EMBRACING INTERCONNECTEDNESS

            COVID-19 pandemic has brought the whole world to its knees. A tiny lifeless virus has rewritten the storyline of human life overnight, urging us to reflect deeply on what really matters. From scholars to school children began to raise questions on our lifestyle, on our priorities and choices, and on our attitude towards our mother earth and its co-inhabitants. On the contrary to the thrive for development, the question suddenly has turned towards what does it mean to be a human today? It is more apparent now than ever that the planet Earth and both human and other creatures living in it are deeply interconnected. We cannot any longer live by the dictum that human beings are the superior species and others mattered less. This calls us to grow in our awareness of this interconnectedness and making choices not as an individual but as an interconnected being. Consequently, as St. Xavier’s college family we reflect upon the theme EMBRACING INTERCONNECTEDNESS in the academic year 2020-21.

EMBRACING INTERCONNECTEDNESS begins with an awareness and realization that we share an inherent commonality, not just with other humans but also with every being that is part of the universe.  We are one among the many other species. Once this awareness is achieved, we need to personalize it in our behavior through inclusive thinking. We need to ask ourselves constantly ‘what is the effect of my thoughts, words and actions on other beings and the universe?’

EMBRACING INTERCONNECTEDNESS is an invitation to purposively align our head, heart and hands so that our education is reflected in our day-to-day lives. It is a call to understand that we belong to and need each other, and thereby must live in harmony and solidarity with one another. It is to ensure that unlike in the past, our lives become beneficial to other human beings, other living beings and the universe. It is to contribute towards the building of a new ecosystem which guarantees an integrated social, economic, political and environmental justice.

 Let the following prayer by Pope Francis guide us in EMBRACING INTERCONNECTEDNESS.

Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it,

that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth.

Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation,

to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.