YCS/YSM SHOWS THE WAY
As the final exam approaches, all the attention of the students is about scoring the first grade or even distinction in the final exam. Recently, I visited a school to meet a son of my friend, who was in the 9th Std. It was break time. He was not in the class. When I enquired I found that he and a group of YSM Friends were taking a tuition to weak students in the 6thstd. It was an YCS/YSM activity in that school. The movement sees that no student fails in the 6th standard. I was proud to note that YCS/YSM was a sign of sharing in order to uplift the underprivileged.
One day my friend and I called on a family. There was a cute child. She was studying in the 7th STD. And was a member of YSM in the school. During the chat with her, my friend enquired about her studies and the rank she got in the exams. She was getting 8th rank. My friend asked her, “Why don’t you try for the 1st rank?” Her eyes sparkled. An innocent smile brightened her face. She retorted, “This is the question, all are asking me!” she continued with a voice of strong conviction, “surely I am trying to improve my marks. But I am not interested in defeating the 7 friends of mine, who are ahead of me. It is a pity that no one asks me, how many fail in my class, what am I doing to help them pass!!” YSM Students in the class are coaching their weak classmates so that all pass. “No failure in our class is our aim”, she concluded.
In this society of cut throat competition her argument was not convincing to my friend, but I was thrilled to see the confidence of the small girl of 13.She held her head high, in her undaunted conviction, and explained her YSM programme. By sharing her time and knowledge with weak classmates, in order to help them come up in studies was not a waste of time. By teaching her friends, she improved her knowledgeand always did better in her exam.
Pope John Paul II said, “Youth is the hope of tomorrow” surely when YSM students live for positive values they become the hope of the society. When the movement stands for the underprivileged they become agents of social change. They are able to create an atmosphere of love and care. YSM does not want any student left out or rejected.
The sacred book of Indian spirituality Bhagavat Gita in the 13th verse of its 3rd Chapter gives a definition of sin “if I cook food only for myself then eating it is sin”. If our selfishness does not allow us to give a place in our life for others, we are in sin. The 11th verse of the same chapter describes virtue. “The greatest virtue is the interest we show in fostering the welfare of others”
All religions stand for this unselfish love. In the gospels, Jesus compared his own life to a grain of wheat that falls to a new plant. He said “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friend”. When selfishness and competition has grown so strong that it may swallow up the whole human society, YSM stands out as “the light of the world and the salt of the earth”. They have to show the way, even if they stand alone. They are the promise of tomorrow.
Fr. M. C. Michael
Former National Chaplain