Archcorepiscopa Kaniyamparambil achen: A firm reason to believe in priesthood

Today marks the 11^th memorial year after the demise of Archcorepiscopa Curien Kaniyamparambil. His departure on October 19, 2015 was indeed a sad moment for the Jacobite Church and for the people of Thiruvalla who had received his pastoral care and love. The members of the St. George Simhasana Church in Thiruvalla, of which he was the vicar for a period of 47 years were especially fortunate to have grown up listening to his sermons and more importantly to countless life lessons shown through his everyday life. 

St. Matthew 23: 1-12 talks of how Jesus tells his disciples and people that they should listen to what the scribes and Pharisees say but should not do what they do because they do not practice what they preach. One can see this passage as a scathing critique of priesthood and priests as Jesus goes on to tell his disciples that they should not be called a teacher and should not call anyone Father as there is only one Father in heaven. All of this in conjunction should make us wonder and suspect the real need and value of priesthood and priests. The status of priests in society has also gone down because of several allegations with regard to priests wanting to live luxurious lives and rejecting any form of poverty, and morality being questioned because of lack of a disciplined and principled life and lack of faith and a prayer life.

This is where people who have departed from our presence offer a great model to follow. Archcorepiscopa Kaniyamparambil achen is foremost in that as far as the Jacobite church is concerned. His life was one where he practiced even more than he preached. He did not promote himself, lie to people, misbehave with anyone and he instead prayed from morning to night, offered Qurbana not as a burden but with full belief, always smiled, encouraged and strengthened. Despite having problems of his own, he never forgot to pray for his congregation. Achen realized what his skills were and developed those skills to the point of writing and publishing extensively.

I believe that priests are not beyond criticism and people have a right to point out mistakes when they see them as it will help priests to make essential corrections. Archcorepiscopa Kaniyamparambil achen realized his mistakes and never hesitated to correct them. He could carry himself in a gathering of his own church as well as an ecumenical gathering. Achen was also good in secular and church history. One could sit with him and get an idea of the congregation and the church. But none of this was beyond correction. If he felt that he was wrong he would gladly correct himself.   

Today’s priests need to justify their ordination as priests to their family, community, church and society at large. They should offer themselves for scrutiny, examination and correction. Without this, priests of today will be the priests that Jesus talked about in St. Matthew 23. Our congregation will henceforth only listen to priests for the sake of listening but will never practice what priests do because priests stand exposed of not doing what they preach. If a priest preaches about love but doesn’t even love his own family what is the use? If a priest cannot control his anger why should the people do so? If a priest cannot embrace suffering and problems, how can we inspire the people to do likewise?

Archcorepiscopa Curien Kaniyamparambil stands as a challenge for those thinking whether there is any relevance for priests in our church and society. As people lose hope they can look back to a time when priests indeed lived for them. They can discuss this with the present lot of priests and remind them of their responsibility towards their congregations. In this world of social media where every priest is trying to self -promote and self- glorify, we should read the books of Kaniyamparambil achen and understand our history, faith and tradition and that he wrote books for the glory of God and for the benefit of people. May Archcorepiscopa’s memorial be an opportunity for us to rethink our responsibility to God and the people of God and be an inspiration for deviant priests to fall back in line.

Pathros Mor Osthatheos: A lover of children and second chances

The passing of H. G. Pathros Mor Osthatheos has given four years of gloom to the church. A church leader with a difference who came up from the grass roots and went on to become a promising and enterprising bishop for the outside Kerala dioceses of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church. There was always something different about him, something that made him stand apart from the usuals of the church. Today (August 20) on the passing of four years without his presence, voice and guidance, his relationship with children is something for us to look at and learn from.  

Bishop Pathros Mor Osthatheos could be approached by any child without any second thoughts, fear, wonder or hurdle. He loved to spend time with children and always liked to have them around him. The Jesus expression of telling those around him to not prevent the children from coming to him because to such belonged the kingdom of heaven is as popular as it is confusing. Why would Jesus pick children to be important when they were seen as the exact opposite of powerful and authoritative in the society then? This was the true expression of what the kingdom of God was. Not a haven for the rich and powerful but heaven for the poor and the weak. Jesus makes a significant turn and questions the wisdom of the elders of society. Bishop Pathros Osthatheos was the same. He did not want to be with the powerful and those in authority. He rather wanted to be with the children, talk to them, ask them questions and answer the questions he was asked, and speak their language. Children can’t return anything with money and riches but can only give their time and love. The bishop knew it and yet he unabashedly spent time with children, not caring about the repercussions or missed investments. His ministry was one of love and compassion and not of business interests and profits. 

His birthdays usually had children standing around him and even singing for him, blowing the candles and sharing the cake. He would offer the children an opportunity to celebrate a second birthday. Churches and leaders can learn from Jesus and from Bishop Pathros Osthatheos. If every person is a rupee bill we will only speak to those with money but if every person is a human being devoid of caste, gender and religion, we will only speak to the person or child in front of us and not to his caste or class. With Bishop Pathros Osthatheos there was no barrier of caste, class, gender, or age. There were only conversations in whatever language and gestures. His memorial should be a time to reboot and rethink. Are we going wrong with our material based church work instead of concentrating on the spiritual side and the welfare of the people? Are we only interested in profits and gains instead of experiencing and talking about failures and losses? Bishop Pathros Osthatheos’ life was all about losing to win, thinking about the welfare of others and offering second chances to everyone. May his fourth memorial offer us a different template and model for ministry, church work and life in general.