Bangalore, India. We are all going through a very terrible and unparalleled time. None of us would have experienced anything like this before. Most of the countries are still in standby mode: roads empty; masks on; fellow beings suddenly becoming untouchables; guests and visitors unsolicited; gates and doors neatly locked; buses, trains and aircrafts in their shelters; shops closed; Churches, temples and mosques with no worship; schools and colleges online; hospitals houseful; ambulances a rare commodity; Oxygen shortage, something never heard before, dying lonely with no sacraments or prayer; dead bodies floating on the Ganges like balloons, river banks turning out to be makeshift graveyards, dear and near ones piled up one after another, in long queue with tokens waiting for cremation; burials with no prayers, rituals or relatives often by strangers and good Samaritans!
In this bizarre and unusual time, where are we as Christians and as consecrated persons? Does life make any sense? Does our consecration as Christians or our special and consecration as consecrated persons make any sense? Where is our God? Is he missing from action? Has he gone hiding? Well, these are a few fundamental questions troubling the humanity today.
The Institute of Consecrated Life (ICL) – Sanyasa, a unique Institute in the Indian Church, organised two-hours online talk to help consecrated persons to search answers for these existential questions and make sense of their consecration. Rev. Fr. Xavier Manavath, CMF, the founding director of ICL was the resource person who helped immensely the consecrated persons in this fundamental search as he shared his wisdom and vast experience on the theme, “Making Sense of Our Consecration during Pandemic Times”. 802 consecrated persons together with a few lay faithful registered and possibly a few more might have participated in the programme. There was also very good participation from Sri Lanka with many consecrated persons actively participating besides a few from Philippines, Italy, Tanzania, United States, United Arab Emirates and Nigeria. We hope to organise many more programs like these extending our service to the consecrated persons to the wider circle taking advantage of the benefits of the digital world.
