It's a Karnataka Jesuit Scholastic's Venture

2. DECEMBER 2015DECEMBER 2015 Writers’ ForumWriters’ Forum0202
EDITORIALEDITORIAL
Vishwas Misquith SJVishwas Misquith SJ
he cry of intolerance is resounding in our
ears. The horror of fundamentalism both in
TIndia and around the world, especially
'ISIS' in Iraq and Syria, is troubling our peace. The
tradition of black money and corruption in India is
ruining the developmental works of our nation. This
also results in a wide gap between the rich and the
poor. The cry of our dear mother earth is unheard.
Pollution keeps increasing, causing high
temperatures and turbulence in the weather; natural
calamities keep increasing. And much more is
happening around us,
disturbing us from all the
four corners of the world.
And in this background
we are going to celebrate
the birthday of our dear
Lord Jesus – 'Prince of
Peace', 'Saviour of the
World', 'Ray of Hope to
theHopeless'.
H o w d o w e
address and face the
challenges of the world
as we gear up for the
solemn celebration of
Christmas? That remains
a question. The call to be
instruments of peace and love in this war- stricken
world is a challenging call and no one dares to
challenge these conflicting situations. And on the
other hand the world longs for peace. Today Jesus
calls and appoints us to be 'Saviours' in the
challenging situations of our lives and the lives of
others. Can we be the bearers of peace in our own
houses/communitiesandneighbourhood?
We are all called to be 'Saviours' in this
world, especially during this Christmas. 'Saviours',
to the people suffering and suffocating from the
different problems of the world. Can we practice the
beautiful prayer of St Francis of Assisi, of being an
instrument of peace, to spread love where there is
hatred, to bring pardon for the injured, to deepen the
faith when doubt arises, to be a sign of hope to those
in despair, to be light to those in darkness, and to be
joytothoseinsadness?
L e t t h i s
Christmas be a
special one to all of
us of being a
saviour to those in
need, those who
long for love, peace
and harmony, those
who are mislead by
the desires of the
w o r l d , v i z .
corruption, drugs
a n d w o r l d l y
p l e a s u r e s ,
p r o t e c t i n g t h e
mother earth -
p r o t e c t i n g h e r
r i g h t s , a n d
especially to the
poor and the homeless. So that when Jesus comes
again in his glory may see his dream of kingdom of
God fulfilled.
This issue of Christmas is on the theme 'Saviour in
today'sWorld'.Wishingyou happyreading.
We wish you all a joy-filled Christmas and a
prosperous New Year.

3. CHRISTMASCHRISTMAS
Lancy Fernandes SJLancy Fernandes SJ
hristmas of today is romanticized and
sentimentalized. The culture of sending
CChristmas cards though is becoming less,
shows sanitized cribs, well cleaned stables, soft hay,
clean swaddling clothes and well dressed parents.
Was it so systematically arranged? How can
Christmas make sense to this modern technological
world of today? How can it be communicated to this
generation? We need to look at Christmas in the
media ethos, namely in the
language of communication
andsocialnetworking.
God began his
network of dialogue
(relationship) with us
through nature and the
creation of the first humans.
But then this network of
dialogue encountered
several constraints because
of a barrier called sin that led
to lack of adequate signals
from above. Thus God and
humans lost the eternal
connectivity (relationship)
that was open from creation.
But then God from his side,
sent several linesmen like
the prophets, the judges and
people filled with the Spirit to repair these broken
lines of dialogue. Yet they were not efficient enough
to restore the connectivity of signals. There was a
need for a major restoration project. God felt that the
best solution would be to meet the issue face-to-face.
Thus he opted for an 'incarnational dialogue' with
humansratherthanthroughanelectronicgadget.
TheDepth ofGod'sDialogue:
The word 'dialogue' comes from the Greek word
(dia+logos = Word across). This can be understood
as Word (Logos) coming across to us. Christ's
coming broke the barriers created by sin and
smoothened the lines of communication between
God and humans, thus truly indicating that there can
be nothing greater, more intimate relationship
(communication) between two persons than by his
becoming one like us - a
lesson for us toliveby.
The Christmas carols we
sing flow from the joy of
c e l e b r a t i n g G o d ' s
threefold dialogue with
us: a dialogue of love, of
s a c r i f i c e a n d o f
simplicity.
a) Dialogue of love –
Only love can explain
how a master can serve a
slave, a king his subject
and the creator his
creature. God, out of his
great love, wanted to be
one with us in love (Jn 3:
16).Thus this dialogue of
love was of great risk for
the Almighty, because
loveinvolvesrisk.
b) Dialogue of sacrifice – Jesus did not mind
leaving his honour and prestige for our sake (Phil 2:
6-11). This dialogue involved pain and animosity.
God knew that the world would not recognize him
easily, yet he took the plunge to come closer to us so
astomakeus His own.
0303 Writers’ ForumWriters’ Forum
THE CELEBRATION OF GOD'S TRIPTYCH
DIALOGUE WITH HUMAN BEINGS
THE CELEBRATION OF GOD'S TRIPTYCH
DIALOGUE WITH HUMAN BEINGS
DECEMBER 2015DECEMBER 2015

4. c) Dialogue of simplicity – He could have chosen a
palace to be born in when coming into this world.
But he chose a manger to tell us that greatness before
God is not in having status or power or wealth, but in
possessing the power of love. Simplicity of God was
God's option to side with the poor, the less
privileged and the ignored lot. By this he restored
the sacredness of human dignity and assured that
God sees the heart of
the poor that is always
dependent on Him
rather than the ones
that are busy in
building a life of
c o m f o r t a n d
s o p h i s t i c a t e d
technology.
Yes, through this
triptych of dialogue he
meant to renew the
relationship with us
andhis creation.
ChristmasToday:
Today Christ needs to
be the focus of our
celebration. Santa
needs to become like
John the Baptist,
giving the centre-stage to Christ.This is very evident
today as most non-Christians think it is Santa's b'day.
The birthday baby whom we need to admire and
emulateseemstobeforgotten.
Christ is not going to be born again during
Christmas. Therefore cribs and decorations are not
thefocusof Christmas.
They are helps to create an atmosphere of
celebration of God's goodness to us through the
triptych dialogue. We need to gain inspiration from
the silent dialogue of God for our life. The mystery
of incarnation in Christmas reminds us how we can
be renewed to be Christ-like in the world through
our self-sacrifice, unconditional love and joy of
simplicityoflife.
Christmas should be
a season of renewing
relationships at the core.
Relationships today have
distorted the understanding
of agreement. Dialogue
between couples has come
down to the minimum.
Christmas is a time to
renew our age-old way of
f a c e - t o - f a c e
communication which has
become less attractive
today. Social media and
mobiles have created more
barriers to intimacy than
being helps to build
relationships.
“The human person
is both the event and locus
of God's self-communication (dialogue) in Jesus
Christ,” says Karl Rahner. Through this dialogue,
God offered divine life and divine qualities to
humanity to live by. He became God in a human way
and human in a divine way by his self- giving and
self-revelation.Are we ready to imbibe the message
oftheTriptychdialogueof Christmas?
0404 Writers’ ForumWriters’ Forum
Lancy Fernandes SJLancy Fernandes SJContd. from pg. 3Contd. from pg. 3
CHRISTMASCHRISTMAS
THE CELEBRATION OF GOD'S TRIPTYCH
DIALOGUE WITH HUMAN BEINGS
THE CELEBRATION OF GOD'S TRIPTYCH
DIALOGUE WITH HUMAN BEINGS
DECEMBER 2015DECEMBER 2015

5. ears ago Fr Lancy D'Souza, of a certain
diocese in North India had to travel back
Yto his mission place from Mangalore
central railway station via Mumbai. He boarded the
Matsyagandha Express. His tickets were confirmed.
He felt within himself a kind of fear of travelling.
Meanwhile he received a call on his mobile of his
friend priest of Mangalore diocese who requested
him not to travel since an important programme was
arranged in the city. Fr Lancy walked back to his
house. On his way back he regretted for cancelling
the tickets. He could not understand why he felt a
great relief in
cancelling his
tickets. The next
morning as he
woke up he found
many missed
calls in his mobile
and an SMS that
read, “Please
watch any news
channel.” The
news was “Matsyagandha Express derails; 14
dead”.
I was in a remote mission station for my
Christmas ministry. I left no stone unturned to make
the celebration a memorable one to the people. The
church was shining with colourful lights.
Everything was set ready. The church was full with
the faithful. It was 11:45pm and we were about to
begin the vigil Mass. My choir members were eager
to sing the entrance hymn. Suddenly the electricity
went off. Everything came to a standstill. We had no
other alternative power suppliers. All were quiet. I
was sitting near a window, desperate within myself
astowhattodo.
I saw the full moon shining brightly and shedding
his light on us through the windows. I asked the
people to open the windows widely. In such a silence
a month-old child cried loudly. Our choir began the
entrance hymn Silent Night. A true Christmas
indeed!
We have burdened ourselves with external
pomp. Our external sounds of Christmas have
engulfed us. I may be mistaken in generalizing but
truth is that we spend minimum time in listening to
our inner voice in the month of December. We
strongly believe
t h a t e x t e r n a l
p r e p a r a t i o n s
would help us in
i n t e r n a l
preparation. Why
can it not be other
wayround?
Today we are
challenged with
many external
forces. We are afraid of speaking aloud our religious
convictions. Every new rule and project of the
government is motivated by polarization. We find
clouds surrounding us and curtailing our freedom to
liveandtoprofess our faith.
Our Christmas can be meaningful if Christ is
realized in our day-to-day activities. Advent is not a
time for just waiting. It is a time of waiting for us.We
need to come back to ourselves. We need to realize
that our inner voice is more important than the
external voices. He wants a place to be born in us. He
wants us to be simple in our hearts. Let our hearts be
readytowelcomeHim.
0505 Writers’ ForumWriters’ Forum
LET EVERY HEART
PREPARE HIM ROOM
LET EVERY HEART
PREPARE HIM ROOM Anush D’Cunha SJAnush D’Cunha SJ
DECEMBER 2015DECEMBER 2015

6. What is life? It is a mystery. The famous
Philosopher Gabriel Marcel would define mystery as
that thing which I am part of. Life is definitely part of
me. At times it thrills, at times it satisfies, at times it
showcases the greatest of my gifts while at some
other times it even pins me down or hangs me upon
my weaknesses. Life is that which ushers itself in
with a cry and takes its leave with a moan. All this
giveslifeitsmeaning.
Life is popularly associated with movement,
for that which
does not move
is suspected to
b e d e a d .
Science also
upholds the
l a y m a n ' s
notion of life as
a c t i v i t y .
Bishop Fulton
Sheen would
go one step
f u r t h e r i n
defining life as
an immanent activity.The lowest forms of beings are
minerals and chemicals formed deep inside the
earth. Needless to say they that are part of the
mineral kingdom, belong to the non-living. To these
activity is supplied from outside. For living things
activity is supplied from within. A plant grows from
within. It has the power of generation, it can grow
mysteriously by itself and it can nourish itself. But a
plant is made to remain fixed in one place. The
greater the immanent activity, the greater is the life.
An animal has a higher life than a plant, the beast has
a fuller life than the grass it eats, so also does the bird
thanthepollenitgathers.
Therefore animals have a twofold immanent
activity, one of movement and the other of sense
perception.Butanimalsarebound by theirinstincts.
Moving one step higher in the hierarchy of
all created things is the creation of human beings.
Humans have a higher immanence, namely of
thinking and willing. What makes human life
special is the capacity for knowledge and for love.A
thought in the mind of a human being is equally
spiritual as is the activity of an animal towards
generating its
kind. The Psalmist
has wonderfully
said that life
c o n s i s t s i n
k n o w l e d g e .
Others are doomed
t o s a m e n e s s ;
humans on the
other hand are
g i f t e d w i t h
creativity. Above
all things, we have
the capacity to
commune with the Ultimate that is good, true and
beautiful. A stone will fall according to the law of
gravity, an animal will be a slave to its instincts
whereas a human being has got the capacity to make
a free choice: to do or not to do a thing. This choice
comes from within. We are co-creators. We have the
capacity to choose something as our food, the power
to harness the waterfall, even to treat nature as we
like. But how can we become perfect? Neither
minerals, nor plants nor animals nor even human
beings can be looked up to as models of perfection.
Perfect life is that which is free and independent of
everythingelse.Thatis whatIwould callGod.
THE GIFT OF LIFETHE GIFT OF LIFE
Ryan Rodrigues SJRyan Rodrigues SJ
0606 Writers’ ForumWriters’ ForumDECEMBER 2015DECEMBER 2015

7. Life is God's greatest gift to us and what we
do out of it is our gift, given back to God. The glory
of God is man and woman, fully human and fully
alive, happy and holy. Life is full of experiences and
the only thing that we have to do is to pursue these
experiences awaiting us. That is immanence. Don't
we find it so very meaningful?Yes, Life is wonderful
andworth living.
The month of December is special for us
Christians. We celebrate God who came and pitched
his tent among us. He chose to live among us. This is
the mystery of the incarnation. By taking human
nature upon Himself, the second person of the
Trinity laid aside his divine prerogative to sanctify
us, to save us and to redeem us. The human body is
therefore not a thing to be despised; rather it's a
temple of the Holy Spirit. As we celebrate the birth
of our Saviour we celebrate the gift of life in all its
fullness. Let us cherish this gift and live it to the full.
MerryChristmas!
0707 Writers’ ForumWriters’ Forum
JESUS OUR SAVIOURJESUS OUR SAVIOUR
Arun Lobo SJArun Lobo SJ
Contd. from pg. 6Contd. from pg. 6
Jesus, you are our holy Saviour
You came down to transform our career
You are always very near
We can find you in the
poor.
For us, Jesus, you were
born
You were made to
wear the crown of
thorns
Your life was of one
marked to die
After your death
millions cried.
You're at our side through times
good and bad
You are with us when we are
happy and sad
All we need is to see you
though in poverty clad.
We brought along no
gold or silver
Save ourselves, but
found the empty manger.
Help us to see you in a
stranger
And proclaim that you're our Saviour.
THE GIFT OF LIFETHE GIFT OF LIFE
Ryan Rodrigues SJRyan Rodrigues SJ
DECEMBER 2015DECEMBER 2015

8. “Christmas, my child,
is love in action.
Every time we love, every
time we give,
it’s Christmas”
“Christmas, my child,
is love in action.
Every time we love, every
time we give,
it’s Christmas”
PEARLSPEARLS
0909 Writers’ ForumWriters’ Forum
Dale EvansDale Evans
JosephMartinSJJosephMartinSJ
DECEMBER 2015DECEMBER 2015