Hi Friends

Shamelessly I’ve turned my back and burried my sketches for more than 100 days. Many things have happened in these long grace filled days. It’s true that the workload has been rather heavy and demanding over the past couple of months finding myself hushing up and patching up my final works especially with the thesis. Otherwise I have no other reason to justify my negligence.

Among many other things, I know I should have sketch it atleast the visit of my companion priest Fr. Stanis from Luven, Belgium - 26^th to 29^th March.  We had such a wonderful break from our studies. We manage to even make a trip to Loreto. And then the visit of Fr. Samuel Kapani from Innsbrugh, Austria -, 26^th April to 1^st May.  We had a wonderful time. We even manage to make a dashing visit to Florence with Srs. Kainee Rose and Irene Mizo on 29^th April. We witness the great moment of the beatification of John Paul II on 1^st May which we participated among the flowing sea of people with great emotion and awe.  

A wonderful get together with the 14 bishops of the region of Northeast India at Collegio San Pietro on 8^th May was a homely experience. And finally, I could be guilty of negligence if I don’t make a special reference to the meeting with the Holy Father Benedict XVI on 12^th May during the Ad limina visit of the bishops. This, I must admit was a unique experience and blessing to be able to see him and talk to him personally and receive his blessings.

Now the last days in the school are fast approaching which means I have to be preparing for the term exams and more importantly being the last year of the license I have to also defend it. I’m sure I am in your prayers and I am immensely grateful for this great faith I have in you.

A Day at San Giovanni Rotondo

It will be a great omission not to visit the Shrine of Padre Pio especially if you are in Italy. In fact, the statistics showed that it is the second most visited shrine in the world. It is located at San Giovanni Rotondo in south Italy. I took an opportunity to be there on 4^th February 2011. This was a wonderful pilgrimage especially in the company of my friend Anna Menghi and three others (Piera, Roberta & Alessandro). We had rather a long drive of nearly 4 hours from Macerata and spent the entire day which included participation at the mass, visit to the tomb of Padre Pio, his living cell, the crucifix of the stigmata, etc. and came back in the evening.

Santa Maria delle Grazie is the Church built during Padre Pio’s own life time. The way of the cross with the statue of Padre Pio at the base and the figure of the resurrected Christ at the top end reflects the serenity of the place. The new Padre Pio Pilgrimage Church is magnificent in its modern architectural grandeur. The interior decorum is a wonder by itself. It’s a wonderful place to spend a day of recollection.  

THE IRRESISTIBLE ATTRACTION

It sounds funny though, but get yourself back as a three or four year old boy or girl and watch yourself how you used to measure the height, wrists, hands, legs and compare it with your dad’s and mum’s and brothers, sisters or friends. I did it a lot. The desire to be an adult, wanting to be like dad/mum or the older guys is just irresistible. This applies also to imitations. This desire to be older seemed to continue to grow even stronger unto late teenage years. Every New Year gives you HOPE to the imagined liberation, if you agree to what I intend is acceptable. The only problem is that the year comes so slow and so late. The waiting can be excruciating for the little ones to go out to see the world and especially for those whose days at school are not so kind.

But get to any older guys and you see just the contrary. How one wish that the year be little longer and slower, for he thinks that a year has just began and another year has come in so fast and he is so conscious that a year is been reduced from his stipulated life span. So he is sad that a new year has come in to take away part of him.

This play of human behaviour sometimes intrigues me. On the one hand the irresistible attraction to move forward as the young do and the defined resistance of the old in facing the reality of time on the other.

I can gather only one conclusion to it. If there is no GOD and if there is nothing to hope for, this outright resistance is bound to persist. In a sense, time is God. If you are conscious of time, you are conscious of God. And if you are conscious of God, you appreciate the value of time.

Let us Welcome the Year 2011 gratefully. Because if we are young there is so much to grow and if we are older there is so much to offer.

Guys, Have A Wonderful Time At The Thanksgiving And The Welcoming Of The New Year 2011.

SHUT HIM OUT OR PULL HIM IN

It is two days away from celebrating the grand Birth Day and everyone is on high as it should be. And I am here trying to be good or that is what you think by doing some good acts of charity: to make few courtesy calls, say hi to few people around or whatever. And there you go. Going around the neighborhood, you meet a mother struggling with two growing disabled teenagers and a sick husband preparing to undergo a surgery with a tumor in the stomach, and you are expected to wish them to have a wonderful Christmas Celebrations. You enter into another house and here is a couple practically incapacitated, the husband immobile for the last seven years, neither can he move his lips to speak nor make himself comfortable on the bed to sleep. All he has is his eyes to communicate. And the wife seated on the wheel chair for the last five years with paralytic legs and broken hands. But you are there to wish them and the daughter who nurses them all the very best for the joyful celebrations. This must be a great joke. 

I am not been pessimistic or have any intention to be sentimental. I just see my situation, my helplessness and uselessness in these situations. I can avoid it and go about as though these realities don’t exist and preach wonderful Christmas sermons. But I felt a real sense of fulfillment- taking Jesus in the Holy Communion to these people, to be able to accompany them in a little way - to help them to put themselves in the place of Jesus – who was helpless, hopeless and lost on the cross and at the stable. Christmas for them will be to be able to be Jesus in some sense – totally dependent on others and for those who care will be an opportunity to be with the human face of Jesus. In this sense, we still have lots of rooms for Jesus at Christmas. You shut him out or pull him in. This will be our Christmas CHOICE.

Wishing you guys A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS from me, my table and chair.

HE COMES, COMES EVER COMES

Santa Claus comes, comes ever comes, steals into our houses at Christmas eve to leave gifts for the children and disappears. God bangs into our houses and leaves the Baby Jesus in our homes. He comes, comes ever comes in to stay. He won disappear like the Santa Claus. He shamelessly finds his home in our homes. That’s the difference between the two. So, what do you do with him, who comes to stay? Throw him out - tolerate him or celebrate him? This will be the theme of my reflections for this year’s Christmas. What do you think about it? What’s your take? Let us begin our Novena and think about it.

I bet you won’t throw him out - tolerating is indifference, its worse. I guess you will find a good room for HIM – the first time he found Himself in a manger. I do not think he enjoyed it.

A FURIOUS SERMON

I know guys are wondering why I am not making any entries in recent past and I got no reason to justify. I was out to a little parish in Central Italy for the first Sunday Advent Mass and you can expect the old traditional advent homilies … things like waiting… expecting… hoping or whatever and then the expected boring explanations over the dry theological and biblical exegesis. Let me tell you what? This old fashioned priest unexpectedly came up with a surprise and disturbing questions. After having described the horrible things going on around the world, he asked the most sensible question: what am I refusing to expect? What am I refusing to see? What are you allowed to expect? Do you pretend to have solutions to all the problems? Who is playing the game? Well, I rather leave everyone with the same soul searching question: what is wrong out there? Who is responsible for the hopeless situation around? Don’t tell me that God has changed his mind. He made one foolish decision and he will honour it, he will not change, never. He will honour HIS - I am not sure of MINE.

Listening to Kelly Clarkson “Because of you” I am sadly thinking of a family, crumbling in their relationship and wandering why so many such promising families get crushed - because they refused to see… see what? I guess there is a CAUSE and I am praying that you SEE.

… isn’t it troubling? Listen to the video music

My Youngest Pal On Line

Miryam is my youngest online pal. We regularly video chat or discuss over the phone about our school day activities. She is in the scuola materna. She sometimes asks me to sing to her some of my rhymes. She always shows off hers. Today she is two years old. BUON COMPLEANO MIMI.

I will be forwarding this video clip @mimi.it and discuss about it later in the evening. Where is technology taking us anyway?