Jesuits

"I still feel like a Jesuit. And I am grateful for what I received from the Society of Jesus. I would like to say to all Jesuits: Thank you, brothers."

"I don’t have any particular work. I pray for the Jesuits, relatives and friends. Every morning I give communion to the senior and sick fathers in the infirmary. Sometimes Jesuit fathers and brothers come to me for spiritual advice. I try my best to help them."

"One can say that ‘Arabs’ are naturally violent. But the same could be said of the Barbarians who conquered Europe in the past. These invaders have been progressively ‘civilized’ by the Christian faith to become what they are now. In my opinion, the religious element plays an essential role in shaping a society. The fact that Christian ‘Arabs’ are different than Muslim Arabs is a proof of the strong connection between religion and society."

"We all have to answer the basic question of whether we believe this book to be God’s work or not. Do Catholics make an act of faith by which we recognize that God wants to communicate with human beings, that he has already communicated with us through a concrete salvation history, and that the Bible is the Word of God rather than just a book like any other? Does the Bible make some demand on my mind and will to recognize this history of revelation and to make a commitment to what God has revealed? Am I willing to go that far?"

"Science doesn't stop when it comes up with a nice answer. It looks for more data. It comes up with new ideas. It's willing to admit it's wrong."

"Something like 10000 meteorites hit Earth a year. Three-quarters land in the ocean. Given how long they last, and how fast they come down, you might expect to see a meteorite roughly every two square kilometers. But in fact, you don't. They're completely lost."

"Science books go out of date. We throw the old one away when a newer one comes out, when we have new theories. But we don't throw away our old data; we merely interpret them differently. New theories try to account for old data (and new data) in new ways."

"Once an idea gets turned into a story, people pay attention long enough to listen. And they'll remember it. The images from Dante are far more vivid than the arguments of Aquinas."

"Even an atheist has to believe that the concept, at least, of "God" does exist, whether or not that concept is true or useful or the best way to approach things."

"Church officials in the past may have looked with great suspicion on the writings of, say, Teilhard de Chardin; but this same Church did, after all, produce a Teilhard. Even earlier, John Henry Newman was made a cardinal notwithstanding his liberal views. Prominent theologians in every era, going back to the most ancient Church fathers, argued cogently and consistently against a literalist interpretation of scripture. On the other hand, I'm sure you could find closet creationists in the Catholic Church today."

"Sometimes in our activist and production-oriented American society and culture we succumb to pragmatism looking at the Christian life and our sharing in the apostolic mission of the Church as a matter being able to “do” things for Christ, the Church or others. In fact, the Christian life is a gift and a call to truth and love given to us by God. It is first a matter of "being," of simply existing as a person created by God and redeemed by him in Christ. We live out this truth and love in specific ways according to our age, talents, and unique vocation. At no point are the sacraments about what we have done or promise to do for God. They are God's free gift of grace to us. At the same time, these gifts of love entail an obligation to bear witness to God's love in word and deed by our collaboration in freedom with the grace given."

"The sentence of judgment says these men came to Japan from the Philippines, but I did not come from any other country. I am a true Japanese. The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I certainly did teach the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason I die. I believe that I am telling only the truth before I die. I know you believe me and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you to become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ’s example I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain."

"“The poverty of most Asian countries, and the alarming extremes of social and economic inequality to be found in them, derive from and are maintained by their stagnant social and religious institutions (like the caste-system in India), which as popularly understood and practised, are often “a tremendous force of social inertia”. But it would be unfair and unrealistic to stop here. For Asia’s underdevelopment is at least equally the result of induced socioeconomic processes.”"

"“Jesus (1) identifies himself with the poor, in order (2) to show them an active and effective concern. Such a concern looks to (3) the ending of their “social” poverty, while calling for (4) a “spiritual” poverty that will set them and their rich exploiters free from “mammon”, the compulsive urge to possess. Together, these four elements spell out the “compassion” of Jesus (Mt 9:36; Mk 6:34; 8:2) — that active, caring and passionate love which defines so sharply his life-style and sets a pattern for the life style of his followers.”"

"“The Christian response cannot be that of a spectator, exhorting from the side lines. It must be the response of the committed participant, involved in the struggle for justice and identified with his struggling brothers and sisters - even as God is involved in his history, and as Jesus has identified himself with humankind. An incarnational response will thus always be an active and an involved response.”"

"“For a change of structures without change of hearts will lead to new forms of oppression; while a change of hearts without change of structures will leave the present crushing form or oppression intact. Attitudinal and structural change are both necessary, because ultimately attitudes and structures are dialectically related.”"

"“Poverty in India is not just an economic category, it is a religious value as well. Caste, even in its most degrading form of untouchability, is legitimized by India’s dominant religion and tolerated by others, Christianity included!” (Soares-Prabhu, “Interpreting the Bible in India Today,” CWG 4, 6.)"

"“In places like India Jesus brings something radically new. A new experience of God, which allows him to rename Yhwh as ABBA. God is experienced not so much as 'holy' but as gracious and compassionate; and people are not just members of an exclusive tribe or a separated 'clean' caste, but as members of an open family, marked by freedom from consumerism and an attitude of radical service.”"

"“The radical commitment to the poor which is the starting point of any genuine Indian hermeneutic in India must be made within the distinctive under¬standing of humankind and its world, which constitutes the Indian world-view, and gives particular shape and colour to its Third Worldness. An Indian hermeneutic will respect the specific sensibility shaped by the Indian world-view - or, more accurately perhaps, world-views.”"

"“In the universe of Indian exegesis there is room for a wide variety of methods - historical criticism to determine the origin and the transmission of a text, literary criticism to analyse its literary and linguistic structures, canonical criticism to find out what function the text had in successive believing communities. But all these must be completed, if the interpretation is not to remain barren, with a hermeneutical reading which will determine the significance of the text for the reader here and how, by engaging text and reader in a critical conversation, that respects not only the meaning trajectory of the text but the new Indian context in which the text is now read.”"

"“A growing awareness of the massive social evils that plague our land (in which eighty percent of the people are below, on, or just above the poverty line, and fully seventy percent are totally illiterate; where just ten percent of the rural rich own more than sixty percent of all the cultivable land, and ninety percent of private-owned industry is producing consumer goods for less than fifteen percent of the population) is having its impact on Indian theology - particularly among Indian theologians who have been exposed to a social analysis which points, correctly, to institutional structures rather than personal ill will as the source of social ills.”"

"“Liberation is an experience of unconditioned freedom resulting from an experiential realization of the radical relativity of the empirical world, a state of absolute freedom from psychological and sociological bondage, which finds its concrete, institutionalized expression in the Buddhist monk (bhikku) or the Hindu wandering ascetic. Liberation for the Asian psyche is liberation which leads to that poverty which is freedom from illusion, attachment and greed.”"

"“Jesus did not come to rescue a few individuals from a condemned mass; but to open up a new future for man, thematized by him as the New Israel, this is as a universal community of love, leavened by the values of freedom fellowship, and justice. Such a community is possible only when the oppressive structures that hinder its growth are overthrown. His miracles are complemented by his controversies in which he stands up against the established structures of institutional oppression: the law, the cult, priesthood, and the Temple.”"

"“Jesus appears in the Gospels as non-clerical, even as a somewhat anti-clerical figure. He is not a priest, for he does not belong to a priestly family; and he is shown in continuing conflict with the priestly establishment which ultimately arranges for his death.”"

"“When the revelation of God’s love (the Kingdom) meets its appropriate response in man’s acceptance of this love (repentance), there begins a mighty movement of personal and societal liberation which sweeps through human history. The movement brings freedom inasmuch it liberates each individual from the inadequacies and obsessions that shackle him. It fosters fellowship, because it empowers free individuals to exercise their concern for each other in genuine community. And it leads on to justice, because it impels every true community to adopt just societal structures which alone make freedom and fellowship possible. Freedom, fellowship and justice are thus the parameters of the Kingdom’s thrust towards the liberation of man.”"

"“Jesus opted for a radicalism which sought to realize as perfectly as possible, the spirit of the Law, which he saw embodied in love (agape), that is in interhuman concern.”"

"“The Eucharist has always carried the memory of Jesus’ meals with tax collectors and sinners.”"

"“An Indian reading of the Bible is a reading from an Indian point of view: a reading guided by a sensibility shaped by Indian culture, and provoked by questions emerging from the Indian situation.”"

"“It is along the lines of such a hermeneutical conversation between text and reader, where each is open to and respects the claims of the other, that an Indian reading of the Bible is to be attempted. An Indian Christian reading will be a reading of the Bible by an interpreter sensitive to the Indian situation and true to the biblical text. It will be, that is, a true-to-the-text reading made with an Indian pre-understanding and responsive to Indian concerns.” **(Soares-Prabhu, “Interpreting the Bible in India Today,” CWG 4, 28)"

"“Indeed commitment to the poor is demanded of the Indian exegete, not only by his Third World situation of overwhelming poverty which is the true context of his interpretation (however much he may try to isolate himself from it), but also by the thrust of the Bible itself. For the Bible, in spite of all the efforts of Western exegesis to domesticate of remains a revolutionary text proclaiming ‘good news to the poor’”"

"“What makes a person a Christian is not professing certain beliefs, nor practising particular rituals, nor undergoing an initiation rite, nor belonging to a recognizable social group, nor even confessing the name Jesus, though these are inevitable stages in the evolution of a religious tradition. To be disciple of Jesus means to experience God the way that Jesus experienced God.”"

"CWG 3: Soares-Prabhu, George M. (2003). Biblical Spirituality of Liberative Action, Collected Writings of George M. Soares-Prabhu, S.J., Vol.3. Kuthirakkattel, Scaria. (ed.), Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth Theology Series."

"CWG 4: Soares-Prabhu, George M. (2001). Theology of Liberation: An Indian Biblical Perspective, Collected Writings of George M. Soares-Prabhu, S.J., *Vol.4. D’Sa, Francis X. (ed.). Pune. Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth Theology Series."

"CWG 2: Soares-Prabhu, George M. (1999). Biblical Theology for India, Collected Writings of George M. Soares-Prabhu, S.J., Vol.2,Kuthirakkattel, Scaria (ed.), Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth Theology Series."

"“The world of today is full of refugees. We live among thousands of “guest-workers” driven by need to work as unwanted aliens in the affluent Egypts of the Western world. We hear of tens of thousands of political refugees hunted out of their homes, to sit hopeless and forgotten, by the rivers of dingy Babylons in the vast refugee camps of Palestine or Cambodia. We know of the many million victims of caste or race discrimination, who suffer as harassed aliens in their own land, living a constantly threatened life in the “harijan” (ex-untouchables) quarters of half a million villages in India, or the segregated black townships of South African cities. We rub shoulders with hundreds of millions of the desperately poor, denied access to the “land”, eking out a precarious existence on the margins of their society in the endlessly sprawling shanty towns of the Third Word or the squalid “inner cities” of the West. For all of them, and for us living among them, the story of Jesus in Egypt read in this way may cease to be just another Christmas story and become a Christmas gospel of challenge and of hope.”"

"CWG 1: Soares-Prabhu, George M. (1999). Biblical Themes for a Contextual Theology Today, Collected Writings of George M. Soares-Prabhu, S.J., Vol.1.Padinjarekuttu, Isaac (ed.) Pune: Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth Theology Series."

"What is happening to me is not something unique happening to me alone. It is a broader process that is taking place all over the country. We are all aware how prominent intellectuals, lawyers writers, poets, activists, students, leaders, they are all put into jail because they have expressed their dissent or raised questions about the ruling powers of India. We are part of the process. In a way I am happy to be part of this process. I am not a silent spectator, but part of the game, and ready to pay the price whatever be it."

"The Hindus call it Bedi i.e. ‘the cradle’. The reason for this is that once upon a time, there was a house in this place where Befohan was born in the form of Rama besides his three brothers. Subsequently, Aurangzeb or according to another belief, Babbar, got this place destroyed in order to deny them the opportunity of practicing their superstitions. However, there still exists some superstitious cult in some place. For example, in the place where native house of Rama existed, they go around 3 times and prostrate on the floor.”"

"“The modern town extends a considerable way along the banks of the Goggrah, adjoining the new city of Fyzabad, which, during the government of Sujah-ud-Dowlah, was the seat of the Court. “Its appearance, in 1770, is thus described by Tieffenthaler: “Avad, called Adjudea by the learned Hindoos, is a city of the highest antiquity. Its houses are, for the most part, only of mud, covered with straw or with tiles; many, however, are of brick. The principal street, running from S. to N., is about a league (mille) in length; and the breadth of the city is somewhat less. Its western part, as well as the northern, is situated on a hill; the north-eastern quarter rests upon eminences; but, towards Bangla, it is level. This town has now but a scanty population, since the foundation of Bangla or Fesabad; a new town where the Governor has established his residence, and to which a great number of the inhabitants of Oude have removed.’ On the southern bank of the Deva (or Goggrah), are found various buildings erected by the Gentoos in memory of Ram, extending from east to west. The most remarkable place is that which is called Sorgodoari, that is to say, the heavenly temple; because they say, that Ram carried away from thence to heaven all the inhabitants of the city. The deserted town was repeopled and restored to its former condition by Bikramajit, the famous king of Oojein. There was a temple here on the high bank of the river but Aurungzebe, ever attentive to the propagation of the faith of Mohammed, and holding the heathen in abhorrence, caused it to be demolished, and replaced it with a mosque with minarets, in order to abolish the very memory of the Hindoo superstition. Another mosque has been built by the Moors, to the east of this. Near the Sorgodoari is an edifice erected by Nabalroy, a former Hindoo governor."

"But a place more particularly famous is that which is called Sitha Rassoee, the table of Sitha (Seeta), wife of Ram ; situated on an eminence to the south of the city. The emperor Aurungzebe demolished the fortress called Ramcote, and erected on the site, a Mohammedan temple with a triple dome. According to others, it was erected by Baber. There are to be seen fourteen columns of black stone, five spans in height, which occupied the site of the fortress. Twelve of these columns now support the interior arcades of the mosque: the two others form part of the tomb of a certain Moor. They tell us, that these columns, or rather these remains of skilfully wrought columns, were brought from the Isle of Lanca or Selendip (Ceylon) by Hanuman king of the monkeys."

"On the left is seen a square chest, raised five inches from the ground covered with lime, about 5 ells in length by not more than 4 in breadth."

"Emperor Aurengzeb got the fortress called Ramot demolished and got a Muslim temple, with triple domes, constructed at the same place. Others say that is was constructed by ‘Babor’. Fourteen black stone pillars of 5 span high, which had existed at the site of the fortress, are seen there. Twelve of these pillars now support the interior arcades of the mosque. Two (of these 12) are placed at the entrance of the cloister. The two others are part of the tomb of some ‘Moor’. It is narrated that these pillars, or rather this debris of the pillars skillfully made, were brought from the island of Lanca or Selendip (called Ceylan by the Europeans) by Hanuman, King of Monkeys."

"On the left is seen a square box, raised five inches from the ground, with borders made of lime, with a length of more than 5 ells and a maximum width of about 4. The Hindus call it Bedi, i.e. ‘the cradle’. The reason for this is that once upon a time, here was a house where Beschan was born in the form of Ram. It is said that his three brothers too were born here. Aurengzeb or Babor, according to others, got this place razed in order to deny them the noble people, opportunity of practising their superstitions. However, there still exists some superstitious cult in some place or other. For example, in the place where native house of Rama existed, they go around 3 times and prostrate on the floor. The two spots are surrounded by a low wall constructed with battlements. One enters the front hall through a low semi-circular door."

"On the left is seen a square chest, raised five inches from the ground, covered with lime, about five ells in length by not more than four in breadth. The Hindoos call it Bedi, the cradle; and the reason is, that there formerly stood here the house in which Beshan (Vishnoo) was born in the form of Ram, and where also, they say, his three brothers were born. Afterwards, Aurungzebe, or, according to others, Baber, caused the place to be destroyed, in order to deprive the heathen of the opportunity of practising there their superstitions. Nevertheless, they still pay a superstitious reverence to both these places; namely, to that on which the natal dwelling of Ram stood, by going three times round it, prostrate on the earth. The two places are surrounded with a low wall adorned with battlements. Not far from this is a place where they dig up grains of black rice changed into little stones, which are affirmed to have been hidden underground ever since the time of Ram. On the 24th of the month Tshet (Choitru), a large concourse of people celebrate here the birth-day of Ram, so famous throughout India. This vast city is only a mile distant from Bangla (Fyzabad) towards the E.N.E. On the high bank of the river is a quadrangular fortress with low round towers. The walls are out of repair, and it is unfurnished with inhabitants. Formerly, the governors of the province resided here. Saadut Khan, frightened by an evil augury, transferred the government to Bangla. It is now completely destroyed."

"“Emperor Aurangzeb got the fortress called Ram Kot demolished and got constructed at the same place, Muslim temple (Masjid) with three domes. Some believe that it was constructed by ‘Babbar’. Fourteen black stone pillars can be seen there, which existed at the site of the fortress. Twelve of these pillars now support the interior arcades of the mosque while two of the 12 (pillars) are placed at the entrance of the cloister, two others are part of the tomb of some ‘Moor’. It was narrated that these pillars, or rather the debris of the pillars skillfully made were brought from the island of Lanca or Selendip (called Ceylon by the Europeans) by Hanuman, the king of monkeys."

"From the place where the guns are planted to Oude, a distance of two miles, the Goggrah flows in an easterly direction, making a double elbow; one near the western part of the city, the other at a short distance westward: turning then towards the N.E. by E., it washes the city of Oude; after which it returns to an easterly course, near the northern part. But it changes its course almost every year. Its channel is equal in breadth to that of the Danube, near the citadel of Ingolstadt in Bavaria, but the volume of its waters is not so great. During the rainy season, it extends to a great width, so that, in some places, it is above a league and a half across."

"A spot particularly famous is known as Sita Rassoi, i.e. table of Sita, Rama's wife... Emperor Aurangzeb demolished the fortress called Ramcot, and erected on the same place a Mohammedan temple with three cupolas. Others say that it was constructed by Babor... Fourteen pilllars of black stone.. are located in the fortress.. The other two (pillars) are in the tomb of an unknown Maure (Muslim)... On the left one can see a square box... Hindus call it Bedi (i.e. the cradle) because formerly it was the house where Beschan (Vishnu) and his three brothers were born under the form of Ram... Subsequently Aurangzeb and some say Babar destroyed the place in order to prevent the heathens from practising their ceremonies. However, they have continued to practice their religious ceremonies in both the places knowing this to have been the birth place of Rama by going around it three times and prostrating on the ground.. On 24th of Chaitrra a large number of people gather here to celebrate the birth of Rama extremely popular throughout India..."

"“Bangla or Fesabad was founded by Saadut Khan, after he had abandoned the city of Oude. A Persian by origin, he was for more than forty years governor of this province. He built a palace, planted an excellent garden in the Persian taste, and fixed his residence here. By degrees, this place became a large town. The present governor, his grandson, (Sujah-ud-Dowlah,) adorned it with numerous buildings, after the English had restored it to him in 1765, with the whole province. He also enlarged the market place, which was before confined, and strengthened the fortress with a fosse, round towers, and a rampart.”"

"Not far from there is a place where one digs out grains of black rice, turned into small stones, which are said to have been hidden under the earth since the time of Ram."

"There was a temple in this place constructed on the elevated bank of the river. But Aurengzeb, always keen to propagate the creed of Mohammed and abhorring the noble people, got it demolished and replaced with a mosque and two obelisks with a view to obliterate even the very memory of the Hindu superstition. Another mosque built by the Moors is adjacent to the one towards the East."