Finding peace

There are times when I close myself in my room, seeking solitude and rest.  At times it helps, at times it only aggravates my disturbed mind.  And the other day as I was changing the page on the calendar, I read this quote (by Virginia Woolf) at the bottom of the page:

You cannot find peace by avoiding life.

I guess she is right. Being an ostrich does not help, certainly not the ostrich itself! But I guess one does need moments of silence and being all by oneself to make some  sense of what is going on around me. However, it is also a matter of prudence, when to withdraw and when to charge headlong!

Sorting out

The other day during his sermon, Fr Joe Prabhu presented a rather simple analogy of using a simple Maruthi car or a BMW, but the road remains the same.  Whether we use a simple ordinary wrist watch or a costly rolex, time is the same. Often we get lost in the decorative rather than the essential elements of life and living.  Need to have the wisdom to sift through the non-essentials from that what really really matters.

Formator: Ever a learner

I came across one beautiful testament of living a formative experience as a formator on Fr Ivo's blog, Musings.  The whole text is here.

One of the first things that caught my attention in that simple and personal sharing of insights was the following statement

One becomes capable of accompanying others only when one has oneself begun a serious process of personal accompaniment that should extend over a lifetime.  

I'm at a juncture where I'm still gather my bearings in a formation set up.  The fact that one has been in a formation set up for most of ones life, does not automatically mean that one is ready to deal with contemporary situations. Much matters on how one perceives the situation and what line of action one chooses to follow in the given context. There are no ready-made text books or instructions.  One needs to be prudent.  One needs to be constantly learning and growing.  I guess that's the basic premise of being a formator... the openness to be a learner, ever!  

Using available force than battling it...

There is always a huge outcry whenever there is a depiction of a religious founder or leader in a sort of caricature mode or in a "derogatory" manner.  There was always somewhere someone depicting Jesus with a smoking pipe or a bottle of whiskey or puffing a cigar;  not to mention someone, drawing a caricature of Prophet Muhammad (not too often though!); or some celebrity dancing around trees in a movie draped with some shawl with imprints of gods and goddesses.  Immediately there are protests and letters and agitations...

Well, understandably sentiments are delicate and thereby one easily gets hurt.  To voice a corrective note is obviously a sensible thing to do. However, things often are taken overboard and an unnecessary ruckus created.  More than stage protests and create a scene, the same occasion could very well be used to instruct, perhaps using the very same "derogatory" text/movie/picture.  Take the wind off the sails! Or use the wind to steer in your direction...

I suppose that demands much prudence, wisdom and knack.  

Frontline foot Soldiers of the Church

Tomorrow is the feast of the front line foot soldiers of the Church... the Parish Priests. Certainly more than the religious or any other form of clergy, the Parish Priests are the ones who really are the face of the Church, interacting with the faithful people. Hence more than qualifications and feelings a Parish Priests needs to have insight and prudence... when to say, what to say and how to say. That's a rather difficult task given the fact that this is not something that books and all the years of formation (including those numerous term papers and assignments one does) can really equip us with. This is something that comes with patient learning, picking up threads from elders and experienced people and having a deep inner conviction about one's own vocation and love for it.

May John Mary Vianney, the patron of all Parish Priests, grant us all that grace!
Miss being at home in Kondadaba for this feast day!