SCJ INDIA DISTRICT celebrates 10 YEARS in India!!

"Dehon recognized Jesus' open Heart as a radical sign of His oblation."

SCJ
SPIRITUALITY
IN INDIA

-Fr. William van Paassen, scj


Leo John Dehon is well known in France and elsewhere as the much talented priest, a friend of Jesus and of the poor. On June 28th, 1878 he founded his Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It now stretches over 35 countries of the world. As far as Asia is concerned we enjoy a growing presence in Indonesia and the Philippines. A start has been made in Vietnam. Since October 1994 we’re in India. We’re celebrating now gratefully our first decade of presence and blessings in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

1) What is a founder’s spirituality?
Most founders/foundresses feel inspired by a particular aspect in the manifold riches of Christ and relate it to a special need in the Church or Society: Jesus’ poverty (St. Francis of Assisi), the care for the sick (Blessed Mother Teresa), his teachings (St. Dominic, St. Ignatius), his prayerful contemplation (St. Benedict), his openness to the young ones (St. Don Bosco) etc. His/her spirituality becomes a unifying element of a new family of religious sisters/brothers, in order to serve in its specific mission, recognized by the Church.

2) Spirituality of our founder: Leo John Dehon.
Dehon, as a “social priest” immersed in the misery of the poor, the workers and the youth, went in search of the causes of social injustices, of the guilty silence of Church leaders and of a lacking formation in seminaries. He discovered that it’s all about love: absence of love generates injustice. Only that kind of love, that is ready to give oneself, is capable to repair broken situations. Leo Dehon was fascinated by Jesus’ words, when He entered our world: “behold, I come to do Your will, O God” (Hebr. 10,7). God’s will is the Coming of His Kingdom. And “looking up to the One whom they have pierced” (Jn 19,37). Dehon recognized Jesus’ open Heart as a radical sign of His oblation and love for the Father and the people. He gathered companions in his Congregation (SCJ), a community to which he confided his charism or spirituality in his two dimensions: a prayerful “behold I come” to God who is Love and apostolic, missionary presence and action for justice, with especially the poor, the humble, the young, the destitute victims of injustice. Lay people are also invited to join this dynamic movement of the Dehonian Congregation.

3) SCJ-Spirituality: a service to India.
We’ve been invited by bishops and lay people. We came (“behold I come”) from various nations and from within India itself. We came to look, to learn and to serve. We want to become here a Congregation with an Indian face and voice. India! Rich in history, cultures, challenges and so many lovely, deeply religious people. An India with its serious tensions between some fanatic extremists and minorities. The caste-system, officially outlawed but still divisive, an obstacle to human promotion of all. Poverty and corruption. Divisions, even in the Church itself. –Compassion and justice of Jesus have to be realized in people and structures.

Some aspects of our spirituality we emphasize in India already now:

a) We promote the spirituality of Jesus’ Heart (love for God, love for people by action of social justice). There is a great need for this, because Hinduism does not have the concept of an unconditionally loving God. And among Christians we see Sacred Heart devotion characterized by pietism, without convincing reference to the great sufferings in India. We experience that the contemplative dimension of religious life is highly valued in India. Following Jesus’ loving “behold, I come” we practice in our communities daily Eucharistic celebration and adoration and communion. These, our prayers of oblation and reparation, our ministry of formation are intrinsically connected with the cause of the poor and oppressed.

b) In our formation houses we are at each level committed to a program of instruction and experience in ministries of justice. Each month there is a conference on the ministry of justice, conducted by the SCJ-director of justice and peace.

c) Both our prayer life and study of theology are made up with the optic of the poor.

d) One of our first two external ministries is a Centre for Justice.

e) We seek to be just to our employees (Christians, Hindus or Muslims) in terms of salaries and benefits, rather than follow what we consider unjust standards, even in the Church.

f) We are alert on a safe policy relating to possible injustice to our students.

g) In a country where casteism and statism are seriously divisive, we bear witness of reconciliation in our communities made up by members from different nations, Indian states and castes.

h) In a country, deeply divided along the lines of religion,

we attend the festivals, weddings, funerals etc. of Christians, Muslims and Hindus.

i) In Kerala where the Church is deeply divided by rites, besides initiating student activities, we attend celebrations and give spiritual counseling of both the Syrian and Latin Rites. We give serious consideration to ways in which our Congregation can be present to Syrian Rite Christians.

j) For the next future, taking into consideration the mystical and social dimensions of Dehon’s spirituality, we commit ourselves to serve the most urgent needs of the Church and Society, with an emphasis on social justice, especially in the North of India. For Example:

a. Ashram-style retreat/SCJ spirituality centres, especially in service of the poor.
b. Priestly and religious formation in seminaries or renewal centres, especially in those areas of formation that are most related to our Charism.
c. Ministries related to the poor, who make up 40% of Indian population.
d. Ministries of reconciliation in the light of divisions in Society and Church.
e. Ministries of justice: promoting the Social Doctrine of the Church.
f. Ministry to destitute youth, who are numerous due to severe poverty.
g. To establish, with the General Superior, our Congregation in other countries of Asia where we are most needed.

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