Young Graham Staines Would Definitely Have Had A Much Better Life In Australia, And

Yet He Decided To Stay Back In India In The Village Of An Indian Friend, Santanu
Satpathy. If You Were That Young Indian Pen-Friend, How Would You Have Felt About His
Decision To Stay Back?
I would initially be happy and proud that a foreigner has come to my house to stay, but when he
takes the step of serving the lepers and staying back, I would be worried for him and his family.
Maybe also advise him to return to Australia and lead a happy life.

Esther, The Surviving Daughter Of Graham Staines, Was About The Same Age As You Are
Now. If She Were To Ask You, “Why Did My Father Have To Leave Australia And Come To
India To Be Satisfied With Your Answer?
I would explain to Esther, that it was God’s plan to send the Staines family to India to serve the
lepers and like the apostles and Mother Theresa, who had left their families to hear God’s call, so
did her father leave Australia and come to India. Many apostles and even Jesus himself had
sacrificed their lives to spread the Word of God. I would explain this to Esther

In What Way The Beatitudes Are Different From The Ten Commandments Are Articulated?
(Blessed Are …… Instead Of Thou Shall Not)!
The Ten Commandments are basically instructions. They were given to Moses to guide God's
people closer to him. The beatitudes are in the book of Mathew in the bible. They tell what people
should be more like and were said in a speech given by Jesus. In this way the Ten
Commandments are instructions so they began with thou shall not and the beatitudes are
different as they are a way of life to come closer to Jesus and therefore began with blessed are.

Do you think it would have been easier to follow them if the beatitudes too are articulated
as “thou shall not ……”
The beatitudes are different as they are a way of life to come closer to Jesus and therefore began
with blessed are. If the beatitudes too were articulated as “thou shall not ……”, then they would
sound like instructions and the beatitudes which is a choice of a way of life to come closer to
Jesus, would be as if they have been forced upon us.

Do you think it is easier to follow the Ten Commandments or the beatitudes? Why?
The Ten Commandments are like instructions and the beatitudes are a choice of a way of life.
Both have to be followed. The Ten Commandments being instructions have to be followed
without fail, but since beatitudes are a choice of a way of life, they are easier to follow.

Find out whether Fr. Stephan is making the various choices of his life based on the Ten
Commandments or on the eight beatitudes?
Fr. Stephan was making the various choices of his life based on the eight beatitudes.

Which particular ones is he using for his decisions?

He was using the beatitude “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. “
He was humble to stay in the slum and reach out to the poor and needy.

What do you learn from the way Fr. Stephan is regulating his life?
We learn that we should apply the beatitudes in our day to day lives and live life accordingly
which brings us closer to Jesus.

How are you going to put the 8 beatitudes into practice in your daily life?
By being humble, meek, merciful, clean of heart, peacemaker, serving other,
Being good to others, etc…..

: ACTIVITY BY: IMMANUEL FERNANDES :

 The Eight Beatitudes & Their Meanings

1 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
We must be satisfied with what we have. Share the good things we have with others because
God wants us to do so.

2 Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

We must comfort those who are suffering and help others feel better about themselves after a
loss.

3 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
We must be humble - a true sense of who we are and get our ego out of the way.

4 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
We should do what is fair for everyone by thinking what would Jesus do in such a situation.

5 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

We must forgive those who are unkind to us and look for ways to show kindness to others.

6 Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
We must do what is right just because we know it is the right thing to do.

7 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
We should try to bring God’s peace to the world and control our behaviour so people can see
Jesus in us.

8 Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
We should be willing to stand up for God’s laws even if we are teased or insulted.

Better to be want, than self-satisfied.

One should be self-satisfied rather than want more as happiness is in living with what you have.

Better to return good for evil, than evil for evil.

When Jesus was crucified, he called out to heaven “Father, forgive them for they know not what
they do. He returned forgiveness for hatred. Therefore, it is better to return good for evil, than evil
for evil.

Better to die rather than to compromise with evil.

It is better to die rather than to compromise with evil, as it is the purity of the soul which matters in
the end.

Better to serve than to be served

It’s better to serve than to be served, it teaches us the beatitude of humility.

: ACTIVITY BY: IMMANUEL FERNANDES :