A Love Story Medley (Kal Ho Naa Ho+Titanic+Love Story) - Shillong Chambe...

COURAGE

COURAGE: No quality has even so much as addled the brains and tangled the definitions of merely rational sages as courage. Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die. “He that will lose his life….shall save it” (Mark 8, 35) is not a piece of mysticism for saints and heroes. It is a piece of everyday advice for sailors or mountaineers, for that matter for anyone crossing the streets of Calcutta or going to work daily in crowded buses or trains. These words of Jesus might be printed on a mountaineering guidebook or the drill manual of an army camp. “He that shall lose his life shall save it.” This paradox is the whole principle of courage, even of quite earthly or quite brutal courage. A man cut off by the sea may save his life if he will risk it on the edge of the mountain. He can only get away from death by continually stepping within an inch of it. A soldier surrounded by enemies, if he is to cut his way out, needs to combine a strong desire for living with a strange carelessness about dying. He must not merely cling to life, for then he will be a coward, and will not escape. He must not merely wait for death, for then he will be a suicide, and will not escape. Rather, he must seek his life in a spirit of furious indifference to it. He must desire life like water and yet drink death like wine. There is a vast difference between the grave of a hero and the grave of a suicide. The hero dies for the sake of living; the suicide dies for the sake of dying. Christian courage is a disdain of death. Confucian courage is a disdain of life.

WOMEN WHO NURTURED ME

By God’s gift, the WOMEN who came into my life and nurtured me:

1. PRE-EMINENTLY: the dearest and sweetest and most powerful and loving is the Blessed Virgin Mary of Nazareth, Mother of my Lord and God, Jesus Christ, and my mother, though I am most unworthy to be her son, but by a loving gift of Jesus on the Cross I am privileged to call her “Mother” and “my Gracious Queen”. I love to sing hymns in English and Latin, and to recite the holy Rosary.

2. ELLA TERESA CARAPIET, my own dear mother in the flesh. Her life was marked by great SUFFERING and her SAINTLY DEATH has shown me how I would want to die.

3. MRS. KO LEONORA CHAMBERS was a most prayerful and devoted friend who sincerely was concerned about me. She told me about her great suffering caused by the infidelity of her husband. Now both are dead. Ko Chambers was always and all times sweet and kind to me. Apart from the mental and emotional pain, she suffered from blindness and body aches. She died in Sydney where I spent 10 days with her and family. Ko Chambers was a true saint on earth, and, I am sure, my intercessor in heaven. “Dear Ko, pray for me and protect me, like the devoted friend you are.”

4. MISS BELLETTY, teacher.  My efficient and dedicated teacher in Loreto Day School, Bowbazar. She was strong and masculine- looking. She taught me to have confidence in myself, to decide for myself if a word would fit at the end of the line. It was in Second division (KG II) that I mastered the prescribed Reader. Miss Belletty called me up to her podium and made stand by her. On the table was an advanced Reader. She indicated that, since I had finished the first book, I would go on the new. I was so elated that I burst into tears. Miss Belletty migrated to Australia where she died. I remember her with gratefulness.

5. SING QIU (Peachy Chee). My childhood playmate in our house on Phears Lane. She is now in the UK.

6. MRS. KATE COX, mother of my boyhood friend, Keith Cox, of 17, Bow Street, where I was a frequent visitor. Mrs. Cox was very considerate, in fact, very affectionate to me. A good conversationalist and a reader of character. The Tabonis were very jealous and tried to do everything to hurt and diminish her. She would be in tears. How could fellow Catholics be so cruel? Her heart broke when her dear Keith died. She never recovered after that great loss. “I’ll go to the grave of my son and cry my heart out”, she wrote in one of her letters. The Madera woman visited her to professedly condole with her, but “actually to hurt me by saying, ‘God has rubbed your nose in the ground’”. How much hatred could my dear Mrs. Cox bear? I had already returned from Rome when she died and visited to pray over her body. She had a good sense of humour. “Good and devoted Mrs. Cox, pray for me till I am with you and Keith in heaven forever.”

7. MARY ANN MUNRO (Miss Nasser)   A very gentle and sweet  Muslim woman who regularly attended the Legion of Mary Praesidium in St. Teresa’s Church. I was the spiritual director. Very shy and respectful, greeting me unfailingly every time we met. She received baptism and took the name of Mary Ann. Then she married Mr. Hazel Munro, the President of the Praesidium. I visited them regularly even after my return from Rome on New Park Street till she died (I believe by the doctor’s mistake). I call upon Mary Ann Munro (Miss Nasser) when I am in mental anguish. How beautiful it will be to meet her again in heaven.

8. MRS.HELEN DUGGAN (Lorentz), Boston.  Helen Duggan befriended me almost as soon as landed Boston in July 1988 for my Sabbatical. She saw to my needs even unto buying me a new pair of sneakers from the factory outlet. And she gave me lots of clothes. She dropped in her car to places ever so often to places I needed to go, and took me to join her family for Thanksgiving some miles from Boston. When I landed Boston again after eight years and was stranded (refused accommodation by the pastor of St. Lawrence’s), Helen welcomed me home, giving me a separate room to stay in for at least four days. And then I flew on to Vancouver. After my return to Barrackpore, my sabbatical over, we continued to correspond until her death at the age of 95 years. Helen Duggan was blessed by a large progeny. I cannot love and extol her enough.  “Dearest Helen, apart from being inscribed in my heart forever, I have you on DVD, playing the piano. I know that you are taking care of me and praying for me, and I shall be looking for you when I leave this world. Looking forward to meeting you and living together in Heaven, where you are supremely happy to be reunited with your darling husband, Paul, whom you missed so much in life. I was privileged to have blessed his grave in the Boston cemetery.

9. MRS. L. COMPERNOLLE     Mrs. L. Compernolle (husband’s name Louis) was the sister of Sister Marie Etienne, F.C.  It was good Sister Marie Etienne who arranged for my stay in her hometown, Blankenberge in Northern Belgium, a resort spot on the North Sea. Dear Mrs. L. Compernolle was a very hospitable and helpful woman. She cared for me like a good elder sister, or should I say mother!  She introduced me to the dean (also the parish priest) at whose invitation I celebrated the parish Sunday Mass and take up the collection that came to a lot. Mrs. Compernolle  also took me to visit the Enclosed Carmel. The Superior and Sisters were most gracious and encouraging, and gave me a donation for my personal needs. Madame Compernolle took me to the burgh master, Mr. Naesenne Natebaert, a loud mouth, but generous with his money!  A Second time I visited Blankenberge, and Madame Compernolle was there again! A woman of grit and holiness.  Pray for me, dear Mrs. Compernolle, that I may be with you in heaven.

10. MRS. NORA SUTHERLAND     My first appointment (and the happiest) as a newly ordained priest was to the Headmastership of St. John Berchmans’ Primary and assistant at St. Teresa’s parish, Lower Circular Road. There was a beautiful teacher there, Mrs. Nora Sutherland, obedient and devoted. I did not know then the treasure I had in that school. She was so sweet and gentle; I was harsh and inhuman. I suffered a heart strain. When I celebrated Mass in the church and delivered the sermon, Nora told me how sad she felt when I said it was the last time I would say Mass there. That was month of May 1964. We met occasionally and we kissed, at least she always kissed and embraced me. The last time I phoned her to wish her for her birthday she told me these unforgettable words: “You were closer to me than my husband.” I didn’t know she loved me so much. The next I heard was that she died, I believe, of diabetes. I volunteered to celebrate the funeral Mass and take the funeral in L.C. Road cemetery. I can never forget Nora, her sweet face, her soft voice, sweet tweety singing, her devotion to me. "My dearest Nora, please continue to love me and pray for me that I may reach heaven at last where we shall kiss and embrace again and forever. Yes, we’ll meet again in heaven!"

11. MRS. BLANCHE RODRICKS        Blanche was a very devoted, strong and influential teacher in the primary department of St. Anthony’s School, Market Street. She was very appreciative of me and my work in St. Anthony’s, and gave me every support in my work of showing movies to the boys. Very jovial, she pulled my leg a lot. Blanche was also very realistic about the priests of Calcutta, openly expressing her mind about the “Romeos” among them. Sadly she never bore any children. She died in the midst of a happy retirement.

12. MAUREEN YOUNG        My neighbor and childhood friend. Our families lived side by side on Central Avenue. A Happy neighbourly relationship, her elder brother, Mervyn, was especially friendly with me. They migrated to Canada and stayed in Toronto where I visited them during my sabbatical in Boston. We were delighted to meet each other again. I held her close a few times. I was also glad to meet Doreen again. Doreen remains a spinster. Maureen got married to a Sims. One day I got a letter from Doreen informing me that Maureen died of cancer. Maureen was always a sweet girl. May she be in peace with Jesus, and may she pray for me.

13. MRS. PEG HURLEY                                         Like Helen Duggan, Peg Hurley appreciated me very much. I was then in my sabbatical year in Boston. She was one of daily Mass goers and very encouraging in word and conduct. She often told me how much I was appreciated and would be missed after I left Boston, adding “Believe me.”   Peg had a great regard for Mother Teresa, and was elated by the fact that I worked under dear Mother in Calcutta. When I returned to Barrackpore I was informed by her daughter that dear Peg had contracted cancer. I wrote to her, assuring her of my prayers and added, “Dear Peg, I know that you are bravely fighting it.” She passed away. I know that Peg Hurley is in heaven with Helen Duggan and the other “NINERS” and that she is praying for me.

“NINERS”: the steady number of nine ladies for daily Mass in St. Lawrence’s Church, Boylston Street, Boston.

God bless them all. Till we meet again!

MAN ACCORDING TO VATICAN II

Man according to Vatican II

From the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII, the Church has striven for relevancy of its message in a world that was changing, though not without a certain nostalgia for the halcyon days of popular piety. As Blessed Pope John XXIII made clear, the essentials may be eternal but they must be taught in a language as varied as the available milieu. Either this or be a stranger in one’s own surroundings. The ecclesial apparatus must serve the peace and justice of the world rather than bolster the Church’s own status. Opening the Church to the new humanism, the Council fathers recognised the autonomy of earthly affairs and modern science. This was a healthy sign of the Church’s readiness to discern the signs of the times as the ongoing manifestations of the Spirit’s concern in the events of today’s world.

The very first words of the first chapter of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World reveal the Council’s intention of elaborating the place and role of the People of God in today’s world. The frontiers of Church and world are fluid, the life of Faith and temporal works kiss and mingle. The Introductions of four Constitutions are mutually complementary and immediately put forward the aim of the Second Vatican Council, at once positive and pastoral, and no less founded on the Word of God and the theological virtues:

Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC): on the Liturgy,

Dei Verbum (DV): on Revelation,

Lumen Gentium (LG): on the Church, and

Gaudium et Spes (GS): on the Church in the Modern World.

As if to say in epitome: “The sacred Council speaks to the world of God which is the Light of the nations in order to bring them Joy and Hope” (C. Moeller, Commentary, Vol. V, pg.84).

One will discern the Council’s desire and programme for a new world in Jesus Christ, not without the accompanying tension as a necessary condition of man’s being and growth in freedom, a fellow pilgrim to his Father’s dwelling.

The paradoxical union between human and divine, existing in time and pointing beyond history, spells out in large letters the tension milieu of man. Far from canonising the past or consecrating the present, he prepares for the future, that abiding City which is the goal of the messianic people living in and loyal to the present (LG 9). This is continuous with the Messiah who takes nothing away from temporal welfare, but rather elevates and purifies it. By their very concrete duties done in history (LG 36), men deliver creation from the slavery of corruption, and thereby cooperate to bring about the promised restoration already begun in Christ whose death and resurrection have invoked the final age upon us (LG 48). Man has to maintain his integral personality in the tenuous person-society interdependence (LG 25), and while he thirsts for a fuller life (GS 9), in trying to decipher God’s purpose (GS 15), he has to admit that his heart is the theatre of conflicting forces (GS 13). All this is part of the world’s crisis of growth (GS 4), the conflict with evil (GS 37), and the rebellion against death, instigated by the seed of immortality within him (GS 18), planted at the original creation and reinforced by the paschal mystery into which man is plunged, especially by baptism (GS 6).

The conflict is implicit in the liturgy and kergyma whereby the Church reveals to men the real truth about their condition and their total vocation (AG 8), presenting to them the Gospel which is the catalyst of their progress in human history. Like its first missionary activity, the Church’s liturgy vibrates between the first and second coming of Christ (AG 9), unfolding the mystery of Christ for each generation and maintaining in men’s hearts the hopes and future of the Lord (SC 102).

                                       ROUND UP

Our theme has been the ambivalent situation of the human condition: the tension anthropology of Vatican II. Already in the bosom of his family, man is in the ambiguous situation of dependency and the breakaway drive from it. In the give and take of a fast moving society, which affords him a certain independence and privacy in terms of mobility and anonymity,  he has to build his personality by his contribution to the community, and maintain his integrity as a free individual in the teeth of a dominating and institutionalising economy. Thus man enters the stream of human history – the confluence of the unfolding of the divine plan and human decision. Human history is definitively marked by the ongoing history of the Word of God. The picture of dialectic man is thereby illuminated by the historical economy of biblical revelation moving with the slow but sure conquest of the Gospel like leaven in the human narrative. The theme conception of this picture is the nature of man with the accent not so much on his origin but on his becoming future. This transformation is at the heart of his dramatic tension which, far from being a static endowment, points to the dynamism of a promise located above man. Man’s life and activity are continuously within the dynamic of the summons produced by the presence of the eschaton. The world he constructs from raw nature and the society that evolves from human material are not entirely his to dispose of. Man is only the penultimate end – a steward with accountability. Since he is on no man’s land between the past promise and the awaited fulfilment, he can hardly affirm the world except as transient – passing over from its own proud autonomy into the kingdom of God. He is, in fact, called upon to help effect this passage by applying the critique of the Gospel and working for the Lord’s coming. The wealth of the Vatican Council’s documents provide a massive base and a fertile term of reference for a descriptive existentialism of man.

POPE FRANCIS AND SIMPLICITY

Pope Francis and Simplicity

“You will see angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” (John 1, 51).

You can read the Bible from eight years of age till eighty, and each time you do, you will discover something new, something that will make you think. For instance, Jesus speaks about heaven opening and the angels of God ascending and descending. If heaven opens, one would expect angels to descend, to come down, not to ascend, to go up. Perhaps when heaven opens, everything is turned upside down, as one hymn makes out. As children, we used to play on the slides in the park. We climbed up the ladder and came sliding down. Some of us more enterprising would come down upside down – a great achievement. The “shirs-asana” is the standing on one’s head: it helps much to get a proper perspective of reality. It is also recommended in the classroom for those who are sleepy. We also know from Physics that the image that falls on the retina of the eye is actually upside down.

G.K. Chesterton said that in order to get a true perspective of reality, we should stand on our heads. He said that since St. Peter was crucified upside down, he saw the landscape as it truly is: with the sky like a vast blue field and the stars like beautiful white flowers on it; and the clouds like hills; and best of all, all men hanging on the mercy of God. Which is what matters ultimately: that everything hangs on the mercy of God. Only the simple realise that. For the simple see how Faith has turned everything in their life topsy turvy. They are like the angels, for angels are simple, as we know from philosophy. And being upside down they are in a position to ascend to heaven. Thus Pope Francis is turning the world on its head.

G. K. Chesterton said that angels fly because they take themselves lightly. And Jesus said, “If your eye be simple, your whole body will be lightsome.” To have a simple eye is to have a pure intention, not to be weighed down by complications or by conflicting motivations. A lightsome body is not enslaved by passions, attachments and worldly concerns. If we are looking only for God we can rest secure and feel no fear. Since our heart is fixed on God, there is nothing that can disturb us, not even our own failings. Pope Francis described himself as “a sinner.” As simple as that! And yet he has not abolished sin. His statement, “Who am I to judge (homosexuals)” is entirely consistent with the compassionate mind of Jesus; but this cannot be construed as an approval of homosexual acts. So also Pope Francis has continued the tradition of the Social teaching of the Church, initiated by Pope Leo XIII’s “Rerum Novarum” (1880), by standing for the primacy of humanity rather than the principle of “profit” at the expense of the rights of the workers.

“Simple” is such an easy word to use, that it has almost become debased currency. It need not mean a kind of holy moron or someone too lazy to use what brains he has about his faith. It should mean someone who, possibly after great struggle, arrives at a candid unselfconscious dynamic security in belief – a belief that cannot fail to communicate itself to others to their deep enrichment. Like a fragrant charm, simple faith is caught, not taught. Pope Francis’ fragrant faith is charming people back to Sunday Mass and renewal of faith.