Signs of the time

 In the introduction to the mass this morning we here presentation of child Jesus in the temple. In the temple there are Simeon and Anna who have an insight that they are about to encounter someone special. And when they do meet him the RECOGNISE him. 

It is interesting to know it that neither of them had a photo of him or description of his parents or the type of entry he would make in order to identify the child. Yet they did recognise him. 

I guess this is what reading the 'signs of the times' means. To be able to recognise God in the regular, routine events of life. To be able to identify him in the hundred and one things that we do everyday of our life. One can read this presentation as a once in a lifetime event or have the wisdom to understand it as a daily occurrence.

Like Rabindranath Tagore says in his poem, "He comes, he comes, he ever comes."

The heart of the Andes

 There is painting of the American artist Frederic Edwin Church, titled 'The Heart of the Andes' that I had set as my laptop desktop background image for a couple of years now. 

Initially I thought the painting was 'The Church in the Andes'... I had mixed up the name of the artist and the art piece itself. Today while reading something more about the same painting I learnt that it was a tribute to the philosopher naturalist Alexander von Humboldt. So basically it is a piece of art depicting nature. The title given to the painting also is this justified - nature being the most prestigious element of South America. 

Nonetheless, I found asking myself, what is the cross doing in that painting? More specifically, what is the cross doing in the HEART of the Andes? One could brush aside this question attributing the cross in the painting to the artist's colonial and Catholic affiliation. Perhaps there is an element of truth there. But why is it there at all? That too in that size. The cross isn't central. Neither large nor immediately evident. It is part of the whole natural landscape. But it is there!

I interpret it as God being part of one's heart. Not overriding or displacing everything else, but an integral element. Greater still is the artist's depiction of the people in the painting: near the cross. Not bathing, not working in the field, not elsewhere. 

In a way the painting is, for me, a microcosmic depiction of the human being: the human as one tiny part of nature and reality; and at the same time a macrocosmic aspect: God at the heart of all reality.

Being unambitious

 Last night it struck me that in religious life, ambition has no place.  Ambition in the sense of personal ambition, wherein I am both the focus and reason. 

Being the Economer of the province I have asked myself right at the beginning, if I have any plans and ambitions to be achieved during my term in office. Plans, yes. Ambition, no!  

The biggest difference between ambition and commitment, I feel is when the ego comes into picture and worse still (or always is the case) at the cost of the other.  And as a Salesian religious, if God and the poor, the young are not the focus and reason of my every thought, word and action, then I'm not a genuine religious at all.  The yeast is to leaven the flour and ultimately become bread, not to stand out as yeast apart from the bread!  

Strangely enough, the first reading of today, as we commemorate the feast of St Francis de Sales is this: working for peace and justice, instead of being filled with jealousy and ambition. 

Work outside the office

 One common sight outside and around Government offices in India is the multiple photocopying shops. Outside any and every government office and even courts, there invariably mushroom numerous shops which basically claim to be photocopying or printing documents.  In reality everyone knows they are basically agents or mediators who facilitate the work for citizens.  

This task of mediation, middlemen doing the running around and seeing to the documentation, and approval of various needs, is a very amusing task - as long as it is not your task that is being done.  Watching these men - and at times, women - glide through the various desks of the actual officials who are appointed by the government to do the job is no less an entertainment than watching a movie in a theatre.  These men and women know the nitty-gritties of the task, the person whom to approach, the procedure that needs to be followed, the amount to be paid (officially and unofficially), the duration (goes without saying that money always speeds up the process) and in a way actually decide the final outcome of one's petition.  

It is interesting to note that these 'agents' know well the officials and the officials know these people too.  Going by oneself, without the aid of the agent, through the process is an option, but the final outcome is not guaranteed or duration never calculable.  Even when the whole process is made digital or online, the tasks of these middlemen is no less or reduced. 

In a true sense, the official work of the governmental offices is carried out outside in these petty shops and in the bylanes surrounding the office.  All said and done, what actually culminates the whole process is the seal and signature of the official inside the office!

Echo prayer

 That community living and life is one of the most challenging components of religious life is a known fact.  For someone living it, knows this fact more tangibly.  

Even a simple and uncontroversial act of praying together, the moments of community prayer, can become a source of conflict or disagreement.  It is said that during the life of St Theresa of Child Jesus, she loved to pray in silence while in the Chapel.  But there seems to have been a companion of hers in the convent who sat close to her and invariably made odd noises or chewed her finger nails.  This irritated St Theresa very much; yet she smiled at her without any grudge or anger every time this companion distracted her. Taking that smile as a positive sign, the companion continued her mannerism thinking that Theresa liked it!!  

Our community speed of reciting the prayers can also be one great source of distraction and at times be irritating as well.  No matter how slow you recite the prayers, there is someone who always 'echoes' the prayer, meaning he is reciting it slower than you!!! So there is this perpetual echo during common prayers!  

At first I thought it is because of his poor eyesight that he is unable to read fast and is therefore repeating after all of us, but I soon realised that the 'echoing' is also for common prayers like the 'Our Father' as well!! So it is not about eyesight but a common sight! 

Nonetheless, at times I also find asking myself this question: If I'm so distracted by this 'echo prayer', how invested is my prayer in the person with and for whom I am praying?  

Until the lion learns to write

 

The living Eucharist

 Yesterday I came across two pieces of information and news that seemingly are unrelated, but to me appeared very VERY much connected.  

One was a letter written by a Bishop in Maharashtra, denouncing the desecration of a school chapel and that the miscreants had taken away the sacred host from the tabernacle.  He therefore appealed to the Catholic faithful to conduct an adoration service in order to restore the blessed Sacrament.  

The other incident that is still unfolding in a nearby state of the country is that of the death/murder of a teenager in Patna.  An 18 year old student was found dead in her hostel. Initially it was declared as suicide and now it is revealed that she was brutally raped and murdered!  

Is not the life of this teenager as sacred and worthy of respect as the Holy Communion?  ("You are the temple of the holy Spirit") I am right now struggling to come to terms with these incidents - more so, with our response to these incidents! I don't know... but I'm feeling very very disturbed and uncomfortable. 

United efforts

 During the National convention organised by FSMF on arriving at accountability standards for Civil Society Organisations in India, there was a reference made TWICE to an old advertisement that appeared both in print and in the television. It was the NECC ad titled, Sunday ho ya Monday, roz khao ande!  

The context was the need to have a unified narrative that is strong and clear.  The NECC ad was about the egg, not about one poultry farm or a particular shop.  It was about eggs!! It was a lead up to the 1980s. It was a difficult time for Indian poultry farmers and Mr B.V. Rao of Venkateshwara Hatcheries decided to unite all poultry farmers into a cooperative model, similar to the one of Amul in Gujarat, spearheaded by Mr Kurien.  He, then along with his team, came up with the NECC and the subsequent ads.  

A similar ad was run about milk, the benefits of drinking milk.  

I guess there is always a great benefit in seeing the unity and collectively working towards something good than making individuated scattered attempts.  That said, there are invariably several issues that prevent this from happening. But if one is willing to see and grow out of these petty dividing issues, the benefits are large and extensive.   

In Delhi

 I arrived in Delhi for the second time this year. The metro was unusually free of congestion, perhaps because it is a Sunday. But I wasted quite a lot of time waiting for the buses. I then decided to walk to the school. 

More than being frustrated with no bus coming my way, I needed to repair my sandal and so thought I'd find atleast a hardware shop or a cobbler. 

Walking along the stretch from the metro to the school, all I found was dry-cleaners, ice-cream parlours and pharmacies. I was almost certain that finding a cobbler in such a locale would be practically impossible. 

Lo and behold, I actually did find one. In my brief conversation with him, as he bent over and mended my sandal, I came to know that he has been working as a cobbler at the same spot for the last 40 years! Looking at his tools and work style I could gather he was honest about the duration. 

Although there were quite a few restaurants and eateries along the way, I choose to sit by a father and son duo preparing parathas and bought lunch from them. Hot parathas made right then and there. 

It struck me then that the population living in that particular stretch was a very posh one. Nonetheless, it was so posh that the people working for them were mostly from outside the state and really poor. So naturally, there were the posh spots and the down-to-earth spots catering to the two different sets of people around. 

I certainly do not claim to authoritatively speak about Delhi, but unlike Mumbai or for that matter, Hyderabad, in Delhi the dividing lines are clear and sharp. 

History of Surakshitha building

In 1993 Fr Sebastian M was the rector of Ravulapalem. By this time PARA was already established and registered as a society (1988). Fr Sebastian bought a plot of land behind the Salesian residence at Ravulapalem (a paddy field then) measuring 14 cents. This was bought in two bits of 7 cents each. His plan was to provide a boarding facility for students after their class 10 exams. The idea was to have the school teaching staff living on the ground floor and the students on the top floor. One for boys and gents, the other portion for girls and ladies. That was the intention and plan with which Fr Sebastian bought the two bits. 

Fr Pallithanam was under the impression that one plot was bought in the name of Ravulapalem and the other in the name of PARA. But when Prabhakar and I checked the land documents yesterday we realised both the plots were bought in the name of Ravulapalem society. 

Perhaps when it was decided to shift Surakshitha home out of the PARA premises, one of the portions of the land was "gifted" to PARA. Because Palli is sure that the building was built by PARA.