Diego Garcia is an island in the Indian Ocean, covering an area of 174 square kilometres. In 1971, the British government expelled its population then numbering some 2,000 people to Mauritius and Seychelles to allow the U.S. to establish a military base on the island. Today the exiled Chagossians are still fighting to go back to their homeland, claiming that the forced expulsion and dispossession was illegal. READ MORE…
Reading Room
Reading Room
As a Christian, how do I deal with money?
Dear JD,
The world is becoming ‘wealthier’ by the day. Money and wealth are beginning to occupy much of our attention. Our relationships with people and God Himself is being determined by money! Though the economic structure of the world today is much more complex than that of Jesus’ time, his teachings suggest to us some basic attitude towards money and wealth. Jesus had a very balanced attitude towards money. He knew what is the purpose of money:
To meet our daily needs. If you read Luke 8:1-3 you hear Jesus had some women disciples and some of them were very rich women, who provided for the daily needs of Jesus and his apostles. They were his benefactors. (See similar reference of Paul in 2Cor 11:9).
To fulfill the requirements of the law – “give to ceasar what is ceasar’s” (Mt 22:21);
To help the poor (Lk 19:8 ; Mt 19:21)
To use it for […]
A homily for the Feast of St John Bosco
Let the Children come to me!
Mark 10:13-16
People were bringing little children to [Jesus], for him to touch them. The disciples scolded them, but when Jesus saw this he was indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. In truth I tell you, anyone who does not welcome thekingdomofGodlike a little child will never enter it.’ Then he embraced them, laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing.
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“Let the children come to me.”
When we come to church we hear a lot of jargons. Let us try to understand at least one of them. What does ‘Jesus’ stand for? For me, Jesus stands for ‘Wellbeing’ (a simpler word for ‘salvation’!). He stands for ‘fullness of life!’
In Jn 10:10, Jesus says: “I have come so that [you] may have life […]
God in the City
God in the City
by Sahaya G. Selvam, sdb
Salesian Family Study Days,UK, January 2012
0.0. The objective of these reflections is to see how urban cultures are evolving and becoming global; and then to ask ourselves: how could we be the church in this context? And how could we open up ourselves to an experience of God that will make it meaningful for us to be compassionate to others.
0.1. When faced with the need for change, for fear of chaos, we tend to fall back to rigidity. Integration seems to be the healthier option!
0.2. When faced with the need to understand reality, it may be easier to take one of the extreme options between naïve realism and anti-realism. Critical realism seems to be the more meaningful option!
0.3. God and Revelation: If God is eternal, and eternity is a continuous now (St Augustine), then God’s revelation is here and now! Should we apply […]
Salesian Values in the African Culture
Inculturation of Salesian Charism in Africa – 2
SALESIAN VALUES IN THE AFRICAN CULTURE
Missionary work is primarily a work of conversion, conversion understood in a holistic sense. However, the missionary is really responsible for only one conversion, his own. It is up to the Holy Spirit to do the rest. (Cf. Spearhead, No.120, p.64) The missionary’s conversion consists in making a genuine effort to better understand and appreciate the culture of the people. If the missionary works on his own conversion, the latter would not only become easy, but would follow spontaneously.
It was in this process of my own conversion that my previous article, “Salesian Presence Vs. Privacy in Africa”, was written for Harambee. The article received several reactions, from within the province and from abroad. There was in general an appreciation of the attempt. One such reaction from Moshi is published in this […]