Mindfulness practice is presented as a practice and  component within a broad Buddhist path toward liberation from suffering.

In 1979,  mindfulness was adapted by Jon Kabat-Zinn. He was a doctor of molecular biology, who practiced Zen meditation.  He  realized the potential of mindfulness to reduce the suffering of chronic physical and mental problems.   He developed “mindfulness-based stress-reduction” (MBSR) – an 8 week structured intervention in which patients learned to practice mindfulness.  It was taught to patients suffering from chronic pain, hypertension, and gastrointestinal syndromes

The proponents of mindfulness were those who had deep mistrust of traditional authority with a desire for radical psychological and spiritual experimentation. It is faith of sorts.  It is different from Buddhism.  It is a faith, not in religious hierarchies, or creeds or gods.  It is an ‘experience’.

Mindfulness has become a necessity in the twenty-first century with the growing stress levels and workload.  Studies have indicated that individuals have shown reduction in depression and anxiety when they regularly practice mindfulness exercises

Fr. V. Joseph Xavier, sj

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To be or not to be a parent is an extremely important decision. Everyone should consciously and intentionally consider whether they are capable to raise a child, willing to devote a good amount of time and energy. We must nourish ourselves before we set out on the path to parenthood. Parenting is a journey where one must be present and pay complete attention. It is a commitment to be responsible and willingness is the prerequisite.

A Conscious Choice

The craftsmanship of parenthood blooms with effort and patience and should be enjoyed thoroughly come what may. A child is initiated into this world through the love and care of the parents. The parent should be prepared for the task of raising a child.  Before undergoing the metamorphosis into a parent, one should be sensible enough to give it a thought. Societal pressure or fear of family reprimand should not be the reason to make the choice of having kids. The first step of mindful parenting starts with the distinctive reason behind an individual’s/ couple’s decision to have kids.

“Now we are just here to be memories for our kids…Once you are a parent you are the ghost of your children’s future.” -Interstellar

Be A Happy Parent

As the quote above points out parents are creating memories and the way a child is treated leaves psychological imprints which determines his attitude as an adult. Parenting is a combination of skills like common sense, gut feeling and affinity. Conscious reasoning takes place when a person is mindful of each action around him. To raise a responsible and happy child the parent should be responsible and happy. An unhappy childhood makes a person insecure and diffident.

Dr Delony Manuvel Ph.D.

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The universe is so exquisitely balanced such that life can exist in this world. For example, it is a wonder that the earth stays in its orbit around the sun. The interesting fact is that the two effects of speeding up and stronger gravitational attraction perfectly balance, so that the earth stays in its orbit. Imbibing the ‘balancing spirit of the universe’, as human beings on earth, we also need to keep balance in different dimensions of life. Striking a careful balance in life is the secret of happiness. Imbalance creates chaos and balance is pivotal to our integral well-being. We need to learn ‘an art of balance’ between digital time or screen time and quality time for mental well-being. Let us keep in mind that when the demands and challenges placed on a person exceed the resources and coping abilities, that person’s mental health is affected. If mental health is affected, can it affect the integral human health? The answer is ‘yes’.

Mental health is important for our overall health. Mental health even helps us to fulfill our human potential. “Good mental health and well-being are essential for all of us to lead fulfilling lives, to realize our full potential, to participate productively in our communities, and to demonstrate resilience in the face of stress and adversity” writes Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the current Director-General of World Health Organization. Mental health is more than the absence of mental disorders. It is a step beyond managing active mental conditions by looking after ongoing wellness and happiness. To fall in love with our mental well-being, our mode of digital connectivity also needs to be analyzed.

Fr Binny Marydas

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The CRI Delhi Unit, situated in the heart of the National Capital, has emerged as a prominent voice in the midst of protests and rallies, expressing unwavering solidarity with victims and marginalized communities affected by human rights violations. Over the recent past, this unit has actively engaged in various people’s struggles, standing up for justice and advocating for the rights of those who have been oppressed. From the Delhi Riots of 2020 to the Farmers Protests of 2021, the Dalit Christians plight in 2022, and extending support to the earthquake victims in Turkey and Syria that same year, the CRI Delhi Unit has consistently demonstrated its commitment to humanitarian causes. In 2023, the unit passionately spoke out against the atrocities inflicted upon Christians in Chhattisgarh and Manipur, where violence and discrimination have been distressingly prevalent. Most recently, they lent their support to women wrestlers who were protesting since April 23, 2023.  Despite the registration of FIRs, including one under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act, the accused continues to enjoy impunity, evading any concrete action against him.

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