August is a month that reminds us of our freedom when we celebrate our Independence Day and the Assumption of our Blessed Mother.

We should feel proud of our country for various reasons: for its noble culture, for its spiritual heritage, for the philosophy of life, and for scientific and technological accomplishments. But these accomplishments should not blind us to the present realities. Our land today is stricken with insurmountable problems. Our country is wounded and caught in the web of violence and terrorism, communalism, politicisation of religion, omnipresent corruption, rural under-development, ecological and environmental crises, and injustice perpetrated against dalits, tribals, women and children.

On this occasion, it is good to remind ourselves of the contribution of Mahatma Gandhi, the great father of our nation. Salil Mishra has brought to life just how complex a char- acter Gandhi had been, perhaps the greatest living statesman in history, a born leader and revolutionary, a man of extraordinary courage and vision and as a master of conflict resolutions, he would forge agreements with his fiercest critics. Gandhi’s greatest contribution was non-violence which made great impact on leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr and Nelson Mandela. The reign of God requires a world organized not around violence, but around love and compassion. We need to create men and women who enter into the dynamic of God’s reign with a nonviolent heart, confronting injustice responsibly and courageously, unmasking the inhumanity hidden in every society that is built on violence and indifference to the suffering of its victims.

We also celebrate the Assumption of our Blessed Mother. Mary is a great model of disciple- ship. Elizabeth Johnson, a feminist theologian says, “Mary is revealed as a village woman who knows hard work, who gives birth in a stable because of a government decree, who becomes a refugee because of a ruler’s murderous intent, who knows how to celebrate a wedding, who loses her son to unjust execution by the State. Through it all she keeps faith in God. Most startling, she announces the coming justice of God in her great song of liberation: “God will put down the mighty from their thrones and exalt the lowly.”

  - Dionysius Vaz SJ