Solitary Soul

TREE By Cl. Mario D’Couto Sdb The strength of the bark   That supports the branches, The subtle beauty that is hidden, Discovering its essence Is an inward journey, To the Ultimate Source who created it. Gentle as it stands, Unperturbed by external influence The serenity it emits Is an example that one cannot forfeit.

SKY   By Cl. Mario D’Couto Sdb When I look at the sky And Marvel at its beauty It ceases me to cry For then I am happy. The magnificent clouds that are there in the sky Is but another ray of hope For those times when I am dry In such moments, I can only look up to the sky and say, “Thank you God for another beautiful day.”

Finding God in troubled times Cl. Mario D’Couto sdb             Serenity is another word for calmness, composure and so on. When I began to reflect on what exactly this virtue was, I began to realize that it is easy to keep calm and cool when everything is going on alright. The challenge comes when we are faced or confronted by difficulties and problems.             In the Church, we have so many saints who have borne witness to this fact like St. Francis of Assisi, Heinrich Suso and others. Among them I would like to highlight one incident that I came across when I read the life of Heinrich Suso. This incident is one which has been cited by many scholars in mysticism. It is known as the “Tower Experience” . Once it so happened that some of his colleagues wanted to find whether Suso was really calm and composed as he seemed. They paid a woman to accuse Suso to his provincial ...

God knows us better than we know ourselves Cl. Mario D’Couto sdb             The original title of this article was ‘Priesthood’ and it was written by a certain Bishop named Tom Burns. This article is one of the many articles found in the book called ‘Priesthood- A life open to Christ’ written by Fr. Daniel P. Cronin. I was taken up by this article when I read it the first time and hence this is something that I would like to share with you.             In the beginning of this article, Bishop Burns shares of his experience where one day he found on the rear window the following note, ‘Be patient with me. God hasn’t finished making me yet’ . This idea was actually taken from one of the earliest Fathers of the Church, Tertullian, who said, ‘Christians are made; they are not born’ .             Applying this in the context...

GOD’S WAYS ARE NOT OUR WAYS Cl. Mario D’Couto sdb           It is interesting to find that sometimes in life, God works in ways that none of us would have imagined. For example if Yahweh Himself could choose a person as King like Saul who would eventually become a disaster morally speaking, no one need be surprised if Bishops or priests who do not have all the prerequisites for sound leadership are chosen by higher authority. The permissive will of God is inscrutable since we now hardly at all the reason for such permissions – such as Jesus choosing Judas. It is also surprising to see that God does not go for those who are already strong to do His work. Perhaps in our time, we could interpret that the Lord calls ordinary people to carry out His command and there are numerous instances that we can give as examples to substantiate this point like God choosing Abel, Jacob, David. All of them were the younger ones and perhaps as we would say t...

TURNING YOUR LIFE INTO A NEW LEAF Cl. Mario D’Couto sdb             The story of Rapunzel is one of the popular stories found among the fairy tale books of children. But it has a value to teach. Just to mention the story in brief, there was a little girl named Rapunzel who was very beautiful. She was captured by a witch, who knew that if she wanted to hold on to the little girl, she had to convince her that she was ugly. If she knew she was beautiful, she would go off with one of the many young men who came to consult the witch. If on the other hand, she knew she was ugly, she would be afraid of being seen by them and would therefore hide when they were around. So the witch gradually convinced Rapunzel that she was ugly and she hid for fear of being seen when anyone who came to the witch’s house.             One day when she was combing her hair in her room, she became consci...

ROSARY AND EUCHARISTIC DEVOTION Mario D’Couto sdb             It could happen that a person could object saying that it is not right to honour Mary during the holy hour when Jesus should be honoured. Such a thing would be true if Jesus and Mary were to be contradictory to each other. However such is not the case.             Jesus and Mary are Son and Mother and therefore theirs is the closest possible relationship at the human, affective and biological levels. The Word that became flesh in Mary’s womb was also in Her heart; She welcomed the Father’s Word and ‘ kept’ it. She is therefore also in the best spiritual relationship with Jesus Her Son, the Word made flesh.             The Rosary is not merely a Marian devotion. It is not right to put Jesus and Mary in isolation from each other. Jesus cannot but be pleased if a...