A world within World

A world within world, an Ocean

A true creation in motion

Waving her might on the shore

Showing creator's mighty deeds more.

Every rhythmic turn of the tide

Tis a creator's unprecedented guide

Every wave tells a story

A story resounding God's glory.

Once my heart settled pale

Ocean encircled my heart with gale

A beauty dark and blue

made my being lark and slew

Nature's nakedness on play

a wicked beauteous display

Every sparkle of water shine forth

my thirsty being well worth.

Fibre of my being prickled

Every emotions in me tickled

Me euphoric in the cloud with ecstasy 

Until I egressed from buoyant fantasy. 

Poem inspired looking at the Atlantic Ocean at Barbados

Photo: Same place 

Betrayal

Betrayal

If Judas had lived longer,

(and not simply hanged himself or

become an forlorn exile)

or if he had abandoned

his conscience forever, selling it with

those thirty shining pieces of silver—

he would have become, in all probability

a very successful politician.

He would have sold scores

of saviours, grew rich and

a millionaire. And contended, lived his life

enslaving men, abhorring slaves—

and Mr. Judas Iscariot, would have

become a kind of star celebrity,

forever remembered. A History.

And to this day,

treachery flourishes—

The fate of Jesus befalls

every other messiah.

In this world,

there is a single critical risk:

even the kisses betray.

Source: I came across somewhere.

Meaning in Life: Journey into Oneself

Journey into oneself is quite a challenging process but it can be very rewarding too. Buddhism is a religion which makes a human being journey into oneself. To attain the ultimate one should withdraw from this world of thoughts, ideas, noise, temptations and one's own freedom. We can find the supreme being or at least we can access the supreme being at one point of our life and this is called Enlightenment.

Human beings are complex and limited. Humanity has survived for several thousand years with all his complexity and limitedness. How is it possible? Why are human beings not extinct like dinosaurs or dodo? Why are other species on earth go extinct? I think we have answers to these questions based only on our limited perception of the reality. There is something we cannot grasp because we are limited. Humans can arrive at some consensus because our experience can be through our five (some say 6) senses which are equally deceptive or don't agree with others sensual perception. Each one can perceive his own way. Therefore there is a problem in our understanding of the reality. How do we solve this perpetual and inevitable problem (issue)? Philosophers have tried to distinguish the reality which we perceive and the reality which is beyond our perception.

As I was walking down in healthcare in Wandsworth Prison, I visited an inmate who was bedridden for a long time. He was an Anglican and admired Christianity as a whole. He had suffered a lot in his life but he did not find any meaning in life until at last when he was behind the bars in some country where the condition of the prison was not very appealing. He realized that he had found meaning of his life in his own self not outside. One needs to go to the depth of one's being layer after layer like onion which peeled layer after layer you find the real crust. That is how Mr. X (aforementioned prisoner) found his real meaning in life and now most happy person in life.

Most often we tend to think the real life is outside us; others and other things give me joy and fulfilment in life. This is true to some extent. What if I have all the pomps of life and still I find emptiness within me like Mr. John Pridmore, about who I have posted earlier. I think we are the master of ourselves. No one can steer us but we need to be firm and steer ourselves. It is easier to steer others life, but harder when it come to ourselves. Real meaning of life in ourselves, we just need to peel each layer with utmost care and reach the crust or core of life and there we will find the ultimate meaning in life. 


Photo: Jerri Dias SJ, taken in Barbados

I am Sorry! beyond mere expression

I was attending mass at St Francis of Assisi Church in Barbados this morning to witness a couple clutched each others arms during the penitential service. It was a wonderful real imagery of a reconciliation between husband and wife. This couple, I think, was trying to tell each other "I am so sorry for hurting you directly or indirectly or in small or big way". Reconciliation is just that, reassuring each other that we care and love each other. In the case of this couple it was obvious that they wanted to assure and encourage their relationship whatever be their mistakes or misunderstanding till that moment. 

Now, how many of us try and do it during the penitential service of the mass? Is penitential service just another routine and boring part of the celebration? Most often we take for granted the wonderful and lovely gift of forgiveness that God has bestowed upon humanity. We have the ability to either forgive or vengeance. We have the ability to tell each other that we are sorry. But how many of us do it? Handful of us. Sometimes, we do it for the sake of doing it.

One example to illustrate aforementioned point that forgiveness is just on our mouth and not in our hearts: London is a city of politeness and sensitivity. The hight of politeness is so great that even touching a person accidentally can get a "sorry" and a smile. This is a wonderful thing to do, but I have realised over the years that this is just a routine and a cliche like expressions that we hear every time on trains, bus stands, etc. Do they really mean it when they say sorry? I have my doubts on this. Their sorry does not mean anything, its just being polite and showcase their sensitivity. I am not saying this is rubbish, but I am trying to say, a sorry should come from one's heart and not intellect. 

Same way our penitential service at the eucharist can produce no results or it will just remain a way of passing on to another bit of the mass, unless and until we really mean when we say, 'Lord, have mercy.' Thus we have the penitential service at the beginning of the Eucharist, so we are sorry and forgiven by God and each other after which we are ready to share the Eucharistic meals with each other. I have a suggestion which might sound hilarious; can we hold each others hands during the penitential rite and really feel that God is present in each other. 

Why am I a Priest? These quotes of John Paul inspire me to be a priest

"I am often asked, especially by young people, why I became a priest.  Maybe some of you would like to ask the same question.  Let me try briefly to reply.  I must begin by saying that it is impossible to explain entirely.  For it remains a mystery, even to myself.  How does one explain the ways of God?  Yet, I know that, at a certain point in my life, I became convinced that Christ was saying to me what he had said to thousands before me: 'Come, follow me!'  There was a clear sense that what I heard in my heart was no human voice, nor was it just an idea of my own.  Christ was calling me to serve him as a priest. And you can probably tell that I am deeply grateful to God for my vocation to the priesthood.  Nothing means more to me or gives me greater joy that to celebrate Mass each day and to serve God's people in the Church.  That has been true ever since the day of my ordination as a priest.  Nothing has ever changed this, not even becoming Pope." (Los Angeles, USA, September 14, 1987) "The priestly vocation is essentially a call to sanctity, in the form that derives from the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  Sanctity is intimacy with God; it is the imitation of Christ, poor, chaste and humble; it is unreserved love for souls and self-giving to their true good; it is love for the church which is holy and wants us to be holy, because such is the mission that Christ has entrusted to it.  Each one of you must be holy also in order to help your brothers pursue their vocation to sanctity." (Rome, Italy, October 9, 1984) "Your wish to become a priest, or at least your wish to discover if you are being called to be one.  And so the question is a serious one, because you have to prepare thoroughly, with clear intentions and an austere formation." (Rome, Italy, October 13, 1979) "His calling is a declaration of love."  Your response is commitment, friendship, and love manifested in the gift of your own life as a definitive following and as a permanent sharing in his mission and in his consecrations.  To make up your mind is to love him with all of your soul and all of your heart in such a way that this love becomes the standard and motive of all your actions.  From this moment on, live the Eucharist fully; be persons for whom the Holy Mass, Communion, and Eucharistic adoration are the center and summit of their whole life.  Offer Christ your heart in meditation and personal prayer which is the foundation of the spiritual life." (Valencia, Spain, November 8, 1982) "The world looks to the priest, because it looks to Jesus!  No one can see Christ; but everyone sees the priest, and through him they wish to catch a glimpse of the Lord!  Immense is the grandeur of the Lord! Immense is the grandeur and dignity of the priest!" (Rome, Italy, October 13, 1979) "Called, consecrated, sent.  This triple dimension explains and determines your conduct and your lifestyle.  You are 'set apart;' 'segregated,' but not 'separated.'  What would separate you, would be to forget or to overlook the meaning of the consecration that characterizes your priesthood.  To be but one more in your profession, in your lifestyle, in your way of living, in your political obligations, would not help you to fully carry out your mission.  You would betray your own faithful who want you to be priests through and through." (Valencia, Spain, November 8, 1982)

Source: http://thinkingofpriesthood.org/experience/thoughts-from-pope-jp-ii

 

Are Animals Superior To Humans?

I have long wondered whether animals have feeling: feelings of pain, sorrow, happiness, and grief? Do the animals mourn their dead? These questions have gone unanswered to my palest surprise. Scientists and psychologists have attempted to analyze and come to an answer albeit their answers are highly dubitable. Do I have an answer? Sometime ago I tried to unravel this mystery of animal feelings, particularly when animals mourn their dead through an example of crow mourning over a dead crow or a monkey shedding tears out of sadness or pain. However, I am not sure whether they really feelings because my cognitive perception of animal kingdom is limited. All the more, I am no psychologist or scientist to make a laboratory experiments which might give a precise result but with due benefit of doubt or exception.

My curiosity and search in regards to feelings of animals towards themselves and towards humans was aroused when I was watching a nail biting documentary, “Ocean Giants, Deep Thinkers” on BBC One on 20 June 2012. Their extraordinary and maiden revelation on feelings of humpback whales towards humans tantalized me to embark upon to the coast of Mexico. But sadly that would not be possible for now, however I can share the joy of the people who witness this extraordinary intimacy between these ocean giants and humans.

Two things stayed with me from the documentary; a) the unity and coordination of humpback whales to capture their prey. They have a unique way of hunting their prey. After swimming for 3000 miles, a few whales gather to hunt together with an absolute togetherness. They surround the shoal of herrings with a strategic tactic that allows the shoal of herrings to fall into their predator’s disk. Then with mouths wide open capture the herrings. Their mouths can contain nearly 500 kilos of herrings a day. What a wonderful example of unity, coordination and togetherness. The documentary makes it clear that these whales are no way connected because they had travelled from different parts of the ocean.

b) Humpback whales have awesome affinity towards humans. In the Mexican shores when I fisherman fishing found a huge humpback whales next to his boat seemed to his emerging to devour him. But to his pleasant and wildest surprise the whales just caressed his boat. He was completely taken aback by this gesture of the whale. He then stroked the whale and became friend with the whale. This shows that these mammoth ocean giants have feelings and they loved to be caressed and stroked. Scientists then experimented with these whales and come to know that these mysterious animals have feelings and possibly they would like to communicate to us but unfortunately our languages don’t match. Scientists have opined that these ocean creatures have spindle cells three times more than humans. Therefore their emotional awareness is much stronger than humans. Therefore they even can show their affinity and emotions to humans. Today scores of people go to this shore to witness these mesmerizing emotional activities of humpback whales.

Apart from elephants, dolphins are considered to be the most intelligent animal on the planet. There are instances where dolphins have helped people. When I went to watch the spectacle of dolphins performing unimaginable stunts at Duisburg in Germany, it occurred to me that dolphins are such a lovely creatures who can hear, understand, and act wisely according to the master’s requests (I am not using the word ‘command’, because in this show master was requesting the dolphins to perform a particular stunt). The aforementioned BBC documentary showed how dolphins could have a high level of awareness of them. They experimented through a mirror in which dolphins showcased their awareness just like humans. They looked at the mirror again and again with several angles. The scientists opined through this that dolphins have even higher-level awareness then us. They believe that in the future they would be able to communicate with us. How lovely dolphins speaking to me, ‘excuse me, or sorry or thanks.’

Finally, the documentary showed a remarkable group of Mexican grey whales, which seem able to empathize with humans and may even have a concept of forgiveness. Can it be true? Can they empathize with us? Can they have a concept of forgiveness? I am sure they do empathize with us like the fisherman caressed by the whale; a complete showcase of feeling with us. I am sure animal lovers would agree with me, that animals are violent as long as their hunger is quenched. Therefore, I think they don’t generally harm other creatures without a proper reason. This can even lead to have the concept of forgiveness. Scientists cannot know what exactly these mysterious creatures’ feelings.

Just to reflect on the God’s creation story a little bit: God, on the fifth day, created animals of all sorts. He blessed them and made them multiply and fill the earth. And on the sixth day, God created human. God gave human dominion over the other creatures but not domination; just a point to grasp, dominion is to take care of God’s creation not dominate it. But my point here is, God created human after he had created animals. Animals were created before man was created, God must have created them out of nothing: because God did not have any blueprint or a model to create the animals unlike the man, God created man in his likeness, hence God had a blueprint or a model for man. Therefore we can deduce from this above argument that God must have given animals some special attributes that were not in Himself, so He would have given them some kind of extra entities that were not given to humans. Now what are these special entities? I can presume that they are given some sort of powers or behavioral patters that make them tantamount to humans. Simple tangible example to elaborate this point is the shape and size of different animals is unique unlike humans who are generically looking alike. Here one can think that animals are superior to humans, but then, God created humans in His likeness. But why did God create animals before humans? This question remains a mystery for me. Dear reader do you have an answer for my question, scribble it. 

Actions speak louder than words

The man who is filled with the Holy Spirit speaks in different languages. These different languages are different ways of witnessing to Christ, such as humility, poverty, patience and obedience; we speak in those languages when we reveal in ourselves these virtues to others. Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions, and therefore are cursed by the Lord, since he himself cursed the fig tree when he found no fruit but only leaves. Gregory says: “A law is laid upon the preacher to practice what he preaches. It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law if he undermines its teaching by his actions.

But the apostles spoke as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. Happy the man whose words issue from the Holy Spirit and not from himself! For some men speak as their own character dictates, but steal the words of others and present them as their own and claim the credit for them. The Lord refers to such men and others like them in Jeremiah: So, then, I have a quarrel with the prophets that steal my words from each other. I have a quarrel with the prophets, says the Lord, who have only to move their tongues to utter oracles. I have a quarrel with the prophets who make prophecies out of lying dreams, who recount them and lead my people astray with their lies and their pretensions. I certainly never sent them or commissioned them, and they serve no good purpose for this people, says the Lord.

We should speak, then, as the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of speech. Our humble and sincere request to the Spirit for ourselves should be that we may bring the day of Pentecost to fulfillment, insofar as he infuses us with his grace, by using our bodily senses in a perfect manner and by keeping the commandments. Likewise we shall request that we may be filled with a keen sense of sorrow and with fiery tongues for confessing the faith, so that our deserved reward may be to stand in the blazing splendor of the saints and to look upon the triune God.

(sermon given by St Antony of Padua)