2014 Holy week Tuesday Morning thoughts

As we approach Holy Pascha  (Easter) part of today's readings of Church points us to:

1. Why did God become Man ?
Hebrew 2:14-18
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁷ For this reason he had to be made like them,^[k] fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

2.  - Why was Gospel proclaimed ?
I John 1: 1-4
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our^[a] joy complete. 

3.  How  can our senses be transformed in Christ  

 On Sunday Raju Chayan from Church asked to reflect that the words from our mouth affect others and humanity.  Our Achan reinforced that all of our five senses should be transformed and perfected in Christ.
I John 1: 5-9
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all^[b] sin.
⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

4. Listen rightly  unlike those who listened with wrong intention :
St. Luke 11:53-55
⁵³ When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, ⁵⁴ waiting to catch him in something he might say.

April 15, 2014
   

Extrapolations - Syrian Orthodox relation with Catholicate - Memory Eternal !!

Extrapolations - Syrian Orthodox relation with Catholicate at the occasion of the departure of Syrian Orthodox Patriarch

First and foremost, let me share Memory Eternal - HH Patriarch Ignatius Zaka
HG Ignatius Zaka was the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch which is in communion with the Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church. One of his quotes which is important to us is "Prayer is not an attempt to subdue the will of God for our desires, but is always an attempt to subjugate our will to the will of God,"

Having said that , some are using HH demise to tout him as a Child of peace for unity of Malankara and no way can peace and unity happen without the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch and their patriarchate special honor and the Catholicate as a subdivision or chota child/brother of the Syrian Patriarchate. Obliged to work towards the Catholicate , praying that thoughts of this common man will be understood as intended for posterity and available to reflect by future generations.

Unity is not by concession to Syrian Orthodox Church. First of all in our hearts, we must acknowledge that Syrian Orthodox Church is, as much equal, and in no way any superior as the Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church. Just as there is a Coptic Patriarchate and Antiochene Patriarchate, the Catholicate of Malankara Orthodox Church exist and we are its members be we Laity, Priest or Bishop.

Yes, the representatives of Catholicate should represent and visit and be there at the burial just as they had represented the burial of Pope Shenouda. The Syrian Orthodox Church should be special to the Catholicate not because of some document or 1995 alliance which totally was used as a hoast by the fundamentalists to divide the One Holy Catholic Church that has the potential under the Catholicate to witness and continue the mission started by St. Thomas .

It should be with clear understanding:

1. When the heretic Roman Catholicism came with armadas to subdue us to them that we sought help from all that by God's providence the Syrian Orthodox Church sent help

2. When the Syrian Orthodox came in more numbers from 17h Century, it took almost two centuries for us to complexly adopt their West Syrian Liturgy and translated to Malayalam and even now in 2014 , not all of their tradition have been translated to Malayalam and not many within the Catholicate have understood or making use of that tradition which took almost 16 centuries to develop in Antiochene tradition.

3. We because of our relation with them could understood the Theology and Faith that St. Diascoros of Egypt and St. Severus of Antioch defended and now stand as one of the Six Oriental Orthodox Churches that share same faith (Egypt, Syrian, Armenian, Ethiopian, Eritrean and Indian)

4. We in 17th and 18th never fully took on the course of Martyrdom and defended our faith but used/ depended at least partly on the name or allied with the Syrian Church to face against Protestant Roman Catholic heretic teaching.

5. The Syrian Church and its prelates in the history of time in 18th and 19th Century, because they had helped us in the past, when it faced problems started assuming and demanding:

Malankara Church as a subdivision with Syrian Orthodox and our parishes in India should provide money to help the Syrian Patriarchate to pay off Turkish authorities. The response by the community took them by surprise. This led in time to ex-communicating the Chief shepherd of our Church HH St. Dionysius , the community rise up to establish the Catholicate in Malankara in 1912 with the blessing of the Syrian Orthodox Bishop and senior Patriarch of Syrian Orthodox Church . It should be noted also that history has shown that this Syrian Patriarch was not the ruling Patriarch and the ruling Patriarch has paid off the Turks and secured his position. I believe, it was prudent that a Senior Syrian official of the Syrian Church was present to show and explain to our own people who have a high regard when a foreigner or a White Bishop is present. More importantly from 1912 this Catholicate was established as the gift of God to the Church and available to those in Kerala / Malayalam language speaking people to whom St. Thomas the Apostle came to preach to work towards for the Glory of God.

6. From day one, the mission of Catholicate was thwarted by evil from within and externally. This will continue as long as Catholicate exist. Right from 1912, there was a group who felt that the doom of the Catholicate is imminent as they have fought against the people of God from the land of our God Jesus Christ. There were also selfish parties from within and the Syrian Church who felt their importance will be lost and must remain under the Syrian Patriarchate.

7. Through the prayers and tears of innocent who wished to see eternal peace in Malankara, those who wanted to be under the Patriarchate and those under the Catholicate in 1958 agreed to be under the head of the Catholicate. Unfortunately the evil one use the law of the land and constitution by keeping the vision of foresight blind put in special concession of Syrian Orthodox Patriarch as Spiritual head and when a Patriarch is enthroned at Syrian Orthodox Church it should be at the blessing of the Chief shepherd of the Catholicate - the Catholicose of the East and vice versa. These concessions are the bane and failure of the Catholicate to trust in God but in men and their crafty ways. An example is when a senior priest of the Church in 19th Century went over to Antioch and got himself ordained as head of the Church in Malankara and returned to form the heretical alliance with Anglican faith and establish Marthoma church, instead of defending ourselves on the basis of our Orthodox Christian faith said in a Padiyola called Mavelikara Padiyola that we are members of Jacob Syrian Church and under the Patriarch.

8. From 1912, the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch’s and their followers had the opportunity to recognize the autonomy and autocephalous status of the Malankara Orthodox Church and its Catholicate. There were opportunities since then when we came so close.

9. In 1965, at the leadership conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches held in Addis Ababa,an issue that came up for discussion was about the number of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One argument was that there were only 3 Churches while another view was that there were five. Those who supported the first view were the Antiochian Syrians and the Egyptians. The reason for their stand was that while the Syrians considered the Indians as part of their Church, the Egyptians considered the Ethiopians as their ‘subjects’. For them, language, race, culture etc were not relevant at all. But, the conclusion that was finally reached at the Conference, and accepted as its decision, was that Oriental Orthodox Churches were five in number, i.e., the Indian Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox should be treated as separate Churches. What it meant was that none of these Churches were under another Church .Based on this decision, the Conference set up a Standing Committee comprising of two representatives from each of the five Oriental Churches. Fr. Dr. V.C. Samuel was one of them. This decision taken by the conclave of Oriental Orthodox Churches should put to rest any doubts about the independence and auto-cephalous identity of the Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Church.

At Addis Ababa in 1965, God deemed it to be that prelate representing the Catholicate was addressed such by other members of Oriental Orthodox family including the Syrian Patriarch "HH Moran Mar Baselius Mar Basils Augen I - Fourth Catholicos of the Ancient See of St. Thomas" since its restoration in 1912.

10. Right from 1959, that relationship of Catholicate and Patriarchate was strained. At the Feb. 20, 1959 meeting of the newly elected Managing Committee, Paulose Mar Philexinos surprised everyone by griping about having to serve as the Assistant Metropolitan of Kandanad diocese. This prompted the Synod which met on Feb. 21 to appoint him as Joint Diocesan Metropolitan of Kandanad diocese alongside Augen Mar Thimothios. Though this bought temporary peace, Mar Philexinos was not to abandon his mission of wrecking the hard-won peace. As events later unfolded, he became the king-pin and leader of the rebellious ‘Antiochian Movement’. We know the 1965 incident was a terrible blow that added injury to the Syrian supporters to help fan the distrust in Malankara as well as in Syria. In fact it was the Syrian Patriarch of 1965 who questioned the validity of Priest hood of St. Thomas and using it to disclaim that St. Thomas established Church in India.



11. In 1975 the Syrian Patriarch came down at the supporters of that stood grudgingly right from 1959 against the Catholicate came and appointed the Philexinos Paulose mentioned in Point #10and ordained as Catholicose Mor Baselios Paulose II.



12. 1995 - As usual the evil one use court cases and they continued , common man sigh and guess their prayers reached God who made sure to force the issue with a court order in 1995 that you need to get together and there should be one Orthodox Christian Church from Kerala. There was some hope and there was some hope this could pave unity and led some of those Bishops and priests from the supporters of the Syrian side to the Catholicate. While that shift occurred, many could still be harboring the teaching that they came over hoping to have the Catholicate under the Syrian Patriarchate and we can see the evil one sending breezes of confusion over through their words. Praying that God in time can and will change if any has such feelings remain. The hope for peace in 1995 did not last as the supporters who felt they will lose their authority under a united Catholicate appealed to the sensitivities of the Syrian Patriarch this departed HH Patriarch Ignatius Zaka. Unfortunately in a land surrounded by Muslim community and the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch reduced in Damascus to where four others who claim themselves as the Patriarch of Antioch, told he agreed to succumb to agree to await decisions of further court cases.



13. Again in 12 July 2002, the Supreme Court verdicts came that the parishes should come together and establish and retain the integrity as a united Church - Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church. A group of evil people devised a formula to take a slice - Individual parishes to declare by majority vote to leave the Malankara Orthodox Church and join a new independent Church. They want to leave not because of differences in faith or dogma but because they do not want the head of the Malankara Orthodox Church to sit on the throne of St. Thomas but only on a footstool beneath the throne of St. Peter and refuse at all costs the future standing firm a United Catholicate . Unfortunately for the Catholicate, one of the Bishops who wanted to be the next Catholicose of the East under the United Catholicate when told by the Catholicose of the East that this decision is not for him to give but a United Synod and Managing committee and a Successor has already been named, took the lead to form the new independent faction. This new faction while it could have been told as unacceptable by the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch was however supported by him and blessed the dissident Bishop just as previous Syrian Patriarch had blessed the Bishop who separated those who were to have been under the Catholicate to the protestant teaching and Marthoma community. In fact he came blessed with a title to rival as ' Catholicose of India' under the Syrian Orthodox Church and formed the new group as ' Jacobite Syrian Church' in 2003. Some of us as common men had contacted the Patriarch not to take this step now as it would divide the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church to schism and asked to recollect that a hasty decision by a previous Patriarch had led to heresy and separation.



13. The new group continues and thus at the time of the departure of this Patriarch of the Church that we share in communion Pray and cry out for his mercy - he , who though with short comings like each of us, was blessed to the successor of St. Severus the defender of the Orthodox Christian faith. Also, yet more importantly we need to look critically within ourselves as Catholicate if we really are seeking as the blind man from God, living out as individuals and together as Orthodox Christians and crying out 'Lord Have Mercy' and seeking to be open and welcoming to those who turned away like the Jacobite Syrian faction and the Marthomite to come forward and accept and live out the discipline of the Church.  Another key point to never forget is that while we have differences of opinion , in our heart we should not forget that the Syrian Church had once came to help with right intention and  there are many fathers who are buried in that Church seeking Yama prarthana from us while we fight among us. It is with prayers this article may inspire the future members of Catholicate and the Patriarchate to work together understanding the differences but move beyond that that to work together for His Glory.



March 24, 2014

Calgary, Canada

Last Kalpana of Vattasheril Tirumeni to Catholicate

The Last Pastoral letter (Kalpana) of St. Dionysius

From Mar Dionysius, Metropolitan of Malankara

Blessings to all our dear children, the vicars of all our churches, other priests, and the faithful in the Malankara Church founded by St. Thomas, the Apostle.

Dear children, the sheep of the spiritual fold entrusted to us, who are dear to our heart, I think you have come to know that we are on our sick bed for a few days now. We, are 76 years old now and plagued by a number of illness; therefore, we feel that we have no right to wish and hope that our earthly life be extended beyond this. So, we feel that nothing needs to be done, except to submit happily to the will of God, which is merciful and irreversible. It was God’s will that we should shoulder the administrative responsibilities of this Church during one of the most difficult times in its history, despite our frailties and ineligibility. The events of the last 25 years have moved on like a shadow; however their consequences shall certainly influence the future of the Church. It was because of the mercy of God alone that the Malankara Church community has survived a variety of great dangers.

You may believe firmly that our memory and gratitude to you all shall not go away from us till our last breath; for each one of you have worked with me magnanimously, for the uplift of our community all these days, forgetting our weaknesses, shortcomings and unworthiness. At this time, it is really painful for us to recall that some of our beloved children have difference of opinion regarding many of the projects we have undertaken for the sheer good of our community. Beloved children, we are all common people with lots of weakness. We feel today that many of the quarrels and feuds which our fathers have conducted during their time were negligible and foolish; therefore it is good for us to know that many of the things that we deem serious today may be judged as negligible and foolish by the future generations. Therefore, we exhort you with our last breath, to dispense with all kinds of quarrels and obstinacy, so that our poor Church, which is a little flock, shall not fall into disarray; and that you should accept it as your bounden duty to work for unity in the Church unselfishly. We believe that you will accept this request with a soft mind like the children who received blessings from the Lord ; and not hard- heartedly like the Pharaoh. All of you know that, unless you ask pardon for each other’s faults and forgive and forget, it will not be possible for you to get mercy and pardon from the Lord at the Last Judgment. You should believe that even after our bones have joined the bone of our Fathers, we will always submit our humble prayers before God that you will have the wisdom to work for reconciliation in our Church, forgetting all quarrels and differences. We have had a great desire in our heart for a long time now that we should work for union with those of our brother communities, who have deserted our Church. We would like you to accept this as a responsibility, as entrusted to you along with our last breath, to realize our desire.

We also entrust it to each one of you to the responsibility to maintain the Catholicate, which all of us have been working hard to protect, against heavy odds, and which you sincerely believe, along with us , as indispensable for the upkeep, welfare and development of our Church.

Finally, dear children, there is no one that is good, not even one. No one who is righteous is made so except by the blood of our Lord. If during our period of administration, we have caused anyone of you sorrow or loss ; or done any wrong willfully or otherwise, knowingly or unknowingly; for all of them, we entreat you to forgive us in Lord Jesus Christ, who laid down His life for the sake of sinners and prayed to His Father for those who crucified Him . In the same way, if anyone has done anything against us, we would let you know that we have not kept them in our mind; and that we have forgiven in Christ. Again, our beloved, just as St. James has asked us to pray for each other, you pray for us!  Your prayers will be a great comfort for us in death as well as in our rest. We entreat your love to pray for us, and priests to offer Qurbana on our behalf, now, and even after we have passed away. In this way, may the words of St. Paul,” I have fought a good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith; now the crown of righteousness awaits me. The Lord, who is the Righteous Judge, shall give it to me that day “may become true even in us. We pray our Lord Jesus Christ to extend his right hand, along with the right hand of us, weak and sinful one, and bless you, your homes, all your handiwork, and comfort us and all of you, and your faithful departed, in the heavenly paradise.

By the prayers of Holy Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and all the saints, especially St. Thomas our Patron Saint. Amen

May the love of God the Father, the grace of the only begotten Son, and the fellowship and indwelling of the Holy Spirit be upon you all, my beloved children, forever. Amen.

From Old Seminary, Kottayam
Kumbham 11, 1109.

Note: -  This last message is an extract from the book "  Saint Vattasseril Mar Dionysius Personal Diary " by HG Yakob Mar Irenaios.  As we commemorate the two fathers of the Church  - the Cannonical Saint Dionysius and HG Makarios on February 23, it is my prayer that posting of this last kalpana may inspire us to see that  the  task of maintaining the Catholicate and realizing yet its potential to witness fully the mission started by St. Thomas is entrusted not to some one else, but to each one of us. The Saint  Vattasseril Thirumeni stood firm to saying No to the Catholicate under any foreign authority. The Bishop Makarios lived the the message of the Catholicate amongst those  who were outside of Kerala . May their prayers be with each of us and the Catholicate to the Glory of God. Amen.

New life - Sanctified , Dedicated and Renewed

On this Hoodosh Etho ( "Dedication or Renewal"Sunday), Our Achen gave a very short homily in which he presented the need to focus on the fact that we can only offer to God in the Church our first gifts from what has been blessed, sanctified, seperated and purified by Him. This is the reason why the Dedication Sunday follow immediately after the first Sunday of the Liturgical cycle (Koodosh Etho or Sanctification/Purification) before the Church journey through the next six weeks to welcome the Nativity of our Lord.

The Morning Gospel was of the woman whose offering out of her poverty, dedicated to the Temple, was found most praisworthy and honourable by our Lord God. Achen explained the need to ask to see if the offering  we bring to God are our very lives to Him or if we are just giving only that what is covenient for us.

In this we can only begin to make the attempt and pray seeking God's and each other's help .   There is a beautiful prayer that reminds us on what we as Church are to offer attributed to the Anophora of  St Athanasius from Sedro of third Sunday after Easter ,shared by Fr. Baby Varghese in his book  'West Syrian Theology'

" O    Pure and spotless Lamb,who offered Himself to the Father as acceptable offering for the expiation and redemption of the world,make us worthy that we may offer ourselves to you a living sacrifice well -pleasing unto you after the manner of your sacrifice for us. May we be accounted worthy to offer unto you,O Lord, sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving for a savour of spiritual sweetness. Let all our thoughts and words and actions be a burnt offering unto you. Grant us, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit , to appear before you without blemish all the days of our life,and ever be well-pleasing to your Godhead "

Amen

November 11, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

Psalm 118: Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures for ever

1.Daily Morning Prayer (Indian/ Syrian Orthodox)
It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praise to your name, Most High; to proclaim your grace in the morning and your faithfulness in the night. Lord, in the morning you shall hear my voice, and in the morning I have prepared myself to appear before you. Lord, have compassion on your people; Lord, pardon and forgive the sins of all of us. Holy one, let your right hand rest upon us and pardon our infirmity, because your name is forever. Amen.

2.A Thanksgiving Prayer used by the Coptic Orthodox Church daily Seven times
Let us give thanks to the beneficent and merciful God, the Father of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, for He has covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us unto Him, spared us, supported us, and brought us to this hour. Let us also ask Him, the Lord our God, the Almighty, to guard us in all peace this holy day and all the days of our life.
O Master, Lord, God the Almighty, the Father of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, we thank You for every condition, concerning every condition, and in every condition, for You have covered us, helped us, guarded us, accepted us unto You, spared us, supported us, and brought us to this hour.
Therefore, we ask and entreat Your goodness, O Lover of mankind, to grant us to complete this holy day, and all the days of our life, in all peace with Your fear. All envy, all temptation, all the work of Satan, the counsel of wicked men, and the rising up of enemies, hidden and manifest, take them away from us, and from all Your people, and from this holy place that is Yours.
But those things which are good and profitable do provide for us; for it is You Who have given us the authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, by the grace, compassion and love of mankind, of Your Only-Begotten Son, our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ, through Whom the glory, the honor, the dominion, and the adoration are due unto You, with Him, and the Holy Spirit, the Life-Giver, Who is of one essence with You, now and at all times, and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.
3.Armenian Orthodox Thanksgiving Prayer
Thanksgiving and glory We will give You always. You give nourishment To the flowers of the valley, And to the birds in the sky. We always enjoy Your Graces, Dear Father, Beneficent God. Glory to You, forever. Amen.

Some Thanksgiving Prayers – October 13, 2013
Oh Lord, these are only a few prayers we have forgotten to use. Have Mercy upon us and lead us to turn our lives to be as an offering of Thanksgiving. To You be Honor and Glory forever. Amen

Musical Instruments in Holy Qurbana - Calling a spade a spade

From childhood, I have always prayed that the Church should take upon it as a mission to stop using instrumental music and help its members within the parish to concentrate more the words in the hymns of the Holy Qurbana to commit to memory and sing from the depths of our hearts to God's glory. It is unfortunate that the Catholicate is failing in this regard. Very often a compromise is achieved by stating that the choir has not been trained well and should be under Sruti. In recent time some guidelines were brought out , but a return to Orthodoxy on why we come together and what the music means in our worship should be understood , taught and understood by the laity . To this Catholicate was for which our Venerable saint Vattasheril Thrumeni has stood barvely and to it has he comited each of us if we are from the Catholicate upon his death bed. In that regard, Let us not instead heed to gimmics of the so called learned musical maesteros that has crept into Church and be open to call a spade a spade when required. Praying that the Leaders of the Church may see this as a need of the hour, For edification , here is an article friends who believe a Return to Orthodoxy is required not only in the Catholicate but also all the Oriental Orthodox Christian communities is required. Lord Have Mercy See this article at Return to Orthodoxy http://returntoorthodoxy.com/instruments-god-man-michael-wingert/

Asset Building Questions

Asset building questions

Our effort in North America by building assets – A warning question to ask?

Antiochene, OCA churches, here in North America having no connection with their Native churches. For example, OCA has turned back on the bulk of Russian church. Every Orthodox denomination has failed in North America in this, as they forgot the community or area that supported them in the first place because after 150 years, they got so used to American culture as it is comforting. Is there a real reason for the Indian church to follow suit here? Are our buildings more important than the life of individual as Orthodox Christian with struggles and suffering?

In the same light,

Catholicate foremost important effort in India - Building assets?

While we totally have to clarify our stand to anyone and to all that the Catholicate which we have been entrusted is not under or subordinate to any other Patriarchate or Catholicate be it Alexandrian Coptic, Armenian or any other like the Syrian Church which have come to help when we had problems, Let us ask if our Asset building is our foremost calling?. Or Is it to turn ourselves and help each other to live out Orthodox Christian faith? Do we have a reason to seek peace and try to help the suffering Syrian Church and welcoming those who are open to come back to Church and lead to ask in Prayer - Lord Have Mercy?

July 5, 2013