God fulfilled His plans of being with His people throughout ages, through his chosen ones – the Prophets, evangelizers, apostles and endless number of Seers and Servers and Visionaries. The Lord takes care of his vineyard to make it yield fruit and strengthens His Kingdom by raising people according to the needs of His people in His own time. We have people, far-sighted ones whom we call visionaries down the ages who have contributed their mite to the growth and welfare of the society in different fields.
Imaginative, focused, present are they, big-picture oriented. Open minded and fan of new ideas, positive energizers, never afraid of failures; that share and communicate the dream/vision with others… Who are they? They are visionaries, visionaries who can be recognized with their tendency towards taking risks and transforming those risks into opportunities with positive approach focused without being afraid of failures. There are and had been many visionaries who have discovered new paths and become searchlights for others. One of such visionaries of whom I would like to speak is our beloved Founder, Fr. Faustino De Souza, who was born on 24th November 1893, at Anjuna, Goa, who is a Quasquicentennarian!
As I write about livable and sustainable living I remember his appointment at Mapusa, Duler. The then hillock of Duler, the place on which the Chapel was situated, where people avoided staying in the vicinity after sunset due to thick, wild bushes, that had sheltered various kinds of wild animals and snakes, Fr. Faustino with few young men cleared the thick growth, filled the ditches, got the ground leveled and planted a large number of trees. He did not just stop after planting the trees but selected few girls from the six surrounding villages who would come to help as volunteers to look after the plants and to water them. 50 years later, Mervin Mascarenhas would remember saying: “Many girls would water the trees and some of whom have become nuns.”
The lover of Mother Earth, Fr. Founder, encouraged the simple people to use their land to make a living to relieve poverty with farming. He sought to the all-round development of the people living on the peripheries. He brought income-oriented schemes to help the unemployed to earn and save. He introduced piggy banks, handicraft, cashew-nut peeling and packing; tailoring, embroidery and other home industries. As a Parish Priest of Our Lady of Health Church Sancoale, he was interested in the protection for the planet and its precious resources: soil, water, forest and biodiversity. This concern for the planet and the people of God was well manifested in the incident of untreated effluents from the fertilizer factory. When the problem of environmental pollution caused by the effluents from the fertilizer factory seeping into the water and causing damage to the health of human beings, animal life and vegetation, he played a vital role in restoring the ecology and sustainable living through his heroic at Birla, Zuari-Nagar, where he spent tireless forty years in the service of men and also shouldering the responsibility of his creation, his baby – the Congregation of the Sisters of Holy Family of Nazareth. By then, Father retired due to his precarious health but he kept in touch with the situation encouraging and guiding those who could solve the problems. For the first time, Father encouraged the Sisters to involve themselves in such social problems and advised them to get out and face the risks that would entail them. Such was his zeal, energy and interest. Being a visionary, a Founder, Father also went through the pangs of birth as he took risks and transformed those risks into success and victories relying on Divine Providence.
I envisage his interest and cry in the life of our Founder and salute him for his far-sightedness, courage and ever present mind. May we contribute and create a livable planet earth with sustainable living. By simplifying every aspect of life to promote health for people and planet; work together with those supporting global health; withdraw your support from those people and companies whose practices are harmful to the ecosystem and encourage them to go constructively green.
