By Matters India Reporter
Indore, April 20, 2022: A special Holy Week retreat has helped a mixed group of Catholics to seek Christ’s mind while dealing with current challenging social issues.
Father Justin Akkara, one of the 11 participants, says the Christo-centric leadership retreat has given him Christ as a reference point in his life and ask what “Jesus would do” before making any decision.
The retreat was “a personal pilgrimage with Christ” and “an experience of immersion in the reality of Jesus of Nazareth and a process to understand and grow in one’s Way of Christ in life,” said the head of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate congregation’s Bhopal province.
Father Akkara joined two lay persons, four nuns, one brother and four priests in the April 11-16 retreat at Universal Solidarity Movement’s headquarters in Indore, central India.
The retreat’s highlight was watching the movie “Jesus of Nazareth” as an exercise in understanding Jesus in a deeper way, Father Akkara wrote in his reflections after the retreat.
The retreat stressed the need to understand the dangerous religious polarization taking place in India and how to respond to it through various ministries, said Father Varghese Alengaden, USM founder director.
The retreat started with reflectively watching the movie Jesus of Nazareth followed by the participants sharing their insights and learning. “The process helped the participants ask themselves before taking every decision and action, “If Jesus were here today what he would do,” Father Alengaden told Matters India.
Holy Spirit Sister Jancy, principal of Indore’s St Raphael’s School, found the retreat “memorable” as it helped her see herself in all the characters in the film.
Congregation of Jesus Sister Lissy, principal of Lucknow’s St. Mary’s Inter College, says the retreat helped her understand the need to forget her ego and pride and work as a team member to contribute her best.
“In the community we need to know who can be strikers, who should be defenders. Recognizing each other is the best way to grow in a team,” she wrote in her reflections after the retreat.
The talks during the retreat were related to the sociopolitical issues the disciples of Jesus confront today.
The talks and interaction helped the participants to understand the fault lines in their responses the present problems as individuals and community. Their ineffective responses have made them redundant and irrelevant to society, they agreed.
Malabar Missionary Brother Sunny Lal, hailed USM for remaining “a symbol of hope” where the Way of Christ is practiced in daily life. “A rented building has become a living experience with the values of Jesus. It is a place with limited facilities, but with great love. Love has made all the difference,” he added.
1) The effort/initiative of USM to reflect on the life and message of Jesus, relating to present-day life is appreciated.
2) It is very sad and unfortunate to see in the history of the Catholic Church that the life and message of Jesus have been wrongly presented in order to suit the selfish agenda and survival of clergy. The “Revolutionary Jesus” has been presented as “Jesus of meek and humble heart”. Since the clergy was leading a royal life, they elevated Jesus to the status of a “King” and introduced the “feast of Christ the King”. The laity has been thoroughly brainwashed to see only the soft side of Jesus. The message of Jesus is not preached as a challenging one.
3) The word of God/incidences in the Bible need to be seen in the present context – meaning that they are repeated even TODAY. We need to keep the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand and read.
4) Jesus suffers, crucified, murdered even now in the forms of atrocities/ various types of violence on the marginalized/underprivileged/excluded communities.
5) “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters that you do unto me”- Jesus. The criteria of the “Last Judgement” is NEVER or RARELY highlighted.
6) The “Sermon on the Mount” that inspired many non-Christians, including Mahatma Gandhi, is not presented as a challenging message.
7) So, a lot of “awakening/awareness-building” need to happen not only in the Catholic Church but also in certain “fanatic and conservative Christian groups”.