2020- SUMEDHA OUTREACH AT BANGALORE

Dr. Jose Parappully, Director of Sumedha Centre was invited to facilitate a three day workshop on “Midlife Dynamics and the Spiritual Journey” at the Sainte Andre Study Home, Sakalavara, on the outskirts of Bangalore.

The workshop was organizes by the National Secretariat of the Conference of Religious of India (CRI). It was held from January 6 to 9, 2020.

There were 46 participants – five religious men and priests and 41 religious women.

The content of the workshop included: Awakening to Midlife, Midlife Dynamics, Midlife Transformational Processes, and A Spirituality for the Post-Midlife Years.

The participants were highly appreciative of the workshop. All of them found the workshop content and process very useful. It provided them much understanding of what they were experiencing at midlife and to make sense of them. They felt they were now much better prepared to go through the post-midlife years.

One aspect of the workshop that was particularly appreciated was the integration of psychology and spirituality into the content and process of the workshop right through, something that is quite rare in similar workshops.

TEACHERS’ ORIENTATION AT SOPHIA, BANGALORE

Dr. Jose Parappully, Director of Sumedha Centre, was invited to conduct a two-day
Teachers’ Orientation programme on 27 and 28 May at Sophia High School, Bangalore.

There were about 130 teachers along with the Principals of the three sections of the school.

On the first day the focus was on “Education with the Heart.” Dr. Parappully explored with the teachers two aspects of Educating with the Heart – Self-Awareness and Empathic Responsiveness.

Through psychological input and experiential exercises and personal evaluations, teachers were helped to gained greater insight into themselves and learn the impact of their personalities on their relationship with the students and their effectiveness as teachers. Dr. Parappully used especially insights from Self-Determination Theory and Self Psychology, songs and videos to do this.

The second day was a “Retreat.” The focus was on Meditative Prayer as a tool for enhancing personal and professional effectiveness. 

Dr. Parappully presented three different forms of simple meditative prayer and provided opportunities for the participants to engage in them.

The feedback indicated that the teachers profited immensely from the two days’ programme. “An amazing programme” was the way the spokesperson for the teachers described it. “It provided us profound thoughts to ponder on and exercises that we can use for ourselves and in the classroom. Above all, it helped us understand ourselves as persons.”

Teachers were especially appreciative of the “Retreat.” It was the first time they observed, they were able to spend four hours in silence and solitude and were able appreciate its value. “We also learned to pray in a very different way than we were used to,” several of the teachers said.

SEPTEMBER OUTREACH PROGRAMMES

September was a month in which Sumedha Centre did a number of Outreach programmes.

Bhopal

The first was a programme entitled “Psychosexual and Celibate Challenges for Priests at Midlife and Beyond” for the priests of the Archdiocese of Bhopal facilitated by Dr. Jose Parappully, the Director of Sumedha Centre. This programme was held on 6-8 September. Twenty six priests attended.

Bangalore

The second, also facilitated by Dr. Jose Parappully, was held at the Vidyadeep College in Bangalore on 10-13 September. This programme title “Midlife Dynamics and the Spiritual Journey” was attended by 38 Women Religious from five different Congregations. The programme was organized by the Conference of Religious India.

Madurai

The third was a training programme in Psychological Assessment conducted by Dr Jose Parappully for members of the Salesian Psychological Association and Conference of Catholic Psychologists. This programme was organized by the Salesian Psychological Association, South Asia at the Pallotine Institute for Lay Leadership, Research and Animation (PILLAR) at Madurai. There were 18 participants.

The feedback from participants of all three programmes was overwhelmingly positive.

PROTECTION OF MINORS FROM ABUSE

The Salesian Psychological Association (SPA), South Asia, in collaboration with the National Biblical, Catechetical, and Liturgical Centre, Bangalore organized a Seminar on “Protection of Minors: Implications for Church Institutions” from12th to 15th December 2015.

The organization of the Seminar was led by the secretary of the SPA, Raja Dhonti, and former secretary, Jose Parappully and the director of NBCLC, Sagaya John.

Members of 22 congregations and dioceses participated in the four-day Seminar.

The following made presentations at the Seminar: Thangam George and Sheila Devaraj from Bangalore (Prevalence and Attitudes Toward Sexual Abuse of Children), Jose Parappully from Delhi (Protection of children from Sexual Abuses Act 2012, CBCI Policy on Protection of Minors, 2015, Healing from the Effects of Sexual Abuse), John Tharakan from Hyderabad (Ethics and Boundaries Related to Sexuality and Care of Children, Indian Laws Related to Sexual Offences) and Noel de Sa from Mount Abu (Setting Up and Following Policies and Procedures).

Even though the primary target audience was Catholic Bishops and Major Superiors of Religious Congregations, only one Major Superior attended. The participants were mostly those working with children or those involved in the formation (training) of priests and religious.

SUMEDHA OUTREACH IN SEPTEMBER

Sumedha Centre did two Outreach Programmes in September enabling many more to benefit from the Sumedha Centre’s expertise.

The first was a Psychospiritual Retreat for the Rectors, Parish priests and Leaders of Communities of the Salesian Province of Guwahati. Fr. VM Thomas, the Provincial who had earlier attended a spiritual retreat facilitated by the Director of Sumedha Centre, Jose Parappully, wanted the leaders of his Province to have a similar experience.

The retreat was held at the Salesian Provincial House, Guwahati between 8 and 13 September. The retreat was presented and experienced as a “desert journey” – as “wilderness” and “paradise” (Mark, 1, 13). 

The last two days focused on the role of the Salesian Rector/Leader of Community as a “Centre of Unity” and as “Animator of Community.”

Ample time was provided for the retreatants to experience God through Sacred Scripture

The retreatants were very appreciative of their retreat experience. One veteran missionary observed: “In my 62 years of Salesian religious life, this was a most unique experience.” Another simply said, “After several years, I made a really good retreat,” a sentiment shared by others.

  

The second was a Seminar on “Psychosexual Integration and Celibate Maturity” held at Kristu Jyoti College Bangalore on 23 and 24 September for the staff and students of the philosophy and theology departments of the college and for the students and staff of Viswadeep Institute for advanced theological and catechetical studies. There were about 300 participants.

This seminar also was facilitated by Jose Parappully, Director of Sumedha Centre. Parappully is the primary editor of the best selling two volume book bearing the same title as that of the seminar.

Participants expressed great satisfaction about the way the topic was dealt with and found it very useful. 

“An extremely useful seminar,” observed one participant summing up the sentiments of others as well. “The topic was handled in a very commendable way.”

WORKSHOPS IN BANGALORE

Psychosexual Integration and Celibate Maturity

The Director of Sumedha Centre, Jose Parappully, did two workshops in Bangalore at the beginning of the month.

The first was at the Don Bosco Provincial House, Bangalore, on Psychosexual Integration and Celibate Maturity. The participants were Rectors of Communities and Leaders of various Provincial Commissions. There were around 45 participants for this two-day workshop on August 3 and 4.

Themes explored during the workshop included: Psychosexual Integration and Emotional Maturity, Sexual Orientation and Sexual Behaviours, Sexual Boundary Violations, Psychosexual Integration at Midlife and Beyond, and Celibate Friendship.

Participants found the workshop “very, very useful.”  They “gained very practical information and insights.”

One said this was the “most useful of the workshops I have attended.” Another who had two other workshops on the theme said “this was the best. This helped me to understand these important issues better and given me ways and means to explore them with my trainees in more effective ways.”

Basic Counselling Skills Training

The second workshop was a six day affair, from 5^th to 10^th August. This Basic Counselling Skills Training workshop was held at National Biblical, Catechetical and Liturgical Centre (NBCLC), Bangalore.

There were 43 participants from different parts of the country. Most of them were leaders of communities or involved in formation work.

Participants found the training extremely useful. There was “an excellent blend of theory and practice.” The training, the participants said, had given them “both confidence and competence” by helping them develop required attitudes and skills.