TO FEAR GOD OR TO LOVE GOD

TO FEAR GOD OR TO LOVE GOD

            Today a vast number of Christians are full of fear of God. We are still trapped within a religion of rules (law) which Jesus abolished twenty centuries ago. He preached a God who was love itself and a liberation from the burden of the law. Sometimes our dealings with God are characterized by one big round of duties. This is the fear that brought and still brings many Catholics to mass on Sundays. I sometimes get an irrational feeling that if there were no commandments. I would be a saint. I’d feel so free and liberated – and I know I would keep every commandment spontaneously. One day a seminarian found himself saying to this God whom he was serving with all his heart and soul, “God, I really hate you. You are a kill-joy. I just cannot enjoy life while you are around, You won’t allow me to be as I am, You won’t leave me free.” Here, with whom lies the problem. The problem is certainly not with God but with us.

            We are not advocating the abolition of law (rules), but another understanding of it. Jesus proclaimed a God with whom we are to respond in love and freedom. A better understanding of God’s love for us is very important. A love that is unconditional. Have you observed the type of love a good mother has for her child? She doesn’t love him because he is good, she loves him because he is her son. She obviously wants him to be good, she wants him to improve. The mother of a criminal will want him to give up his evil ways. But, being a mother, she doesn’t stop to love him. She’ll not say, “First stop being a criminal and then I will love you.” She says, “I hate your criminal ways, but I still love you very intensely because you are my son.” If there is any hope of that boy changing, it is because of this unconditional love of his mother for him.

         Do we dare to think that this is the way God loves us? To preach this kind of God is a very dangerous business. People will tend to take advantage of His goodness. But that is the way with love. It takes the risk. It leaves itself vulnerable to being taken advantage of. And this is the risk that Jesus took when he showed us the true nature of his Father in heaven. So let us not love God out of fear, but fear God out of love.

 Sathish Paul

A GOD WHOSE NAME IS MERCY

A GOD WHOSE NAME IS MERCY

            Nothing is easier than attaining forgiveness from God. This is the biggest truth that we’ve got to believe. God is more eager to give forgiveness than we to receive it. Many refuse to believe this. They constantly brood over how miserable and wretched they have been, wishing they had never sinned, wishing they had always kept a clean sheet.

           

            For Jesus, even though to sin is the greatest evil, to be a sinner is a value. Hate sin with all your heart and avoid it. But if you have sinned and repented, then you have reasons to rejoice, because there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance (Lk 15:7). Who can understand this kind of madness? That’s the crazy God we have.

            Then we may ask: Why not sin deliberately so that we shall receive even more grace? No, remember we are dealing here with a mystery that is beyond the comprehension of the human mind. It is important to maintain the truth of both these opposites. Hate sin and if you have sinned and repented, consider yourself very lucky indeed because grace is going to be poured into you in superabundant measure. “Where sin abounded; grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20). The repentant sinner draws God to himself with greater force than a magnet.

            This is the good news Jesus proclaimed. The other stuff about being sorry and making a hundred penances for our sins is not good news at all. It is stale news (an Old Testament idea). We knew it all along without the preaching of Jesus. May we understand our merciful God we have, so that we may live our lives freely and joyfully.

- Sathish Paul

AUTHENTICITY

AUTHENTICITY

Does an authentic human person exist? Can a human person be authentic? We all believe that all of us are unique, each one created differently. And we are often proud of this fact; if not, then we should be.

If we are unique, why do we try to be like the other, or imitate the other? Each person will surely have her way of doing things and each person has to discover this within herself. A person can thus live and authentic life when he discovers himself fully and does things in a different way, in her own unique way.

Doing things the way they were done by the others is easy but what is really appreciated is doing things differently. That is being the creative “you.”

All are created for a purpose, and all are good as well as a little bad and so to improve ourselves, we try to follow those who are good. This is a completely different idea altogether. Another idea that can be considered is about the rightness and wrongness of the act or the way it is done. Ultimately authenticity is nothing but discovering the good and the not so good things within me, and truly moving towards a better life.

Cl. Sheldon sdb

Pope Francis, a Man who DARES

Pope Francis, a Man who DARES

             Here is a man who dares to be different and is ready to pay the price for being so. He is man of indomitable spirit and a magnanimous heart.

He is a man of extra-ordinary simplicity and humility which is very vivid right from the moment of his election when he first greeted people in the language of the common man (good evening dear brothers and sisters), addressed himself as the ‘bishop’ of Rome and bowing down asking the people to pray for him. We find him dresses in the simplest way possible; we hear of him answering phone calls, serving the guards, inviting people on the street for his birthday celebration and what not. Wherever possible he kisses babies, embraces the sick and the disfigured faces. We are at times awe struck by his gestures; they reveal the simple and humble person he is. Greatness does not consist in big achievements, personal glory and fame but in simplicity. Invariably all people who are considered ‘great’ today were in some way people who practiced simplicity to a heroic extent. No wonder within a short time he has positively drawn the attention of the whole world.

            He is a pope of Mercy. We find in Pope Francis a person who constantly proclaims the mercy of God. He says, mercy is greatest of all virtues and God is never tired of forgiving us and He redeems every human being on this planet. If integral person is defined as one who does the things at the right time he said he would do and in the right manner he said he would do, then we have in Pope Francis a person of great integrity. There is a great harmony between his words and his life style. Today world wishes to see people of integrity and only such persons can inspire people and bring about a change.

            Far from being a man who dares to be different he expresses great care and love towards every being (human and non-human) on this earth. His daring personality makes him a sort of controversial figure; but he turns a deaf ear to all the criticisms and continues to be a wonderful sign and replica of God’s mercy and love.

            Many people quote him today not only because it has become a fashion but largely because they are inspired by the person he is. May his example set us on fire to live out our human life to its fullness and may God protect him from all dangers and continue to assist him to be His sign of Love. 

Cl. Nithiyan sdb

I know her as Mrs. Love

I know her as Mrs. Love

            Imagining the unimaginable is always fun and an ineffable experience. Knowing what such and such a thing is would happen if it could speak or express its opinion. This art of tickling one’s brain is to envisage something to have life and to hear it express or speak. More often the outcome would picture the writer’s views on such topics, though presented differently for emphasis and creativity.

            Life which is a potential of immense energy is actualized differently by each being. Here I’m incorporating an imaginary life into a virtue known for its unifying factor. It is interpreted differently by people of varied ideas and commitments. All possess it in different levels as recognized by scholars and researchers. While I’m imagining it to speak, in reality, it lives and grants life to us human beings and makes us more human. All of us have always felt her and I know her as Mrs. Love. Given her the opportunity to express and speak, she is embarrassed and flabbergasted. Over to you Mrs. Love

            “Hello, I’m Mrs. Love esteemed greatly in Christianity and embraced by all of humanity. I am one of the theological virtues. Gabbing is not my passion but expression in terms of emotions and feelings. I’m known and acknowledged in this regard by all. I reside in the human heart and my husband Mr. Faith works in the human mind. We were created by God and married at the dawn of human race. Our journey along with human beings has been a great adventure because everybody interpreted us differently in the presence of Mr. Experience. Slowly, Mrs. Pride came to the forum of human mind with good intentions to help Mr. Faith and collaborate together to make human beings assertive of their accomplishments. With Mr. Experience around us, Mr. Faith and I realized that Mrs. Pride had taken a wrong turn and had over exercised her powers. This led to the downfall of the creation of human beings. Each one caused harm to the other which led to the outbreak of world wars I and II and numerous other battles. Intending to see the good of all human beings, we managed to weed out the negative aspect of Mrs. Pride from human minds. With chaos and destruction all round human race was distressed and couldn’t see a future. Then we gave birth to our Son Hope.”

            “Hope brought a smile on their faces and assured them of a bright and a pleasant future. Human dignity was given more regard with the coming of Hope. Faith, Hope and I are continually forwarding the good of all. Mr. Experience over and again informs and updates us if there emerges a need for renewal. I’m glad to carry out this wonderful act of uniting all of human race along with my family of theological virtues. Continue to feel our presence in your life and never forget the expression of Leo Buscaglia from the book Loving Each Other – ‘there is nothing greater in life than loving another and being loved in return, for loving is the ultimate experience.’” 

Cl. Lawrance sdb

Unemployment in India – A Social Conundrum

     Down the centuries and in every civilization, there has been this hot potato issue of unemployment. Some have been able to deal with it better than others. In India we are still figuring out the way to deal with it in the best way possible. And while we do our figuring out, there are social repercussions that force us to take brave steps and do so in a hurry.

      Unemployment is a situation where a capable, willing workforce doesn't get work. There are basically three types of unemployment. Frictional unemployment which is those looking for their first job. This can be abated by spreading information on various job openings. Then there is seasonal unemployment which is specific to certain industries. This can be dealt with encouraging these people to take up alternative employment in the off season. Finally there is structural unemployment caused due to a change in structure of the economy, change in patterns of consumers and increasing technology. It is the most vicious. Yet it can be approached by providing retraining opportunities.

      In India, another stumbling block is overpopulation. 66% of the Indian population is under 35. This is the largest population of youth in the world. Added snag in the process of providing employment is the lack of a varied skill set even though the education levels have increased. There are also other forms to unemployment which include disguised unemployment, where many workers are employed for a small job and all appear to be employed; underemployment where a worker is not given work to his capacity and wages too are not in accordance to his capacity. In India, unemployment records are maintained by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

      The effects of unemployment are varied. It causes hardship and frustration especially among the young people. It increases the burden on the family. The worst ramifications are the increase in crime related activities by youth to survive and earn a living. Another sad outcome is that the intelligent youth migrate to foreign countries for better opportunities.

     The government set up a committee headed by M. Bhagavati to suggest measures, and based on this study set up the following schemes to deal with unemployment: The Rural Works Programme, Agro-Service Centres, and Crash Programme for Rural Employment, National Rural Employment Programme and Food for Work Programme. These schemes are not progressing well owing to the rampant corruption, preparation of bogus musters, paying less than stipulated wages, bureaucracy in administration and lack of effective representation of poor in the implementation of the schemes.

      When we look at the quandary of unemployment and reflect on it, we can say that there is no simple solution but we could alter our outlook to life. We need to be focused more on skills and putting our theory in to practice. We need to see the dignity of work and eliminate the evil of unemployment. While we might not be able to provide easy solutions to such a complex solution, we could refurbish our educational setups to provide better skills training with more advanced techniques.

      We also need to look at our openness to do different kinds of work. Quite often due to our inherent thought pattern of the caste system, we are reluctant to do certain types of work which we feel is not ‘ours,’ or we are hesitant to change our occupation.

 Let us toil together to eradicate this social evil. As a country, as the young generation of India, we can do achieve any good that we agree to work towards. So, let’s strive to provide the best milieu for gainful employment and just wages.

 Cl. Swithin Moraes,sdb

Śaṇkara’s Life: A Lesson in Itself

I’ve been reading the life of Śri Adi Śaṇkaracharya, the great Indian philosopher and theologian and have been struck by certain facts and incidents. He was only sixteen when he wrote his major philosophical treatises. That is hard to imagine! But this fact is alluded to in most accounts of his life. At sixteen, I on my part was struggling to understand the ‘simple’ material being fed to me in higher secondary school. Whereas this lad was not only well-versed in the numerous Hindu texts but was writing commentaries on them. I find it astonishing. He was beyond doubt a prodigy.

He lived a relatively short life of 32 years but he lived them fruitfully. Such was the impact of his life that he was a huge sensation in his day and still is one in ours. His philosophy is one of the most lucid and coherent systems in the world. His genius must be admired.

One incident that struck me in his life was his meeting with a chandala (dalit). The rigid caste system was beginning to engulf society and Śaṇkara too was influenced by it. The story goes that one day he was walking down to the Ganga with his disciples when he saw a chandala walking up the path with his dogs. Instinctively, he commanded the chandala to get out of the way of him and his disciples. To his surprise, the chandala stood his ground and issued him a challenge. A gist of what the chandala said is reported in the book I was reading. A series of questions were hurled at the young scholar. “You preach that the Vedas teach the non-dual Brahman to be the only reality and that it is immutable and never polluted. If this is so, how has this sense of difference overtaken you?”

“You asked me to move aside and make way for you. To whom were your words addressed, O Learned Sir? To the body, which comes from the same source and performs the same functions in the case of both a Brahmin and a social outcaste? Or to the Ātman, the witnessing Consciousness, which is the same in all, unaffected by the body? How do differences such as, ‘This is a Brahmin, this is a social outcaste’ arise in non-dual experience?”

This experience shook him up and helped him set aside the vestiges of dualism from his mind and experience the truth of non-dualism. Mythology narrates that the chandala revealed himself to be Lord Shiva, and the dogs-the four Vedas.

This experience of Śaṇkara indicates that the anti-caste discrimination arose around the same time as caste discrimination did. From the earliest times people who have had a mystical experience have spoken against the reductionist nature of the caste system. Basically, caste-based discrimination is a result of a dualistic way of perceiving the human person. A philosophy of dualism is bound to encounter such problems. An integral, holistic view of the human person is necessary for a respectful and meaningful exchange between people. This is the challenge Advaita or non-dualism places before us. Can you perceive the Ātman in yourself and the other?

Cl. Ian Pinto, SDB