FEEL MY PAIN

FEEL MY PAIN

I’m one of the five elements! O mortals!

Without me there will be no life, only ordeals!

You need me for everything, tangible or subtle!

Then take care of me, why so apocalyptical!

I’m chopped in the trees awfully,

I’m fumed in the forest painfully,

I’m buried under the skyscrapers absolutely,

Oh! I’m bleeding in the wildlife profusely!

I’m murdered in the womb pathetically,

I’m raped in every minor shamelessly,

I’m tortured in every housewife incessantly,

Oh! I’m lynched in every human being recklessly!

I’m  lying along the footpath's edge,

See, my hands are filthy with muck & garbage,

Alas! I'm also migrant workers stifled rage,

Oh! I'm the tear of every helpless soul in cage.

You capture my floods insensitively,

You ignore me when in parched uncaringly,

You stream me live when I shake terribly,

You silence me when I speak boldly. 

You pollute me, cover me with plastics,

You destroy me with your poisonous chemicals,

When will you learn to care for me?

When will you stop persecuting me?

I’m not your disaster movie, O, human!

I’m the footstool of God Almighty, so divine!

Take off your shoes, feel my pain,

Walk barefoot, do not slain.

- S. Laveena D'Souza

Tanmaya Province / India

Lace Makers to Care Takers

Here you, O descendants of lace-makers

Don't you realize, you! O great care-takers?

What's your vision, what's your mission?

Forget not, communion is your charism

A total double union with self, with others

With God, and with creation, is what matters

Every day, everywhere life is mingled in this mystery

By your life add to this great history

Humility, simplicity, hiddenness, and charity

Let your intentions be polished in purity

Magis, enlarge your tent, Incarnate with Joy

Keywords to live the kingdom alloy

Maxims, Constitutions, Eucharistic Letter and Little Plan

To lead a life worthy of the Little Design

State of your heart and order of the house

A genuine sharing for lasting friendship

Community immersed in the Spirit connected with the world

Consecrating to the Uncreated and Created Trinities

Joining Mary in her Fiat, finding in Joseph the fraternal care

Emptying of self to be filled with Jesus to proclaim the 'Greatest Love of God'

Passion for Christ, compassion for humanity

Live a life of serenity by weaving the lace of diversity

Make peace with Creator and with creation

Thus, make your life a great celebration

- Laveena CSJ

  Tanmaya Province / India 

Be on your Gurard

 

It's Lockdown

 

BEAUTY OF OUR COMMON HOME

 

Cataclysmic 2020

 Questions plenty, answers a few

Human minds confused with novel flu

Sufferings endless

With tiny virus clueless

Religious and polities dumb

Science and tech seem numb

Is this the beginning or the end?

Lost in pandemic dread

 

Health and wealth least valued

Rich and poor equally viewed

Cities and villages alike on knees

Genius and ignorant both it seize

Castle, skyscraper, and hovel

White and blue collars at equal level

No caste, no creed is so immune

Human race receded to its cocoon

 

Human pain unspeakable

Deaths and loss make life unstable

Developed and developing nations are in cacophony

Competing with each other to raise the economy

Doctors, nurses, paramedics, social workers

Par-excellence frontline warriors

Clap hands, burn candles, voice the supremo

Who cares the poor, the migrants, else God Divino?

 

Animals on road, humans in self-built cage

Witnessing nature’s rage

Wash hands, stay safe, a new norm

masks and gloves please, an additional storm

Temples, churches, mosques closed

Malls, shops, humanity paused

God within human heart, not in stone

Love and share, a blended cone

 

Who’s responsible for this misery?

Is human, nature’s adversary?

Greed to possess more isn’t a word

Amidst great crisis round the world

While striving through twenty-twenty

Life seems empty-empty  

 A tiny virus that shook the human race

Earned its fame on this space

Sisters of St. Joseph and friends together in common prayer

 Two thousand years ago, the disciples gathered in the Upper Room. They were waiting in prayer for the coming of the Spirit, which Jesus promised. Today, more than 2000 years later, we are like those disciples locked down in our own homes, anxiously waiting for a permanent solution/cure, a complete healing from this pandemic. 

On May 30, a day before the feast of Pentecost, Our General Team went live on Facebook through the platform of Zoom videoconference uniting all of us together as a family in prayer. It was organized at 3.00 pm Italian time, which suits all the sisters of St. Joseph and friends from North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. It was a joint venture of the General Council and the International Communication Commission of the Congregation. Amidst fear and anxiety, we as one body in Christ, the Sisters of St. Joseph and friends across the globe, prayed for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This was our second initiative. The first one was on April 08, during the Holy Week. 

As the General Council took the name of each continent/country and prayed for the real-time need, it was a solemn gesture of unity and solidarity with the rest of the world. It was indeed a blessed moment when Sr. Sally, our Superior General convoked the General Chapter 2021. Yes, together, we continue to seek the guidance of the spirit, to find concrete ways to offer our services to our dear neighbor. As Sr. Sally in her opening speech rightly said, “May we open our hearts and minds to allow the Spirit to move us as one Congregation, as one BODY of faithful disciples who desire to listen and then to offer loving service to all our dear neighbors.”


During the prayer, we prayed for our church, for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and for our planet earth. We dedicated our prayers for the whole world, as humanity goes through the physical, emotional, social, and economic impact of Covid-19 pandemic. We prayed for our national leaders to come up with policies to restore life and dignity. We prayed for harmony and peace for those countries, where constant war and the massacre is up at hand. We prayed for those migrant workers who struggle to reach their homes and die with hunger and thirst.


Oneness, interconnected, one family, united in one body and spirit



While reading through the comments, some of them had emphasized the words like ‘oneness, interconnected, one family, united in one body and spirit, we feel blessed, thank you for having this prayer.’ Indeed, it was a moment of interconnectedness, a moment the different parts of the body deeply feel united. While chatting with some sisters, immediately after prayer, most of them expressed that taking the name of the country and praying for the real concern was the touching moment while the others felt that convoking the General Chapter was a moment of God’s grace. Some felt that having prayer sheets beforehand in their languages helped them to pray well. 

Indeed, the entire hour was filled with God’s grace that led us to experience our oneness as Sisters of St. Joseph, associates, and friends across the globe. We thank God for technology and the vivid platforms of media and communications. Being in closed doors, we were able to join as one family and pray together for the outpouring of the spirit. 


S. Laveena D’Souza

Life as I see...

24/7 life is at a halt.  Today the world is experiencing a kind of silence that is accompanied by hunger, thirst, loneliness, despair and disappointment.

The arrival of COVID – 19, looks like it is going to wipe human race from the face of the earth. On the one hand, millions of people have become the victims of this virus and on the other, due to lockdown, hunger, and debt, many are forced to commit suicide. Cases of depression and loneliness are on the increase. Rich somehow manage the show. It is the middle class and the poor who suffer the most. The cry of the migrants to reach their home town echoes from every nook and corner. When leaders of developed countries secure their boundaries by building walls when developing countries raise high walls to hide its poverty, when religiosity reigns over spirituality, COVID-19, has proved that no walls and boundaries can hinder its travel.

The other part of the story is of great interest. COVID-19 has pushed the science to the background. It has initiated the need to cry out to God for help. It has inculcated a genuine love for one and another.   Whatever one may call, social distancing, lockdown, quarantine…. all this is doing something good. Families find quality time to pray, to talk, to discuss, and to laugh. On the whole, it has taught people to become more generous.

Even nature is blessed by COVID- 19. Zero pollution has enabled it to regain its space and rhythm. One can easily hear the chirping of birds throughout the day. While attending college often I and my colleagues used to murmur, “We are done, we need a long break?” Now take a break…. Enjoy life…. No more complaining of wanting a break or none will say we don’t have time. Right now, we have sufficient time to reorganize ourselves. We have time to renew our spiritual life. We have time to mend our old ways. We have time to patch our relationships. We have time to put things right in our lives. We are standing at life’s uncertainties.  What’s next? Who knows?

Can this be a time for spiritual transformation? Behold, I make all things new (Rev 21:5). Or like the Psalmist prays in Psalm 104:30, "Send forth your spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth."

S. Laveena D’Souza

Tanmaya Province

The Divine Wood Works

Divine Wood Works 

St. Joseph, a descendant of King David, owned ‘Divine Wood Works’–a small carpentry workshop in Nazareth, in which he possessed a hammer, nails, a saw, a few tools, and pieces of wood. Initially, he worked alone. Later he had only one employee, Jesus–the one and only manpower for the shop.

St. Joseph is always pictured, wearing brown, and green coloured robes. Brown is the colour most poor working men wore at that time, and green personified his faithfulness to God’s call.  His workshop stood small and simple. It had just enough space to work and earn a livelihood.   

Divine Wood Works had no space for gossiping. The perfect ambience of silence pervaded the workshop. Genuine craftsmanship remained as Joseph carefully picked pieces of wood to brand windows, doors, and some home furniture. Perfection surfaced as he polished the carved wood.

Joseph proved ‘just’ while dealing with self and others. His virtue of ‘obedience’ simplified in following the will of God. Tranquility expounded his silence, and this nullified all doubts and questions.  

In a sheer example of simplicity, and great humility, God the Father could not resist but make him a perfect helper to the Mother of God, and the foster father to the God-Man.  

Grounded in the mill of human work and human relationships, Joseph placed his deep faith, courage, and trust in God. He stepped out into the future with its risks and uncertainties to carry out the plan of God.    

- Laveena CSJ
       

From Tagore's Gitanjali (6)

Pluck me this moment
And delay no longer
Let me not lie in the dust forlorn
Let me be part of
The garland you’ll put on
My fate, I keep hoping,
Is to be picked by you alone!
Extract me, pluck me out,
Remove me from all doubt!

Who knows when day will end?
Who knows when night will fall?
Who knows when the time to pray,
And call upon you, may slip away?
Take me, whatever colors I gather,
Choose me, whatever scent I put on,
Make me part of your prayer offerings
Let me serve you any way I can,
Extract me, pluck me out,
Remove me from all doubt!