Provincial's Musings

We are in the Easter season. May the Risen Lord help us believe in the tremendous power of love, give us courage to stand by truth against power and help us discover him when he appears to us in surprising ways.

My Easter message is three fold: First, believe in the tremendous power of love. Christianity is about a love story. A God madly in love with His people.

Easter is about the climax of this love story. Love is the greatest reality. Love never dies. Love is a power that every human being has. It is the one thing that makes all of us equal before God and before each other.

Second, the resurrection of Jesus reminds us of truth’s protest against power. Tagore’s greatest expressions in prose of truth’s protest against power: “Give me the faith of the life in death, of the victory in defeat, of the power hidden in the frailness of beauty, of the dignity of pain that accepts hurt but disdains to return it.” This could be said about the resurrection of Jesus and the lives of human rights activists and the farmers in protest.

Third, the Resurrection of Jesus reveals to us a God of surprises, because God is always doing something new, always moving beyond what we have already known. The Risen Lord comes us to where we are, loves us as we are, and sends us on a mission. Let it be light on our face and song in our voice, let it be joy in our service, hope in our work, warmth in our love.

The Ignatian Year begins from May 20, 2021 and concludes on July 31, 2022. This is the 5th centenary of the St Ignatius’ injury at Pamplona and the 4th centenary of the canonization of St Ignatius and St Francis Xavier. To see all things new in Christ is what we seek in the Ignatian Year. The Ignatian year is a new call to draw inspiration from Ignatius, the Pilgrim. We will celebrate the inauguration of the Ignatian Year on the 20th of May 2021 in the three zones of the Province: Bangalore at Mount St Joseph, Mangalore at Fatima Retreat House and North Karnataka at Mundgod. May this Ignatian year bring about individual, communitarian and institutional conversion in our Province.