I happened to see an interview on television with sister Jesme and it was pretty upsetting how Kerala reacted to her autobiography”Amen”. I was particularly interested in it coz I spent quite a few years of my school and college life amidst the nuns. I have always wondered about their life & actions.
I remember taking a peek into the nuns dining room through the half closed door (which we were not allowed to do, I was a curious kid!!!) and saying to myself how unfair it is that we are given bad food and they get such a feast.It used to bother me that they had no compassion even towards the little ones. Of course, there were a few who were different.
Parents who leave their children in boarding schools, do you care if your kid is safe, sick or well fed??Do you know if they are being molested?? I was amazed by the uproar sister Jesme’s book had brought about. Would it have been easier on us if it was a man (priest) who spoke out? Or are we still comfortable believing that as long as we don’t address the matter, it will go away?
I understand that nuns and priests are just humans who have taken a special vow of celibacy, which according to me is very hard to follow. I wonder if God would want them to be celibate. Why can’t they have a normal married life and still serve God. Didn’t God actually make man and woman to live together?? Why is it so difficult to understand that lust, homosexuality, greed, jealousy,sexual assault and all that happens around us will creep into the church as well?
My Ammachi (grandma) had actually dedicated my dad to be a priest (this is really funny, if you happen to know him), a desperate plea to God not being able to see her baby in anguish.Little did she know he was to be a youngster who spent all his energy in college politics and getting into trouble rather than in the class room. My dad says it is all good now since he had in turn dedicated my brother for that cause. And the tradition continues!!!
We have been taught to look up to our religious leaders,we put them up on pedestals from where they fall and take our faith in church along with them. The Bishop at my brother’s wedding yelled at the event photographer in front of the whole gathering just before the ceremony. He could have been in a bad mood, sick or something might have upset him (I do not know the reason).With no regard to the bride, the groom, their special day or the family he spoke very harshly to the poor chap who was just doing his job.
I believe a man/woman should be revered not by the position bestowed but should earn it through actions. It gets tough, coz we all have two faces, one for the world to see and the real one, usually only our families have seen.
