ON BEING A JESUIT IN GUJARAT TODAY

A Reflection  on the changed and changing socio-economic- political reality in Gujarat today &  our response as Gujarat Jesuits motivated with the mandate we have from the Church (The Joy of the Good News) and the Society of Jesus

 50th anniversary of Vatican II  GCs 32–35  200 th Anniversary of the Restoration of the Society of Jesus  Strategic Apostolic Planning (SAP) in the Province  A New Government (right- wing and fundamentalist) Evangelii Gaudium (the Joy of the Good News)

Our Nation  Sizeable victory of the BJP in the 2014 General Elections  272 seats but just 31% of the vote-share  Rising aspirations of the middle class  Rank-bad job of UPA-II  Changing attitudes of significant groups like the OBCs

Challenges Today  the threat to the Constitution of India  the threat to the pluralistic, inclusive and secular fabric of the country (especially the minorities)  the threat to the freedom of speech and expression  the threat to environment and ecology  the threat through a particular kind of education  the threat to human rights defenders, NGOs and civil society

Our Church  The Year of Faith  Pope Francis: his words and deeds  Evangelii Gaudium – The Joy of the Good News

The Joy of the Good News  “An evangelizing community gets involved by word and deed in people’s daily lives”  “Evangelizers should smell of the sheep”  “Say ‘no’ to an economy of exclusion”  “Say ‘no’ to the new idolatry of money and to a financial system which rules rather than serves”

The Joy of the Good News  “the Gospel tells us constantly to run the risk of a face-to-face encounter with others, with their physical presence which challenges us, with their pain and their pleas, with their joy which infects us in our close and continuous interaction. The Son of God, by becoming flesh, summoned us to the revolution of tenderness.”(#88)

The Joy of the Good News  “the Kerygma has a clear social content: at the very heart of the Gospel is life in community and engagement with others”  “I want a Church which is poor and for the poor. They have much to teach us. Not only do they share in the sensus fidei, but in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ” (#198)

 The joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the men (and women) of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted in any way, are the joy and hope, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well  Nothing that is genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts (GS#1) Celebrate the Aggiornamento of Vatican II

 GC 32 – forty years ago  What is it to be a companion of Jesus today? It is to engage, under the standard of the Cross, in the crucial struggle of our time: the struggle for faith and that struggle for justice which it includes” (D.2 #2)  Fr. Pedro Arrupe Our Society

 GC 34 – Servants of Christ’s Mission  “The commitment of the Society to a radical life of faith that finds expression in the promotion of justice for all, derives its inspiration from this foundational declaration in the Apostolic Letter of Pope Julius III. We have recovered, for our contemporary mission, the centrality of working in solidarity with the poor in accord with our Ignatian charism” (#33) Our Society

 “in proclaiming God’s message of love and compassion Jesus crossed over physical and social- religious frontiers. He spoke to the powerful, challenging them to a change of heart. Jesus confronted the powers that oppose this kingdom, and that opposition led him to death on the cross, a death which he freely accepted in keeping with his mission….” (#14) GC 35 – Challenges to our Mission Today

 200 years of the Restoration of the Society of Jesus: occasion for spiritual and apostolic renewal Restoration of the Society of Jesus

 that we continue to grow from the support and challenge of our brothers in community  that we still experience the privilege and joy of serving the Church and the world, especially those most in need, through our ministries Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, Superior General

 The emergence of the right-wing fundamentalist forces  Attacks on minorities in the late 90’s and particularly in 2002  Jesuits’ Statement of Nadiad (September 2002) We, Jesuits in Gujarat

 The Strategic Apostolic Planning (SAP) process  Viability and Vibrancy  Ongoing Renewal We, Jesuits in Gujarat

 Our Provincial, Fr. Francis Parmar: “We are Jesuits of Gujarat and we need to take up both, our being Jesuits in the Church of today and our being Jesuits in today’s Gujarat. This calls for a deeper study and reflections.” We, Jesuits in Gujarat

Reflection

 We need to take up these challenges with an appropriate plan of action at every possible level

OUR MOMENT beckons us TODAY!

THANK YOU

 What does this change of political thinking (from a socialist approach to a right-wing one) and Government mean to us Jesuits? To the people with whom we work? For those whose lives we are concerned about in India today? And particularly, for those who belong to the Gujarat State?  How do we resonate with the call of Pope Francis to live and communicate the Joy of the Good News? How do we find common/tangible ground in our understanding and in our practice of evangelization?  As Jesuits, we are constantly reminded of our call to appropriate renewal and deeper commitment. How do we do so, in more collegial and effective ways?  What concrete suggestions do we have to ensure a more cohesive response, as Jesuits of Gujarat, to our reality of today?