St. Charles’ Seminary
Seminary Hills, Nagpur
M.S. – 440 006, INDIA
(0712) 2511353
(0712) 2510154
E-mail: stcharlengp@gmail.com
Annual Report of the Academic year 2010-11
Inauguration of the academic year: The Seminarians returned to the Seminary on the 16th of June after their summer vacation. The inauguration of the academic year took place on the 19th of June. Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara presided over the Inaugural Eucharist which was followed by the inaugural ceremony held in the centenary memorial auditorium. Fr. Rector presented the annual report of the year and Fr. Sunoj OP delivered the inaugural lecture titled: “Comparative study on God in St. Thomas Aquinas and Madhvacharya”.
The total number of students was 248 out of which 164 were residents. Besides the usual 47 dioceses and 3 religious congregations we had students from the diocese of Aizawl and Purnea, and from the following religious congregations: Vocationists, CFIC, MSFS, Palottines, Daughters of St. Paul, MSMI.
The newly ordained priests and the new deacons were felicitated on the 26th of June. The New Comers day was celebrated on the 30th of July. The students of first year Philosophy and first year theology staged a cultural programme in the evening. Sr. Besky and Fr. Peter Fernandes were the chief guests at the cultural programme.
On the feast of St. John Vianney eleven brothers of first year Theology received their clerical garb at the solemn Eucharist presided by the Rector. After the Mass, the Rector blessed the statue of St. John Vianney which was installed in garden facing the Philosopher’s refectory.
On the feast of St. Dominic, the statue of the saint was blessed installed in the garden facing the Theologians refectory. On the eve of the 64th anniversary of the independence of India, the Carolian family staged a cultural evening in which the diverse traditions cultures of our country were shown and celebrated. Mr. Thomas Jose, the CBI officer in Nagpur department was the chief guest.
The annual retreat for the brothers was held from the 16th to 20th August. Bishop Franco, the auxiliary bishop of Delhi and an ex-Carolian was the retreat preacher. His inspiring talks and sermons which were well appreciated by brothers also included many practical tips and anecdotes coming from his own experience as a student of St. Charles.
Seminary Day: The feast of St. Charles, the Seminary Day, was celebrated with great happiness and solemnity on the 3rd, 4th and 5th of November. The presence of several Carolian jubiliarians added a great joy and life to our celebrations. Among the Carolian Jubiliarians there were three batches present: those celebrating the 40th, 25th and 10th year of their priestly ordination. We had fourteen priests who were celebrating their fortieth year of ordination. 5 of them came all the way from the USA.
The festal mass that was celebrated on the 4th evening was presided by His Grace Rt. Rev. Abraham Virutakulangara, with a good number of concelebrants. Just before the Eucharist the Archbishop blessed the newly prepared Adoration chapel. At the conclusion of the Mass the Blessed Sacrament was brought in a procession by the Archbishop and the concelebrants and was placed in the adoration chapel. The jubiliarians were felicitated by the Archbishop and then followed the festive supper in the basketball court.
A cultural programme was staged on the 3rd and 4th of November. The Rector presented the annual report of the academic year 2009-2010. The Chief Guest, the Archbishop of Nagpur, in his speech made a reference to Pope Benedict’s letter to Seminarians and highlighted importance of study in the life of a seminarian. The brothers entertained the guests with colourful dances which demonstrated the different cultures of our Country. The music and songs, a short
Hindi comedy and a dance-drama on the passion of Christ were the other prominent programmes of the evening. The Carolian family appreciates the hard work done by our brothers with the leadership of Fr. Biju and other staff members.
The Carolian Theological Forum organized an input session on Ecological crisis and Christian Response to them. In his well delivered lecture Fr. Saji Kanayakal CST presented the burning ecological issues and demanded from us a truly Christian response to these challenges. The CTF also organized an Inter-faith Meeting in the auditorium of St. Joseph’s school on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi. Representatives of different religions were able to share with us the role their religion is playing in forming the youth for a bright future.
Annual House Picnic: was conducted very efficiently by the students of first year Theology at the Telangadi garden. It was a joyful celebration for all the Carolians: laughing, playing, dancing and singing besides many other forms of relaxation and enjoyment. All appreciated the organizing capacity of the brothers from the first year theology.
Sports day: The annual sports day was conducted on the afternoon f the solemnity of St. Francis Xavier. The chief guest was Professor PT Thomas the newly appointed principal of SFS College. Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara and Fr. Jerome Pinto, the vicar general of the Archdiocese, were the guests of honour. Br. Anto Vijay of Ajmer diocese was awarded the prize for the best sportsman of the year. The students of third year Philosophy won the championship in the inter-class category; the students of philosophy were the champions in the inte4r-house category. The hard work put in by the sports committee, under the leadership of Fr. Paul Pereira and Deacon Sumit Lugun was highly appreciated.
Christmas Ministry: As usual the students of Theology went for three weeks ministry in the month of December. The first year Theology students went to the mission stations in the dioceses of Jashpur and Raigarh. The students of second year theology went for social work in the diocese of Amravati. The students of third year Theology went to Varanasi for an Ashram experience. We thank the Bishops and priests of these dioceses for their collaboration and guidance.
Christmas: The students of third year Philosophy under the guidance of the staff organized a Carol singing competition on the 17th of December. Many catholic and Christian institutions from the diocese took part in the competition.
The brothers of the second year Philosophy prepared a maga crib in front of the seminary which attracted thousands of people from different religions.
Unity Octave: The CTF organized an Ecumenical worship service to mark the conclusion of the Unity Octave on the 25th of January. After the prayer service a symposium was held which was moderated by Rev. Fr. Thomas Vijay SAC. The theme of the symposium was “The Role of the Christian Youth in promoting Justice and building up national integration.
Conferral of Ministries: on the 28th of January, on the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Archbishop of Nagpur, Most Rev. Abraham Viruthakulangara, conferred the ministry of Lector to twenty one brothers from the first year of Theology and the ministry of Acolyte to sixteen brothers from the second year of Theology.
Grotto feast: The seminarians were actively involved in the celebration of the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes on the 13th of February. The main activities were: choir at masses in different languages, praying over the sick, distributing communion, carrying the statue of Our Lady at the procession and minding the shop.
Visitors: Among the prominent visitors to the seminary in the academic year 2010-11 was Fr. Bruno Cadore, the Master General of the Order of Preachers. He stayed in the seminary on the 14th to 16th of Feb. He was kind enough to preside over the Eucharist and preach an appropriate homily on the 16th of Feb.
Farewell Programme was conducted on the 18th of March. The Carolian family bid goodbye to the outgoing students of Fourth year Theology and third year Philosophy.
Retreat for priesthood and diaconate: The retreat for the candidates for priesthood and diaconate was preached in the pastoral centre by Rev. Fr. Davis George from the diocese of Jabalpur from the 26th to 30th March. Through his inspiring talks and payer sessions Fr. David created a truly spiritual atmosphere. It was truly a fruitful preparation for the ordinations.
Diaconate: as per the request from the students and many bishops the diaconate was held in the seminary itself on the 31st of March. His Grace Abraham Viruthakulangara, The Archbishop of Nagpur, conferred the Order of Diaconate on 12 brothers. The Solemn Eucharist was celebrated on a stage in front of the Seminary.
The Academic year ended on the 31st of March.
17 brothers were ordained to priesthood this summer in their respective dioceses. and another five will be ordained in the course of the year. On the 27th of May The Archbishop of Nagpur ordained priests 7deacons of the Archdiocese. The Ordination ceremony took place in front of the seminary. It was a very solemn and inspiring ceremony which was attended by a large number of people and the mass was concelebrated by nearly hundred priests. The seminary and the archdiocese is grateful to Fr. Biju and the seminarians (Philosophers) who worked tirelessly for this function. We wish and pray that all our newly ordained priests remain committed and faithful to God and to the Church until the end.
As usual the summer philosophy course was conducted at Upasana, St. Camillus Study house, Bangalore, by Fr. Praveen, the dean of philosophy, with the help of other priests from the philosophy department and some guests professors. There were 24 Students, of which 21 were religious sisters belonging to 14 Congregations, 1 religious brother, and 2 married men studying for permanent diaconate. They are and will be studying in various parts of our country. Four Sacred Heart sisters will be studying in St. Charles.
During the Summer Fr. Biju, the procurator of the seminary, with the help of some brothers, took care of the maintenance and repair works: The adoration chapel, the infirmary, the toilets on both floors.
As we thank our Lord for his guidance and care during the academic year 2010-11 we look at him with hope for his mercies for this new Academic year. May He bless each one of us so that we may continue his work with dedication and love.
Fr. Dominic Mendonca, O.P.
Rector
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday, June 24, 2011
Introduction of the first year philosopy and theology students
On 25th June 2011 morning at 9.00 a.m. there was a small gathering of the staff members and new comers in the seminary old auditorium, where they introduced to one another: their names, dioceses or congregations past studies, hobbies etc. It was very interesting; some of them sang, some of them danced others performed mono act and action songs.
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Inaugural talk
Raimon Panikkar’s Christological Hermeneutic
Towards Hindu Christian Meeting in Christ
A General Introduction
The world religions are many and varied, and they reflect down through the ages the desire of people to enter into communion with God. Religious plurality has never been as evident as it is in the third millennium. The growing awareness of religious pluralism is becoming all the more a permanent feature of present and future theology. The global experience of the reality of religious plurality and its spiritual vitality impels us to accept it as a truth graciously willed by God for the good of humankind. Dominus Iesus, a declaration of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, affirms that “God, who desires to call all peoples to himself in Christ and to communicate to them the fullness of his revelation and love, “does not fail to make himself present in many ways, not only to individuals, but also to entire peoples through their spiritual riches, of which their religions are the main and essential expression even when they contain ‘gaps, insufficiencies and errors’.”
Raimon Panikkar was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century in the areas of comparative philosophy, cross-cultural philosophy of religion, theology and interreligious dialogue. The Locus of his thought is the inter-cultural and interreligious environment of his family, community and society; the modus of his thought is cross-cultural communication, namely, dialogical dialogue; finally, the nucleus of his thought may be discerned in his call for communion. His writings reflect an ongoing dialogue between East and the West, between traditions, cultures, philosophies, ideologies and beliefs. He was inspired by the principle of Advaita (neither monist, nor pantheist, nor dualist), which is well expressed in his vision of invisible harmony and of concord. Panikkar presents the Mystery of Christ as the universal symbol of the divine-human meeting point.
1. A Theological Problematic in Hindu Christian Meeting
The meeting of religions is today one of the most profound of human problems, because it is not merely an intellectual endeavour, or a simple practical exercise, but the fruit of religious experience and engagement. It cannot take place merely at the cultural level, so as to turn the encounter of religions merely into a question of the interrelation of cultures. It is not a vague fusion or dilution of different religious streams. The world religions are approaching each other, not merely in the realm of mind, nor on the doctrinal plane, but at a deeper level, which could be called existential or ontic-intentional level. Any encounter between religions, according to Panikkar, requires a common meeting place where the two ‘realities’ really meet each other. He suggests three indispensable prerequisites for such an encounter: “a deep human honesty in searching for the truth wherever it can be found; a great intellectual openness in this search, without conscious preconceptions or willingly entertained prejudices; and finally a profound loyalty towards one’s own religious tradition.” Panikkar holds that, “The meeting of religions cannot take place in a neutral territory, in a no-man’s-land – which would be a reversion to unsatisfactory individualism and subjectivism. It can take place only at the heart of religious traditions.” Religions meet at their common source, not simply on the plane of ideas or ideals, but in the very depth or ground of religions. The question follows: where do Hinduism and Christianity meet? What is the ‘place’ of encounter for a real meeting between them? Is there a common ground for bilateral interreligious dialogue or eventually scope for mutual fecundation? Panikkar speaks of a Hindu Christian meeting, not necessarily at the doctrinal level but at an existential level, as he puts it in “the cave of the heart,” where religious encounter engages the whole human. It must take place at the level of lived religious experience
1.1. A Common Meeting Point for Hindu Christian Encounter
Panikkar looks for a common theological ground between advaitic Hinduism and Christianity. He lays stress on the existence of one but not necessarily the same Mystery in both traditions. Hinduism and Christianity, as two religions believing in God, definitely meet in God, the Absolute and the Ultimate. The transcendent God is the ideal meeting point; yet, a transcendental platform cannot be the ideal starting place. Hence, we need a concrete meeting-place, which is more than just a divine ground, an idea or a concept and also more than just humanity. According to Panikkar Hindu Christian meeting is possible only in “a reality which partakes of both the Divine and Human, i.e., in what Christians cannot but call Christ. Christ is the point of their encounter.” For Panikkar, the transcendental aspect of any and every religion is the cosmic Christ. He affirms, “It is Christ, then, known or unknown – who makes [any] religion possible. Only in the name of Christ there is ‘religatio’.” This same Christ might be discerned and acknowledged in other religions. The very act of a meeting of religions might help to discern and acknowledge the presence of the cosmic Christ in all the authentic religions.
1.2. Meeting of the Religions in the Trinitarian Christ: A Trinitarian Christology Model
Panikkar begins his insight into the meeting of diverse religions in the Trinity in the light of Advaitic intuition, i.e., a non-dualistic cosmotheandric vision of all reality. In order to grasp his understanding of Christ in the context of a Hindu Christian meeting, two points have to be kept in mind: Christ as the symbol of the cosmotheandric reality and Christ in the Trinitarian context. He speaks of the Trinitarian Christ, because, within Christian tradition Christ is incomprehensible without the Trinity. He writes, “A non-Trinitarian Christ cannot be totally human and totally divine.” His intuition of the ultimate is non-dualistic or advaitic and the reality is Trinitarian. Advaita expresses the tension between polarities and the Trinitarian intuition of reality expresses the radical relativity, which allows the possibility of infinite unity and infinite differences.
The Trinity appears as an ultimate paradigm of inter-personal relations and this is also true of divine human relations. Rather than being a single centre, on which all ultimate human experiences converge in a unity (which ultimately could not avoid a certain monism), the Trinitarian paradigm allows for infinite diversity. ... The Mystery towards which the religious experience of humankind tends is neither the same nor different, neither one nor many; it is non-dualistic. It allows for Pluralism.” The Trinity is the consummation of God’s self-revelation and the source of religious thought and mystical experience of all humankind. According to him, “It is in the Trinitarian possibilities of the world religions, in the striving of each in its own fashion towards synthesis of their religious experience and spiritual attitudes, that the meeting of religions – the kairos of our times – finds its deepest inspiration and most certain hope.” The Trinity, then, may be considered as a junction where the authentic spiritual dimensions of all religions meet. A true encounter of religions, then, takes place in the Triune God. It is in the Trinity that God and man meet.
2. Raimon Panikkar’s Christological Hermeneutic towards Hindu Christian Meeting
The Christian affirmation of the universal salvific will of God, revealed through Jesus Christ, opens the way for Christians to acknowledge the presence of Christ in Hinduism. The New Testament affirms the concrete and universal salvific will of God, “who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1Tim 2:4). Jesus Christ is the sole universal salvific mediator (Cf. 1Tim 2:5). Jesus Christ is the primordial “mystery of God’s will” (Eph. 1:9); Christ is the universal redeemer (cf. Eph 1:3 – 14); there is no redemption apart from him (cf. 1:13 – 22). The Gospel according to John describes Jesus as “the way, the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). Furthermore, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (cf. Acts 4:12). Panikkar concludes that “every person who is saved is saved by Christ” and “that Christ is present in one form or another in every human being in his religious way to God.” Everything finds its eschatological fulfilment in Christ.
2.1. Christological Problematic at the Heart of Hindu Christian Encounter
Panikkar finds that, the name ‘Christ’, emerging from the Christian world, has not found sufficient favour with protagonists of the other religious traditions. Yet, he chooses to use it because: “The name of Christ will not permit thought of an apersonal, undiscriminated (ultimately inhuman) unity, nor will it allow for an ultimate duality.” Panikkar affirms, “Christ is the historical name carries with it the heavy reality of history, good and bad.” The text in the Acts of the Apostle reads, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Panikkar asserts that Jesus is not the revealed name but the revealer of the saving name; one who accepts it knows for certain that in this name is found all the glory of God. He emphasises that “the figure of Christ should regain its complete fullness of meaning.”
2.2. The Living Presence of Christ in Hinduism
Panikkar accepts that Christ is present wherever human beings encounter God. He is present in all authentic religious traditions, because Christ, by his incarnation, is the only mediator, the bridge between the absolute and the relative; every religious experience is in and through him. Hence, he assumes that Christ belongs to Hinduism; and for that matter he belongs to any religious experience, as much as, he belongs to Christianity. He affirms that the Christ that he is speaking of is “by no means the monopoly of Christians.” He clarifies his position further, as he speaks “neither a principle unknown to Hinduism, nor of a dimension of the divine unknown to Christianity, but of that unknown reality, which Christians call Christ, discovered in the Heart of Hinduism, not as stranger to it but as its very principle of life, as the light which illumines everyone who comes into the world.”
Panikkar is convinced that “there is in Hinduism a living presence of that Mystery which Christians call Christ.” The same Christ is present in one form or another in every human being, as they journey towards God. For him, this Mystery, which Christians call Christ, is “present in a hidden way, in religious traditions and in Hinduism in particular; yet, he is perceptible to Christian faith alone. Christianity and Hinduism both express and unfold their belief in the theandric mystery, though in two different ways.” Furthermore, he writes: “Christ is not only the ontological goal of Hinduism but also its true inspirer, and his grace is the leading force, though hidden, pushing it towards its full flowering.” Christ has been at work in anticipation in Hinduism, and now the task of Christian revelation is the unveiling of that reality. Hence, Panikkar affirms that the Christian attitude is not ultimately one of bringing Christ in, but bringing him forth, discovering Christ. Panikkar writes: “Christ is already there in Hinduism, in so far as Hinduism is a true religion; Christ is already at work in any Hindu prayer as far as it is really prayer; Christ is behind any form of worship, in as much as, it is adoration made to God.”
2.3. An Advaitic Intuition of Non-dualistic Understanding of the Ultimate Mystery
A Rgvedic verse states that [God is] “One, [though] the sages call it by many names” (Rgveda I, 164, 46). The Ultimate Mystery, towards which the religious experience of humankind tends, considered from an advaitic intuition, is neither ‘one’ nor ‘two’; it is non-dualistic. This mystery which stands for the Eternal Ultimate Divine is called by many names in such a way that each authentic name enriches and qualifies that Mystery which is neither purely transcendent nor purely immanent. Furthermore, this mystery is experienced in many forms; thus it can be neither called one nor many. In that vision the Mystery may be called by various names, yet it remains one and the same. Any believer who has reached spiritual realisation, or has received enlightenment, has realised the ultimate Mystery.
The Christian, in recognising, believing in and loving Christ as the central symbol of Life and Ultimate Truth, is being drawn towards that selfsame Mystery that attracts all other human beings who are seeking to overcome their own present condition. The Christian comes into contact with the Mystery in and through Christ. For Panikkar, “Christ is the Mystery in the sense that to see Christ is to reach the Mystery;” yet he makes it clear that “the Mystery cannot be totally identified with Christ. Christ is one aspect of the Mystery as a whole.” However, Christian theology sees the intelligibility of the ultimately ungraspable Mystery ascending to it from its concrete and visible manifestation in Christ. Panikkar says, “If Jesus Christ is the Mystery, any other real name or real manifestation of the Mystery will appear inadequate because it contradicts the Christian understanding.” For Christians, the Ultimate Mystery is indissolubly connected with Christ. They call this Mystery ‘Christ’, because it is through Jesus that they themselves have arrived at faith in the decisive reality.
2.4. The Christ of God: the Cosmotheandric Reality
The Mystery of Christ, according to Panikkar, is the cosmotheandric reality: “living symbol for the reality: human, divine and cosmic” This theandric reality both embraces and transcends all other manifestations of the Ultimate Mystery. Panikkar affirms, “That theandric ‘thing’, the concrete connection between the absolute and relative which all religions recognise in one way or another, we could call ‘Lord’, but we may also call it ‘Christ’.” The name of Christ represents the cosmotheandric reality. Based on this cosmotheandric vision, Panikkar invites us to consider what he calls, “the Mystery,” Christian tradition acknowledges it as “the Christ of God,” who is the centre of all reality. Yet, he affirms that “the Ultimate mystery cannot be totally identified with Christ. Christ is one aspect of the mystery as a whole.” For him, Christ the “mediator seems to represent the most universal archetype or, phenomenologically speaking, that which can be more readily universalized without losing concrete identity.” This ‘Christ’ partakes of both Divine and Human and is therefore theandric. For him all reality is cosmotheadric as it is constituted by the three irreducible dimensions of the divine, human and the earthly. Christ is not only cosmotheandric, but “stands for that reality, that crystallisation-point around which the human, the divine and the material can grow.”
The Trinitarian Christ, according to Panikkar, is the symbol of the cosmotheandric reality. This Christ is a living symbol for the totality of reality – the cosmic, the human and the divine, which he calls the theandric reality. This reality can be experienced by people having other world views, cultures, and religious traditions which have other meaningful names for the one and the same reality. He writes, “Christ stands for that centre of reality, that crystallization-point around which the human, the divine and the material can grow. Rama may be another such name, or Krishna, or Isvara, or Purusha, or even Humanity.” Thus, Panikkar points out that if the true encounter between Christianity and Hinduism is possible; it is to take place in Christ, who is the symbol of the cosmotheandric reality, which ‘contains’ both the poles: the divine and the human.
2.5. Panikkar’s ‘Christ Symbol’ for Hindu Christian Encounter
Christ, according to Panikkar, is the most powerful symbol of humankind’s meeting with God and meeting between representatives of diverse religions. He affirms that Christ is “a symbol, that is, the very ‘thing’ as it appears and is in the world of our experience.” Furthermore, Panikkar adds, “Christ is still a living symbol for the totality of reality; human, divine and cosmic. Most of the apparently more neutral symbols such as God, Spirit, Truth and the like truncate reality and limit the centre of life to a disincarnate principle, a non-historical epiphany, and often an abstraction.” The Christ symbol, for Panikkar, is the Trinitarian Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, who reveals the face of the Father in the Spirit, and the living person whom the believer encounters. This is in keeping with his intuition of the threefold structure of reality, of the triadic oneness existing in all religious experience, on all levels of consciousness and of reality, of the Trinity.
Christ symbol is that symbol which recapitulates in itself the Real in its totality, created and uncreated. The Christ is the living and loving reality. In other words, it is “that reality from whom everything has come, in whom everything subsists, to whom everything that suffers the wear and tear of time shall return. He is the embodiment of Divine Grace who leads every man to God; there is no other way except through him.” If this is the Christ to whom a Christian is committed, then this Christ is also present in Hinduism. This Mystery, though Hinduism does not call it Christ, is referred to in the Upanishads as Isvara and is experienced by Hindus.
3.5. The Vedantic interpretation of Isvara and the Unknown Christ of Hinduism
According to Panikkar, the ontic principle, in which a Hindu Christian encounter may take place, is the Christ of Christian faith, which can also be named the Isvara of Hinduism. The Vedantic interpretation of Isvara points towards the mystery of Christ, who, being unique in his existence and essence is as such equal to God. Ishvara is not the absolute God, but equal to him, the Son of God, God from God. Moreover, he has a double nature, but these two natures are without mixture and without change and yet inseparable and indivisible. He is more than a mediator; he is in a certain sense the whole Christ of Christian understanding; he is the whole reality: the cosmotheandric reality. Nonetheless, certain correlations emerge once both Christ and Isvara are interpreted according to their respective functions within their own traditions. Thus for instance, the Christian affirmation regarding Christ’s role as the one and only mediator between God and the world is not without meaning for the Vedanta Hindu who sees this truth in Isvara, but understands it differently according to their different conceptions of the impersonal non-creator Brahman. The Christian belief in Christ and the Vedanta Hindu understanding of Isvara are notably distinct and quite incompatible.
The presence of Christ can also be discerned in the quest for mediation between the Absolute and the relative, between the supra-personal and the personal expressed in the understanding of Isvara. Panikkar holds that “the Isvara does not belong to the world of maya only. He is not only a creature, but equal to Brahman, though distinct in his form of existence as well as in his function vis-a-vis the world.” According to his interpretation, “Isvara does not belong only to the world of Godhead. He is not just a mere aspect of the Divine. He is really ‘human’, or rather worldly without ceasing to be divine.” Isvara can be still called God, but is no longer identifiable with the Absolute, with Brahman. This Isvara is essentially saguna, yet somehow claims also to be nirguna. A follower of Vedanta finds the growth of all things in time is nothing but a fuller realisation of their being in Isvara; likewise, Christians, in Christ, live, move and have their being. Panikkar’s interpretation of the Isvara points towards the Mystery of Christ, who, being unique in his existence and essence, is as such equal to God, the Son of God, God from God. Moreover, he has a double nature, but these two natures are ‘without mixture’ and ‘without change’ and yet ‘inseparable and indivisible’. Panikkar further clarifies that “It is also incontrovertible fact that the Christ in whom Christians believe cannot simply be equated with the Isvara of the Vedanta.” He states: “that from which this world comes forth and to which it returns, and by which it is sustained, that is Isvara, the Christ.” It is through Christ that all things are transfigured and made divine. This Christ, then, is present, active, unknown and hidden within Hinduism, as well as, in all authentic religious traditions.
3.6. Critical Assessment regarding Panikkars’ Christological Hermeneutic
Raimon Panikkar presents Christ, the cosmotheandric reality, as the meeting place for Hindu Christian encounter. He holds that any Christology that limits itself to the historical Jesus of Nazareth would place emphasis on the particularity; and hence, it could not claim universality for him. His emphasis is clearly on the trans-historical dimension of Christ. This is to bring out the universal and cosmic character of the mystery of Christ. For this, he makes a clear distinction between the universal cosmic Christ (known by many names and in many religions) and the particular Jesus of history. Hence, Panikkar affirms that by the name Christ he is “not presupposing its identification with Jesus of Nazareth.” For him, Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God; but the Christ is more than the Jesus of history; in his opinion, we “cannot say that ‘Christ is only Jesus’ ... because in fact the risen Jesus is more (aliud, not alius) than the Jesus of Nazareth ... Neither can we say ‘the Lord is only Christ’ because [our] knowledge of the Lord is not exhaustive.” He insists that the Christ of the Christian believer transcends the historical Jesus of Nazareth.
Panikkar’s above mentioned Christological statements, in the context of Hindu Christian meeting in Christ, may seem to us quite ambiguous, as they tend to overlook the Christian affirmation regarding the personal identity of Jesus of Nazareth with Christ the Lord. They fail to do full justice to the universal constitutive salvific significance of the whole Paschal Mystery of Christ. How are we to conceive of the relation of the reality or mystery, the Christ symbol, to the historical Jesus? The distinction between the Christ mystery and the historical Jesus that Panikkar makes does not seem to do justice to the Christian affirmation of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. In fact, for us Christians, Jesus of Nazareth is the unique definitive and divinely guaranteed theophany of that universal cosmic Christ. For the early Christians, Jesus of Nazareth was personally identical to the Christ of faith (cf. Acts 2:36). Likewise, the Christian who encounters the risen Christ in faith cannot but identify him with the historical Jesus. Jesus has become Christ in his being raised by the Father: the mystery of his will.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Jesus Christ is the theandric mystery of human encounter with God. This Mystery of Christ, which is hidden or manifest in diverse religions is the meeting point. Christianity and Hinduism both express and unfold their belief in this theandric mystery, though in two different ways. Christ is the only link, only mediator between the Absolute Divine and the human; hence, he is the theandric reality, the meeting place between the religions. He, further, affirms ‘Christ’ as “that reality from whom everything has come, in whom everything subsists, to whom everything that suffers the wear and tear of time shall return. He is the embodiment of Divine Grace, who leads every man to God; there is no other way but through him.” This Christ and the Spirit of God are present and effective, in a more or less hidden and unknown way, in every human and religion.”
In the final analysis, a Trinitarian Christological perspective towards humanity’s search for God in diverse religions opens a wider horizon for understanding the theological significance of religious plurality in the grace of God, in accordance with God’s universal will of salvation, unfolded through the Christ-event. The truth and grace of God are operative in diverse religions, through the universal divine presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit. They are the ‘the two hands of God’ continually at work in the world, transforming the lives of all people and guiding them all to their final destiny in God. Hinduism and Christianity, then, meet each other in Jesus Christ, who is the sacrament of human encounter with God. The Spirit of Christ, who is God’s entry point in the world, is already at work in Hindu prayer and spirituality leading them to the truth of Christ. The meeting of religions in Christ will foster mutual fecundation, enrichment and spiritual growth. Hence let us discover our deep religious unity and differences in the Holy Trinity, and realize the depth of our true identity in Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.
Dr. Fr. Albert Noronha, OP.
Towards Hindu Christian Meeting in Christ
A General Introduction
The world religions are many and varied, and they reflect down through the ages the desire of people to enter into communion with God. Religious plurality has never been as evident as it is in the third millennium. The growing awareness of religious pluralism is becoming all the more a permanent feature of present and future theology. The global experience of the reality of religious plurality and its spiritual vitality impels us to accept it as a truth graciously willed by God for the good of humankind. Dominus Iesus, a declaration of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, affirms that “God, who desires to call all peoples to himself in Christ and to communicate to them the fullness of his revelation and love, “does not fail to make himself present in many ways, not only to individuals, but also to entire peoples through their spiritual riches, of which their religions are the main and essential expression even when they contain ‘gaps, insufficiencies and errors’.”
Raimon Panikkar was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century in the areas of comparative philosophy, cross-cultural philosophy of religion, theology and interreligious dialogue. The Locus of his thought is the inter-cultural and interreligious environment of his family, community and society; the modus of his thought is cross-cultural communication, namely, dialogical dialogue; finally, the nucleus of his thought may be discerned in his call for communion. His writings reflect an ongoing dialogue between East and the West, between traditions, cultures, philosophies, ideologies and beliefs. He was inspired by the principle of Advaita (neither monist, nor pantheist, nor dualist), which is well expressed in his vision of invisible harmony and of concord. Panikkar presents the Mystery of Christ as the universal symbol of the divine-human meeting point.
1. A Theological Problematic in Hindu Christian Meeting
The meeting of religions is today one of the most profound of human problems, because it is not merely an intellectual endeavour, or a simple practical exercise, but the fruit of religious experience and engagement. It cannot take place merely at the cultural level, so as to turn the encounter of religions merely into a question of the interrelation of cultures. It is not a vague fusion or dilution of different religious streams. The world religions are approaching each other, not merely in the realm of mind, nor on the doctrinal plane, but at a deeper level, which could be called existential or ontic-intentional level. Any encounter between religions, according to Panikkar, requires a common meeting place where the two ‘realities’ really meet each other. He suggests three indispensable prerequisites for such an encounter: “a deep human honesty in searching for the truth wherever it can be found; a great intellectual openness in this search, without conscious preconceptions or willingly entertained prejudices; and finally a profound loyalty towards one’s own religious tradition.” Panikkar holds that, “The meeting of religions cannot take place in a neutral territory, in a no-man’s-land – which would be a reversion to unsatisfactory individualism and subjectivism. It can take place only at the heart of religious traditions.” Religions meet at their common source, not simply on the plane of ideas or ideals, but in the very depth or ground of religions. The question follows: where do Hinduism and Christianity meet? What is the ‘place’ of encounter for a real meeting between them? Is there a common ground for bilateral interreligious dialogue or eventually scope for mutual fecundation? Panikkar speaks of a Hindu Christian meeting, not necessarily at the doctrinal level but at an existential level, as he puts it in “the cave of the heart,” where religious encounter engages the whole human. It must take place at the level of lived religious experience
1.1. A Common Meeting Point for Hindu Christian Encounter
Panikkar looks for a common theological ground between advaitic Hinduism and Christianity. He lays stress on the existence of one but not necessarily the same Mystery in both traditions. Hinduism and Christianity, as two religions believing in God, definitely meet in God, the Absolute and the Ultimate. The transcendent God is the ideal meeting point; yet, a transcendental platform cannot be the ideal starting place. Hence, we need a concrete meeting-place, which is more than just a divine ground, an idea or a concept and also more than just humanity. According to Panikkar Hindu Christian meeting is possible only in “a reality which partakes of both the Divine and Human, i.e., in what Christians cannot but call Christ. Christ is the point of their encounter.” For Panikkar, the transcendental aspect of any and every religion is the cosmic Christ. He affirms, “It is Christ, then, known or unknown – who makes [any] religion possible. Only in the name of Christ there is ‘religatio’.” This same Christ might be discerned and acknowledged in other religions. The very act of a meeting of religions might help to discern and acknowledge the presence of the cosmic Christ in all the authentic religions.
1.2. Meeting of the Religions in the Trinitarian Christ: A Trinitarian Christology Model
Panikkar begins his insight into the meeting of diverse religions in the Trinity in the light of Advaitic intuition, i.e., a non-dualistic cosmotheandric vision of all reality. In order to grasp his understanding of Christ in the context of a Hindu Christian meeting, two points have to be kept in mind: Christ as the symbol of the cosmotheandric reality and Christ in the Trinitarian context. He speaks of the Trinitarian Christ, because, within Christian tradition Christ is incomprehensible without the Trinity. He writes, “A non-Trinitarian Christ cannot be totally human and totally divine.” His intuition of the ultimate is non-dualistic or advaitic and the reality is Trinitarian. Advaita expresses the tension between polarities and the Trinitarian intuition of reality expresses the radical relativity, which allows the possibility of infinite unity and infinite differences.
The Trinity appears as an ultimate paradigm of inter-personal relations and this is also true of divine human relations. Rather than being a single centre, on which all ultimate human experiences converge in a unity (which ultimately could not avoid a certain monism), the Trinitarian paradigm allows for infinite diversity. ... The Mystery towards which the religious experience of humankind tends is neither the same nor different, neither one nor many; it is non-dualistic. It allows for Pluralism.” The Trinity is the consummation of God’s self-revelation and the source of religious thought and mystical experience of all humankind. According to him, “It is in the Trinitarian possibilities of the world religions, in the striving of each in its own fashion towards synthesis of their religious experience and spiritual attitudes, that the meeting of religions – the kairos of our times – finds its deepest inspiration and most certain hope.” The Trinity, then, may be considered as a junction where the authentic spiritual dimensions of all religions meet. A true encounter of religions, then, takes place in the Triune God. It is in the Trinity that God and man meet.
2. Raimon Panikkar’s Christological Hermeneutic towards Hindu Christian Meeting
The Christian affirmation of the universal salvific will of God, revealed through Jesus Christ, opens the way for Christians to acknowledge the presence of Christ in Hinduism. The New Testament affirms the concrete and universal salvific will of God, “who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1Tim 2:4). Jesus Christ is the sole universal salvific mediator (Cf. 1Tim 2:5). Jesus Christ is the primordial “mystery of God’s will” (Eph. 1:9); Christ is the universal redeemer (cf. Eph 1:3 – 14); there is no redemption apart from him (cf. 1:13 – 22). The Gospel according to John describes Jesus as “the way, the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6). Furthermore, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (cf. Acts 4:12). Panikkar concludes that “every person who is saved is saved by Christ” and “that Christ is present in one form or another in every human being in his religious way to God.” Everything finds its eschatological fulfilment in Christ.
2.1. Christological Problematic at the Heart of Hindu Christian Encounter
Panikkar finds that, the name ‘Christ’, emerging from the Christian world, has not found sufficient favour with protagonists of the other religious traditions. Yet, he chooses to use it because: “The name of Christ will not permit thought of an apersonal, undiscriminated (ultimately inhuman) unity, nor will it allow for an ultimate duality.” Panikkar affirms, “Christ is the historical name carries with it the heavy reality of history, good and bad.” The text in the Acts of the Apostle reads, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Panikkar asserts that Jesus is not the revealed name but the revealer of the saving name; one who accepts it knows for certain that in this name is found all the glory of God. He emphasises that “the figure of Christ should regain its complete fullness of meaning.”
2.2. The Living Presence of Christ in Hinduism
Panikkar accepts that Christ is present wherever human beings encounter God. He is present in all authentic religious traditions, because Christ, by his incarnation, is the only mediator, the bridge between the absolute and the relative; every religious experience is in and through him. Hence, he assumes that Christ belongs to Hinduism; and for that matter he belongs to any religious experience, as much as, he belongs to Christianity. He affirms that the Christ that he is speaking of is “by no means the monopoly of Christians.” He clarifies his position further, as he speaks “neither a principle unknown to Hinduism, nor of a dimension of the divine unknown to Christianity, but of that unknown reality, which Christians call Christ, discovered in the Heart of Hinduism, not as stranger to it but as its very principle of life, as the light which illumines everyone who comes into the world.”
Panikkar is convinced that “there is in Hinduism a living presence of that Mystery which Christians call Christ.” The same Christ is present in one form or another in every human being, as they journey towards God. For him, this Mystery, which Christians call Christ, is “present in a hidden way, in religious traditions and in Hinduism in particular; yet, he is perceptible to Christian faith alone. Christianity and Hinduism both express and unfold their belief in the theandric mystery, though in two different ways.” Furthermore, he writes: “Christ is not only the ontological goal of Hinduism but also its true inspirer, and his grace is the leading force, though hidden, pushing it towards its full flowering.” Christ has been at work in anticipation in Hinduism, and now the task of Christian revelation is the unveiling of that reality. Hence, Panikkar affirms that the Christian attitude is not ultimately one of bringing Christ in, but bringing him forth, discovering Christ. Panikkar writes: “Christ is already there in Hinduism, in so far as Hinduism is a true religion; Christ is already at work in any Hindu prayer as far as it is really prayer; Christ is behind any form of worship, in as much as, it is adoration made to God.”
2.3. An Advaitic Intuition of Non-dualistic Understanding of the Ultimate Mystery
A Rgvedic verse states that [God is] “One, [though] the sages call it by many names” (Rgveda I, 164, 46). The Ultimate Mystery, towards which the religious experience of humankind tends, considered from an advaitic intuition, is neither ‘one’ nor ‘two’; it is non-dualistic. This mystery which stands for the Eternal Ultimate Divine is called by many names in such a way that each authentic name enriches and qualifies that Mystery which is neither purely transcendent nor purely immanent. Furthermore, this mystery is experienced in many forms; thus it can be neither called one nor many. In that vision the Mystery may be called by various names, yet it remains one and the same. Any believer who has reached spiritual realisation, or has received enlightenment, has realised the ultimate Mystery.
The Christian, in recognising, believing in and loving Christ as the central symbol of Life and Ultimate Truth, is being drawn towards that selfsame Mystery that attracts all other human beings who are seeking to overcome their own present condition. The Christian comes into contact with the Mystery in and through Christ. For Panikkar, “Christ is the Mystery in the sense that to see Christ is to reach the Mystery;” yet he makes it clear that “the Mystery cannot be totally identified with Christ. Christ is one aspect of the Mystery as a whole.” However, Christian theology sees the intelligibility of the ultimately ungraspable Mystery ascending to it from its concrete and visible manifestation in Christ. Panikkar says, “If Jesus Christ is the Mystery, any other real name or real manifestation of the Mystery will appear inadequate because it contradicts the Christian understanding.” For Christians, the Ultimate Mystery is indissolubly connected with Christ. They call this Mystery ‘Christ’, because it is through Jesus that they themselves have arrived at faith in the decisive reality.
2.4. The Christ of God: the Cosmotheandric Reality
The Mystery of Christ, according to Panikkar, is the cosmotheandric reality: “living symbol for the reality: human, divine and cosmic” This theandric reality both embraces and transcends all other manifestations of the Ultimate Mystery. Panikkar affirms, “That theandric ‘thing’, the concrete connection between the absolute and relative which all religions recognise in one way or another, we could call ‘Lord’, but we may also call it ‘Christ’.” The name of Christ represents the cosmotheandric reality. Based on this cosmotheandric vision, Panikkar invites us to consider what he calls, “the Mystery,” Christian tradition acknowledges it as “the Christ of God,” who is the centre of all reality. Yet, he affirms that “the Ultimate mystery cannot be totally identified with Christ. Christ is one aspect of the mystery as a whole.” For him, Christ the “mediator seems to represent the most universal archetype or, phenomenologically speaking, that which can be more readily universalized without losing concrete identity.” This ‘Christ’ partakes of both Divine and Human and is therefore theandric. For him all reality is cosmotheadric as it is constituted by the three irreducible dimensions of the divine, human and the earthly. Christ is not only cosmotheandric, but “stands for that reality, that crystallisation-point around which the human, the divine and the material can grow.”
The Trinitarian Christ, according to Panikkar, is the symbol of the cosmotheandric reality. This Christ is a living symbol for the totality of reality – the cosmic, the human and the divine, which he calls the theandric reality. This reality can be experienced by people having other world views, cultures, and religious traditions which have other meaningful names for the one and the same reality. He writes, “Christ stands for that centre of reality, that crystallization-point around which the human, the divine and the material can grow. Rama may be another such name, or Krishna, or Isvara, or Purusha, or even Humanity.” Thus, Panikkar points out that if the true encounter between Christianity and Hinduism is possible; it is to take place in Christ, who is the symbol of the cosmotheandric reality, which ‘contains’ both the poles: the divine and the human.
2.5. Panikkar’s ‘Christ Symbol’ for Hindu Christian Encounter
Christ, according to Panikkar, is the most powerful symbol of humankind’s meeting with God and meeting between representatives of diverse religions. He affirms that Christ is “a symbol, that is, the very ‘thing’ as it appears and is in the world of our experience.” Furthermore, Panikkar adds, “Christ is still a living symbol for the totality of reality; human, divine and cosmic. Most of the apparently more neutral symbols such as God, Spirit, Truth and the like truncate reality and limit the centre of life to a disincarnate principle, a non-historical epiphany, and often an abstraction.” The Christ symbol, for Panikkar, is the Trinitarian Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, who reveals the face of the Father in the Spirit, and the living person whom the believer encounters. This is in keeping with his intuition of the threefold structure of reality, of the triadic oneness existing in all religious experience, on all levels of consciousness and of reality, of the Trinity.
Christ symbol is that symbol which recapitulates in itself the Real in its totality, created and uncreated. The Christ is the living and loving reality. In other words, it is “that reality from whom everything has come, in whom everything subsists, to whom everything that suffers the wear and tear of time shall return. He is the embodiment of Divine Grace who leads every man to God; there is no other way except through him.” If this is the Christ to whom a Christian is committed, then this Christ is also present in Hinduism. This Mystery, though Hinduism does not call it Christ, is referred to in the Upanishads as Isvara and is experienced by Hindus.
3.5. The Vedantic interpretation of Isvara and the Unknown Christ of Hinduism
According to Panikkar, the ontic principle, in which a Hindu Christian encounter may take place, is the Christ of Christian faith, which can also be named the Isvara of Hinduism. The Vedantic interpretation of Isvara points towards the mystery of Christ, who, being unique in his existence and essence is as such equal to God. Ishvara is not the absolute God, but equal to him, the Son of God, God from God. Moreover, he has a double nature, but these two natures are without mixture and without change and yet inseparable and indivisible. He is more than a mediator; he is in a certain sense the whole Christ of Christian understanding; he is the whole reality: the cosmotheandric reality. Nonetheless, certain correlations emerge once both Christ and Isvara are interpreted according to their respective functions within their own traditions. Thus for instance, the Christian affirmation regarding Christ’s role as the one and only mediator between God and the world is not without meaning for the Vedanta Hindu who sees this truth in Isvara, but understands it differently according to their different conceptions of the impersonal non-creator Brahman. The Christian belief in Christ and the Vedanta Hindu understanding of Isvara are notably distinct and quite incompatible.
The presence of Christ can also be discerned in the quest for mediation between the Absolute and the relative, between the supra-personal and the personal expressed in the understanding of Isvara. Panikkar holds that “the Isvara does not belong to the world of maya only. He is not only a creature, but equal to Brahman, though distinct in his form of existence as well as in his function vis-a-vis the world.” According to his interpretation, “Isvara does not belong only to the world of Godhead. He is not just a mere aspect of the Divine. He is really ‘human’, or rather worldly without ceasing to be divine.” Isvara can be still called God, but is no longer identifiable with the Absolute, with Brahman. This Isvara is essentially saguna, yet somehow claims also to be nirguna. A follower of Vedanta finds the growth of all things in time is nothing but a fuller realisation of their being in Isvara; likewise, Christians, in Christ, live, move and have their being. Panikkar’s interpretation of the Isvara points towards the Mystery of Christ, who, being unique in his existence and essence, is as such equal to God, the Son of God, God from God. Moreover, he has a double nature, but these two natures are ‘without mixture’ and ‘without change’ and yet ‘inseparable and indivisible’. Panikkar further clarifies that “It is also incontrovertible fact that the Christ in whom Christians believe cannot simply be equated with the Isvara of the Vedanta.” He states: “that from which this world comes forth and to which it returns, and by which it is sustained, that is Isvara, the Christ.” It is through Christ that all things are transfigured and made divine. This Christ, then, is present, active, unknown and hidden within Hinduism, as well as, in all authentic religious traditions.
3.6. Critical Assessment regarding Panikkars’ Christological Hermeneutic
Raimon Panikkar presents Christ, the cosmotheandric reality, as the meeting place for Hindu Christian encounter. He holds that any Christology that limits itself to the historical Jesus of Nazareth would place emphasis on the particularity; and hence, it could not claim universality for him. His emphasis is clearly on the trans-historical dimension of Christ. This is to bring out the universal and cosmic character of the mystery of Christ. For this, he makes a clear distinction between the universal cosmic Christ (known by many names and in many religions) and the particular Jesus of history. Hence, Panikkar affirms that by the name Christ he is “not presupposing its identification with Jesus of Nazareth.” For him, Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God; but the Christ is more than the Jesus of history; in his opinion, we “cannot say that ‘Christ is only Jesus’ ... because in fact the risen Jesus is more (aliud, not alius) than the Jesus of Nazareth ... Neither can we say ‘the Lord is only Christ’ because [our] knowledge of the Lord is not exhaustive.” He insists that the Christ of the Christian believer transcends the historical Jesus of Nazareth.
Panikkar’s above mentioned Christological statements, in the context of Hindu Christian meeting in Christ, may seem to us quite ambiguous, as they tend to overlook the Christian affirmation regarding the personal identity of Jesus of Nazareth with Christ the Lord. They fail to do full justice to the universal constitutive salvific significance of the whole Paschal Mystery of Christ. How are we to conceive of the relation of the reality or mystery, the Christ symbol, to the historical Jesus? The distinction between the Christ mystery and the historical Jesus that Panikkar makes does not seem to do justice to the Christian affirmation of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. In fact, for us Christians, Jesus of Nazareth is the unique definitive and divinely guaranteed theophany of that universal cosmic Christ. For the early Christians, Jesus of Nazareth was personally identical to the Christ of faith (cf. Acts 2:36). Likewise, the Christian who encounters the risen Christ in faith cannot but identify him with the historical Jesus. Jesus has become Christ in his being raised by the Father: the mystery of his will.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Jesus Christ is the theandric mystery of human encounter with God. This Mystery of Christ, which is hidden or manifest in diverse religions is the meeting point. Christianity and Hinduism both express and unfold their belief in this theandric mystery, though in two different ways. Christ is the only link, only mediator between the Absolute Divine and the human; hence, he is the theandric reality, the meeting place between the religions. He, further, affirms ‘Christ’ as “that reality from whom everything has come, in whom everything subsists, to whom everything that suffers the wear and tear of time shall return. He is the embodiment of Divine Grace, who leads every man to God; there is no other way but through him.” This Christ and the Spirit of God are present and effective, in a more or less hidden and unknown way, in every human and religion.”
In the final analysis, a Trinitarian Christological perspective towards humanity’s search for God in diverse religions opens a wider horizon for understanding the theological significance of religious plurality in the grace of God, in accordance with God’s universal will of salvation, unfolded through the Christ-event. The truth and grace of God are operative in diverse religions, through the universal divine presence of Christ and the Holy Spirit. They are the ‘the two hands of God’ continually at work in the world, transforming the lives of all people and guiding them all to their final destiny in God. Hinduism and Christianity, then, meet each other in Jesus Christ, who is the sacrament of human encounter with God. The Spirit of Christ, who is God’s entry point in the world, is already at work in Hindu prayer and spirituality leading them to the truth of Christ. The meeting of religions in Christ will foster mutual fecundation, enrichment and spiritual growth. Hence let us discover our deep religious unity and differences in the Holy Trinity, and realize the depth of our true identity in Jesus Christ, our Lord and God.
Dr. Fr. Albert Noronha, OP.
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