Caesar Faroz S.J.

Vidyajyoti  organized an  evening to  felicitate   Fr Samuel Rayan  taking into cognizance his contribution to Indian theology and his presence in Vidyajyoti.  Fr. Francis welcomed the guests.  Fr.T.K. John gave a brief Sketch of Fr Samuel’s life and his work. Fr  T. K.  began with these words  “wings of sunbird should not be clipped the path of the honey sucker should not be blocked, the song of the crow should be appreciate, the beauty of the flower of the tiny grass should be esteemed”.  With  these words he described Samuel Rayan his theology and his life itself  “When we turn to the east, there is first the thinning out of the darkness, then a tinge of luminosity, followed by tender rays, then the full sun in the orient. Similarly a gentle look,  beginning of the gentle smile, then some endearing words and then the cascade of thoughts, like waves after waves. You are enamoured. That is a way of summarizing Samuel’s contribution to the task of humanizing our society.

Prof.  Virginius Xaxa, prof ,sociology Delhi school of Economics, spoke on “Empowerment of Dalits, Tribals and women in India”.For prof. Virginius, empowerment is relational term in the sense that, empowermet of whom? against whom?  Secondly the Dalits, Tribals and women all have a commonality that they all belong to a sub-altern group, under  socio-political and economic domination. Dalit oppression comes from system rooted in system of inequality. The tribal situated as outside civilization and thus a social and cultural oppression. While the oppression of women is in the context of patriarchy.  The discrimination in the small institution of family is extended to the public domain. The empowerment is empowerment of Dalits, Tribals and women at all levels, social, political, economic and gender level. This session was chaired by Fr. Milianius Beck.

Rev. Dr P.G. George, principal Dharma Jyoti Vidya Peeth, Faridabad, spoke on ecumenism in India: challenges and prospects.  Dr. George described Fr. Samuel as simple man always in a shirt and a ‘loongi’ his voice always feeble but profound. Dr George took a survey of ecumenism in the past 100 years.  To  the delight of the gathering,  he  brought to light, many of Fr. Samuel’s thoughts and writings. He elaborated the importance of ecumenism and some  concrete ways to come and work on common platform. He said ecumenism is the tool to measure the  Truth and the credibility of church in India. Fr. Leonard Fernando chaired this session.

Finally all present were treated to the delight of Samuel’s poetic prose. His words were charming music which stirred the hearts of  each one, making all to think:

“The other is a gift, and not a threat. The other can be a help, support, model, challenge. Think of the other as you work, the other gender in life, the other colour, in painting, the other voice in music, the other planet beside our earth, the other branches of science besides your specialization. The other person, the other nation, new invitation and fresh incentives. The other religion, new symbols, promises and challenges.” He concluded with these words  “Education in love is one of the urgent needs of human society everywhere”.

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