debater

Sometimes these things keep coming to my mind! Perhaps, this is the sign that I am not dead still alive and can think too! If God doesn’t give it upon me, why should I? All that I need is God. If God alone becomes the point of reference everything else becomes light and easy. How foolish to run from pillar to post trying to reform oneself. It doesn’t work. When the greatest is within He takes care of everything. The strength of one’s character is manifested in the forcefulness of words. Where there is no character there could be sophistry but not force. Character, I believe, is the result of habits – virtues in the Aristotlenian language. Habits either form or break us. Although I am a Christian I do not let it affect my daily life. Leadership is a vocation. It has to be so. Otherwise, it is an occasion to usurp power. No one in his right mind would like to embark on a journey without a destination in mind. We know how we would call the person if there is...

There are actually a few days in a year that fill, if not all but most of us, with certain pride of being citizens of this great country, India. It is right and good to feel this way! When I think of the Independence Day what comes to mind is the celebration that marks across the country burying our differences at least for a while apparently; the military prowess that is on display and the cultural heritage of our nation are things that define our celebration at the national level besides the fiery speeches by our eminent leaders. I have been particularly excited about the Independence Day round the corner for it being the 70 th anniversary of our independence. Hence, my reflection is not something customary that we hear from our schools and colleges – at least that is what I have been hearing all these years - on that day deploring the miserable conditions of the masses across the length and breadth of our great nation. However, I cannot but make a reference to this malady so ...

The largest democracy in the world is going through turbulent times which makes one to think whether it has become irrelevant or marching towards its dead end. The way things unfold to us day in and day out make us skeptical about the effectiveness of democracy. Be it the acquittal of the powerful involved in scams, suppression of civil rights movements (NGOs), hijacking of people’s movements by political parties (Sasi Perumal’s movement has been taken over by the politicians for scoring political points), lack of tolerance in the public (recall what happened a couple of days back. A Muslim suspected of eating beef was lynched by the mob), increasing of political cults (one only needs to see the way people bow to their leaders!). The political discourse in India is moving towards the ‘right-wing’ fundamentalism – creating myths and tearing down the secular fabric of democracy. What has led to the sudden and violent opposition to civil demands for justice? It is perhaps the right ques...

The post-modern world has not left anything unquestioned. If there is one thing that has come under the heavy scrutiny of post-modernism that in all probability - not so much the question of God - are matters concerning religious beliefs and doctrines. It seems clearer even to the simple minds that you cannot be the way you were in the past. Everything changes and we are caught unawares most often. We cannot present God the way it was presented to us when we were kids. We are forced not only to change the method of communication – today attention depends on attraction – but also the content of it, if not completely. This is the situation in which we live. I am intrigued by the timeless yearning of the human heart to know the Divine even in the midst increasing material prosperity! Hence, it is needless to discuss whether the study of theology is relevant today. The need is greater than in the past precisely due to the challenges that arise to theologizing. I would give three reason...

1. Life Francesco Forgione who came to be known as Padre Pio was born in May 25, 1887 in Pietrelcina, Italy. His parents, Orazio Forgione and Maria Giuseppa De Nunzio, were poor peasants. From his early years he loved virtue and abhorred all forms of vice. He entered the Novitiate of the Capuchins in 1902 at Morcone. From the time Francesco entered the Novitiate until his death he never enjoyed good health. His life of prayer and penance was interfered with constant fever and attacks from the evil one. He was sent to the monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo after his ordination as his ill health demanded such a place. It was on 20 th September 1918 Padre Pio received the five wounds of Christ visibly in his body. For fifty years be bore witness to Christ in his body and breathed his last on September 23, 1968. 2. Content of Padre Pio’s Spiritual Gifts If we could point out one chief purpose of all the spiritual gifts that God in His kindness bestowed on Padre Pio that wou...

As I was reading The Cost of Discipleship of Dietrich Bonhoeffer I was touched by his insight into the way we sell ourselves short to things that are worthless. Often to the evils that we give into our momentary. Take for example a student lying to a teacher in the classroom. Whatever be the reason it is to get a momentary relief that he does. Beyond that particular moment, the relief turns out to be one of guilt if ever the boy’s conscience is clear. There is a passage in the Old Testament that is worth remembering in this connection. Esau in his desperation sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob. He knew not the repercussions of an act done to fill his stomach. “Jacob said, “First sell me your birthright.” Easu said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” (Gen. 25:31) All that stood before him was his hunger. Later, though he resents what he had done, what was done remains done! The Bible is full of examples of those who sold themselves to the immediate, ...

My fellow citizens, greetings as we celebrate the 69 th independence day of our country. We must be thankful at this moment for the countless sacrifices made by our forefathers. We are proud that our motherland is the second largest democracy in the world with the demographic dividend of the most number young people residing in. Clearly, we stand to gain and contribute to the rest of the world. Dear friends, while all these make us proud, I wish to reflect with you the need to say ‘yes to freedom.’ Even after 68 years, there are enslaving situations for us to see. It was rather easy for Gandhi and others to fight against the colonisers but it is relatively difficult to do so against those who have replaced them. What has happened all these years is swelling, a few people getting rich and influential. Of course, we all know that swelling is not growth but a sign of decay. Corruption, injustice, gender violence, untouchability and fundamentalism put us to shame day in day out. The...