Today I went to Mount Mary's Church
It was an unexpected turn on our way to Bandra due to the unending traffic on the road. We (my parents and I) had decided to go to St. Peter's Church but it was later decided that we should attend mass at Mt Mary's Church, only because the traffice seemed to decrease in that direction.
However, when we arrived we got to know that evening masses are never conducted here....
Disappointment grew on our faces as our ignorant minds realised that we had just missed mass. Where were we going to get another taxi or rickshaw to go to another Church in time?
So we sat there in silence and prayed. My mother was annoyed that we didn't get to attend mass but my father did not feel the difference at all...
As I stared back at Mother Mary's magnificent image at the alter, I could not recollect what to pray for... my travel mode was still switched on from the one hour journey while my prayer mode was still settling in...
I prayed a little and then wondered whether I had done anything wrong as I felt blank and couldn't figure out what to pray. Probably my own subconscious mind making me feel guilty for not attending a proper mass. We got up after a while and exited from the main gate of the Church instead of going out from the back.
As we were moving out, there was another statue of Mother Mary placed across the road above a beautifully architectured spiral staircase on both sides for believers to walk up and pray with candles like a way up to heaven walking towards Mother Mary who has been waiting for us.... I walked up the staircase and as I reached the top which was not far off, I looked again at Mother Mary and wondered what to pray. Why was I at a loss of words? Suddenly, a thought came through my head - if I do not know what to pray for or what to ask for, I should very rightly pray for the benefit of human kind.
It should be no secret what I prayed for or rather who I prayed for... this prayer comes from the lips of many and indeed should be answered and attended to... I have not lost my faith and so I prayed on for women and children who live lives of the less dignified. For those who were raped and killed, for those who survived after being raped and for those who are being raped everyday...
I may have not attended the mass but the prayer that leaves from my mouth everyday is for these women and children... Jesus said to pray for those who persecute us. Somehow I prayed for the rapists to be punished severely, so that those who attempt to commit such a brutal crime against innocent women and children will never let that thought cross their minds again. But only if it be God's will, for who am I to pass judgement even on the most sinful of people.
I would like to tell those who say that punishment of the rapists should not be done or our children will grow up to learn that revenge is the answer to all sorts of injustice. My dear friends, why is justice perceived as revenge. Indeed, severe is not the answer but the rapists need to be made an example of, so that those attempted to commit such crimes may not follow the foot steps of their evil desires. Boys need to be educated by the school and their parents about respecting girls as they are and not treat them less of an animal. That is the real justice. However, the so-called revenge punishment is not revenge but a detterent for these perpetrators who think they can get away with rape and murder.
I may have not attended mass today but this was a sincere prayer from my heart to Mother Mary and I know that she has heard me. My heart can never cry enough for these women and children who have to carry such a torturous and heavily burdened cross. Everyday is a living hell for them. When on one side the world is beautiful, the other side represents the most ugly truth of life.
I wonder how both can co-exist.
It was an unexpected turn on our way to Bandra due to the unending traffic on the road. We (my parents and I) had decided to go to St. Peter's Church but it was later decided that we should attend mass at Mt Mary's Church, only because the traffice seemed to decrease in that direction.
However, when we arrived we got to know that evening masses are never conducted here....
Disappointment grew on our faces as our ignorant minds realised that we had just missed mass. Where were we going to get another taxi or rickshaw to go to another Church in time?
So we sat there in silence and prayed. My mother was annoyed that we didn't get to attend mass but my father did not feel the difference at all...
As I stared back at Mother Mary's magnificent image at the alter, I could not recollect what to pray for... my travel mode was still switched on from the one hour journey while my prayer mode was still settling in...
I prayed a little and then wondered whether I had done anything wrong as I felt blank and couldn't figure out what to pray. Probably my own subconscious mind making me feel guilty for not attending a proper mass. We got up after a while and exited from the main gate of the Church instead of going out from the back.
As we were moving out, there was another statue of Mother Mary placed across the road above a beautifully architectured spiral staircase on both sides for believers to walk up and pray with candles like a way up to heaven walking towards Mother Mary who has been waiting for us.... I walked up the staircase and as I reached the top which was not far off, I looked again at Mother Mary and wondered what to pray. Why was I at a loss of words? Suddenly, a thought came through my head - if I do not know what to pray for or what to ask for, I should very rightly pray for the benefit of human kind.
It should be no secret what I prayed for or rather who I prayed for... this prayer comes from the lips of many and indeed should be answered and attended to... I have not lost my faith and so I prayed on for women and children who live lives of the less dignified. For those who were raped and killed, for those who survived after being raped and for those who are being raped everyday...
I may have not attended the mass but the prayer that leaves from my mouth everyday is for these women and children... Jesus said to pray for those who persecute us. Somehow I prayed for the rapists to be punished severely, so that those who attempt to commit such a brutal crime against innocent women and children will never let that thought cross their minds again. But only if it be God's will, for who am I to pass judgement even on the most sinful of people.
I would like to tell those who say that punishment of the rapists should not be done or our children will grow up to learn that revenge is the answer to all sorts of injustice. My dear friends, why is justice perceived as revenge. Indeed, severe is not the answer but the rapists need to be made an example of, so that those attempted to commit such crimes may not follow the foot steps of their evil desires. Boys need to be educated by the school and their parents about respecting girls as they are and not treat them less of an animal. That is the real justice. However, the so-called revenge punishment is not revenge but a detterent for these perpetrators who think they can get away with rape and murder.
I may have not attended mass today but this was a sincere prayer from my heart to Mother Mary and I know that she has heard me. My heart can never cry enough for these women and children who have to carry such a torturous and heavily burdened cross. Everyday is a living hell for them. When on one side the world is beautiful, the other side represents the most ugly truth of life.
I wonder how both can co-exist.
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