The Great Myth of Romero

I Love watching movies and one of the category is that of mythology, you might call it a subject or whatever you want to. Why do I strip only the mythology out of the many it is because it concerns with the course I am doing at present in my philosophical venture, ‘History of Western Education.’ 

My mind goes down to those days wherein I screened the movies such as odyssey (the cartoon version), 300 (Sparta), Alexander - the Great or rather the Great - Alexander, Hercules (1994), Troy, 10,000 B.C, Apoclylipto, Remember the Titans, Clash of Titans. I must say that the movies helped me learn another culture, the history and the traditions, the background and the reality of the place.

Make an attempt to see the above mentioned movies if not then there is another option which I enjoyed doing reading here to there are no barriers as to what to read for me so I did read some of the mythological books and even volumes which there were.

The reason why I am sharing about my interest and love for Greek mythology is because today in class we had the topic of Greek education, in which I learnt or rather gained insights on the Spartan & Athenian Education and Theories of Socrates, Xenophon, Plato, & Aristotle.

Reflecting on this education what comes across to me is that education of the Greeks was mainly focused on body, character, and intellect. I think and feel that even I need to improvise on these gifted graces. 

HISTORY OF MY EDUCATION

I am and was wondering as to what and how to word the history of my education. I am aware of two types of education although there may be many more types which I would avoid mentioning here in this article. The two types are formal (school, college, workplace, institution) and informal (home, parents, family, relations, friends, neighbors).

Looking back at my childhood, adolescent hood, teen hood, and man hood much of it has been in an informal from the time of my birth in this world. The formal education in my life began when my mummy began to teach me to write, and say the alphabets A B C….Z and learn the numbers 1 2 3…20, to see and say the names of color, fruits, vegetables, flowers, animals (pets & wild, domestic), birds, insect, all this was done when I was 3 years young. All the preparation for the interview and the admission to the school Antonio Desouza High School (ANZA) another version of it is All Naughty Zoo Animals my school is situated in Byculla, Mumbai near the famous Victoria Garden then called as Jija Matiya Udyaan now called Rani Baug.

Throughout the years of my schooling I was always an average student getting ranks from 12^th – 20^th securing a percentage in the range of 55% - 65%. This never hindered my opportunities to be part of and grow in extra-curricular activities of the school like acting, singing, dancing, being the master of compare as well as of personal interest like that of making and having friends with no age, no class, no religion, no color, barriers.  I also held certificates though not in consistency in subjects of interest like mathematics, science, & social studies. Whether it was luck or fate deserved it I was consistent in one thing getting certificates throughout my years of schooling was that in Religion, or Catechism. Well, I was not a full bookworm but half a bookworm because when it came to studies I would always do extra-reading, I loved doing it. I never asked my parents or my teachers any query or help but I would read and play with the textbook alone. My mom being a teacher as her profession told me never to use guides, or in my pocket or self-study but use the textbook alone. I must say this helped me a lot as a child and even now.

My primary schooling 1^st – 4^th was days or rather moments filled with great importance as those were the times I began to learn and grow. My secondary schooling 5^th - 10^th was days when I really began to grow in all the dimensions possible good as well as bad. The crucial standard was that of my 9^th where for the first time I failed in all three language subjects (English, Hindi, and Marathi) and that too in all the three exams. I was in desperate need of marks to jump to the 10^th standard otherwise I would have been detained. It was time to pull my socks up and I did indeed pull them up and came out with flying colors. And finally finished schooling by passing the 10^th Std securing 58%

Moving ahead in life, I joined the aspirantate, wherein I did my college at Don Bosco, Lonavala. I studied in the stream of Arts. These were the days where I bloomed as a grain of wheat (obedient) as well as of weed (crook, kidda). I learnt a lot of skills and acquired talents in music and games. Of course, studies were never a problem because I didn’t aim for higher, nor did I race my self in the competition. I enjoyed and loved playing an average student and passed my 12^th with 63.28%

With a two year break form the academic world, I was in the Salesian academic world budding in my religious and Salesian life, doing my Pre-Novitiate and Novitiate. These were the years I read & studied the Constitutions of Salesian, Read the memoirs (although I have been reading from my aspirantate days), Canon Laws, Documents of the Church, Study on Missal and picking up on languages. History repeats itself; here too I was an average student securing 65% and 70%

After my profession as a Salesian religious, I began to do philosophy as well as the continuation of secular study. And so I was pursuing my studies in B.ph & B.A these were the days of my life wherein I can say that I might have read the most amount (quality & quantity) of books which the library here holds. Here too, at the end of my three years of venture into both the Bachelor degrees I secured an average percentage of 70% & 65% respectively.  

Presently, I am pursuing my philosophical venture by doing M.ph and after a year of reading & studying I still think and feel that I am an average student.

An Average Student with More Mileage…

     

Romero D’Souza     

MESS THE MESSY, MESSY THE MESS

I couldn’t thing of anything this stupid or more stupid than this, that is to say, mess the messy, messy the mess.

Is it the contradictoriness that you and I are living, we live as if we were never going to die, and die as if we had never lived!

It is part of human or rather my nature to judge although in christianess it belongs only to God. To judge others very severely, cruelly and when the wind turns against me, I always find an excuse for my own misdeeds, or to play the blame game wherein I win.

Then, I asked myself as was pronounced in class, ‘Is Postmodern an up call in history or is it a downfall in history?’ with regard to judgment as in scene of history in stating facts, taking a stand or living the fate as in faith without questioning and seeking for the quest. I was looking though not looking but simply thinking of Postmodern in the history of Western Education. And the sliding thoughts were that postmodern: a U-turn, a blink in the think, a boulder on the climb, a step to another step…     

The WHY of Choosing Panikkar for my Paper

While I was in the process of choosing a topic for my dissertation, during the Hermeneutics course taken by Rev. Fr Ivo Coelho SDB I was reading a book Myth, Faith and Hermeneutics (1979) by Raimon Panikkar that quite fascinated me. During my personal prayer while flipping through the pages of ‘In Dialogue with the Lord’ (SDB Prayer Book) I came across some deep reflections on God by Raimundo Panikkar and my mind was enraptured by his thinking and I began reading one of his books The Experience of God (2006). Later, during the course on Bhagavad Gita taken by Rev. Fr A.U. Jose, I began to read The Unknown Christ of Hinduism (1968) and The Vedic Experience: Mantramañjarī (1977). I then realized that throughout his writings, there was one word constantly occurring, though not so visible, namely, ‘dialogue.’ All this made me choose Panikkar as the author and the aspect of dialogue in forte in Panikkar’s writings as the topic for my dissertation.

REFLECTION NOITCELEFER

A philosopher be it any as a matter of fact with certainty or uncertainty tends to intellectually masturbate, psychologically speaking or in a Freudian terminology if could be stated. The reason for me is not that but a sort of reflection for the day, for the moment.  

At the moment my life is a symphony composed of three distinct movements: ‘a lot of people’, ‘a few people’, and ‘almost no one’. What I want to write today in the blog is about none of the above mentioned, although they relate to the theme I thought of writing about, but when I look at the world though not in the full sense, that is, at me (Romero) I never thought of who I am. Yet, I live in the present moment, not thinking about life that I am living and the life that has been even before I have been living and also to that which I have given life.  

I reckon that it takes about three minutes to read this particular post. Well, according to statistics, in that same space of time, 300 people will die, and another 600 will be born, may be a bit or a piece full of exaggeration.

I might take 30 minutes or perhaps little less than or more to put my thoughts about the thought that I am thinking: I’m sitting at the computer, reflecting as to what to type on the keyboard, with nothing front of me, ideas just following out. Everything seems perfectly normal, and yet a feeling of abnormal, because in those 30 minutes, 3,000 people have died, and 6,000 have just seen the light of the world. Where are all of them gone?

I stop though I cannot and reflect a little may be more. Perhaps the journey they began or are going to begin has got an end and a beginning. I think to myself as to what will be my journey. To see what is directly in front of the nose needs a constant struggle or rather a joke to be laughed.

By now you might be puzzled as to what I am getting at...

In a day you and I have just got 24 hours, What? Why? Where? How?  Credits to us as and when we make of it. The reason to make your head spin this far is only because the world goes round getting to nowhere or somewhere.

Today was a dull day as per the weather which showed itself in a too cloudy with continuous the rain that was cleaning the roads of Nashik throughout but interestingly with Fr Edison Fernandes SDB, a professor came to teach the course ‘Hiotrsy of Westen Educaion’ Oops!!! My fingers miss took the words, its ‘History of Western Education’ and the day turned out to be a bright sunny day. He with his creative, communicative and critical way breathed life into us as we began this course with smiles and laughter.

The course began with a simple yet complicated question, ’Why you think HISTORY is important?’ For which I thought it is a story of my life, from where I am coming, my background, culture, family, lifestyle, nature, if seen at it subjectively (grammatically & philosophically) but if seen objectively the world seen as whole, the subjects taken as subjects, we see history has got its his-story.

The term history has got its own significance in the past what I meant was former times or you know olden days as we would call it days of yore or yesteryear. I guess it might have even been in chronicles, or taken into account as a memoir is it if placed in archives where there are records maintained or perhaps it is every moment which we treasure most, the experiences it may seem to be a tale, antecedent. Wait a second! Am I too lost in searching the HISTORY just because I was asked, ‘Why do you think HISTORY is important?’

Well, I think this question which I am at can be thought by you, too. So quest for this….

We come face to face with a choice between God and earthly wealth. To serve God, we need to love him above all things. The rival master can be anyone or anything; the example given is mammon, a Semitic word for money or riches. St Gregory of Nyssa said that it was a Canaanite god of riches. We can see the challenge as worship either of God or of some other god. Our ultimate loyalty should be to God, and this is impossible if we serve money in the way that a slave serves his master. It is this service of money, not the possession of it, that is wrong. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian sentenced to death for opposing the Nazis, put the choice well: 'Our hearts have room for only one all-embracing devotion, and we can only cleave to one Lord.' In the rest of today's Gospel, the theme is worry and anxiety. The Greek verb in 'do not be anxious' (v. 25) is merimnate, used also in Philippians 4:6, 'Have no anxiety about anything'. God gave us life and our body, so he will give us the lesser gifts of food and clothing, and therefore anxiety is unnecessary.

Jesus identified the human tendency to worry and anxiety, which robs us of the peace of Christ. The basis of our anxiety is that we lack faith. Jesus' teaching here gives us several reasons why we should not worry. It is to miss the point of life, which is far more important than such things as food, drink and clothing. It makes little sense — if God feeds the birds, surely he will not let us go hungry — and is a waste of time because it will never lengthen our lives. Indeed, worry can make us ill, shortening our lives. By worrying, we become like unbelievers, seeking material things. God knows our needs, so apprehension is unnecessary. There are enough problems today without worrying about tomorrow! The answer to worry is to 'seek first [God's] kingdom and his righteousness' (v. 33). We need to change our priorities and seek to uphold God's standards. Through God's grace we can grow in our understanding of his love and become more conscious that he cares for us.

'Lord, help me to remember that if you feed the birds and cover the fields

with beautiful flowers, you are certainly always going to take care of me’

WHY JESUS?

Can Jesus bring meaning to life?

Jesus Christ spoke of life being full of meaning and purpose. He said that we are important to God, and our meaning in life can only be fulfilled by a relationship with our Creator. However, many think that Jesus Christ wants us to become religious. They think Jesus came to take all the fun out of life, and give us impossible rules to live by. They are willing to call him a great leader from the past, but say he is not relevant to their lives today.

One of my companions thought that Jesus was just another religious leader who set up impossible rules to live by. He thought Jesus was totally irrelevant to his life. Then one day at a student union lunch table he sat next to a vibrant young coed with a radiant smile. Intrigued, he asked her why she was so happy. Her immediate reply was, “Jesus Christ!” Jesus Christ? he bristled, firing back: “Oh, for God’s sake, don’t give me that garbage. I’m fed up with religion; I’m fed up with the church; I’m fed up with the Bible. Don’t give me that garbage about religion. ”But the unfazed young coed calmly informed him, “Mister, I didn’t say religion, I said Jesus Christ.”he was stunned. He had never considered Jesus more than a religious figure, and didn't want any part of religious hypocrisy. Yet here was this joyful Christian woman talking about Jesus as someone who had brought meaning to her life. Jesus Christ claimed to answer all the deep questions about our existence. At one time or another, many of us question what life is all about. Have you ever gazed up at the stars on a pitch-black evening and wondered who put them there? Or have you ever seen a sunset and thought about life’s biggest questions:

• “Who am I?”
• “Why am I here?” 
• “Where am I going after I die?”

Although other philosophers and religious leaders have offered their answers to the meaning of life, only Jesus Christ proved his credentials by rising from the dead. Skeptics like my friend who originally scoffed at Jesus’ resurrection, have discovered that there is compelling evidence that it really occurred.

If we take his words seriously, Jesus offers life with real meaning. He said that life is much more than making money, having fun, being successful, and then ending up in a graveyard. Yet, many people still making an attempt to find meaning in fame and success, even those who have already made it to the mountaintop.