Renewal Course for Religious
Eco Spirituality: Jan. 08-12
By Fr. Robert Athickal, S.J. Patna Province,
Founder and Director of TARUMITRA Movement
“Isavasyam Idam Sarvam” Isha UpanishadVerse 1: The Lord lives here in everything…
In Indian spirituality ‘Mother Earth’ is source and sustenance of life. ‘I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth’ (Genesis 9:13).
He pitched his tent among us, (Jn.1:14), to stay with us. The earth is holy and sacred. Dr. Robert Athickal, the founder of TARUMITRA Movement says, “The Tribal people refused to build temple for God because they see God in every animate and inanimate thing, they are not animists.”
As humanity matures it realizes the blunders it committed in destroying the Eco-systems in its blind pursuits. The eco-spirituality invites us to conserve and use the capital resources of nature in a responsible and sustainable manner. It invites every believer to love the creator through everything he has created. This is a big insight. We need to stop the exploitation of nature for peaceful co-existence, in the wake of global warming and its dire consequences.
Psycho-spiritual Integration: Jan. 14-19
By Fr. Mathew Chemplany,S.J. Patna Province,
Renewal in religious life is an ongoing process. As we mature physically we need to grow spiritually to the full stature of Christ. For this psycho-spiritual integration, Fr. Mathew insists self-awareness and self-knowledge is necessary requirement. Most of the participants agree that we need to deal with our past and present (social, psychological and cultural baggage) in order to make changes in our attitudes, dispositions and mode of behavior in living out our religious commitments in the community and the Church at large.
Conflict Management and Community Building: Jan. 21-23
By Fr. Subhash, IMS
Where two or three persons live together conflicts of values, likes, and interests are bound to arise. Conflicts cannot be wished away from any community life. Fr. Subhash suggests that to deal with any conflict in the community, we need to understand first ourselves in order to understand other members of the community. Each person is unique with his or her talents and defects. Each person has a story to tell in the community. Most of the participants said that his approach was simple and practical. They said that his insights were very useful.
The community is built on interdependence and sharing. The mission and rule of life of the community go together. Individual differences must be treated as assets in the service of the community. There are no readymade solutions to problems. But we need to face them with an open mind. When we find one door closed we need to look for another option always keeping in mind the mission and the community.
Graphology for Personality Improvement: Jan. 24-27 By Dr. Sebastian V., Director, Nav Sadhana, Varanasi
Graphology is the study of character and personality through the analysis of penstroke formations used in handwriting. The study of graphology is used for personality development. It is typically used to study what persons are like under their masks. It is used to learn some of the set patterns of attitudes and behaviour of an individual.
As the saying goes writing is reading twice, hence every stroke of hand script words are referred to as “Brain Prints”. The utility of this science is greatly dependent on the interpretation and analysis of the patterns of writing based on slant, baseline, margins, spacing, pressure, size, speed, pastocity, club strokes and connecting strokes which reveal about the past, present and future character and personality of individuals.
Good number of participants said they heard of this study for the first time. For them it was a revelation and a tool for self-knowledge.
Group Therapy for Self- awareness and Growth: Jan.29-05 Feb.
By Fr. Andrew D’Cunha, Lucknow
The participants were appreciative of the kind nature of Fr. Andrew for his patient listening and facilitating them to open up and seek help in the healing therapy. In fact, all the initial input sessions were a preparation for the group therapy, which they found well interconnected. Seven of twelve sisters have completed 25 years of religious life. They prized this renewal course in particular. They admired the techniques used by Fr. Andrew in dealing with them during the group therapy for self-awareness and growth. They said it was revealing and personally very useful.
South Asian Group Conference: Part one Jan. 13-20, Part two Jan. 21-27
Conducted by Ken Arthur P. & Anne Beshears
This group conference was hosted by Nav Sadhana. The conference was conducted in two parts: one they dealt with translation of Scripture in different languages and the second was on community building. Their main thrust was on development of language and helping people to value their own culture and language. Mr. Ken says the South Asian Group endeavours to translate the eternal message of the Scripture and faith stories so that indigenous people too may have the possibility to read the great stories in their own dialects.
