MSFS PROVINCIALATE, 23, 24 Residency Road, Sadar, Nagpur 440001 Ph: 91-712-2527805. Mobile: 09422189042 [email protected]; [email protected] [email protected]; [email protected] [email protected]; [email protected] JBM – 12 CIRCULAR TO ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE PROVINCE 24.12.2018 CHRISTMAS 2018: ‘GOD WITH US - GOD LIKE US’ The scenario of Christmas 2018 is distressing and thought-provoking. It is being celebrated amidst a precipitous collapse in people’s perspective to the ideologies of political parties, and the scenario is reduced to intense political and religious contestation and of syncretic accomplishments. The ugly colour of autocracy and its passions concoct constitutional values and sacrifice truth at the altar of selfishness. Religions are becoming weaker in guiding and dictating one’s moral norms, thus mass increase of murders, rapes and violence penetrate human lives through various means. On the one hand, the dignity of human life with all its ramifications is given less importance as suicide becomes the norm of the day. On the other hand, social institutions like marriage and family relationships are becoming less significant and lifelong commitment in marital relationship in the coming days may become a thing of the past. Both the electronic and print media have become self-styled courtrooms as they inject the venom of radical religiosity and inter-faith violence into society’s bloodstreams; fabricate economic and financial data to suit the whims of the powerful; destabilize the fabric of social life, rip families asunder, turn bosom pals into back-stabbers, sink careers and send reputation into a death spiral, as against the majestic power of the media to build and mould the future generations. Mother Church is fighting tendencies of consumerism as worldly values are creeping into her life. She is struggling to interpret her doctrines and dogmas to attract the youth in the context of their lives and give meaning to the expression of their faith. Global warming is sending its signals to mother earth in the form of ‘Gaja’ to stop the ‘use and throw’ philosophy; increasing sea levels and rising temperatures have become the concern even in the minds of kids in schools, while nations pay less attention. By destroying forests for development and industrialization we paid a huge prize in this year’s monster flood in Kerala. In the midst of all these and many other disturbing factors, one is lead to find the meaning of life and human existence. Meaning can be enthused 1 only from the discovery of the babe in the manger, the discovery of Incarnation for each one of us, i.e. ‘GOD WITH US - GOD LIKE US’ Humanity has tried to attribute meaning to the perennial beliefs: ‘God with us (Mathew 1:23) and God like us (Genesis 1:27).’ Is there the living presence of God? Where was God when things turned hurting? These and many more questions occupy a special niche in our lives, and many other life-threatening questions have its root in the above two beliefs. Devoid of clarity in these beliefs, today youngsters give in to self-destructive activities. Condemning their earthly life as vile they drive themselves to commit suicide, to depression, addictions and many other psychosomatic disorders because of the false belief which is at the root of their self-belief, i.e. ‘God is not with me and God is not like me; He cannot feel, think and suffer like me’; and therefore they are led to an existential isolation and alienation. In this struggle of people for ‘discovering God with us and God like us,’ we find Christmas as strengthening our convictions that ‘God is never absent and God is like us in everything except sin.’ ‘God becoming Human’ though euphemistically proclaimed, believing and applying it to the hard- core existential realities and day-to-day affairs of life is an ongoing process. This Christmas demands that we discover the meaning of ‘God becoming Human in us.’ In the process of discovering His birth in our life, we find Hebrews 4:15 a source of great consolation and can deepen our self-belief, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” It would take us to the realms of our inner life and give us the conviction that He smiles like me, He cries like me, He suffers like me, He was tempted like me, He had my smell, my smile, etc. It is no surprise that Pontius Pilot confirmed the human face of God in Jesus during the trial by stating, ‘Ecce Homo’ - Behold the Man! (John 19:5) St. Francis enunciates the theme of ‘God with us and God like us’ in one of his sermons on Christmas Eve in 1614. He says, “The manger in Bethlehem may be likened to a monastery, similar to the religious community founded by Blessed Paula. The Holy Family here are models of the vows practiced by religious: admirable chastity and we find the observance of perfect obedience. The superior Joseph is one who is lowest in rank, yet it is to him that the instructions from God are relayed by the angel. Furthermore, one could have considered the superior lacking in foresight since he leads his community to an abode not at all conducive; yet we hear neither complaint nor murmuring. The community is practicing exemplary poverty with no distinction of personal possession – of ‘mine’ or ‘yours’. Indeed, if anyone could have boasted of ownership, it could have been Mary, who in fact was the exclusive human agent in the act of conceiving and giving birth to the Child Jesus. She does not revel in this exclusivity; did she not state, “Your father and I have been terribly worried trying to find you.” In this community, we find Joseph who is the superior, Mary, the professed religious, and Child Jesus, the novice. Mary assumes various responsibilities that of nurse, infirmarian, tailor, etc. However, there is no door-keeper, since the community lives under the open skies. Admire the total indifference of this novice, model of total renunciation. He is like the king of the bees (queen bee) born with all the faculties yet chose not to use them till the appropriate time would arrive.” Let us cotton onto firm convictions this Christmas. If God is with us then I must do a favour for my neighbour with alacrity. I must put an abrupt end to the culture of vilification because the other is God’s image. In the context of the Parish and Mission, I must ensure that just like 2 God who visited us, as a leader and shepherd I must visit all the families, teach catechism of the Incarnate God, conduct the Liturgy with solemnity, prepare my homilies well, administer the sacraments with devotion and love. In my relationships, I must reflect the image of the Incarnate God. The other shouldn’t be seen as an object of sensual pleasure, passion and power. My regularity at Eucharistic adoration becomes a visible sign that God has incarnated in me. In the context of Institutions, we have all the more reason to believe and be convinced of the truth ‘God with us and God like us.’ The image of the changeless, majestic and loving God has to be communicated through our discourses, interactions and organization of events. Our students, teachers and all other stakeholders of the schools must be saved from becoming victims of various idiotic ideologies of the world, which deny the presence of God, directly or indirectly, through atheistic, altruistic and consumerist principles. The values lived by us become their point of reference at a later stage to draw inspiration from their school days. We must not forget the fact that on the Last Judgment Day what counts for our social auditing will be; ‘How much you believed in the presence of the Incarnate God in the image of your brothers and sisters.’ Let us soothe the ruffled feathers of our life, aspire to live and propagate, ‘God with us and God like us’ at this Christmas and in the New Year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2019! God’s Chosen One from A.P. 28th November2018 was a historically unforgettable day in Sundaraopeta village, Dharmajigudem parish, Diocese of Eluru. Fr. Katru Vinayanand was the first one to be ordained for the MSFS Congregation from this area of Andhra Pradesh. Rt. Rev. JayaRao Polimera D.D. Bishop of Eluru ordained Vinayanand a priest in the presence of Fr. John Britto Muthuswamy MSFS, Provincial of Nagpur Province, Fr. Johnson Gonsalves MSFS, Provincial Admonitor of Pune Province and Rector of Fransalian Seminary, Pune; many MSFS confreres, priests of Eluru diocese, religious nuns and lay people. The Bishop preached about the identity, value and character of a priest and priesthood. He also shared about the present scenario of priests and religious living in society and the problems they have to face. He thanked the parents of Vinayanand and Sundarao peta village for offering a son of the soil to the church. During the felicitation program, Fr. Muthuswamy thanked the Bishop for ordaining Vinayanand for God’s service and for his inspiring homily on the priesthood, missionary vocation and challenges to the priesthood. A cultural program was staged on the occasion which was followed by a sumptuous meal for all. In the evening together with the family members and dear ones of Vinayanand, MSFS fathers of Orissa Apostolic Community, a few local priests, nuns and laity attended the thanksgiving Eucharistic celebration of the newly ordained priest.