The End of Philosophy - The Only Solution of Postmodernism

 The following is the summary of the article:

Stanislaus Swamikannu. “A Postmodern Response to the Relativism Debate,” Divyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education 19, no.1-2 (2008): 193-211.

Self-questioning or self-criticism is considered to be hallmark of philosophy. However, this act itself could cause the recent phenomenon in philosophy called ‘end of philosophy’. On the one hand, philosophers who deem philosophy as natural kind take this phenomenon as a part of philosophical tradition where there is no complete rupture since the tradition remains. On the other hand, philosophers who consider it as a historical product regard it as a crisis and a failure. This article gives few salient notions of the end of philosophy incorporating both the views highlighting the postmodern philosophical approach.

            The end of philosophy can be spoken in terms of skepticism. This idea might have its origin in the ancient Greek philosophy itself. Against the platonic philosophy that was characterized by the desire for totalizing foundationalism, Pyrrhonian skepticism was raised. While platonic philosophy provided a link between contingent human reality and eternal divine realm, pyrrhonian skepticism showed that there is always a room for objections and difficulties in any philosophical position.

 The same procedure was repeated in the modern Western philosophy. The epistemology-centered philosophy was epitomized by Descartes, Kant and Husserl through the quest for indubitable foundation or the privileged starting point of reality. Richard Rorty says that it was the hidden agenda since Plato. According to Rorty, the whole epistemological activity is only the representation of the mind which acts as a mirror. He says that the modern Western philosophers were only trying to polish the mirror with various ideologies. These philosophers searched for a more scientific, rational and deeper position whereas Rorty trivialized the onus of philosopher as only to carry the philosophical enterprise to the future than to find the key to all the problems of philosophy. Taking inspiration from Dewey and James, he gives a pragmatic intent to philosophy that one can quit philosophy at any moment.

Another aspect of the end of philosophy is the paradigm shift from philosophy of consciousness to the philosophy of language; from transcendental subjectivity to grammatical structure which is known as the linguistic turn. It is farewell to the subject-centered philosophy and a departure from the idea of language as mere instrument. Rorty gives a different orientation to linguistic philosophy i.e. solving the philosophical problems by reforming the language or understanding the language we use.

In this major turn of the philosophy of language, there are three turns involved namely analytical philosophy, pragmatic turn and rhetoric turn.  Firstly, the analytical philosophy played a role in solving the problems of the ordinary sentences with the help of formal logic. It was held that by analyzing the structure of the language one can find the structure of the reality as language is regarded as the mirror of reality. But soon this revolution also faced a counter-revolution. There was a division between the Ideal Language philosophy (that became the constructing model for other types) and Ordinary Language philosophy (in common people’s language where there is no philosophical problem). The ideal language philosophy, according to Rorty, can only describe the logical behaviour of the linguistic expression and in practice it was not shown fruitful. Rorty concludes that analytical philosophy is only the beginning of the epistemological problems.

Secondly, the idea of the pragmatic turn was explained by Habermas. He explains the limitation of semanticism that concentrates only on analysis and neglected linguistic context, speech etc. and the structured semiotics where there is an over-emphasis on anonymous structure in language. In contrast to this view, Habermas suggests pragmatic turn in linguistic philosophy that aimed at weakening the logo-centric claim in Western metaphysical tradition. This weakening consists not in autonomous subject but in intersubjective communication towards mutual understanding. It is to bring language from the private sphere (private language) to public sphere (multi-contexts of use). It brings the neglected aspects of the linguistic tradition into the formal analysis.

Thirdly, the importance is given to rhetoric over logic. The philosophy of language in the West was based on logic than rhetoric. It is due to the importance given to the study of logic and mathematics. On the contrary, Derrida proposed rhetoric over logic in philosophy of language. This notion of Derrida makes every text as secondary as it implies no original meaning to it. According to him, formula and context are meaningful only in convention; one cannot exhaust the context and contexts are changeable. Consequently, there is no such distinction like original-imitation, literal-figural, real-metaphoric, true-false, and reality-appearance. Thus relativism is the only way in interpreting a text according to the different strands of the linguistic turn explained in this article. This relativism brings the end of philosophy and the end of metaphysical tradition of the West.

Is Our God Selfish?

I had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine of mine who is brought up in the catholic tradition but questions the facts of the tradition. She asked me, “Is not our God so selfish?” She gave me three reasons to support her view that God is selfish. Firstly, in the Old Testament, there are many instances, especially the first three of the Ten Commandments. God wants everyone to adore Himself and makes it a command. Secondly, in the New Testament, we see that loving God is projected as the greatest commandment. Thirdly, the greatest commandment has been made to be the meaning of human living. This is well expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Why did God create you? To love Him and serve Him.

All these instances impose that loving God is a mandatory act of life. Thus it is seen that our God is a selfish God who created beings just because He wanted to be loved and served. It seems to be a valid logical argument. It is expressed in the Bible explicitly. Our catechism message is often reminded though the liturgy. So God wants to be in the first place of our love list.

However, a simple fact is forgotten here. It is true that God wants to be in the prime place in our hearts. But if not who can replace God? In other words, what’s wrong if God wants us to have loving and serving Him as our meaning of living? God is the supreme good that a human can attain. He is the Summum Bonnum or Parama Puruṣārtha as it called in the Indian philosophical tradition. God wants everyone to obtain this supreme goodness who is none other than Himself. Hence nothing can be equalized with loving God for God is Love.

Moreover, God expects us to love Him but never enforces us to do so. The greatness of God is that He allows even the atheists and agnostics to express their view in the world. This is the supreme form of goodness we are talking about here. Thus love of God is not a selfish desire but a desire for the good of the human beings.

TWO TYPES OF RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES

Finding one’s own identity is a characteristic of human beings. Some identities are given and some are chosen by the individuals. However, there is another type of identity which has both the nature of being given and of being chosen. Thus for example, the ‘religious identity’ of a human being as an individual is given this identity by birth and at the same time he or she is free to choose the identity also. In fact, it is one of the major identities of a person in society. A religion of an individual gives identity to the person and in turn the individuals of a religion form their own identity as a society.  

            The religious identity itself has various expressions like various ways of rituals, worship, dress code, food habits and so on. All these expressions of a religious identity fall into two broad categories namely ‘Socio-centric religious identity’ and ‘Person-centric religious identity’. Each religion has these two identities as a religion is a ‘social’ structure made for ‘persons’. However, religions are regarded according to the predominant identity among these two present in them. Some explanation about these two may help us understand them in a better way.

            The first, Socio-centric religions find meaning in religious activities as a community. The communitarian dimension is given much importance in these religions. The ultimate goal of life is regarded as a community endeavor. Religions like Christianity, Islam and Judaism are examples of socio-centric religions where the community aspect is given much importance. The faithful of these religions find God in a collective manner. It is the common worship that plays a vital role in these religions and charity is the important virtue in socio-centric religions. Since many factors are in common there is a need for rules, commandments, canons, etc. Exact observance of such rules is considered to be virtuous and the negligence of them is deemed as sins. However, there is a possibility of the danger that these rules and regulations become more important than one’s personal approach towards God. For example, missing the ‘Sunday Mass’ may be considered to be a grave sin in Catholicism and even while travelling the Islamic faithful are expected to perform their ‘Namaz’ (which I have noticed while travelling by train). Thus in Socio-centric religion the spirituality is a shared responsibility as a community. The words of Aristotle may be suitable for this aspect that, “A man outside a society is either a god or a beast”. The feature of fraternity is much valued in this religious identity and so the emphasis on their spirituality mostly lies on ‘action’.     

            On the other hand, there is also another group of religions which have Person-centric religious identity. Religions like Hinduism and Buddhism fall under this category of religious identity. In this type of identity, the importance is given to the individuals (more) than to  the religious organizations. Although there are moments of collective worship or festivals in these religions the primacy is given to the individual’s relationship with the Ultimate Reality called God. In these religions too we may find norms set for the better living as a community but ultimately they are meant for the individual persons. The notion of salvation or liberation (Moksha) from the worldly life is the merit of the individual. This merit, unlike the socio-centric religions, is obtained through consciousness. For example, the Vedas of Hindu tradition talks of this consciousness as ‘Brahman realization’.  Great sayings like “Aham Brahma asmi” (I am Brahman) or “Tat tvam asi” (That Thou Art) call for the realization that each one is God in disguise and this awareness leads to the final goal of one’s being. Even the words of Aristotle, which we have mentioned earlier, may not affect this type of religions as even away from the society one can realize that one is a god. And so there may be an attitude developed in this religious identity that society need not be valued in one’s spiritual quest. Thus, in the person-centric religion, human persons are more concerned about ‘consciousness’ than ‘action’.

The interaction between these two religious identities may bring the difficulty of perceiving each other as (an obstacle) a predicament in one’s own way towards the purpose of the religion. For the socio-centric religious person, mere consciousness or realization of God may not have meaning in his or her religious parlance. On the other hand, for the person-centric religious person, society is just a midway region that one has to pass through on in the spiritual journey. Thus there may be an intellectual conflict between them which may also lead to “inter-religious” disastrous results if the problem persists.

On the contrary, a fruitful dialogue may provide the awareness that ‘Reality’ has been or can be seen in different perspectives. Probably, the better understanding could be the integration of the attitudes of these two identities, incorporating consciousness into action or action with consciousness. While striving towards perfection it is important to realize the presence of God within oneself. When one realizes the presence of the Almighty within oneself, the person should extend the notion of realization to the other human beings who also bear God in themselves. Consequently, we all strive for our own perfection in our way by accompanying each other.

Objectivity - The Goal of Knowing

Q & A has become a well-known novel written by Vikas Swarup as it provides the plot for the Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire. In this article, we see how the concept of objectivity is traced out in the novel. It is about a story of a street-boy named Ram Mohammad Thomas, who was able to win one billion rupees by answering all the twelve questions in the game show called ‘Who Wants to be A Millionaire?’(W3B) similar to the Indian reality TV show, ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’. The boy’s winning not only surprises everyone but it makes the producers of the show suspicious about his winning. And so they probe into the case in order to find out how he could answer all the questions against their script, the objective. Every TV show, including the so-called reality shows, would have a script to be followed. These game shows are only a means to increase the TRP rating and earn more revenue through advertisements. The producers would never intend that someone would win the whole prize-money and it is same in this TV show too.

However, in the case of Ram the script fails. No one could find the truth, not even Smita Shah, the lawyer of the boy, his own boyhood friend who came to help him. Everyone is perplexed with the absolute right answers of the boy. It seems impossible even for a well-educated man to have the objective knowledge in all the fields, at least the different fields that the questions pertain to in the show. Hence it is incredible that a street-boy is able to answer the questions such as the sequence of letters inscribed on the Cross or to choose the right meaning of the term persona non grata in the government foreign policy or to name the person who invented the revolver or to answer the right key that Beethoven used in his famous musical piece ‘Hammerklavier Sonta’. The question that remains here is “how could the boy have objective knowledge?”

Human knowing is not a single activity. Bernard Lonergan (1904-1984), a Canadian Philosopher, presents the process of knowing as a structured set of different activities. The process of knowing contains experience, understanding and judgment that happen in a cumulative and cyclic manner. The process does not stop here but moves towards objectivity what is called really real or objectively real. It can be achieved only by an authentic subject. The criteria for authentic subject are to be attentive, intelligent, reasonable and responsible. To make it clear Lonergan distinguishes principal notion of objectivity and constitutive notions of objectivity. He explains the principal notion of objectivity, the patterned context of judgments, in this way: “through a true proposition you can arrive at an objective world.” Lonergan also provides three constitutive notions of objectivity namely Absolute objectivity, Normative Objectivity and Experiential Objectivity. Let us discuss about them briefly.

Absolute Objectivity:

Absolute Objectivity is the knowledge about something which is unconditioned by anything namely the subject, time and space. “The ground of absolute objectivity is the virtually unconditioned that is grasped by reflective understanding and posited in judgment.” A judgment or a proposition is absolutely objective in as much as its content is absolute.  All the answers given by the boy were unconditioned and were gained through his reflective understanding on his own experience. For instance, he was able to answer the question of the meaning of persona non grata in the government foreign policy, he reflects on his understanding about the term. Through his experience with a foreign ambassador who was declared persona non grata and was sacked due to the guilt of unreliability, Ram gives the meaning “that the diplomat is not acceptable”. Thus his answer gains Absolute objectivity with the absolute content.

Normative Objectivity:

This sense of objectivity is directly opposed to subjectivity. By subjectivity Lonergan means that of wishful thinking, of rash or excessively cautious judgments, of allowing factors like joy or sadness, hope or fear, love or detestation to interfere with the proper cognitional process. “Normative objectivity is constituted by the immanent exigence of the pure desire in the pursuit of its unrestricted objective.”  Moreover, the process of cognition that carries inquiry, demand for intelligibility and demand for unconditioned has ‘norms’ immanently. Therefore, Normative objectivity is to proceed in the cognitional process with the norms without any bias. In the case of Ram, the normative objectivity is the script of the producers which is inherent in the whole show. “Shows like W3B cannot be dictated by chance, by a roll of the dice. They have to follow a script …. But now this fellow Thomas [Ram] has wrecked all our plans”, complaints the producer.

Experiential Objectivity:

The third constitutive element of objectivity is experiential. Any inquiry or insight presupposes something that is given, the material about which one inquires is given to experience. Experience is the first stage in the cognitional process in fulfilling the conditions of the virtually unconditioned. As the object of cognition is a given reality it is unquestionable and indubitable in itself. The given is not an answer to any question and, in fact, it is prior to questioning and independent of answers. Hence this objectivity is opposed to what is produced at will. Givenness is extrinsic, outside the agent. While everyone was suspicious about Ram’s intrinsic knowledge about the answers, in reality he could find the answers from the facts of his own life-experience, events and struggles. One such example would be how could an ordinary street-boy name the smallest plant of the solar system? He learns the name from his astronomer neighbour. The latter names his cat as Pluto since he deems the pet as very small. The answer is given to him in this sense.

Conclusion:

He could arrive at the objective knowledge through the true propositions, the answers, which were the result of his authentic subjectivity through attentive, intelligent, reasonable and responsible process. The novel consists of all the three constitutive notions of objectivity namely Absolute, Normative and Experiential which we try to explain in this article.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pen, Robert. Communication for Communion: Communication as Mutual Self-Mediation in Context. New Delhi: Intercultural Publications, 2011.

Swarup, Vikas. Q&A. London: Black Swan, 2006.

Lonergan, Bernard. “The Apriori and Objectivity.” Understanding and Being. Edited by Elizabeth A. Morelli and Mark D. Morelli. Toranto: University of Toranto Press, 1995: 156-180.

Lonergan, Bernard. “The Notion of Objectivity.” Insight: A Study of Human Understanding. Edited by Fredric E. Crowe and Robert M. Doran. Toranto: University of Toranto Press, 1992: 394-409.

Spirituality of Sports: Sports - A Means for Salvation of Souls

Can we talk of spirituality in the realm of sports? It is a valid question as the spiritual elements are not so evident in games unlike others areas of life. Moreover, this is almost impossible for those who set their notion of spirituality on the basis of rituals alone. Perhaps, Don Bosco would have thought differently. He was a priest always found in the streets with boys organizing games and even playing with them. The primary concern for Don Bosco in all his endavours is the salvation of souls. His successor, Don Rua, says, “He (Don Bosco) took no step, he said no work, he took up no task that was not directed to the saving of the young.” If games and sports do not aid in any way in his prime motive of saving souls he could have not included it as part of his educational system. In fact, it is almost impossible to find a Salesian house without a playground. Thus there are many aspects of spirituality found in sports. Let us see briefly some of them.

To begin with, holiness in the spiritual frame of Don Bosco was very simple as he would say often, “it is easy to become saint.” The simple way to become saint for Don Bosco is to be cheerful always. When he found Dominic Savio, mortifying himself in order to attain holiness, Don Bosco suggested him to join the games for ‘a sad saint is a sorry saint’. What makes the young to be more cheerful is games. Now it is clear that a good game is a fine means to sanctity. Even the Salesian constitutions emphasizes on the role of playground while looking up to the model Oratory, the oratory of Valdocco (art. 40). Playground is the place where the young could enjoy themselves and in a way to find their path towards sanctity. Thus sports is a means of holiness.

Playground is a place where a young person is fully involved. For this reason Don Bosco suggests that we can find the character of a boy in the playground. The young involve themselves completely in active games, in other words, they are fully alive. St. Ireaneus says that Glory of God is man fully alive. Even watching a game, for example football, makes one to be engrossed into it; it is much more when one plays the game. Players put their heart and soul together for a single purpose without distraction. Don Bosco considers games as a way to take the young away from evil for “Idleness is the workshop of devil.” Thus games take young people closer to God by keeping them fully alive.

Another interesting fact is that it is not easy to find a sportsman to be an atheist. The simple reason is that the sportsman spirit makes the player to perfect himself or herself in their field. However, it gives the realization that perfection consists in transcendence. This is not very tangible but this is how a player unconsciously believes. What does it mean? While striving for perfection itself a value which can be applied to spirituality, a sportsman understands that it is not a human venture alone to attain perfection. Thus players believe in the transcendental power beyond themselves. Though some may call it ‘luck’ this power is none other than God. One can recollect the experience of praying as a team before the match or entering the field of play. Thus sports increases our faith and our spiritual appetite.

Don Bosco, having realized the spiritual elements in sports, not only encouraged the boys to play rather joined their games too. Though the field of sports is active today, the spiritual factors are lost in many ways. For example, sports is used as a means of money-making. Another evil in sports today is the video games. Although one may find the above said spiritual aspects in them, video game is disguised as sports for it is not real but only an imaginary play like watching a movie. In addition, it is also injurious to health. Thus my humble request for the youth is to participate actively in sports to find God and holiness through cheerfulness, commitment and the realization of the transcendence.    

Knowledge: Air in Balloon or Ball, A Checkpoint in Knowing

“Knowledge is power”, the words of Francis Bacon are still afresh even today. Power, in terms of present day context, is no more to be of weapon but of information, in other words, knowledge. The whistle blower of today’s society is not the one who plants bomb or wins over by physical force but the one who provides information as in the case of Snowdown. It is applicable to any field that a knowledgeable person is esteemed despite of his or her social background.

However, a simple question that triggers me is, “What is the use of this knowledge?” In fact, all my endeavors are always in search of knowledge which gives me satisfaction. It is even on of my puruṣarthās, ultimate goals of life. Yet, the question remains with the same vigour. The recent attitudes encountered the present scenario regarding knowledge in terms of its misuse, are some what like these: “violence of knowledge” in the words of Immanuel Levinas, a Jewish philosopher; “arrogance of Knowledge” as Daya Krishna, an Indian Thinker, calls it. Thus our attitude with regard to the role of knowledge needs to take another form. How it would be to imagine this situation?

Knowledge is like the air in different forms, found everywhere in the earth like mild breeze, strong wind, storm, etc and sometimes inevitable for life too. This is channelized through different forms and is made use as well. If a balloon is inflated with air, it raises itself high and it is admired by many and enjoyed by many, mostly by children, however it is less useful in practical application. On the other hand, if the same air fills a football, for example, it is used better. It helps people to target and achieve their goal. I choose the imagery of football because it is not only used in a gentle way but even be kicked to fulfill one’s purpose.

This would be the right attitude regarding knowledge also. If knowledge is used for one’s own glory by taking him or her high, of course, it is admired by others. However, it is used less and useless to have such as one’s life purpose. On the other hand, if knowledge acts as a tool to celebrate the achievement of one’s goal, which seems to be hard but worth doing, knowledge gets meaning for its existence.

Thus knowledge is also a way when it is properly channelized through which one can serve one another. It is not a private property to be held nor just a fact about the past in the present since the present knowledge always enhances the future. Let us have a check on our knowledge and its purpose. 

The Eclipse of God: In the lives of Theists and Athiests

Looking at the tabernacle of our seminary chapel (Divyadaan, Nashik, India) in the dark I am reminded of the solar eclipse as you can see the picture above. “Is it the eclipse of God?” I chuckled. The first thought that came into my mind about the eclipse of God was the hymn of St. Thomas Aquinas where he admires at the simplicity of God who on the cross He has hidden His divinity but in the Holy Bread He has hidden both His divinity and humanity.

The concept of the eclipse of God, if meditated upon deeply, may bring to our notice the different dimensions of faith in the current situation of faith in the society. It is true that God’s presence is not evidently felt in today’s world, no matter whether He hides Himself or is hidden. However, it is interesting to realize that mostly God is hidden in the lives of both, those who believe in God as well as those who don’t. It is obvious in the case of the latter, the atheists, as this artificial eclipse is made by human persons with so many reasons to hide God like the natural calamities, imperfections in creation, and so on. And it is also evident that this is an artificial eclipse that human beings have created for there are various ways in which the presence of God can be perceived within one’s ownself and in others.

However, there is also a possibility of this ‘eclipse of God’ among those (the faithful), who believe in the existence of God. The ‘eclipse’ in their lives is that they (feel that they dedicate themselves in) are searching for God which is tangible in rituals and images at the pilgrim centers and charismatic conventions. This too, is (too) an artificial eclipse of God. The object that they use to hide God is their own selves. On the contrary, the reality is that God is in search of His creatures, a powerful thought that I have learnt from the post-critical philosophy of God. It is an eclipse when I keep myself before God that I take the initiative of searching for Him through multifarious ways like prayers, rituals, pilgrimages, charities, etc. There is nothing wrong in doing all these. In fact, they have profound meaning as they are means to respond to God who is in search of human beings. Rather,  what is important is the attitude or motivation in carrying them out. Just as the eclipse does not last for a long period of time so does this eclipse of God when we realize that we should respond to the God in search of us as our project of life. May we look at God in the darkness of faith to encounter this eclipse and discover that in fact, He is in search of us. 

St. Thomas, The Apostle of India

         In the list of the apostles, the eighth name according to the Gospel of St. Luke and St. Mark and seventh name according to St. Matthew is St. Thomas, the apostle of India.

         His words, “Thou are my Lord and my God” show his transformation into a complete faith and his readiness to give his life for him.

         Some legendary writings give the interesting narration of St. Thomas’s mission in India in 52 AD. When the apostles gathered in Jerusalem to set out to preach the Gospel, the lot of St. Thomas fell to India. It can be true that there would have been trade between Jews and Indian kings at that time. We know this through the coins that are found.  Moreover, many prominent people of the church affirmed that St. Thomas was preaching in India. 

       He should have been filled with the ardent zeal for Christ. An approximate survey give facts about his missionary activities: after preaching in Kerala he baptized 2,200 heathens at Quilon, 2800 heathens at Chayal and 2,200 at Parur. He built three churches in Kerala. Many of Christians  of Kerala proudly call themselves ‘St. Thomas Christians’. With the influence of the Anglican Church in  18th Century the St. Thomas  Christians formed Mar Thoma Church. In Tamilnadu he converted 17,490 brahmins, 350 vaishys, 4,280 sudhras and ordained priests and 21 deacons. Such was his passion for Christ and St. Francis Xavier who landed in India in 1545 AD admired and emulated him.

      His vigorous preaching made King Mahadevan, the then ruler of Madras region, afraid of a revolution. So his ministers and priests killed him on a mount which is now called “St. Thomas Mount” or Parangimalai in 72 AD. He fell on the stone cross which he made it and embraced it when he died. The Santhome Basilica in Chennai carries his mortal remains.  The Catholic Church celebrates his feast on 3 July.

 

Don Rua: The Most Faithful son of Don Bosco

It was the beginning of February, 1888. Don Bosco the founder of the society of St. Francis de Sales had just died few days earlier. But, the future of the Salesian society was uncertain because it was always Don Bosco who did this, Don Bosco who did that in the Congregation. No one else in the society seemed to have done anything. His loss placed the future of the society in jeopardy.

                “Who will lead the society with these chaos: to start from the scratch, it was the time when most of the religious congregations were dying out especially in Piedmont; there was an aversion to them? Though the society was formally approved, the novelties that Don Bosco introduced such as lay members who would live outside the community, religious in Shirt-sleeves brought the animosity among the prominent people of the Church. The Salesian society was flourishing in its mission but who will pay its debts? Yes, the founder had left them the legacy of debt of 600,000 lire borrowed for building the Sacred Heart Church in Rome.” These were the thoughts of many Cardinals in Rome. However, there was also a hope according to the words of Gamaliel: “If it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow it” (Acts 5:39).

                On the contrary there was perfect harmony and consensus inside the Congregation in electing the first successor of Don Bosco. The Salesians had no other name but that of ‘Don Rua’. The whole Congregation unanimously accepted Don Rua as the head of the society. The appointment of Don Micheal Rua as Vicar from the Holy See on November 27, 1884 also assured his succession.

                It was strange that Don Rua had serious misgiving about his worthiness to take up the office of the Rector Major and created in him grave doubts as to his right to be the heir of Don Bosco. In addition, the decree of approving his authority as Vicar was found missing from the archives. When this news spread, Cardinal Alimonda, a friend of Don Bosco and Cardinal Protector asked Don Rua to have recourse to Rome. He did so through a letter on February 8, 1888. When Bishop Cagliero came to know this he immediately wrote to the Cardinal Protector expressing the unanimity in electing Don Rua.

                Meanwhile some eminent people of the Church were trying to merge it with another congregation of similar charism. The intervention of Bishop Emilian Manacordia, a friend of Salesians defended Don Rua’s competence and assured its safe future. At last in a fresh decree on February, 1888 the Holy Father nominated Don Rua as the Rector Major of the Dociety. Don Rua held the office for 22 years. During these years he made Salesians feel that Don Bosco was living among them. It was his great fidelity to Don Bosco to do so. His fidelity was more evident in his first circular letter as Rector Major in which he addressed the entire congregation: “My dear sons, this will be the programme I shall follow during my years of office:

¯  To maintain and develop the work began by Don Bosco

¯  To follow diligently the methods taught and practised by Don Bosco

¯  To study and imitate in speech and in action the model offered by Don Bosco

He wanted to lead the Congregation as Don Bosco would wish. Even in small matters he thought how it would be in the mind of Don Bosco. For Don Rua, Don Bosco was the perfect mentor on earth. He imbibed Don Bosco’s Spirit by his keen observation. Once he said, “Watching Don Bosco even in his tiniest actions made a greater impression on me than reading and meditating any holy book.” Such was his fidelity to the founder.

                His fidelity to Don Bosco was not an achievement made in a short period of time. It had its beginning in 1845. After he had met Don Bosco in the oratory just once he defended his beloved priest when his parish priest doubted Don Bosco insane. For many years even after his priestly ordination Don Bosco was his father and oratory was the home. His literal obedience astounded Don Bosco many times. The latter was afraid to give any punishment to Rua just for fun. Once Don Bosco exclaimed, “I cannot play jokes with Rua. His obedience is non plus ultra (extreme). When Don Bosco called on Don Rua to be the rector of new house at Mirabello he did not show any gesture of opposition when he was just 26 whereas none of the confreres were younger than 27. After receiving the obedience he just took his Breviary and was ready for the journey. Many glowing reports came from Mirabello after some time saying, “Don Rua at Mirabello acts just kike Don Bosco at Valdocco.” He was ready to walk in the shadow of the founder always accepting to do even odious things to save Don Bosco’s image as a father. Even a mere wish of Don Bosco was a command to him. Thus was his filial and complete obedience.

                The peculiar character of Don Rua is his respect for the rules, which earned him the name ‘The Living Rule’. In performing his duty he neither worried about the comments of others nor the popularity he had as a consequence. It was also said once that getting ‘Yes’ from Don Rua was more difficult than ‘No’ from Don Bosco. However, when he became the Rector Major he manifested Don Bosco’s kindness and cheerfulness except for the abrupt silence after the bell.

                Don Rua trusted Don Bosco’s protection even after his death. During his first year as the Rector Major Cardinal Alimonda questioned him abut the debt of 600,000 lire. He replied, “Your eminence we have to confess that Don Boso even in Heaven doesn’t remain idle.” It is true that when Don Rua died the debt of the congregation was nil.

                He was not satisfied with his own fidelity towards his father but worked hard to foster it wherever he went, especially in the Salesian houses. His life as the Superior General was studied with journeys. There was not a year passed without journey as the Rector Major. He too he obeyed the words of Don Bosco, “A good superior is a man who always has his travelling case in hand.”

                Finally, his fidelity to Don Bosco was not static but dynamic. He was really aware of the changing times and of the needs of the young and fearlessly opened up Salesian works to the new fields of pastoral ministry. It is because of his insistence that the SDBs and FMAs began a variety of social works including in different parts of the world. When the worked began on Simplon tunnel between Switzerland and Italy a cam was opened for the Italian workers on the Swiss side. Don Rua sent Salesian men and women to serve these workers. He followed solely the principle of Don Bosco that whatever can be risked in order to do good to souls.

                The mission he accomplished all along in his life was the vision of Don Bosco. It was he who stared the process to fulfil Don Bosco’s prophetic dream in the night of 9 April 1886 which was about the future missionary expedition. There he foresaw Salesians’ presence from Valparaiso (Chile) to Beijing (China). We, Indians, too are privileged that the first Salesians who set foot in our soil were sent by Don Rua. This was one of the plans of Don Bosco and he visualized in the dream.

                Blessed Michael Rua never stopped fostering the spirit of Don Bosco among the Salesians. On his beatification Pope Paul VI rightly said, “He made the example of the saint (Don Bosco) a school …, his life a history, his rule a spirit, his holiness a type, a model; he made the spring a stream, a river.”

                The difficult moments that are mentioned in the beginning were not at all threats both for Don Rua and the Congregation. The whole congregation relied on Rua and he was firm in his fidelity to Don Bosco since his fidelity to Don Bosco was the fidelity to Christ. With the same trust he was able to face more difficulties later in his life. even on his death bed he encouraged the Salesians to have filial love and faithful trust in Don Bosco by repeating words of their father, “ We shall meet in Heaven.” 

                The precious message he had left to the Salesians is ‘to be worthy sons of Don Bosco’. This is my prayer to Don Bosco everyday, “Father, make me a worthy son of yours.” The Salesian life gets its complete meaning with these two: perfect emulation and great fidelity to Don Bosco as Blessed Michael Rua did. Because “he was the most faithful, therefore the most humble and at the same time valiant of the sons of Don Bosco” (Pope Paul VI, 29^th October 1972).