Pastoral Letter of the Major
Archbishop on the Feast of Dukrana -
Sabhadinam
Prot. No. 360/2008
PASTORAL LETTER
VARKEY CARDINAL VITHAYATHIL, the
Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar
Church, to the Archbishops, Bishops,
Priests, Men and Women Religious and
Lay Faithful of the Syro-Malabar
Church, blessings and peace in our
Lord Jesus Christ
Dearly beloved in
the Lord,
On this day of
the feast of Dukrana of our
father in faith, St. Thomas, let me
extend to you all the greetings of
Dukrana. A Syro-Malabar
Catholic, wherever he is, can think
of this day only with gratitude and
a sense of honour. It is the sacred
remembrance of St. Thomas who having
followed the command of his Lord and
Master Jesus Christ, sowed the seed
of faith in India and enriched it
with his own life-blood thus giving
it the necessary food and energy for
growth. Let us bow our heads before
this unique providence of God. So
also it is a day when every Syro-Malabar
Catholic can sincerely take pride in
the fact that he has been blessed to
be the part of the succeeding
generations of Christians of the
first faith proclamation of St.
Thomas, “My Lord and My God,” as he
beheld before his very eyes the
wounds on the side of his Master.
This is also the fruit of the
providence of God.
Therefore, as we
celebrate the feast of Dukrana,
we shall think of our great
responsibilities with regard to our
faith-life. In this context, it is
specially to be remembered that the
theme of the forthcoming General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to
be held in Rome from 5th
to 26th October is the
‘Word of God in the Life and Mission
of the Church.’ In the providence
of God the Good News of the Word of
God was given to us right at the
very beginning of the Church through
the Indian Apostolate of St.
Thomas. At the end of twenty
centuries now, we have to examine
how this light of the Good News is
producing its fruit in the life and
the particular mission of our
Church. When I say at the level of
our Church, it has to be understood
at the individual level, at the
level of the families and that of
the various communities.
On this theme,
two points I want to place for your
careful study.
-
According to
the teachings of the Second
Vatican Council, every individual
Church has the right and
responsibility of proclaiming the
Gospel all over the world in
accordance with their particular
ecclesial traditions, subject to
the guidance of the Holy Father.
However, with regard to the Syro-Malabar
Church, even after 40 years of the
conclusion of the Second Vatican
Council there exist many
limitations concerning the
fulfilment of this
responsibility. As the Universal
Church is reflecting on the theme
of the Word of God in the life and
mission of the Church, let us hope
that the limitations prevailing in
this area with regard to the Syro-Malabar
Church will be removed.
-
Secondly, we
ourselves, the sons and daughters
of the Syro-Malabar Church are the
missionaries to fulfil this great
mission of the Syro-Malabar
Church, namely, that of preaching
the Gospel to the whole world.
Whether we are in India or abroad,
every one of us has the serous
responsibility of bearing witness
to the Word of God by living our
lives according to the ecclesial
heritage of our faith. In this
context, we have to bear in mind
that the Word of God is not to be
interpreted according to the whims
and fancies of every individual;
it is to be interpreted by the
authority of the Church. We have
to take great care to discern the
interpretation of the Gospels in
conformity with the sacred
traditions of the Church. Because
of the limitations imposed upon
the mission of the Syro-Malabar
Church of providing pastoral care
according to her ecclesial
traditions, we are unable to give
proper guidance and effective help
in this area. Therefore we have
to ensure the urgent attention and
constant vigilance of everyone in
this sphere. We have to be
extremely careful not to lose
through false teachings the
deposit of faith which our
forefathers have kept up for
around 2000 years.
This year as we
celebrate the feast of Dukrana,
I cannot but ponder over a great
occasion of joy which Almighty God
is bestowing upon the Syro-Malabar
Church. On 12th October
this year, a daughter of the Syro-Malabar
Church will be raised to the rank of
a saint. On that day Blessed
Alphonsa will be declared saint by
the Holy Father. She will be the
first woman saint of India. She is
going to be the first flower in the
garden of the Syro-Malabar Church
which was nurtured and nourished by
the blood of St. Thomas himself. We
shall thank God for this occasion.
We shall also pray for the
canonisation of the other blesseds
from the Syro-Malabar Church. Above
all, like Blessed Alphonsa, we shall
endeavour to meditate on the word of
God in our hearts, practice it in
our lives and rise to the heights of
sanctity through our heroic
life-witnessing to the Word of God.
The feast of
Dukrana is also celebrated in
our Church as the day of the Church,
Sabhadinam. St. Thomas the
Apostle shed his own blood for the
growth of this Church. When we
celebrate the feast of Dukrana,
let us examine ourselves to see how
much sacrifice we are prepared to
make for our Church. Today our
Church faces many challenges both
from outside as well as from
within. In these moments of crises,
we should be ready to think and act
with the Church and to defend her
even at the cost of great
sacrifices. We should detect the
enemies of the Church who are acting
against the teachings and deeds of
the Church. We should not only
desist from collaborating with such
enemies of the Church, but also,
rising above the consideration of
temporary gains and personal
interests, should work together as
one body for the good of the Church.
On the occasion
of the Sabhadinam, I want to
draw your attention to the decision
of the Synod of Bishops held last
year to take, as in the previous
year, this year also, a collection
of at least Rs. 1/person from all
the Syro-Malabar faithful for
helping the Church to overcome her
financial difficulties. Those who
can afford to contribute more are
welcome to do so. The Church is
ours. All her children according to
their financial situations have to
play an active role in helping in
her forward march. In connection
with the Sabhadinam, all her
children are given an opportunity to
extend a helping hand in the
financial difficulties of their
Church. I wish and hope that all of
you will make use of this occasion
with a generous heart and come to
the aid of the Church.
A word to those
Syro-Malabar faithful residing
outside the proper territory of the
Major Archiepiscopal Church: It is a
painful reality that even today our
efforts to provide the facilities
for adequate pastoral care in our
own ecclesial and liturgical
traditions to those Syro-Malabar
faithful in these areas have not met
with considerable success. There is
an inexcusable delay in granting our
legitimate rights. Although as the
head and father of your Church,
myself and the entire Episcopal body
of our Church have continuously
presented our requests to the Holy
Father and at the various offices of
the Holy Father in Rome, the
progress in this regard is very
slow. Nevertheless, we have to
continue our legitimate struggle for
our legitimate rights, especially
through our constant prayers. As we
are approaching another feast of
Dukrana, let us entrust our
Church to the special intercession
of St. Thomas, our father in faith.
Like St. Thomas, may we also be able
to give heroic witness to our
faith. Once again wishing you all
sincere greetings of the feast of
Dukrana, let me invoke the
blessings of Almighty upon all of
you and bless you, in the name of
the Father + and of the Son + and of
the Holy Spirit + Amen.
Given at Kakkanad
from the Major Archiepiscopal Curia
of the Syro-Malabar Church at Mount
St Thomas on 23 May 2008.
+Varkey Cardinal
Vithayathil
Major Archbishop
of the Syro-Malabar Church
________________________________________________________________________
N.B:
This pastoral letter is to be read
out during the Holy Mass on June 29
in all churches and chapels of the
Syro-Malabar Church where there is
Sunday Mass for the public. |
