It was on a Saturday, 5th March 2016, a ‘One Day Seminar’ was held at Ryshivana, jointly organized by Ryshivana International Institute of Spirituality and the Mangalore Diocesan Chair in Christianity, University of Mangaluru. The seminar was named as ‘Greening the Mind’ which was to provide the participants with reflections on ecological and environmental concerns. So, in response to the invitation displayed on the Notice Board of the Convent, we, the six sisters of the community of Stella Maris Convent, Kotekar, set out eagerly to reach the venue well on time. There were nearly 150 religious sisters, a few religious and diocesan priests and some lay men and women as well. After being cordially invited by the in-mates of Ryshivana at the entrance, we entered the hall, which was well- arranged with LCD Projector and the back drop depicting the theme. The Programme of the day began with a short prayer and a hymn, and then, with the inauguration of the seminar by lighting a Diya, by Rev. Fr. J.B. Saldanha, HOD and Professor, Chair in Christianity, Rev. John S. Sadananda, Bishop Emeritus of CSI (Church of South India), Fr. Charles Saldanha ofm cap., Fr. Pius James D’Souza OCD, Director of Ryshivana and all the eminent speakers of the day.
Fr. Pius James D’Souza OCD, the Director of Ryshivana extended a formal welcome to the dignitaries and the gathering, after which Fr. Charles Saldanha ofm cap, gave a touching key note address. In his speech he said, that the title of the encyclical letter of Pope Francis, ‘Laudato Si’ comes from the ‘Canticle of Creatures’ of St. Francis of Assisi, i.e. ‘ Laudato Si’, mi’Signore’- ‘ Praise be to You, my Lord’ and sets a theme for the care of our common home. The earth what we see today, is not what existed centuries ago. Industrialization and unplanned urbanization has led to a tremendous ecological imbalance. World peace and harmony is threatened due to the lack of respect for the resources of the earth. In this direction, our Pope’s encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ is a wakeup call for everyone to care for our common Home- Earth.
Then the Presidential address was delivered by Rev. John S. Sadananda, the Bishop Emeritus of the CSI. He stressed that living with ecological sensitivity should become a way of life and we need to be good and faithful stewards of the life- giving Mother Earth.
The first talk of the day was by Fr. Fred D’Silva S.J. who spoke on the theme, “The Gospel of Nature (Laudato Si)”. He gave a brief explanation of the encyclical ‘Laudato Si’, saying that it could be seen as consisting of three parts. The first part dealing with the ‘crises’ that the earth is facing, the second part, with the ‘causes’- the root causes of all the ecological problems, and in the third part, the Pope speaks on the ‘cures’ to improve the present situations. The Pope views the present ecological crises not just as the environmental problem but a moral and a spiritual problem. The uncontrolled greed for profit and economic gain of humans is the root cause of all evil. Hence the Pope suggests ecological conversion, ecological spirituality and ecological practices as the ‘cures’ for our fast-devastating Mother Earth.
The next speech was on the topic ‘Religious Life from Ecological Perspective’ by Sister Sahana B.S. who beautifully shed light on the ecological dimensions of the three evangelical counsels Chastity, Poverty and Obedience. She brought out the fact that religious life, from the earlier times, is greatly connected with the environment and all God’s creatures. As St. Benedict, in his rule, said, ‘Pray as well as work’, the early monks of the monastery spent their great deal of time in prayer and in manual work, especially in growing a variety of plants for their food, thus beholding the beauty of God in nature. So love for nature is a significant element in religious life, to promote and to preserve life in nature. And we, religious are the servants of God in service of nature.
Fr. John Sequeira OCD shared his reflections on the topic ‘Mysticism and Ecology’ where he pointed out that mystical ecology is mainly recognizing the Divine Presence in nature. A mystic is the one, who beholds everything with an experience of wonderment, joy and oneness with the nature. He will be lovingly attentive, lovingly intelligent, lovingly reasonable, and lovingly responsible.
After a short break for lunch, the afternoon sessions began with the reflections of Fr. Dominic Vas OCD, on ‘Ecology in Indian Thought’. He briefly explained how nature and all its creatures were considered so sacred in Pre-Vedic times, Vedic period, in Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gita and in Jainism as well. By citing the views of the contemporary thinkers like Swami Vivekananda, Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi, he tried to unfold the overall Indian way of thinking towards ecology and environment.
The last session of the day was by Mr. Salvadore Pereira on the topic ‘Greening the Mind for Ecological Conservation’. Mr. Salvadore being a post- graduate in sociology is an active environmentalist, who has planted and nurtured thousands of trees wherever he went. He has also worked for the successful implementation of rain water and roof water harvesting in many of our dioceses. In his talk he stressed that, we all need to take a fourth vow along with our three religious vows, the vow to protect, preserve, conserve and propagate healthy environment and use the ecological resources judiciously. He also said that, greening the mind and heart of people is the most important task. Unless, that is undertaken first, the greening of the surrounding is not possible. So we need to be convinced of our common responsibility to conserve our Common Home. In his session, he also gave us various small and big ecological practices to conserve water, natural resources and trees.
To make the sessions more meaningful and attractive, a beautiful ballet, ‘ Mother Earth – Our Treasure’ was displayed by our Junior and Senior Novices from Sannidhi, Kotekar, at three intervals depicting the catastrophe the earth was undergoing, due to modernism, consumerism and uncontrolled urbanization and how we need to treasure our planet earth, as our Mother and Sister.
Thus, the day 5th of March, really turned out to be a ‘Green Day’- greening our minds and hearts with rich reflections on ecological concerns. For me personally, attending this seminar was very inspiring, informative and thought- provoking. It helped me realize that ‘love of nature’ also needs to be included in the Commandment of Love, i.e. love of God and love of neighbor, in order to make the living of my religious life more meaningful and complete. The reflections of the day also awakened within me sensitivity towards nature and an urge to preserve and protect it in my own little way, recognizing in it the Power, Beauty and the Presence of God, my Creator.
Sister Maria Gracy A.C.
Stella Maris Convent, Kotekar
