Love at the heart of forgiveness

At the heart of the sacrament of reconciliation is not forgiveness, but love.  The graces of forgiveness, mercy and transformation are essential and integral to the sacrament of reconciliation but if love does not form the central aspect of it, then the whole procedure turns out to be no better than a vending machine!  You put your sins in and out comes forgiveness!  What actually makes the whole process alive and relevant is love.  Love that God has for us.  Love that we have for God!  Our repentance is primarily because we have consciously offended someone we love.  God forgives is always available because he loves us.  

African violet

The latest addition to my indoor 'garden'... an African violet, a gift from Mena. 

God at work

In one of his letters to the Thessalonians, St Paul appeals to them saying that all that he and his companions did was to preach the Good News, purely out of love for God.  They had no hidden personal agenda.  Neither did they seek anything for themselves. To this end, he continues, they offered them 'not only the Good News but our whole lives as well'.

Can a genuine proclamation of the Good News be bifurcated from one's actual living?  It is as if to say, preaching is one thing and our actual life and living, is another.  Personally there cannot be a discrepancy or a divide.  Sincerely proclaiming the Gospel is life - not apart from it. 

However, there could be the case where one very effectively preaches the gospel but is not really moved by it.  The hearers or those who witness this proclamation are moved to change and transformation - but not the one offering the gospel.  This too is possible.  After all, it is not the one speaking or the one listening that solely decides the outcome.  God too is part of the process.  So God, the gospel values and the one undergoing change are at work.  And the preacher?  Yes, the one preaching too is involved, but not as a witness, but as an actor - a good one at that! 

The good Zaccheus

The episode of Jesus meeting Zaccheus is always an interesting read.  Somehow it has a certain simplicity and earthiness about it. Perhaps it has to do with Zaccheus climbing the tree - a joyful, children's play.  

However, contrary to popular belief that since Zaccheus was a tax collector and hence certainly a corrupt official, I think that he was basically a good and honest person, all along. First of all, to believe that all - everyone? - tax collectors were cheats, would be too much of an exaggeration.  Not fair! There certainly would have been some kind-hearted ones - at least a handful in a whole nation! Secondly, for one to immediately have a change of heart, that too so radically is not really possible.  That the confession and repentance was genuine, we know from Jesus' interaction with him.  Jesus would have called his lie, if Zaccheus wasn't speaking from his heart.  So Zaccheus would basically have been a good man, with perhaps some illegal dealings once in a way;  and that dishonesty would have been stirring his conscience over time.  The encounter with Jesus actually is the tipping point.  

And practically speaking, if he were that corrupt, repaying back all those whom he cheated, four times over that too after giving away half his property to the poor, would have made him an utter destitute! He would have had to borrow in order to repay them all!! 

RIP: Sarah, and her family

Incidents happen all the time, all over the world.  Some of which we experience first hand, in our own lives.  Some major events we hear through the media.  Most of them we do not hear at all.  Only those we witness, especially those involving close relations, linger on in our emotional quotient.  The rest, especially those we hear in the news, are no more relevant than the numbers we see on our watch!  However, if and when, we know of someone involved in those 'statistical accidents' that particular incident begins to re-configure in our thoughts. 

One such personal experience was mine when I heard that Sarah Polani, a research scholar from our university department (a year junior to me), was on the plane that crashed in Pakistan last week. She, and her family (husband and three boys), died in that plane crash. The 97 who died in that crash, is not a mere number anymore! 

During the few interactions I had with Sarah, both in our group and as an individual, she came across to me as a fiercely independent and strong willed person. That she was a teacher before coming to commence her PhD at Royal Holloway, need not have been said - it was clear, at least to me.  She certainly was very determined and focused about her work and her choices.  Ever eager to learn and make the most of the opportunities that came her way, in doing her PhD.  Coming from a neighbouring Asian country, I could understand her passion to verbally prove her point - even if it meant interrupting someone while they were offering a feedback.  That's something we (Asians) constantly do; not out of disrespect but more so out of habit. 

God grant her and her family, eternal rest!  

Jesus without profession

Reading a particular reflection on religious consecration, in the light of our religious profession on May 24, I came across the following passage:

Through consecration we follow Christ who was poor, obedient and chaste.  Jesus lived without possessions...  Jesus lived a chaste and celibate life...  Jesus obeyed his Father.  

Mistakenly I read the second sentence as 'Jesus lived without profession'.  As I continued reading, it occurred to me that I missed something.  So I read that para again.  It was only then that I realised I had misread.  However, that mistaken reading also made perfect sense.  Jesus never made a vow or solemn public to live poor, chaste and obedient.  Yet he was! 

This is the aspect we religious need to remember.  Our consecration is not merely because we said those words.  It is basically because we believe in living that kind of life.  We live our religious profession not as a consequence of a set of formulas or oaths, but as an outpouring of love.  The consecration is only a reminder - to ourselves.  Not a guarantee.  The fruitfulness of our consecration is not in repetition of those words of our profession daily or annually, but in our living out of a life full of love for God and all living beings. 

Jesus working from home

Quite insightful and very contextual... a brief, but to the point description of the feast of the Ascension for our times... very amusing!

Happy anniversary

Today is Papa and Mummy's wedding anniversary.  However, it is also a bit weird today.  This being the first time in 44 years that Papa is not around with us, especially Mummy on this day.  We never had any big or grand celebrations, except maybe for their silver jubilee.  It has always been a very quiet and low key celebration - just like all our birthdays.  However, we always made it a point to call, talk, sing for the occasion specially.  In earlier days I would send them a letter in advance. 

Nonetheless, I did wish Mummy yesterday.  Mummy wasn't too sure what to say.  She then said, only half the part is here.  The other half is not there to celebrate.  I told her, "He will get his share of greetings too! For now, you take our greetings for both!"  Later I told Willy, that Papa for sure, would have already made some deals with St Lawrence in heaven: "Full bottle for the day!"... just like he did every year with Willy on such days of celebration! 

Happy anniversary, Papa and Mummy!  Thank you for all that you have been for us! 

Silence and Listening

The two words silent and listen have the exact same number of alphabet and the same alphabet too.  Just a different order.

Both are so related that one is not possible without the other.  In order to listen, we need to be silent.  And silence comes as a discipline of listening.  One does not exist without the other.  Either both are present together or both are absent.

And the best part is although it is a discipline, it is in letting go that one truly masters this art.  You win by letting go.  The more one forces oneself to achieve it, the more distant they seem.  Weird, but true.

MHoC novena (day 9)

The final day of the novena to MHoC... Mary as mother and teacher

The first miracle

Hearing the gospel event of the first miracle of Jesus at Cana, this afternoon, it struck me that Mary did not know what Jesus would do.  Or perhaps she did?  We don't know. But the fact is that she knew he'd do something. 

Secondly, this first miracle of Jesus is no great life-saver.  At the most it is matter of saving the family hosting the wedding from some embarrassment. And that too what does he do?  Produce wine!  Not some food for the starving or cure for the terminally ill.  Wine for recreation! 

More than anything I think this event is one of trust and obedience. Trust that Mary had in Jesus, that he'd do 'something' to address the evident embarrassment of the host.  Obedience of Jesus to Mary, just a word and he does it.  

MHoC novena (day 8)

The penultimate day, we remember one most 'medical' among the Salesians (priests and brothers)... Br Zatti.

Someone who did not rue the fact that he could not get ordained as a priest because of his illness, something he contracted serving a priest suffering from TB.  As a brother he chooses his means of apostolate... nursing.  Combining professionalism with a deep faith, he stands as a great example in this time of the pandemic, of one who was always willing to serve, no matter what the cost... "What if Jesus were to come in person in the form of this patient?" 

MHoC novena (day 7)

Aptly dedicated and in appreciation of women...

Women, especially all mothers, are truly doctors of the body and the spirit!

Waterfall candles

The new set of candles we are using now are what I call the 'waterfall candles'... constantly dripping.  Always crying! They really seem like an epitome of God 'melting' on hearing our prayers!

MHoC novena (day 6)

Dedicating one's suffering.

Andrew Beltrami, affected by TB, which he contracted while assisting a priest with the same illness, was sick for the rest of his short life.  He dies at a tender age of 27.  But those few years of pain and suffering, he resigned himself to God.  Perhaps that was the reason he was able to write and do much work from his own room. 

That tranquility to accept the present and make the most of what one is blessed with, rather than rue the loss of what was...

To be; to do the right thing

Having spent yesterday thinking about 'what to do?' especially if in the future there are no more structured ministry possibilities, listening to this morning's first reading was a sort of revelation! 

Paul and Silas are imprisoned, flogged, thrown into prison and shackled as well!  Placing myself in their shoes, I tried to picture myself.  Chained.  Bruised.  In prison with no guarantee of when I'd be released.  Not sure what next.  Yet in my heart there is this burning desire to preach the Risen Christ.  So what is going on in my mind?  I'm thinking of all the planned journeys, the meetings.  I'm trying to figure out how will I get out of this situation.  It's not for my own love of freedom, but for the impelling ministry that beckons me. 

Almost fell off my chair laughing when I saw this pic!
But that's exactly what Paul and Silas were doing... relaxing and singing! 

Instead what are Paul and Silas upto?  They are singing away!  And when the earthquake brings down the walls of the prison and offers them an escape, a means to carry on the important task of preaching, they still don't leave!  Surely they had every right to believe that it was God himself who was guiding their steps, out of the prison.  But finding themselves before the jailer about to commit suicide, they decide to stay on!!  Go preach vs save one life and jeopardize all prepared plans, give up any preaching.  What's more, go against God's own sign?  Yet they choose to stay on!  Be imprisoned!  And what follows?  That decision to stay on, itself becomes a ministry, an apostolate.  A moment of encounter for the jailer and his family to meet Christ; for the disciples Paul and Silas to encounter the jailer and his family;  for God to meet them all! 

To be, rather than to do.  To be willing and available for what God and His people offer.  To do the right thing, even if that's not what what's planned or the best of things!  

Doing everything possible

Today would have been the 111th birthday of Nicholas Winton, a man credited with saving 669 children, most of them Jewish, from Czechoslovakia during Nazi regime. He along with his colleagues Dorren Warriner and Trevor Chadwick, organised and ensured that all these children had homes in Britain. 

That he did not seek any honours or rewards for this kind work, except a passing mention once followed by a total silence about this act of his, is indeed a great example of good deeds done for no personal glory.  Google's doodle commemorating the man behind the Czech kindertransport, for the day is lovely!

The following clip from a short documentary made by BBC on Nicholas Winton, titled 'That's life' is very moving...  So is the obituary published by The Guardian on 1 July 2015, the day he died.

Lockdown musings

It has been more than two months since the eldest confrere at home has driven his car or left home.  Only the other day he went out, more for want of a breath of fresh air than anything.  He went to the pharmacy to collect his prescription and of course, picked up a couple of bottles of wine from an adjacent shop.  On hearing that he went out and did some purchase as well, one of us at table asked with a very serious tone, "Did you atleast have your mask on?"  He replied, "Of course, I had it... in my pocket!"

--- 

Another confrere has been at home since the lockdown began. His father was terminally ill.  He had asked us to redirect his post, leaving behind his home address.  About a month ago I drove down to his place with his mail.  But I could not locate the main entrance.  Google maps only led me to his garden gate.  Nonetheless I did see his car.  So I called over his mobile and told him that I was outside his house and knowing that he wasn't too keen to meet anyone, informed him that I was leaving the post on his car.  Last week another confrere cycled down there with his post.  He said he put it in his letterbox.  I was surprised he found the main door. And when asked he described for 2 to 3 minutes, the route.  He concluded, "That's it.  I dropped his letters at no. 7" "No. 7??" exclaimed two of us at the table.  "But he lives at no. 5!"  So much for door delivery!

MHoC novena (day 5)

The fifth day of the novena to Mary Help of Christians.

"I'm glad to be forgotten by everyone, but you!" Mary Mazzarello's words to God, after her debilitating typhus illness which leaves her physically weak and incapable of hard manual labour, which she earlier excelled at.  All of this due to her willingness to go and help her uncle's family at a time when all of them are bed ridden by the illness. 

The courage to take up risks and when no longer able to do all that what one was capable of, be eager to do what one still can.

What to do?

What would I do if all formal and established forms of ministry are no more possible?  Would I be willing to still do what I can?  Will I be prepared to make that shift? 

The (part-time) work at the school may not be on offer next academic year.  What I thought would be a formidable time-filler for the rest of my stay here in this country is no more on the table.  One big part of me feels a bit sad: Did I not do well enough?  But a small part of me also feels a bit relieved.  I don't have to press the pedal too hard to fit in!  I've always taken pride in teaching for life, not for exams.  Moreover, the pandemic has shown me that work will always be available.  I only need to be available. 

However, I ask myself, what if tomorrow there is no teaching at all left to be done - not just here but anywhere in the world?  What then would I be doing?  No more official posts and duties of dean, administrator, teacher... how then do I make the most of myself?  Perhaps I'm not that kind of a person who instantly engages with the world - recognizing a need and responding to it appropriately.  Never felt the need to do it.  Never did it!  But if worse comes to worse, will I be able to make that shift?  What do I do to be prepared for that?  

MHoC novena (day 4)

Day 4 of the novena to Mary help of Christians...

Michael Rua, a 17 year old youngster is the first to volunteer to assist the cholera victims.  There are altogether 40 youngsters who volunteer.  They are praised by the local press for their fearless support of the cholera victims. 

Faith in God... trust in Don Bosco's guidance! 

MHoC novena (day 3)

Nothing shameful or bad to ask for help.  None of us is perfect or omnipotent.  We need help.  We need care. 

We pray for humility and courage to ask for help; for strength to overcome fear and shame; for grace to be ever willing and generous with the little we have.

Gentleness and reverence

The second reading of the sixth Sunday of Easter, a letter from St Peter, was almost a personal reminder of my own resolution, at the beginning of the year.  It was all the more striking because I failed in it even today!

Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence, keeping your conscience clear... 

I am aware that at times when I reply, the response is always laden with contempt and sarcasm!  It arises not just from the question or the immediate context, but from a deep rooted bias that I nurture against some principles or people.  However, good and worthy my point is, the fact that I condescend an opinion, and sometimes even people, I already lost the point.  My conscience is not clear!  One good cannot be wrought about by doing something worse.  I'm driving home the wrong message.  The problem is not with the message, it is with me. 

Gentleness and reverence!  

MHoC novena (day 2)

The second day of the novena to Mary Help of Christians...
specially relevant to the present times... life during Coronavirus, recalling the time of the widespread cholera during Don Bosco's time.

MHoC novena (day 1)

A series of novena prayer, based on the Salesian history and recounting Mary's intervention in the life of Don Bosco and the Salesians.  

Choosing substitutes

In 2005 while studying Theology, there was a priest in our student community from one of the local congregations of my region.  He was a young priest with a couple of years of pastoral experience.  He was studying a Masters programme.  However, he was so odd and weird and eccentric, in a negative sense, that most of us in the community wondered how on earth did he ever pass through all those years of formation and get ordained!  If I were on his formation staff, he'd been out of the programme in a month! 

As if his antiques in the community were not enough of an embarrassment, he told us how he was ordained.  In his third and penultimate year of theology, which was in the year 2000, his congregation was looking forward to the ordination of 25 deacons to commemorate the special year.  Unfortunately sometime just before the day of ordination, one of them changed his mind.  The congregation was keen to retain the number and hence "promoted" one from the next batch to get ordained.  And who was it? Our friend! 

That day, the little respect we had for that congregation evaporated like mist disappears in the desert in summer!  That they were keen to maintain the numbers was bad enough, but then to rush one to ordination? Even then, we'd suppose they'd chose one most prepared or eligible.  This guy??  I'm still totally biased against that congregation! 

Luckily the apostles did not make such a blunder in choosing Mathias, to replace Judas.  Was it necessary?  Did it make a big difference?  Not sure.  Hopefully it didn't for Mathias himself.  He continued being and doing what he was upto as before. And the body of apostles had their selection criteria clear and sensible.

A fresh Don Bosco from an old window

A new painting of Don Bosco from an artist in Alicante, Italy shows him gazing out of his window at Valdocco.  Interestingly it has a very significant connection to the present times. 

The artist, David Pastor Corbi, a former arts teacher at the Salesian institute in Alcoy (Italy) said he was requested to draw a portrait of Don Bosco in 1999 by the then provincial of Valencia, David Churio.  But somehow it never got materialised.

David states,

I've thought about it a long time and I decided to represent Don Bosco in his room, looking outside Valdocco, through the windows with their picturesque and characteristic green painted shutters.  I decided that they would be made as if they'd never been closed and being always open made them seem very damaged by the inclement weather.

However, the Covid-19 lockdown gave the last phase of the creative work a twist.  In the words of David,

When the moment of confinement due to Covid-19 arrived, that green shutter changed its symbolism; it became a point of hope and confidence in the future, while books, balls and tools became a model of behavior.

I personally liked the look on his face!

It's an expert's gaze, intense for the hard work done and for what there is still to be done; there's so much strength, despite the years that weigh it down,

[From the ANS] 

God HAS favourites

In one of his discussions, St Peter tells Cornelius and his household:

...God does not have favourites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him. (Acts 10: 34)

But this is actually not right!  God does have favourites.  He is partial to some.  If he isn't, then it is not fair. Then history is all wrong.  God always had and will have favourites.  His favourites are the poor, the marginalised, those suffering and the destitute.  However, the fact that he has favourites does not mean he despises those whom he does not favour.  Certainly not.  He loves everyone; but those in need are closer to his heart! 

Like in a family, all children are loved by the parents.  However, if a child has special needs, the parents naturally have their eye specifically on that child more than the other children.  It is not that they love them more, but that they supplement what is deficient so as to help that particular needy child learn to cope up with life.  Parents love all their children, but those with special needs, get extra attention.

Irrationality

In the preamble of the book on Irrationality (by Justin Smith)...

At the individual level irrationality manifests itself as dreams, emotion, passion, desire, affect, enhanced by drugs, alcohol, meditation; at the social level it is expressed as religion, mysticism, storytelling, conspiracy theory, sports fandom, rioting, rhetoric, mass demonstrations, sexuality when it bursts out of its prescribed roles, music when it breaks away from the notes on the sheet and takes on a life of its own.

Perfect recipe for speaking of Romanticism! 

Making gods

The exciting task of making someone or something into a god is perhaps the most laziest and surest way of not making any effort ourselves in that sphere of life.  It is the same when we extol someone or praise someone so highly that we invest all our time and attention in doing so.  Rather than emulate and see how we can replicate their efforts and do the same for others, we satisfy ourselves and settle for the LCD - 'least common denominator'. 

While appreciating someone or praising someone for their valiant efforts or achievements is indeed a noble virtue, it is no excuse or replacement for not attempting to do likewise.  Merely putting someone on the pedestal and not doing anything to continue the good initiated by them, is not any worthwhile endeavour.

In the first reading of the day, from the Acts, we see Paul and Barnabas struggling to convince people that they are ordinary human beings.  Enamoured by their miracle, the people attempt to deify them.  Exactly something we do with our onscreen heroes and real life activists.  We glorify them and their acts, but do little to make the same effort ourselves. 

Choosing ministers

In the first reading of the day, we hear the apostles asking the community to find replacement for them to carry on, responsibly and with diligence, the work they were doing - doing charity.  It is interesting to note that the apostles did not merely appoint people of their own accord.  They asked the community to choose. They merely approved and blessed them. 

One might argue that they themselves were picked up by the Lord - not proposed and chosen by the people.  And they considered prayer and preaching their main task.  But for doing charity, they request the community to elect persons. However, in an age when there is not much of a difference in prayer and charity, when one is called to do both, without being biased towards one or the other, do we also not ought to take into consideration the means of choosing/appointing disciples?  Should formation of priests and religious, and most importantly, promotion of them over the years, be the sole privilege of the priests and religious?  Should not the lay people whom priests and religious work for and with, not have a say in their formation? 

The most formidable reason I fully endorse the need for the approval of the people (formators and lay staff) in permitting priests and religious to the orders or vows is the criteria listed in the Acts: respectable people filled with the Spirit and with wisdom.  This will also go on to confirm the fact that every one is capable of discerning the Spirit and recognizing wisdom - not just the religious, or the educated! While it is God who offers us our vocation, it is our individual responsibility to make that vocation useful to others.  So why not ask the community - the whole community, and not just the religious or priests alone - to help in the discerning the worthiness of individuals for pastoral ministry?

Spidey growth

My spider plant has done well over the year.  Given that it survived a month, in my absence - and others not noticing it drying up right at the entrance!

That was in October 2019

As of today (10 May 2020)

It was in May last year that I pinched a small twig of this from Farnborough house during my annual retreat there. It has been a joy to see it grow. 

Celebrating for the right reasons (VE day)

History does not take sides.  Historians do!  Any event that occurs can be shaped and retold to create a narrative.  Even a totally different narrative.  It mostly depends on who is telling it, for whom and for what purpose.  News is shorter or immediate form of history. 

Celebrating VE day is another such event of history that needs rethinking.  Not the celebration, but the reason for celebrating!  The very name of the event can be questioned.  Victory of Europe.  That would mean defeat of someone else.  So when Europe - whoever or whatever that means - is celebrating its victory, someone else somewhere is 'not celebrating'.  More especially, someone else is made to feel little and forcefully reminded of a past that is long buried and overcome. 

Instead celebrate the end of war!  Celebrate the beginning of peace - even though it is a negative understanding of peace, at least it is inclusive.  Some may argue that, that is the celebration. Then why the lopsided title of the day?  So celebrate and appreciate the sacrifice;  but we also need to remember that others were killed and suffered.  Their sacrifice also matters.  Their suffering also is to be respected.  Remember the past; but also learn not the repeat the same mistakes again!  What point is there if we glorify the past and then repeat the same mistakes that led to the event we celebrate the conclusion of? 

Closer home, it is the same with the title 'Mary Help of Christians'.  Whatever the historical context in which the title originated, everytime we invoke Mary under that title, it is as if we have appropriated her to Christians - alone!  Can she be?  Would she want to be?  Can we who generously use that title be more gracious in our invocation?  If yes, then we should.  

The young leading the way

When Don Bosco was writing the regulations for the oratory of St Francis de Sales and the rules for the fledgling Salesian congregation, he adopted varied tactics.  When it came to the oratory itself, he was no stickler for rules.  But he did write down 'guidelines' more as a reflection and help to others working with him, rather than as a formal code book.  That he had to greatly alter this style, he learnt it the hard way, while writing and submitting his Rules for the congregation to the Vatican. 

Another aspect that comes out more strikingly in his guidelines for the oratory (more than the boarding schools, which came under the jurisdiction of the State and needed formal approval) is the direct engagement of the young people themselves in the everyday running of the house.  While it is true that there were priests and teachers and Don Bosco himself, but it was the boys themselves who were actively involved in the running of the place.

Young people need to be trusted and given responsibilities, rather than shielded from them.  One of my own greatest learnings and joys at Navajeevan, Ramanthapur was this pedagogy of letting boys take charge of things. These boys (just like most of those with Don Bosco then) were already living their life out on the street - all on their own.  They certainly knew what decision-making means, especially the consequences of them.  Adding my trust to their abilities and giving them that freedom made a huge difference to the way things were carried out in the house. 

Don Bosco, before Garelli?

In the Salesian tradition, there is a great narrative spun around the first interaction of Don Bosco with Bartolomeo Garelli, the boy whom Don Bosco meets in the church of St Francis de Sales.  This encounter is signposted as the origin of the Salesian oratory and the work of Don Bosco for the poor and marginalised youth.

However, it is not widely known that Don Bosco was already working for a section of the boys whom he would dedicate his life to, much before he met Bartholomeo Garelli.  Fr Cafasso, his spiritual director and guide, used to teach catechism every Sunday to bricklayers' boys.  And when he could not do it any longer, Don Bosco did it and he began with two boys. Not sure if he was requested to by Cafasso, or he took it upon himself, of his own accord.  Would be interesting to actually locate this in the historical chronology.  If so, then that Sunday catechism, rather than the Garelli encounter, could very well be the foundation of Salesian work.  Nonetheless, this historical evidence (as found in the Salesian Sources, Vol. 1) aids in understanding better the ambience in which Don Bosco found himself at home with - boys from the disadvantaged background. 

Dominic Savio, the odd one

Today we celebrate the feast of Dominic Savio, one of Don Bosco's renowned pupil.  However, it does not take us long to notice that Dominic Savio was certainly the odd one among the pupils of Don Bosco.  Most of the boys who were attracted by Don Bosco and those to whom Don Bosco felt drawn to were the ruffians, the hooligans, the juvenile delinquents... the underdogs, the unwanted.  But Don Bosco recognises in Dominic a boy of rare virtue, in their first encounter itself.

Most of the boys who joined the oratory were boys who had no where else to go.  They did not 'join' the oratory, they naturally found themselves there, primarily because of Don Bosco.  A few other lads were brought by their poor parents, or relatives who could not afford to look after them.  Some were sent by other priests knowing that Don Bosco was happy to look after boys in difficulty.  Dominic came in with his father.  And by the end of that first encounter with Don Bosco he makes a very strange request: "Make of me a good garment for the Lord!" Now most of the other boys, those of his age, would have asked for some food or list of things they are permitted to do while at the oratory.

This encounter also brings to light Don Bosco's ability to recognise a 'special child' when he meets one.  This is one of the virtues of Don Bosco, the educator, we Salesians ought to imbibe: to recognise and understand each child, each youngster as an individual.  Not see them all in a group, en masse.  Only when we come to know each child in his or her own particularity will we be able to bring out the best in them.  

The trouble with age

Reflecting on the scripture reading of the day, on the occasion of the feast of St Dominic Savio, the passage being, 'we are called to being the children of God'...

Age and aging is an inevitable but tricky aspect of human life.  As children we can't wait to become adults.  Once we become adults we wish we were small and carefree as children.  No one really loves one's age.  It is always 'other than' what I am! 

While age is something we have to put up with, inevitable as it is, growing up is something we can choose to (or not to).  Most of us naturally change over the years.  However, not all grow in wisdom and experience.  Often by the time we acquire wisdom we are incapable of doing anything other than mourn lost opportunities.  Telling ourselves of the past opportunities does not help much, especially towards the end of one's life.  Telling others does not help either!  They are all too busy making their own life! 

Only very few people really mature with age. They take life as it comes and learn to shape the world around them that fits them best; and in turn, they learn to make the most of their presence for the benefit of those around them.  It is a win-win situation for all involved.  In the presence of such people, one truly experiences wisdom, grace and contentment.  

Emptiness

I distinctly remember Fr TD John sending out a Christmas greeting to all the Salesian communities, years ago on the theme of 'Emptiness'. He basically used the following text from Lao Tzu and connected it to Jesus' kenosis, showing how of all things great and noble, emptiness offers them all the possibility. 

THIRTY spokes converge upon a single hub; 

It is on the hole in the center that the use of the cart hinges. 

We make a vessel from a lump of clay; 

It is the empty space within the vessel that makes it useful. 

We make doors and windows for a room; 

But it is these empty spaces that make the room livable. 

Thus, while the tangible has advantages, 

It is the intangible that makes it useful.

[From Lao Tzu, chapter 11]

Irrationality

Irrationality - as a middle ground between rationality and nonsense.  A lost space (thanks primarily to the Enlightenment era and Cartesian dualism).  A sort of fluid ground, not utterly rational and logical, yet real and influential. 

What then distinguishes it from nonsense? 
Its ability to influence and deeply affect matters of life and thought. 

My claim:
Irrationality is an unaccepted and often rejected notion in language and meaning that needs actually to be given space for operation, if language is to make sense.  However, cannot make it into a rule, that would then make it rational - lose its very identity.  Not saying irrationality is a must; but saying that its presence and influence has to be accepted and acknowledged.

Primary argument/evidence:
Without giving space for irrationality, language becomes fossilized.  There is no scope for further emergence of meaning. The existence of this dynamism which cannot be explained by all the rules put together, is evidence enough to state that there is some other force, besides the agreed and accepted rules and norms, at play. 

Listen

It's been a while since I've paid attention... it has been mostly self-talking and self-hearing!  

Intuition and reason

In the tussle between the rational mind and the intuitive mind, it is the former that often wins - not because that is better than the latter, but because it is most often sought after and respected.  The intuitive mind, is not negated, but not sufficiently respected!  Intuition does not follow the logic and pattern of the rational thought.  Neither are proofs for an intuition, often considered rational.  Left to defend its own ideas, the intuitive mind does not argue.  It feels!  That's where it 'loses' to the 'thinking' mind!  This is the case not just in academia, but  in life as a whole!  However, intuition is not a substitute to reason; but it surely does complement it!  

Coming from Albert Einstein, there has to be some truth in this observation!  

Systems and processes

Charity, in the West, mostly comprises in contributing by way of money.  Now that's not a passive way of being altruistic.  It is a way of life that is true because here people experience and are used to a system that works.  Whenever there is a real public need the state machinery sets itself into motion.  The primary responder to a state of emergency, whether it be a natural calamity or a human made error, is the state.  Individuals need not take upon themselves to be the primary or the only saviours! 

However, in most other parts of the world, especially in developing countries, the responsibility of reaching out to someone in difficulty is left to the generosity of the individuals who chance upon that situation.  There is no 'system' that responds! Even if the state machinery is made aware of the situation, by the time it gets into action, there will be none to save!  And even if it does reach the affected community or individuals, such is the bureaucratic red tape, that everyone involved in the process will become far richer than the one the aid is actually intended for. 

The local council here called for volunteers to assist during the pandemic.  From the whatsapp group that was created and used for those who signed up in Chertsey alone, I gather there were at least 80 people.  And what was the chief task expected?  Delivery of shopping, collecting prescriptions and perhaps a courtesy call.  Over the last four weeks, there have been a total of 3 requests per day, on an average, sent out by the local coordinator!  That makes 18 tasks per week (excluding Sunday - that day being a holiday even for charity!).  So 18 people got to do some work for some person in need in a week.  That too the quickest responder to the whatsapp request posted.  That leaves nearly 60 others for a chance another week - if they're quick enough to respond.  Clearly this is an indication that those willing to help outnumber to a great extent those needing help.  It is mostly because there are already systems in place which do the needful.  Those few and far between cracks or delays are the only gaps that need to be filled in by volunteers. 

The systems I talk about are not disaster relief systems that respond to an emergency.  These systems are processes that make life easy in normal day-to-day life.  I certainly don't believe that all the systems here are totally perfect and that there is no corruption anywhere.  But one thing is certain: the system works!  

Prayer to St Joseph, the worker

To write this on the feast of St Joseph, the worker, is really ironic: Am really busy!!  However, don't know what to get through first.  The easiest solution or the most practical one would be, "Get off one's butt!" but what to do if most of my work is to be done on my butt and on fingertips!  Of course, the mind has to do the most strenuous task!  Easter still seems far away for this Lenten cross of work at the desk.

So here's my prayer to St Joseph, the worker:

Dear St Joseph and family,
Help me,
discern, not delay;
be grateful, not mourn the kind of work I have at hand;
see the bigger picture, rather than my laptop alone!
As I thank you for the numerous opportunities
and the plentitude of possibilities,
may I respect my priorities, the availability of time,
and be diligent about them all.
Above all, help me do all my works with a genuine love,
and for God and others!