Views and Comments of Kuncheria Pathil: Yesterday evening as usual I went for a walk around Pullarikkunnu, near Kudamaloor, Kottayam. The Rubber Estate close by is given for slaughter. They were felling rubber trees with bulldozer and other machinery. A lot of people waited outside the long walls of the estate to collect the branches thrown out to use as firewood. Some loaded them in petty autos to take it home or to sell it. Among them I saw three sisters (Daughters of Sacred Heart of Jesus - an Italian Congregation.) collecting the firewood. It struck me very much. People in general look at these foreign Congregations as very rich! Those sisters had the guts to be with the poor and work with them in collecting firewood. Kudos to them for this courageous witness of poverty! In the early years of history CMI fathers used to go around during paddy harvest season in Kuttanad from Kayal to Kayal with their begging bowl, the vallom. Farmers were giving them paddy generously for the use of the monks in monasteries. In my boyhood I myself had seen such scenes in Kuttanad. Now on the contrary we have become land lords and managers of estates, companies and big institutions. We have become the doners of material goods to others! The CMIs have to study their history and investigate the point of departure. Solidarity with the poor and a life like Jesus is the mark of religious, as our Pope Francis reminds us constantly.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:17:50 +0000
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