Category: January 2022

By M.A. Joe Antony, SJ

There are certain events which reveal to you things about yourself, even things you may not have fully realized or acknowledged. Think of Jesus’ death on the cross. All those who were in Jerusalem on that day would have realized who exactly they were by looking at how they responded to this event that darkened the sky and opened the doors of paradise. You must have heard the song that asks, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”

The Second Vatican Council is one such event. By their response to what it meant and what it brought people still continue to reveal themselves. The Synod for a Synodal Church which started last October in all Catholic dioceses across the world and will conclude in October 2023 in Rome is another event of such magnitude. If we think of what it aims to bring about in the way the Church conducts its affairs, we can claim that this Synod is the next most significant event in the recent history of the Church.

Most probably in the vision of Pope Francis this Synod has the pride of place among the reforms he has managed to bring in as well as the reforms he hopes to usher in. We know that the film The Two Popes, is a clever mix of fact and creative imagination. But if you have seen it, you’d understand why the much-needed changes are important to Pope Francis and all those Cardinals who elected him. The film will have you believe that even the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, thought it was time for change and so for someone like him to retire and someone like Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to become the Pope.

This is why, right from the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has spent his time and energy trying to bring in changes that would make the Church relevant today. He does not see the Church as an isolated castle guarded by fierce soldiers. He sees the Church as a field-hospital that moves where the wounded lie, waiting for people who would care for them and cure them. 

He has brought changes  in spite of the opposition and criticism he has faced from those who do not want change.  He has tightened rules and norms so that in the future the clergy who would abuse children and adolescents would be held responsible and face action. He has appointed women to important posts in the Church. He has repeatedly emphasized that the Church should not condemn or shun the LBGTQ people but should treat them with kindness and understanding. He has done even what many thought impossible. With the help of a committee that worked for nine years and met over forty times, he has recently promulgated what are called ‘Curial reforms’ – reform of the Roman Curia. But the changes he wants to usher in through this Synod on the Synodal way must be more important to him than anything else.

Why is this important to him and all those who think like him?

An example from recent Church history may illustrate what happens when the Church abandons the synodal way of doing things and resorts to its very opposite. The first English translation of the Roman Missal was done in 1973. Since many felt the need for a better, improved translation an international committee of experts was formed in the mid 1980s. After working for several years they managed to come up with a translation in 1998 that many considered excellent. It turned out to be so good that 11 out of 12 Bishops Conferences of English-speaking countries approved it enthusiastically.

The changes Pope Francis wants to usher in through this Synod on the Synodal way must be more important to him than anything else.

But they had to submit it to the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship (liturgy) for the final approval. The Congregation sat on it, without any response. Three years later, in 2001, it came up with a document, titled Liturgiam Authenticam, with new guidelines on translating liturgical texts. In short, this affirmed that translations should be faithful and similar to the original Latin. Many experts and scholars left the Committee in order to protest this unexpected turn of events. But the Congregation appointed another committee to come up with an English translation that would be more faithful to the Latin version. What this Committee produced was published in 2010.

This translation that was imposed on all English-speaking countries raised a storm of protest from all over. Trying to be faithful to the original Latin version, this translation turned out to be abstract, difficult and unidiomatic. The structure of sentences sounded bizarre. It was full of abstract words like prevenient, consubstantial, ineffable, unfeigned etc – words even the priest would not understand.  Bishop Donald Trautman, a retired U.S. Bishop, who was a liturgist himself and a former chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Liturgy, wrote, “This translation does not communicate in the living language of the worshipping assembly. It fails as a translation. It fails to lead to full, conscious, and active participation. It is ungrammatical, unintelligible, and unproclaimable. Our translated text is intended for prayer, worship, lifting up the heart and mind to God. If a translation – no matter how exact – does not communicate in the living language of the liturgical assembly, it fails as a translation” (The Tablet, 24 March, 2015)

Those who want to know more about what the people of God lost because of this imposed translation should read the book, Lost in Translation: the English Language and the Catholic Mass, (Liturgical Press, 2017), written by the well-known Australian Jesuit author and theologian, Fr Gerald O’Collins, SJ and John Wilkins.

When he visited Brazil in 2013, Pope Francis told the Brazilian bishops, “At times we lose people because they don’t understand what we are saying, because we have forgotten the language of simplicity and impart an intellectualism foreign to our people.”

Pope Francis has now restored to the local Bishops Conferences what was usurped by the Vatican Congregation – the right to decide on translations of the Roman Missal into the local languages. But, unfortunately, till today in several countries anyone who wants to celebrate the Eucharist in English has to put up with this translation. This is what happens when the Church abandons the synodal way and resorts to an authoritarian style – when the Church ceases to be a synodal Church and becomes a pyramidal Church.

That the Church was indeed a synodal Church in the beginning would be clear to anyone who reads the Acts of the Apostles.

That the Church was indeed a synodal Church in the beginning would be clear to anyone who reads the Acts of the Apostles. All those who loved Jesus and believed in him – men and women – were together. What united them were fellowship and prayer (Acts 1: 12-14).

Chapter 15 of the Acts describes how the Church handled an issue that threatened to divide the followers of Jesus. Jesus and all his disciples were obviously Jews. But after Paul and his companion Barnabas began to preach the good news of Jesus in Antioch several non-Jews began to believe in him and follow the new ‘Way’.  Some Jews who came to Antioch from Judea told the new Christians that it was not enough for them to accept Jesus and his teachings. They insisted that like all Jewish males, the new Christians too had to get circumcised.

Paul  and Barnabas, leaders of the Church in Antioch, want to discuss this with the apostles and leaders of the Church in Jerusalem and so they travel to Jerusalem. Christian leaders in Jerusalem warmly welcome their counterparts from Antioch. All are determined to find out what the Lord would want. So they dialogue, listen to one another with respect and an open mind. They discern. This synodal process helps them find an amicable solution to the problem created by some Jews affected by a blind zeal. They decide that, except for a few things they see as essential, they would not burden the non-Jewish converts with an insistence on circumcision or any other Jewish practice. This decision gladdens the hearts of non-Jewish Christians in Antioch.

While the synodal Church unites, the authoritarian Church divides. The synodal process makes everyone happy, while other ways of arriving at decisions that affect everyone disappoint, and antagonize many who may like to quit. A Church that journeys together, prays fervently, shares freely, listens keenly and thus builds a consensus is the Church that will carry every pilgrim in its onward journey. That is the kind of Church that Jesus would have envisioned. That is the kind of Church that his followers would have naturally formed, if they let themselves be guided by his Spirit – not by politics, men in power or ideology.

Therefore, let us allow this Synod to reveal who and what we truly are. It will do so, if we watch carefully what we think, pray for, say and do regarding this historic Synod.

The deadly pandemic seems to have cured people who could never look beyond the borders of their own countries. It showed them that what happens in a far-away country can very quickly affect them. They saw for themselves that the virus which originated in China could kill people in every part of the globe.

Jesuits and all those who share their spirituality did not need a pandemic to realize that we live in a global village. Wherever we might have been born, since all humans are God’s children, we can’t be anyone else than global citizens. Therefore a tragedy that strikes a country – any country – should bother us all.

This is why, feeling overwhelmed by what happened on 24 February 2022, I used my regular column in the New Leader to express all that I thought and felt. In the article titled, ‘Just when the world heaved a sigh of relief…’ I wrote: 

“Who would have imagined that just when the world was beginning to heave a sigh of relief over the gradual decline of the pandemic, Russia’s strong man, Vladimir Putin, would come up with something that would plunge the world back into shock, sorrow, worry and fear?    

“Most people believed that, after having witnessed the manifold horrors of war in the two World Wars, no sane leader will ever initiate a war, whatever may be their grievances. Successive Popes had expressed the hope that humans will never again choose the path of war, as it does not lead us anywhere, as it does not solve any problem, in spite of the deaths and destruction it causes. But the world had not taken into account the mindset of the man who now rules Russia.

“What are the reasons Putin proffers for his invasion? He says Russia’s security is under threat, because Ukraine wants to join NATO. Why does Ukraine want to join NATO and the European Union? Because of Russia’s attitude and actions. In 2014 Russia brazenly attacked and annexed Crimea, which was a part of Ukraine. Russia keeps arming the separatists in Ukraine’s two Russian-speaking regions.  What will you do when a powerful bully wants to control you and keeps interfering in your own affairs? You will ask for help from someone who could protect you from the bully, won’t you?  

“After Ukraine broke free from the erstwhile Soviet Union, it became a democracy and its people had come to cherish the freedoms they enjoyed in a democracy. Putin, on the other hand, brooks no rivals, no opponents in Russia. Anyone who dares to criticize him is jailed. This is why thousands of Russian people who protest against this war are arrested.

“Putin has called the collapse of the Soviet Union “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century”. He has been open about his nostalgia for the Soviet Union that had around it satellite nations of Eastern Europe that were all totalitarian Communist States.  When these countries became free, many of them opted for democracy. Those who know Putin say that since the Soviet Union cannot be brought back, he longs to reinvent ‘Ancient Rus’ – a vast empire comprising Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. But do your longings justify an invasion and its aftermath? And what about the longings of the Ukrainian people? Don’t they have the right to choose their leaders and allies, the political system of their country?

“Therefore can anyone justify this invasion? Can this war ever be a just war? If any war can be termed as a ‘Just War’ it is only the war imposed on the victim nation that is forced to protect itself against the unjust aggressor. In an editorial, The Tablet said, “Democracy, the desire of a people to be governed by those they have freely elected –government of the people, by the people, for the people, in Lincoln’s famous phrase – is, in the modern age, not negotiable. Defending it is the ultimate just cause.”

“That is exactly what the brave Ukrainians are engaged in, although they are outmanned and outgunned. Before Putin sent his army, they were fighting the deadly Covid virus for two years. Before Covid began its rampage, Ukraine had to deal with an outbreak of polio across the country. 

“It was heartrending to see Ukranian women bidding a tearful farewell to their sons or husbands, who chose to stay and defend their country, and carrying their children and huddling in underground shelters or crowding into buses and trains, hoping to seek refugee in a neighbouring country. The U.N. Agency for Refugees says that already 3 million Ukrainians have become refugees.

“Pope Francis has shown how everyone should respond to this war. He called upon Catholics all over the world to fast and pray on Ash Wednesday for an immediate end to the war. In an unprecedented departure from diplomatic protocol, he visited the Russian embassy to the Vatican to convey his shock, sorrow and concern. In his Angelus message a few days later, he made a heart-felt plea once again to stop the war that has given rise to “rivers of blood and tears.” He sent two Cardinals to Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, saying their presence among the suffering people will signify that he, all the Christians in the world and all who agree that war is madness are present with them.

“Some have recalled that the Blessed Virgin, when she appeared to three children in Fatima, asked all to pray for the conversion of Russia. The Russian people did not want this war. We should pray for the conversion of Putin and his cohorts who did.”

As I write, the war is still on. The number of the dead and the wounded keeps going up and several buildings, including hospitals, theatres, nurseries and apartments, seem to have been reduced to rubble. Leaders of Israel, Turkey and France have tried to speak to Putin, but their efforts have yielded nothing.

The U.N.’s resolutions have been utterly futile. Pope Francis’ repeated pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Ukraine’s courage and resistance have surprised the world, but we don’t know what the wounded ego of the Russian dictator may provoke him to.

Yet another shock is the deep economic crisis Sri Lanka has plunged into and the sufferings its people are subjected to. Like Russia, Sri Lanka reveals what the misguided policies of misguided leaders can bring to their people. Authoritarianism, racism and linguistic chauvinism may help unscrupulous politicians win an election, but soon the gullible people who voted for them pay a heavy price. We have a lot, therefore, to pray for during the Holy Week this year. May Easter this year bring to our wounded world what the Risen Lord wished for those to whom he appeared – peace!

In this issue, we are introducing something which can be done only in an online magazine – videos. Let the videos draw you into the article!

– M.A. Joe Antony, SJ

 

By Emmanuel Akilan, SJ

Introduction

A synodal Church is not just a dream of Pope Francis.  It must be a dream of God and Christ, the head of the Church.  Won’t they dream of a Church characterized by communion, participation, and mission?  

But if this dream has to be realized, we need to understand the challenges and decide to meet them.  Communion and participation require mutual listening. Listening involves patience, being open to the other, and love for the person who speaks one’s heart to the other without a tinge of fear of being judged. Therefore this is not going to be easy. What will be the major challenges?

Clericalism

Clericalism will be the first challenge to be faced. It is a “thorn in the flesh” of the Church. Merriam Webster defines clericalism as “a policy of maintaining or increasing the power of a religious hierarchy”. Clericalism is so deeply rooted in our structures and way of thinking that we almost cannot imagine how things could be otherwise.

In 2018, in “Letter to the People of God,” Pope Francis condemned the sin of sexual abuse of children and adolescents by the clergy. He said that this happened because of the abuse of power in the Church and linked this evil to clericalism. He said firmly, “To say no to abuse is to say an emphatic no to all forms of clericalism”. Clericalism has given rise to a lot of evils that keep tormenting the Church and shaking the very foundation of our faith.

Clericalism is so deeply rooted in our structures and way of thinking that we almost cannot imagine how things could be otherwise.

The laity must keep on encouraging their priests to free themselves from the grip of clericalism. The laity, the Religious and the clergy should ensure that this long-delayed reformation of becoming a synodal Church where clericalism has no place. This attitude of clericalism stems from one of the most dearly held value of the church, being conservative, which has lost its sheer value in this techno-driven fast changing world.

Ideology

What prevents many people from doing what is needed to becoming a synodal Church is being slaves to an ideology. Their servitude to ideology makes them rigid, ultra conservative, doctrinal, and dogmatic. Jesus said that pouring old wine in the new wine skin may prove disastrous but yet a number of people cling to views and attitudes that belong to another era and no longer help us serve people today. Pope Francis has brought in a kind of revolution within the Church, yet in many parts it remains the same. Some bishops, priests and religious are still basking in the old attitudes and are unable to abandon them. They still feel reluctant to embrace the changes brought in not merely by Pope Francis but even Vatican II.

The obvious reason for this reluctance to change is insecurity, because change always comes with risks. Changes demand that we get out of our comfort zones. This is why it is easy and tempting to cling blindly to an ideology and pretend that it is done to protect the Church and safeguard one’s faith.

This is why it is easy and tempting to cling blindly to an ideology and pretend that it is done to protect the Church and safeguard one’s faith.

What may help us become a synodal Church is to train the youth who join our seminaries and novitiates to be open and flexible. They should be helped to read the signs of times and prepare themselves to serve effectively today’s and tomorrow’s generations – not the people of the past. They have to be taught to be dynamic, to think out of the box and to break the old stereotypes in their being and becoming. Instead of bombarding them with rules and regulations, and insisting that they just obey the orders of their superiors, they should be given the freedom to form themselves and even to bend a few rules and regulations for the good of the others.

Self-Obsession

Shortly after he had been elected, St. Pope John XXIII said he wanted to “open the windows” to let fresh air into a Church that stood alone and untouched by the world it had to serve. This paved the way for the the Second Vatican Council that ushered in significant changes in our Church. I feel that in the subsequent years we have closed our windows again. We have failed to see, understand and the struggles of various sections of our people.

This may be the third challenge that we face in becoming a synodal Church. We have become so obsessed with our own lives and our own power struggles that we have failed to see what happened outside the walls of our institutions – like the painful problems of Indian farmers that led to mass suicides, those of the Adivasis when they had to face the might of corporates and the apathy of the government, the sufferings of the social activists when they were falsely accused and arrested.

When we are able to join the marginalized in their struggles, then we will easily be able to listen to one another within the Church and speak to them from our hearts words that give life. When we are able to do that, our Church will be a synodal Church.

He is with us

Though the Church is facing difficult challenges in becoming synodal, there is still a ray of hope because the Church is not a man-made institution, but willed by our Lord Jesus Christ. When He is by our side, we need not worry that a synodal Church is unreachable. He will never let us down. Any challenge can be faced when we really fall in love, stay in love with Jesus Christ who strengthens, leads, guides and protects us every moment of our lives. If a synodal Church is his wish and dream, he will bless our efforts with success.  

 

By Francis P. Xavier, SJ

G. Keller and J. Papasan, The ONE Thing, Bard Press, Austin, 2012

Success = Priority:

During a visit to the house of Martha and Mary, Jesus admonishes Martha: “You are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed, indeed only one” (Lk 10:42-43). And what is that ONE thing? The book titled The ONE Thing by G. Keller and J. Papasan discusses it. The book begins with a Russian proverb: If you choose two rabbits, you would not catch either one. Target one rabbit and pursue it, rain or shine. All of us are looking for and working towards success in life. Success depends on our priorities. And we need to focus on these priorities. Once this is clear then we are on our way to success.

The road to success is always under construction (p.206).  As we go, we make the necessary course corrections, and we make progress. All that matters initially, during, and at the end is that we are clear about our priorities. After all, success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right, since doing the right thing would save you from monitoring or worrying about everything else (p.55 f).

Anatomy of the Question:

Life is often construed as a bridge between questions and answers. Asking or posing a question might be easier, but what is important is to find out the answer. But answer comes from a question. If the question is right and meaningful, we are enthused to work for it; and if the question is a wrong one, we would get the answer too wrong. If the question is most powerful, then the appropriate or relevant answer would even change the course of our life (p.104). So the authors pose this question for our consideration. “What’s the ONE Thing I can do/ such that by doing it/ everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” (p.108).

Deciphering the priorities would set in focus also the purpose of our life.

This question sets in focus our priority(s). What are the things or what is the one thing that only I could do? We could focus on what is most important and urgent and work on achieving it. Adding a timeline to our priorities also would help us do things better and with confidence. Building an effective team would be the next important phase in doing our best and most in life.

Life and Purpose:

Deciphering the priorities would set in focus also the purpose of our life. Priority in life not only gives us the purpose of life but also leads us to productivity (p.137). When you do not know where to go, any road would take you there. On the contrary, when you have a clear and definite purpose in your life, you not only search for meaning in life, but also you find clarity in life. And clarity in life ushers in conviction in your direction, accelerating faster decision to do better (p.143). Life lived for a purpose – for one’s own good and for the good of others – brings in happiness. Hence, priority in life makes clear the purpose in life. But the purpose is derived from the one question we often ask ourselves: What is the ONE thing that I need to do, which would make all other things needless? And this question is the anchor of meaningful, relevant and useful life as this right question brings in the right answer, giving the right direction in life.

Commitments in Life:

The next phase is leading a successful life. No person is an island. Everyone is an integral part of the human society. Hence, each one of us has commitments in life. Commitment envisages process, rather than outcome. A research conducted among the students indicated that the students who visualized the process performed better than those who visualized the outcome (p.152). Hence, priority is not only goal-oriented but also process-oriented. Living by priority is most essential to realize one’s life-goal(s). And if the goal is fueled by commitments in life, it is all the more long lasting and self-satisfying.

Success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right, since doing the right thing would save you from monitoring or worrying about everything else.

You need to ask yourself ‘What is the ONE thing I want to do in the next five years, this year, this month, this week, today, and right now?’ (p.150) This would take us through our commitment to the summit of our goal and happiness.

Four Hurdles:

In this attempt, there are four hurdles (p.191): i. Our inability or hesitancy to say ‘no’ when we cannot or do not have time; ii. Fear of chaos, which is the unknown fear about invisible obstacles. It could be also the fear of failure; iii. Poor health habits, which prevent us from being active and energetic; iv. Circumstance or surrounding that does not help us reach the goal. Against all these possible obstacles we need to fight and make progress – mentally first and physically later. Once we have the inner confidence, we are armed with the external courage to go ahead towards the goal along the path of commitment with our priorities as milestones. While this could be the formula for success, the formula for failure is to try to please everybody (p.195) and finally satisfying nobody.

Conclusion:

Asking the right question about the ONE thing necessary unlocks the energy gate within you and opens up possibilities to achieve greater things, leading to success and happiness. Keep asking yourself, ‘what is the ONE thing that matters in my life (today/now)?’ When you focus on the purpose of your life, you come to know your priorities. When you focus on your priority, then life becomes meaningful and success becomes possible.

By Amalraj Chinnappan, SJ

Amalraj Chinnappan, SJ (MDU), called C. Amal by friends, is probably the best-known Jesuit in Myanmar. Before opting to work in Myanmar in the year 2007, he has worked in India and other countries, serving refugees and victims of natural disasters. Blessed with a sharp mind and a refreshing sense of humour, he has always chosen to live in challenging situations in order to work for God’s little children. Two years ago Amal fell seriously ill and was almost given up by his doctors. He was anointed twice.

In this deep, reflective sharing, he tries to answer the questions that hit him after he miraculously recovered – questions like, ‘Why did this happen?’ ‘What brought me back to life?’ ‘Why did God work this miracle?’ ‘What is the meaning of the scene that I ‘saw’ repeatedly when I was in a coma?’ etc.

As I opened my eyes, a sympathetic doctor whispered in my ears, “Your recovery is nothing less than a miracle in our hospital history.  It is 20 percent medical effort and 80 per cent the result of the relentless prayers of your people.” Lying on a hospital bed for two weeks, I tried to grasp the meaning of those words. A miracle seemed to have happened.   

As my memory struggled to sequence the events, a flashback emerged. On a trip to far off Mindat in North West Myanmar on a mission, I fell into a sickness that dragged me into a disaster. On 21 July 2019, I was brought unconscious to the hospital. They anointed me in preparation for any eventuality.  More than half of the team of doctors who took charge of me doubted if I would survive. My medical documents say my heart stopped.

They anointed me in preparation for any eventuality.  More than half of the team of doctors who took charge of me doubted if I would survive.

Food poisoning and my old pal – diabetes – colluded to choreograph a dance of death. For 13 long days, through a spiral of excruciating pain, hallucinations, induced and spontaneous coma, my life oscillated between spasms of death and streaks of hope. They were 13 days of darkness.

Hearing the news my brothers rushed from India to be with me. My body, a patient and enduring companion of six decades of reckless travel and travail, suddenly seemed to be in an indecent haste to bid farewell.  A visiting priest thought it wise to give me the last sacrament – for the second time.

The doctors waged a war. I was incubated on a mechanical ventilator in the ICU.  As three days gave way to six and then nine, the doctors faced a choice: take me off the ventilator and see if I could breathe on my own, or perform a tracheostomy, which would mean making an incision in my neck to insert a breathing tube directly into my windpipe.

On the tenth day, something unexpected happened:  I opened my eyes, my lungs purred and breathed. The doctors, who had almost given up on me, confirmed that I was alive and on the way to recovery.  The twice-anointed Jesuit was sent back to the world.   Yes.  It was a miracle.

What made the miracle possible?

The Society of Jesus, which has been my family for more than four decades, generously did everything it could. Young Jesuits, sacrificing their routine life and sleep, kept vigil.  A photo of the Cardinal of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Muang Bo blessing me, as I lay unconscious in the hospital bed with invasive tubes and other scary accessories, went viral.  That evoked a tsunami of prayers in various places of Myanmar.  Obviously, I was not aware of all these at that moment.

Later I learned that scores of men and women visited the ICU, and many broke down and cried, seeing the combat between death and faith. But deep faith, earnest prayers of hundreds of people and the persistence of the doctors triumphed eventually.

I recalled what happened twelve years ago. I arrived in Myanmar in 2007 when the beautiful country went through turbulent times. There was bloodshed in the streets. Those who cared for me repeatedly told me to return to India.  But a super cyclone that ripped the long-suffering nation apart made sure I could not return.  I was sucked into the disaster relief work of the Myanmar Church.

As Jesuits, we played a big role in the recovery and rehabilitation of thousands of families and children. What followed was a decade of loving, committed work that took me to all the corners of this nation. For ten years I worked for and with one of the most graceful people on earth. The daily encounter with Buddhism challenged me to be a better Christian. I met thousands, trained hundreds, and shared their dream of a better world. I was part of their planning, training and their celebrations.

How gratifying it was to come to know that these dear people were grateful and cried out to God to cure me, as I lay unconscious! How poignant it was to learn that, although I came from another country, they saw me as their own! It was also a heartwarming affirmation of the services Jesuits had been rendering silently to a wide spectrum of people in Myanmar.

As I slowly emerged from the rollercoaster nights of excruciating pain, nightmares and medicine-triggered hallucinations, I realized that the soothing balm of human fellowship played a big role in healing me. During the day four women were my caregivers who never left me alone. One of them was a Buddhist nun, who was once my student, another one was a Muslim. There were also Catholic nuns and staff.  I came to know that whenever I groaned uncontrollably because of severe pain, these women whispered consolation and hope in my ears, recounting how so many, including total strangers, had come during the day to show their love and concern and pray for me.

On 21 July 2021, when I completed two years after my miraculous recovery, I had to face the troubling questions:  Why was I saved?  Was this my ‘Cannon Ball Moment’? And what does the future hold? First of all, why did this happen?

Henri Nouwen says that growth happens not always through peaceful, normal events, but by ‘interruptions’ – life-changing events – like sickness and accidents. For Ignatius Loyola it was the ‘cannonball moment’.  Coming face to face with our mortality raises vital questions like: where do I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? 

Steve Jobs, living under the threat of incurable liver cancer, gave a sensational summary of this experience in his unforgettable speech at Stanford University: “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.”

Coming face to face with our mortality raises vital questions like: Where do I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? 

And he ended his speech with one of the most memorable quotes on  human mortality: “Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent.”

Some people came up with another question: During those days when I was in a coma, did I go to heaven?  Did I have a chance to meet Jesus?   You would have seen fundamentalist Christian groups showing off ‘people who went to heaven and came back.’  Psychologists have a trendy name for such people: NDErs = Near-Death Experiencers!

Did I experience death? When I returned to the Jesuit house, the Socius to the Provincial of Madurai, wrote to me to ask if I had any ‘spiritual’ experience during those comatose days.   Henri Nouwen, the great writer, once had a similar near-death hospital experience. Later he wrote a booklet on it and it is called, “Beyond Mirror.”  He writes movingly about how he experienced Jesus invite him soothingly, “Come, do not be afraid.”

I had no such spiritual experience. I think my brain was on lockdown because of medicines and machines.  But something else, more revealing, happened. A panorama unfurled in my mental screen. A vast, never-ending desert emerged.  And I (my mind) went all over that never-ending desert, desperately searching for a human being.   This scene came back again and again and again ad nauseam, evoking anguish.

When I regained consciousness, I reflected on this.  Why was I (my mind) searching desperately for another human being? After many days, it dawned on me.   Human beings are created to relate to one another. Humanity emerges when we relate to another human being. Our existence is defined by relationships.   No man is an island. Loneliness is hell. It is the other person who makes me human.  It is the love of fellow humans that makes me experience God’s love. “If you cannot love the brother you see, how can you love God? For God is love.”

I understood that even in those dark moments of the coma, my heart ached for relationships. Trying to reach heaven is really a call to return to humanity, to others.  That is heaven.

Martin Buber was right: There is no I without You.  When the ‘I’ was in the danger of dissolution, the mind sought ‘you’. For those who have succeeded in finding meaningful, loving relationships heaven has already begun. The only raison d’etre for human life is love. This is why they say: Fall in love, stay in love, that will determine everything.   A verse from the Song of Songs settles everything: Love is stronger than death.  ( Song of Songs: 8:6).

After my consciousness returned, a simple truth emerged: To be is to love. To live is to relate.

 

By Konrad Noronha, SJ

Pornography affects all ages, races, religions, and sexes. It is one of the 21^st-century challenges faced by those who have accepted celibacy as part of their vocation to priesthood. It is extremely addictive and has a damaging influence. Because of its addictive nature, it can make chastity and, in particular, celibacy extremely difficult. Pornography is likely the most frequent misuse of the internet in seminaries, parishes and rectories for the same reasons as the general population: accessibility, affordability and anonymity. Loneliness and isolation, the lack of self-care, higher expectations of themselves, entitlement, and lack of education about the addictive nature of the internet are some of the reasons why an increasing number of priests and religious become victims of addiction to pornography.

The three reasons why pornography is a problem in seminaries, parishes and rectories are accessibility, affordability and anonymity.

Bad Effects of Pornography

Studies have demonstrated that pornographic images get locked in the brain, affect brain function and never completely leave the memory. The locked-in images can result in changed behavior, and an obsession with pornography, similar to chemical addiction. The behavioral effects of pornography have also been confirmed through various studies. Soft porn found even in many prime-time television shows can induce adolescents to adopt a view of sexual morality that contradicts the gospel teaching. Hard-core pornography is far more sinister. Studies have also shown that those exposed to certain music videos were more likely to exhibit liberal attitudes toward premarital sex than those who did not see such videos. Young men entering the seminary today have viewed countless hours of television and videos and therefore their impact would be strong.

Pornography desensitizes adolescents who are in the process of forming values and beliefs. Extensive exposure to non-aggressive and aggressive porn increased males’ sexual insensitivity toward women and children. These are hardly the kinds of values desired in a future priest, who is expected to be compassionate and merciful. The key to formation in chastity is to focus primarily on love versus sex. In his ‘Theology of the Body’ Pope John Paul II said, “The use of pornography replaces love with lust.” What leads to serious sins against chastity is the failure to love real, concrete people. A person addicted to pornography or cybersex engages in sexual activity that does not involve the complications of relating to a real person. This happens insidiously.

Studies have demonstrated that pornographic images get locked in the brain, affect brain function and never completely leave the memory.

Psychosexual Formation

Therefore what is crucial today is formation for celibacy. Inadequate formation has led to scandals, shattered lives, and crises of faith. An adequate formation, on the other hand, would bring to light those persons who lack human and sexual integration. These might be persons who might harbor psychopathologies that could lead to abuse and other deviations. Experts in addiction-disorders describe five successive and interdependent stages through which individuals progress into an addiction to internet pornography. These include: discovery, experimentation, habituation, compulsivity and hopelessness. Treatment would imply understanding at which stage the person is, and working with the person from there.

Clergy and religious are by no means immune to struggles with pornography. A deeper concern is when a priest does not seek treatment when struggling with an addiction. When a priest does not seek help, he is unable to live as he has promised to and may even contribute to the problems of others. The priest who struggles with pornography use may find it difficult to effectively guide those who come to him for help in this area. It is not enough that a priest or seminarian commits himself to a life of celibacy; it is also essential to continuously engage in celibate formation in the different seasons of life.

Skills for celibate living

Living a priestly and religious life requires skills different from that of a secular way of life. Just as much as commitment is required in the married way of life, commitment to the priestly life is important. This commitment is an ongoing process and leads to a continuous configuration with Christ. Before the seminarian enters the major seminary, he is expected to complete developmental tasks of earlier stages. Therefore, he can respond to the challenges of transcendent values and attitudes that will be proposed to him at the later stages of his priestly formation. Otherwise, his attention and efforts will be directed at dealing with his struggles, addictions, and defenses. The seminarian and priest should be motivated for a life of celibacy and should be able to sustain his commitment to the priestly life and the evangelical counsels.

Helpful Strategies

Recovery from porn addiction is not impossible but could be an uphill battle. An addict can beat the addiction, and even help others beat it. The power of God’s grace cannot be discounted. Effective strategies are necessary to strengthen priests and religious in their spiritual lives to avoid spiritual dissipation and vocational distress. Some strategies could be:

• Formators and those in formation should realize that pornography is a growing threat to priesthood. Priests unfamiliar with the internet and its effects should educate themselves about the deceptive nature of pornography. They need to realize the impact of worldly thinking, especially attitudes about sexuality.
• Interviews, tests, and a psychological profile could confirm the extent of a candidate’s pornography consumption. The seminarians and priests could be helped to identify events or behaviors that trigger inappropriate use of the internet, like underlying problems of anger, loneliness, grief, anxiety, loss, etc.
• There should be an emphasis on the spiritual life to strengthen priests and seminarians in their commitment to celibacy, demonstrated by an authentic life of prayer. There should be an emphasis on the interior life from the first days of the seminary, which includes the frequent celebration of the sacrament of reconciliation,  healthy friendships with fellow seminarians, and a lifetime commitment to the evangelical counsels.
• A person struggling with pornography use requires the assistance of someone who is both mature and informed, such as a spiritual guide, to help navigate the problem.
• An important part of the formative process involves helping a seminarian integrate his cognitive processes with his feelings. He should consider the quality of relationships he has and how they influence the use of pornography. He should also consider how he views people in his life, and whether he tends to objectify others.
• Those in formation must be taught accountability in their early years of formation as well as in their life of ordained ministry.
• No one is exempt from temptation. Priests and seminarians are human and if they honestly acknowledge their weakness, they could avoid temptation. Therefore, seminary formation programs ought to facilitate candidates developing a personal conviction about their choice for celibacy. Once that conviction is deeply rooted, they will apply practical means of protection on their own accord. They must learn to set boundaries and stick to them.

Conclusion

No matter how badly priests are needed, moral integrity and resolute commitment to celibacy can never be compromised in the life of a priest. At ordination, the bishop asks the candidate publicly about his worthiness for ordination. The answer is usually in the affirmative, because of the many years of formation and evaluation. Pornography addiction is a danger for the Church, seminarians, and priests. It poses one of the greatest dangers to bringing priestly vocations to their fruition. The fundamental safeguard against sin and temptation is a deep and abiding relationship with God that is rooted in love.

By Ama Samy, SJ

The Bible says, “Know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8: 32)

But our question will be what Pontius Pilate asked Jesus. “Truth? What is it?”  How will we ever come to know what is truth and what it is not?

Truth has been understood in many kinds and forms. Some even go so far as to deny that we can know the truth. They assert that we can never know the truth. So they say the truth is we can never know the truth.

Two vital questions are: First, how do we know what we know? Second, how do we know what we know is true? The first question is about knowledge. The second is about reality

But we humans have an inborn drive to know the truth. So two vital questions are: First, how do we know what we know? Second, how do we know what we know is true? The first question is about knowledge. The second is about reality.

I would like to quote from a chapter on Truth in John Haught’s perceptive book What is God. (see box)

Let me briefly explain how we come to know the truth and reality.

Be attentive

The first level is experience. It is the data which comes to us through our five senses. It concerns the question of ‘What?’. This sense experience has to be grasped through the internal faculties of memory, intellect, consciousness and so on. The sense experiences are material. The action of the internal faculties is not material. The data of senses are not the same as the data of consciousness. 

Emotions can be generated by the sense experiences or even internally. Emotions are what move us. Without emotions we will not be moved to act. But if we let emotions flood us, then we will lose our reasoning capacity and end up acting irrationally or erratically. The emotions of sadness, desire, lust, fear, hunger can appear to be spontaneous – without a cause, but it is not always so.

Emotions can be distinguished from feelings. Feelings are finer and come close to the spiritual movements. Feelings are responses to the worth of things. In the Christian tradition practice of discernment helps us identify feelings.

Some take sense experiences as the truth. Sense experiences are not yet the truth, but experiences are the basic building blocks of our lives. What comes through our senses are neither true nor false. Zen takes all experiences as ‘makyos’ – illusions. The Christian apophatic spirituality also will give them no importance.

Be intelligent

Once we have the experiences, we have to understand them. We have to classify and differentiate them, find the sources, causes and relationships between the experiences. It concerns the questions of ‘Why?’ and ‘How?’ It is understanding that gives us insights or ideas. But insights and ideas are not yet truth. 

One can have any number of insights. Very many people just take the insights as the truth. The philosopher, Lonergan, points out that people,  even philosophers, take truth to be what is seen or looked at. This is a great mistake of the pictorial or representational  fallacy. Ordinarily we take what we see or sense as the truth but this is a common sense reality and not truth as such. These are still sense experiences or at the most ideas and insights. We say that these are facts. But facts are not merely what is seen or heard or touched. Facts have to be verified and judged to be true or not.

Be reasonable or be realistic

It is in judgement that an experience or insight can be judged to be true or not. It is a question of ‘Whether’. Judgement needs verification and evidence. Judgement is not a physical or material reality. It is a matter of intellect and spirit. Judgements and reasoning pertain to many levels – biological, aesthetic, emotional, practical, dramatic, intellectual and so on.

In each area the requirements for judgement will vary. When all relevant questions are exhausted, then the judgement will be final. The relevant questions are framed thus: ‘If…. then…’

Only in judgement we acquire certitude.

 

Interview with Br Guy Consolmagno, SJ | Director, Vatican Observatory

What made you give up the prospects of a very promising career as a professor and join the Jesuits?

When I was thirty years old, I was working as a postdoctoral fellow doing scientific research at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), which is perhaps the best science and technology school in the world. But I found myself dissatisfied with a life of only doing pure research. Why put all that effort into studying the moons of Jupiter when there were people starving in the world? That is what motivated me to leave science and join the US Peace Corps.

Did the two years you spent teaching in Kenya as a member of the U.S. Peace Corps play a role in your vocation to the Society? 

Once I got to Africa as a member of U.S. Peace Corps I learned three important things.

First, I learned how much I loved teaching. My first assignment was to a good high school in Nairobi, and then I was moved to the University of Nairobi itself. In both places I experience pure joy in thinking about how to explain complicated physics and astronomy topics to my students, and in seeing how much joy in turn those students gave me as they grew in their understanding of our physical universe. I believed this is what I wanted to do more than anything else, once I returned to America.

In addition, I learned that even people in remote villages are hungry to hear about the stars and the planets. When I would visit my other Peace Corps friends in remote places I would bring my little telescope and give astronomy talks. Everyone there was so excited to look through my telescope, and to hear about what we were learning from the space probes. That made me appreciate why, indeed, we do astronomy even when people are starving. Human beings are hungry for knowledge, for a chance to wonder about the universe and their place in it. We do not live by bread alone.

And finally, I learned that these two things — studying the cosmos and telling people about it — were where my talents lay. I did not have a talent for personal interactions, for helping people with problems or even understanding and listening in a way that could help them. My talents are deep but narrow. And it made sense to recognize my limitations as well as my talents.

When I returned to America I had four wonderful years teaching physics and astronomy at a small university-level school in Pennsylvania. I really did love teaching. But even there I wanted to recapture what was also important in the Peace Corps: to do this work while representing a reason bigger than my own career. That made me think of joining the Jesuits, since they run nearly two dozen universities in the US. 

But why did you choose to become a Brother – not a priest?

I knew I did not have the “people-talents” to be a good priest. When I prayed about this decision, I was really surprised to feel a strong calling instead to be a brother. Then it all made sense: as a Jesuit brother I could live in a religious community, stand for something bigger than my own ambition, but still contribute with the talents that I had.

You seem to have had an abiding interest in astronomy from the beginning. Where did it come from? Your family? Tell us about your family.

I was born at the beginning of the Space Age. I started school the year that Sputnik was launched, I finished high school the year that Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. My father was interested in the stars from his youth, and had learned practical navigation stars during World War 2 when he was in the Army Air Corps. So, yes, my family played an important role in my love of astronomy.

I grew up in Michigan and we spent our summers along the shores of Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes, far from city lights. There I learned the names of the brighter stars and the constellations.

Both my parents were university educated. My father was a journalist and my mother a school teacher. Even my immigrant grandfather had gone to Boston University and earned a law degree. Likewise, my sister and brother (both older than me) have earned master’s degrees. So getting an education was something expected, and valued in our family, and my father supported me up until the time when NASA grants could pay for the last years of my graduate work.

This is just curiosity. Most of us – like the poets who loved nature – have romantic notions of the sky, the moon, and the stars. Would the scientific knowledge of astronomers make them think of such notions as nonsense? 

My knowledge of astronomy only adds to my human love of the sky and my appreciation of God’s creation. When I go outside at night and see the stars in a dome overhead I experience the same sense of awe as anyone else.

But then I begin to pick out old friends among the stars, stars that I have seen since I was a child. I know them by name; I know their stories, not only the stories of mythology that tie me to my ancestors but also the stories of where I was at a certain time in my life where seeing one constellation or another had a special, personal meaning. I remember my father teaching me the Summer Triangle; having my homesickness cured by seeing the constellation Leo overhead from Africa (and, later, seeing it upside-down from New Zealand). Recalling how Betelgeuse dimmed dramatically one year. So the stars have a particular personal meaning.

Even more than that, though, I can see them as places that I have actually studied and published papers about. Jupiter and its moons as seen through a telescope are remarkable not only because they look wonderful, or because they launched Galileo’s career, but also because they were the subject of my first scientific papers. I know the Orion Nebula not only as a wonderful spot in my telescope but as the source of new stars. I see the double star Alberio and recall how my first sight of it led to me writing a whole book on how to observe the stars with a small telescope.

So you can see, all the knowledge I have about these stars does not dim their beauty but it gives that beauty an extra dimension. Not only is Orion beautiful; so are the memories it invokes, and so is the science of what I have learned about it.

How does your work as an astronomer affect your religious faith and vice versa?

How do I see these stars as a person of faith? God made them. He made them logically; and he made them beautiful. In that way I have come to know God even more, by seeing how His logic works, to see how He loves beauty. The message of Psalm 8 is only made stronger by knowing how big and how old this universe is.

What are the responsibilities and challenges of the Director of the Vatican Observatory? 

The mission of the Vatican Observatory, as stated by Pope Leo XIII when he founded the observatory in 1891, is to show the world that the Church supports science. As the director, then, I have to help our staff fulfill both roles: to do good science, and to show the world. 

I am responsible for seeing that the dozen Jesuit brothers and priests – plus our diocesan collaborators – have the resources and opportunities they need to do their work. That ranges from seeing that they have adequate office space and computer resources, to helping them organize workshops, to encouraging them to travel  – when we could, outside of Covid – to meetings and to visit with collaborators… to keeping our telescope in Arizona up and running at its best. A lot of that work means fundraising for our Vatican Observatory Foundation, which supports much of our work. Finding money is always a challenge!

I am also responsible for serving as a public face for the Observatory and its work. I do dozens of interviews every year, write articles for magazines, write the occasional book, appear on radio and television and even, sometimes, in films. I also help other members of our staff present our work in their own countries, in their own languages.

It is also my task to find and encourage young Jesuits in formation now who might be interested in joining the Observatory at some future date.

As an astronomer, how did you see the COP26 at Glasgow, Scotland on 31 October – 12 November 2021? Are you happy with what it managed to achieve? 

The problems of climate change have been obvious to us in the planetary sciences for nearly two centuries, and certainly since we understood the role that carbon dioxide plays in the climate of Venus and Mars. On the one hand, I am heartened that world leaders are finally taking this seriously. But I know that real change will only occur when everyone does their small part; that in the whole will make a much larger effect than any decree no matter how well-written.

But, as Pope Francis reminds us in Laudato Si’, the abuse of our planet is an expression of human sinfulness, and that has been with us since the Original Sin. That means that we should never expect to have this problem “solved” in the sense that we won’t have to think about it anymore. Human folly and greed are eternal.

Are other planets free from the impact of human folly and greed?

Why should they be? If there are creatures — creations of God — with intelligence on other planets, their souls will be given the same gifts of intellect and free will. Thus they will have the freedom to love God and His works, or to sin against them. That is true no matter how many eyes or tentacles they have!

Pope Francis is a fellow Jesuit who lives close to you. What do you think of him? Do you get to interact with him? Does he visit the  Vatican Observatory?  

He is a wonderful man and a great friend of the Observatory. Of course, the director before me, Fr. José Funes, was himself a Jesuit from Argentina and so he had lived in the same community as the Pope many years earlier. Pope Francis actually came and had lunch with us during his first year as Pope, and in the summer of 2019 he invited all of our staff to come and visit with him in the Vatican. We had no agenda, just a time to chat and tell stories among ourselves. 

Dear Friends,

We are happy to bring you this new issue of INI, dated January – March 2022. Being the first issue in the new year, this makes us think of the just-born 2022.

The entire world had a single prayer for 2022. After two extremely painful years of unprecedented hardships brought by the pandemic, many had looked forward to to a Covid-free year. But the new variant, the highly contagious Omicron, is forcing many governments to bring back the old restrictions and rules. In the U.S. and several European countries people have had to cancel their travel-plans and stay home.

The ray of hope in this gloomy scenario is the assertion of some scientists and doctors that the new variant of Omicron is highly contagious but a milder version of the deadly virus. That means it will infect many more people, but will not cause much damage or deaths as earlier variants like the Delta did. This will lead to herd immunity and make the pandemic endemic. This means that the virus is here to stay, but it will lie low most of the time and resurface periodically.

May this prediction come true very soon this year!

This issue of INI brings you articles that will bring you hope and joy, clarity and focus, enlightenment and encouragement.

The first feature is a heartwarming interview with one of the best astronomers in the world today – Br. Guy Consolmagno, SJ, Director, Vatican Observatory. I felt deeply moved when I read some of his responses. Read carefully what he has to say on how he became interested in astronomy, what took him to Kenya, why he became a Jesuit, what made him choose to be a Jesuit brother and not a Jesuit priest, how his knowledge of the heavens affects his faith, what he does as the Director of the Vatican Observatory etc. Once you get to know his views you are sure to gaze at the stars with more awe and delight than ever before.

The second in our menu this time is an article by the well-known Indian Zen Master, Fr Ama Samy, SJ. In fact, he is the only Indian officially approved as a Zen master, who is authorized to teach zen. A voracious reader and an excellent writer, he keeps writing and teaching. When the lockdown forced him to cancel his annual zen programmes in Europe, he sat down and wrote six books in these two years! The article here is excerpted from one of these books, titled, Zen – One Way to Nirvana. The article explains what we need to do to know the truth and reality.

The third article, by Fr. Konrad Noronha, SJ, Professor, De Nobili College, Pune, is on another virus that is making an increasing number of young priests and seminarians sick – addiction to pornography. A young, perceptive friend in Australia, shocked by what she learnt while trying to help married couples, asked if INI could come up with an article on this highly addictive and extremely dangerous problem. The retreats I have guided for priests recently reveal that this menace is a serious problem for our young priests and seminarians.  Let us hope that this article would help our youth and those who deal with them.

Contributing to our regular ‘Experience’ column this time is a veteran, tireless Jesuit missionary, Amalraj Chinnapan, SJ, who now works in Myanmar. Two years ago, quite unexpectedly he fell seriously ill. Most doctors gave up hope and he was anointed twice. But the four women who cared for him, one of whom was a Buddhist nun, fellow Jesuits who did whatever they could, hundreds of Myanmar Catholics, starting from his friend, Cardinal Charles Bo, who stormed the heavens with their tearful prayers and the doctors who refused to give up managed to work a miracle that finally saved him. Read his moving, poignant article to learn about an intriguing vision he had repeatedly during those days when he was in a coma and how he has come to understand it.

All those who want to know the ONE thing we need in order to find a happy, successful life should read Fr. Francis P. Xavier’s ‘Book’ column. A scientist, an educationist and an avid reader, Fr. Francis this time skillfully summarizes the main points offered by Gary W. Keller and Jay Papasan in their book, The ONE Thing.

In my ‘Film’ column this time I have shared the screen version of the real life disaster that happened in Aberfan, Wales, as shown in Episode 3 of the third season of the much-acclaimed Netflix drama series, The Crown. Last year Netflix won seven Emmy awards for this brilliantly written series on the life of Queen Elizabeth II. Read my column to find out how the very last scene of the film reveals what exactly moves the stoic Queen to tears.           

We start a new column, called ‘Youth Junction’ in this issue – meant for young Jesuits and Jesuit associates all over the world. Those who write for this column could be also Jesuit volunteers, young professors or teachers in our institutions and surely our students. The opening batsman is Fr. Emmanuel Akilan, SJ and he writes about the challenges the Church faces to becoming a synodal Church.

So have a great time. Please be sure your feedback and suggestions are always welcome.

– M.A. Joe Antony, SJ