Why EXERCISES do not CHANGE us deeply?

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1 Persons of Depth: Contemplatives in Action The Clash of a Wounded Civilization Army hierarchies vs. Social networks Why EXERCISES do not CHANGE us deeply?

2 Footprints Walking into the Future My dear Friends, Birthdays are a time for nostalgia and gratitude, sharing edited recollections, leaving the unedited ones to be sanitised by a copy-editor. I can t, of course, really share 76 years even if there was a captive audience to inflict it on. A minute a year would precipitate walkout, and a blink a year it would need a Kathakali interpreter. A memoir might be completed for posthumous publication. However, I thought I d sum up my life in an image: walking into the future. Walking is the myth I live by. It s not an image of a settler in a comfort-zone, but rather one who comforts the discomforted and discomforts the comfortable, as Galbraith once challenged young graduates It s my personal myth of walking at the margins, though not as a scapegoat, the homo sacer of Agamben, sacrificed by his people for communal peace, but homo ambulans, critical of the establishment status quo, trying to be constructive even at the risk of being seen as destructive, hopefully not cynical but creative. If I can t beat them never joining them opportunistically but striving to remain, not the last man standing, but the one still walking into the future. For I believe this earth was meant for us to walk on, not lie under, not until one exits. The prayer I make, the blessing I seek is to stay the course: I want to walk this earth as Jesus did, making a difference, bringing wholeness and hope, forgiveness and healing to a bruised and broken world; helping to fulfil hidden promises deep in peoples heart s, to be what we were always meant to be; walking with friends and companions, with soul-mates and fellow-travellers, with wayfarers on the way. And when I must, walking alone with my absent-god, echoing in my heart Tagore s haunting song Êkla Chôlo Re, Êkla Chôlo Re (Walk Alone, Walk Alone), but always and everywhere walking with hope, daring the future, which is already now but not fully yet. Walk me into your future, O my God! and you wayfarer, will walk with me? be friend and companion, soul-mate and guide? Rudi Heredia 3 June 2017

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31 our common home We are born, we live and we die in the bosom of Mother Earth. It is in the Lord of Creation that we live, move and have our being (Act.17:28). Our links and dependence on Creation and to the Lord of Creation is life-long and total. We exist in Our common home God s Creation. Pope Francis highlighted and brought into focus this omnipresence of Creation and the Lord of Creation in our lives and Faith. He chose the name of Francis Assisi who communed with the Lord in His Creation. His comprehensive Encyclical Laudato Si presents our role in Our common home. The very first chapter of Laudato Si is about What is happening to our common home. Earth is Our common home, with all that a home signifies; it is common, common to all all created beings. He explores the reality of Our common home today. The picture that emerges is sad. Unbridled consumption and pursuit to maximize profits at all cost by some are leading Our common home to destruction. Pope Francis, a man of great faith and hope, urges all of us all people of good will - to reverse our march towards self-destruction. Laudato Si expounds the human and Biblical foundations of our God-given Mission to care and nurture Our common home. If the simple fact of being human moves people to care for the environment of which they are a part, Christians in their turn realize that their responsibility within creation, and their duty towards nature and the Creator, are an essential part of their faith. (LS.64) Pope Francis invites all Christians to an ecological conversion, whereby the effects of their encounter with Jesus Christ become evident in their relationship with the world around them. Living our vocation to be protectors of God s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience. (LS.217) Rappai Poothokaren, SJ The author is a former Director of Gurjarvani centre for communication and currently an environmental activist at Sevasi, Vadodara. JIVAN began with a colourful page entitled Green Cover ; from now on the page will be Our common home - embracing the whole of Creation. In the widest sense, the page would embrace all that refers to our Mother Earth. In a more focussed sense, it could cover all that enlightens, enhances and ennobles life in Our common home. Experiences, happenings, information, reflections, stories, poems that enhance the quality of life in Our common home could be matter for this JIVAN page. Jivan is happy to invite people to contribute articles to this page around 400 words, with 3-4 good quality (around 1 MB size) digital photos related to the matter. Kindly send the matter for this page to Fr. Rappai Poothokaren, SJ on rappaisj@gmail.com. - Editor, JIVAN

32 JIVAN NEWS AND VIEWS OF JESUITS IN INDIA, July No. of Pages 32 including cover R.N.I. New Delhi No. GUJENG/2001/5676 RNP No. AND/320/ Licensed to Post Without Prepayment Up to Published on 8 th of the Month, Date of Posting: 10 th of the Month, Posted at Anand H.O. The Road not taken Fr. Rutilio Grande, SJ Fr. Rutilio Grande did not want to bring the Church to the people. He wanted them to become the Church. - Andrea Perla, San Salvador's canonization department. Those who have heard of Fr. Rutilio Grande SJ, usually associate him with the conversion of Archbishop Oscar Romero who was killed in Very few know him as one of the crucial pioneers who took the option for the poor one step deeper. The step of living with the poor that would ultimately cost him his life! The inner journey of Fr. Rutilio Grande was known to Pope Francis, who had met him when he was a young priest. In May 2015, after Romero s beatification, Pope Francis said, Next comes Rutilio. The Spirit led Fr. Rutilio to make a deeper committment into the lives of his people by living with the poor. Central to his ministry was the call of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. His role as a priest was to look for the greatest participation possible by the least empowered members of the community. This approach would later provoke his martyrdom. The prophetic ability to hear the cry of the poor would challenge the government, the wealthy landowners and even his own church leaders. When Pope Francis made enquiries about any miracles attributed to Fr. Rutilio, the answer was no. Pope Francis replied I know of one. Bishop Romero! Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia said It is impossible to understand Romero without understanding Fr. Rutilio Grande. It is also impossible to understand Pope Francis without understanding Fr. Rutilio Grande. Fr. Lombardi, in his vote of thanks to Fr. Adolfo Nicolas during GC 36 thanked Fr. Nicolas for ushering various levels of Depth in Jesuit life be it spiritual, emotional, intellectual or collaborative. Fr. Rutilio Grande qualifies for all 4 levels. Jerry Fernandez, SJ The author is an XLRI Alumnus and currently Asst. Parish Priest at St. Xavier's college parish, Ahmedabad. Publisher s Name: Jerry Leo Sequeira, SJ, Indian, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, P.B. 70, St. Xavier s Road, Anand , Gujarat. Place of Publication: Anand, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, P.B. 70, St. Xavier s Road, Anand , Gujarat. Printer s Name: Jerry Leo Sequeira, SJ, Indian, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, P.B. 70, St. Xavier s Road, Anand , Gujarat. Editor: Vinayak Jadav, SJ.