By :Lissy Maruthanakuzhy

Having completed twenty years of service among the poor and abandoned in 2016, Maher (Mother’s Love) Founded by Sr Lucy Kurien is starting  an Association  of  interfaith  communities  and  practitioners.

“I  began to think of this seeing the differences faced by the people in various religions including in the church. Sometimes our people refuse communion which makes them sad and angry.   So I thought if we come together and share we could feel the oneness among ourselves,” said  Sr Lucy.

Defining the eligibility of membership  Sr Lucy says, “Anyone who is drawn to the concept of loving and respecting every religion; anyone   who   is   concerned   about   the   suffering   of   humanity,   and   is   ready   to   do something about it; 
anyone  who  is  concerned  about  the  ecological  destruction  of  the  natural  world,  and wants to do something about it can join us.”

She defines interfaith spirituality as, “We respect and love all religions. We never put down anyone’s religion, or uphold one religion  to  the  exclusion  of  others.  What  we  want  is  to  believe  an d  respect  interfaith religion, inclusive of all faith traditions. We respect all religions. In our community spiritual practices, we often use “God” to represent the Divine, rather than invoking any particular name or form of God to the exclusion of others. In the case of non-theistic religions, we refer to Dharmakaya (in Buddhism) or the Arhats (in Jainism), or the Tao (in Taoism).

Sr Lucy Kurien of Sisters of the Holy Cross of Chavanod, founded  Maher after she encountered the death of  a young lady torched by her husband.

Started in Pune today Maher home has  reached different places  of India:  Pune and Ratnagiri , and Miraj in Sangli Dt  in Maharashtra,  Ernakulam in Kerala, Delatoli in  Jharkhand. All the houses are managed by volunteers and lay persons.

Maher has house for battered women, children unwed mothers, abandoned widows, abandoned  elderly men and women.

During past years  4000 women have passed through Maher. Now there are 862 children, 320 women, 56 men, 50 women in various houses. There are also HIV/AIDs affected and their children.

Maher has received  over 65 awards.