112 May 2014

2 12 May 20142 12 May 2014

Papal Canonizations: IndianParish Creates History

Vaishali: A parish inFaridabad diocese cre-ated history on Sundaywhen it became the firstplace in India to cel-ebrate the feast of SaintJohn Paul II within hoursof the pontiff’s canoni-zation at the Vatican.

Pope Francis made arecord of sorts by declaring as saints Popes John Paul IIand John XXIII, two remarkable pontiffs of the 20th century.Retired Pope Benedict XVI was among hundreds of thou-sands of people who attended the unprecedented cer-emony in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square.

Never before has a reigning and retired pope celebratedMass together in public, much less at an event honoringtwo of their most famous predecessors.

Pope Benedict’s presence was a reflection of the balanc-ing act that Francis envisioned when he decided to canon-ize John and John Paul together, showing the unity of theCatholic Church by honoring popes beloved to conserva-tives and progressives alike.

In India, St John Paul II parish in Vaishali, Uttar Pradesh,marked the historic canonization with a solemn Mass, faithproclamation rally and a public meeting attended byApostolic Nuncio Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio andmore than 6,000 members of the Syro-Malabar diocese’sEast Zone.

The highlight of the public meeting was the personaltestimony of a woman who came from Kerala to narratehow her daughter’s life was saved through the intercessionof Pope John Paul II.

The apostolic nuncio unveiled a statue of John Paul II thathe gifted to the Vaishali parish. It also became the firstIndian parish to recite a novena to Saint John Paul II,immediately after his canonization.

During his first ten-day visit starting February 1, 1986, hehad traveled major Catholic centers in India, including fourplaces in Kerala, the base of the Syro-Malabar Church. Healso beatified two Syro-Malabar Catholics in Kottayam, FrKuriakose Elias Chavara and Franciscan Clarist nunAlphonsa.

The Vatican ambassador also gifted a relic of John Paul IIto Faridabad diocese.

His Holiness Pope Francis blessing Shri Oscar Fernandes,Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Labour& Employment at the Historic Canonization ceremony atst.Peters Square , Vatican on 27th April 2014.

Oscar Fernandes lead a high level 3 member Indiandelegation for to Popes Canonization ceremony in Rome.

Department of Pathology, Fr. Muller Medical College orga-nized the 2nd Annual Conference of Indian Academy ofCytologists – Karnataka Chapter (IAC-KC CON) on 29thand 30th March 2014.

The inaugural of the same took place on 29th March, 2014at Decennial Memorial Hall, Knowledge Centre, FatherMuller Charitable Institutions. The Chief Guest of the func-tion was Dr.I Karunasagar, Senior Fishery Officer (Rtd) andFood Safety Consultant, Food and Agriculture Organiza-tion of United Nations. The Function was presided by Rev.Fr Patrick Rodrigues, Director, FMCI. Prof Raghuveer ,President of IAC- KC, Col. U.S Dinesh , Secretary of IAC-KC, Dr. Hilda Fernandes, Organizing Chairperson of IAC-KC CON, Professor & Head, Department of Pathology , DrJayaprakash C.S, Organizing Secretary of IAC-KC CONwere also present, Observor from KMC, DR. NiranjanMurthy were also present.

312 May 2014

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Cover : Felicitation to Bishop of Udupi.(Report on pg.12,)

Photos: Rons Bantwal

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Why Protestants Are More PopularThan Catholics In China

Bangkok: Questions abound over the recent viciousactions of the Chinese government towards Christians inthe prosperous Zhejiang Province just south of Shanghai.The actions of the government during the fortnight afterEaster against both Protestants and Catholics are unprec-edented in recent decades and, justifiably, have receivedworld attention.

As with all actions in a country as vast as China,whose government could never be accused of transparency, it is difficult todiscover who is making the decisions and what they hope to achieve. But oneissue that has surprised many people outside China is both the size of itsChristian population and the ruthlessness, born only of fear, that the government’sviolence displays.

A recent claim by a US-based Chinese academic to London’s Telegraphnewspaper – that China would have the largest Christian population in the worldby 2030 – was not only exaggerated but also factually wrong. Will Brazil (200million Christians) and Nigeria (85 million Christians), for example, simply stopproducing Christians in the next 15 years?

The reality is that no one knows how many Christians there are in China.In fact, there’s good reason why Christians do not declare their growth. Just lookat what’s happened in Zhejiang in the last fortnight, where the growth of theChristian community has been declared “unsustainable” by the authorities whohave command of assessments of the “sustainability” of faith communities.

Put your head up as a Christian in China and it will be cut off. Catholics havemaintained a standard figure for their own numbers for three decades. It was 12million in 1980, 12 million in 1990, 12 million in 2000 and – surprise, surprise –it was 12 million in 2010. No one in any religion declares real figures in China.It only attracts government attention and then persecution.

That there is a massive growth spurt among Christians in China isindisputable. What has not been addressed is what has made the exponentialgrowth among Protestants possible, far outstripping the growth among Catho-lics.

But it’s not something the officials know anything about because they have

(Contd.. on p. 4)

BY FR MICHAEL KELLY

Contentspg. 3 - Why Protestants Are More

Popular Than Catholics ...pg. 5 - Feedback On Family Sur-

vey In Indiapg. 6 - Reader's Viewspg. 7 - A Tryst with Destinypg 8 - The Dilemma of Fr. Frazerpg 10 - Where Is The Garden Of

Eden?pg 11 - Summer Funpg 12 - Udupi Bishop Felicitated by

Kanarites of Mumbaipg 15 - Affirmation Of Our Respect

For Motherhoodpg 16 - The Marvellous Month Of

Ma(r)y!pg 18 - How Smart Are You ...pg 19 - Inspiration!pg 20 - Matrimonials

4 12 May 2014

(Contd.. from p. 3)

such a rudimentary and uninformedview of what Christianity is that they arethe last to know what’s happening. Forexample, only the Chinese governmentthinks that Protestants and Catholicsare separate religions.

They are two of the five it recog-nizes along with Buddhism, Islam andits homegrown religion, Daoism. Noone else in the world thinks Protestantsand Catholics are anything but parts ofChristianity.

Whatever one is to make of theuninformed view that the Chinese au-thorities have, Protestant Christianity isgrowing far more quickly and exten-sively than Catholicism. Why?

Maybe the Chinese authoritieshave something to tell us. After MaoZedong’s victory in 1949, China wasestablished along lines that the Com-munists learned about from their thenfriends, the Soviet Union, and the realmaker of 20th Century Communism,Vladimir Lenin, the founder and firstfather of the Soviet Union.

The Chinese Government man-ages religious groups through the Re-ligious Affairs Bureau, a department ofthe Communist Party’s United Frontorganization for controlling thecountry’s disparate movements,groups and institutions such as Protes-tants and Catholics.

The Catholic Church in China, di-vided as it remains, is caught: itsstrength is its weakness. Everywherein the world and with local variations inChina, its universality (with an acceptedpattern of worldwide relationships), itsinstitutions (parishes, seminaries, wel-fare services, publishing houses), itsstatuses (clergy and religious) and itsceremonies (the sacraments) are vis-ible and remain the continuous andcoherent identifications that draw orrepel membership and participation.

In a Communist country, they arean easy target for a Leninist administra-tion intent on detailed control. And then,when some comply with governmentstructures while other Catholics seethose acting in such a way as cowardlyand cooperating with the enemy, manyform the view that rather than compli-cate their lives, they leave the estab-

lished and regulated Church well alone.The same applied to Protestant

denominations and was institutional-ized through the three self- movements(self–government, self–financing andself-propagation; or no foreignmissioners). This approach run throughthe United Front’s Religious AffairsBureau captured the attention and con-trolled the practices of Protestant Chris-tians throughout the People’s Repub-lic.

But the recent explosion in Prot-estant Christian numbers has hap-pened outside this rubric. Most of thebuildings, churches and Christian gath-ering points have been built on localinitiative without government authori-zation. And most of the communitiesaround the often triumphalist buildingsthat have been damaged or demol-ished in recent times in China beganlife as small communities of little morethan a dozen people – gathering infriend’s homes outside the net of gov-ernment supervision.

Protestant Christianity, in contrastto the institution-based approach tocommunity building familiar to Catho-lics, has thrived on its nimble, light-footed and adaptable response to lo-cal opportunities. In China, it has grownout of small communities sharingprayer, Bible study and videos at homeor in a work place. At times, Christianbusinessmen and manufacturers haveworkplace Christian groups that formand meet for prayer and Bible study ontheir business premises.

Meeting all over Eastern China inclusters of no more than 12, groupsgather for what Catholics would callprimary evangelization. Two-hour Bible

study programs conducted over two tothree months and often aided by aChinese version of the Alpha Courseprovide a neat and compact way tointroduce Christianity. The AlphaCourse is a 12-part video series firstcreated by an Anglican priest in Lon-don, Nicky Gumble, that has goneworldwide and has a Catholic version.

These groups are unencumberedand unregulated by the Religious Af-fairs Bureau. Multiply the dozen mem-bers of these groups by thousands ofsuch small groups in homes and workplaces and you reach hundreds of thou-sands pretty quickly. But when you getto that scale, as China has in the last 20years, it’s not long until you need alarger, dedicated building – a church.That’s where these emergent commu-nities have run into the brick wall of theReligious Affairs Bureau and the fearthat the entire Chinese political leader-ship has had of any group, especially areligious one, that it can’t control.

Fr Michael Kelly SJ is executive director ofucanews.com and is based in Bangkok.(Source: ucanews)

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FLAME OF LOVE"I can master it," said the Axe. His blows fell heavy on the hard, strong steel. But each

blow only made his edge more blunt until he ceased to strike."Leave it to me," said the Saw. With his relentless teeth, he worked back and forth. But

to his dismay, all of his teeth were worn out or broken off."Ha!" said the Hammer. "I knew you could not do this. Let me show you how."But with the very first blow, his head flew off, and the steel was unchanged."Shall I try?" asked the Flame. And it curled itself gently around thestrong, hard steel, embraced it, and would not let it go. And the tough steel melted.

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512 May 2014

Feedback On Family Survey In IndiaBACKGROUND: I happened to see anews item in the Hindustan Times dt31/3/14 with a statement attributed toCardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbaion the “global survey commissionedby the Vatican “. The report quoted thecardinal as saying that “the data fromIndia was not quantified, and onlyshowed general perceptions.” I imme-diately wrote to the Cardinal seeking a

clarification, more so since he was oneof the 8 handpicked advisors to thePope, and also the then President ofthe Catholic Bishop’s Conference ofIndia (CBCI). My query was on“unquantified data”, which in itself is anoxymoron, a contradiction in terms.My letter to the Cardinal was printed insome Christian journals.

On 1st April I sent a copy of theCardinal’s statement and my responseto the same, to several persons on myregular mailing list. On 7th/8th April Iindependently received a request fromJames Kottoor/Bob Kaiser/Rene Reidto join up with the efforts of “CatholicChurch Reform International” (CCRIL),pertaining to the forthcoming WorldSynod on the Family, and their effortsto obtain feedback on the same. Sincewe seemed to have common goals Ihad agreed to co-operate in their effort.That is a separate matter.

CARDINAL’S RESPONSE: CardinalGracias responded to my letter on 15th

April stating that the Conference ofCatholic Bishop’s of India (CCBI- whichis the body of Latin Rite bishops only)had sent the questionnaire to all thedioceses. The responses were col-lated and sent to Rome. However in thesame letter under reference the Cardi-nal also stated that the process of datacollection was still continuing, and for-warded my letter to Bp Lawrence Pius,the Chairman of the CCBI Family Com-mission.

VERIFICATION: Somehow theCardinal’s letter did not ring true.Hence, by way of abundant precau-tion, I sent out a query on the 17th April,enquiring from my group if they wereaware of any Survey on the Familyconducted in their respective dioceses.

RESPONSES: I gotresponses fromeminent lay leadersall across the coun-try stating that nosuch Survey hadbeen conducted.The response camefrom people in the following dioceses:Bombay Archdiocese (the Cardinal’sown), Delhi Archdiocese, BangaloreArchdiocese, Pune Diocese, ErnakulamArchdiocese, Chennai Archdiocese,Allahabad Diocese, Bareilly Dioceseand Meerut Diocese. I consider theseresponses sufficiently representative tostate that no Family Survey had beenconducted across the 167 dioceses inthe country.

QUALIFYING OBSERVATIONS: Onerespondent then stated that she hadreceived a questionnaire in Mumbai,but decided against responding as shefound it too “technical”. I received an-other response from Pune that somekind of a survey was responded to by agroup of priests of the diocese. It wasnot circulated among the laity.

FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE:Based on the responses received tillthen I again wrote to Cardinal Graciason 23rd April, informing him, among

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Should The ClergyTake Part In

Politics? - A Taleof Three Popes

Sunday, April 27, 2014 was a redletter day in the annals of the CatholicChurch, when two Popes, John PaulXXIII and John Paul II were canonizedby Pope Francis.

It was also a landmark event forthe Church in India, now in the midst ofthe General Elections 2014.

St. John XXIII is remembered forintroducing Vatican II, a watershedmovement which empowered the laityto participate in Church activities.

St. John Paul II was lauded byLech Walesa for bringing down theBerlin Wall, unifying Germany and theoverthrow of the Iron Curtain.

Pope Francis is also credited withthe sanctioning the canonization pro-cess of Archbishop Oscar Romero,martyred on March 24, 1980, whilecelebrating Holy Mass.

There are 101, 20,000 Christiansvoters in India.The Catholic Church in India sprawlsover 164 dioceses. The Archdiocese ofBombay comprises of 11 deanerieswith 122 parishes. The Catholic popu-lation is about five hundred and twentyfive thousand and seventeen (525,017)persons.

After Vatican II, the Churchfounded Parish Pastoral Councils(PPCs) in every parish, to assist theParish Priest (PP). (Christus Dominusn. 27)

The PPC, as an umbrella organi-zation, also comprises of Small Chris-

tian Communities (SCCs), a Parish Fi-nance Committee (PFC), a Civic & Po-litical Cell (CPC) and a Parish YouthCell (PYC).

Every month, a consolidated re-port is submitted by each PPC to thetop echelon. In a 5 year Election cycle,122 parishes have submitted about7320 reports.

The Archbishop’s response isbased on the PPC reports.

If the PPCs/ CPCs/PYCs are do-ing their homework, there should be noproblem. If the parishioners are cluelessas to which party is secular, how canthe clergy be held responsible?

The 6% Current Account Deficit ofabout $US 22 billion, is a damocletansword hanging over the heads of thecitizenry, especially the youth. Is thePYC aware of the CAD?

Digital and Cloud Technologyshould be set up. A parish website /domain, email/blog site etc. should bemandatory. This will promote interestand awareness among the youth whocan actively participate & helm the par-

ish activities.PPCs should be weaned away

from church centric religiosity and para-chuted into the sociopolitical arena. Allsocio political issues should be handledby the CPC/PPC. It will help to presenta cohesive, effective platform for pro-jecting relevant issues. Recently, a PPlaunched a revanchist agitation, ap-parently without the support of thePPCs. As George Fernandes oncesaid, ‘We should not be afraid of dirty-ing our hands!’

The clergy can then freely con-centrate on religious services.

—Denis Khan

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712 May 2014

After reading all these posts, news-papers and attending all these eventsand with the active community mem-bers voicing their own opinion and alsobeing subjected to hearing the con-tinuous aggressive daily (one wouldsay brainwashing) advertisements andmisinformation campaign of the com-munal party in all media that made“Modi” a household name, most in thecommunity then gets disoriented andconfused and they inquire around -What is happening? This confuses themeven more and may have also scaredthem. Results some do not go to votebecause they are either confused orscared or unconnected to the presenttimes so they say they have full faith intheir God; therefore they leave it to Himwhile others are intellectually bankruptabout the laws which govern our exist-ence and the balance that do vote splitthe secular vote thus helping the com-munal party. One must realize that if arespective political party is unable torealize a vote bank from a respectivecommunity they do not bother aboutthat community and that is what is

happening to our community. None ofus are happy with this situation or wantto do anything about it.

Our community should under-stand that – It is not the world thatdistresses you but how you relate to itand that is where Fr Cedric Prakashand the Principal of St Xavier Collagelead the way, on educating us on thebrainwashing media campaign un-leashed by the communal party andwhose insistence is on spreading com-munalism and leveraging developmentover other issues and advised us tochoose wisely as in the present we arein a democracy where irrespective ofone’s spirituality, honesty, hatred, un-derstanding, etc, we have to keep upwith the competition in present daydemocracy along with the voters ofother minority communities where, theother minority communities have with-stood this brainwashing and have un-derstood the situation of a communalgovernment in power and had decidedto give up their splitting the non com-munal vote by voting united for a noncommunal party in such situations?And also keep their personal gains,requirements, etc to rest in the need fora united community which can then getbenefits from the political parties whoapproach them. As it is the numbersthat count - the number of votes pro-jected to the respective political partyor candidate.

And now - What is it that hasconfused or terrified our community inbeing disoriented / disunited? Tell us,please, is it because of placing moreimportance on corruption than com-munalism or is it the brainwashingmedia campaign of the communal partyor the just arrived non communal partywho has no experience or chance offorming a government on its ownstrength the reason that confused andscared you. Splitting the non commu-nal votes will affects us all.

What are we to make of this? Mustwe continue the same to only be toohappy to risk being a disunited com-

munity or one that will succumb to thepressure of the media or the majoritycommunity? Will there be some unityjust like the other communities whohave stood up to pressure and otherforms of enticements? Is there evergoing to be unity in the near future?Have you forgotten who you are? Youare part of one of the oldest, mostfollowed religion in the world that rep-resents the line from our Lord JesusChrist and St. Peter. Our communityhas produced some of the greatestleaders and people in history in and outof respective governments and we havestood by them as our community shouldthe world over. Our community hasfought for free speech against the mostviolent and terrifying odds.

But in the meantime………. If onetakes the community as a big shipsailing on the high seas with all rankson the ship doing their jobs as requiredthe ship will sail smoothly and will with-stand any storm or even a tsunami BUTif some in the ranks do whatever theywant and very different for a smoothsailing then it will result in chaos andthe ship will sink and that is what ishappening in our community wheresome have placed more importanceon corruption than communalism andare looking for a change and say thatIndia can finally leave its past behind orat least the unsavory parts, and reallymake, what one illustrious Brahminonce called “a tryst with destiny”

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8 12 May 2014

I start this article by calling the principal of St. Xavier's college as Fr.Frazer, because I was happy to

hear on the T.V., the students of theinstitution call him so. They wouldn'thave called him by his first name openly,unless they are genuinely fond of him,more than being in awe of him. This isexcellent for any institution, especiallya prestigious one like St, Xavier's col-lege.

Some years ago I met a Jesuitpriest who was working in a children'sorphanage in a distant tribal area ofMaharashtra. Besides looking after theorphanage of around 200 children, hewas also helping the neighboring vil-lages to build check dams acrossstreams and increase the level ofground water for irrigation. I was a littlesurprised to hear from him that he hadvolunteered to shift from St. Xavier'scollege, Mumbai to this remote village.He stated that he had done so becausehe felt that at the orphanage, he wascloser to the very poor and his missionwas to help these poor families to riseabove the poverty level. He said herealized soon enough that it was diffi-cult to talk about anything religious topeople who were living with emptystomachs and were forced to abandontheir children in orphanages. Hence hewith some German and Government ofMaharashtra financial aid, was install-ing bore well pumps and ensuring thefarmers had sufficient water for irrigat-ing their farms.

At the same time he admitted that

it was essential to run highly presti-gious colleges like St. Xavier's atMumbai, St. Stephan's at Delhi, St.Loyola's at Chennai, St. Joseph's atBangalore, etc and many more suchtop notch educational institutions thatthe Jesuits run for the elite of this coun-try. It helps he stated to inculcate in thestudents who are future leaders of thecountry some good Christian, univer-sal, social and liberal values. Many ofthe students who have studied in theseinstitutions have gone on take up verysenior posts in the administrations, gov-ernments and companies. The Jesuitinstitutions have inculcated in them theneed to be religious or spiritual, but atthe same time opt for secular, inclusiveand non communal governance.

When we try to judge the emailthat Fr. Frazer posted to his students asthe Principal of St. Xavier's, we need tokeep in mind that he has two roles toplay. The important one is that of thePrincipal of the college and the otherone is that of a Catholic Priest inculcat-ing in his students Christian values.Personally I am like many Catholicsstrongly against any heads of Churches,Mosques, Gurudwaras, Temples or anyother religious congregations from ac-tively taking part in Politics by canvass-ing for any political party. Many areunfortunately doing so openly. Theyneed to be kept apart from politics inevery nation. If one studies most of theconflicts this world is saddled with fordecades, they are mostly based onreligion. The countries that have beenable to prosper economically are thosethat have managed to have govern-ments which are secular in the realsense ie not religious, even agnostic.

Dereck O'brien seems to havebeen for the last one year totally im-mersed in West Bengal politics andlistening to his leader Mamta Banerjee.May be he has not heard Pope Francisstating that the Catholic Church shouldmainly work for the poor in the world,the number of poor is growing be-

cause the disparity of the wealth be-tween the very rich and the very poor isincreasing, and this is also due to cronycapitalism and criminality in politics.This may sound familiar to many inIndia who have been listening to PopeFrancis and I am not surprised one ofthem is Fr. Fraser. Hence his dilemmawould be that as a priest, he needs tolisten to the local church hierarchy, butas a Catholic he needs to keep in mindthe teachings of the present Pope.

More importantly as a Principal ofa prestigious college he needs to gethis students look at the different mod-els of growth being branded aboutduring this election without too manydetails, and have them discussed inthe class rooms, as one of the profes-sors in the college confirmed they did.After all the Gujarat Model is beinghighlighted by BJP as the best modelin the country. This is not true since theKerala Model, the Andhra Pradeshmodel, the Tamil Nadu Model or eventhe Maharashtra model are better, ifone considers the story of poverty re-duction during the last 10 years, asgiven in a table recently published byMint.

Hence, Fr. Frazer was justified asa principal of the college, in advisinghis students just a day before electionsthat they should vote, but before doingso they should seriously look at thehighly hyped Gujarat model of eco-nomic development keeping in mindhuman development and poverty elimi-nation. He also brought to the notice ofthe students their own experience asan institution in design with the govern-ment in Gujarat. He has refrained fromdiscussing in too much detail, Com-munalism or Secularism or named ac-tual political parties in his email. Attack-ing the use of the principals email IDand the college official website to airhis advise to students would have beenviolative if he had addressed to othersthan his students and faculty. He wasdoing so as their principal and not as apriest. The other criticism is of the tim-ing of the post, a day before Mumbai's

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912 May 2014

polls. He was asking his students inMumbai to think, use their judgementand vote. What better time to do so thanthe day before - a few days earlier itmay have been forgotten. Even a daylater it would be meaningless.

What the Principal is trying tocovey to his students is the followingstatement his email begins with: "Theapproaching elections have broughtan interesting discussion to the publicforum on what constitutes human de-velopment and how it is to be achieved.The Gujarat model has been high light-ened for our consideration. That is veryapt because it puts in stark contrast twocurrent views. Is the growth of big busi-ness, the making of huge profits, theachievement of high production - what

we seek? Or is it the quality of life for themajority in terms of affordable basicgoods and services and the freedom totake forward the cultural aspirations ofour plural social groups that make upIndia?"

He ends his email with the follow-ing advice: " No magic wand or divinemiracles will come to the aid of theIndia people. Their reasoned choice ofindividuals and political parties whopromise to work for a real quality of lifefor all, will see India prosper or flounderon the precipice. Choose well!"

Well reading the above, oneshould not be surprised why our Jesuitrun colleges have remained for de-cades, the top most colleges in thecountry. We need more Jesuit colleges

around the country to inculcate in ouryoungsters the values we cherish andhelp our country to ensure that most ofthe people at the bottom of the pyramidrise above the poverty line. We needacademic principals who inculcate intheir students the habit of makingchoices after the process of thought.

We Catholics around the world,for more than a year now have been awitness to the changes being broughtabout by a Jesuit Pope. Pope Francishas revitalized the Catholic church byfocusing on the poorest in the world,the problem of growing disparity ofwealth between the richest and thepoorest, the problem of crony capital-ism and criminalization of politics.Hence should we be surprised if aJesuit Principal takes a similar publicstand?

Where Is The Garden Of Eden?

Biblical exegetes would have usbelieve that the allegorical Garden of Eden, mentioned in the

Book of Genesis, was probably situ-ated between the mighty rivers Tigrisand Euphrates, in modern day Iraq. ButI found Eden at a stone’s throw from therenowned tiger reserve, Corbett Na-tional Park.

It is known as Vardan Vatika (Gar-den Gift) in Ramnagar, near the en-trance to the park. It is a Christianashram started 20 years ago by Sr Jaya(65) of the Congregation of St Anne ofProvidence. The inspiration for thisgarden ashram goes back 35 years,when Sr Jaya joined the youth renewalteam led by this writer. Among theother noteworthy members of that teamwere Acharya Anildev IMS of MatridhamAshram, Varanasi, Abp Albert D’souzaof Agra, who is the CBCI SecretaryGeneral, Ms Lily Fernandes, DirectressGeneral of the secular institute, theMaids of the Poor, and Sadhu Asteya,who was tragically murdered in hisashram chapel near Dehradun, a fewyears ago.

True to its name, Vardan Vatikawas originally an orchard. Even now itis covered by fruit-laden trees. What

sets this ashram apart, though, is thetotal involvement of the local populace(none of whom are Christian) in itsfunctioning. Young girls and womenfrom 19 surrounding villages considerthe ashram to be truly God’s Gift, be-cause it is here that they have discov-ered their own identity and self-worth.

Sr Jaya (nee Julia) in now popu-larly known as Jaya Didi. Originallyhailing from Bijai village in Mangalorediocese, she had joined the St Anne’scongregation, and was doing wonder-

ful work in a school.But through theyouth spiritual min-istry and ashrammovement, she too,like Mother Teresa,experienced a callwithin a call; to re-linquish the relative comfort of a con-vent life, to launch out into the untestedand unchartered waters of the ashramway of life.

Initially Jaya Didi’s congregationwas skeptical about the viability of suchan “adventure”. Nevertheless they sup-ported her with both finance and per-sonnel. 20 years down the line they cansay with pride and confidence that theyhad made a wise “investment”. Jayaalso expresses great gratitude to BpAnthony Fernandes of Bareilly, in whosediocese her ashram is situated.

A few ashramites and well-wish-ers from neighbouring mission stations,as also the local populace, gatheredtogether in the garden on 25th April, onthe occasion of its completion of 20years. Presiding over the Holy Eucha-rist, Bp Fernandes pointed out that thefirst two Christian ashrams in north

BY CHHOTEBHAI

The Dilemma Of Fr. Frazer(Contd.. on p. 10)

10 12 May 2014

India were both situated in his diocese.The Sattal Ashram in Nainital districtwas founded by the American mission-ary Rev E Stanley Jones of the Method-ist Church, about 80 years ago. Thesecond was Jyotiniketan Ashram,Bareilly, founded by the English pas-tor, Rev C. Murray Rogers of the Angli-can Communion, in the 1960’s. Inter-estingly, both these “foreign mission-aries” were drawn to the ashram way oflife by Mahatma Gandhi’s ashrams inWardha and Sabarmati.

The unique aspect of Gandhiji’sashrams was that they were not reclu-sive or exclusive, but inclusive. So toowith Vardan Vatika. Its unique feature isits inclusiveness, as manifested by the“cultural programme’ that followed the

Eucharistic celebration. I am normallynot enamoured of such presentations.But this was different, because of thetotal involvement of the village women.They put up a skit on how they hadovercome the scourge of alcoholismamong their men folk. There were tes-timonies of how the ashram had em-powered these once reticent villagewomen.

Talking of the ashram’s impactJaya Didi attributed it to her three-pronged approach of Contemplation,Commitment and Contextualisation.She felt that the Church of the future inIndia needed to be more connectedwith the people, enter into dialoguewith other religions and be sensitive totheir beliefs. The church needed tobecome much more participatory andinvolved in people’s joys and sorrows,

she opined.The liturgical singing, in the back-

drop of the bronze bust of SadguruYesu, was devotionally conducted byJoshy Alat, while the chants were ledby Rev Ashok Masih. Bps Francis Kallistof Meerut, and his predecessor in of-fice Patrick Nair, concelebrated with 20priests from the nearby mission sta-tions. Since Jaya Didi herself was hos-pitalized for most of the day, due tosheer exhaustion, handling the celebra-tion fell on the broad shoulders of thelocal parish priest, Rev BonaventureMenezes, ably assisted by Jaya’s com-panion sisters – Sophiya and Premila.

Chairman of the Ramnagar TownArea Committee, Haji Mohd Akram,said that it required great sacrifice toleave the comfort of one’s home toserve in a far away land. Five of Jaya’sbrothers and sisters, as also other rela-tives, had traveled all the way fromMangalore, to witness the wonder oftheir beloved sister’s work.

Truly, many who had come thatday to Vardan Vatika did indeed hearthe footsteps of the Lord, as in theGarden of Eden, near the tiger reserve,not the Tigris river!

* The writer himself lived inJyotiniketan Ashram, Bareilly,

for seven years.

(Contd.. from p. 9)

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1112 May 2014 1112 May 2014

Summer Vacations- that time ofthe year when parents are attheir wits’ end, and maybe even

tearing their hair out in frustration, asthey figure out ways to keep theirchildren and youth meaningfully en-gaged and entertained. But let meassure you, that at Marinagar Colony,Mahim, we face no such dilemma. Wedon’t get the summertime blues, be-cause the dynamic youth of our RosaMystica Community come up withinitiatives that are wholeheartedly sup-ported by the adults.

“Do your little bit of good whereyou are; it’s those little bits of good puttogether that overwhelm the world”. –Bishop Desmond Tutu. Lending cre-dence to these words was the actionplan, the young ones drew up cre-atively entitled, ‘Marinagar Masti’.Spread over a number of days, (27th

April – 24th May) the Masti includes avariety of programmes like,telegames, an inter colony footballtournament, a fete and a children’sworkshop amidst others. The seriesof events kicked off with the mostinnovative of them all, ‘Drops of Colour’a kind of Mural Painting, uncannily onthe day that an ardent supporter andlover of youth, in the Catholic Church

– Pope John Paul II was canonized.This ‘father and friend for the world’syouth’ (– Pope Francis) was definitelypresent amongst us all, as we per-formed little miracles with words, sym-bols and colour on the boundary wall,measuring well over 100m, to bring outthe theme of, ‘LOVE, PEACE & UNITY”.

The brainchild of the youth ani-mator Mr. Leonir Ladao, (he is going torefute this statement vociferously)spade work on this particular activity,began almost 10 days earlier. This in-volved a thorough cleaning, washingand scrubbing of the totally discoloured,absolutely dirty cement wall, then coat-ing it with white cement paint, wateringit at regular intervals, dividing it intosmall work areas with the help of ambro

tape, outlining the areas to be paintedwith a black border…Phew!!!!!!!! All ofthis entailed costs, but no money ex-changed hands. All necessary materi-als were sourced out from 2 civil con-tractors within the colony. Mr. BoscoVaz provided some of the paints whileMr. Michael D’souza went a step fur-ther, in providing the bucket, cementpaint, brushes and other paints withinstructions to pick up whatever elsewas needed from the local hardwarestore on his account.

D-day arrived and with it de-scended on the ground, umpteen pairsof eager hands and excited feet. Fromthose of school children, college youth,working youth, young adults,hardworking dads (sacrificing a bit of‘me time’ for a worthy cause), stay-at-home mums to those aged feet ac-companying young hearts. While un-usual ideas came forth from youngand old alike, ‘Tees’ also played a partin supplying relevant symbols andtaglines to go with the theme. Kindsouls kept the adrenaline pumping, bymaking sure that bottles of chilled waterand soft drinks made regular appear-ances. “As the family goes, so goesthe nation- and so goes the wholeworld in which we live.”- St. John PaulII. Indeed as 1 family we worked tomake this a memorable day.

Come to Marinagar and see thehandiwork that has set the tone for our V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Summer Fun Ninette D'Souza

12 12 May 201412 12 May 2014

The ground at Xavier Engineering College at Mahimwore a festive look with Kanarites from all overMumbai and surrounding areas gathered to fe-

licitate the newly appointed bishop of Udupi Dioceseon 4th May 2014.

For over a month the felicitation committee underthe banner of United Kanarites Mumbai and under theable leadership of Mr. Albert W. D'Souza met severaltimes to workout a detailed programme and prepara-tions.

Archbishop of Bombay Cardinal Oswald Graciasfelicitated Bishop of Udupi, Gerald Isaac Lobo withShawl, Citation, Fruits and Memento on behalf ofKanarites of Mumbai. The Cardinal praised Christiansof Karnataka for their hard work, unity, service-mindedness, dedication towards their religion, andspiritual aptitude. He expressed happiness for theemergence of Udupi diocese as the top diocese of Indiaduring the first tenure of the Bishop there in such a shortperiod. A souvenir brought out to commemorate theoccasion was also released by the Cardinal.

The grand function was presided over by Albert WD’Souza who is also working president of UnitedKanarites Mumbai (UKM). Oscar Fernandes, unionminister for state in the department of surface transport,national highways, and labour, participated as thehonourable guest of the function, while former deputy

working president of National Minorities Commission,Michael Pinto, working president of Maharasthra StateMinorities Commission, Janet L D’Souza, and BlossomOscar Fernandes, participated as dignitary guests.

In response to the felicitation, Bishop Gerald Lobo

Udupi Bishop Felicitated by Kanarites of Mumbai

said that the affectionate honour bestowed upon him bythe people of Mumbai directly goes to Jesus, as hecame there as His representative. He said he wasaccepting the recognition and honour on behalf ofUdupi diocese.

Michael Pinto and Janet D’Souza addressed the

Cardinal Oswald Gracias Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo

Bishop of Udupi offering Shawl andfloral bouquet to the Cardinal

Cardinal Oswald Released the Souvenir

1312 May 2014 1312 May 2014

gathering and extended their bestwishes to the Bishop of Udupi.

Earlier Bishop Gerald Lobo wasmain celebrant in the eucharisticconcelebration and thanksgiving cer-emony with Fr John Rumao, Fr LancyPereira, and Fr Ronson D’Souza. FloraD’Souza Kalmadi (Jerimeri) andWilfred Fernandes readings from theBible. Jacinta D’Souza renderedprayer.

Ronny R Mendonca red out thecitation of the felicitation. AbrahamClement Lobo, Rita D’Sa, and RubenButhello, presented the programme,besides introducing the guests.

Various Committee ConvenorsJohn D’Silva-Finance, Walter Buthello-Catering, Lawrence D'Souza(Mulund)-Entertainment and Stage,Charles D’Cunha-Liturgy and Choir,Lawrence Coelho-Souvenir and Pub-licity, Mrs. Rita D'Sa-Reception, HenryLobo-Christian Chamber of Com-merce and Industry Chairman, andVincent Mathias-Founder Chairman,received the VIPs and Dignitaries.

Lawrence D’Souza Kamani proposedvote of thanks.

A troupe led by Fr Dr Charles Vas,director of Sangeeta Abinaya Acad-emy presented a cultural programmebased on the life of Mother Teresa,

A section of the audiance

which aimed at giving a sublime mes-sage to the audience.

Dinner packets were served toall at the end of the programme. Theevent was a memorable to all thosewho attended the beautiful show.

Cardinal saying superb to Fr. Charles Vas, A scene from the Belle - Mother Teresa

The entire belle troupe

14 12 May 201414 12 May 2014

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Participants list and other details will be sent 15 days prior to the get-together. Lunch, snacks, etc, will be provided at the Get-together. Royal Christian Family is having the experience of organising over 60 get-togethers in the past. The meet covers good family boys and girls

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Chennai: Marking the Na-tional Council of Churchesin India’s (NCCI) 100 yearsof service, the Postal De-partment released a com-memorative stamp in the cityrecently.

The stamp was offi-cially released in New Delhiby Vice-President HamidAnsari, a similar ceremonytook place in Chennai,where the centenary yearstamp was released by

Commemorative Stamp MarksNCCI’s 100 Years

Mervin Alexandar, the Postmaster General of Chennai City region, who was thechief guest.

V Esther Kathiroli, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Christian Council,organised the event held at the CSI Synod, in which dignitaries from variousChristian denominations participated. They lauded the government’s initiative torecognise the NCCI’s effort.

“This is truly a historic event as the government has given an authenticrecognition of NCCI to society. It is in fact, a matter of pride and privilege to thecommunity that the government, which releases a total of 50 stamps per year, ofwhich 10 are personality stamps, has chosen NCCI. This stamp will surely get intothe best of the church thematic collections in stamps,” said Mervin.

The other guests were D R Sadananda, general secretary, CSI Synod; A G

Augustine Jayakumar, treasurer, NCCI;R D Vijayakumar, vice-president, TamilNadu Christian Council, and Bishop,Arcot Lutheran Church.

1512 May 2014

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A mother is like a symphony orchestra. She has been createdto be a guide, a comforter and

a buffer to life’s problems. She is awoman of many parts with a singlemission to ‘be there’ and like a conduc-tor is cheered before the music begins.Applauded for her Motherhood.

An admirable closeness to the motherhas always been a defining factor infamily life. The mother has often beenthe one person who can galvanize thefamily after a spot of squabbles, orassist those under stress and threat.She is a haven of consolation, the bed-rock to cling to and confide in. Thefamily grows in respect for her mother-hood.

In 1925, Ben B. Lindsey and Wain-wright Evans wrote a book, Revolt ofModern Youth, a very abiding tribute tomothers. I quote from their book: “Idemand for the unmarried mother, as asacred channel of life, the same rever-ence and respect as for the marriedmother; for Maternity is a cosmic thing,and once it has come to pass ourconventions must not be permitted toblaspheme it.”

Most families are not the same like allfive fingers are not. You will find a fewmothers on a blistering path and somebroken and pained to live in a marriagetethering on the rocks. Yet, I have foundone child or the other, caught in aconflict of family emotions, still in sup-port of the mother. This is an issue to

privately ponder on. It is rarely that onewill come across a woman who failed atthe closeness of Motherhood.

Christian families have always reaf-firmed their trust and regard for moth-ers and the more conservative ideas insupport of Motherhood. We never wa-ver on traditional definitions nor do wecontradict what we are taught aboutmothers. The cornerstone of the Chris-tian faith rests on the blessing of Moth-erhood. All the faithful have been be-queathed the gift for having mothers.

From the cross, Jesus said to the dis-ciple, “Here is your mother”. Jn.19:27.By these words Christ had bestowedon humankind the precious gift of themother. It is not that we have beenindoctrinated, but that it is true.

The married mother, the single mother,the step-mother or a working- motherare all basically bound to the legacy” ofbeing there” when the going gets tough.History campaigns within a silent vor-tex for the pride and respect of moth-ers. From St. Augustine’s mother to myvery own mother, an undying respectfor Motherhood remains. No one keepsa low profile on their mother, not if theycan help it.

“ Those who honor their mother obeythe Lord.” Sirach. 3.6. This was thewisdom sent to us in the Book of theOld Testament. The words were a torchto light the path of every mother downthe ages. In the Book of Proverbs weare instructed to love and respect our

mother, espe-cially in the twi-light years of herlife. “…do notdespise yourmother when sheis old.” Pr.23:22.

In the cozy cor-ners of your soul there will always be aburst of applause for Motherhood, andthat’s how it should be. Make it theplatform for your respect. Understand,meditate and love the concept of moth-erhood. And if you are a young girlreading this tribute, smile and open thefloodgates of your heart, for you too willone day be a mother, God willing, andthe fire of Motherhood will burn insideyou.

This is the month of May, the monthdedicated to Our Holy Mother, and toall mothers. This month is a celebrationto what they truly are : the gift to human-kind sent to us in the words of our Lordfrom the cross. Mothers surround them-selves with a desire to love and beloved. The admirable closeness wehave to our mother is always well-earned. Make an absolute promise torespect her mission for Motherhood,especially in her old age.

Affirmation Of Our Respect For Motherhood

BY MELVYN BROWN

DO YOU KNOW?

Summer HobbiesFor Children

With the world going mad over tech-nology, children do not seem to befar behind. Outdoor games areslowly being replaced by videogames, online chats and TV sets.Kids no more wish to go out andplay volley ball or badminton withtheir friends. This can adversely af-fect your child's growth, concentra-tion and his/her problem solvingabilities. It may also develop somemajor attitude problems. It is impor-tant that you help to develop yourchild's interest in creative hobbies.

16 12 May 2014

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JANARDHAN BANGERA

Morning comes early with theclatter of pans in the kitchenand the chirrup of birds in the

trees. The tresses of darkness arepinned back by ribbons of light as thesun stops by to say ‘ hello ‘ through alattice of leaves, winking the while at hisreflection in your window-pane. Sum-mer is holding her breath

In the golden distance ,a roostercrows the hour and the echoes roll onto merge with the sound of approach-ing wheels bearing with them the clangof crates and the friendly tinkle of bottles.

You toss from a dream into day asthe warming sun pours purpose intoyour lazy bones. Then to the pleasantharmony of babies‘ cries and flowingwater, a day begins, a month unfolds –the marvellous month of May, of Holi-days ,and of the Mother of God !

Early risers are out on their consti-tutionals, taking long walks that growshorter every year ! Their doctor hasrecommended by- pass surgery…..bypass breakfast , go jogging ,instead.So there they are, flexing rigid musclesand ‘waisting ‘ away. On the green,future hopefuls attired in colourfulbriefs, an insolent wind tugging at hem-lines, are being given practical trainingin the science of sports they will laterperfect into an art. Mothers/maids wheelbabes in carriages ( much as Marymust have done the Christ Child ,in onetooled by her Carpenter spouse ) downpaths they will in some hazy future walkalone, as He did , or in pairs .

Out in the gardens, the treesspread their arms wide to welcome thedawn as they flutter green signals tothe on-rushing day .Flowers uncurlthemselves from sleep and nod velvetygreetings to each other, nonchalantlyextending perfumed petal s to thelascivious breeze .Morning is double-parked on the street, one sunny wheelresting against the kerb. Butterflies andbees coquet with the sunbeams on theopen lawn.

Hills doff grey hats to the farmerploughing his field with a will to com-plete the ‘ spade‘ work for the visit of his

annual guest ,the Monsoon. In the city,those who linger braving the heat inorder to help turn the wheels of pro-duction, hasten to work by road or rail,while factory sirens summon the lateriser and spiralling smoke signals thestart of another work day. School/col-lege kids and their guardians are onvacation. The holiday season is reallyon and parents can put away theirschool/college books and concen-trate on their own work ,for a change!For those who enjoy the great out-doors- sun-bathing, basking, hitch-hiking, camping, loafing, picnicking –there are summer camps and hikes,cycles and mobikes. It‘s the time ofworkers (labour day),merry-makers,tourist guides and under-tak-ers ! And for the book-worm ,there‘salways a library down the road with anoptician conveniently located next door.

And in the cool of the evening,after a shower ,there‘s the Rosaryprayed around the grotto of Mary andmy name-sake. When we were little,this practice was a must; not the leastbecause after the final ‘Amen‘, whichwas said louder than the others, we‘dqueue up for the boiled gram and othergoodies generously doled out by AuntieMyrtle, Phyllis, Rose… and we‘d hurryhome thereafter, rosary clutched tightin one small palm, sticky pack of gram,etc. in the other .Somehow the samestuff prepared by mum at home, nevertasted quite as good. And I fancy Isometimes spied a smile on Mary‘s

face for she knows better than anyone,that a little inducement goes a long way– round 5 decades, in fact ! Though thegoodies were not bribes but a‘ thankyou‘ for spending time with her. In mychild‘s mind, boiled gram became in-delibly associated with rosary beads.

May also came withneighbourhood holiday camps viz.tents pitched in the garden by boy-scouts, cooking undertaken by girl-guides ( pre- women‘s lib era ) a libraryof comic books, amateur sports,shamateur concerts and contests, fish-ing, fun and frolic ,culminating in thegrand celebration of the Mary, Queenof May feast.For this we would deco-rate a local cross with borrowed ( orstolen ) blossoms and gather round inpious prayer and Marian chants we sorarely hear today.

There is a festive mood in thefamily in this glorious month – a ring inevery voice, a spring in every step andwhat passes for Spring ,in the air.Bagsare packed as folks head for beachesand hill resorts to shed, together withtheir inhibitions, the stresses and strainsof the year gone by and store up enoughpep for the new one ahead. There is afar-off vision of swaying palms, blueskies, summer sands and foaming seas.Indeed, “ a pool of light,a patch ofconversation, a pleasant province ofsummer`s kingdom “ There is thewind in the hair ,the gleam in the eye,the salt on the skin. There is V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N and all it connotes on the brainand the tourist map in the pocket. Thereis the luggage,and the old faithful ( notforgetting the pets ) for that trip toNever-Never Land ,off the road to Some-where. And the wheels seem to movein sync with the echo of voices recitingin unison ,in front of some distant grotto: Holy Mary….Holy Mother ofGod…Mother most pure…Virgin mostfaithful…Cause of our joy… Queen ofpeace….Queen of May…. Pray for us.

Life divides in May,

so the poets say.

The Marvellous Month Of Ma(r)y ! Bernie Tellis

1712 May 2014

The juice of the bottle gourdvegetable removes blocks inthe blood vessels of the heart

and helps regulate the heart beateffectively. People having blocks inthe blood vessels of the heart shouldconsume this juice regularly for 2months on an empty stomach in themornings. It reduces bad choles-terol and increases good choles-terol.

Consuming bottle gourd juicehas many health benefits. Thissimple vegetable is full of mineralsand water. Bottle gourd helps fightmany small problems keeping youhealthy.

Listed below are a few health ben-efits of bottle gourd juice:Bottle gourd juice is widely used for

the weight loss.It helps reduce the inflammations in

the liver and kidneys.It helps in easing the problem re-

lated to constipation. The waterand fiber in the bottle gourd makethe digestive system free and ac-tive.

Bottle gourd helps to treat urinarytract infection. Fresh bottle gourdjuice mixed with fresh lime juice isthe best remedy for the urinaryinfections.

Ancient Ayurveda says that bottlegourd prevents premature gray-ing hair. Drinking fresh bottlegourd juice in the morning on aregular basis can be very useful.

Sesame oil when mixed with bottlegourd juice helps to cure prob-lems of insomnia.

— Jubel D'Cruz, Dombivili

Did you know?

Removes blocks inthe blood vesselsThe number of Catholics in the

world and the number of priests,permanent deacons and reli-

gious men all increased in 2012, whilethe number of women in religious or-ders continued to decline, accordingto Vatican statistics.

The number of candidates for thepriesthood also showed its first globaldownturn in recent years.

The statistics come from a re-cently published Statistical Yearbookof the Church, which reported world-wide Church figures as of December31, 2012.

By the end of 2012, the worldwideCatholic population had reached 1.228billion, an increase of 14 million or 1.14per cent, slightly outpacing the globalpopulation growth rate, which, as of2013, was estimated at 1.09 per cent.

Catholics as a percentage of theglobal population remained essentiallyunchanged from the previous year ataround 17.5 per cent.

The latest Vatican statistical year-book estimated that there were about4.8 million Catholics that were not in-cluded in its survey because they werein countries that could not provide anaccurate report to the Vatican, mainlyChina and North Korea.

According to the yearbook, thepercentage of Catholics as part of thegeneral population is highest in theAmericas where they make up 63.2 percent of the continent’s population. Asiahas the lowest proportion, with 3.2 percent.

During the 2012 calendar year,there were 16.4 million baptisms ofboth infants and adults, according tothe statistical yearbook.

It said the number of bishops ofthe world stayed essentially the sameat 5,133.

The total number of priests – dioc-esan and religious – around the world

grew from 413,418 to 414,313, with amodest increase in Africa, a larger risein Asia, and slight decreases in theAmericas, Europe and Oceania. Asiasaw a 13.7 per cent growth in the num-ber of priests between 2007 and theend of 2012.

The number of permanent dea-cons reported – 42,104 – was an in-crease of more than 1,100 over theprevious year and a 17 per cent in-crease since 2007. The vast majority –more than 97 per cent – of the world’spermanent deacons live in the Ameri-cas or in Europe.

The number of religious brothersshowed 0.4 per cent growth world-wide. The number of religious brotherstotalled 55,314 at the end of 2012.Slight growth was seen everywhereexcept the Americas.

The number of women in religiousorders continued its downward trend.The total of 702, 529 temporarily andpermanently professed sisters andnuns in 2012 was a 1.5 per cent de-crease from the previous year and a 5.9per cent fall since 2007.

The number of candidates for thepriesthood – both diocesan seminar-ians and members of religious orders –who had reached the level of philoso-phy and theology studies showed itsfirst downturn since 2003. The numberof candidates dropped slightly to120,051 men at the end of 2012 ascompared to 120,616 at end of 2011.Increases were reported in the tradi-tionally vocations-rich continents ofAfrica and Asia, although the increaseswere modest; Africa reported 245 morecandidates than in 2011 and Asia re-ported 179 more men in their finalyears of study for ordination.

Vatican Statistics: Church GrowthRemains Steady Worldwide

In 2012 there were 16.4million baptisms,

according to new figures

18 12 May 2014

Time is very essential factor andwe must know time management. Time saved is time earned.

Being smart with your time doesn'tmean you do more work. It means youget smarter around the tasks that mat-ter.

Using time smartly means not fo-cusing on how busy you are but onresults. Staying an extra hour at work atthe end of the day may not be the mosteffective way to manage your time.

You have to learn what to delete,do, delegate or defer and always beaware that the three ways time getsspent is:1) thoughts, 2) conversations 3) ac-tions.

Some Interesting Facts:• 30% of time at work is spent search-

ing for lost documents.• A 10 year survey by Harvard revealed

90% of managers squander time.10% spend their time in a reflective,committed, purposeful manner.

• Office workers are interrupted at workseven times an hour, according totime management experts & 80% ofinterruptions are considered trivial.

• Unnecessary meetings cost U.S busi-nesses approximately $37 billion dol-lars a year.

• 21% of employees miss vital dead-lines through disorganisation andpoor time management.

• 80 - 85% of patients at Mayo Clinic areill directly or indirectly through emo-tional stress.

• 63% of financial advisers describethemselves to be poor in time man-agement skills.

• 70% of employees admit they workbeyond scheduled time due to notmanaging their time effectively.

Many top corporate employers sendemployees on time managementcourses.

Why?Because we all have the same

amount of hours in a day, but few of usimplement positive changes that affectthe way we approach our time. Time

waits for NO ONE, and spending yourtime efficiently can transform your life.Being anxious & disorganized is a wasteof time. Being smart with your time,frees up your brain and means you canmake better-informed decisions.

As women it's essential we let goof the constant "need to be needed"and practice supreme self care. You donot have to over explain, defend ordebate your position. Your needs arealways valid. It is essential to scheduleyour priorities from a new perspective.When you are immersed in a crazyschedule, it's easy to loose track ofwhere/how your precious time is beingspent.

Do you spend time on a task that'snot important and partly complete atask which is important, or postponeit for another occasion?

Procrastination is destructive, asin order to perform a procrastinatedtask you have to squeeze current tasksor leave other tasks unattended. If youdon't do anything about managing yourtime the outcome of your tasks may notbe of excellence. This is not due to yourskills, or knowledge, but down to poortime management.

When I was a head hunter for oneof Noel Edmonds media companies, itwas full on for everyone, and so I madeit a priority to note which of my teamarrived each day on time, completedtasks on time, created action plans,and worked in a systematic manner bymanaging their working hours effec-tively.

Here's the thing - competition is

fierce, so you need to position, pack-age and promote yourself intelligentlyand strategically. Excellent time man-agement skills helps you to presentyourself in an engaging and empower-ing way.

These top tips for time manage-ment need to be a pervasive part ofyour life as they are a set of skills andbehaviors all high achievers use on adaily basis.

Remember there is NO short cut toanyplace worth going.

• Take the first 30 minutes of each dayto schedule your day.

• Start with a time plan and six toppriorities and do not start on a newpriority until you have finished allsix. If any are uncompleted, roll overto the next day. Always keep to six ata time.

• If you are an entrepreneur you cannoteliminate interruptions, however theantidote to overload treadmill is set-ting boundaries, which will help yougain control, and shed stress. Re-mind yourself constantly to main-tain your boundaries.

• The skill you need to make changesand break out of poor time manage-ment is the same one you use to fuelthe achievement track, self -disci-pline.

• Disconnect instant messaging.• Take five minutes before each call

and task to decide what result youwant to attain. Take five minutesafter each call to determine if yourdesired result was achieved.

• Plan to spend 50% of your time en-gaged in thoughts, actions and con-versations that will produce results.

• Schedule appointments with your-self for top priority thoughts, conver-sations and actions and be disci-plined enough to stick with theseappointments.

• Remember if you don't take care ofyou, how can you take care of busi-ness?

Creativity is a precursor to innovation,so if you want to remain innovative, youneed to "get smart with your time"

How Smart Are You With Your Time?

1912 May 2014

InspirInspirInspirInspirInspiration!ation!ation!ation!ation! Lessons On LifeThere was aman who hadfour sons. Hewanted his sonsto learn not tojudge things tooquickly. So he sent them each on aquest, in turn, to go and look at a peartree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, thesecond in the spring, the third in sum-mer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and comeback, he called them together to de-scribe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly,bent, and twisted.

The second son said no it was coveredwith green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it wasladen with blossoms that smelled sosweet and looked so beautiful, it wasthe most graceful thing he had everseen.

The last son disagreed with all of them;he said it was ripe and drooping withfruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sonsthat they were all right, because theyhad each seen but only one season inthe tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge atree, or a person, by only one season,and that the essence of who they areand the pleasure, joy, and love thatcome from that life can only be mea-sured at the end, when all the seasonsare up.

If you give up when it's winter, you willmiss the promise of your spring, thebeauty of your summer, fulfillment ofyour fall.

Moral:Don't let the pain of one season destroy

the joy of all the rest.Don't judge life by one difficult season.Persevere through the difficult patches

and better times are sure to come some-time or later.

—Agnelo Rodrigues

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There is no life as complete as thelife that is lived by choice.

There may be a thousand littlechoices in a day. All of them count.

Whatever you choose, you might aswell enjoy it. It is your choice.

When you have a problem, make achoice…you’ll feel better.

If you’d like to know what yourchoices have been, look at your-self and the life you have lived.What you see is the choices you’vemade.

Who knows what you could accom-plish in life if you made more of theright choices along the way?

Some people choose to live by com-plaining. Other people choose tolive.

You cannot manage your life if youdo not manage your self. You can-not manage your self if you do notmanage your choices. Manageyour choices, and you will manageyour life.

Learning what to choose, and howto choose, may be the most impor-tant education you will ever re-ceive.

The choices we make in the heat ofemotion would be better if left forsome other day.

Listen to the quietest whispers ofyour mind. They are telling you thechoices that will help you the most.

Even the best of choices is only asstrong as the choices that stand byits side.

It is the big choices we make that setour direction. It is the smallestchoices we make that get us to thedestination.

Each day that passes, your choiceswill come and go. They are likediamonds in a chest of jewels, eachwaiting to be discovered.

Those who choose to succeed al-ways do better than those whonever choose at all.

Make Choices Carefully In Life

No one else can ever make yourchoices for you. Your choicesare yours alone. They are as

much a part of you as every breath youwill take, every moment of your life

You may think that in life, a lot ofthings happen to you along the way.The truth is, in life, you happen to alot of things along the way.

Choosing to live your life by your ownchoice is the greatest freedom youwill ever have.

It is only when you exercise your rightto choose that you can also exer-cise your right to change.

It is your programming that has cre-ated your choices in the past. It isthe choices you make today that arecreating the programs of your fu-ture.

If you were given only one choice: Tochoose or not to choose, whichwould you choose?

The choices we make by accident arejust as important as the choices wemake by design.

Another person’s choice is nothingmore than another alternative foryou to consider.

20 12 May 2014

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22 12 May 2014

other things, that the feedback indi-cated that no survey involving the fami-lies had been conducted, and express-ing the laity’s disappointment at thesame. This letter was circulated to mygroup on 24th April. In the interim Ireceived another response fromMumbai also stating that a question-naire had been received but not an-swered, for reasons similar to what Ihave already stated. Cardinal Graciasagain replied on 24th April reiteratingthat the matter has been forwarded tothe CCBI (Latin Rite) Family Commis-sion, and that the Synod Secretariat (inRome?) was dealing directly with theOriental Churches (Syro-Malabar andSyro Malankara Rites)

BOMBAY SURVEY: At about this timewe also received information that theQuestionnaire had been put up on theDiocesan website, and published inthe largely circulated diocesan weekly“The Examiner”. Bp Angelo Graciascandidly admitted that there was not asingle response to the Questionnaire!This raises two very fundamental ques-tions: (ii) Was there a mismatch be-tween the Questionnaire’s content andthe respondents to whom it was ad-dressed? (ii) Was this a case of deliber-ate obfuscation?

THE INSIDE STORY: I recently met abishop who is a close friend. We dis-cussed several issues for over an hour.I asked him about the Questionnaire.This is what he had to say: He hadreceived the Questionnaire with theinstructions that it had to be replied toin 15 days. The bishop (a very sincereperson) declined for the following rea-sons: (i) There was not enough time totranslate it into Hindi, the local lan-guage, disseminate it, and then collatethe response (ii) Several of the ques-

tions relating to homosexuality, samesex marriages etc are non-issues inIndia.

On my persistence I was told thatthe Family Survey was NOT discussedby the CBCI (supra-ritual body) duringits Plenary Assembly in Palai in Febru-ary. However, it was raised by someLatin Rite bishops at their meeting ofthe CCBI, but nothing concreteemerged.

CONCLUSION: If several countries likeJapan, Germany, England, etc couldconduct the Survey in the stipulatedtime frame , why was it not done inIndia, more so when one of the Pope’shandpicked group of eight advisors ishere, and was at the time heading boththe CBCI and CCBI ? Does this notamount to disrespect for Pope Francis’sstated intentions? Does it also notamount to betrayal of the aspirations ofthe laity in India, and its families whoare the Domestic Church? Has therebeen a deliberate cover up, to avoidfacing embarrassing questions; andpresenting a rosy, but grossly distortedpicture, to Rome? Unfortunately, the

Catholic Church in India, and the uni-versal Church, are the poorer for this.

It is worth pointing out that whenthe Vatican organizes a Year for Priestsor a Year for Faith, then the entirechurch apparatus goes into overdriveto organize a yearlong campaign, withprayer cards etc. However, when some-thing is aimed at the families (laity) thenit is treated much too casually, almostscornfully.

In the circumstances the enlight-ened lay leaders of India are left with nooption but to organize their very ownNational Consultation on Catholic Fami-lies, and forward the findings to Rome,and to empathetic organizations in dif-fered parts of the world like CCRIL. It isalso their duty to expose the fraud andbetrayal of the Catholic hierarchy ofIndia. It would have been one of its bestkept secrets, had it not been for aseemingly innocuous report in thePress, that this writer took up in rightearnest.

DISCLAIMER: The averments madein this report are based on inputs re-ceived from various sources, and be-lieved to be true.

(Contd.. from p. 5)

Feedback On Family Survey In India

Kerala Health Department launches'Dial a Doctor' service

The Health Department islaunched a ‘Dial a Doctor’ service,which will enable the public to seekhealth-related advice over phoneround-the-clock from doctors, by di-alling a toll-free number.

The service is being made avail-able to the public through thedepartment’s call centre, Disha, whichcan be accessed through the phonenumber 1056.

The caller can seek advice fromdoctors on health-related issues, first-aid, vaccination and so on. A selectedpanel of 74 doctors from various spe-cialties have been set up to help the

Health Department deliver this ser-vice. At least eight doctors will beavailable on a given day to answerqueries.

As this is the examination sea-son, a separate panel of 10 psycholo-gists will specially answer calls fromchildren on dealing with exam-relatedstress and on their other concerns.

The calls will be handled by 21-trained counsellors who will route thecalls to the doctors judiciously.

The project is being managedby the National Health Mission, withtechnical support from Technopark-based firm OrisysIndia ConsultancyServices.

2312 May 2014 2312 May 2014

Thrissur: Lay people should not inindulge in party politics only to createconfusion and acrimony among Chris-tians, says Cardinal GeorgeAlencherry.

“Laity should enter politics to servehumanity working for the welfare oftheir brethren in all communities,” saidthe head of the Syro Malabar Churchwhile opening the Thrissur unit of theCatholic Congress on Monday.

The cardinal clarified that althoughthe Catholic Church does not indulgein party politics, it encourages its laymembers to join politics and strive toassume leadership roles in the coun-try. “The laity is part of the Church andthey have to have politics,” he added.

However, the laity should not engagein party politics to mislead Christians.They should join political parties touse their leadership roles to work forthe welfare of humanity, the cardinalsaid.

The head of more than 5 million Orien-tal Catholics said the Catholic Churchdoes not work for just one particularcommunity in any country. It works forharmony and unity among people ofall communities wherever it exists, thecardinal added.

Archbishop Andrews Thazahath ofTrichur presided over the meeting thatwas attended among others by BishopFranco Mulakkal of Jalandhar, a na-tive of Thrissur.

Lay People Should Enter PoliticsTo Serve Others: Cardinal Alencherry

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24 12 May 2014

Published on every Monday & Posted on Monday & Tuesday of every weekPosted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office, Mumbai - 400001.RNI No. 56987/92 Registered No. MH/MR/South-139/2012-14

24 12 May 2014

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