On 12 June, an eight-member team of the Pune police raided the Ranchi residence of Jesuit Father Stan Swamy. It was the second such raid on the 83-year-old’s house since August 2018. Fr Swamy, a great upholder of the rights of Adivasis, is an ‘accused’ in the Bhima Koregaon/Elgaar Parishad case in which police have so far booked 23 people, including prominent rights activists and intellectuals. The ‘Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha’ condemned the raids on Stan Swamy and arrests of other human rights activists saying, “the central government and media houses close to the BJP claim that the human rights activists were part of a Maoist conspiracy related to the Bhima-Koregaon incident. This concocted story seems to be part of a larger propaganda, based on terms like “urban Naxals,” aimed at stifling any criticism of the government. The raids and arrests are part of the government’s growing attempts to stifle dissent and intimidate those who are fighting for justice. Jharkhand Janadhikar Mahasabha demands an immediate end to the raids, dropping of all false charges against human rights activists across the country and release of those who are arrested. These harassments are politically motivated and wholly unjustified.”Bertolt Brecht, the German poet and fierce critic of the Nazi regime, provides a cue In the dark times Will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing About the dark times.- Fr Cedric P
Cement has a unique property when fresh can be moulded into shapes of all kinds. Once it is dry and hard it is impossible to mould.All of us in different season of our lives could be winners if we are like soft and fresh cement. Small children are like soft and fresh cement. Parents can fashion them and give them shapes. People in the middle of crisis are like wise. Believers believe that in the midst of pain and hardships God can fashion them and give them a destiny to arrive at where they are destined. Mulling over a long standing situation can make any one tired and morose. It is important to rise out of one’s predicament.To state several cases, the soccer player Jorginho is the youngest among two brothers and four sisters. When Jorginho was ten his father died. The family suffered much more after the father’s death. Jorginho worked as a sweeper in buildings surrounding his home in Guadalupe district of Rio de Janerio. Though the boys in the family worked hard to earn enough to support the family, they found time for school and play. They could often be found playing soccer with friends on the streets. This is how Jorginho became an accomplished player at an early age. He soon found himself on the Brazilian Junior Team.In 1983 his team played in the Junior World Cup and won the same. Despite his success he felt empty inside. He recollects, “My older brother Jaime had been an alcoholic. He had stopped drinking in 1984 and had dedicated his life to Jesus. I
God my Mother, Father, Spouse, Brother and Friend, I praise and thank you for the gift of Life and this New Day. Your blessings are manifold in my life. With you at my side, I know that even the greatest obstacle can be overcome today. Help me to live in the present moment, using every iota of my time, energy, talents and being in helping you co-create your kingdom here on earth. Give me the wisdom to be self-disciplined, focused and to work with passion and zeal for your people. Bless me with ample common sense to take care of my Body-the temple of Your Holy Spirit. May I eat a balanced diet, exercise and sleep enough, so that I am recharged with enthusiasm, zeal and inner strength, to be able to do Your Holy Will.God my Mother, nourish me with sustenance today. Abba Father, protect me from all dangers. Jesus my Spouse, be with me in every crisis and struggle. God my friend, help me to encounter you tangibly through the umpteen loyal friends you have planned to put into my life today.May your Word become flesh in me and provide me with ample resources to challenge myself and others to come closer to you. Give me the stamina and grace to accept the struggles, rejections, indifferences and negativity of today, cheerfully and with a smile. Help me to introspect and ask myself, “Am I on the right path? Is there a better way of spending my life in Your honour? Am I faithful to my personal vision, goal, policies and priorities of life? Have I kept my promises made to God
1. What does this mean for India for the next five years and on? The people of India have democratically elected a government of their choice. We as law abiding citizens are obliged to respect the mandate and extend full support to the elected government to deliver as promised in its election manifesto. I hope, now that, it has got a thumping majority it will not falter as it did in last five years. I do not think there will be much difference in the approach of governance. In fact, they have got more time to complete their incomplete agenda.There is one difference approach I feel they may adopt this time. That is to win over the confidence of minorities, who are otherwise living in fear of Hindutva agenda. In this government we may see more Christian and Muslim ministers unlike in their first five years of rule.I also hope, new government will focus on pro-people policy rather than economic policy. When I say pro-people policy, I mean we should first be concerned about the life and career of people of India than economic growth of corporate world.2. How does this result affect/impact the religious minorities, particularly Christians? I do not think there will be much difference in their approach towards minorities. As we know their priority is to first address the concerns of majority then attend to the needs of minorities. In the list of priorities, we may be placed later but we will sti
How fortunate! We have a God who has loved and welcomed us first. This Jesus who embodies the hospitality of love went to the extent of willingly shedding every drop of his blood for us along the way to Calvary. When the soldiers pierced His side with a lance there gushed forth living waters opening a safe entry point into His heart. With the completion of the Father’s Will, in his Death, Resurrection and Ascension into heaven, Jesus cleared the way for the coming of the Paraclete-the third person of the Triune God-God’s Holy Spirit.We are a Eucharistic people, women and men of the Gospel with all that it demands from us of love, forgiveness and justice and of solidarity with those who are poor and rejected by the world. At every Eucharistic celebration we are blessed by the grace of Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. This spruces up our weak and faltering heart to open up and to dare to step into the heart of God because of the assurance that God loves us unconditionally just as we are! It is He who takes the initiative to first come out to meet us, whether we are ready or not. Just as a flower needs gentle care and warmth, so too we need the assurance of God’s love and care if we are to gradually open our hearts with growing transparency before God and with ourselves. In Deuteronomy 7:7-9 God had already promised to be this for us from the beginning of time.With this aim in mind, God sent His only Son, the hospitable Christ to heal