| St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago
Pastoral Letter 07
By the Grace of God, I, Your Servant Mar Jacob Angadiath, Bishop of St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago and Permanent Apostolic Visitator to Canada, send this greeting and message to all the priests, men and women religious and my beloved people of God, living in the USA and Canada.
“By prayer, fasting and contrition, let us find favor with God the Father, the Son and the: Holy Spirit” (Syro-Malabar Holy Qurbana).
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The desert experience of Christ is reflected during the Winter Season, The whole nature is bare, cold, and lifeless. Spring Season brings to us life through fresh greenery and flowers. The Lent experience of prayer and fasting leads to the Joy and Peace of the Easter. To realize this new life let us listen to the call of God, the Church and the Holy Father.
In the Bible: As we are in the Pauline year, listen to the words of the Apostle, Paul: “In an acceptable time I have heard you; on a day of Salvation I have helped you. Now is the acceptable time! Now is the day of Salvation!” (I1 Cor. 6:2) Once again we are given this opportunity to look into ourselves and thereby to make the divine image in which we are created better and brighter. Lent is it period for self-examination and inner renewal.
Sin Awareness: St. John is very clear in his teaching that all of us are sinners. “If we say we are free of the guilt of sin, we deceive ourselves; the truth is not to be found in us. But if we acknowledge our sins, he who is just can be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrong.” (I John 1:8-9) St. Paul also reminds us about our brokenness. “It is as scripture says, “There is no just man, not even one; there is no one who understands., no one in search of God,” (Rom 3:10-11). This being our state, we need to understand our helplessness. We are sinners; we need the grace of divine forgiveness.
Repentance: Awareness of sinfulness leads to conversion through repentance and resolution to avoid sins. God’s grace and love are always waiting for us. The proper attitude of conversion is ref1ected in the words of the Prodigal Son: “Coming to his senses at last, he said...I will break away and return to my father and say to him; Father I have sinned against God and against you.” (Lk. 15:17-18) True repentance may be expressed in putting on sack clothes and ashes just like the people of Nineveh who repented at the words of prophet JOnah. Let us turn to the Lord to experience His tender love.
Fasting and Prayer: Many a time we feel that our prayers are not answered at all. Our prayer and fasting seem to be in vain. The Lord through the words of the prophet Isaiah tells us the reason: “The hand of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. Rather it is your crimes that separate you from your God. It is your sins that make Him hide His face so that He will not hear you.” (Is 59:1-2) This being the reality, we are given this period of Lent to cleanse us from sins through prayer and penance. An ideal way of doing penance is fasting and it helps us to make our prayer life better and pleasing to God. Fasting is not mere giving up something but it is giving of ourselves to God and men. The true spirit of fasting is reflected in the acts of charity.
In the Liturgy: The whole Propria of our Holy Qurbana for the period of lent invites us for repentance and conversion. Psalm 103 is recited: “He pardons all your sins and heals all your ills” and “the Lord’s kindness is forever, toward the faithful from age to age.” We conclude the Karozutha with the supplication: “Help us to observe this Lenten Season with sincere prayer, brotherly love and self sacrifice.”
The Penitential rite in our Holy Qurbana begins with the verses of Psalm 51: “Have mercy on me, O God, in your loving kindness. In your great compassion, wipe away my sins.” In every Holy Qurbana just before Holy Communion, we are invited and reminded by the deacon (Server) to be sorry for our sins and to be reconciled with the Lord and our brethren. As the congregation responds, “Lord, forgive the sins and offences of your servants,” the Server brings to our attention the areas of our reconci1iation.
Just before the Profession of Faith, we are reminded of three means to find favor with God: “By prayer, fasting and contrition, let us find favor with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Our Holy Qurbana and the Liturgy of Hours are really filled with prayers of repentance and conversion. Let us translate the Spirit of the season into our life to have a life of Easter Joy.
The Pope: In the message for Lent, given by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, he speaks about the three penitential practices of prayer, almsgiving and fasting with special emphasis on fasting. The Pope invites our attention to a quote from St. Peter Chrysologus: “Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting. So if you pray, fast; if you fast show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others. If you do not close your ear to others, you open God’s ear to yourself.” (Sermon 43) Prayer leads to fasting that gets us to acts of mercy. Acts of mercy are intended towards others and they enable the Lord to answer to our prayers. The very words of our Holy Father lead us to prayer fasting and the word of God: “Denying material food, which nourishes our body, nurtures an interior disposition to listen to Christ and be fed by His saving word. Through fasting and praying, we allow Him to come and satisfy the deepest hunger that we experience in the depths of our being: the hunger and thirst for God.”
Conclusion: The three evangelical counsels of almsgiving, prayer and fasting are three golden means of realizing the will of God. St. Paul reminds us that our transformation will enable us to discern the mind of God: “Do not conform yourself to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you may judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing and perfect.” (Rom 12:2) Mother of God remains always a model for us in surrendering ourselves to the divine will. Following her example and seeking the intercession of St. Thomas the Apostle, our father in faith and St. Alphonsa, the first saint from our Syro-Malabar Church. let us translate the prayer we recite in our Holy Qurbana into our daily life: “By prayer, fasting and contrition, let us find favor with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
May the peace of the Risen Christ be with you all at this Easter Season and always.
Mar Jacob Angadiath
Bishop
March 19, 2009
Feast of St. Joseph
| |