The Process

Not long ago, I heard a radio interview with Mike Kryzewski, the head coach of Duke University basketball. In it, he talked about some of the great athletes of our times and how they got that way. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali (although he of course also became famous for other things), these were men who were specialized in doing one thing - playing a game. They became great at what they did and reached the pinnacle of success. But these men transcended the American niche market to which they were initially confined. From New York to Beijing to the tiniest atoll in the South Pacific, it’s a task to find someone who hasn’t at least heard their names.

But how did they get to this pinnacle?

The natural inclination is to assume that they were given gifts that others just don’t possess. Maybe in a sense, but not necessarily, because there have been many, many others whose physical skills and abilities were far superior and yet they didn’t meet the full potential of their gifts. The great ones don’t take their gifts for granted.

The great ones rise to the top, as Coach Kryzewski pointed out, by embracing the “process” of greatness.

This isn’t a significantly original thought but it is one that is often and easily neglected. The reminder of it is important.

We can see the greatness of Michael Jordan hitting the buzzer-beater in the finals, of Tiger Woods doing the impossible at the Masters, and of Muhammad Ali playfully dodging every punch thrown his way. What we don’t see is the process they went through to be able to do this with what seems effortless ease.

The great ones suffer like no others.

“Good enough” isn’t good enough.

Hours after his teammates were gone from practice, Michael Jordan was still at the free throw line. Hours before the first tee-time, Tiger Woods is practicing his putts. While his opponent was out on the town enjoying a brevity of success, Ali was in the gym hitting the speed-bag.

When they aren’t practicing, they are conditioning, developing their bodies and minds to perform together at their peak levels. Every single day, they run, lift weights, and push their bodies beyond the limits. They never give up and they go to bed every night exhausted.
Behind the scenes, when they aren’t on stage, the great ones lives are entirely dedicated to the process. The process of perfection. When the time comes to perform, there is no hesitation.

Focus. Practice. Repetition. And finally, though only temporarily, perfection.

And so it is with us Christians, except in the end, our perfection is made permanent.

We’re all called to be saints. It’s not an option. How easy it is to look upon the lives of our many and varied great saints though, and intimidated say, “Oh, I could never be that way, I just don’t have it in me.” Some saints of course seem to have been born with a special grace but many of them didn’t have it in them either to begin with. What they did have, however, was the humble desire for perfection, born in the love of their Creator. Their desire, like the Mother of God herself, was to simply say “yes.”

Usually in proportion to what they gave to God, He would give back to them. If they gave Him heroic amounts of prayer, in return He would give them a heroic stamina. Think Padre Pio. If they fasted to severity, He would nourish them solely with the Eucharist. Think Jean Vianney. If their spirit waned, He provided the encouragement and patience. Think Mother Theresa.

The greatest saints often saw themselves as the greatest sinners. The closer they came to Christian perfection, the further they realized they were. This didn’t stop them though. They didn’t say “good enough.” They didn’t leave idle the gifts that were given to them and to all of us.

They submitted themselves to the process. They focused on Christ. They practiced their Faith. They repeated their prayers and performed their works. They went to bed each night exhausted. They stumbled too and fell sometimes, but each time appealing to our merciful Lord they began again with renewed vigor. Over and over and over again, never giving up, they committed themselves to our Lord. Through the process, they were perfecting themselves.

When the time came, there would be no hesitation.

Focus. Practice. Repetition. The process for greatness; for becoming a saint.

Testimony of Stephen James Taluja - Young Sikh to Catholic Missionary

Son of a family of devout Sikhs, Stephen James Taluja is now a member of the U.S Maryknoll missionary institute. He tells AsiaNews about his childhood, his encounter with Christ, the Mighty God in the weakness of the cross, his “days of torment” for misunderstandings with his father following his conversion. Until the day of his ordination in which he saw with his own eyes what it “God is faithful” means.

From devout Sikh to Catholic priest. This is the story of Jaideep Singh, who recently became a Maryknoll missionary, a societies of apostolic life founded in the United States in the early 1900s. Today he is Fr. Stephen James Taluja.

Born in 1981, the youngest child of an important Indian Sikh family, the only male eagerly awaited by his parents after three daughters. Fr. Stephen talks to AsiaNews about his unique and personal story that revolves around his discovery that Christ is the Mighty God “in weakness” and the certainty that “God is faithful.”

“My mother was a very devout woman who introduced me to the teachings of the Guru Granth Sahib educated us at home in the prayer and recitation of the hymns of the sacred scriptures. My father accompanied me to the Gurdwara, the Sikh temple, and he raised me in the faith of the almighty. My parents instilled in us children love for God and a sense of service to the community”.

The young Jaideep studied at St Stephen’s School in Chandigarh, the capital of Punjab. Harold Carver, dean and founder of the institute remembers the young Sikh who “excelled in sports and played in the under 19 national soccer team of the state, loved music and sang in the school choir”.

Because of the quality of his singing the little Jaideep was invited to sing at midnight Mass on Easter Eve in the local church of St. Sebastian. He was 13 years old and attending the 7th class. It was the first time he had set foot in a Catholic church making the unusual occasion even more special for the young Sikh. Today, he says: “In that night I have vivid memories of the crucifix hanging on the wall and all the people on their knees praying. I did not understand how people could pray to a weak and dying God. For me, God had to emanate strength and power. And that God was just the opposite. ” Fr. Stephen remembers “the charm of the Liturgy of the Eucharist, common prayer and the unveiling of a totally new way for me.” He left the Mass with the image of “the cross and crucified Lord” in his head as well as “emerging questions about the meaning of life.”

After that night Jadeep began a long journey. “My mother had noticed that there was something new in me and caught my initial interest in Christianity, but did not say anything.” Jaideep turned to the rector Carver, putting his questions to him. Which become more insistent, even after the events in the family life of the boy.

The sudden death of his mother made even more urgent the need to understand the meaning of life and death. Fr. Stephen speaks today of the “darkness of soul” recalling that time. “I wondered where God was in all that was happening to me, what was the meaning of life.” The patient company of Harold Carver marks the “days of torment” of the young Sikh who recalls: “At some point I began to see the connection between life and death, realizing that Jesus died and rose was the model for us.”

The memory of that period, in which anguish was followed by the emergence of faith, is for Fr Stephen motive for “pride and gratitude”. “My family had planted in my soul the seed of religion, dean Carver the seed of Catholicism and of a life spent in witness of the Gospel.”

Jaideep decides to speak with his father about becoming a Christian. “All hell broke loose. He was annoyed, angry and offended. He called my sisters to ask them for information about my new faith”. The young priest now says: “They were really heavy and unsettling days for the whole family … thus began my personal participation in the passion and crucifixion of Christ.”

On March 1, 1999 Jaideep was baptized and chose the name of his school Stephen James. “I became a Catholic in secret and for 3-4 years my family knew nothing. I did not want to hurt them even more, because my father loved me so much and yet did not understand my choices”.

The year after Stephen leaves for the United States to study computer science. He lives in New York. To earn some money he works at night at a gas station. Every morning he goes to Mass in the parish named after St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Shrub Oak. Even there, he sings in the choir and one day the director Patti Copeland introduced Stephen to the Maryknoll missionaries. The young man remembers: “Their stories of aid to the poor around the world were impressed on my young 20 year old mind”.

“For some time I felt emerge in me the innate desire to communicate with God, to devote all of myself to contemplation.” Stephen believes the roots of this impulse lie in the education he received in his home: “Being Indian, and having received from my mother and
our culture a deep sense of divinity I was fascinated by the mystical life in the early days of New York and I had thought of becoming a Trappist monk”.

In 2001, the young Indian was invited to an Easter spiritual retreat and he realises he is being called to consecrated life. Stephen enters the seminary, but does not say nothing yet to his father and sisters, “worried about the pain and stress that the decision might cause to my family.”

“It was a period of anxiety in my life,” says the boy. “I knew that my father and members of my family were mocked, scorned and humiliated for my decision to become Catholic.” Sikh culture attaches great importance to the one male in the family circle. “You have the responsibility to carry on the name of your race, to take care of parents when they grow old - said Stephen - all this and I could no longer do so because of the decision I had taken.”

The days of priestly formation pass accompanied by the torture of hurting his loved ones and especially his father. “But God is faithful,” says the young man. “I suffered, but I knew that God would give my father a reward far greater than I could hope for.” Stephen studied at St. Xavier University in Chicago, attended the Maryknoll’s Language Institute in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and for two years lived and worked in the mission of Aymara, on the Peruvian High Planes.

On 30 May 2009 he was ordained to the priesthood. Stephen’s three sisters arrive in New York: Anu, Manpreet and Jaipreet, who live in Europe and America. U.S. authorities will not grant a visa to the father. “But it was one of the happiest days of my life,” says the young priest. “My dad wanted to be with me and through my sisters gave me his blessing and the sign of his support for my choice. He wanted me to know that he was proud of me and he had reconciled with my vocation. “

On becoming a priest of the Maryknoll missionaries, the young priest began a new life and on the day of his ordination, officiated by sgr. Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, he received messages of congratulations from hitherto unknown people who had learned of his story through friends or other missionaries. “They wrote that they prayed for me, as I became a priest during this Year for Priests - says Fr Stephen - and I felt honoured and privileged to be a Catholic priest, blessed by the prayers of so many people around the world. All this has made all the stronger in my desire to be a holy priest and a missionary who serves God by serving his people”

–
Written by Nirmala Carvalho for AsiaNews, used with permission.

Is the Seminary calling for you, or not?

While surfing the net, I often read blog posts about people discerning their religious or priestly calling. I always respond with encouragement; what do they have to lose – time, money, opportunities? As you can see, the seminary experience is still a vibrant part of my life even as I joyfully embrace being a husband & a father.

I entered the seminary after high-school though I wanted to enter earlier. For me, living & working for God alone is the best way to spend one’s life. In view of eternity, every career pales in comparison

But after the first year, I felt uneasy. I confided this to my spiritual director who encouraged me to persevere. This happened every year & I was assured that doubts are normal. By the end of my 9th year of temporary vows, I had to decide to do them for good or not make them at all – at least not then.

Though I had been faithful to my vows, I did not have the “moral certainty” that I could be celibate for life. A priest suggested to make the vows regardless and just get laicized if needed. But I did not want to make any promises that I wasn’t sure of keeping.

So instead, I bailed.

It was hard starting over. I complained to God saying that I’ve given Him the best years of my life & now I couldn’t find a soul mate. After 12 years, I met her. I have marriage vows now & I know I can keep those. And those temporary religious vows that I made & kept gave me the best of both worlds. I speak highly of religious life & the priesthood to my children in case God wants to call them later.

So, if anyone wants to consider the seminary, know that it comes from the word meaning seed. The seed of God’s call needs a protective environment lest the evil one eat it like a bird or the cares of the world strangle it like weeds.

The seminary is place to take care of this call, to hear it clearly & understand it. Sometimes, the call is temporary or is different. But if one goes there with a sincere desire to follow God, then everything will work out even if one will have to leave it to follow God.

November 2009

Daily Intercessions through the Word of God – November 2009
Sanctuary Intercessors – India Branch of FBB
International Catholic Charismatic Missionary Intercessors of the Fellowship of the Burning Bush (FBB)
The ‘Intercession Diary’ has the approval and blessings of the Bishops’ Team of the Archdiocese and contains intentions of our Cardinal and the Bishops
(Join us in agreement to intercede each day according to the Scriptures, ask the Holy Spirit how to pray to actualize God’s promises in each situation)

Day/Date Interceding According to the Mind of Christ

Sun
1/11/2009 Rev 11:18 The nations raged, but thy wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, for rewarding thy servants, the prophets and saints and those who fear thy name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth
All Saints’ Day – In the early Church, Christians would celebrate the anniversary of a martyr’s death for Christ (known as the saint’s “birth day”) by serving an All-Night Vigil, and then celebrating the Eucharist over their tomb or the shrine at their place of martyrdom. Today as we remember all the saints, known and unknown, we pray through their intercession, that the testimony of love offered by them may fortify us Christians in our devotion to God and neighbor, imitating Christ who came to serve and not to be served

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A time for joy, a time for pain

Prabhu Yesu ki Jai ! Prabhu Yesu ki Jai !! Prabhu Yesu ki Jai !!!

As these cries rent the air during the Prabhu Yesu Mahotsav 2009, the first ever Indian Mission Congress, held in our very own city of Mumbai I couldn’t but be goose-bumpy as I was swept over with wave upon wave of joy, gratitude and awe at what the Lord was doing in our midst – truly, ‘a work of the Lord, a marvel in our eyes’ (Ps 118:23).

As the over-1200 strong gathering of clergy, religious and laity (including 107 cardinals and bishops) celebrated the True Light, in the midst of the celebrations of the festival of lights, we were challenged to reflect on what the Spirit is saying to the Churches (Rev 2:7). Sharing with you some of the key reflections below,

• “God is light in whom there is no darkness at all” (1 Jn 1:5). This aspect of God is seen at creation (Let there be light-Gen1:4) till the end of time when ‘the glory of God is its light and its lamp is the Lamb’ Rev 21:22.
• Jesus, the Light of the world (Jn 8:12), reminds us that we are the light of the world (Mt 5:14) and challenges us to let our light shine (Mt 5:16)
• The Holy Spirit, as chief agent of evangelisation (Pope Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi), equips and empowers us to bring the good news to our beloved country as Jesus is the answer to the ancient prayer of the Indian sages “Lead me from darkness to light”. However, we as Church and as individuals need to be re-evangelised first, to be true witness, so that our lives are not counter-witnesses to the Gospel. Each of us needs to become both the message and the messenger.

Truly, a time to rejoice and be glad (Ps 118:24). Halleluiah.

Halleluiah. Yet, how painful and heart-wrenching for me it was to say that word a couple of weeks ago – the 3rd of October to be precise. When in the wee hours of the morning, barely minutes after I reached home from a long and grueling business trip, I got a call saying my sister-in-law Gina had met with a tragic accident. And it was fatal.

Furious questions and faith-filled ‘blessed assurances’ jostled each other in my mind. …why Gina… God’s ways are high above our ways… why now (a woman in her 30s and prime of life and career)… Jesus I trust in you… why in this horrible manner… He makes all things beautiful… why couldn’t God prevent it (being the night of the Feast of the Guardian Angels)… how would my brother manage… how do I tell my mother and my kids (my 6-yr old being their God-child) that she is enjoying God’s glory. It was my Gethsemane experience. I wept. And surrendered. The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.

I still grieve. And yet I believe in the resurrection of the dead. As we pray this month for our departed souls, I request you for your prayers for Gina, as well as my family – especially my brother. I also thank those of you who have been a rock of prayer support to my family over the past few weeks. Truly we are one body. 1Cor 12:26-27.

This month, in which we celebrate Children’s Day, we focus our intercession for our children – in our homes, city, etc. We are sure that Mary and all the Saints join us.