A lamp, died out for want of oil!

Tomorrow, April 1. Besides the pranks of April fool there is something else that this particular day brings to the mind of every salesian.  April 1, 1934 the day when Don Bosco was proclaimed a saint of the Catholic Church.  Seventy seven years from his canonization, Don Bosco is one of the few most loved and known saints in the whole world, even to the extent of being quoted by the president of America. (“...Brasilia is a young city – it will turn 51 next month. But it began as a dream more than a century ago. In 1883, Dom Bosco, Brasilia’s patron saint, had a vision that one day, a capital city of a great nation would be built between the 15th and 20th parallels. It would be a model for the future and ensure that opportunity was the birthright of every Brazilian...". These were the words of Barak Obama in a discorse at Brasilia during his recent visit to the South American country. 

But what makes this saint so lovable and acceptable to everyone? What has this poor priest of Becchi done to merit so much of affection and appreciation from world over? I think a small text from the biographical memoirs sums up beautifully well the life of this great saint.

On 28 December 1887, in response to Mr. Saint-Genset’s question about Don Bosco’s health, Dr. Fissore who was attending on Don Bosco said: “Don Bosco is finished, gone, and we have no hope to save him.  He is suffering from a cardio-pulmonary ailment, he has lesions on the liver and complications of the spinal cord with consequent paralysis of the lower limbs.  He cannot talk.  His kidneys and lungs hardly work.”  When asked for the cause of Don Bosco’s sickness the doctor continued: “There is no single cause.  It is the result of general exhaustion, the result of a life worn away by unceasing work and continuous worries.  Don Bosco is simply worn out because of too much work.  He is not dying because of any particular disease, but he is like a lamp which is slowly dying for want of oil” (Biographical Memoirs, XVIII, p.424).

On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1934, Pope Pius XI declared Don Bosco a saint; the Pope styled him "a giant of sanctity."  On this day when we commemorate his canonization there is no better prayer to make other than asking God a small share of the spirit and zeal of this great champion of sanctity.  

The Transfiguration (Lexio Divina)

Tomorrow, the second Sunday of Lent, the gospel presents the scene of transfiguration. Jesus goes to the mount Tabor accompanied by his beloved disciples Peter, James and John to be transfigured. On last Sunday we heard the temptations of Jesus in the desert. The evangelists don’t speak of any disciples near Jesus at the time of his temptations. During the Passion Week we will hear again Jesus going to the mountain of Olives to pray before his agony and crucifixion. There too, there are his beloved disciples Peter, James and John, but they are fast asleep. Finally we encounter Jesus on another mountain, the mountain of Calvary abandoned by all his disciples.

In fact in the Lucan account of Transfiguration, the evangelist says: “Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory”. Naturally, the scene of transfiguration is too good to fall asleep. So even though they were tired and weary, they must have made it a point not to miss anything of the entire episode.

Often like the disciples we are happy to stay close to Jesus in moments of bliss and glory. But the true discipleship consists not only in sharing the moments of joy and happiness but also in sharing the moments of pain and agony which is a partaking of the Cross of Christ. Jesus was fully aware that his glory was not just on Tabor alone but there was a Calvary waiting for him. The call of Jesus is very clear “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”. That is how the cross becomes for the follower of Christ not simply an object of Christian faith but the badge of his discipleship, the principle by which his life is to be regulated.

May be I can ask myself, how do I respond to my daily crosses? What is my attitude towards them?

ജീവന്‍

ഇന്ന് രാവിലെ പത്രത്തില്‍ കണ്ട ഒരു വാര്‍ത്തയാണ് ഈ കുറിപ്പിന് പിന്നില്‍. അസ്ട്രളിയയിലെ ഒരു ദാമ്പതിഗള്‍ക്ക് ജനിച്ച തലച്ചോറിനു കാര്യമായ അഭാഗത ഉള്ള ഒരു കുഞ്ഞിനെ മരിക്കാന്‍ അനുവദിച്ചു കൊണ്ടുള്ള കോടതി വിധിയെപ്പറ്റി പരാമര്‍ശിക്കുന്ന ഒരു വാര്‍ത്തയായിരുന്നു അത്. വൈകല്യമുള്ള തങ്ങളുടെ കുഞ്ഞിനെ മരിക്കാന്‍ അനുവധിക്കണമെന്നു അവസ്യപ്പെട്ടുകൊണ്ട് കോടതിയെ സമിപിച്ചതും ഈ മാതാപിതാക്കള്‍ തന്നെ ആയിരുന്നു.  

വായിച്ചപ്പോള്‍ മനസ്സിലൂടെ ഒരു തിയാളി.  കാനഡയില്‍ ഒരു മരം മുരിക്കണമെങ്കില്‍ അനുവാദത്തിനായി കുറഞ്ഞത്‌ രണ്ടു മാസമെങ്കിലും കാത്തിരിക്കണം, എന്നാല്‍ ഒരു പെണ്‍കുട്ടിക്ക് തന്റെ വയറ്റില്‍ വളരുന്ന ഒരു കുഞ്ഞിനെ കൊല്ലണമെങ്കില്‍ ഇരുപതു മിനിട്ട് മതി.  ആരു ജനിക്കണം ആരു ജീവിക്കണം എന്നൊക്കെ തിരുമാനിക്കാന്‍ ആരാ നമ്മളെ ചുമതലപ്പെടുത്തിയത്? ഒരു അണ്ഡവും ബീജവും തമ്മിലുള്ള സംയോഗത്തില്‍നിന്നും  ഒരു ജീവന്‍ ഉണ്ടാകുന്നു എന്നൊക്കെ പറയാം എന്നല്ലാതെ എങ്ങനെ ഒരു മനുഷ്യകുഞ്ഞിനു, എന്തിന് ഏതാനും മണിക്കൂറുകള്‍ മാത്രം ആയുസ് ഉള്ള ഒരു ഇയാന്‍ പാറ്റക്ക് പോലും ജീവന്‍ കൊടുക്കാന്‍ പറ്റാത്ത പാവം മനുഷ്യരാണ് നമ്മള്‍.  എന്നിട്ടാണ് ഒരാളുടെ ജീവനെയും മരണത്തെയും പറ്റി വിധിതീര്‍പ്പുകള്‍ കല്‍പ്പിക്കുന്നത്. അങ്ങനെ ചിലരൊക്കെ വിധിതീര്‍പ്പുകളില്‍ എത്തിയതിന്റെ അനന്തര ഫലം നമ്മളൊക്കെ കണ്ടതാണ്. അതെ പറഞ്ഞു വരുന്നത് ആ നാസി നേതാവിനെപ്പറ്റി  തന്നെയാണ്.  ഏതാണ്ട് ആറു ലക്ഷത്തോളം യാഹൂധരെയാണ് ഒരൊറ്റ ചിന്താഗതിയുടെ പേരില്‍ കൊന്നൊടുക്കിയത്.  എന്തിന്റെയൊക്കെയോ അപായ സൂചനകള്‍ അല്ലെ ഇതെല്ലം? ഇനിയും ചരിത്രം നമ്മെ ഒന്നും പഠിപ്പിക്കുന്നില്ലേ? 

മേല്‍പ്പറഞ്ഞ പത്രക്കുറിപ്പ് വായിച്ചപ്പോള്‍ മനസ്സില്‍ തോന്നിയ ചിലത് ഒന്ന് കുറിച്ചെന്നു മാത്രം!! 

The temptations of Jesus (Lexio Divina)

Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Lent and the Gospel presents the temptations of Jesus.  Probably one of the few gospel scenes where no witnesses are present and therefore this episode with the Satan must have been narrated by Jesus himself to the disciples on a later occasion.  If so, there must a specific reason why Jesus did so.

What are temptations? Are they bad in themselves? I think temptations can be seen as a moment of crisis in the life of a person; in other terms, it is an invitation to something that goes contrary to one’s life choices.   But crisis is not something bad in itself. It depends very much on the way one prefers to treat the crisis.  If confronted well the VERY CRISIS CAN BECOME THE HOUR OF GOD.  So too the temptations!

I think all the temptations I face can be summarized in the three that Jesus confronted and overcame: to put my earthly needs before the spiritual needs; to misinterpret Scripture for personal purposes; and to compromise scriptural truth for an apparent gain. What fascinates me is the way that Jesus dealt with his temptations.  It is interesting to see that Jesus overcame his temptations always with the powerful tool of the Word of God. In all the three occasions he makes a reference to the Sacred Scriptures.  The author of the letter to the Hebrews reminds me: "The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the separation of soul and spirit, of both joint and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)  But I ask myself, “What has happened to my use of the Word of God?”  Often with my negligence and misuse and overuse, I have made of this Word of God which is as powerful as a two-edged sword, a blunt and pointless knife.  May be it is an invitation for me to take in hand my Bible and rediscover its enormous power in my daily struggle to win against the powers of evil.  

Il vero significato della verginità nella consacrazione religiosa

"Dio è bello e dolce è amarlo, e che votarsi a Lui in una vita di verginità, nella rinuncia faticosa all'amore pur desideratissimo d'una donna che sia totalmente tua per la vita, non solo è possibile, alla faccia della cultura della finta rivoluzione e liberazione sessuale, ma addirittura esaltante, perché ti moltiplica le energie, perché ti rende libero, perché ti dà la certezza d'essere amato e d'esser capace d'amare, perché impari a non metterti al centro delle relazioni, poiché il centro appartiene a Lui, la fonte dell'amore e d'ogni amore."

Ma, uno può domandare, "come tu puoi ridurre la vocazione del prete o religioso solamente alla scelta della verginità"?

"SI, sarebbe ingiusto a consistere tutto il senso della proposta vocazionale solo in questa opzione.  Ma, la verginità è davvero un simbolo che sintetizza il senso della donazione, come una sua cifra interpretativa o uno scrigno prezioso che la racchiude; ma non solo.  Ogni uomo e ogni donna, fidanzato, coniugato, padre, madre o figlio che sia, sono vergini o son chiamati a essere vergini.  Perché in ogni cuore umano vi sia uno spazio che può essere occupato solo da Dio, un'esigenza d'amore che solo l'Eterno può colmare, perché siamo creatura sua, veniamo da Lui e siamo destinati a tornare a Lui."

Cf. A. CENCINI, Qualcuno ti chiama, Lettera a chi non sa d'esser chiamato, Brescia, Queriniana, 1999, p.49.

"If the seed falls to the ground and dies ...."

Letter from Archbishop Maroun Lahham, Tunisia, published on 23 February, in memory of Fr Marek Rybinski, killed in Manouba, Friday 18 February.

Dear all,

We are still going through events here (I leave the word without an adjective). Now it is Fr. Marek, a 34 year-old Salesian, who was in Tunisia since 2007 and whose throat was cut in a store room at the Salesian school in Manouba.

The Interior Ministry has released a statement indicating that the killer was a carpenter at the school. The Salesian priests say that he had borrowed 2,000 dinars (from them) during the recent Eid three months ago,  to buy equipment for his work. It seems he spent the money on something else, the supplier refused to give him the items for which he had not paid, and Fr Marek had insisted that the money be repaid to the school. Panicking and afraid he would be found out, the statement from the Ministry of the  Interior says, "the killer took him by surprise and repeatedly clubbed him with a blunt instrument around the neck and throat, which caused his death. The killer then hid him for fear of being discovered".

Once the legal formalities have been completed, we will celebrate a Solemn Mass at the Cathedral before his body is to be returned to Poland. The day and time of the ceremony will also be published.

What can I say? Horror, sadness, anger, appalled, concerned, afraid, in doubt ... all mixed up together. Why was Fr Marek murdered? For two thousand dinars? We hardly think so. Certainly there are details that I would not know. By contrast, there are things I do know:

- I know that Fr Marek, two weeks before he was killed, had written of Tunisia and its people: "it is a young, intelligent nation, incapable of violence (sic); they are profoundly good people, not capable of hate".

- I know he had just written his first book on Tunisia where he says among other things: "During my time in Tunisia, my attitude towards my Muslim brothers has changed dramatically. The fear of terrorism and extremism has completely disappeared. Tunisians are so welcoming, friendly and warm. It is they who have taught me this attitude".

- I know he offered to volunteer for Tunisia four years ago, when he was just ordained.

- I know he had sought money from everywhere to build new premises for the school he loved and of which he was the economer (bursar).

I imagine myself faced with his killer, wanting to ask him some questions: Why did you really kill Fr Marek? And why in this barbaric way? Did not his youth and innocence inspire no sense of pity in you? Nor his physical frailty? You knocked him out with a hammer, wasn`t that enough? Did you need to cut his throat and let him swim in his own blood? How could you sleep after that? What stuff are you really made of? What religion do you profess? Are you among those who believe in God the Compassionate, the Merciful (Al Rahman Al Rahim)? How can you reconcile this crime with your faith?

Answer these questions, reassure us, reassure our paternal and fraternal hearts ... Afterwards, I promise you forgiveness. First you will have to ask forgiveness from God, then from the Catholic Church in Tunisia.

"If the seed falls to the ground and dies .... "... He fell, he died, and the example of Christ, which Fr Marek had consecrated himself to, has borne fruit. All the messages of solidarity, all the scenes of sympathy, flowers laid at the door of the Cathedral, Tunisian men and women who demonstrated outside the Cathedral chanting: "Marek, we are sorry!" Young Tunisians came to the Cathedral on Sunday 20th with flowers, tears in their eyes ... "We did not kill him", they said, "it is not Tunisia that did it ... Forgive us!" and they embraced the Sisters as they left.

Official reactions have been similar; the Prime Minister, the Ministry of the  Interior, Foreign Affairs, Labor, Education, Religious Affairs, Tourism, Arab and Foreign Ambassadors, even the Al Nahda Islamic party  .... Did it take the murder of a priest to bring about all this sympathy and affection for us? The price is very high. We greatly appreciate all these gestures of friendship, but they are not worth one drop of blood of our Marek.

And now? Well, we`re moving on. This is no time to panic, it is a time for faith, patience, precaution. Leave? No question, that difficult times are not times to run away from. I say in my own name first, and I believe I can speak on behalf of everyone from the Church in Tunisia and on behalf of all Christians in the country and I also say it to our Muslim and Jewish brothers and sisters: we will remain in this country which has accepted us, which loves us and which we in turn love. We will also remain here with you because we want to be enriched by you and by what makes you different, and we also want to offer you the values we believe in and that we try to live out, despite our weakness; values that can bring you an increase of faith and hope and confidence.

Life is stronger than death, and so is love.

+ Maroun Lahham 

Archbishop

Translation by the Editorial group (original in French)

I really wish that these words which express so beautifully well the sentiments of the people of Tunisia really bring about the conversion of the man behind this brutal killing.