'ROOTS'

     All that glitter is not gold goes an old saying. In today’s world, I feel this saying might just be reverse. The people at large admire what is glamorous and pleasing to the eyes. We are in an age where the technology has so gripped us that we are never satisfied, because we have made our needs into wants. In this short reflection I want to highlight that many of us love to admire what is externally beautiful and fascinating but pay little or no attention to what is more deeper and durable. We do not really care about the inner substance of this charming ‘being’.    

     Let us take an example of a tree/plant and its roots. Every one of us admires a tree or a plant that is green and leafy. This beautiful nature attracts our eyes because of its external exquisiteness. However, let us take a minute to think beyond. Do we know what keeps this tree or a plant green and healthy? Have we ever thought about on what does the duration of the tree or plant depend? The power that keeps the tree/plant evergreen and strong is its invisible roots. If the roots of a tree are weak, and are on the upper soil the tree, will last but for a while.

     I believe we can apply this simile to our lives too. Very often, we busy ourselves in keeping our external and visible self green and beautiful. We do not really concentrate on the roots that will maintain our attractiveness. What could these roots mean for us? Roots could mean building our life on character and on God. No matter how beautiful the tree is, no matter how charming the plant is, if its roots are not deep enough it will not survive even the tiny wind force. But on the other hand if the roots are in the deep soil, nothing drastic can shake the tree. Who is our deep soil? It is Jesus Christ. Jesus compliments the wise man who builds his house on the rock, the wind blew, the flood came and dashed against the house but no harm was done to it.

     Let us then live to deepen our roots and be evergreen, giving joy and smile to all whom we encounter in our daily life. The joy and happiness we give to others should not be at the periphery level, but it should be long lasting. Our deep roots should be the integrity of our life. Our public life should be the fruit of our private life. Let our greatest charm be a life of virtue lived in the solid foundations of our Christian faith. 

By Pawanjit Singh SDB     

  

BRIDGE TO UNBRIDGEABLE HEARTS

     Bridge to human relationship is renewed and rebuilt afresh at each and every moment of the encounter. There is no readymade bridge that connects hearts once and for all. One should not expect or think of a readymade bridge for every moment of life comes as a surprise pack with million alternative possibilities. At a given moment we choose one among the million possibilities which perhaps appeals to us as the best or most suitable from our point of view.  Whereas others might consider our option to be foolish and nonsensical for even they are open to million possibilities. It is this option of ours that make us unique and at the same time distances us from others. If such is the case then is it possible to bridge the gap between hearts.

     Bridging hearts become slightly easy when people in encounter arise from same locality, culture, economic, or occupational background. For instance, people belonging to same culture get acquainted faster than those with others.  Again, doctors understand each other’s handwriting and language very easily, which for others seems to be totally strange.  In this connection I would like to draw our attention to two groups of people emerging from two different backgrounds and the difficulties they face in bridging their hearts: the shepherds (priests and religious) and the sheep (faithful of the Church). There seems to prevail a constant misunderstanding and tension between these two groups of people. They don’t seem to understand each other. Shepherds feel the need of guiding the sheep whereas the sheep feel that the shepherds lack basic qualities of guidance. There seems to be a big chasm between these two groups of hearts and for which building bridges seems to be pretty impossible for we do know how to use the tools available at our disposal.  

     A few months ago I encountered a lady from our parish who bluntly expressed to me saying, ‘you priests will never be able to understand the difficulties and problems of a family life. Most of you have left your homes at early age, brought up in a fairly protected atmosphere and you have never really met with family difficulties.’ Moreover, she added, ‘you priests often command at the faithful or even behave rudely towards them when they fail to fulfill your expectations. There are rare priests who care to ask for reasons before bursting out.’ I have heard such words many times and even you will hear if you care to listen to them. Each time I hear such comments I find very difficult to digest the fact that even after going through so many years of formation and receiving best education possible, we find so difficult to understand and relate with people entrusted to our care. We might not agree to such accusations but the fact remains. 

     Misunderstandings and tensions are bound to arise when people with two different types of life style, mindset, interests and aptitude attempt to work together. There will also be a communication gap. For instance, a priest might greet his faithful with a heart out on his sleeves but instead of jumping and saying halleluiah… they reply lifelessly. In such situations, priest might think that either the faithful are nuts or they do not understand him. If a priest holds such an attitude then it is inevitable that the hearts will get distanced gradually and there will be not enough tools to bridge the gap. Hence, we are called to live with greater love and understanding wherein hurried judging seldom gets its place. We must be builder of bridges and for this we need to train and personalize the tools required to build bridge to unbridgeable hearts. The tools include love, mercy, compassion, goodness, forgiveness, understanding, honesty, and many other qualities that Jesus gives his disciples to practice. If we do not become the embodiment of love and forgiveness then practically every day or every week we will be coming face to face with our sheep or faithful but with heart miles apart. 

Romanius Barwa

A Novel Apostolic Experience

I had the good fortune of exercising my Salesian apostolate in an ashramshala that houses only girls. This might sound odd considering that Salesians direct their apostolate to boys. But this is the only apostolate of its kind that we, students of Philosophy at Divyadaan engage in. Our task over there is to teach English to the 9^th standard girls and entertain the 8^th standard girls with activities and games. The shala is run by Sisters belonging to the Assumption Congregation. At their request, two brothers travel every Sunday to their shala in Tilloli some 80 kilometers from Nashik. This particular Sunday, I was standing in for a brother who was not keeping well.

This wasn’t my first time there as I had gone before to help the brothers organize a Christmas party for the girls. Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a nun and served breakfast. As I partook of the simple breakfast consisting of chana and chappati topped up with a cup of coffee, I was struck by the lifestyle of the sisters. There are six of them, only one of whom is a Maharashtrian; yet all of them speak Marathi so fluently and well. The missionary vocation and zeal of the sisters immediately struck me. Their immersion in the culture and adoptions of the local language and lifestyle ignited the flame of missionary zeal within me. The simplicity with which they lived, inspired wonderment in me. They live in the interior of a village, secluded in a real sense. The shala is surrounded by green fields, without a house in sight for at least a mile. The wonderful work they do is a testament to their intrepid character and breaks away from stereotypes attached to women.

I gauged that my presence and teaching was successful from the response I received. Language was a barrier for me but I tried my best to get my message across through my broken Marathi, but more effectively through my actions. The girls were amused at the spectacle of a teacher using comedy as a method for teaching. I hope that my antics don’t go in vain and that the lesson remains in their minds for some time to come.

I have come away from this experience enriched and encouraged. I realize that the need to adapt to the situation is crucial for an effective apostolate. Simplicity of lifestyle characterizes missionary life and complements witnessing to Christ, who made Himself poor.  

Cl. Ian Pinto sdb

A MISSIONARY FLOWER BY THE ROADSIDE

Once a tiny flower seed from gardener’s bag fell among the weeds by the roadside. Gradually the seed found enough space among the weeds and began to share their soil. The seed soon sprouted and began to grow like any other weeds. However, it felt strange among the weeds to find that it was totally different from others. Nevertheless, the seed maintained its difference and grew to be a lovely plant and began to bloom. The charm of the flower simply fascinated million passersby and its ceaseless spreading of perfume refreshed their lives with renewed energy and zest. All types of people passed by that road. Some noticed at the flower and marveled at the beauty it adds to their life and others just passed by without even noticing for they were too occupied with their pity activities. However, the flower never grumbled or criticized anybody for not appreciating its beauty or for ignoring its perfume. It was just there by the roadside, blooming to the full and everlastingly pouring out its perfume to all the passersby without considering who or what type of people they were. It was a flower that stood upright, lived to the full, brought joy to millions and one day withered away leaving sweet memories for million passersby to cherish.

The flower is a beautiful imagery of our life and it can be better suited for a missionary who is called to bloom among the people he never knows. He is totally different, unique and yet finds his place among the people he is called to share his with. He never tries to dominate or control them rather shares in their culture and tradition. He becomes one among them yet maintains his unique identity. Just like the flower he is called to bloom in the place where he is planted or placed. Just like the fascinating flower by the roadside even his blooming in love, wisdom, peace, joy, patience, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, righteousness, humility, etc. is easily noticed by million passersby or people with whom he shares his life with. Again, just like the flower he pours out ceaselessly his perfume of charming qualities on the people he comes in contact with. He never forces or expects anyone to be like him. However, his very cheerful-fascinating presence attracts millions to re-tune their life to the light of true joy and wisdom. 

Viewing the life of a missionary many marvel and appreciate him for the beauty he adds to their life but invariably there will be some who will never bother him just as we saw in the case of a flower. However, a true missionary never criticize or grumble at anybody for not paying heed to his way of life rather he continues to carry on his life with same energy and zest. The missionary is very much aware that living a life of light inevitably dispels the dark; yes even the hardest of mind gets illumined.  Hence, he is just there amidst them like the roadside flower blooming to the full and everlastingly pouring out his perfume of qualities without considering who or what type of people come to nourish their life through him. He pours out himself unconditionally to all the people in need.  He is a man who stands upright, lives to the full, brings joy to millions and one day he will pass away leaving behind sweet memories for millions to cherish and at the same time his well lived life will continue to ripple in the their hearts and mind to change for better.

Romanius Barwa

BEAUTY IN UNEXPECTED AND STRANGE SEED OF LIFE

          Life is strange. It is a stranger as well. It is a stranger much more than any foreigner. Yes, it is a stranger beyond the grasp of any human mind. In life we expect things to happen the way want it to happen. We set criteria for things to emerge according to our own convenience and taste. Of course if we are fortunate things might turn out to be the way we expect. But in reality it may not be. It is ever possible that our life may turn out to be something totally strange, unexpected and unimaginable.  Moreover, the beauty of life lies in that strangeness. It is the strangeness of life that opens up million possibilities for us to explore something that is new, unexpected and unimaginable.

           For instance, we might have our vision for life and we would want it to be achieved by all costs. But the fact is that we do not have control over our life. For this reason we need to be open to the callings of Life. However, life’s callings are not explicit so how are we to discern to the subtle callings of Life? Nevertheless they beckon us through the concrete life experiences we face in a strange fashion. I believe all of us, sometimes or the other might have come in contact with an incident or reality in life that appeared to be strange and disturbing. It is often in such awkward situations that the unexpected seed of Life’s calling is planted. I would narrate a short incident that might in some way throw some light into the whole process of discerning the life’s calling.

          It all happened in a particular Sunday afternoon when the sky above the head was blue and the ground below the feet was thirsting for rain, an expected missionary seed of love and care was planted in a heart that never expected. The brother in his busyness happened to visit the Church but behold he noticed a youngster happened to be Hindu crying and sobbing unceasingly. Looking at the strange pouring of tears the brother felt deep within himself a kind of irresistible call to attend to the needs of that guy. Due to language barrier, the brother hesitatingly approached the guy and inquired for the cause of his grief. The guy in tears and deep sorrow narrated that he was in love with a girl and that they had mutually agreed to marry. However, girl’s parents were not happy with his status and so they were putting many obstructions to their marriage. To cut the story short, finally the guy made the brother sing for him thrice the song “We Shall Over Come,” and also requested for the prayer to be made for him. In all humility and patience the brother sung the song and invited him to pray together. At the end the guy felt strange serene deep within that he passionately embraced the brother and thanked for being there for him when he felt that his world was shattering into pieces. The youngster made frequent visits after that and finally one day came with his fiancé carrying in his face such a broad smile that words cannot describe.

          The above incident tell us that often in life we come in contact with an unexpected experience which invariable changes our entire vision of life. The incident also recommends that we can be missionaries anywhere for we will always find people in need of missionary act. Just as the brother performed the missionary act so also each one of us can do the missionary act by being available to people in need, not only during our convenient time but all the time. Saving someone’s life is much worth and it demands of us to go beyond rules.  So, let us live a missionary’s life wherever we are.

                                                Romanius Barwa