To be honest, I don't know my lineage. I know my father's name. Never met my grandfather. Since I was the eldest son in the family, I know my grandfather's name. Since my father was the eldest in his generation, I guess that might be my grandfather's name. Because, in our part of the world, the eldest sons were usually given their grandfather's name! That is to say, I can guess up to 3 generations previous at the most. I don't know beyond that. The truth is that I haven't bot

Pope Benedict had visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque in 2006. Then the Pope while being at the center of the place of worship had paused for a moment and prayed with his eyes closed for a couple of seconds. Pope Francis visited there the year after he was elected Pope in 2014. By then, the world and interfaith relations had changed a lot for worse since Pope Benedict's visit. Pope Francis stood still and prayed for about two minutes, holding the hand of the Imam. Pope Francis pra

I wrote in the last two days about Pope Leo's visit to Turkey, who did not visit the Hagia Sophia, but visited the Blue Mosque, which is located right next to Hagia Sophia. The most beautiful and powerful message he gave in Turkey was the one he gave to the religious and political representatives who had gathered at the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul on November 29th. What did he say there? He began his speech by referring to his leadership position using the traditional term

A priest named Arius of the Church of Alexandria in Egypt argued that Jesus was only a man and that God had called him to Himself because of his holy life. Arius rejected the faith that had been handed over since the time of the Apostles almost two and a half centuries later. At a time when the early Church and the faith were in danger, the then Roman Emperor Constantine I summoned all the Church Fathers to Nicaea. After more than two months of discussions and meditations at

That's how the level of awareness has often times been heightened in the world. A crime is reported; then there are investigations related to it; information regarding the crime and the investigation is presented to the public in various flavors through various media; the public buys and consumes them with excitement; discussions about it take place through the media and besides the media among the general public; through these discussions and personal cogitations based on th

While in Herod’s prison, John the Baptist sends some of his disciples to Jesus with the question: “Are you the one who is to come, or should we wait for someone else?” “Go and tell John what you see and hear,” Jesus tells them, and then he tells them a summary of what was happening through him. John never had any doubts about himself. Things were very clear to him. It was through him that God broke His silence of four hundred years. His father, who was a priest, had gone mut

“Comfort, says God. Comfort my people. Speak to them gently and proclaim to them” – it is with this commission a prophet enters the scene (Is. 40:1-2). What kindness, what compassion, is seen in God! They have been through many tears and have gone through many sufferings. They can't take the pain any more. They need ointment for their wounds. They need the caress of compassion for their scars. Tears of compassion and atonement should fall on their weary hearts. Don’t you see

It wasn't long since we realized that we were living truely in a Jurassic Park. The state we are in now (Montana) has the most dinosaur fossils unearthed in the world. And they are still coming out. It was new information that there are fourteen dinosaur museums or dinosaur parks in this state, in various places. That's how it happened that we went to see the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, three hours from our place, beginning of last month. Giants that lived on this very

Everyone has experiences. By communicating with the physical world brings in experiences to everyone. The starting point is in observations. When observations are prolonged, that is paying attention. When we consciously pay attention to experience, the first thing that arises is imitation. Color, shape, movement, sounds, specifics - picture, sculpture, dance, music, and drama. Most people don't consciously pay attention to their experiences. Because, to pay attention, we have

It is said that masculinity and femininity are basically social and cultural norms that are associated with male and female sexes. According to the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, there is no perfect woman or perfect man. There is an inherent man in every woman and a woman inherently or in the unconscious in every man. He named the femininity in men the 'anima' and the masculinity in women the 'animus'. He argued that it is there as an primordial memory acquisition through hund

History is moving forward - no doubt. But are humans and humanness moving forward too? Some would say that humans are moving forward, but humanness is moving backward. They would have much empirical data to prove their position. They would even find many scripture passages to support their position. There are also many who believe just the opposite. Those who believe that history and humanity and humanness are all moving forward, and that God is the one guiding the history,

Pope Leo’s message to the pilgrims gathered in the Vatican Square on November 22 was powerful. The Pope’s message referencing on Dorothy Day, an American journalist turned labor union activist who began her life as a socialist and later converted to the Catholic faith. She had the fire of love within her. She saw that her country’s developmental model was not creating equal opportunities for all in the country. Therefore Dorothy Day took a stand. As a Christian, Dorothy real

When Jesus speaks about the end times it's not just something about what will happen in some distant time. It is certainly not something that is unrelated to us. It is both futuristic and present-life-based. He says such and such will be at the end of the age, and so you act in such and such way. He exhorts us to follow two things in life. One: be vigilant (Mt. 24:42); two: be ready (Mt. 24:44). The two may seem to be the same thing. Although they are related, the two are tw

Three days before, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Decastedy for Evangelization, gave a message in Penang, Malaysia, inaugurating a Pilgrimage of Hope. His message drew on from the Gospel pericope where following a star the wise men (Magi) from the east arrive at Jerusalem and enquire about the new born king, and upon hearing that King Herod was disturbed and sought to kill the child. "We need more Magi, pilgrims who seek, listen, learn, and adore. We need fe

I have written about this before. Even though I have written, because I it is engraved in me, I made the same mistakes over and over again. Binaryness is a concept that has emerged only recently. Binary thinking has always been there, but only now we are becoming aware of it- at least more universally. Computers use binary language. That is not what I am talking about. It is about dividing the world into black and white. We divide/separate our world into two columns: right an

"Whatever one does for the upliftment of oneself should simultaneously also be for the benefit of the other" was a principle Narayana Guru taught the people of Kerala. In a way, Christian Consecrated Life is for the upliftment of oneself, or is self-contenting. But in Christianity, there cannot be such thing as self-satisfaction. It is usually said that those who live a Consecrated life in Christianity choose to do so because of the love for Christ and in imitation of him. T

I don't know how many people have a positive view about and approach to Christian Consecrated life! Whether it is something negative or positive, I feel that some things that are common in Christian Religious Life provide some vague models for family life to be. Of course, the things I am saying will not be the same in every Religious Community. I also admit that there will be many exceptions to the rule. First, in Christian Consecrated Life (except in communities with a spe

Most people frown when they hear about the feast of Christ the King. Because most people would say that it takes a lot of grit to call someone born in a stable, wandering as a poor man, and finally being crucified and killed a king. First of all, the king is an anomaly and anachronistic image. Because not only does it not fit with the historical Jesus, but kingship and monarchy are relics of the past. However, like many other concepts, the kingship of Christ is a very mystica

In the year 2004 I was in Ethiopia for three months. During that time, one Sunday when I had nothing to do, I was browsing the TV and came across an English movie: 'Normal' (2003). 'Normal', a family drama made for television, written and directed by actress and filmmaker Jane Anderson, starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson, is one that had some haunting scenes and dialogues. Since some of its dialogues always remained in my mind, I recently watched it again on YouTube.

There are those who, without due diligence and without proper study, write and say whatever they feel like, on social media as they are the ultimate truths. There are those who maintain that the 'family' is the most primitive institution and that it is the most fascist system. Of course, everyone has the right to think that what they think is right. What evolutionary stages has the family itself has gone through over time! It was just in front of our eyes that the joint famil