PAASAM at Dindigul – A Franciscan Evangelization – Ministry toward HIV/AIDS infected brothers and sisters in India

PAASAM at Dindigul – A Franciscan Evangelization

 At the centre of Franciscan life is found the experience of faith in God in the personal encounter with Jesus Christ in the abandoned brothers and sisters of the present day world. 

Moved by the love above the ordinary, stirred by the desire above the ordinary, pressed by the emotion above the ordinary, St. Francis of Assisi ran forth, put his hands around, embraced and kissed the foul-smelling leper. This unique and distinctive action signalled a new forma-vitae and a new message in the world. It is now eight centuries since St Francis first gave his way of life to the world. Yet no one can doubt its relevance or its power to attract even in our times. The witness given by Francis goes far beyond the limits of his own day and culture

Led by love, desire, and emotion above the ordinary and remaining faithful to the charism of Francis, the members of the Franciscan Brotherhood at PAASAM (Plan of Action for AIDS victims and Social Action Movement) have embraced the present day lepers, the people infected by HIV, with the intention of accepting them and treating them as their brothers and sisters. PAASAM in Tamil means ‘motherly affection’, and for her members, PAASAM is a home where they get care, support, love, affection and dignity.  Friar Arulsamy, the Director and Friar Joseph, the Assistant Director and the staff of PAASAM give themselves in total commitment to serve the HIV-affected brothers and sisters.  PAASAM indeed is a Franciscan Evangelization!

As part of my summer ministry I had a meaningful, enriching and strengthening experience at PAASAM. This was my first experience with the HIV victims. As I had never related to them before, I had developed several false ideas about them. When I reached PAASAM and began to share my life with these brothers and sisters, my false ideas and thoughts disappeared. I met a number of HIV-infected brothers and sisters who are dying everyday. They wept as they narrated their agonizing experiences of life. I found myself with no words to console them. All that I could do was to listen to their life stories attentively.

 

The district of Dindigul stands fourth in the list of the number of HIV-infected persons in the state of Tamilnadu. Hence there is immense need for care and support for the HIV victims in this district. From the time of its birth PAASAM has undertaken various activities with an objective of spreading awareness as well as giving medical, nutritional and counseling support for the people living with HIV.

Most of the members of PAASAM are widows who were brought to their unfortunate situation because of their husbands. There are a few HIV-infected children as members of PAASAM. A widow, while sharing her life story, said, “The only property that my husband has left behind for my children and me is HIV.” The women and children endure this agonizing condition for no fault of their own. This is what really makes me ponder!

HIV-infected people face discrimination and isolation from the society. Even their near and dear ones abandon them. Besides the health related problems, the stigma and disgrace that the HIV-infected brothers and sisters suffer make their life all the more miserable. Unable to cope with their depressing and hopeless situation, a few women have attempted suicide. It takes great courage for a HIV-infected person to accept his/her distressing condition and to carry on living. It is here that we have a role to play. PAASAM is involved in making these struggling people strong in their resolve to live a meaningful life. PAASAM conducts several meetings regularly to instill hope in them and to tell them that they deserve to live.

We have five women staff who are also HIV-infected. Their main work is to visit the members of PAASAM in their houses to see how they are in their health and other areas of life and to report the visit later at the office. I accompanied them on a few occasions. It was indeed touching to see these brothers and sisters living in extreme poverty. These visits make them happy and they feel affirmed that there is someone to care for them.

Once I visited a HIV-infected man who was helpless as his health was worsening day by day because of Tuberculosis. He had a large tumour on his neck and was coughing frequently. His wife committed suicide a year ago once she came to know that her husband was infected with HIV. His only son was taken by his wife’s family members. He was living with his aged mother who herself was sick.  He had no proper food, medicine and money to travel to the government hospital. His situation was really pathetic. When I spoke to him in his house, he said that he was contemplating suicide for sometime and that if we had not gone to his house, he would have died. When we brought his case to the PAASAM office, they were quick to make arrangements for his treatment and other things.

 

The HIV-infected brothers and sisters frequent the PAASAM office because they feel at home there. There are many who come to the office seeking medical assistance. They are treated immediately and given medicine free of cost. There are others who come for counselling; they are listened to and given advice and support. Then there are those who come to the PAASAM office just to be there and they are given a smiling welcome.  Nutritional care is given once a month to those who live in extreme poverty. More than the material assistance, it is the love, care, concern, support and affection received by the HIV-infected brothers and sisters from PAASAM that keep them going in life.

As Franciscans we are all called to proclaim the Kingdom of God in and through our life and mission. This will be a visible reality when we strive to live our experience of faith in the midst of Human community, when we create a fraternity of love and service open to all, when we live in simplicity and work and when we participate in the pain, suffering and hopes of the marginalized, discriminated, sick, needy and poor. I find this vision of Franciscan life taking a concrete form and shape in PAASAM where we friars are a leaven of the gospel, sharing our life with the poor and the abandoned of our times – the people with HIV. However, this is a formidable task which requires courage, audacity and commitment.

 

Free the Religious life from Institutions

Free the Religious life from Institutions

I wish to expound in this article on how a certain type of institutions run by the religious affects the face of the religious. At the outset, I wish to thank those institutions which are established with a primary motive to serve the poor, marginalised and deprived. My opinion is directed to those institutions run by the religious with a profit motive. The religious life which is born out of an original inspiration of a founder, goes through a gradual process of growth. It is a response to the times and growing number of vocations. In such a process which is long, tedious and needful, various developments within the religious life take place. It is important that every religious form of life must respond to the needs of the time but at the same time should not compromise that original inspiration of the founder. Such responses however involve big decisions. It is indispensable now to look into various decisions that we have made over a period of many years in our efforts to make our life relevant to the signs of the times. The big question however is whether our decisions have compromised the original inspiration of the founder.

We are responsible for our choices and decisions to go for big buildings and institutional structures when poverty is still a serious problem among the people. We are answerable to serious questions about why we went for an upper middleclass life style as religious when we professed to live by poverty. We are called to look deeply into our urges to have our religious houses around the developed areas when people in the remotest and underdeveloped villages wait for some saviours. How can we justify our efforts to build high standard schools, colleges, institutes and universities where poor have no possibility to get in? We are accountable to the fact that we fail to compromise on the success rate of our educational institutions when we ignored to give the same qualitative education for the children living in the villages and slums. We are guilty if we run an institution with a profit motive even that is only a little.

Can we really consider it a success when we admit only the excellent students with the distinction and then we pull off a hundred percent pass and even some rank holders? Will it not be a true happiness if we admit those students who are just average or below average in their performance and help them to score good marks or even pass in all subjects? While private enterprises can today run educational or health institutions to a great standard by offering expensive services, is it not right to ask as to why we should not leave serving the rich and privileged to such private sectors and move deep into villages who are cut off from the big cities where we have been running our projects? The worth of a religious sometimes is sadly dependent on the buildings one puts up or the money one gathers for the Parish or the Congregation. The value of a religious however must be on the work one does to uplift the poor and marginalised and the deprived ones the society and how truthful one remains to one’s call.

I know I sound crazy with all these aforementioned accusations. The rebuttal for such controversial allegations could be a reference to a number of charitable ministries, free educational institutes and health care projects run by the religious today in various parts of our country. I admit with great appreciation and respect that we have done enormous good to the society through our various charitable projects. This however is no excuse to question the underlying reasons for running big institutions where only the rich and creamy layer of the society could find a place in. While there are still poor and deprived scattered throughout the country who are not able to find a reasonable and decent life why are we obsessed with our big and so called standard institutes? I will be foolish to out rightly deny the need for institutions but at the same time it will be gravely fatal if we do not admit the fact that we need to reconsider some of our decisions to set up big institutions which stand as the visible denial of our option for poor.

Returning to the founder’s charism is a bold act and such act threatens our institutionalised life style. There is so much talk nowadays about updating and changing and adapting, and becoming modern in religious life. It takes real strength to remain faithful to the founder’s charism, come what may. Religious must trust that the Holy Spirit speaking through the Church will indeed bring special graces to religious today who honestly strive to recover the spirit of their founder. Church in India needs a revolution oriented towards reviving and restoring the true identity of Church. This revolution can be made possible only when we as religious journey back to the origins of our religious life and the original inspiration of the founder. This however is not easy, it involves a great discernment to know where we are and a great audacity to put ourselves in an exodus from where we are to where we should be. In order that this revolution may work, it entails an undertaking of downsizing of our structures and activities and prioritizing the indispensable dimensions of our religious charism and thus being a prophetic presence in the society today. This takes much courage born of conviction based on faith.

What an evangelical witness it would be if we give up our big structures and institutions and opt to live for poor and underprivileged by a life style that identifies with the poor of today. My arguments can be completely ruled out as irrational an impractical because they sound so. It is a wish: “How I would like a Church which is poor and for the poor!” If you rule out this wish as impossible then you are questioning the very wish of Pope Francis. Pope Francis with his new and innovative gestures of renouncing rich entitlements shows us clearly that what once considered as irrational can well be made reasonable. He opted to wear an ordinary cross around his neck in place of a gold one. He preferred same seat arrangement with the guests in place of a traditional throne-chair. He opted to wash the feet of inmates of juvenile home on Holy Thursday. Even before he became a Pope, he was a visible evangelization. As the Cardinal in Buenos Aires, he gave the cardinal’s palace to a missionary order with no money. He chose to live in an apartment, cooked his own food and rode the bus. A cardinal doing that! No sooner he became a pope, he picked up his own luggage, paid his own hotel bill, shunned security, refused a limousine and got on a minibus with the Cardinals. I drag Pope Francis into discussion only to reveal how he made the “impossible and unreasonable” into actualities. Pope Francis explicates that he will not compromise what Petrine ministry is originally intended for. Is it not right to follow his example to journey back to the origins of religious life and what it was actually intended for so as to make our present life current and contagious?

Institutions are needful and important but not at the cost of compromising the origins of religious life. We have often heard about the need for “Renewal” in our religious life and that begins from freeing religious life from institutions. This is a prophetic and challenging task which involves a great discernment, bold decision-making and lucidity to make our religious life a true evangelical witness.

In the words of the Minister General…

In the words of the Minister General…
(Formation, Formators, Our Charism and Challenge today)
This article contains the exact answers given by the Minister General to the questions posted in the website of the Order of Friars Minor. The questions are posted by the friars worldwide. You can find these questions and answers in a section called Dialogue with the MG and in the following link: http://www.ofm.org/ofm/?page_id=3345&lang=en.

Sent by friar John Sekar
The most pressing urgency in the area of initial formation
The challenges of formation are numerous, but perhaps the most urgent is the preparation / formation of formators – as it is obvious from the survey conducted in the Order by the Commission on the interdisciplinary study of the situation of the Order proposed by the General Chapter of 2009 (cf. mandate 14) and approved by the General Definitory. When asked about the choices to be made in the next six years, 53.6 percent of respondents (a total of 1408) say that the most important option is preparing formators. Moreover, when asked about the main weakness in initial formation 54.7 percent stated that it lies with the lack of formation of formators.
In my visits to the Provinces, I find that most formators take their task with responsibility and competence. There are very good formators. I extend my esteem and fraternal appreciation to all of them. At the same time, it is not hard to find formators who are forced to do so, who do not have any specific formation, and who share this “ministry” with many other ministries. Not lacking are those who leave the Order while they are formators. In all these cases, formation suffers much because there is hardly the necessary accompaniment.
Provinces are urged to take very seriously the formation of formators. The Order is in need of qualified formators who are prepared. Today more than ever the “ministry” of formation cannot be improvised. It is not enough to be a good brother to put him in front of formation. Besides that, we need to give them the necessary tools to accomplish their mission. The “masters degree” of formation for formators – which for some years have been conducted at the Pontifical Antonianum University – is a good formation structure for such a delicate ministry.
Furthermore, it is urgent that formators should be freed up from other services that seriously compromise their work in formation, such as being guardians, pastors, teachers “full time”. It is also necessary to live passionately this ministry as a priority. Both Provincial Ministers and formators themselves, as indicating in our RFF (cf. ns. 135-157), must be reminded that a formator must be “a person skilled in the ways that lead to God, in order to be well able to accompany others on this journey “. Furthermore, his main mission is to show “the beauty of following Christ” and love for own charism (cf. VC 66) (cf. MG).
Hindrances in the work of a Formator
There are many elements that may hinder the work of formation, but among them, I would single out the “double teachings”. When I speak of “double teachings” I mean what the members of a formative fraternity or not directly formative “say” or “intend”, by their words or example, so that their is a “collision” between what they “say” and what they “intend” directly. In such cases our brothers in initial formation will easily stay with what suits them most and often it is those who talk who are not directly in front of the various formative stages.
This possibility highlights, first of all, the need to care for what makes up a formative fraternity. All solemnly professed brothers, and not just the formators, are called to this task and help our brothers in initial formation “to grow in their Franciscan vocation” (Ratio Formationis Franciscanae (= RF 125), knowing that this comes about through “daily participation in the life of a particular fraternity” (RFF 126). Therefore, in Formation fraternities special care must be that taken that the “quality of community life and prayer” is preserved by having “a fraternal life project that is the fruit of a communal discernment”, where all show the “will to confront conflicts and solve them”. It should be done in a way that all are willing to “grow together and assume a formative relationship with the brothers and candidates in formation” (cf. RFF 127).
A formative fraternity has to foster confidence, dialogue, and courtesy. At the same time, it has to create an environment that encourages personal and community prayer, study, and work (cf. RFF 129ss).
To avoid “double teaching”, it is also important that all the brothers of the Province should assume joyfully his responsibility in the formation of our younger brothers and candidates. It is clear that in a Province, relative to formation, there are only two kinds of brothers: Formators or deformers. There is no other possibility. We must choose. In this sense, we must assume that formation is the only “humus” which can guarantee true initial formation (cf. RFF 107ss) (MG).
Can we live today the Franciscan charism as our father Francis lived and proposed it?
Dear Brother, as you confess yourself in the letter where you ask this question, many people will tell you to stop dreaming; that you have to be realístic; that times have changed … I see all these answers as excuses in favor of mediocrity and life choices that have nothing to do with what we have professed, i.e., taking the Gospel as a rule and life, to “follow Christ more closely.” Everything can be justified, but certainly not from the Gospel and from the way of life we have embraced. Our goal is not mediocrity, but a life in accordance with Christ, so as to be “living Gospels” as Brother Francis was. Based on your letter, I think you are in Initial formation. Both Initial and ongoing formation aims at being transformed in Christ (cf. VC 65) and being an “alter Christus”. Certainly, that is a lofty goal, so high that we can never say that we have achieved it. But precisely because of that, formation never ends. As our Ratio states, the first call will conclude with a visit by “sister bodily death” (cf. RFF, 1), and that “the formation never ends” (VC 65).
I often tell young people like you to trust everyone … but be wary of those who are not demanding with you because it is clear they do not want the best for you. Beware of them and do not listen to them. God forbid they should ever be your formators.
In your letter you also refer to situations happening in your entity which make you feel the temptation to discouragement. Dear brother, do not let the fallen tree, because of human frailty or an a-critical adaptation to the negative values of our world, blind you from ever seeing the forest for the many brothers who are still standing, even amid great difficulties sustained by the grace of God and their determination to remain faithful. Fly high and do not let anyone, for the sake of suffocating realism, cut the wings.
And if you had the misfortune of falling, then get up and walk back in the hands of the One who does not leave you in the depths of the pit. Making my own the words of Saint Francis, I say, “Trust in the Lord and he will take care of you.” Do not linger in the mud of mediocrity, as Sister Clare asked us; rather “with swift pace, nible step, and feet that do not stumble” (2LtCl 12), you can follow the One whose love enamors (4LtCl 11) and who, as St. Francis confessed, is everything (cf. PrGod 4). Always remember the beginning of your discipleship, which, as I can tell from your letter, there has been much ardor and passion (cf. 2LtCl 11); and that no one and nothing should dissuade you from your purpose to follow Christ radically (cf. 2LtCl 14). “And the work that you began well, finish” (5CtaCl 14). Great is, dear brother, what we have promised, but even greater, is what has been promised to us. GO FORWARD! ALWAYS AHEAD!” as our brother, Blessed Juniper Serra said, the third anniversary of whose birth we celebrate this year.
The challenge today
Our Order has many challenges, but “the biggest challenge” for us as it is for many other Institutes of Consecrated and Religious Life, is that of making our life and mission significant.
This entails, firstly, refocusing on our identity. This re-focus must be made in light of the requirements of our evangelical and charismatic way of life. At the same time, we have to be sensitive to the calls that come through the Church and the signs of the times, sparks of the Spirit that illuminate our path of creative fidelity to what we have promised. Responding to all this involves a great discernment, a great lucidity to know where we are, and great boldness to place ourselves in a stance of evangelical exodus, so that we can move from good to better. Only in this way will our way of life stay young, current and contagious. Making it significant will entail often carrying out the necessary downsizing of structures and activities, prioritizing the indispensable elements of our charism, i.e., the spirit of prayer and devotion, fraternal life in community, minority-poverty-solidarity, a Franciscan evangelization and initial and ongoing formation, so as to remain a prophetic presence in the Church and the world.
In this context, I think that the significance of our life and mission is urgent – as I repeated during the celebrations of the eighth centenary of the founding of our Order. We need to focus on the one thing necessary; we need to concentrate on the essential elements of our charism, and take the focus from ourselves and be, instead, evangelizers in the heart of the world. With clarity and boldness, let us respond to the great challenges that the Church and the world places before us! (M.G.).