Category: October

By M.A. Joe Antony, SJ

I still remember the last scene of this film. Whenever I listen to inspiring hymns I recall the powerful, touching scene: A tear drop slowly emerges from the left eye of the Queen and travels down her smooth cheek. That drop of tear proves to her and to us, the viewers, that nothing is wrong with the Queen, that the strong, stoic woman is as human as the rest of us.

You must have heard of the much-acclaimed drama series called ‘The Crown’ released by Netflix in November 2016. ‘The Crown’ highlights major events in the life of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of England. It starts from her wedding in 1947 and goes on to depict major events in her life till the first decade of this century. It sincerely tries to be true to what really happened but, at the same time, does not hesitate to take creative liberties for the sake of dramatic effect. Brilliantly written and masterfully directed, the series has managed to rope in a number of actors with extraordinary talent. It is not a surprise, therefore, that ‘The Crown’ won for Netflix seven Emmy awards in September 2021, including the awards for the Outstanding Drama Series, writing and directing.

‘The Crown’ has had four seasons so far, with each season featuring 6 – 10 episodes. Season 3, released by Netflix on 17 November 2019, had ten episodes and covered the period between 1964 and 1977. The film whose story I want to share with you is the third episode in Season 3. It is called ‘Aberfan’.

Aberfan is the name of a mining village in South Wales, U.K., struck by a heart-rending disaster in the year 1966. It was home to about 8,000 miners and their families. It had a chapel called Bethania Chapel. A school called Pentglas Junior School had 240 students, most of whom were the children of miners. Close to the school was a ‘spoil tip’ – called ‘tip 7’ in the film. It was a massive pile of accumulated coal waste that is routinely removed during mining. Quite a few perceptive people were concerned that this giant pile of coal waste stood so close to the school. Many years earlier the local Council had contacted the National Coal Board, which ran the mine, and expressed their concern.

In 1963 an engineer, after visiting the site, wrote to the National Coal Board, saying, “I regard it as extremely serious as the slurry is so fluid and the gradient so steep that it could not possibly stay in position in the winter time or during periods of heavy rain.” But the National Coal Board not merely ignored these complaints and warnings but went on to threaten to close the mine and thus deprive the locals of their livelihood.

As the film begins, you see what happened on the day prior to the tragedy. It is raining heavily and parents, holding umbrellas, try to shepherd their children to the Pentglas Junior School. When the classes get over, the class teacher asks the boys and girls in his class to memorize the hymn, ‘All things bright and beautiful,’ as they have to sing it the next day at the school assembly. After the assembly the school would close for half-term holidays. You see some children singing the song enthusiastically on their way home and to their parents later that evening. “All things bright and beautiful/ All creatures great and small/ All things wise and wonderful/ “’Twas God that made them all…”

Early in the morning the next day the workers who go for repairs notice that tip 7 is beginning to slide and run to warn the supervisor.

In spite of the continuing rain, classes begin at Pentglas Junior School. When the teacher reads out the names of students, they respond, saying, ‘Sir!” An enthusiastic boy, instead of saying, ‘Sir!’, starts singing, ‘All things bright and beautiful…’ While other children laugh, the teacher tells him to wait and sing it at the school assembly to be convened in minutes.

Hearing a rumble, the class teacher looks out the window and sees the coal tip sliding down at great speed. He shouts to the students to take shelter beneath their desks, but he keeps standing, probably paralyzed by shock and fear, staring at the 30 foot tsunami of sludge, as it races down the hill at a speed of more than 80 miles per hour and crashes into his class room.

He shouts to the students to take shelter beneath their desks, but he keeps standing, probably paralyzed by shock and fear, staring at the 30 foot tsunami of sludge.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Harold Wilson, is speaking at a function to inaugurate a ‘hyper market’ and his wife interrupts him and whispers the shocking news of the calamity. He asks to be excused and leaves. His office requests the Queen to lend him a plane to rush to Wales. When he reaches the school in Aberfan, he sees the miners who used to dig for coal now digging for their children buried in the sludge. The bodies of children who perished in the disaster are brought to the makeshift morgue at the Bethania Chapel. Nurses and volunteers search the pockets and bags of the dead children for something that could help their parents identify their children’s bodies.

The country gasps when the final count is revealed: 144 died, of whom 116 were children aged between 7 and 11. Among the 28 adults who were killed, there were 5 teachers. Twenty three men and women were in houses near the school engulfed by the coal sludge.

The Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, on his return to London, tries to persuade the Queen to go to Aberfan and comfort the grieving families. The Queen replies, “One of the most unfortunate things about being a Sovereign is that you paralyze any situation you walk into. The very last thing that emergency and relief workers need is for the Queen to turn up.” Wilson says he doesn’t agree. “Children have died. The community is devastated.”

The Queen, still unconvinced, asks, “Precisely what will you have me do?”

“Comfort people.”

“Put on a show? The Crown doesn’t do that”

“I didn’t say ‘Put on a show.’ I said, ‘Comfort people.’”  

Wilson is not able to persuade the Queen to visit Aberfan. But Prince Philip, Elizabeth’s husband and Duke of Edinborough, rushes to Aberfan and attends the agonizing funeral service and the burial. People gathered at the cemetery, looking at the little coffins and fighting their tears, sing a hymn. It moves Prince Philip to tears. On his return to the palace the Queen asks him if he wept. “I might have wept, yes,” he replies. “Anyone who heard that hymn would not have just wept. He’d have been broken into a thousand tiny pieces.”

In a candid conversation with Wilson, she reveals that she is unable to weep. “After the Blitz, when I visited hospitals I saw that my parents – the King and the Queen – wept. I couldn’t. When I had my first child, I didn’t weep. When my grandmother, Queen Mary, whom I loved, died, I didn’t cry.”

Finally the pressure mounts and the Queen relents and visits Aberfan. She lays a wreath at the cemetery (See picture above) and meets a few of the grieving families. But she does not weep. On her flight back home, she asks her secretary about the hymn the people of Aberfan sang on the day most children were buried – the hymn that made her husband weep. He assures her he would get a record of the hymn.

Back in the palace, when the night has fallen, when everything is quiet and she is all alone, she plays the record and listens intently to the hymn:

That is when the miracle happens.  A tear drop slowly emerges from the left eye of the Queen and travels down her smooth cheek.

What made the miracle possible is, obviously, music. Music, when it combines with sorrow and love, can melt the hardened sadness into tears. The famous English poet, P.B. Shelley said, “Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.”

By M.A. Joe Antony, SJ

‘How helpful this film could be for all those who have to wrestle with grief caused by the death of their life partner! This could make them think and even show them the path to beat the gnawing grief.’ That is what I thought soon after watching this short film of just 35 minutes.

On a Serpentine Road, with the Top Down is the first episode in Season 2 of the popular anthology, Modern Love, released by Amazon Prime Video on 13 August 2021.  These films (episodes) are fictionalized versions of the popular column, ‘Modern Love’ published in the New York Times. In the films of Season 1, released last year, all the action took place in New York city.

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But obviously love is not something restricted to New York. Isn’t it found everywhere? Herbert Shipman wrote, “Across the gateway of my heart/ I wrote “No Thoroughfare”/ But love came laughing by and cried/ “I enter everywhere!” Therefore, quite rightly, for some of the episodes of Season 2 the producers have moved to other countries. This episode takes place in Ireland, I think.

The story revolves around Stephanie (played by Minnie Driver), who is a medical doctor loved by everyone – Niall, her second husband, her two daughters, her patients and even her car mechanic. She drives a vintage sports car, which is not merely old, but actually dying. The car keeps breaking down in spite of all the repairs and one day the frustrated mechanic swears, “I am changing my number until you get rid of this thing.” Her second husband, Niall (played by Don Wycherley), who sees to the bills and taxes, tells her repeatedly to sell the dying car.

Some others, like Stephanie, find it impossible to let them die, though they are dead. So they try to keep them alive in whatever way possible.

We soon learn why the smart, affable Stephanie holds on to the old car. It was bought by her first love and husband, Michael (played by Tom Burke). It is the car they both drove from the moment they fell in love and so it holds countless beautiful memories for her.  After their daughter, Shannon, is born, she shares in those memories too. But when the daughter is just an adolescent, Michael succumbs to a sudden illness and dies. The grief caused by his sudden and untimely death haunts her. Although she recovers enough to marry again – this time an amazingly good, mature man – and has her second child, she is unable to let Michael go.

She comes up with an innovative strategy to keep him alive in her life. Whenever she is alone in the car, she imagines that he is there sitting by her side, just as he used to do when he was alive. She keeps talking to him about everything and believes he is there listening to her every word. Years after her second marriage to another man, she tells her former husband, imagining he is sitting there in the car beside her, “There is not a day I wake up or go to sleep without thinking of you. I love you. I miss you.”  This is the reason why she is unable to bring herself to sell the forty year old car. More importantly, she can’t bring herself to reveal this to Niall, her second husband.

She eventually sells the car, although she doesn’t want to do it. But soon she senses the resentment she is developing against Niall, who is a marvelous husband and a devoted father. So there can be only one reason for this growing resentment. He kept pointing out the sheer futility of holding on to a car that is not able to serve her any longer but forces her to spend their hard-earned money on endless and utterly useless repairs.  One day she blurts out the truth to Niall, who is surprised.

And now that he knows, would he leave her, she asks. Niall replies that he finds nothing wrong in what she has been doing and understands that it is her way of dealing with grief. When people lose someone they love deeply, they struggle to cope with the sorrow that grips them. Some people find it hard to keep the dead alive. They quickly heal and get on with their lives. Some others, like Stephanie, find it impossible to let them die, though they are dead. So they try to keep them alive in whatever way possible. They strive to keep their memories alive. What they do depends on how they cope. There is nothing right or wrong, says Niall.

Does Niall resent the fact that when he is there beside her, she is trying desperately to keep her first husband alive? His response reveals that he is an extraordinarily mature person – quite unlike most men who are possessive or jealous.  He says, “Your heart is the biggest place I had ever been in the world. If I get one little part of it, that would be way more than I ever expected in my life.” Deeply touched by his understanding and acceptance, she wonders how she got so lucky twice in her life. And he says, “I am grateful I did once.” A teary-eyed Stephanie, deeply touched, hugs him. Probably at that moment she gains the strength to let go of her first husband, Michael.

After Niall discovers the huge emotional significance the old car holds for his wife, he sells his boat and uses the money to buy back the old car she felt obliged to sell. The final scenes show Stephanie driving her old car again to pick up her first daughter, Shannon, who is coming home from her college for Christmas. They chat and sing as they drive home, as the film ends.

Grief is a dark, difficult and dangerous emotion. People come up with their own strategies to deal with it. What helps them recover is the presence of people in their lives – who don’t ridicule them or find fault with them, who understand their struggle and accept them and love them. When that happens, as Niall says, grief will hopefully fade in the course of time and memories will dim. But love endures.

The film may have a lot to offer to those who are struggling with sorrow and grief after the death of a loved one. How many do you think would be fighting a bitter battle with their sense of loss and grief these days? The grim statistics remind us that about 4.5 million people have died of Covid 19 so far. How many millions, therefore, will have to deal with their sorrow? 

“In this time of pandemic and instability, sadness and melancholy have taken on devastating proportions in many people’s lives. This has ramifications that go far beyond its immediate impact of dampening our desire to act and to accomplish: It may even take the form of real mental and physical illnesses.” says Reginaldo Manzotti. This film, written and directed by John Carney, can help a little all these grieving souls fighting their inner darkness in today’s dreary world, devastated by the pandemic.

By Francis P. Xavier, SJ

Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning, Rider, London, 2004

Man’s Search for Meaning is a highly popular book, which has sold more than 9 million copies. It is not a new book by any means. It was written in 1946 by Victor E. Frankl, who survived four Nazi concentration camps during World War II. He wrote this book in nine consecutive days.

Frankl’s conviction is that love is the ultimate and the highest goal one can aspire for. The salvation of every person is through love and in life. Love transcends this hopeless, meaningless world, when we live for others. People find their meaning in life, when they actually look for meaning in the other’s life. He would add that a sense of humour adds light to the art of mastering life.

“The ‘size’ of human suffering is absolutely relative” (p.55). But whatever be the challenges, difficulties, and obstacles, one ‘can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress’ (p.74). It originates from the conviction that “if there is meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete” (p.76). To realize this and search for the meaning of our lives we need a paradigm shift or change in our attitude towards life, namely ‘it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us’ (p.85).

We can discover this meaning in life, according to Frankl, in three different ways.

This is possible when humans become conscious of their responsibility towards person(s) they love and understand the unfinished work they have to do for their sake. This determines their purpose in life and tells them why they should exist. At the same time they have to look for how to realize this goal in real life.

At this juncture, Frankl brings in logotherapy (idea of meaning). Logotherapy actually focuses on the future, that is to say, on the meaning to be fulfilled in one’s future life. He asserts, “Man’s search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a ‘secondary rationalization’ of instinctual drives. This meaning is unique and specific in that it must and can be fulfilled by him alone; only then does it achieve a significance which will satisfy his own will to meaning” (p.105).

He cites a public-opinion poll conducted in France. According to the survey 89% admitted that man needs ‘something’ for the sake of which to live. In addition, 61% conceded that there was something, or someone, in their lives for whose sake they were even ready to die. That ‘something’ or ‘someone’ is the reason or the meaning for one’s life even amidst hardships. Another statistical survey conducted by Johns Hopkins University among 7,948 students from 48 colleges indicated that 16% of the students wanted to ‘make a lot of money’, while 78% underlined that their primary goal was ‘to find a purpose and meaning in life’ (p.105).

Hence what matters is specific meaning of a person’s life. Frankl says, “Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible. Thus, logotherapy sees in ‘responsibleness’ the very essence of human existence” (p.114).

We can discover this meaning in life, according to Frankl, in three different ways: i. by creating a work now or later or doing a good deed; ii. by experiencing something or encountering someone; and iii. by our attitude toward unavoidable and unexpected suffering. The first one could be realized by our achievements and accomplishments, while the second and third by our constant search, finding, and realization.

Most people in the world have enough to live by but nothing to live for. They have the means to live but have no meaning in life (p.142). In an existential vacuum with the feeling of emptiness and meaninglessness, one should search for meaning for life in living for others to do something beautiful and meaningful and useful to others. This is echoed in the words of St Ignatius of Loyola, “Love ought to show itself in deeds more than in words”.

When we manage to find meaning in life we begin to live our lives for the second time, but in a more effective way. Frankl ends the book with the words, ”Let us be alert – alert in a twofold sense: Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake” (p.154).

– how a 15-year-old girl from Bihar influenced a Jesuit

By Jerry Rosario, SJ

You may recall reading this last year. Jyoti Kumari was just a 15 year-old girl from a remote village in Bihar, studying seventh standard.

Her father had gone to Haryana seeking a job towards the end of 2019. He was an  auto rickshaw driver. Lo, he met with an accident in the early March of 2020 and had to be hospitalised, as he had suffered serious injuries.  Two weeks later came the sudden declaration of a strict nationwide lockdown. He was forcibly discharged from the local Government hospital to make space for the COVID 19 patients.    

News reached his family living about 1,200 kilometers away in Bihar and it shattered the family. Crisis, history tells us, can birth change. This teen-aged girl, Jyoti Kumari, came up with an idea which was, as expected, not well received initially.  But she managed to convince her mother and siblings and embarked on a dangerous journey. How a village girl who had never gone anywhere managed to reach Haryana safely, in spite of the cancellation of all public transport, was by itself a big story.  After many a hardship, she not only reached the town in Haryana but also was able to find her dad now living in the pavement, after having been thrown out of the hospital. All this, in more than one sense, was a contemporary miracle.

How long could she stay by the side of her dad who had made the pavement his home? The government kept extending the nationwide lockdown. Anyone else would have lost all hope in such a situation. But not Jyoti Kumari. A master plan unfolded in her mind. Out of  1,000 rupees that her father had, she managed to buy an old bicycle for 500 rupees. The original price of the bicycle was Rs.1,200, but the seller, seeing the determination of this young Bihari girl, gave it to her for Rs. 500.

At the dawn of 10 May 2020, she started cycling along with her injured dad on the pillion, who carried his bag on his lap. It was summer and so cycling in that heat was extremely difficult. Every day the two travelled from 04.30 am to 09. 30 pm, and managed to cover over 170 kilometers. For the night they slept near any petrol-bunk they found on the way.  

When Jyoti Kumari reached home on 16 May with her dad, both were terribly exhausted. Her mother and others could not believe it could be true. The family and the villagers  had assumed that with hardly any money and no transport both Jyoti Kumari and her dad had no chance of getting back home. 

We came to know this incredible feat, because Jyoti Kumari herself, speaking to the media, narrated  in some detail how she managed to bring her injured dad on her bicycle after pedalling throughout the day for six days.

I tell you, this news item had a terrific impact on me. When I began pondering over this event and also later meditating over it prayerfully, Jyoti Kumari challenged me tremendously. She became my teacher. Her discernment about what she should do, while facing crisis after crisis at her age, is truly remarkable. Her hope and determination, planning and execution of the plan till its happy ending are truly inspiring.

Now let me share with you an attempt that I made, inspired by Jyoti Kumari. During the second part of the last year, I had to travel to Triuchirappalli (Trichy) from Chennai to visit my mother who had to go through, quite unexpectedly, a major surgery. Options were there for me, including flying to Trichy which is about 335 kms away.  Flights had resumed by then. Air travel was recommended as the safest and fastest way of travelling, because of the risks posed by Covid.

But I could hear the voice of Jyoti in me: ‘Follow me. Why not?’  Therefore after celebrating an early morning Mass, I started pedalling my old bicycle down to Trichy. I stayed in public places on the way, avoiding any parish or religious house. I rested for a couple of hours on the way. I didn’t eat anywhere. I just had a cup of tea now and then. I reached Trichy after 28 hours. I spent a day with my mom in the hospital. Then I cycled all the way back to Chennai. 

My attempt cannot be compared to what Jyoti Kumari managed to do. She covered totally a distance of 2,400 kilometres. For me it was just 670.

Before I began my bicycle trip, I prayed for nine intentions, the first of which was a speedy and complete recovery of my mother. Believe me, eight out of those nine intentions were granted by God one after the other. The way God answered some of these prayers even exceeded my expectations. Did prayer, accompanied by penance – hunger, and physical exhaustion in this case – achieve this?

Does a real life experience such as that of Jyoti Kumari have the power to motivate us? Not by itself.  But it certainly can, when we proceed to ponder in depth such an event. Lessons that we can reap from a ‘spirited’ consideration of ‘an anubhava’ can transform us.

In other words, experiences are there day in and day out. But we let them pass without trying to extract their lessons. We generally tend to take a bypass road and thereby, in the process, we miss the bus. But if we reflect prayerfully on all the curves and corners of rare life-experiences as this one, then we can see the questions they pose to us.      

If a 15-year-old village girl can do something like this for her sick father, can’t I do something similar for my mother? Unless we allow ourselves, both personally and collectively, to be challenged by happenings around, we may be judged by history as those who “just plucked blackberries” even when a bush was burning, trying to tell us something.      

Rare experiences – similar to what Jyoti Kumari had – beckon us to face every crisis and challenge, and to convert the impossible to possible. All that we need at such times is a sustained hope that makes us imagine what we pray for and a strong will. We are then sure to find a way out. We can recall here this quotable quote, attributed to St. Ignatius: ‘Do as if everything depends on you and then, pray as if everything depends on  God’.

By William Sequeira, SJ

Bitter Truth: Writing from Taloja prison, Fr. Stan Swamy asked, “Why has truth become bitter, dissent so intolerable, and justice out of reach?” But he asserted that “Truth must be spoken…” His incarceration was the price he paid for his telling truth to power. (I Am Not a Silent Spectator, Stan Swamy)

But sadly today truth has become a relative word devoid of its objective meaning, as we are living in a ‘post- truth’ political culture, even though the Upanishadic mantra that our country adopted as its national motto proclaims, ‘Truth alone triumphs’ (Satyameva  Jayate). Truth nowadays is said to be an opinion, a belief, or a point of view. Truth is thus distorted, twisted, denied, or proclaimed as fake news. Worst of all, truth has become even dangerous, as it endangers those who speak it. Stan and a number of others like him, because they dared to tell the truth, became the accused and the victims.

Truth sets you free: We hold on to the Christian faith, because we believe that our faith is based on truth – the eternal truth revealed by Jesus Christ. Jesus declared: ‘Truth will set you free” (Jn. 8/32).  We know this from our concrete experience of the sacrament of reconciliation, where we open our hearts and speak the truth of our sin and sorrow and return experiencing freedom.  When we go to a spiritual guide for spiritual direction, we speak our truth, and come back, feeling light, free, and enlightened. All the helping professions like counselling, and therapy are founded on sharing our inner truth. All branches of science and research are built on the same principle of finding and sharing the truth.

In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius speaks about the nature of prayer. He says it must be akin to: ‘friend talking to a friend’ (SE.54). In other words, prayer is telling the truth of one’s heart, at times joyful, other times sorrowful, sometimes embarrassing or distressing. Only then it becomes authentic prayer. His autobiography is an honest narration of his pilgrim journey, truthfully articulated with all its pitfalls. (Testament and Testimony)

Truth & Journaling: The Jewish teenager Anne Frank found a way to safeguard her physical and mental health over two years. while she and her family were hiding themselves from the Nazi forces. She kept a personal diary where she scribbled every day the truth of her heart: her fears and anxieties, worries and tensions, hopes and aspirations, faith, and doubts. (The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank) That brought her deep inner peace and calm.

Therapists, counselors, and even healthcare professionals today recommend ‘journaling’ to their clients as a therapeutic tool. Journaling is nothing but putting down in writing the truth of one’s heart, one’s feelings, thoughts, worries, tensions, stresses, strains, preoccupations, all that causes inner churning and disturbance to the person with honesty and sincerity which results in inner peace and freedom.

Knowing the truth of our lives: In fact, ‘Truth sets you free’ is a truth that has been practiced from the time of Greek thinkers who said: “Know Thyself’. Knowing oneself is being in touch with the truth of one’s life, with all its sweetness and bitterness. Today we call it ‘mindfulness’ or ‘constant awareness’.

Isn’t this what Jesus tells repeatedly in the Gospels: “Be awake, be watchful, be alert”. These words are a wakeup call to be in touch with the truth of our life here and now. He is warning us not to take life and life processes for granted, but to be in touch with the precious truth of our life, all the time.

Jesus and truth: In fact, ‘truth sets you free’ is a partial statement. The full saying of Jesus is: “If you make my words the truth of your life, then you will know the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8: 32). The words of Jesus spring from his vision of life, founded on his Abba experience. In that momentous event Jesus discovered God as the loving father and mother of the entire human race and that he is the beloved son together with all the sons and daughters of human family. It was etched in his consciousness that the entire humanity belongs to Abba’s family.

Thus, it follows that there is no place for any discrimination. All are children of God. Everyone has inviolable rights, simply because they are human. This earth and its products belong to all. Hence, they are to be shared with all. There is no scope for monopoly or hoarding, there is no ‘mine and thine’, but all is ours. Abba wants us to be happy by living a life of sharing and caring. This is the core truth flowing from Jesus’ Abba experience. Hidden behind is the element of relatedness. So, Pope Francis rightly says that Christian truth is a relationship. (Fratelli Tutti).  In fact, all the religions profess this foundational truth that declares that God is our father (or mother), and all men and women are brothers and sisters. It is this faith-perception that made Stan Swamy assert that Adivasis too are God’s beloved people, they too have human rights, the right to live in the forest land they have been living in for ages, right to fair and adequate compensation if their land is taken away. Happily this is affirmed by the Indian Constitution.

Consequences of untruth: If truth sets us free, the untruth enslaves us.  It creates insecurity, fear, anxiety, uncertainty, doubt, causes divisions, hatred, violence, and destruction. Ultimately it leads to one’s own downfall, including that of the nation. We have several examples in history. Hitler (Germany) built his political career by propagating lies. So did Stalin (Russia), Mussolini (Italy), Pinochet (Chile), Francois Duvalier (Haiti) and several others. Gandhiji, on the other hand, followed the path of truth (Satyagraha) and ahimsa. Great leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela, did the same. They experienced inner freedom and deep joy and peace within. These have become great icons in history whom we should emulate.

How Truth helps us:

1. Knowing the truth of our life helps us in our integral growth, i.e., physical, mental, psychological, spiritual, social and all the other dimensions
2. Truth challenges us to examine ourselves and go for course correction. 
3. Truth is a bridge builder. In the exercise of reconciliation truth must be articulated. ‘Truth and Justice Commission” instituted in South Africa is a concrete example.
4. Knowing the truth constantly through self-awareness is the key towards health, healing, and wholeness. 
5. Truthful conversation builds people, cements ties, deepens friendships.
6. Knowing the truth all around us: social, political, cultural, economic puts us in touch with the painful situation of the world today and spurs us into constructive action.
7. Truthful media, both electronic and print, do a great service to humankind through highlighting the truth about the problems people face.  This way they promote justice and peace.
8. Truthful living in the final analysis is the key to enjoying peace and joy, the result of living the values of the Kingdom. (Gaudete Et Exultate)

Challenge of Truthful Living: Truthful living is not easy. It’s very challenging as the following story illustrates. Once there was a ‘Truth Shop’ that was selling truths. One gentleman became curious. He went to the counter and asked for the truth. The man at the counter inquired whether he wanted full truth or partial truth. The man replied that he wanted full truth. He was directed to another counter. The man at that counter threw at him the same question: ‘Do you want full truth or partial truth?” The gentleman insisted that he wanted full truth. The seller warned him, ‘In such a case you will have to pay a heavy price”. The gentleman said, ‘I am ready to pay any price that you quote”. The seller said: “In such a case it will cost all your security, nay, even your life”. The gentleman got scared. He went away sad. (Anthony D’ Mello)

By V. Joseph Xavier, SJ

Introduction

All the observations I make about the teachers and students here in this article are based on several articles, a few surveys done among teachers and conversations I have had with a number of teachers, parents and students.

Even before the pandemic struck, Information Communication Technology (ICT) was used in India in certain educational institutes like IIMs and IITs. University Grants Commission and some private universities had already started courses like MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) and Swayam. A small number of interested students took advantage of these courses and in some institutions these courses were made a requirement to obtain a degree. For others, the challenge was how to use ICT tools to replace the face-to-face mode of education.  Universities and colleges which had better ICT-enabled infrastructure took to it. Other institutions did not have enough infrastructure and internet connectivity to make use of ICT.

Challenges brought by the pandemic

But things changed after Covid-19 forced a national lockdown and educational institutions had to be closed in March 2020. This brought with it problems like anxiety and stress, fear of losing academic years and job opportunities. The future was uncertain.

Many hoped the pandemic would subside soon and they would be able to go back to their class rooms.

The challenge before education was not just to look for online methods of teaching but also to explore effective and innovative pedagogy and keep the students engaged in learning, arouse their interest in the new methodologies and alleviate their anxiety and stress. Most of the teachers appeared confused and showed reluctance to adopt new online teaching-learning-evaluation methods. Many hoped the pandemic would subside soon and they would be able to go back to their class rooms.

Online learning

But soon it became clear that the pandemic would not disappear soon and so would affect all aspects of our life, including education. Educators realized they had no alternative but to explore and invent new forms of technology-enabled education.

The success of online education depended on the availability of technical infrastructure. ICT tools like internet connectivity, continuous availability of electric power and quality mobile phones/laptops were not available in rural and semi-urban areas.

Problems experienced by the teachers

Most of the teachers did not know how to use the gadgets for teaching. Some of the teachers had what we can call ‘gadget phobia.’ They avoided using gadgets in their own personal life, including complicated smart phones. Many of those who had been in the teaching profession for more than 15 years seldom used computers and resisted  using them. But all of a sudden there was no alternative.

The senior teachers feared that they could be replaced by younger teachers, whose generation was at home with digital gadgets. They worried they could be rejected by the management and the students. But the new generation of teachers were technology friendly and learnt quickly digital teaching techniques.

Before the pandemic, usually nobody monitored what and how the teachers taught. But with regard to online classes, the teachers had no control over who would be monitoring their classes. Since some parents attended the online classes, along with their children, the teachers realized that they should be updated, well-prepared and use methods that were appropriate to the subject like the use of e-texts, videos and audios.

In the classroom teaching the teachers saw their students and monitored their activities. So they naturally resented the lack of face-to-face interaction in online teaching.  They could not make sure that the students paid attention and were interactive. Soon the teachers understood all the limitations of online classes and realized that these can never replace completely the usual classes.

Whenever the classes were not innovative or interesting, learners switched on the gadget but did not pay attention and did their own work.  The teachers found it difficult to hold the attention of the students. When they asked the students why they did not respond, the excuse they gave was that either their gadget was malfunctioning, or there was no power or there was no internet connection. Some students would keep the audio on but switch the camera off, hoping that the teacher would think they were listening, although their faces were not visible.

Online teaching took it for granted that the students were motivated to learn and so would pay attention.  In most cases, the students, who were confused and anxious, were not motivated and were not interested in learning.

Issues related to students

Teachers found it difficult to make the students self-directed.  Students were used to spoon feeding and the examination system was memory based.  When self-directed learning was demanded, they were either at a loss or were unable to cope with the pressure of self-learning.  Except a few motivated students most of them did not benefit through self-directed learning.  When the evaluation had to be done online, it became difficult to measure the learning of the student.

Getting students to learn outside the class

In online teaching, the teachers had the extra pressure of making students learn outside the teaching-learning process. Teachers encouraged self-learning among the students. But many students were distracted by gadgets, video games and social media, and preferred to have fun rather than learn. Using these gadgets which they associated with friends and fun for the serious work of learning became a tedious task for many students. Involving the parents in online teaching was a challenge for the teachers and administrators.

Economic burdens

Since institutions could not collect the fees from students as they used to do earlier, some were forced to lay off the teachers during the pandemic and others were obliged to reduce their salary. This affected particularly those teachers who did not have the government-approved posts and so had to be paid by the management. These teachers usually received salaries which were much lower than the government salaries. When even these were reduced, their families had to face the impact. If a member of the family of these teachers had to be hospitalized because of Covid 19 or its aftereffects, their burden became heavier.

Social Issues

Many families wanted to stay together and face the unprecedented crisis. They believed their togetherness and companionship would help them deal with the anxiety and fear the pandemic brought. The lockdown brought sons and daughters home, as their offices closed and they were asked to work from home.

But this gave birth to other unexpected problems. Many families had little privacy. For lower middle class or poor families isolating or quarantining oneself did not have any meaning, as they did not have many rooms. There was no way they could do it. For teachers living in such houses online classes must have been an ordeal.

Under normal circumstances, they would be out of the house at least for a few hours.  But the lockdown kept them together day and night. Constant proximity led to tensions, quarrels and even domestic violence. The house had to be a home, workplace and the place for recreation. It is easy to imagine the tension in a house, where two were working from home and two children were attending online classes. What about the usual household duties like cooking and washing dishes and clothes etc?

Initially for teachers, like many others, being ostracized was a serious issue.  If someone was affected by Corona or succumbed to it, even relatives and friends were reluctant to come and help, for fear of contracting the disease. The family felt abandoned.  This led to loneliness and dejection. If the family faced also economic problems, it became unbearable.

Psychological Issues

The common feelings expressed by the teachers were anger, anxiety, loneliness, and boredom. Covid did not allow them to socialize, to meet and interact with their friends. Some of the teachers lost members of their families to Covid, resulting in depression. If they had contracted Covid, the quarantine led to suicidal thoughts.  Some even reported health issues – severe stress, headache and eye strain because of having to look at the screen of a computer or phone for long hours.

The students had to give up their relaxed, distracted life. Some of them lost one or more of their family. Parents of some other students had lost jobs and livelihood.

The way ahead

Can we live life as before? Will there be a post Corona period? Will the pandemic become endemic like some other diseases? At this moment we don’t know. Whether we like it or not, a different style of teaching-learning is going to be the future. Traditional methods might not interest students as they have got used to a new mode of learning and a new environment which gives them freedom to explore.  Many of them would have understood by now that they don’t need to sit in the class for hours and listen to boring teachers in order to learn. They would have developed confidence to learn by themselves, using the internet. Therefore it is necessary that all institutions design a different learning environment, redesign contents and adopt a different set of teaching-learning methodology. Experiential learning would replace the banking concept of education. Modular learning, with inbuilt assessment, would come to stay.

Blended Mode

It is clear that ‘blended learning’ (BL) would be the future of education. Blended learning changes education from teacher-directed, top-down, and one-size-fits-all enterprise to something that is student-driven, bottom-up, and customized. There would be a balance between online instructions and face-to-face, interactive, but tech-based learning. Its pace will vary depending on the student.  The future mode of education will have to ensure that students would be continuously engaged and motivated. However, I think, the learner would miss the human elements of encouragement, compassion, and caring guidance, which the teachers can provide only in the traditional setting.

One of the suggestions from the students to teachers was to send recorded lectures ahead to the students.  They would listen to them and note down what they didn’t understand. During the offline classes, they would be able to clarify their doubts or initiate discussions. A lot of learning may happen through writing assignments and undertaking practical training. This methodology implies that the ratio between the students and the teachers is manageable.

Conclusion

Therefore hereafter the focus of educational institutions should be on designing a new strategy for imparting education on both modes – online and offline. As learners are tech savvy, the teachers would have to improve their technical skills. They need to learn to co-teach with either peers or students and focus on facilitation and feedback. Their teaching should engage the students and create an environment for creative thinking and deeper learning. To be effective they should be creative, and adapt and innovate to face these new challenges. The teachers, whom the pandemic has brought to the crossroads, should realize that the old, familiar road is closed and there is only one road to take.

How parents and teachers can help our youth

By Emmanuel Arockiam, SJ

During the informal interviews of a few college students during the past few months, I asked them where they would be in ten years. They blinked. They frowned. Some looked at others and giggled. Surprised by the unusualness of my question, they repeated hesitantly my words, “ten years!?” And they added without pausing, “I don’t know”, “Some job”, “Not sure”, “May be, marriage”, “Depends…”, “I haven’t yet decided”, etc.

When Corona has covered the face of the earth with a black veil, many students can’t see it for what it is. They don’t remember what they have learned through online classes; campus placements have been suspended or at a minimum; and the majority of students are wondering why they joined the course they are in. In this context, how many youths will be sure of their answer to the question, “Quo Vadis?” While they are going to complete their Bachelor’s or Master’s level degrees this academic year, uncertainty is everyone’s current state of mind; anxiety is writ large on their faces; negativity seems to be their fate; and unpreparedness is their collective ID. All dressed up with nowhere to go! Are they hoping and waiting to be rescued by lady luck? Or their parents? Are the youth of today in dire need of Deus et Machina as in Greek tragedies or in Indian movies!?

Technically the age group between childhood and adulthood is called youth. However, according to the United Nations’ definition, youth are those who are between 15 and 24 years. Approximately the number of youth in the world today is one billion – 18% of the world population. If you include all the adolescents, the percentage will be still higher.

Their strengths: Indeed, youth are the future, the strength and the glory of the world. With their cognitive intelligence, they can learn, discover and soar into the realms of new knowledge. With their enormous power they can climb the Himalayas if they fix their eyes on them. With their creativity, they can invent something new that could be beyond our ken.

Their struggles: However, the youth easily snap under stress. Their window of tolerance is low. They get frustrated and angry if they don’t get what they want. A very high per cent of those who commit suicide belong to this group. The obvious and necessary question is, “Why?”

Their dreams: They cannot and do not want to be children dependent on parents. Neither are they adults who can stand on their own feet. They are eager to be totally independent, taking control of their lives, opting for freedom rather than for responsibility. They are impatient to make tons of money and to behave like filthy rich adults. They want to have dream jobs and desirable partners so that they can live happily ever after. If that is so, why don’t they convert their longings and dreams into reality? What stops them from achieving their goals?

Minds distracted, Energy dissipated: The youth are in perpetual motion, like rolling stones that gather no moss, in a long transition, on the move from Egypt to the Promised Land, trying to negotiate with hostile strangers and unexpected challenges all the time. It is only natural that their energies are dissipated, minds distracted, and hearts disturbed with many aspirations and emotions. They may be curious, and may explore but may also get lost in their search. Often they are ambitious, but their goals may be far-fetched. They may try to ride on the impossible dream as they may imagine that nothing is beyond their reach.

Minds distracted, Energy dissipated: The youth are in perpetual motion, like rolling stones that gather no moss, in a long transition, on the move from Egypt to the Promised Land, trying to negotiate with hostile strangers and unexpected challenges all the time. It is only natural that their energies are dissipated, minds distracted, and hearts disturbed with many aspirations and emotions. They may be curious, and may explore but may also get lost in their search. Often they are ambitious, but their goals may be far-fetched. They may try to ride on the impossible dream as they may imagine that nothing is beyond their reach.

They may try to ride on the impossible dream as they may imagine that nothing is beyond their reach.

Emotional upheaval & Negative behaviours: Thinking they are invincible, they take risks. Their heads tend to be up in the clouds of idealistic thinking while their feet are dangling in the air without being grounded in solid, realistic goals. Like the flash floods that rush down the mountains, the rushing hormones of the emotional youth can destroy rationality, long-held values and much-cherished relationships. Their emotional upheaval can erupt in negative behaviours, and their consequences may make them rue their whole lives.

Enigma unto themselves: With all these contradictions, the youth become an enigma unto themselves. It is not only they are at a loss to know who they are but also others and even parents find it difficult to understand them. The crux of the problem is that despite their intelligence, they are unaware of their own worth. They may not have tapped their inner potential. They may not have excelled in their God-given talents. They may feel that they have not achieved something great to pin their identity on. As Erik Erikson said, they may have disturbing confusions about their identity.

If they can discover who they are, and who they want to be, and how they would reach their destiny of life, their doubts would vanish and they can traverse with inner peace, though they may face many a hurdle in their journey. If only they could realize what they are capable of, they would bring out their true self and continue to flourish as persons, fully human and fully alive. That would be their life achievement. Then they could boldly say as Michelangelo did, “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

What parents and teachers can do:

Help them see the angel within: It is the responsibility of parents and teachers to train the youth to have insight into their selves. They must inspire the youth to recognize the angel within and to set her free in order to make the world radiant with joy and peace. The youth must also be helped to maximize their potential and contribute to the welfare of the people in the world now and to the wellbeing of the future generations as well. It must be part of the larger society’s culture to inculcate the noble goal of doing for others what we expect others to do for us.

Be psychologically present: Even if teachers and parents do not understand the youth fully, they must be psychologically present to them. They must understand how the youth perceive four things: self, others, world and God. If the parents and teachers could achieve this feat, they will be able to see eye to eye with the youth; they will be given free access to the private world of the youth. Parents and teachers should know the normal problems of the youth, how they are tossed about like a driftwood in the ocean, how they are struggling to manage their emotions, and what issues they have which affect their self-concept and self-esteem. Being observant of their children’s external behaviour is not sufficient. They must develop insights into the cause of their children’s behaviour and their list of priorities in life. They must be able to intuitively recognize their children’s emotions and the triggers that activate their sensations and feelings, especially negative ones.

Give them the three As: Despite the all-consuming social media and the long list of contacts, the youth invariably feel lonely. They feel bored without their mobiles and laptops. Therefore, if the parents and teachers can give to their children – without counting the cost and without expecting anything in return – the three As: Affection, Attention and Appreciation, the youth will not be infected with loneliness, purposelessness and meaninglessness, which are quite common among the youth. If society can treat their youth as honourable and lovable individuals, and actively listen to them with respect and concern, the youth will feel good about themselves and develop a healthy attitude of “I’m OK, others are OK”. Instead of giving up, seeing their fumbling and clumsiness, if the teachers and mentors can truly believe what the youth could become in future and offer them support and encouragement, the youth can fly with wings of hope and confidence.

Disapprove when necessary but love them always: The youth should be able to believe that the elders in their lives have enough empathy to understand them and are with them emotionally. They must be grounded in the trust their parents and teachers place on them, which would, in turn, make them trustworthy. Even when their parent or teacher disapproves their addictions to substances, pornography or sexual misdemeanours, idiosyncratic thinking, avoidable negative feelings and quirky behaviours, the youth must be assured of their unconditional love and genuine concern. Win their confidence: If you – as a parent, teacher or mentor – can win the confidence of the youth, you can help them channelize their volcanic energy into productive achievements by which the whole world will profit. Despite their tough and unmanageable exterior, the youth are quite malleable. Deep down they are vulnerable. They are like gems, uncut and unpolished. They need the loving touch of a master craftsman. The youth may not be able to see the distant future, but you, who are dealing with them, can help them take the next step confidently and in the right direction.

Struggle of the Chotanagpur Adivasis continues

By Leonard Fernando, SJ

Chotanagpur literally means ‘the little Nagpur’. It is the name given by the British for the areas in central and western India, where the tribals were the majority. Earlier Chotanagpur covered not only the present Jharkhand State but also some parts of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar. It was the home of the Adivasis – Mundas, Kharias, Oraons, Hos and Santhals. 

Socio-economic and Religious Change

The tribals of Chotanagpur have been losing their land for centuries. Because of the appointment of outsiders as jagirdars and zamindars by Durjan Sal, the raja of Chotanagpur in the 17^th century, to collect taxes and the introduction of the new revenue system by the British in the 18^th century, many Adivasis lost their lands and their traditional rights. Adivasis felt helpless, thinking that the spirits they worshipped were powerless to prevent the loss of their lands.

At this time of socio-economic change religious change too happened. The tribals came into contact with Christianity – with the Lutherans first, followed by the Anglican and Catholic missionaries.

Fr Constant Lievens, SJ (1856-93)

The Adivasi Christian mass movement began when Fr Constant Lievens, SJ, known as the Apostle of Chotanagpur, came to Chotanagpur in 1885. When he came the Adivasis were poor, illiterate and had lost most of their lands to the outsiders. Fr Lievens studied the situation of the tribals and understood the root cause of their oppression. An officer-in-charge of the local police station at Torpa advised Fr Lievens, “If you want to make Christians, then take upon yourself the defence of the Mundas, chiefly in questions of land-rent and forced labour. If you do this, you will have as many Christians as you wish.” Fr Lievens followed that advice.

He studied the existing law of the land. The study made it clear to him that the tribals were deprived of their traditional rights to land by deceit in the courts of law. He put them in contact with trustworthy pleaders in the court. Following his guidance and encouragement, the Adivasis began to win their cases and get back their lands. That boosted their confidence in themselves, in their rights, in God. They realized that Fr Lievens and people like him had become one with them and had taken up their cause for justice. Moreover, the Adivasis readily listened to Fr Lievens when he shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ and presented Jesus as one who could liberate, transform and empower them. Thousands of people came forward to become members of the Catholic Church. When Fr Lievens arrived, there were only 56 Catholics in Chotanagpur. Within seven years of his arrival there were at least 80,000 baptized Catholics and more than 20,000 catechumens.

His activity was opposed by moneylenders and government officials. Even Archbishop Paul Goethals, SJ of Calcutta considered his work as “an imprudent, dangerous and money-wasting business.” On 26 August 1892, Fr. Constant Lievens, afflicted by tuberculosis, left for Belgium, and died at the age of 37 in Louvain on 7 November 1893.

But that was not the end of his story. The people whom he served still revere him and he continues to inspire them. The effort for beatification of the Servant of God Fr Constant Lievens began in 1993 in the Diocese of Bruges, Belgium. His mortal remains were brought to Chotanagpur on 31 October 1993. Before enshrining them at the Immaculate Conception of Mary Cathedral, Ranchi on 7 November, solemn processions were held at various locations where he had worked. Since then his tomb at the shrine continues to draw numerous devotees. On 13 July 2014, the dossier on the ‘Blessedness’ of Father Lievens was submitted to the Holy See for scrutiny.

Fr John Baptist Hoffmann (1857-1928)

The other Jesuit Fathers in the Chotanagpur mission, with the help of catechists and other local assistants, consolidated this group conversion movement known as the “miracle of Chotanagpur”. Fr John Baptist Hoffmann (1857-1928) made significant contributions to the welfare of the Adivasis. Hoffmann, who came to India in 1878 started in 1909 the Catholic Cooperative Credit Society, popularly known as ‘The Catholic Bank’. It was a savings bank where individual tribals deposited whatever savings they had, receiving a moderate rate of interest. From the Cooperative, the tribals could make small borrowings for their urgent needs at moderate rates of interest. This innovative organisation gave the people financial security. The Cooperative was run by the Adivasis themselves and it functioned as a parallel organization to the parish and used the parish infrastructure to ensure smooth administration. It was a great success.

Hoffmann made a thorough study of ancestral land rights of Adivasis and with the help of Mr. Lister, the settlement officer, drafted the Chotanagpur Tenancy Act in 1908. This Act prevented the lands of the Adivasis from passing on to the hands of non-tribals. He is best known for his Munda dictionary, entitled Encyclopaedia Mundarica. It has 15 volumes that contain 5000 pages on the culture and civilization of the Munda tribe.

An important factor in the growth of this Christian movement was that the laity soon organized themselves for social and political action. In 1898 there was a Christian Association for the promotion of education. The Chotanagpur Unnati Samaj was started in 1916 and became a feeder to different organizations, culminating in the Adivasi Mahasabha of 1938. Today Chotanagpur mission has developed and grown into a flourishing Chotanagpur Church.

With the passage of time other tribals living in Chotanagpur area became Catholics. Beyond Chotanagpur similar movements towards Christianity started in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Odisha.

Fr Stan Swamy, SJ (1937-2021)

For more than 40 years Fr Stan Swamy, SJ, lived and worked among the Adivasis in Jharkhand and Odisha. His lifetime mission was to conscientize the Adivasis on their basic rights to water, forest, and land. According to the Annual report of the Ministry of Rural Development 2004-2005, Jharkhand is the state where most of the tribal land alienation has happened. Over 26 lakh people have lost their land, all in the name of development and housing projects since Independence.

Fr Stan was a frontline activist for the cause of the Adivasis. He forcibly voiced his opposition to an amendment in the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, which he said would lead to the decimation of the Adivasis in Jharkhand. Fr Stan meticulously documented all the violations committed, and profits gained by mining companies. He had even calculated how much natural wealth the Adivasis had lost when their natural habitat was taken over by government-corporate alliances.

Fr Stan was arrested on 8 October 2020 on charges of having links with the outlawed Maoist organizations. He was accused along with 15 other rights activists of planning and inciting the violence in the Bhima Koregaon case of 1 January 2018. Defending himself against the charges levelled by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Fr Stan said that a possible reason for his arrest were the dozens of cases he had filed against the State government for arresting many innocent Adivasi youth on flimsy charges, and dumping them into jails without any trial. In 2014-15, he had formed the Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee (PPSC), following the indiscriminate arrest of hundreds of Adivasi and Dalit youths. The group’s main purpose was to intervene on behalf of hundreds of undertrials seeking immediate bail and a speedy trial. Fr Stan asked, “When has it become unconstitutional in India to help and speak for the undertrials? Undertrials are citizens, not criminals before the law.”

Fr. Stan was sent to the Taloja Jail as soon as he was arrested. Through videoconferencing, he told the court, “Taloja jail brought me to a situation where I can neither write nor go for a walk by myself or eat. I am not able to meet this demand. Eating is also in difficulty. Someone has to feed me with a spoon.” Fr Stan was shifted from the jail to Holy Family Hospital, Bandra, Mumbai on 29 May 2021 after being directed by the High Court. He suffered from a cardiac arrest on 4 July  and was put on a ventilator, and he never regained consciousness. On 5 July 2021 Fr Stan died. Stan who said “A caged bird can sing” and continued to share his thoughts boldly while kept in jail, still after his death continues to be a prophetic voice for justice. The cremated remains of this martyr were taken to Jharkhand, Jamshedpur, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu a 13-day “Pilgrimage for Justice” brought together people of different Christian Churches, other religious traditions, social activists and people from different political parties. The struggle of the Adivasis of Chotanagpur for justice still continues and there are people who continue to walk in the footsteps of Lievens, Hoffmann and Stan.

interview with James Martin, SJ

Fr. James Martin, SJ is a well-known American Jesuit and a best-selling author. His activities range from being the Editor-at-Large of America magazine to a leader of pilgrimages to the Holy Land. He is on the speakers’ circuit, often on TV talk shows, consulter for stage and film productions. His advocacy of LBGT rights won him a private audience with Pope Francis as well as much criticism from conservative Catholics. For an exclusive interview for INI, Fr. James Martin spoke to John Rose, SJ, a member of INI’s Editorial Board:

 

Fr. James, you started adult life in the corporate world.  What made you give up the good job you had and become a Jesuit?

After six years working in the corporate world, I realized that I was in the wrong place.  Business is a real vocation for many people, but it no longer seemed to “fit” me.  But at the time I wasn’t sure what else I would do in life, since I had studied business as an undergraduate.  One night I came home and saw a documentary on Thomas Merton, which captivated me.  I went out and purchased his autobiography, “The Seven Storey Mountain,” and his way of life seemed so beautiful to me.  But even then I knew that monastic life wasn’t for me; I’m just too talkative and too restless.  Eventually I stumbled upon the Jesuits and that fit very well. 

How about vocations to the Society now in the U.S.? Are there a sufficient number of vocations?

It’s true that vocations have been slowly declining, despite some occasional upticks.  But as Father General says in his new book “Walking with Ignatius,” it’s not a question of numbers, but about quality.  That is, the quality of the men that we are accepting.  Also, we are now fully companions in mission (or partners in mission, depending on the country), with our lay colleagues in our institutions.  Yes, it’s important to have Jesuit vocations and Jesuits in our ministries, but there is also the broader Ignatian charism, which is meant for everyone – Jesuits, other religious, and lay colleagues alike.  But obviously I still pray for vocations! 

Will a change in the rule of celibacy increase the number of vocations?

The rule could be changed for diocesan or secular priests. Of course, there are former Anglicans and other priests who remain married when they enter the Catholic Church. We have Eastern rites where priests are married.  But for members of religious orders, chastity is essential, I believe, especially in terms of life in a community setting. 

You wrote a book called ‘The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything’. What do you think makes Jesuits respond to the challenges of today’s world?

Jesus Christ does!  He asks us in the Gospels to go into the “whole world” (more accurately, into “all creation”) and proclaim the Gospel.  So we must engage with all the challenges of the world, just as he did and just as his disciples did.  There’s a reason that one of the most important documents of the Second Vatican Council is called The Church in the Modern World.  Not “above” “over” or “against,” but “in.”   

The very first of Jesuits’ Universal Apostolic Preferences is “Showing the way to God.”  Is this possible? Does whatever we do – retreats, talks, books – make a realistic impact intoday’s world? 

Our first goal as Jesuits is, as St. Ignatius Loyola says over and over in our documents, to “help souls.”  That means in the first place helping people encounter God in their own lives.  And God always makes a realistic impact once people are introduced to God. 

Your most recent book is on prayer. Tell us how you pray and what it does for you.

It does everything.  Mainly my prayer is contemplative in the morning and then the examination of conscience, a review of the day, at night.  Of course, I celebrate Mass daily.  Prayer helps me to be, and helps me to feel, more connected with God.  Without it, I’d be lost.

You are a priest, and so have priestly ministries. You are editor at large for America magazine. You write books, articles and blogs. You give TV interviews and even lead pilgrimages. How do you manage it all?

With some difficulty!  I try to be as responsive as I can to as many people as I can.  But sometimes I have to say “no.”  It can feel overwhelming at times, but again, I’m doing it all for Jesus Christ.  Also, on a more practical note, I learned a lot about efficiency and hard work from my parents, from school and from the corporate world. 

You have been both praised and criticized for your ministry with the LGBT people. We heard you met Pope Francis and he encouraged you to continue this ministry. What about your Jesuit superiors?

My ministry with LGBTQ people is essentially to help the Church reach out to this often rejected and excluded group of Catholics, and to treat them, as the Catechism says, with “respect, compassion and sensitivity.”  More fundamentally, to treat them with the love, mercy and compassion of Jesus.  And it’s important to say that I do all of this always seeking approval from my Jesuit superiors.  And recently, yes,  I’ve received some wonderful public support from the Holy Father.  So it’s all done within the Church and within my Jesuit vocation. 

Does homosexuality have a genetic origin or is opted for in adult life due to psychological causes?

Scientists and psychologists seem to agree that it’s a combination of causes, but that most of it seems genetic.  Whatever the causes may be, people don’t “choose” it, nor should they be “converted” from it.  It’s who they are, and we have to love them as they are.  They are God’s beloved children, aren’t they?  They should be treated as such.  

Can the Conservatives and the Liberals – in the world and in the Church – be reconciled? Can they ever come together for the good of the Church, their country and the world?

One could say that they already do at the Eucharist.  But I understand the question.  The Church is tremendously divided, especially in my own country.  But divisions in the Church are nothing new. Look at Peter and Paul. But I do think reconciliation is possible. The key is for both sides to take the other side seriously, and for both sides to stop condemning.  That’s essential, as I see it. 

What has happened in the U.S. – especially in the Western States – in the past year and other countries – unprecedented heat waves, wild fires, drought, water shortage, floods – make it clear that climate change is real and has disastrous consequences. Do the American Jesuits play a role in working for protecting our planet?

Climate change is real.  In fact, I’m writing these lines the day after a terrible hurricane swept through the Southern U.S. and caused tornadoes in the north, in places that had never seen them before.  “Laudato Si” points us forward and the U.S. Jesuits are committed to following that encyclical, and to following science as well.  All of our other concerns would seem to pale before it, wouldn’t they?  After all, if we don’t have a world to live in, we don’t have a Church.

 

 

What does this issue of INI, dated Oct-Dec 2021, offer you?

In an exclusive interview to INI, Fr James Martin, SJ, the well-known American Jesuit, talks of the first part of his life when he worked for big companies and what made him give it all up and begin living as a Jesuit and working for God and his people. The best-selling author talks of prayer, his ministry for the LGBTQ people and the support and the opposition it has earned, his meeting Pope Francis, the dwindling vocations to priesthood and religious life, etc.

Leonard Fernando, SJ, one of the foremost Church historians in India, describes in his article, the continuing struggle of the Adivasis (original inhabitants) of Chotanagpur for justice and how Jesuits – from the legendary Constant Lievens to the justice martyr Stan Swamy, who died this year– have been with them, helping them in their ceaseless struggle.

Educators everywhere cannot fulfill their mission without understanding what Emmanuel Arockiam, SJ explains in his article. He talks of the mental health problems our youth face at their age. The pandemic has made them worse. Now it is part of the educator’s mission to empathize with our youth and help them face and overcome these problems.

V. Joseph Xavier, SJ, who has worked in the field of higher education for more than four decades, lists the problems teachers, lecturers and professors have faced in the past year because of Covid 19. He asserts that the pandemic has dragged them to a crossroads and they can’t take the old, familiar road which is closed. The only road that is open now is the new road. Read his article to understand what it means.

Why should we seek and acknowledge truth? That is the only way to wellbeing, peace of mind, health and joy, says William Sequiera, SJ in his article. He explains what we could do to pursue and embrace the truth about us.

Jerry Rosario, SJ, who goes about inspiring people from all walks of life through what he says and does, describes in his article how a 15-year-old Bihari girl inspired him to do something similar to what she did, in spite of all the problems imposed by Covid 19.

You may wonder how someone who happens to be the Rector of a huge campus that houses so many institutions finds the time to read books of various genres and write about them? Francis P. Xavier, SJ is able to do so thanks to excellent time management. This time he talks of a rare book that has sold more than nine million copies.

What I write in the column devoted to films is not film criticism. What I intend to do is talk of a film I enjoyed watching – a film I think shines a light on human life and its joys and struggles.  This time it is a short film that focuses on a woman who wrestles with grief. At a time when millions are struggling to cope with grief caused by deadly Covid losses this film has a relevant and timely message.

– M.A. Joe Antony, SJ