Ordination motto “You are not your own” (1 Cor 6:19)

As I am at the threshold of receiving the gift of priesthood, it sets me thinking about the motto I have chosen to live the whole of my priestly life.  The very first thing I want to emphasize by choosing this motto is the fact of being led by Christ. In the world I live and work, I see a dominant pattern of leading oneself. Against a philosophy of semi-pelagianism which proclaims ‘you are your own master,’ I want to bear witness to the truth ‘I am because He is.’ Leading oneself will lead you nowhere. It will only cause you to stumble and fall. That is the reason why St. Peter tells us that there is no stumbling in a life that is perseveringly fixed on Christ and so he exhorts – “be all the more eager to make your call and election firm, for, in doing so, you will never stumble” (2 Pet 1:11). St. Peter is speaking from experience because steeped in his own directions he fell from grace but one look from the Lord was sufficient for him. He wept bitterly. He came back to the Lord very strongly and lived his call of being the Rock only when he allowed himself to be led by the Lord. Jesus clearly told him, being led is sharing in his suffering, “when you were young, you fastened your own belt and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will fasten your belt for you and carry you where you do not wish to go” (Jn 21: 18).St. Peter understood this when he said, “for it is better to suffer for doing good, if that be the will of God, than for doing evil” (1 Pet 3:17). It is a reminder for me. When I left home for joining the seminary, my elder sister understood when she quoted from the book of Sirach, “My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials” (Sir 2:1). It is very easy to follow one’s own inclinations and lead a life while seeking ease and comfort. But it is not that easy when you have to constantly remind yourself – “hey Aneesh, you are not your own, you belong to Christ.” The human heart is always a battlefield between love and lust.” When you belong to the Lord, you cannot claim that you belong to the world too. The line of a poet comes to my mind – “the world is not my home, I am just a passing through.”  St. John reminds me, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 Jn 2:16). So Aneesh, move from being a ‘man of concupiscence’ to a ‘redeemed man of love.’

St. Paul teaches me to be fully saturated with Christ and so he proclaims, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom 14:8). There is no other joy except in belonging to the Lord, “Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Phil 3:12).And so in this journey of being led, I am not alone I am “surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses” (Heb 12:1). I believe in the communion of saints. So I have the saintly companionship of Sts. Peter and Paul and my cherished saints – Blessed Virgin Mary (I have a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Undoer of knots) and St. Joseph, Sts. John Bosco, Dominic Savio, John Paul II, John XXIII, Kuriakose Elias Chavara (my patron saint, since my Baptismal name is Kuriakose), Augustine, Aquinas, Monica, Alphonsa, Jose Maria Escriva, Edith Stein and Bl. Mother Theresa of Kolkata. This may be the reason why a priest friend of mine wrote to me, “your experience is not altogether new. The path of experience that you are walking has already been walked by many a great men and women. You are not alone in this journey. And so have the courage to walk.”

The incarnation of Christ constantly reminds me that I am an embodied human being. I have a body with which I am identified as an entity, a person, able to influence another body. This theology of the body has its own language. If the language of Judaism is Hebrew, the language of Islam is Arabic and my mother tongue is Malayalam, the language of Christianity is the ‘body.’ Christ spoke to us with his body at the incarnation (Heb 1:1). The fallen nature of humanity is restored by Christ and now we are no more fallen but redeemed. And while I offer the Eucharist daily, I celebrate the redemption brought about by Christ. “This is my body, given up for you.”  Yes given up for me. There is objective redemption. May God help me appropriate that redemption subjectively moment by moment!

Ask constantly to yourself: If you are not your own, if you are not your own making whose work are you? And tell yourself, “You are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:10). When we try to write the script of our life story, Jesus will gently remind you, “You are a personal letter written by the Spirit of God (2 Cor 3:3). Be aware that “Your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3).

“You belong to Christ” (1 Cor 3:23).Belonging to Christ means listening his voice: “everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” (Jn 18: 37).

“So, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving” (Col 2:6,7). The conviction of being rooted and built upon him necessitates a belief that “You are God’s field, God’s building” (1 Cor 3:9). “The spirit of God dwells in you” (Rom 8:9) and so “Live your life for God” (Rom 6:10). Because it is, “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Then we can say with St. Paul, “It’s no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

Fulton sheen in his book, “Priest is not his own” brings about two dimensions of being a priest – the fact of being a victim (offered) and a priest (offerer). Christ, the High priest was at the same time the offerer and the offered at the sacrifice on Calvary. Every Eucharistic celebration calls you and me to live in these two dimensions, taking upon the whole of humanity and offer it to God the Father. Then He will be pleased with your offering. Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? The one with clean hands and pure heart!

Let my prayer be –

God my Father, you created everyone to visibly image the hidden depths of your being

Help me to be a sign of your glory and presence,

To bear witness to the truth that YOU alone are real.

May my heart not rest till I rest in you!

Jesus my brother, you came in a body

To redeem our fallen bodies,

Help me to appropriate the redemption that you brought about,

May you make of me a healing presence broken and shared at every Eucharist!

Breathe in me oh Holy Spirit your holy anointing,

May my unheard groans of adoption cry out “abba father”

Remind me each day of your abiding presence

To live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life!

Pray for me oh Holy Mother of God that I may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!

My Guardian angel, protect me!

MARY A MODEL PHILOSOPHER

All those who honestly and passionately seek for truth are on the way to Christ.

-                      Edith Stein

The Title, Mary a model Philosopher should not unsettle you. If it does, it is good to examine whether you have a dislike for philosophy. Distaste for philosophy among the students of theology is well in place if one evaluates that philosophy has lost its capacity to lift its gaze to the transcendent truth. An uncritical aversion for philosophy is imprudent when one considers that it is a system of mere abstractions and empty offers. In the broad sense all are philosophers. The encyclical Fides et ratio is clear on this, “all men and women are in some sense philosophers and have their own philosophical conceptions with which they direct their lives” (FR, 30). The Church sees in philosophy the way to come to know fundamental truths about human life. She considers philosophy an indispensable help for a deeper understanding of faith and for communicating the truth of the Gospel to those who do not yet know it. Fides et Ratio looks at the Blessed Virgin Mary as a model philosopher. She is someone from whom we can learn. The Church invokes Mary as the seat of wisdom. The Encyclical states that “between the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the vocation of true philosophy there is a deep harmony” (108). For some this statement might seem intriguing because philosophers are usually associated with human reason and Mary is associated with theologians, revelation and faith. Besides the encyclical mentions the holy monks of Christian antiquity who saw in Mary a lucid image of true philosophy and they felt the need to philosophari in maria (108). Now the question is how to philosophize in Mary?

First we have to learn that the life of reason and life of faith are not two separate watertight compartments. Though philosophy and theology are two separate disciplines, their openness to truth makes them complement each other. When one uses philosophy at the service of theology, it does not lose its autonomy; rather both the disciplines are enriched on a higher plane. When Mary gave her intellectual assent at the annunciation, she did not lose her autonomy as a human person.  Mary teaches us to be interdependent and calls us to move from a stubborn autonomy to creative collaboration. 

Second, the search for truth makes one a quintessential philosopher. The encyclical (FR) defines man/woman as the one who seeks the truth (28). The fact that we are made to seek the truth implies that the truths of faith are not simply handed on to us (revelation). We have to act. We have to understand life from a divine perspective as Mary did. She lived her life in faith. She understood that life is a gratuitous gift, a vocation, a call to live in union with God, for God and for others. Mary drew strength from God to fulfill the vocation she received as the bearer of divine truth. She was endowed with the fullness of divine grace. She acted. When she did not understand, she sought to understand. At the Annunciation, she revealed her gift of intellect by seeking insight, as Bernard Lonergan would say by questioning: How can this be? She not only exercised her intellect but also her free will (nature and grace). As the result of this seeking to understand, Mary before conceiving Christ in the flesh was informed in the mind. And so together with the early church fathers, particularly St. Augustine and St. Anselm, we can say that what shines out in Mary’s life is the aspect of seeking to understand, thereby creating a harmony between faith and reason. This is clear from their theological formulae. Augustine’s formulae are crede ut intelligas (I believe in order to understand) and Intellige ut credas (I understand, the better to believe). St. Anslem’s formulae are fides quaerens intellectum (faith seeking understanding) and credo ut intelligam (I believe in order to understand).

Third, in the process of seeking to understand Mary understood that she does not own the Truth but she is owned by the Truth. That is why she had the courage to say, “behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). Everyone is moved by the persuasiveness of the Truth as it manifests.

Fourth, the poetic image used in the encyclical pictures Mary as “the table at which faith sits in thought”. The word ‘table’ has a communal dimension. Any human person to develop properly, one needs the community of persons and the trust between them. In the life of Mary, it comes out in the event of the visitation. Mary went in haste to be with Elizabeth to share her vocation with a companion. Elizabeth entered into communion with Mary perhaps without understanding the mystery of Mary’s encounter with God. Joseph entered into communion with Mary after he came to realize his own call. The mere fact that the incarnate truth came to live among us forcibly tells us that man finds meaning in the communion of persons.

Fifth, the philosophical school as found in the Rosary teaches us about the truth of man. In his apostolic letter on the Rosary (Rosarium Virginis Mariae, n. 25), John Paul II explains the anthropological significance of the Rosary. He says that “Anyone who contemplates Christ through the various stages of his life cannot fail to perceive in him the truth about man”. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI would say that a Man knows himself only when he learns to understand himself in light of God, and he knows others only when he sees the mystery of God in them. “It could be said that each mystery of the Rosary, carefully meditated, sheds light on the mystery of man.” To shed “light on the mystery of man” is to be the model philosopher. Indeed, Gaudium et Spes states that Christ reveals man to himself. Man can be understood only in the light of Christ. In this way, then, the Rosary is a school of philosophy. It is more than a school because it takes us into a deeper understanding of the human person through Christ. 

Finally, Mary teaches us to live the mystery. We may not fully grapple the ‘why’ of everything because the human mind cannot grasp too much of a mystery. We have to live and suffer with the truth.  In Redemptor Hominis, Pope John Paul II applies the term “mystery” to Christ about 50 times. It is a forceful reminder that in our pilgrimage of faith just like Mary, we must be content with glimpses, parables and partial insights. Let us take Mary home and walk the pilgrimage of faith, hope and charity.

References

John Paul II, Encyclical Fides et Ratio On the Relationship between Faith and Reason, 5.

John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae

Bernard Lonergan, Insight: A Study of Human Understanding (London: Darton Longman and Todd, 1957), 9.

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, III, Q. 30, art. 1.

LIFE BEYOND THE WOMB

Do you believe in life beyond the womb?

In a mother’s womb were two babies.

One asked the other: “Do you believe in life beyond the womb?”

The other replies, “Why, of course. There has to be a world outside the womb. May be we are here to prepare ourselves to face that world bravely.”

‘Nonsense,’ says the other. “There is no life beyond the womb. If so what would that be?”

“I am not so sure, but I have a feeling that there will be more light out there than here. May be we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths.”

The other says, “This is absurd! Walking is impossible. And why should we eat with our mouths?

Ridiculous. It is the umbilical cord that supplies nutrition. The umbilical cord is too short. Therefore, life beyond the womb is unimaginable. To think that there is one would be foolish.”

“I think there is something… and may be different than it is here.”

The other replies, “no one has ever come back to the womb once the life ended in the womb.”

“Well, I don’t know,” says the other, “but surely we will see our mother and she will take care of us.”

“Mother?” do you believe in mother? Where is she now?

“She is all around us. It is in her that we live. Without her there would not be this world.”

“I don’t see her, so it’s only logical that she doesn’t exist.”

To which the other replied, “Sometimes when you are in silence you can hear her, you can perceive her.”

Reflection

• There is always something more than what catches our eye if only you believe in an inner eye to perceive the deep realities that surround us.
• Most often our reasoning and researches tie us to the mere cause and effects but do not lead us to the first cause that caused you and me.
• If you want to bathe in the truth, to be cleansed by it, to be seen by it, be silent and know the TRUTH. When God appeared to Elijah, He appeared to him in the sound of silence in the form a gentle breeze.

A HINT FROM HEAVEN

Those interested in psychology would definitely know Viktor Emil Frankl. He was born on 26^th March 1905 (the day on which Beethoven died) in Vienna, Austria to middle-class Jewish parents. He died on September 2, 1997 at the age of 92. He was a man who experienced the horrors of two world wars. It is from his existential experience in the concentration camps that he developed his theory of logotherapy. Logotherapy literally means, healing through meaning. Life is full of meaning. In his book the Doctor and the Soul he says “It is life itself that asks questions of man. The individual is not required to question; rather he is questioned by life and has to respond – to be responsible to life. But the responses that a man gives can only be concrete responses to concrete “questions in life.” If life is full of meaning, every moment has meaning. As a pious Jew, he was a believer.

Viktor Frankl had had an opportunity to escape the horrors of the concentration camps altogether. Several years before his deportation, he applied for a visa to emigrate to the United States. In 1941, the American embassy called and told him to pick up his visa. By then, many Jews had already been taken to concentration camps. Elderly Jews were being taken first, and Viktor knew his parents might be called up at any time. He had an important job as chief of neurology in a hospital. He knew his position might protect him and his parents from deportation, at least for a while. It was almost certain his mother and father would be taken eventually, and he knew they would need support and care. On the other hand, he felt that if he went to America, he would be able to continue his life’s work – developing logotherapy and making it known throughout the world. Viktor didn’t know what to do. Looking for an answer, he walked into St. Stephan’s Cathedral in central Vienna. Although he was Jewish, he sought out the church as a quiet place where he could look into his heart. He seated himself in the church. All the time, he asked himself, “should I leave my parents behind?... should I say goodbye and leave them to their fate?” he wondered where his grater responsibility lay – in caring for his parents or in going to America. So he could continue his lifework. He left an hour later without an answer, thinking, “isn’t this the kind of situation that requires some hint from heaven?”

When he got home, Viktor found a piece of marble lying on the table. He father told him he had found it in the rubble of one of the synagogues near their home. Nazis and citizens of Vienna had destroyed this and hundreds of other synagogues and Jewish prayer houses. A single Hebrew letter was engraved on the marble. Viktor’s father told him that the letter came from one of the Ten Commandments, the only commandment to use that letter. Viktor was eager to hear which one it was, and his father told him: “Honor thy father and they mother, that thy days many be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Viktor felt that this was the sign he was waiting for. He decided to stay with his parents in Vienna. It was indeed a hint from heaven.

Reflection

• All that we need to do to have a proper direction in life is to seek the meaning of every moment, every situation. Life becomes meaningful when we find that situation and properly respond to it.
• Be a believer. If God is the cause of the universe and the order in it, He is the director. Pay attention to his often silent and subtle suggestions. Pay attention to the hints from heaven.
• A hasty decision might be at times good but it can often serve only the self. But a decision arrived at in silence, questioning, and with proper discernment serves the larger good. Viktor Frankl teaches us to be other-centred, value oriented. One may not see immediate results, may have to suffer for it. But in the long run it turns out to be good.
  

FEAST OF THE ARCHANGELS: MICHAEL, GABRIEL AND RAPHAEL

The Following is a homily Delivered by my Deacon Friend (Christopher) today. I publish it here on my blog with his permission....

Today, we are celebrating the Feast of the three Archangels who are mentioned by name in Scripture: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. It is quite interesting to know that all three names of the Archangels end with the word “El”, which means “God” in Hebrew. God is inscribed in their names, in their nature. They are His messengers.  They bring God to mankind, they reveal the heavens. There is an intrinsic bond between a priest’s ministry and the mission of angels.

First of all there is Michael. We find him in the Book of Daniel, in the Letter of St Jude and in the Book of Revelation. Two of this Archangel’s roles become obvious in these texts. He defends the cause of God’s oneness against the presumption of the dragon, the serpent. It is the serpent’s continuous attempt to make men believe that God must disappear from the scenario in order to obtain greatness and so we must get rid of Him. So it is the duty of the priest, as a man of God, to make room in the world for God, to counter the denials of him and to defend man’s greatness. Michael’s other role is that of protector of the People of God (cf. Dn 10: 21; 12: 1). Dear friends, we must be the true “guardian angels” of the Church which will be entrusted to us. We have to help the People of God to accept good and reject evil.

Secondly, we have the Archangel Gabriel. We meet him especially in the precious account of the annunciation to Mary (Lk1: 26-38). He is the messenger of the incarnation of God.  He knocks at Mary’s door. The Lord knocks again and again at the door of the human heart. In the Book of Revelation he says to the angel of the Church of Laodicea: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (3: 20). It is our task to knock at people’s hearts in Christ’s name.

Thirdly, there is Raphael. He is presented to us as the Angel to whom is entrusted the task of healing in the Book of Tobit. Raphael heals the relationship between Tobias and Sarah, marked by the curse of death; he heals the wounded union between man and woman. He heals their love. Every priest is entrusted with the duty of guiding men towards the reconciling power of Christ’s love. He must be the “healing angel” who helps them to anchor their love to the sacrament. Secondly, the Book of Tobit continues to speak of the healing of blind eyes. We all know that today we are threatened with blindness to God by various ways. Healing this blindness is entrusted to the priest. One way of healing is through the Sacrament of Reconciliation which in the deepest sense of the word is a sacrament of healing.

So my dear friends,

Let’s remember that just as angels, the priests must lead humanity to God; must knock on the door of their hearts to announce Christ; must heal the wounds of relations between man and woman and save them from sin with reconciliation and forgiveness. Let’s today ask the archangels to pray for us that we might fight bravely the influence of evil, be strengthened by his grace in living out his plan for us, and that we may be healed of our wounded hearts, minds and bodies. Amen. 

READING

“Reading has made many saints.”

St. Josemaria Escriva

For quite some time I have been thinking about writing something on Reading. It could be said that there is a general decline in reading these days especially in the life of priests and religious. I looked out for some materials and I found plenty. You want to be enlightened, be a saint? Then there it is necessary to read. St. John Bosco was a voracious reader. What about St. Augustine? It’s out of the question. Perhaps, one might say that one is not a saint. So what is the use of reading? We are not angels. Do the angels read? The angels need not read, but we have to. They are not caught up in the dilemmas of memory and of time. But we are.

 

A book is a basis for thought. St. Augustine was doubtful as to whether reading would enlighten him or not but he was convinced that we could not continue our Spiritual flowering without prolonged, deep reading. We can call St. Augustine the Reader as one of the heroes of the now endangered art of reading. What made Abraham Lincoln famous is his reading.

“not every reader is a leader, but every leader must be a reader” (Harry Truman).

Ruskin’s unto the Last made Gandhiji as he is.

Healing is an aspect of reading. So reading is healing. It heals our prejudiced perspectives, clarifies our visions, and transforms our symbols and metaphors. We speak of bibliotherapy, i.e., when the mind is imbalanced through existential anxieties of everyday life, a proper choice of books and their reading, guide one to live life with serenity and help to face the problem appropriately. 

Nepolean was convinced of the importance of books and reading. He says, “If I were not the ruler of the Kingdom, I would prefer to be a caretaker of a library.” He also says, “songs and dances do not mould a human being. With a sword in hand and the works of Homer in my pocket, I can work or create miracles.”

Kunjunni Mash, a Malayalee poet who is famous for his short poems writes, “വായിച്ചാലും വളരും, വായിച്ചില്ലേലും വളരും. വായിച്ചു വളര്‍ന്നാല്‍ വിളയും വായിക്കാതെ വളര്‍ന്നാല്‍ വളയും.” (you grow whether you read or not, but if you read and grow you mature, but if you grow without reading you become crooked or bent).

So have few books with you because, “A house without books is like a room without windows.” Heinrich Mann (German Novelist). Are you still not convinced? It is enough to look at some saints favorite books and quotes to convince you. Brandon Vogt sent me a free E-book, "Saints Favourite Books." I was really delighted to read it. The following quotations I have taken from that book (without explicit permission) just to Show that Reading made them saints......

St. Augustine’s favorite was Life of St. Anthony by St. Athanasius

“‘Where were you God?’ Antony asked, ‘Why didn’t you ease my temptations and pains?’And a voice came to him: ‘Antony, I was here, but I waited to see you fight.’”

-St. Athanasius (The Life of St. Antony)

ST. BENEDICT OF NURSIA

The Conferences - St. John Cassian

"To cling always to God and to the things of God—this must be our major effort."

-Saint John Cassian (The Conferences)

ST. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX

On Grace and Free Will - St. Augustine of Hippo

"There is in a man a free choice of the will, but grace renders its help."

-St. Augustine of Hippo (On Grace and Free Will)

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

City of God - St. Augustine of Hippo

"The Heavenly City outshines Rome beyond comparison. There, instead of  victory, is truth; instead of high rank, holiness; instead of peace, felicity; instead of life, eternity."

-St. Augustine of Hippo (City of God)

ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

The Life of Christ - Ludolph of Saxony

"Come and be present at Christ’s birth, like a good foster parent with Joseph...

Be present at his death with his Blessed Mother and John, and share in their

suffering and consolation."

-Ludolph of Saxony (The Life of Christ)

ST. TERESA OF ÁVILA

The Sinner’s Guide - Venerable Louis of Grenada

"We are all destined to one or the other, either to reign eternally with

God in Heaven or to burn eternally with the devils in Hell."

-Ven. Louis of Grenada (The Sinner’s Guide)

ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS

The Mystical Theology - Pseudo-Dionysius

"We pray that we may come unto this Darkness which is beyond light, and,

without seeing and without knowing, to see and to know that which is above vision and knowledge."

-Pseudo-Dionysius (The Mystical Theology)

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

The Spiritual Combat - Dom Lorenzo Scupoli

"God never ceases to help His soldiers, although He sometimes suffers them to be wounded. Only fight, for all depends on this."

-Dom Lorenzo Scupoli (The Spiritual Combat)

ST. THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX

The Imitation of Christ - Thomas à Kempis

"Jesus has now many lovers of the heavenly kingdom but few bearers of his cross."

-Thomas à Kempis (The Imitation of Christ)

BL. TERESA OF CALCUTTA

Life of Christ - Ven. Fulton Sheen

"Some religions draw by force of arms; He would draw by force of love. The attraction would not be His words, but Himself."

-Ven. Fulton Sheen (The Life of Christ)

POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II

True Devotion to Mary - St. Louis de Montfort

"We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor his Mother, and

we honor her simply and solely to honor him all the more perfectly."

-St. Louis de Montfort (True Devotion to Mary)

POPE BENEDICT XVI

Confessions - St. Augustine of Hippo

"Late have I loved Thee, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved thee!"

-St. Augustine of Hippo (Confessions)

POPE FRANCIS

The Betrothed - Alessandro Manzoni

"Certainly the heart always has something to tell about the future to those who

listen to it. But what does the heart know? Very little of what has already happened."

-Alessandro Manzoni (The Betrothed)

So Read and Grow......

How are you being led? By the Persuasiveness of the force of Truth?

August 15^th is very near and we are about to celebrate our 68^th independence day here in India. On this occasion my thoughts are on the philosophy of democracy. The definition of democracy is “for the people, by the people and of the people.” True to the definition the government is of the people. The people determine who should come to power and then they elect their representatives to govern them. We have seen this in the 2014 general election and the BJP single handedly emerging with absolute majority. People had no option other than BJP. Infact People chose BJP over the two options (Congress or BJP). The AAP made some fantastic ideological and structural changes but their too idealistic dreams did not actualize. People’s obvious choice was BJP and its allies RSS.

Democracy: the word “people” represents a group, a nation, stands for identity, and refers to the common good. “Of” the people (it belongs to the people), “By” (formed by the people), “For” (for the good of everyone, All inclusive).

Truth in Democracy: Majority opinion (mind – the most commonly held opinion is considered as something true, a partial truth).

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in his book Truth and Tolerance mentions about democracy. I like particularly two of his observations. First, he is of the view that the philosophical basis of democracy is relativism.  Second, he also says that we cannot push aside the Marxist criticism of democracy:

How free are elections? To what extent is the people’s will manipulated by publicity, that is, by capital, by the agency of a few people who dominate public opinion? Is there not a new oligarchy of the people who decide what is modern and progressive, what somebody enlightened has to think? How fearsome this oligarchy is, the way they can publicly execute people, is well enough known. Anyone who gets in their way is an enemy of freedom because he is preventing freedom of expression. And what about the way public opinion is shaped in democratically representative councils and committees? Who can still believe that the general good is what really determines their decisions? Who can doubt the power of interests whose dirty hands are being seen more and more often? And is this system of majority and minority really a system of freedom at all? Are not alliances in this or that interest, of every kind, becoming visibly stronger than the actual political representation in Parliament? In this confusion of forces the problem of society becoming ungovernable is an ever greater threat: the desire of opposing groups for domination blocks the freedom of the whole. (from Ratzinger, Truth and Tolerance,2003)

Who has truth? What is truth? Is it an utilitarian truth that democracy proposes – the maximum happiness for the maximum number of people? Or is it an egalitarian truth – sabke saath sabke vikas? Whose interests are promoted? – interests of the common people? Or the interests of the petty selfish politicians? Democracy loses its power when it is practiced in the midst of a maddening crowd who are driven by public opinion and false ideologies. Truth has become separated from the exercise of freedom. An eschatological promise (ache din aayega) by an elected representative sparkles hope but it is part of the relativistic mentality – this is only one way of reaching that good day and cannot promise to bring about the ultimate good day. No one is to be blamed, everyone is on the way.

Yet the truth is – it is very persuasive. Its force beckons you and me. Its good also to reflect on the poem of Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore is very perceptive of narrow thinking, lack of depth in presenting the truth, the reasoning should be clear, the experience of the force of freedom and truth should be that of the experience of a clear stream that is free flowing and the contrast of it is a dreary desert created by dead habits. Tagore wishes that freedom and truth have a horizon that is expansive. It is unstoppable.

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

How are you being led? By the Persuasiveness of the force of Truth?

Happy Independence Day 2014!