Soul and Vision March 2012

8/2/2019 Soul and Vision March 2012

1/20

Birth centenary of St.AlphonsaYear 2010 !

March 2012, Volume 04, No.03The first Internet info.for overseas Evangelists

{]hmkn t{]jnXcpsS {]Ya Cds\v

hmmam[yaw

Estd. January 2009.

Letters to Editor

sImtfmWnse Idp amXmhv hn.At^mk

"Soul and Vision" E.Mail Newsletter is free and for private circulation, Website:www.soulandvision.blogspot.comDesigned, edited and published by George Katticaren, Raiffeisen Str.25, 511 05 Koeln, Germany, Tel: +49 221 833567 or+91 484 2331083, +91 8943498123 Fax: + 49 221 8306031, E.Mail: [email protected] / [email protected] Honorary Advisers: Sunny Elapunkal, Mrs.Valsa Katticaren, Mrs.Gracy John, George Kuttikattu, Baby Aerthayil, Jose Palamattam,Jose A. Kachiramattam, Dr.Sunny Samuel, P.M.Mathew.

tkm Bv hnj aebmfhn`mKw

12mwt]Pn XpSpp

[Fr. Jacob Srampickal SJ is Professor in the Department of Communication Stu-dies at Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome.]

- Prof. Jacob Srampickal, Rome

Making communication central in Church renewal

One of the major challenges for those working with communications in the

Church in India is the utter lack of interest in understanding the why of

communications in the Church, among a large of number o f well- intended

people like bishops, superiors, rectors, professors in seminaries and even those in social sci-

ences, who obviously, hold high posts in the Church. Hence, communication apostolate, a new entrant in the Churchs apostolic arena, is yet a hard hurdle due to the large number of

traditional minded persons in top hierarchical positions. Such persons are not open to newthinking and can hardly see communication apostolate among the priorities in the mission of

the Church. Many of these still like to think that communications is all about technology or

at the best about making and using media programmes. Then there are those who think that media are mere entertainment or time-pass. It is true media have been relegated to that stage

by our businessmen who are capable of turning peoples interest in pure entertainment, into

cash. This is the tragedy of the entertainment industry, a perfect example of which is seen in

India. One, however, should not forget that entertainment do play a major role in characterformation and social interaction, both of which cannot be ignored by conscientious educators.

This is altogether another branch of sociological inquiry that supports communications studies.

Another disheartening factor is the almost ready for action kind of stand taken by certain

Church authorities at seminars and national conferences on communications. Often the care-fully worded final statement is all that they have to project as an achievement, and this would

often rest on library racks among other such final statements for scholars to do referencework.

In my 12 years of organizing, observing and following up awareness workshops for bishops,

provincials and other superiors at National, South Asian (FABC) and International levels, Ihave noticed with amazement, how the enthusiasm of the agenda instantly zeroes into nothing

by the t ime they get back to their dioceses \ provinces/communities. This is mainly because

they cannot continue to think of media activities demanding any kind of priority in the kind

of structures that have already been built up, in the existing situation. But there are always

many slips between the cup and the lip, and to concretely realize all these high ideals we pro-fess is no easy job. Changing with the times is something very difficult for the Church as it

may be noticed that the Church feels quite at home with the oldest media -- print. When it

comes to the modern except for their facile nature, the Church keeps wondering if these would

be handy with her in the task of proclamation. Another real problem in the Church circle is the presence of people heading communication

structures with no training or with the wrong kind of training in media. In fact, proper training

witha clear vision is the need of the times and this essay goeson to summarize what really con-

stitutes ideal training for Church communications. A vision based training is the need of the

hour and it needs to be inter-disciplinary too.

That communication is closely related to other disciplines and vice versa is what makes the

interdisciplinary approach in communication studies meaningful. Let us look at the basic rela-

tionship between communication and other disciplines.

To repeat in crux what was noted earlier, theology has several links with communication. Very

briefly, revelation isGod's communication with humans through the ages. The Trinity is perfect

communion through perfect communication. The scripture too is the revelation of the HolySpirit to help us understand Gods message of love. The Church is the continuation of Gods communication of love and truth in history. Incarnation is God becoming man, so that he can

communicate with the receivers, who are human beings, by being on their level showing

them through his own life-example (testimony).The sacraments are symbolic communication

-Continuation next page, col. 1 .

The interdisciplinary approach

Communications and other disciplines

On 18 , February 2012

Syro-Malabar Major

Archbishop George

Alencherry was elevat-ed as a cardinal b y

PopeBenedict XVI in

the Vatican.

He is among the 22 prelates who took the cardinals' traditional oath of loyalty.

The people in Kerala, especially Syro Mala-

bar christians are hoping for a better tomorow

with the elevation of Syro-Malabar Major Arch-bishop George Alencherry as cardinal.

Unfortunately, immediately after hi s eleva-

tion as cardinal the statement given by him to' Agenzia Fides', (Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Rome since 1927.)

in connection with the murder of two catholic

fishermen in Kerala by Italian navy people

sparked off world wide protests among the

syro malabar christians and others.The media culture in Europe is far different

than that of in India. Let us analyse in that

perspective.The earl ier version reported by ' Agenzia

Fides' is as followsThe Cardinal said: I learned the story of the

Catholic fishermen killed: it is very sad. I im-

mediately contacted the Catholic ministers ofKerala urging the government not to act

precipitately.

He added: I am and wil l remain in c lose

contact with the Catholic ministers of Kerala

and I hope that they will help to pacify the situation. In particular, I trust in the work ofthe Tourism Minister, the Catholic KV

Thomas, who participated in the consistory

in Rome in past days and attended the mass

with the Holy Father and the new cardinals: he is a man of great moral stature and of sig-

nificant influence,both in the local and central

government, and he assured me his maximum

effort. I guarantee, in the next few days, myconstant involvement with the Indian author-

ities on the matter.

If the cardinal would have made any protest

statement, ' Agenzia Fides' is obliged to publish it.

-Continuation on next page,col. 3 .

The New SM Cardinal FacesWorld Wide Protests!(Continuation from Feb. issue)


2/20

March 2012Volume 04, No.03, Page 02{]hmkn t{]jnXcpsS {]Ya Cds\vv hmmam[yaw : The first Internet news info. for overseas evangelists (Estd.:Jan.2009)

KL

through rituals perpetuated in the Christian

community. The Eucharist communicates very

powerfully Jesus self-giving love for humansand continued presence with them. Liturgy is

a mode of celebration perpetuated throughrituals and can be interpreted as the peoples

responses to Gods communication.

Philosophy is a science that deals with the study of knowledge. Languages, signs, sym-

bols, codes, etc help to communicate know-

ledge. The various theories of philosophy shed

light on the way people comprehend and inter-

pret messages. Philosophies of major thinkerslike Marx, Sartre, Kafka and others have been

recreated by the media either in fictional oraudio visual popular forms. Rhetoric is a spe-

cial form that tries to communicate powerfully

to audiences.Missiology deals with the proclamation of the

Good News in different cultures, amidst di-

verse religions. Obviously, the way the Gospel

is communicated in different cultures is avery important aspect of communication stu-

dies. Sharing of the Good News is itself a lov-

ing act of communication, which entails giv-

ing of one's l ife in love after the example ofJesus the 'Perfect communicator'.

Social Sciences like Anthropology and Socio-logy supply the frame work for a mediated

society. The means of communication in terms

of ever evolving technology has sociological

and anthropological effects. The evolution ofhumans is closely related to the evolution of

language and the quality of communication.

Psychology is the scientific study of the hu-man mind and its functions especially affect-

ing behaviour in a given context. In the pro-

cess of mediation, audiences assume an impor-

tant role and psychology plays a major role in

making communication effective. Psychologydirectly affects the field of communication interms of blocks, noise, inner disturbances etc,

affecting the process of reception. In the pro-

cess of l is tening - a major e lement of com-

munication- the listener's emotions play a veryimportant role. Communication becomes sub-

tler, liminal, and psychologically manipulated

when one comes into the area of advertise-

ments. A student of communications cannot doaway with the basic principles of personality

development, self-concept, identity, percep-

tions, simulations, subliminal seduction etc,

which have deep roots in psychology. Audi-ence theories, techniques of advertising andmarketing and public relations also draw from

the sources of psychology. Finally humans are

communicating animals and psychology deals

with human behaviour.

Spirituality: Media experiences replete withcultural nuances have often proved to be deep

spiritual experiences. Artistic representations

and cultural symbols do lead humans to go

beyond self to the Absolute

This is in accordance with the European

charter of freedom of opinon and press law.

No protest action was undertaken by

cardinal. Hence the earlier version published

by 'Agenzia Fides' remains true. The Cardinal, in his revised statement, said

only this about the killing of two Indian fisher-

men, but he never rebuked the earlier versionas untrue

Two precious l ives have been lost. Strong

legal action should be taken against the guilty.

According to the European press laws 'Agenzia

Fides published the second statement too andthey respected the norms of a fine journalism.

Publishing a protest statement of any form in

Indian news papers could not be evaluated

as a good journalistic tradtion.It raises very serious questions. Was it neces-sary for a cardinal to interfere in state affairs,

especially when the political machinery of two

mighty nations are involved ?.

The statement is a ticking bomb for communa-lism. The waves of protest within the church as

well as outside are becoming stronger.This has

caused more damage to the already disfigured

face of the SM church.The SM church is already fac ing multi-

dimensional problems like involvement of a

bishop with underworld business people (as

reported by Mangalam) and lack of communi-cation of bishops with the people of God, their

power hunger, controversies like Persian cross,altar veil and liturgy, participation of the laity

in the church, corruption in the church insti-

tutions, utter discrimination of dalit christiansin the church and misuse of church funds etc,

let the charity to begin at home. We wish the

cardinal all success. -Editor

map of the organisation. He avoided facing

people and doing any work so he created oc-

casions to visit his organizations all over. Hisreligious ceremonies had no religious fer-

vours . He interpreted rules and regulations tosuit his claims. People never approached him

for spiritual guidance. Within a few years hebecame a man with a religious title but l ived

l ike an ordinary man in his mansion with a

few flatterers.This story tells how the religious leaders slip

into the array of leaders who are without reli-gious principles. There are many religious

groups being led by such irreligious leaders.

Their leadership has brought the religion to all

time low s tatus. We need religio-spiritual

leaders who have sufficient experience of thedivine. If we are looking for divine experience

then we need to pray for ordinary persons inthe divine garbs. It might look impossible in

the modern world but nothing is impossiblefor God. So pray for divine intervention,

God can do wonders with seemingly useless persons too!

(Fr.Anand Muttugal based inM.P. , is a miss ionary andrenowned writer)

There are many religious lead-

ers who do not fit into our con-cept of religious leadership butit is hard to question them dueto the power they wield. A religious leaderaccording to general concept is someone whois dedicated to a l ife that will help promote God experience in bel ievers as per the setnorms of the religion. His/ her l ife is a total dedication to the cause of religious principlesgiven by the scripture. A religious person be-gins his/her life as a strict follower of the reli-gion and gradually ascends to a spiritual leader.However, those deviate from the common be-

liefs and practises through incoherent actionsto what they preach and practise is consideredas irreligious. Some of their common charac-teristics are; ignoring the vision of the founderand gets tied up with set norms and traditions. Such persons cannot remain longer in thisstate instead move to losing the fear of God. Subsequently, it results to formation of arro-gance mixed with crude indifference to not only to the bel ievers but also the religioustenets . I t moves a s tep further with loss offaith in the divine providence and fearlessnessin the divine. We can find some practical symptoms in them such as not attending com-

mon people, attending mobile calls in serious meetings, rarely attends missed calls, SMSs, revengeful and competitive spirit in every-thing, searches ways target those opposed totheir ideas, uses people as pawns to find selfsatisfaction and above all they perform all reli-gious ceremonies mechanically. The concept can be clearer with the parableof a religious leader who he spent long hours with God and people. He taught people waysto lead a happy l ife. He guided people in all round development. He established numberof charitable institutions across the countryfor the people. He took up difficulties as partof his endeavour to help people to reach God. One day morning his disciples found himdead. After a few days they elected a newson to head the organization. As soon as hebegan his reigns, he made a list of people whohad personal problems with each other. He ap-pointed them all with persons whom he felt are not supporting him. As he had thought,through their fights he got information abouteach other and he p layed well the role of ahealer. He told them all one-day, God has chosen me to be Superior over you. He has given me wisdom to be perfect in all matters. So all activities will be planned by me, if youhave any idea share with me, if I am pleased

you can do . He made many small commit-tees of sycophants to execute the works. Heplaced such people in most charitable organi-zations that can generate income. Slowly all his charitable institutions began to mintmoney and common people were out from the

-Contd. on next col.

Making communication central...Continuation from page 1 Continuation from page 1

Is Religion Being Led By Irreligious?- Fr. Anand Muttungal

=

Is Religion Being Led By Irreligious?

The New SM Cardinal Faces....


3/20

March 2012Volume 04, No.03, Page 03

{]hmkn t{]jnXcpsS {]Ya Cds\vv hmmam[yaw : The first Internet news info. for overseas evangelists (Estd.:Jan.2009)

Prof. K.T.SebastianProf. K.T.Sebastian

=

[Fr. Joseph Mattam SJ, an emritus professor of Systematic Theology, had been the founder and for many years dean of the Gujarat Jesui t Regional Theologate

(RTC) and later,of the Gujarat Regional Seminary (GVD); he lectures in various theological centres in India and abroad. He i s the author and edi tor of many books .

He was the p resident o f FOIM (Fellowship o f Indian Miss iologists ), an Ecu- menical Association. ]

The Our Father: the revolutionary Prayer of the Kingdom

-Continuation on next column

The Our Father, the most frequently used prayer, is probably the only one taught by Jesus; it is a picture o f the Kingdom, the new type of life that Jesus

envisaged. To understand this prayer better we need to look at the introductory

and concluding verses in Matthew's vers ion. Jesus begins by saying: " In p ray-

ing do not heap up empty phrases. your Father knows what you need before you ask him."(Matt 6.6-7). And He concludes:"if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will yourFather forgive your trespasses" (6.14-15 ). If this prayer, then, is not a matter of "empty words"

to inform God what we need but is a matter of forgiving one another, I suggest that this prayer

expresses a fourfold relationship: to God, one another, things and structures. It is both a confes-

sion of who we are and a promise to become what we profess to be. Like all prayers of petition, this is the expression of the truth of us and of our commitment to bring about God's rule on

earth. This prayer is a programme of life and expresses the very meaning of Christian life.

The first phrase i s a summary of the whole prayer. I t expresses our relation to God, one another, the earth and to the s tructures. In Jesus' time people considered God as l iving ' in

heaven'; perhaps by saying that God is 'heavenly', Jesus distinguishes God from our earthly

parents. Also the term 'Father' need not be taken in a male sense, but it expresses the type ofrelation we ought to have to God whom we may call Father/Mother. As the rays of the sun de-pend totally on the sun, we depend on God for our very being and these words affirm that our

attitude to God ought to be one of loving obedience, trust and gratitude, not a relation based on

greed, fear or obligation. In fact, we ought to relate to God as children - in loving obedience;

we want to pray because we want to be in conscious and intimate communion with our Father/

Mother. Besides affirming this relation to God, we affirm that we are all brothers/sisters,ownersof the Earth that belongs to the Parent. In our world, with all types of discriminatory relation-

ships based on caste, colour, gender, religion, race and nationality, this statement is truly revolu-tionary. As children of the same Parent, we owe each other love and respect. Each has a distinct

functi on in society, but this does not place one above or below the other. There is no superiorclass or race. Every type of relation that is opposed to this basic truth stands condemned.

The earth is of God and therefore, is meant for all God's children; it is not just for a few children

or a few nations. For, according to the Bible, human beings and the earth are intimately inter-

connected and so, cannot be separated. Any ideology that justifies the accumulation of wealthby some by depriving others of land, house and food is contrary to the faith expressed by these

words. Anyone who justifies the present system as "God's will" is denying God as Father/

Mother of all and is an atheist. This profession of who we are, how we ought to relate to God,

to others and to the Earth is also a promise to bring about a new social order where all will sharethe earth of God as brothers/sisters, without any discrimination.

What was confessed and promised in the first phrase is explicated here. It is our privilege as

children to keep God's name sacred, revered and respected by all in the way we relate to God,to one another and to the earth. God is not honoured merely by singing God's praises or saying'holy' or offering worship in the churches, but by God's children living truly as brothers/sisters,

in love and justice. Just as good sons and daughters honour their parents by the way they live

as brothers/sisters, we honour God as Father/Mother if we live truly as brothers/sisters, sharing

the earth with all. If, on the contrary, we build walls of separation among ourselves and if a fewof the children enjoy all or most of the wealth of the Parent, while the others are left to starve

then we dishonour God's name. Any form of discrimination on the basis of caste, race, gender,

nation and religion is also an insult to the Father's name. The so-called believers in God have

been the chief cause of the growth of atheism.

What we desire here and commit ourselves to is to actualize God's dream for the earth. When

God created this earth, God had great dreams for this "daughter", for all her potentialities, forall that she could become. God certainly would have dreamt this earth to be a place where all God's children could liave happily. The Kingdom of God is not a special place, but the trans-

formation of the present earth and of humans and their relationships. It is the radical re-orient-

Our Father in Heaven

Holy be Your Name:

Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done on earth, as in heaven

ation of our life, a radically new vision of re-

ality.It is a negation of the present as final.The

Jewish people spoke of the actualization of thepromises of God in terms of the Kingdom of

God, the rule of God, which would bring just-ice to the victims of society.

This Kingdom does not come through the use

of power, but through the revelation of the un-conditional love of God. Jesus manifested in

his life that the acceptance of this truth, name-

ly, belief in God's love, is what l iberates him

from greed, lust, hatred, fear, poor self-image,legalism and ritualism and enables him to love

all . Loving in an unjust world would neces-

sarily mean taking s ides with the victims of

society; hence we may say that the Kingdomof God that Jesus envisaged is constituted by

freedom, love and justice. We commit our-selves to create a s ituation of freedom, love

and justice, which while it is a gift, is also our

task. We have to take sides, we have to decide

in favour of the Kingdom of God and give upallegiance to other kingdoms based on pres-

tige, possessions, successand exploitation

(see Lk 16.1-10; Lk 14 .16-24; Mk 12.28-34);

i t i s our task to manifest God's love in oureffective loving which, in an unjust world,

requires ` repentance' , a change of l ife, a

changed social relationship. Recognizing thatGod is not paternalistic, but has entrusted the

world to us, we will have to work to eliminate

the injustices that prevail in our world andcreate a more humane and a just world where

al l can l ive in harmony and truly cal l God

`Father/ Mother'. God brings about God's rulethrough our loving, our opposition to forces

that are contrary to God's will and dream. So,

we pray that the will of God may become a

reality on earth. It is not something for the after-life, but for thisworld of ours.

Jesus expresses the reality of the Kingdom in

terms of bread for all , forgiveness, mutualprotection and creation of structures that are

helpful for al l. Jesus tel ls us that God is in-

terested in our basic necessities of life: food,

(clothes, shelter), forgiveness and protection.

He tells us that the first requirement of the Kingdom is that all have "bread".When people

were found without food Jesus did not tell the

disciples to pray to God, instead told them,

"You give them something to eat". We notealso that God's fina l judgment depends onwhether we cared for the hungry (Matt 25.31ff).

When Jesus tells us that the Father feeds the

b irds of the air, we know that God does so

through their efforts; so, much more truly we

ought to realize that God does not do thingsinstead of us; the earth has been entrusted to

God's children who will have to care for i t,

develop i t and make i t beneficial fo r al l. Hence, our prayer for bread is a commitment

to share our bread, to provide bread for al l

- Continuation on next page col. 1

Give us this day our daily bread:

- Prof. Joseph Mattam SJ., India.


4/20

Marcch 2012Volume 04, No.03, Page 04


Prof. K.T.SebastianProf. K.T.Sebastianthrough our caring, sharing and creating structures that help such a distribution; so that, whatwas said of the first Christians be true of all : "There was not a needy person among them"

(Acts 4.34).

Jesus also reminds us by the use of the word daily that what is required is not a system of hoard-

ing and accumulation. In today's world, the capitalistic system of competition and hoarding is considered to be just and necessary. But even in the OT, when people were given the manna,

they were told not to hoard for the morrow. Jesus spoke strongly against hoarding (Lk 12.16-21),about the dangers of wealth (Lk 16.1 9-31; Mk 10.25ff) and insisted on sharing (Mt 5.42). The

early Christians too thought that it was possible, though their experiment lasted only for a short

while. This hint of Jesus, at least, invites us to look for alternative patterns. "Give us our dailybread", then, is a promise to share the earth and its produce with all , a promise not to hoard at

the cost of another; it is against the luxuries of any type when even one person remains hungry

and unfed, without clothes and shelter.

The Jews believed that only God could forgive sins: "Who can forgive sins but God alone?"

(Lk 5.21), hence, Jesus makes it explicit that even what is so exclusively God's privilege is

now carried out through us. Almost like an after-thought, to emphasize the centrality of this

theme, Jesus concludes the prayer by repeating the message of this petition. We need to forgiveothers in order to experience God's forgiveness. It is not a condition on God's part, but a condi-tion for us to experience God's forgiving unconditional love. God continues to love us even when we turn away from God. Hence, this petition is a call for us to become like God in our

relation to one another. True love is unconditional. Jesus places forgiveness on an equal footing

with our need for food.

In our world, people are so much governed by various forms of conditioning and hence, act from prejudice, partial or wrong information received, from their need to protect themselves,

from fear, from the illusion of improving others, etc; but their actions can be harmful; these

can be misunderstood by others. Due to such misunderstandings, judgment and blame follow.

Hence there arises the continual need for forgiveness, as Jesus says: "seventy times seven"(Matt 18. 22). Misunderstanding and judgments create Towers of Babel, walls of separation

and block communication. Understanding and forgiveness create new channels of communica-

tion. Mutual forgiveness and love are to be the characteristics of Jesus' disciples (Jn 13 .35), and

they make us like God, make us truly God's children.While the sacrament of reconciliation is very necessary for the Church to continue as a com-munity of brothers/sisters, the understanding of that sacrament in the past has perhaps done

harm to this more fundamental teaching of Jesus on mutual forgiveness. When a person for-

gives another, both benefit by that action; perhaps the one who forgives is the first beneficiary

of that action, for by his/her non-forgiveness, he/she does harm to own self.

The temptation is against the values of the Kingdom, namely, of sharing and forgiving. This

petition is a promise to live by the values of the Kingdom, by not hoarding but sharing, by not

hating and creating walls of division and separation but by forgiving. To share, to let go ofone's own interest and forgive, as well as to live according to the values of Jesus is difficult in

a world where 'worldly values' reign supreme; where possessing, hoarding, grabbing, dominat-

ing and having power over others are considered to be the most important thing - the means of

being regarded as someone. By having more and more one gives the illusion of being happierand thus tempts others too to follow that path of grabbing and accumulating. Hence throughthis prayer we promise to place before one another the value system of Jesus and not that of the

world.

The last part of the petition speaks of mutual protection. In Jesus' time, the apocalyptic world-

view held that all evils came from Satan and hence, Jesus claimed, "But if it is by the finger ofGod that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you" (Lk 11 .20). Given

this world-view, He was undoing the power structures that kept people enslaved in one form or

another. The prayer then is aimed at the destruction of the power structures that enslave and

dehumanize. It is too s implistic today to say that Satan is keeping people enslaved. The poli-tical, economic, social and religious structures on the one hand, and the internal structures of

greed, hatred, lust, fear and poor self- image, on the other hand dehumanize and enslave people

today. One may also understand the petition in a general sense as referring to the need of mutu-

al protection. God protects us through what we do for ourselves; we have to make it possiblefor all to live without fear. Hence, the prayer becomes a promise to create structures that help the well-being of all and also to help to free people from the internal unhealthy structures of

greed, hatred, lust, fear and attachment: a call to personal conversion and to work for a better

and more humane social structure, which is already implied in the earlier petition: "Your King-

dom come".

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us

Lead us not into temptation

Deliver us from evil:

Fr.(Prof.) Jacob Srampickal SJ to headthe Media Institute of the Indian

Bishops' Conference

Fr. Jacob Srampickal has been

appointed the new director of

National Institute of SocialCommunications Research and

Training (NISCORT) and he

succeeds Fr. Jude Botelho.

Fr Srampickal was the first dean of the inst-itute located at Vaishali in Uttar Pradesh's

Ghaziabad district. Currently he is professor

of Communications Studies at Gregorian

University Rome,Fr Srampickal holds a doctors degree in De-velopment Communication from the Uni-

versity of Leeds, England (1987-91) as well

as four major diplomas in communications

from India.

The priest was part of the ecumenical jury at four international film festivals (Montreal,

Leeds,Venice, Berlin). From 2005, he has

been a consultant to the Pontifica l Com-

mission for Social Communications.He is ecpected to take the charge of the insti-

tute in June 2012.

Fr.Jacob Srampickal is associating with "Soul and Vision" since it's inception . WeCongratulate him and wish him all the

success for his new assignment as director

of THE NISCORT

His article on his miraculous recovery from

ICU and back to life will be published in thenext issue of Soul and Vision.-Editor

Conclusion

This prayer of the Kingdom, then, proposesto us the manifold relationships that make up

our l ife: loving obedience to God, inter-

personal relations characterized by uncondi-

tional love; relation to things characterizedby not hoarding, but sharing; and finally, cre-

ating structures that help all to live fearlessly

and be beneficial to all. Through these rela-

tions , we express our re lation to God asFather/Mother, we honour God's name, andwe bring about God's Kingdom on earth. In

other words, when we truly love one another,

we share our bread, we protect one another

and we create conditions that are helpful to al l. The goal of our l ife on earth is that we

love as God loves. Hence, Jesus sums up the

prayer by the repetition of the call to mutual

forgiveness, to unconditional love. When we

see this prayer as demanding such a seriouscommitment, we understand why in introduc-

ing this prayer at the Eucharist, the priests

usually say, We make bold to say Our

Father". We need courage to say this prayerif we mean what we say, namely, a promise

to make real God's dream for us and for the

earth.

The Our Father: the revolutionary Prayer of the KingdomContinuation from page 3

Contd on next col.


5/20


{]hmkn t{]jnXcpsS {]Ya Cds\vv hmmam[yaw : The first Internet news info. for overseas evangelists (Estd.: Jan.2009)


=

[ Fr.( Prof.) Subhash Anand, 69, is an Indian priest-theologian, retired in

2008 from Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth [JDV] and the Papal Seminary in Punediocese, Maharashtra after which he returned to his home diocese of Udaipur

in Rajasthan. He is one of the priests who are lobbying for a completely autonomous Indian Church. ]

-Contd.on next column

Commenting on Mt 1 6.18-1 9, many scholars of different denominations

think that Matthew does accord Peter a special place within the college ofapostles and in the life of the early Church. To deny the pre-eminent position of Peter among

the disciples or in the early Christian community is a denial of the evidence. There is, how-

ever, no agreement about the full significance of this text. But this focus on Peter as the one

who gets involved when problems emerge is typically Matthean . On the other hand, weneed to note that that not only Peter, but all the Apostles are told by Jesus: Whatever you

bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in

heaven (16.19; 18.1 8). Hence it is hard to be sure about the role of Peter in the Matthean

community's controversy in the last first century. It is significant that twenty five yeas after

his death Peter retained at least a historical importance. Beyond that is speculative.

Before attempting the exegesis of Mt 1 6.18-1 9, we need to situate this text within the Gospeltradition. It is part of a larger pericope found in all the Synoptics, showing Jesus questioning

the disciples about his identity, and Peter answering on behalf of all . It will be helpful to

compare the three reports.

Mt 16.1523 Mk 8.2933 Lk 9.2021

He said to them, But who do

you say that I am?

And he asked them, But who do you say that I am?

And he said to them, But who do you say that

I am?

a.

b. Simon Peter replied, You arethe Christ,

Peter answered him, Youare the Christ.

And Peter answered,

The Christ of God.

the Son of the living God.c.

And Jesus answered him,Blessed are you, SimonBarjona! For flesh and bloodhas not revealed this to you,

but my Father who is in heaven.And I tell you, you are Peter,

and on this rock I will build mychurch, and the powers of deathshall not prevail against it. I willgive you the keys of the king-

dom of heaven, and whatever

you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whateveryou loose on earth shall be

loosed in heaven.

d.

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must

go to Jerusalem and suffermany things from the eldersand chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third

day be raised.

And he charged them to tell

no one about him. And hebegan to teach them that theSon of man must suffer many

things, and be rejected by theelders and the chief priestsand the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

And he said this plainly.

e. But he charged and com-manded them to tell thisto no one, saying, The

Son of man must suffer many things, and be re-jected by the elders and

chief priests and scribes,and be killed, and on the

third day be raised.

f.

And Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, God

forbid, Lord! This shall neverhappen to you. But he turned

and said to Peter, Get behindme, Satan! You are a hindranceto me; for you are not on theside of God, but of men.

And Peter took him, andbegan to rebuke him. But

turning and seeing his disci-

ples, he rebuked Peter, andsaid, Get behind me, Satan!For you are not on the side of God, but of men.

The three Synoptics have a, b and e in com-

mon. Thus it is clear that c and d are totallyMatthew's composition. It is only Matthew

that gives us Jesus' response to Peter. This ma-terial has no parallel in Mark or in any other

Gospel source. Some maintain that the tradi-

tion itself came from the pre-Easter Jesus. This view is based on the Semitic speech andthe fact of Peter's special role among the

twelve. Others argue that the tradition arose in

the Church at Antioch where Peter was look-

ed upon as the founding apostle of the Churchthere. Thus the story would reflect an attempt

at establishing Peter's authority by tracing itback to Jesus' t ime. Thus, there are good rea-

sons to think that the commission given toPeter, as reported by Matthew, does not go

back to the historical Jesus: the historicity ofthe special Matthean material.... . . . is widely

regarded as dubious. It is a construction with-in the Matthean community, attempting to dealwith a problem it faced. Matthew is dealing

with the Church at Antioch.This may explain

the presence of anachronisms, including the

reference to the ekklesia , 'church,' . Though

Mark - the original source - and Luke have thelarger pericope (Mk 27-30; Lk 9.18-21), they

do not include Mt 16.18-1 9. This means that

the problem faced by the Church at Antioch

was not the problem of their communities. Therefore the solution proposed by Matthewhas no relevance for them. Hence we need to

bevery careful before we attempt to project

on the whole Church a text that was originally

created within and addressed to particular community. The p lurali ty wi thin the New

Testament needs to be maintained. That plurality is also part of the revelation handed

down to us by theNew Testament.

If in Mt 16.17-19, the author wanted to con-vey the meaning proposed by Vatican I - Peter

and his successors received universal juris-

diction in the Church, and their ministry willnot fail - then it becomes very difficult to un-

derstand why the author in the very next unitportrayed Peter in the role of the devil, trying

to dissuade Jesus from his painful mission (f).

True, Matthew has taken this from Mark. Two

comments are in place here . F irs t, here Matthew could have done what he does else-

where:when he finds Mark too harsh, he tones

down his text. In Mark we have: He could do

no mighty work there (6.5), while Matthew

has: He did not do many mighty works there(13.58). Second - that would have been much

better - he could have just dropped this part,

as Luke has done.

There i s another problem we need to face.

Mark, and following him Luke, tell us that thedisciples were discussing who among themwas the greatest (Mk 9.33-37; Lk 9.46-48). In

Matthew the disciples ask Jesus a question:

Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? ( 18.1) . This c reates a spec ial difficulty.

-Continuation on next page col. 2

The Testimony of Matthew

-Fr.( Prof.) Subhash Anand,Peter in the New TestmentContinuation from Feb. issue, refer to www. soulandvision.blogspot.com


6/20




Continuation from page 5

[ Fr. Kariamadam was principal of Rajagiri High School, Kalamassery, and Christ School, Bangalore. He is now pastor of two churches in Nashville,

Tennessee]

A Sunday school teacher taught her c lass a lesson about repentance . Wanting to make sure the class understood, s he a sked, Can any one tell me what you mus t do before you receive forgiveness for your s ins? There was some si lence,

b ut it was finally b roken by a small voice pip ing up from the back of the room,First, you gotta sin!

Sinning is not hard to do, but hard to identify and acknowledge. A TV evangelist once an-

nounced on his program that there are 577 different s ins that people can commit. And yet, when people to come to the confessional, they can't think of anything to say. At my age, what

sin can I commit, father?, some oldies ask me in the confessional, half in jest and half in ear-

nest. They simply can't seriously make an examination of conscience and find out something

to be sorry about. Fulton J, Sheen used to say, Hearing confessions of nuns is like being ston-

ed to death with pop corns. He says the greatest problem with the modern world is that it has lost a sense of sin. How true!

To many thinking people today, free will and its use or abuse is a myth. They say we are just

conditioned or are made in a particular way. Everything is a happening, and we don't have any

choices. A man may commit murder or adultery in a fit of anger or passion. But where doesanger or concupiscence come from? What is the origin of pride, arrogance or anger, jealousy, inequality or immorality? The Christian faith teaches us that it all comes from our fallen nature.

But why did we have to fall, in the first place? Aren't we created sick and commanded to get

well? To the rationalists, evil comes from God, if there is a God. Do we really have any free

will when it comes to reacting to unpleasant situations or adverse circumstances?Wouldn't itbe better to be happy robots than being thrown into a 'lake of fire' for ever and ever? The doc-

trine of predestination still bothers and haunts many.

I l ike to think that all men's sins are attempted short cuts to love. All the sinners portrayed in

the New Testament were looking for love in the wrong places. Then Jesus entered their lives. He taught them what real love is by loving them. He is the Jesus who enters our l ives with

kindness, encouragement and very often with challenge.

Rabindranath Tagore of India gives us the picture of a man walking with a lighted lamp that is held behind him. He walks in the shadow that he has made. This may be the picture of the mod-ern man who can't think of free will and s in. God is l ike the sun. The sun only shines to giveoff its warmth and light. But we know when we leave the sun it does not go out. The sun goes

on shining. But we can lock ourselves in a dark dungeon where the sun cannot reach us. We

may grow dark and cold, but the sun keeps shining; it doesn't change. The choice is ours.

I remember a boy who was caught cheating in the final exams. Being the principal of the

school I had warned the students of the bad consequences of such dishonest behavior. Cheating

in the exams was like an epidemic, and so I had to stop it for ever to maintain discipline among

students and keep the reputation of the school. I had warned the students that those caught

cheating would be dismissed from the school. So I had no choice about this student who was caught in the act. I had to s tand by my decision and leniency would mean more cheating by

other students. This boy and his parents were after me begging and begging for clemency. I

said no several t imes and gave them my reasons. But, father, asks the boy, can you notforgive me? I was melting at that. Come what may, I thought to myself, I have to forgivehim. What else is a priest meant for? I probably detained him, but took him back in class.

We are all cheating children and prodigals in many ways. What we need is sorrow for the

wrongs we do and a willingness to beg forgiveness. Timothy M. Dolan , the new cardinal,

of New York, says, what I think the Church needs today is more sinners! I mean it! We lackpersons who humbly recognize their own s ins and are willing to confess them. He speaks

of a popular priest who was pastor of a wealthy parish, but wanted to quit the place. The priest

told the people, You don't need me here. Like Jesus, I came to call sinners, but apparently

we have none here. You're obviously all saints; I came to serve sinners. You don't need me. ( Timothy Dolan: Doers of the Word)

Let us admit: We all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. (Rom.3,23 )

Some Marginal Thoughts:Whatever has happenedto sin and reconciliation?

If in Mt 16.18-19, Jesus had really appointedPeter as the chief of the apostles,then how are

we to understand thi s question? We may try

to evade this problem by saying that Mt 16.

18-19 arose in the story of a resurrection ap-pearance to Peter. If this is so,then Matthew

did a poor editorial job. We also need to re-member that in Luke we have this questionalso during the last supper (Lk 22.24). Hence

i t may no t b e wrong to s ay that that [the

other apostles] at any rate knew nothing of

Peter as the supreme pontiff.There is s till another possibility. We can seethe question in 18.1 as meant by Matthew to

follow on from the preceding incident, and to

answer thequestion:

'Why is Peter reckoned as the first?'Jesus pro-

vides the answer: Truly, I say to you, unlessyou turn and become l ike children, you will

never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever

humbles him self l ike this child, he i s the

greatest in the kingdom of heaven (18.3-4). At b irth al l of us are children b iologically.

Jesus insists on the need of spiritual child-hood. If a person is to have a special role in

the Church, then he needs to have spiritual

childhood: it is this childhood that makes hima true elder (presbyter).

This childhood i s not given to us by nature.

It cannot be g iven to us by others , not evenby an office. We have to acquire this disposi-

tion through a spiritual struggle. If Peter hada special role in the life of the Church at

Antioch , it was because he had become a

child spiritually. Hence this role is a personalrole. It cannot be handed down to anybody,

because a spiritual disposition is not the resultof some ritual - sacramental or magical. It is

the gift the Lord bestows on a person who by

his s truggle tries to make himself a fitting

receptacle for this gift. The suggestion thatPeter's role in the early Church is linked with

his spiritual disposition becomes clear from

what Jesus says to Peter in response to his

confession. We need to note two significant

features here. First, Peter's confession is not based on some knowledge acquired through ordinary human means . I t i s the result of a

very special revelation made to him by the

Father. This indicates a spiritual disposition

in Peter that enables him to receive this re-velation. Here we cannot but recall another

text from Matthew:I thank t hee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to

babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious

will . All things have been delivered to me

by my Father; and no one knows the Son ex-cept the Father, and no one knows the Fatherexcept the Son and any one to whom the Son

chooses to reveal him (11 .25-27).

It is Peter's spiritual childhood that makes him

worthy to receive from the Father a very

Peter in the New Testment-Rev. Jose Kariamadam, CMI, USA

-Contd. on next page col.2

Some of the articles are serialized in 'Soul and Vision'. In order to aviod difficulty we

have put old issues in elecronic archive and you may share them at the following web id.

souandvision.blogspot.com

L


7/20




= L

- Compiled by Elsy Mathew

A father was approached by his grown-up sons. Father, they said, please

divide your p roperty amongst us . We wi ll always look after you. Heeding the

words of his chi ldren, the father agreed and divided all his p roperty amongst

them. It was decided that he would live with his sons, s taying with each for two months at a time. So, when the partitioning of the land was completed, the father went

and stayed with his eldest son. Hardly one week had passed when the attitude of his son and

daughter-in-law showed signs of change. They began to neglect him. They treated him so badly

that, long before the two months were over, he left them and went to stay with his second son. But there he fared no better. After only five days he had to leave them as well because he couldnt bear the verbal abuse inflicted upon him by his daughter-in-law. His experience in the

house of his third son was even worse. There, he was reduced to constant tears. Finally he took

refuge in an Ashram.

The guru of the Ashram gave him some advice. A month later, the father returned to his sons

carrying a locked box. They were eager to know what he kept inside. When they insisted thathe tell them, he said, I have some valuable jewellery in there. I will not give it away until I die.

After my death, anyone can have it. When his sons heard this, their attitude towards him

changed drastically. There are no words to describe the love they suddenly showed their father!Each son pleaded with him to come and stay at his house. Thus the father once again began to

stay with his sons, except that this time he was treated very well indeed!

Finally the father died. His sons didnt waste any time: they rushed to the box and opened it.

But what a surprise they got when they found only a few stones inside the box!

This story describes the nature of worldly love. There is selfishness behind all forms of worldlylove. If we spend our lives seeking love in the world, we will do nothing but grieve.

In our culture today, so many people are confused about what love is . We love pizza, movies

and sports, but we also love our family or spouse. If we look to the Word of God, we see Gods

definition of love. The Bible tells us that love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceitedor proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs;

love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hopeand patience never fail . Love is eternal. (1 Corinthians 13: 4). This is how God responds to us,

and this is how we should respond to the people in our l ives with patience, kindness, hope,

humility and love. Scripture tells us that God is love, and His character never changes!God is Love and He has created us out of love, so that we may love him and one another in

return. What can g ive us the motivation to love in this manner? How do we love and care

for those around us? Anyone whom we come in contact with is our neighbour. Do we touch

their l ives? God's word speaks to us in our hearts and is a driving force helping us put ourfaith in action l ike the Good Samaritan. The more we open our hearts to God the more he will

show us ways and means to reach out to others. Jesus confirms that love of God and love of

neighbour are the most important aspects of Christian living.

Here are the s igns of love: When you love someone you see nothing wrong with them. Even

if you see a fault in them you justify it in some way--"Everyone does that; it is normal." You

think you have not done enough for them and the more you do, the more you want to do forthem. They are always in your mind. Ordinary things become extraordinary. A baby winking

at its grandmother becomes an extraordinary event. When you love someone, you want to see

them always happy and you want them to have the best. There were two elephants in a forest; one was a male and the other female. They loved each

other very much. One day, they ate plenty of leaves, but they could not get water anywhere

because it was summer season. They searched everywhere but could not find water. Thenthey decided that they would search for water in the forest but on one condition: whoever

finds water first, would call the other. After some search, the female elephant found a small hole where there was just some water.

She called out, I found water, please come. Both of them came to the water hole and said

to each other: you drink first, you drink first. They waited for long telling the other to drink

first. Finally, they arrived at a conclusion: both of them would drink together. Both put theirtrunks into the water, and pretended to be drinking, but actually neither of them drank, think-

ing the other should drink, because there was not enough water for two. They stayed there for long and did not drink any!

Today and every day, know that God loves you with an everlasting love. He will never leave

you nor forsake you. He is for you and has a good plan for you. Receive His perfect love todayand let Him transform you from the inside out. His love is the greatest love and will last

throughout all eternity! -Continuation on next column

Soul Drops: What does love look like?.....

Love is an image of God, and not a lifeless image,

but the living essence of the divine nature which beams full of all

goodness Martin Luther

God loves us not because we are good but be-

cause we are his children.

Love must be completely sincere(Rom 12: 9)

Love that reaches up is AdorationLove that reaches across is Affection.

Love that reaches down is Grace

A bell is no bell till you ring it.A song is no song till you sing it.The love in your heart was not put there to

s tay.

love is not love till you give it away.

special revelation about the Son.Second, in 16.1 5-16, we have a confession ofJesus' divinity: many pious persons [are] call-ed 'son of God' - hence Peter would not needspecial divine revelation to call Jesus son ofGod in accepted usage. For Peter, Jesus is not merely a son or child of God - as you and Iare - but the Son (ho huios).This confession embodies Peter's experienceof the Risen Lord. It is in virtue of his spiri-tual disposition and his experience of the Christ that he is given a very special missionin the Church. Neither of these can be hand-ed down to o thers , the former for obvious reasons, and the latter because the role of theformer [the apostles] as witnesses of the Re-surrection was not transferable.Whatever beour interpretation of Mt16.18-19, we may not

separate it from Mt 14.28-31, as both are ex-clusively Matthean texts. We have the ac-count of Jesus walking on the water in Mat-thew (14 .22-33), Mark (6.45-52) and John(6.17-21) . But i t i s Matthew alone who tellsus about Peter trying to imitate Jesus: And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, b id me come to you on the water. He said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walk-ed on the water and came to Jesus; but whenhe saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginn-ing to s ink he cried out, Lord, save me. Jesusimmediately reached out his hand and caughthim, saying to him, O man of little faith, why

did you doubt?Why did Matthew bring in this part of thestory? It seems to be totally his creation. I seein this episode a necessary background forthe correct interpretation of Mt 16.1 8: Petercan only fulfil his responsibility in the Churchby having faith in Jesus.Service of the Churchcan never be just a matter of some mandate that works ex opere opero, of some institu-tional arrangement that works independentlyof the disposition of the person called to thatservice. No! Service in the Church is alwaysa matter of faith and love,and these can neverbe guaranteed by any institution. Sure , the

Lord will give His grace but only to one who -Continuation on next page , col. 2

Peter in the New TestmentContinuation from page 5

Soul Drops: What does love look ...


8/20

Jesus Youth




-Contd.on next page column 2


is open to i t, and not just because he holds some office. The so called 'grace of office' is no magical formula.There is still another possibility. Peter wants

to be l ike Jesus. In a certain sense, this is the goal of Christian l ife: to be l ike Jesus. Thismeans that we have the mind and heart ofJesus (Ph 2 .5). We become like Jesus byhaving towards God and our s is ters andbrothers the attitude of Jesus: self-emptyinglove. We cannot have the power that belongsto Jesus as God's Son. Only Jesus was sinless(Heb 4 .15). Left to ourselves, we shall surely fail. No creature can ever be infallible. Wecan only strive to be faithful, and in this too only divine grace can sustain us. Here it will be helpful to remember what the Council ofTrent teaches, when speaking of justification:

If anyone says that one who has been reborn and justified is bound by faith to believe one-

self to be certainly among the number of the

predestined, anathema sit. If anyone claims

with absolute and infallible certitude that one

surely will have the gift of final perseverance,

unless one has learned this by a special revela-

tion, anathema sit.

We remain fallible pilgrims all our life. We

can never take God's grace for granted.

(To be continued in the next issue)

Peter in the New TestmentDr Mudita Menona Sodder rscj

SINS AGAINST MOTHER EARTH/CARINGTHE CREATION-

mitted in hospitals every year. Air up to 5 feetis most polluted which is why children, ourfuture, are the first victims. The average tem-perature of the Earth has risen. In the last 30 years, North India winter has been substan-tial ly shortened from 5 months to just two months!

4.Soil in Trouble: The Earth needs 200 yearsto prepare just 6 inches of top-soil which sup-ports most of l ife. With deforestation, soilerosion has degraded lands all over the Earth. This is a common s ight especially in North-East India. Today the Earth has become a

dumping ground. The ostrich-like attitude ofburying our heads in the sand and refusing tosee the issue in all its magnitude is often easyand consoling. Erratic floods, cyclones, earth-quakes, tsunamis, droughts, irregular mon-soons etc are all indications that the rhythm ofl ife in nature is seriously in danger. Are westretching nature beyond its regenerative ca-pacity? Such stretching only leads to collect-ive suicide. What are our acts of commissionor omission in this sin structure?

5. Pesticides and Health: The blind us e ofpesticides and fertilizers has ruined the healthof the soil. Pesticides enter our system whenwe consume food stuff contaminated by themand our fragile bodies refuse to part with thesepesticides, s toring them in the fat tissues. Lethal pesticides are abundant in all types offood and in the air. Mercury poisoning and

[Sr. (Dr.) Mudita Menona Sodder RSCJ is a Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.She is an Educationist, a lover of the Environment and stands for Women'sissues. ]

Kudos to Kerala Catholic B ishops Council (KCBC) who met in Kochi and announced on 15th December 2011 , that Catholics should inc lude s ins agains t the Environment, when they visi t the confess ional. What the Bishops of God's own country have said, is good and gratifying not only for the whole country, but forthe Planet as well! Christmas becomes more meaningful, as God is savingly active, whisper-ing loudly and clearly not just to our Green Pope Benedict XVI (Green Pope, NewsweekMagazine, 2008) but here in India to the KCBC and other enlightened Christians inspiring them to stand up and take action to protect God's Planet, as matter and mud become Jesus' body and blood. Fr Alathara, the spokesman for the KCBC said, Any exploitation of nature, amounts to sins against God. What then are these sins against nature? Alarm bells are ringing,the sword of Damocles hangs over Mother Earth, as climatic changes are frightening. We haveto cut carbon NOW or NEVER. The world family met at Copenhagen in 2009 with alarmingfailure to play the bugle to rise up. For the first time Mr Obama the American President participated in the climate negotiations,

challenged by an Indian Tarumitra member, Yugratna Srivastav, a standard VIII student fromLucknow, UP who addressed the UN world leaders in 2009 and said, When you make deci-sions on climate change in this air-conditioned hall, think of us who are victims of it. Copen-hagen was a landmark failure, when people earlier labeled it Hopenhagen with great hope! Now, God's own country Bishops, have taken up where Copenhagen failed.With the invention of the steam engine, suddenly human beings had immense power in theirhands and along with progress, and aided by machines, alarming destruction took place. Warswere even more destructive which finally gave birth to the UN. In 1992 Noble Prize Winner Henry Kendall called 1575 scientists to the UN where a unanimous warning was given, A great change in our stewardship of the Earth and life on it is required, to avoid vast humanmisery and our global home on this planet is not to be permanently mutilated. Dr NormanMyers, a leading scientist on Bio-diversity said in 1 992, The last seven thousand days to save the Earth has begun. In 2007, Pope Benedict addressed an open air Mass at the Youth Rally in Loreto, Italy where 4 lakh youth were present when Italy's Catholic Church organized the

Save Creation Day. Pope Benedict XVI made a profound s tatement when he to ld youth, Learn to sustain the planet before it is too late. The Pope announced seven new sins that needrepentance. The fourth sin is, Thou shall not pollute the Environment. Some areas of very cru-cial, vital, urgent, alarmingly dangerous and grave concerns (SINS) are:

Unsustainable Population: Population Explosion is putting Pressure on the Earth. We are700 crore today and we will be 1 200 crore in 17 years. Human beings are the most endangeredspecies today as population doubles up! We will reach zero population growth by 2045 and theEarth will have a total of 13 00 crore people. Such unprecedented growth is frightening. Hu-man lifestyle puts added burden on Mother Earth. A consumerist lifestyle only increases our carbon foot-print. Are we promoting an Eco-friendly life that challenges the materialistic world of dominion and control, and inspires others to live a life of friendship and harmonywith nature? How big is our carbon footprint? (Carbon footprint is proportional to the amountof things or goods we use that lets out carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and pollutes the Earth).

2. Water Pollution: The crisis of drinking water is acute. The demand for water is very great as one third of humanity does not have access to safe drinking water. In many parts of Indiaand China ground water is depleting at the rate of 1.5 meters per year. The available drinkingwater is less than one percent of the total water (CSE Survey). Water conflicts are increasingbetween Tamilnadu and Karnataka (River Kaveri and Mullaperiyar Dam), Madhya Pradeshand Gujarat (River Narmada), Delhi and Haryana (River Yamuna) India and Bangladesh(River Ganga), India and Pakistan (Rivers Indu and Jhelum), Israel and Arab countries (RiverJordan). Golan Heights which is the catchment area of the River Jordan is predicted as the siteof World War III, where water will be the issue.

3. Air Pollution and Climatic Changes: Every 8th person in Delhi and every 6th person inKolkata have a lung related chronological infection. Across the globe over 5000 people die of lung-related diseases, mostly those who l ive in slums and on pavements. In Patna, where I l ive, there are nearly 5 lakh vehicles today. If an average of one l itre of fuel is used by eachvehicle, we burn five lakh litres of petrol/diesel every day. 40 tankers bring in the fuel. Patnathus needs two Olympic swimming pools full of fuel everyday!To add to this, Patna needs thousands of l itres of diesel to run the hundreds of generators inthe city (especially now with the mercury dipping to 3 degrees Celsius)-(21st December 2011 ). Nearly 3000 l itres of kerosene used to adulterate petrol is burned in a day. Spurious petroladds a large amount of poisonous carbon monoxide to the air. Over 3 lakh Patnaites are ad-

SINS AGAINST MOTHER EARTH...


9/20

- Rev. Jose Kariamadam, CMI, USA



L

( Francis Lobo is Engineer-Consultant and he has authored a number of books like communication, human relations, economics, productivity, politics, socio-logy, management and religion.)

- Francis Lobo

In March we celebrate the feast of St. Joseph, husband of B lessed Virgin Mary. I n our male dominated society lineage is determined from the male side ---Who is

your father? Who is your husband? St Joseph has the

unique distinction of being identified by his wife. However, St. Joseph

stands out as a role model in our t imes as the silent supporter and pro-tector of the weak individual against the system and the establishment.

St. Joseph protected a woman and a child conceived out of wedlock

something justifying honor killing in the society in which he l ived.

Many men today have the responsibility of bringing up children who arenot their own. There are children of single mothers whom the men may

or may not be living with. There are children whose fathers may be inca-

pable of or not concerned in looking after. There are adopted children --- By choice or out ofnecessity. For all such men St. Joseph has a message --- Protect and cherish Human Life. He

also had to change his place of work and residence to protect the baby from the wicked designsof Herod.

St. Joseph's justification for a prominent place in the Hall of the Saints is how he and Mary

brought up Jesus. They were from a low class of society --- What can one expect from the son

of a carpenter? The same attitude persists 2,000 years later --- She is a Harijan; he is the son of a maid servant. But the parents of Jesus didn't let his class stand in the way of achieving His

vision. He had royalty in his blood and could trace his l ineage to David. To establish this

Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem for her delivery --- They knew the System and followed the

Law.

They imparted this to Jesus who even at the age of 12 was able to hold his own with the learn-ed men in the temple. Though Jesus was God, his knowledge came through the human proces-

ses. Obviously Joseph and Mary must have spent a lot of time in his home schooling. He not

only knew the scriptures but could interpret them. Jesus wasn't a prodigy who dazzled by a sparkling performance but a simple rustic lad with remarkable knowledge and understandinglearnt from his elders. There is an important message in this for parents and elders --- They

have a responsibility in the education of the young.

As we study the life of Jesus we see the impact his family upbringing had on His ministry. He

had remarkable communication skills and His questions and answers often put His antagonists in a corner. Obviously He had picked up His attitudes at home listening to and watching His parents dealing with the high and mighty and the hollow suits. While the Holy Family follow-

ed the Law they were cautious of those who preached and made others follow it. There is no

evidence to show that Jesus' attitude to the brood of vipers, the Scribes and the Pharisees was

the result of any specific incidents he had personally experienced. These were created at homein His formative years. Many Christian families through the ages have brought up their child-

ren to make the distinction between the person and the position. No one is above the Law.

Even those who hold the highest position must be careful --- They can succumb to human

weaknesses which we all inherit. The chair doesn't make the person. In fact Power corrupts

and absolute Power corrupts absolutely.The ability to translate complex concepts into s imple understandable form of stories and

parables Jesus could only have learnt at home. Jesus also leant self confidence, self reliance

from an early age. He could go out into the world without money, rations, or prior booking ofwhere He would stay or an insurance policy to cover unexpected eventualities. He expectedHis followers to have the same attitude and trust in His Father, who looked after every detail---

The sparrows in the air and the lilies in the field.

In this day and age I would advocate the title for St. Joseph as "Protector of the Unborn Child

and the Young".

ST. JOSEPH HUSBAND OF BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Francis Lobo

Holy Family

DDT are common. DDT mimics hormones, disrupts endocrine and the normal functions of the body.40 percent of our common pesticides are DDTand 30 percent are Malathion which are ban-ned in 1s t world countries e .g. Indian milkcontains 8 times more DDT than the rest of theworld. Pesticides in tea too are above tole-rance levels. Today every Indian carries 2 mg. of deadly DDT for every kilo of his/her bodyweight, blunting the power of doctor's medi-cines. Several pests have developed resistanceagainst pesticides, thus contaminating our foodwith stronger deadly poisons. Majority of us seem to be s ti ll unaware and unconcernedabout the impending ecological havocs.

6.The Crisis of Trees and Growing Defor-

estation: A person needs 16 big trees becausea person consumes oxygen produced by16 bigtrees in a day. In India 36 persons share asingle tree for fresh air! 2500 persons share a tree in Patna and 1500 persons share a tree inKolkata. Oceans which produce 8 percent ofthe total oxygen are dropping rapidly as mil-lions of acres of ocean are dying (Dr ThomHartman). Roots of trees conserve 33% ofrain water which it releases slowly after the monsoons. Every country needs 33% of i ts land under forest cover. India has only 10.5%of its land under forest cover. Sun, water andthe earth take decades to produce a tree. Yet

logging of precious age old trees continues.Human greed has displaced ancient trees

with mono-cultures, resulting in many spe-

cies becoming extinct or endangered e.g. the

Sheesham tree in Bihar. Human logic has re-

sulted in allowing only so called useful treesto exist, thus upsetting and tilting the eco-

balance or the web of life. Precious trees and

forests have thus vanished. Do we realize tha

t degradation and destruction of Mother Earth,and criminal and constant desecration of our

Environment is sinful? The unity and sanctityof creation needs to be promoted.

7. Depletion of Bio-diversity: Today this i s

the b iggest ecological problem of India. Extinction of species creates irreversible

changes in nature e.g. Tigers today are going

the dinosaur way. When we shoot a tiger, theanimal of course dies but the bullet also goes

through the forest and the forest disappears with the t igers i .e. every tiger is equal to 500

policemen with A47 riffles. The bullet thus

kills the forest, which is the source of water.

When the forest dies out, the rivers run dry. No water means no l ife. The bullet finallyhas hit the target! The tiger is thus related to

our children who are our future.

In the great adventure of l ife on Earth eachspecies has a role to play, each species has its place. None of them is either useless or harm-ful, they all balance one another. The web of

life is made stronger by bio-diversity. Hu-

man beings did not weave the web of l ife.

- C o n t d . o n n e x t p a g e , c o l . 2 .

SINS AGAINST MOTHER EARTH...


Hence any doctrine that is really true will promote life for all. Thisexpectation provides us a good norm to evaluate our own beliefs: We

need to look at life honestly. We need to face our history with a com-mitment to truth.

Jesus said:"The truth will make you free" (Jn 8 .36) .

There is no God higher than truth. ~Mahatma Gandhi


10/20

- Rev. Jose Kariamadam, CMI, USA



=

They are merely a strand in it. Whatever they

do to the web, they do i t to themselves -

Chief Seattle in 1854.Can we be more tolerant to all of God's crea-tures and promote the spirituality of universal

cousinship and reverentially uphold the dig-nity and sanctity of all? India had over 20,000

varieties of rice. But today we cultivate less

than 80 varieties. The thumb rule is- Extin-ction of a species affects the life of two dozen

species. Every hour a species disappears forever from the earth, says Dr Norman Myers.

Time is running out on us. It is time to repent,

to change, to protect, to stand by and to love. Any act of violence done to any of God's

creatures including the human being-the

crown of His creation, is a s in. We need to

learn the Ethic of Enough from the tribals. We need to make ecofriendly interventionsand develop a new eco-consciousness of the

symbiotic and intimate relationship and con-

nectedness with nature and a higher aware-

ness of various forms. The Earth has enoughfor our needs but not enough for our greed. It is t ime to awaken to the naked reality and

strive hard to bring forth an environmentally

sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially

just human presence on our beloved PlanetEarth.

The entry of Jesus to the Jerusalem temple was with determination, knowing fully and well

that his life would be the cost! But He dared to. Jesus was tortured and brutally assassinated bythe mafia of His time. The disciples were afraid, terrified, they hid themselves. But they were

no more the timid and frightened persons once the resurrected Jesus breathed on them !

A flash back to the l ife and mission of `didi' (as she was dearly called by her

people) Valsa was one of such if I may say so. Today the s ituation at Panchubera is s imilar. Valsa was brutal ly axed to death in her adopted

home at Panchubera, Pakurd District. The voice is s ilenced, the people are

afraid; they are a flock without a sheep to lead them now. Have they totallydone away with her spirit? Well I am not sure as bel ieve that she will rise

again in panchuber a among the Panchubera people.

Once Sister Valsa was everything for her people. They all flocked behind herfor guidance and leadership and was able to make the slogan ` jan denge,

jamin nahim' (take our life and not our land) which echoed and re-echoed the Rajmahal Hills at

Panchubera. It vibrated the hearts andminds of the people to unite themselves to fight for their

land and resources. The j udiciary, including the apex court did not give them any relieve resulting the compromise for-

mula and the MOU and then her effort to see MOU was fol-

l o w e d b y t h e c omp a n y . B u t m o n e y a n d g r e e d b l i n d e d t h e

very people who were p art and parcel of the whole move- ment, who ultimately done her away on 1 5th November,201 1 .

A post analysis after the gruesome murder of Sister Valsa

there are some disturbing factors that haunt us. I t is well settl-

ed fact that almost allthe mineral deposits in Central India are

of Fifth Schedule Land, which is protected by the Constitution of India and has given the localtribals authority over the local resources. Yet the arbitrariness of the Land Acquisition Act

allows the government to just hand over the land to the private companies, and the local people

have constantly resisted, leading to brutal confrontations with police and administration oftensiding the companies. Now as soon as Valsa was murdered the Panem officials took away the

register that she maintained with meticulous details of the financial dealings of the project-af-

fected persons and Panem Coal Mine Company. We were also told that the placard/pamphleaft

showing Maoist owning up the responsibly of killing the sister was also handed over to the police by the Panem officials.

Further the Ranchi civil society group had convened a public meeting on the 10th January, 2012There were around 13 5 participants including two Naxells (intellectuals) who were invitees.

The participants challenged the naxells to own up the responsibility of killing Valsa if they have

done it. But on the following day i.e. on the 1 1th January the guard of the panem company was

killed by the naxells and they also set ablaze 2 dumpers with coal . These turn of events brings to the mind some perplexing and unanswered queries and they are: Firstly, Why did the panem

officials rush to the scene of crime and take away the register even before the polic

Soul and Vision March 2012

Documents

Transcript of Soul and Vision March 2012