SPRINGBOARDS and WALKING STICKS

 When Francis of Assisi told the pope that the gospel itself was his Rule, he wasn't being mystical or abstract. He was being ruthlessly practical. Imagine if someone asked you today, "What's your life philosophy?" and you answered, "I just try to do what Jesus actually said to do." It sounds simple, almost naive. But that's exactly the point Francis was making—and exactly why it's so challenging. Richard Rohr in his reflection, Francis and the Gospel , describes how the teachings of Francis of Assisi became the foundation of Franciscan spirituality . Francis of Assisi (1182–1226) began his community with a clear intention: “The Rule and the life of the Friars Minor is to simply live the gospel.” The first Rule (the guide for the community’s way of life) that he started writing around 1209 was little more than a collection of New Testament passages. When Francis sent it off to Rome, the pope looked at it and said, “This is no Rule. This is just th...

  In Richard Rohr 's essay,  Franciscan Alternative Orthodoxy , a striking claim emerges: Francis was not limited to the Catholic Church of his time, which gravitated around sound doctrines and orthodoxy. Francis directed his gaze towards horizons the institutional Church of his era had ceased to contemplate. Through his prophetic witness and unwavering commitment to embodying the gospel, he forged what Rohr terms an "alternative orthodoxy "—a living tradition that would flow through Franciscan spirituality for centuries to come. The Franciscan alternative orthodoxy is a path that leads through suffering into solidarity, and through practice into the profound knowledge that comes only from doing. One of the earliest biographical accounts preserves Francis's instruction to his first friars: "You only know as much as you do." This simple maxim contained a revolution. By elevating action, practice, and lived witness above theological speculation, Francis init...

 The phrase "I will make you fishers of men" represents one of the New Testament 's most memorable metaphorical transformations. When examined through the psychological concept of affordance theory —developed by James J. Gibson in the 1970s—this calling takes on fascinating dimensions that illuminate both the pedagogical genius of Jesus' approach and the possible processes underlying vocational transformation. In psychology, an affordance is the potential action that an object or environment offers to an individual. There is something in the object, environment, or in a person that indicates that something else or something more is possible. Affordances are the perceived or actual properties of an object that suggest how it can be used. In design, affordances are visual clues that indicate possible actions; such as a door handle suggesting it should be turned or pulled. These clues are defined by the relationship between an object's properties and the capabiliti...

 In Luke 12: 1-7 , Jesus stands before a crowd so large that they were trampling one another, and he speaks words that cut through the anxiety of existence itself. His message pivots on a profound paradox: be afraid of the right things, which is to say, fear God alone—and in doing so, discover that you need fear nothing else at all. " There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed ," Jesus declares, "or hidden that will not be made known." This is not a threat but a liberation. He's describing a universe where truth is the fundamental architecture of reality, where everything hidden moves inexorably toward revelation. In such a world, our human instinct to conceal, to manage perception, to hide our contradictions—all of it becomes exhausting theatre. The futility of cover-up is not just moral but metaphysical. Where there is truth, fear has no place. Consider what Jesus means when he tells his disciples not to fear "those who kill the body and after ...

 Separated by approximately 6,000 kilometres, India and Germany share a surprising depth of connection. In India, German engineering excellence is abundant through brands like BMW , Mercedes-Benz , Porsche , and Audi . We listen to the compositions of German masters— Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven . We study German philosophers— Martin Heidegger , Friedrich Nietzsche , and Karl Marx . We celebrate Oktoberfest with Hefeweizen and Pilsner . Reciprocally, Germany boasts numerous scholars of Indology and Indian languages , with arguably the finest library collection on Indian studies anywhere in the world. Germany's fascination with India runs deep and has endured for generations. In 1911, Hermann Hesse —later to become a celebrated author—travelled to India on a spiritual quest. He arrived with an idealised vision of the subcontinent, expecting to find sadhus meditating everywhere and hoping to discover definitive answers to his religious questions. Instead, wh...

 We must pray continually and not be discouraged ( Luke 18:1-8 ). Pray, call on God and goodness, and hold on—persist and persevere in justice, nonviolence, fairness, and honesty . Even the hardest structure and injustice will crack. The woman who persevered until justice was done is the hero of today's gospel, for her persistence is relevant for all times. Nothing good and just comes to you without time and effort. Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiography by Nelson Mandela , South Africa's first democratically elected President, first published in 1994. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education, and 27 years spent in prison. Born in 1918, he was a key figure in the fight against apartheid , a system of racial segregation, which led to his imprisonment for 27 years. Upon his release in 1990, he helped dismantle apartheid and worked to create a new, multiracial South Africa, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. Do you want to be relevant in your classroo...

  Prophet Nathan approached King David to confront him about his immorality with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah , and he did it without direct accusation. If it were direct at a time when the king had so much power, he would have been instantly done away with; instead, Nathan told a story. When Changampuzha Krishna Pillai (1911-1948) wanted to expose feudal exploitation in Kerala , he wrote a poem. Separated by millennia, culture, and context, both narratives employ the same powerful technique: they make injustice visible through art. Art, be it a poem, a story, a film gives people time and space to process. People feel safer to accept it. In Nathan's Parable to David ( 2 Samuel 12:1-7 ), There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It ate from his table, dra...

 There is something more damaging than refusal or inability to do good; and that is spreading lies, false accusations, Beelzebul accusations about people who are doing good. Jesus the healing one, merciful one, inclusive one, and someone who is ready to die is a dangerous truth for some to accept. What Jesus does is an undeniable truth to all: the lame walk, the mute speaks, sinners receive forgiveness, and the outcaste experience inclusivity; no one could refute it, so they bring in a confusing false narrative. "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons." Here we encounter something deeply unsettling—the human capacity to witness truth and then fabricate a counter-story that serves our resistance to it. The miracle itself was not in dispute. The man spoke. The demon was gone. What was contested was the meaning of the event, the source of the power, the narrative framework into which this reality should be placed. This is the essence of false narratives : the...

 When the disciples approached Jesus with the simple request, " Lord, teach us to pray ," they were expressing something far deeper than a desire for religious instruction ( Luke 11: 1-4 ). They had watched Jesus navigate the complex terrains of life— social tensions , religious controversies, relational conflicts—and they observed that prayer was his anchor. In their asking, we discover their longing to cultivate both a spiritual and moral compass that could guide them through their own challenging journeys. This moment represents a universal human yearning: the recognition that we need divine guidance, that we cannot navigate life's complexities on our own strength alone. "Let us pray, teach us to pray"—these words echo through generations as expressions of hope for a better world, a transformed life, a reoriented heart. Reorienting Our Spiritual Compass The Our Father prayer begins with a radical reorientation of our spiritual direction. Like the prodigal ...

  On the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, three worlds collide around one broken body. The parable of the Good Samaritan is not merely a story about helping strangers—it is a diagnosis of the human condition, revealing three distinct ways of being in the world (Luke 10: 25-37). The Exploiter: What I Have Is Mine, and What You Have Is Also Mine The parable begins with violence. Thieves strip a man, beat him, and leave him half-dead by the roadside. These are the exploiters—those who see the world as a zero-sum game where their gain necessitates another's loss. They recognize no boundary between mine and yours; everything is potentially theirs for the taking. The exploiter's world is built on predation. What matters is not mutual flourishing but personal accumulation. The beaten man on the road is not a person but an opportunity—someone with possessions to be seized, vulnerability to be leveraged, dignity to be trampled. We meet exploiters not only in dark alleys but in boardrooms...

 In celebrating Teachers' Day we honour not just the memory of Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, but every teacher who has ever lit a candle in the darkness of ignorance. Across religious traditions, the divine and the teacher are one. Sri Krishna, seated on the chariot, instructing Arjuna on detachment and selfless action, was a teacher. Prophet Muhammad taught lawful living and the importance of brotherhood. The Buddha offered the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. Jesus, gathering people on the mountainside or by the shore, challenging them to love and forgive, was a teacher. In most faiths, God is teacher, and the teacher is godlike. There are few professions as noble as teaching. My greatest joy in a long academic career—serving as Head of Department, Academic Dean, and in other roles—has been simply to be known as a teacher. Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, despite being the first Vice President and second President of India, despite holding many major positions, wanted...

 The gospel, Luke 17:5-10, chastises the apostles into faith and dutifulness. It places before the apostles an uneasy parable of a master and his servant. A master who is at the enjoying end constantly, and a servant constantly at the serving end is a poor parable for our times that detests master-slave relationships and existence. So it is natural that when we read the perpetuation of the same in Scriptures we find ourselves repulsed. Where's the warm Jesus? Where's the love, the affirmation? Where is the Jesus who took out his garment and knelt down to wash his disciples' feet? This passage of the gospel has to be read in a particular context. It is material for people who are pursuing novitiate formation. Note that all through Jesus was addressing the crowd who followed him, whom Luke kept addressing as disciples. But here (see verse 17:5) Jesus is precisely speaking to the Apostles, whom Jesus is forming to be his committed and uncompromising followers. Novitiate is a p...