Dominic, Thank you for the series on PRIESTHOOD which as usual I enjoyed as I do all your other serials.
You bring to our minds the standards upon which our fathers and mothers lived and therefore let us compare that to the standards by which we now live. Nothing wrong with changing of standards. We live in a different age, different times and in different countries. Even the Goa of today presents much different challenges to the people living there than it did to our ancestors. So yes, we like society have had to evolve. But you remind us that some things will remain universal and timeless. The need to curtail our material possessions, the need to keep unity among our extended families, the need to help our less fortunate, the need to appreciate those who have sacrificed the comforts they could have had, in service to us. I have 2 priest uncles. One has long since passed away in Goa and the other is retired and in a seniors home in Canada. I have never given a thought to what they have done with their lives. I just took it for granted that they were priests and they were my uncles like any other uncles. But if I sit down and reflect on their simplicity, many thoughts come to mind. Both of them were possessed of intelligence and personality they could have used to better their lives and enjoy the comforts that come with hard work and achievement and they yet worked their entire lives for the good of the people they served, without thought to themselves except when they were old and frail. They could have had a brood of children and grandchildren with happy and smiling faces and yet they got themselves used to the loneliness that comes with priesthood. Through the memories brought on by your series, I salute all our Goan priests and nuns and those who chose and still choose to serve other people and also salute our society who nurtured them in a million ways and made it possible for them to contribute through donations and gifts of money, land and property not for personal use but for others' good. Strength to all your writings, Roland.
