Valentine’s day: Let’s make love, not war

“And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:2)

Valentine’s day puts us again in the love seat with couples professing love to one another, marriage vows being remembered, and cards and gifts being exchanged. In all the sound and clamour there are those who oppose this as not being part of Indian culture and that which is a marketing gimmick for commercial gain. Accept it or not, but you can’t ignore it.

What then can the church say about such a celebration which knows no bounds and has no limits? The story of the priest Valentine is inspiring. He goes against the edict of the emperor and marries off couples who are in love and want to spend the rest of their life together. After his prayer for a blind woman gives her sight he writes to her before he dies and signs off as ‘Your Valentine.’ The mythical nature of the story not with standing does it have a theological and church based insight that one cannot ignore?

What is wrong if we remind people of love in a country where we are taught to express our manliness and serve as heroes to people? Two mainline political parties are trying to make the coming elections as a fight between Iron Man and Spider Man. The first says that “You can take away my suits, you can take away my home, but there's one thing you can never take away from me: I am Iron Man” and the second says “With great power comes great responsibility.” There is a concerted effort to suggest that the problems in this country can only be solved by a man or one man, as both parties would have us believe. And both men in the frontline don’t openly have a woman in their life. They form the antithesis of the message of Valentine. They have both forgone having a partner to fight a great battle for the country.

But is this what the country stands for? Are we war mongers who have to fight macho battles on the war field to safe guard the interests of the nation? Or do we have to bring about a complete turn around in our thought process to understand that without love we are nothing. This is the love which should make us understand that “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Isn’t this the message which can come out loud and clear during celebrations like Valentine’s Day where everyone is reminded that this is not a one way ticket to maximum enjoyment and fun but a ticket to commitment, acceptance, belief and hope? Can’t this be a slogan for the country to think about rather than fundamentalist battle cries asking for the ban of any celebration which remotely talks about love? Shouldn’t this be a point of discussion in a society where violence instead of love is propagated through various forms?

The let’s make love can be misinterpreted as talking about sex which again is seen as taboo in Indian culture. Far from it, we do not need to see sex as the fundamental aspect of a relationship. This skewed notion has also lead to violence inside the house in the effort by the man to show that his sexual prowess is the mark of his relationship with his wife or partner. So making love can be given a much more mundane and grounded meaning of making and spreading love all over. In a society which thrives and lives on conflict and violence this love making could bring about a good healing process.

I understand that elders are concerned about whether couples really love each other and whether this celebration is being stretched too far. There may be instances of this. But by and large this may not be the case. It could be that many couples are trying their best to come to terms with what real love means for them. The simple exchange of a rose and the sending of a card or a gift could also be a way of saying that let love be the basis on which we do things.

The church can make use of such a celebration to ask couples to commit themselves to each other. It can be an opportunity of saying that love is patient and kind and not envious and boastful. Relationships which are being ruled by violence both domestic and other can be questioned and such relationships can be shown the path of love. Love can also be a pastoral tool in the hands of the priest. This is a tool of love which looks at the flock in church and society as those in relationship with the church. It is an understanding that the relationship of the priest with his immediate and extended congregation can only be on the basis of the love of Christ which is sacrificial, patient and kind. Such a relationship will bring about a platform for people to be in relationship with Christ just as they are with each other. Love therefore is not a taboo and a word which should be used in hushed tones. It is rather the foundation of the church and all religious institutions. Let this spirit of love bring us together.



(Picture courtesy mdevega.blogspot.com)

Nineveh lent: Get up and call God

The end of the three day lent has brought us to the point of asking, “now what?” Three days of lent and even conventions in certain places has brought about a spiritual awakening in many people. But for some it remains the same as any day. Conventions, sermons, retreats and prayers do not necessarily bring about any change.

Why should it? Some may ask. Maybe this was the same way Jonah slept in the ship even as the others were terrified by the mighty storm. We see this in Jonah 1:6 which says "The captain came and said to him, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.” Even as everyone else was thinking about whether they would have a future, Jonah was sleeping. It could have been because he had so much faith in God that he knew nothing would happen. But it could also have been that he was not bothered about what would happen to others. He was against God’s wish to go to Nineveh and preach salvation to them. So the saving of others was not on his top priority list.

Our lents are also taking on this colour and shape. We are turning out to be people who think just for ourselves and about ourselves. Our sense of justice is limited to us as individuals, and our family, community and church members as groups. It does not stretch much beyond this. It could be the reason why the Christian community has so many prayers, lents and conventions and yet is not doing enough to make a difference in fighting injustice in the country and the world.

This talks volumes about our sense of true morality and justice as some tool we use to hit out at others instead of helping others. The call of the sailors in the ship is interesting. The calamity does not differentiate between them and so each person is asked to call upon their own God. Jonah is unaware of this exercise and he has to be awakened from his slumber. Coming to think about it many of us may be suffering from the same sleepiness that Jonah had. This is almost a self imposed, forced sleep, a closing of the eyes to show that we do not know what is happening.

Sleep is good for the body and essential for a healthy mind and body. But over sleeping is not. It could lead to various complications. One of the reasons for over sleeping could be depression. If Jonah was sleeping while others weren’t could it suggest that he was under severe depression because of all that had transpired? There is an opportunity to pray for the good of everyone and that is over ridden by his sleep.

Many of us are undergoing the same experience of over sleeping. Even though there are many for who sleep deprivation is the problem, sleeping too much as if the problems will go away with that is also not an answer. Lying down is also something we do when we are sad and just don’t want to do anything else. With this there may also be instances of faking sleep. There is a call for all of us to pray for the good of everyone in society instead of faking sleep.

We need to be aware of those who are suffering in various ways in India and the world. We can’t be ignorant of such things and say we did not know. In today’s information rich culture where information is at the finger tip we should show the same eagerness to learn about others as we show to learn about our own culture and tradition. People need our prayers and our support. Saying we did not know, we were unaware and we are not interested in the welfare of others who God points us to is not what is expected of us after a time of lent and preparation.

The world and India are now undergoing challenges of several kinds. They include civil war in several countries, loss of pay for several, increase in the number of the poor, hungry and homeless, genocide, racism, casteism, gender disparity and oppression, discrimination against minorities, global warming, ecology related issues and developmental projects which are against the people of the land.

The Nineveh lent should help us to identify these gross humanitarian violations and pray for the people who are affected by them. Faking sleep and saying we did not know cannot make us oblivious to what is happening. Just as Jonah was awakened and asked to pray, we will also be awakened out of our slumber and asked to pray. Hope this lent will provide this very strength to know, understand and pray for the less fortunate and the least and the last.

Nineveh lent: Let the anger go!

Lent is a perfect time for us to realise that there is immense anger inside us. Many a time anger is left to fend for itself, while we pray against enemies and wish for their downfall. Maybe a part of the anger is making us do what we do in the form of praying against enemies even though the gospel does not have the concept of enemies as everyone some day or the other will be open to the salvation presented by Christ Jesus.

Jonah refuses to go to Nineveh because he can’t deal with the anger he has against the people of Nineveh. And yet part of the same anger makes him go in another direction hoping that something bad will happen to the people of Nineveh. It is misplaced anger and unjustified anger. When God God’s self does not anger against the people of Nineveh, Jonah feels otherwise.

The three days and nights Jonah gets to spend in the stomach of the big fish is a time to deal with his anger. It was a time when he was alone and could think about what he should do. It was also a time when he truly called out to God. The time in the stomach of the fish keeps him thus because of the vulnerability he is in. This again changes when he is out of the fish and is angry that the people of Nineveh change and follow God. His anger is further expressed on the shade in the form of a bush which withers away. He tells God that he is angry enough to die. He is sad that the people of Nineveh don’t get to die too.

The book of Jonah reminds us that God is not a vengeful God. God does not want to kill to prove a point. Rather God wants to save at all times. He reasons with Jonah that if Jonah is concerned about the bush he did not toil for, should not God be concerned for the people of Nineveh. It is a reminder for all of us that the Nineveh lent is a time to deal with our anger and let it go rather than keep it burning inside us.

Yesterday I got an e mail from someone I do not want to name. The person wrote the following with the following pictures.St. Mark 13:1-2 was first quoted in which it says “As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” Then the e mail went on to say “Kindly see the below pictures of Syriac (Jacobite) Churches destroyed in Syria. Isn't this also a curse from the Lord for creating schism in the Holy Orthodox Church in India by creating a rival Catholicate?” The pictures are supposed to be of churches destroyed in Syria.

The first reaction I had to seeing this was that of deep pain and anger. Pain of seeing the pictures of how sisters and brothers in Syria have suffered during the still continuing civil war, and anger that people in the church in India (whichever denomination) could even think that this is a punishment from God. The anger inside me was similar to the anger Jonah felt. It was an anger which made me sick to write and say anything. I had to deal with it and let it go. My post is one way of doing this.

I am not getting into who sent this and what kind of theological understanding about God they have. What concerns me is that anger makes us do insane things to the point of using disasters, wars and violence to say that God does all of this. The book of Jonah portrays a God who is slow to anger and who is full of patience and wants to save his people at any cost. This despite the fact that they were even worshipping other Gods. God's concern is that every single living organism should live because God created it. Jonah's anger wants annihilation while God tries to tell Jonah to deal with his anger and let it go.

The three day and night solitude in the belly of the fish is his first opportunity to deal with his anger. This tones him down a bit. But it continues despite this. After prophesying to the people of Nineveh he then again tries hard to deal with his anger. So much that if not the people of Nineveh, he wants God to take 'his' life. But time and again God tells him using the bush as an example that God cannot imagine doing something like that.

The Nineveh lent is a time for all of us to deal with our anger. This could be anger because of our spouse, child/children, colleagues, bosses, leaders, and even caused by church feuds and quarrels. As long as it is inside, it will come out in some form or the other. In some cases it will come out in installments. What is inside has to be dealt with and we have to use various ways to do this. Lent becomes an opportunity for all to deal with our anger through prayer and meditation. It is an experience whereby we isolate ourselves and think whether what we are doing is correct or not. The lent in Nineveh was for a common cause and everyone participated in it. It was not to take away life but to save life.

Church fathers have their own take on this. "A wandering mind is made stable by reading, vigil and prayer. Flaming lust is extinguished by hunger, labor and solitude. Stirrings of anger are calmed by psalmody, magnanimity and mercifulness. All this has its effect when used at its proper time and in due measure. Everything untimely or without proper measure is short-lived; and short-lived things and more harmful than useful." Abba Evagrius the Monk(Texts on Active Life no. 6). Further St. John Chrysostom says "For nothing is more grievous than wrath and fierce anger. This renders men both puffed up and servile, by the former making them ridiculous, by the other hateful; and bringing in opposite vices, pride and flattery, at the same time. But if we will cut off the greediness of this passion, we shall be both lowly with exactness, and exalted with safety. For in our bodies too all distempers arise from excess; and when the elements thereof leave their proper limits, and go on beyond moderation, then all these countless diseases are generated, and grievous kinds of death. Somewhat of the same kind one may see take place with respect to the soul likewise." St. John Chrysostom (Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew.)

Fr. George Morelli points out the "beast of anger" and quotes seven cognitive distortions relating to anger.

1. "Selective Abstraction is focusing on one event to the exclusion of others. A mother , for example, pays attention to the "D" on her son's report card while ignoring the "A's" and "B's." This "D" now becomes the focus of anger.
2. Arbitrary Inference is drawing a conclusion unwarranted by the facts in an ambiguous situation. For example, a parishioner says "Hello" to the Parish Priest in the Church Hall, the Priest doesn't reply, the person concludes the Priest doesn't like him or her and has a right to be angry.
3. Personalization, an event occurs that an individual concludes is directed to them personally. A patron in a busy restaurant perceives the waiter is purposely not waiting on his or her table. The patron never entertains the waiter may be under stress attempting to serve other patron's needs. The patron, concludes, they have a 'right' to be angry.
4. Polarization is the tendency to see things in all or nothing terms. 'Cynthia, Jack's wife misses making dinner one evening, because he 'categorizes' events into polarities he views her as a "bad" wife. All the categories between the absolute categories of good and bad are missed. He has the right to be angry at a "bad" wife.
5. Generalization is the tendency to see things in always or never categories. 'Jack' comes home late from work. His wife 'Jill' feels her husband will always be inconsiderate and never change. Not only is she angry at his lateness, but his future lateness as well.
6. Demanding Expectations, the belief that there are laws or rules that must or have to be obeyed. A mother believes her son should not talk back because she is his "mother." She has the "right" to be angry. (Note God gave us free will, He 'asks' us to obey His commandments. Like Christ, parents can 'prefer and constructively work' toward obedience from their children, but they have no guarantees their children will respect them.) Of spiritual help here is to reflect on the life of Our Lord. He was bruised, derided, cursed, defiled, crucified and died for our salvation. He Himself told us: No servant is greater than his master (Mat. 10:24) ---why would we expect to be treated any differently than Our Lord. It is a blessing if we are treated and honored, but we have no guarantee) A program of rewards for appropriate behavior and punishment, without anger, for inappropriate behavior would be constructive.
7. Catastrophizing, the perception that something is more that 100% bad, terrible or awful In the example above, the mother feels that it is terrible, the end of the world, her son answered back, which of course triggers increasing anger."

There are several ways to manage your anger. Lent can be used as one such way to know that we can never wish bad about someone. Rather it becomes a time when we deal with our issues and work for the benefit of others. In the process I watch the pictures again and know that my sisters and brothers in Syria are walking the talk and living in the true path of Christ while I do not experience even a small part of the struggle they are going through. This lent, I try to be with them. If as the e mail suggests, God has cursed and punished them, I urge the God mentioned in the e mail to curse and punish me too.

God, Jonah and Nineveh: Listening as a way of finding our voice

The three day Nineveh lent looks at the command of God to Jonah to go and preach to the people of Nineveh. His refusal and subsequent start of a ship journey to Tarshish shows that he did not do one significant thing which we need to do in our lives. Jonah did not ‘listen’ to God.

Listening is a skill which is acquired over a life time. The churches we go to help us acquire this skill over a period of time. But we don’t rely on this acquired skill in our personal lives. Listening to the guidance of God is a skill that exists inside us and yet has to be developed so that it can work completely. This is not just listening for a voice to come and tell us specifically what to do but to listen to God during worship, figuring out a hint in the numerous sermons we hear, understanding the needs of people and acting accordingly and knowing when someone is in need of our time, help and prayer.

Jonah refused to hear. He was simultaneously talked to by God, by the people of Nineveh indirectly and by his own voice telling him what to do. God gives him a clear message. We can identify three types of voices. The first is one’s own voice which is subject to be influenced by other voices. This is a thought inside as to what we should do or be doing. The second voice is a voice from God. This is something we hear as part of God speaking to us. This may be faint or loud, involve and not involve words, and could be misunderstood as other voices. The third voice is the voice we hear from others. They could be cries of help, sounds of joy, a gasp of frustration and shouts of anger. Growing spiritually means listening and understanding these voices. For this we need to keep away from everything else and listen carefully to these voices.

The Nineveh lent in the Jacobite church or any other church is a time to listen to these voices. We have to keep away from everything else so that these voices become audible and clear. A three day lent brings about an atmosphere to listen to what God wants for us and listen to the cries of others and our own body as well. Todd Henry offers ten questions we can ask ourselves to reclaim our voice. They include what angers you, what makes you cry, what have you mastered, what gives you hope, as a child what did you want to be when you grew up, if you had all the time and money in the world, what would you do, what would blow your mind, what platform do you own, what change would you like to see in the world and if you had one day left, how would you spend it?

Most of us are working and we try to play our own political games in our office spaces and institutions. These are games that we think will make our future better and give us the financial security which we and our families are yearning for. All the while the three types of voices continue to sound somewhere inside our mind and head. But we don’t take time to listen to these voices. The three day lent offers a perfect excuse and opportunity to listen to these voices. These are voices which will change our world and the world of others. They are also voices which will tell us that if we can hear something unique then we don’t need to play any politics anymore and the uniqueness will carry us through.

Jonah’s diversion to Tarshish is a purposeful attempt to negate God’s voice, his own voice and the voices of the people of Nineveh. This negation leads to his own journey thinking that it would give him the satisfaction he yearned for. But he is proved wrong eventually. Let us use this time of lent as a time to listen to and find our voice. This is the voice that has always been there but which we have time and again managed to brush away.

Thrikkunnathu seminary: Why the government can and should change its approach

Public anger spilling on to the streets is usual when the situation is heated and two groups are involved. Quelling this with police force using batons, water canons, rubber bullets and real bullets will only lead to a temporary calm which will be broken at any time. The churches involved in the Thrikkunnathu seminary conflict are definitely expected to be striving for peace and are also responsible for keeping church members and supporters at bay. This responsibility is one that belongs to all leaders of both churches and there is no doubt about that.

Church feuds spill over into the public domain and this is when political parties and the government especially have an important role to play. This is not something which can be wished away or will be fixed by itself. The government of the day has the responsibility of taking care of the needs of every citizen of the region or country. Questions posed in the form of letters, speeches, marches and entries cannot be quelled by police brutality. Waving of batons and sticks and using authority is the sign of government sponsored anarchy having set in instead of making use of democracy. Anarchy is what the people are usually accused of when they stand for their rights. But using the protective police force as a destructive and obstructive force is also anarchy as it leads to the denial of rights of people which is not based on a public debate or a democratic process. Such brutal force only shows the helplessness of a government in dealing with the situation.

Anarchy is usually played out by ordinary people. It is a reaction to forceful tactics employed by the government against its own people. Giving this a political twist with hired goons and plain clothes policemen waiting to pounce on a sensitive situation is government sponsored anarchy. This is against the true spirit of democracy and this should be contested.

Moxie Marlinspike and Windy Hart in their “An anarchist critique of democracy” talk of how false democracy can bring about alienation, decontextualization, opinions, majorities and imminent critques. According to them alienation happens when “Society thus ends up divided into the alienated, whose capacity to create their lives as they see fit has been taken from them, and those in control of these processes, who benefit from this separation by accumulating and controlling alienated energy in order to reproduce the current society, and their own role as its rulers. Most of us fall into the former category, while people like landlords, bosses, and politicians compose the latter.” The Jacobite church being alienated by the government brings about a foul democracy in this sense. Decontextualization leads to rules and laws being framed and used without taking into consideration the context. Opinions of the people rather than agendas of political rulers are better any day and this is forgotten conveniently. Marlinspike and Hart further explain majorities by saying that “The concept of the “majority” is particularly troubling. By always accepting the will of the majority, democracy allows for majorities to have an absolute tyranny over everyone else. This means that in the winner-take-all context of democracy, minorities have no influence over decisions that are made.” A minority church then has no say in its own matters and justice becomes a difficult proposition. Finally demagoguery, lobbying, and corruption are also fall outs of a misplaced democracy. “Demagoguery refers to a political strategy of obtaining a desired outcome or power by using rhetoric and propaganda to appeal to the prejudiced and reactionary impulses of the population.” This happens a lot with misplaced news and analysis against the church. Lobbying means that “Special interest groups send extremely well-paid people after elected representatives to persuade, threaten, barter or bribe them into delivering legislation, government funding, or other favours for their group.” The church has always found several hidden factors influencing the government for certain decisions. All of this is associated to corruption as well.

The church feuds in Kerala are not new. Both the Jacobite church and the Indian Orthodox Church have to realise that whenever the police use force against prelates, the clergy and the people, they are crushing the democratic spirit which this country and the church believes in. We have to condemn violence and aggression against any church or community as the biblical notion is that “Today it’s me and tomorrow it could be you!” The government by not taking an initiative to bring about justice and peace has turned into a mob, which it accuses the church groups of being, whenever it is pleasing and comfortable to them. The ruling dispensation in the form of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala has its grounding and foundation in ahimsa (non-violence) and the non-violent struggle of Mahatma Gandhi. Yet the same dispensation tries to quell non-violent protest and thereby quells and destroys the very democratic foundation of not just the church and society but also of the very own political parties that are a part of the alliance.

How many times have political leaders been lathi (baton) charged, hit with water canons and forcefully evicted from contested places and spaces? How many times have politicians been evicted from the revered assembly, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha when they shouted in the house and threw chairs? How many police men waved batons at members of the assembly and parliament when they made different kinds of noises in the place meant for meaningful and civilized debate? The security and justice expected by the people from a democratic dispensation is then only made available to a select political and business class. This is complete breakdown of democracy, challenging the very notion of freedom that this country has been built on and encouraging anarchists to take control of the situation.

All churches try to stay away from politics because they trust politicians to do their job. But what happens when this is not done? What is the alternative for churches and all religious groups when the government supports its version of anarchy in favour of democratic consultation and decision making? What if the people were to say that the security of the politicians is not the concern of the public and therefore the millions of rupees being spent on VVIP security should be stopped? What if the public were to duplicate the anarchy let lose by the government and the police?

The churches and its leaders are definitely called to serve and not to be served. But the same stands for the political class. This is something that has to be done together and not in isolation. The language, humiliation and force unleashed by the police is not a good sign for democracy in the state and country. So there is definitely no need for special treatment for leaders. But a head of a church and its bishops are not criminals in the same manner in which our representatives in the assembly and parliament are not looked at as criminals. If you can ask for, demand and forcefully take respect and use government machinery meant for the people, can’t religious leaders expect a bit of decency from you as well? This is not misplaced. It can be seen as the yearning of an ordinary citizen and should not be misconstrued as the demand of a powerful church and its leaders.

(Picture at the top is of priests in Ukraine standing between police and protestors during the huge protests there last month.)

The Thrikkunnathu Seminary saga: A different reading

St. Mark 6:1-6.
Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

The passage introduces us to Jesus who is questioned by people in his own town. He is questioned with regard to his antecedents and family. Isn’t this the carpenter and isn’t this Mary’s son appear to be not just a question asked in earnest but a question which was likely to cause humiliation. Jesus is quite taken aback and does not manage to do much. He is shaken by the question and manages to say that a prophet is not without honour except in his own town.

The question of whether the Jacobite church was well within its rights to enter the contested Thrikkunnathu seminary church and whether this lead to rising of tempers between the Jacobite church and the Indian Orthodox church is a valid question? But more questions should be asked in the direction of what the place holds for the leadership and believers of the Jacobite church.

January 25th was remembered as the memorial day of St. Athanasius Paulose, who was declared a saint of the Malankara church in 2004 by the Patriarch H.H. Mor Ignatius Zaka I Iwas and the Holy Synod, and remembered in the 5th intercessory prayer during Holy Qurbana from 2009 onwards. His life was inspirational not just for the saintly life he lived but for the organizations he started. The Malankara Sunday School Association, the Mor Gregorios Syrian Students Association and a brotherhood and sisterhood were all his brain child. The Thrikkunnath seminary campus was also build by him and people were encouraged to come and settle there. The foundation stone of this seminary was laid by another scholar of the church Paulose Mor Athanasius Kadavil (popularly known as Kadavil bishop). At one point of time many priests and future bishops did their seminary education in this centre. The list included two greats of the church in the form of the former Catholicose H.B. Baselios Paulose II and Bishop Abraham Mor Cleemis of blessed memory of the Knanaya community. What happened due to the closing of this centre to the Jacobites was the loss of an institution and a place to study the word of God and the traditions of the church. Kadavil bishop’s dream was to make this place a centre of Syriac and English learning! This loss is therefore irreplaceable and should be understood as a loss of the right to study and educate the clergy and people of one’s own church!

Today the question from the passage rings loud in our ears as well. Who are you?, who is this?, who are these people?, aren’t they the dissenters? Questions which cause deep hurt in the minds of the people and the leadership. The Jacobite church is still finding its bearings with regard to seminary education. The MSOT seminary in Mulanthuruthy is trying its best to equip candidates for pastoral ministry in the church. Other candidates are also going to seminaries all over India for studying and training. But the fact remains that a centre for excellence was lost in the schism with the Indian Orthodox church.

The morning entry and worship can be seen as a struggle to say that we are indeed the sons and daughters of the carpenter but we also want the space to enter the church (synagogue) and be a part of the deliberations and learn and teach. Denial of entry is a denial of basic human hood and basic rights of numerous people and the clergy who need education as their right to move up the social ladder. It is also a denial to move up and a denial that we exist, despite being together with other churches as the oldest in the country. St. Athanasius Paulose became Valia (Big) thirumeni (bishop) from “Kochu Paulo” (Small Paul). The yearning of the community is to study and become big in the same manner. The land which the church stands is therefore land which the people of the church wish to touch and be blessed.

St. Athanasius Paulose brought about a social transformation for the community by giving impetus to education of people and the clergy. The church was dealt a double blow on losing him as we lost both a steadfast leader and his vision for better education, which may have also been an inheritance and legacy of his predecessor Paulose Mor Athansius Kadavil. The entry can be seen as a yearning to walk on the ground that these educators walked, to inherit the values that they spoke of and practised and to touch their entombed remains as a means of saying “We will struggle and study and try and come up. Please be with us in our struggle.”

As we continue to pray for peace let us also understand that standing for Jesus and with Jesus entails suffering and hardship. This is not status quo but a march for attaining rights to exist and be accepted. Peace should prevail and it will when the dust has settled. Until then let us not think that we can be veiled from reality and what is happening in the church. Prayer forms a powerful form of protest which says that even though others will not accept us and honour us as living beings, we will continue to believe in Christ Jesus and the way he dealt with the questions “What’s this wisdom that has been given to him” and with the insults of others taking offense with him. The very people who have cut off our lines of education and upbringing are now questioning our antecedents. Let us continue to pray and hope that God may offer peace, a peace which brings about justice even when it passes all understanding. Amen.


(Excerpt from a sermon preached in St. Mary's JSO Cathedral, Bangalore on February 2, 2014.)

It's your fault: A satirical video on the plight of women in India

The culture of rape is being discussed with serious concern in the media and society in India. The Annual Bangalore Inter Theologiate Seminar (BITS) involving all seminaries in Bangalore is discussing the theme "Retrogressive culture of rape: An analysis". I will be using a short video "It's your fault" directed by Ashwin Shetty and starring Kalki Koechlin and Juhi Pandey. The video is a satire on the situation of women in India today. Women are so fed up with the lack of support from men and the antithetical nature of the debate which turns around against them, that the video uses the satirical exclamation "It's your fault". This suggests the conclusion of men of why violence against women happens in India.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau First Information Reports for rape rose by 2.9% in 2012. Even though 95% cases were charge sheeted fewer than 15% cases came to trial in 2012 and only 24.2% rape trials resulted in a conviction in 2012.

The video talks about the wrong notions about women and the violence against women.
1. Men look because they have eyes.
2. Provocative clothing leads to rape.
3. Women are the leading cause of rape.
4. Call the perpetrator bhaiya (brother) and he will let you go!
5. Stop working late.
6. When husbands rape it is not called rape.
7. Food and movies lead to rape.
8. Mobiles lead to rape.

The actual messages that come through from the video are
1. If men can look, so can women. Having eyes doesn’t mean you can look at whomever in whatever way.
2. Provocative clothing cannot lead to rape.
3. Men are the cause of rape.
4. Call the perpetrator a criminal and report him to the police.
5. Working according to your time is a woman's fundamental right.
6. When husbands rape it is called rape. It is marital rape.
7. Mindset and not food leads to rape.
8. Mobiles lead to prevention of rape.

Conclusion.
1. The need for equal and safe spaces.
2. Equality has to be reflected in all spheres.
3. Negating the push aspect of the media.
4. Fixing responsibility on all estates of the democracy and the church.


(Presented in the BITS annual meeting at the Ecumenical Christian Centre, Whitefield, Bangalore on Feb 1, 2014.)

2014…1, 2 ka 4…4, 2 ka 1

After leaving behind a 0123 year 2013 we have entered into 2014 with the usual excitement. Even though there is no big deal and many a time much ado about nothing is being made out about the entry into the new year, it does help to have something to look to and be inspired at the beginning of a year.

2014 does give that edge over 2013 even though it does not make much numerical sense. This is apparent if one looks at the 1989 Bollywood movie “Ram Lakhan”. The movie had a long star cast including Raakhi, Dimple Kapadia, Madhuri Dixit, Anupam Kher, Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor. The movie had a song titled “1, 2 ka 4…4, 2 ka 1.” On the one hand the song meant how Jackie Shroff playing the elder brother saw his younger brother as someone who was always looking to make easy money. On the other hand the movie ends with the message that the younger brother is not that bad a person after all and the two brothers come together for a fight against evil.

The idea is that usually 1x2= 2 but this can be 1x2=4. If this is used to accumulate wealth and work against the people this will be one of the most corrupt things one can do. But if this same concept is used for good, it can bring about benefit to the people. 1x2 cannot be 4 practically and yet corruption has become part of our system. The idea is then to use this impracticable concept for the benefit of the people.

There is a lot of interest being generated on the subsidy announced for electricity in Delhi for those who consume up to 400 units of electricity. Even as some say that it is utter madness, there is a method in the madness being professed. This can be attributed as the 1,2 ka 4 method whereby money is used for the benefit of the commoner rather than for private enterprises distributing electricity.

John 15: 13-15 says “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.” There is an invitation for a calculated madness which basically makes use of the concept of taking what is available and multiplying it to unimaginable levels. This brings us to a raised position of being friends of Jesus and being privy to what he knows.

This 2014, a 1,2 ka 4 concept will serve us well. It is a way to say that the welfare of the people is the only and ultimate aim for us. Those below in the social ladder should get an opportunity to come up rather than being kept where they are citing procedural and practical reasons. 2014 is also a year where we can make things happen rather than just talking and discussing what could happen. Let’s multiply goodness. Happy new year.

Aap, mein or tu

The Aam Aadmi party or the “you” which is what aap means in Hindi has brought about a complex future in Delhi and even other parts of the country. The BJP as the single largest party in Delhi does not have the majority in the house and the AAP as a close second does not have the numbers as well. The BJP has surprised many by saying that it is willing to be in the opposition. This is very unlikely of a national party be it the BJP or Congress and the history of post election periods in many states of the country are witness to this.

The stand of AAP is perhaps justified. They will either run a government on their own or sit in the opposition. Another election may also lead to AAP coming to power by themselves as they will be taken seriously by the people of Delhi a second time round. So what they are doing actually makes sense from their point of view.

The Congress is at a historic new. After 15 years in power, they are no where. They could offer unconditional support to the AAP and say that come what may they will support from outside. The question is whether the Congress could ever offer such support and whether AAP will accept support from the party they fought against.

An outside Congress support for the coming to power of AAP makes sense because that will lead to a stable government and the negation of another election which would lead to waste of money of the exchequer. This has been a model followed in other countries where different political party’s come together to take the country forward and do away with insecurity and uncertainty.

The BJP may not come forward because they may see a better chance in another election together with the Lok Sabha election, which may give it a clear majority. The waiting game being played could be for the AAP to come to power with Congress support and then for the BJP to reiterate that the AAP is an off shoot of the Congress. The Congress has not much to play with. A meagre 5 seats and the loss of their Chief Minister Sheila Dixit does not leave the Congress with much. The AAP has carved a separate section for themselves. This is a political party which is marketing itself as non-corrupt and willing to fight corruption and take up the local problems of the people. Going along with the BJP or Congress may lead to a campaign against AAP by vested interests saying that they are the same as the BJP and Congress.

The performance of AAP has lead to a peculiar vacuum in Delhi and the ripples are being felt in other parts of the country. Their unique way of campaigning whereby they could reach out to rural and urban voters and how they used various forms of the media to reach out to people has opened up the political sphere. The stability being sought may not come about easily. Maybe we need uncertainty and a peculiar vacuum which will lead the people to think what they really want and what is important for them. Till then the BJP and AAP may continue to say “Pehle Aap” (first you or after you).

"First they laugh at you/Then they challenge you/Then they watch you succeed/Then they wish they were you."

Maaro, magar pyar se maaro (John 7:53- 8:11)

John 7:53- 8:11- ...while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.[a] 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.”[b] And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”]][c]

The passage John 7:53- 8:11 talks of a woman who is wrongfully confined and held by a group of people, who want Jesus to answer what punishment she should get for the indictment they have given her.

We see Jesus being questioned by the scribes and Pharisees. The bait they use here is a woman who they say has been caught in adultery. The people present along with the scribes and Pharisees therefore want Jesus to say that the woman has committed a mistake and should be stoned in accordance with the law of Moses. But does this happen or does Jesus do something not expected? The said passage fascinated me because it was included in the gospel of John very late. So much that biblical researchers would even say that it is not Johanine in style. This itself makes it interesting to look at because it could have been a resistance or protest passage within the entire scheme of events. Almost like being pushed through in the heaviness of the gospel. This therefore gives an indication that it may also contain something equally explosive which could have been of concern to the church. When we look at the passage we notice several things.

There are several gaps in the story which actually may be intentional. Where is the man caught in adultery along with the woman, why did the crowd wait for Jesus to come, was their concern adultery or trapping Jesus? Three major characterisations exist in the story. From the perspective of the men, the woman and Jesus are the enemies. More Jesus and less the woman. They are therefore to be done away with. The woman is slapped with an allegation of adultery. This is made as an excuse to engage Jesus. This is for defeating him and getting him out of the equation. So there is a reason for them to do what they did. A reason from their perspective. They used a law and twisted it in their favour to do away with the threat of Jesus. The situation could even have turned out into an early end of Jesus’ public ministry. The atmosphere is volatile and could have had a very ugly end. But what happens is completely different from what they had planned.

The second perspective is that of the woman who is accused of adultery. This is a woman who is wrongfully held against her will. She is a woman who is maybe caught in the crossfire. But it also shows as to how the men treat her as an object to lure Jesus. She is helpless in the entire incident and awaits her judgement at the hand of the moralists. Her wait may have been agonisingly slow and makes one wonder whether that was worse than the accusation made against her. She is embarrassed and humiliated in the company of many males who are preaching morality to her. So much that she has lost all energy to complain and say anything at all. Her silence is not an admission of her guilt but an admission of how she has been subjected to violence, pain and humiliation. This silence speaks more than the words used by the others. Her silence is also the judgement of a society who continued to ravage her life instead of showing empathy to her and supporting her.

The third perspective is that of Jesus. He is faced with several predicaments. Should he affirm the lawless law and even the misinterpreted law, should he judge the woman or fight for her, should he support or condemn the men, should he wish away the uncomfortable situation along with the people present, or should he say what is right and save the situation without bringing about bloodshed? The tension in the passage is so strong that one cannot predict which way it will go. Blood shed seems imminent.
As mentioned before, the bible passage attains new meaning as a subversive text because it was never a part of the text and still confuses those who read it. This is because the text is packaged brilliantly that the meaning lies hidden somewhere inside.

Maaro, magar pyar se maaro, is the conceptual framework in which I would like to see this passage. People are quick to unassumingly use the thought in the passage “first one to throw a stone” and “anyone without sin” so much that it is seen as practically impossible to follow. The killer instinct of the passage has been made toothless by the fact that it has been allowed to stand still without reflection.

My conceptual framework was picked up in Mumbai from a story that a pastor shared. It is a different setting involving different characters but which nevertheless speaks to us and inspires us. The setting is a suburban railway station in Mumbai where a long queue is broken by a heavily built and tall man. The short person behind him complains and asks him to stand at his right place in the queue. Both of them get into a fight and the winner is clear because of the might at the hand of the first man. He raises his hand and says “Maroonga thuje”, meaning I will beat you/hit you. The short man is unsure as to what to say but nevertheless maintains his ground. The crowd anticipates a good fight and instead of saying anything, watches intensely for the first move from the giant. Just as the huge man raises his hand to swipe away the small man like a fly, comes a voice far off but crystal clear. It says “Maaro, bhaiya maaro….magar pyaar se maaro” meaning “beat him/hit him man, beat/hit him with love.” The crowd is unsure as to which direction to look to and pay attention. They don’t want to miss a thing. A few seconds of silence follows and then the big man, small person and the crowd burst out laughing. A fatal situation turns to a situation where everyone says, take it easy. The big man shakes the other person’s hand, says sorry and joins the queue at his rightful place. The crowd in true Mumbai Bollywood style claps.

How can we see the passage of the woman, the adulterous woman as she is called and what Jesus does? It is a common scene or setting in our lives when the power of intervention could work wonders. I would pick a few points from the passage for our reflection today.

1. Kill the bill or kill the attitude?
The women’s reservation bill was one of the promises made by the United Progressive Alliance II in its election manifesto. Despite the passing of other bills this has stayed in the back burner. The upcoming national elections in 2014 would have been a time to bring this into effect but the parliament cannot get it passed because of some men who group themselves into a mob whenever this is discussed. Killing the bill or Kill Bill, following the famous Hollywood movie seems to be the attitude of male politicians. Interestingly the movie portrays a woman killing a man. Several reasons are given for the negation of the bill and they involve reasons which are never really out in the open. It resembles the attitude of the crowd to the woman. They alleged that she had done something and therefore should be stoned or killed. A similar reasoning is used to say that the reservation bill should be killed. But Jesus in the passage turns around the argument. He writes on the ground and it looks like he is writing a new bill to be passed. The bill involves telling the mob that if anything/anyone should be stoned or killed it is their attitude and not the woman. If anything is sin, it is what they are doing. It is time that we also took stock of our lives and saw ourselves and located ourselves in the said passage. Who are we in the passage? The crowd, the woman or Jesus? Who should we be? Are we sinning?

2. The silence of the lambs.
Silence has been much written about and always is used to suggest that those who are silent are the reason for the state of affairs in our country. They include women, ordinary people and the poor. Their silence is seen as the problem instead of the solution. The woman in the text is also silent. Does that mean that she had nothing to say, was guilty as charged, accepted the sentencing of the crowd or does it mean that her silence was speaking against what she was charged for. This is the silence that Jesus notices. It is a silence of communities who are oppressed into silence. It is a silence which is even more powerful than speech. The woman is fighting her battle with silence. Even as the others shout, she remains silent. Maybe it was a silent defiance against the men who teamed up against her. It is noteworthy that the silence and not the accusation moves Jesus. It is the silence of the lambs. He moves over to the role of the shepherd who takes the side of one sheep while leaving the 99 on the other side. Even as the other sheep complain, the one is silently exploring new ground and territory. The shepherd goes in search of this one.

3. Writing and shedding one’s blood to prevent bloodshed.
Jesus is under a clear predicament. The crowd was ready to stone him using the woman as bait. They were waiting for him and finally got him. The answer to their question on the law and what should be done to the woman is interestingly given by writing on the ground. He basically puts his life on the line and is prepared to shed his blood to prevent bloodshed and to prevent injustice to the woman. At no point does this seem as something benefitting him. As theologians this gives a clear indication that we have to write and rewrite for the benefit of oppressed individuals and communities. Seeing oneself as the oppressed and writing for oneself may not come under such protest writing. Unfortunately we sometimes write for ourselves. We should be able to transcend this and write for the benefit of others and for the rightful justice of others. It is also interesting to note that Jesus prevents violence through his act of writing instead of doing vice versa. We can notice in the society that we live in that a lot of hate literature is passed on. The communal violence in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh was fuelled by such hate literature and images being circulated over the internet and through mobile phones. Such messages divided communities and brought about conflict which became very difficult to handle. Fanning the fire and adding fuel to the fire is easier than stopping the fire. Jesus is asked to fan the fire and sign the death sentence of the woman. He puts his life at risk to do the opposite.

4. Maaro, magar pyar se maaro.
This motto sums it up. But one should not mistake what this means. It is not being a smiling assassin, or smiling while stabbing someone in the back. What it means rather, is that we should love one another first and if we still have hatred, then go on and do what you want. The first step and the first part has to be the love for the other. This is new territory, new culture, new understanding, new laws and new ways. Yet we enter into the newness with love in our minds. Jesus does not tell the group of men to not throw stones and not punish. He only says, let the one without sin throw the first stone. He does not discourage them, but tells them to do it if they have no wrong inside. In another way, he is saying, do it with love. But they are not able to because love does not involve violence and condemnation.

In our own communities this becomes a good example to follow. This is at the same time an outlet and an understanding of one’s limitations and the road that lies ahead. Jesus does not stop the scribes and Pharisees from making the accusation. Rather he allows them to make it so that the negative thoughts inside them come out. After this has happened he knows that they have it out of their minds. This is when he talks to them about sin, and then suggests that the filth is out. Now you can concentrate on something positive. This becomes an important element in our churches as well. People need an outlet to express themselves. This is important because without this expression the hatred will remain. The expression of this hatred will give an opportunity to people to be at peace with themselves and go their way. Jesus sends both parties their way. One goes with the understanding that hatred is not there anymore and they cannot sustain the relentless campaign against the woman and Jesus. The other party in the form of the woman also is send her way, with hope that Jesus does not condemn her. This is because Jesus does not have hatred for her.

Friends, in our haste in moving forward we have all become a mob, waiting to pounce on the next person who appears. Let us meditate on and allow the bible passage to speak to us, so that we realise it is time to express, time for getting an outlet but also time to let go. Amen.

(Preached this sermon in UTC Tagore Hall for Sunday evening worship on October 13, 2013.)

Rest in Peace Akhrieno Savi

Death always brings upon us a gloom which is so difficult to do away with. A sadness that remains despite the busy life and work which challenges our emotions. Death to a close family member, friend and colleague is even more difficult to comprehend because we feel the closeness of death. Such is the feeling of having lost Akhrieno Savi that it will take a few days to comprehend what actually happened. But the outpouring of grief at this moment makes it clear that Akhrieno had so many friends and everyone valued her friendship.

Akhrieno always came across as a nice person who went out of the way to make you feel good. It was a pleasing sight to see her in UTC as she was always smiling. It was an honour to study as her junior in UTC and interact with her and share various aspects of South Indian culture with her. I guess she was a calming presence in an academic setting where everyone else shouted their lungs out to be heard.

Akhrieno as a writer shouted out her feelings and made us think of the frailty of life. I realised this more so after she left UTC and after a gap of a few years when she read what I wrote and in turn send me what she wrote. I was honoured by her comments, suggestions and sharing of work. I think it is a part of her that not many knew about. As I still come to terms with her demise I reproduce here a few poems written by Akhrieno. She will continue to live through her writings and I am sure there are many more with others. I humbly submit them for all, to honour Akhrieno and tell the world that she was a good academician, writer and human being. Rest in peace my friend.

Morning!
The smell of Nescafe coffee And the taste of sweet farm biscuits;
The fresh folded morning papers Lying neatly on the table;
The sun rays through the window Casting light in the kitchen;
Raindrops still nestling on the leaves
Reminiscences of tear drops on a baby’s face; the dusty old roofs all washed and sparkled by the heavy downpour last night;
Tiny busy bees at work, Occasionally flirting with the flowers;
A fly hovering round me the sweet smell of biscuit must’ve enticed her;
The ticking of the clock on my desk reminding me, that time waits for no one;
the fading roses on my vase Cautions me that nothing lasts forever;
Smoke slowly, gently curling up from my neighbor’s chimney top; the strong curry smell from my mother’s pot spreading aromas of delight;
The milk man making his morning rounds, dozens of jars (bottles) on his shoulder; a little girl in uniform with a dismal look, as her mother drags her to school;
Shopkeepers pulling up their shutters, another day, another opportunity, another beginning; It amazes me how these everyday happenings, Still bring a smile to my face And teach me life’s lessons daily.

A Solitary moment...
A solitary moment with you O God, Is like a steaming cup of tea after a hard day’s work Refreshing, revitalizing, awakening the weary soul, Giving me new hope, new strength, to move pass bad times.
A solitary moment with you O God, Is like a balm that heals the pains and hurts; As the balm slowly soothes the aching body and senses So also is your presence a gentle balm, to my sore spirit.
A solitary moment with you O God, Is like stealing a minute on my most chaotic day For a short slumber to rest my weary bones on a soft silken bed; So also is your presence, where I find rest for my worn out soul.

The Hands...
His hands are worn out and wrinkled But hands that never rest; The hands that toil from dawn to dusk So there’ll be food on the table; The hands that chop the firewood To keep our nights warm and the fire place burning; The hands that built the family house So we can have a roof over our head; Hands that stroked my hair and dried my tears On my first day to school; The hands that held me up when I fell And carried me when my feet couldn’t go any longer; Hands that are now weak and frail, clumsy and shaky But are still the most beautiful hands… The hands of my dear father.

And finally a poem that offers hope to all of us even as she is no more with us....

A dying man’s song…
When I am gone… When my heart stops beating And my face appears pale and blue; When my eyes refuse to open And look back at you… When my body lies stiff and cold And I can’t touch you any longer… Always remember…I am near, very near. Look around you I will come as the morning breeze And gently touch your cheeks I will come as the gentle rain And wash your grief away When you need a friend I will be among the trees, whispering to you I will be among the birds Singing for you, when you’re feeling lost And when I’m gone, don’t forget me Even as I fade away for others Carry me forever in your heart And keep me alive in your memory.

Wedding sermon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cERDXv2oCr8 This is a wedding sermon preached for the wedding of Dr. Thomas and Dr. Anupa on April 14, 2013 in the St. Mary's Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Cathedral, Queen's Road, Bangalore. God bless them always.

An Ecumenical view on Churches view of Eucharist: A critical discussion .

Introduction
This paper is an attempt at looking at the Eucharist, its meaning and relevance for the church today. How relevant is the Eucharist when seen from the view of various churches? Is the Eucharist which is supposed to unite Christians also the divisive element among churches and people? What then is the future of the Eucharist in the context of the changing needs of the church in India? How should churches change in their view of the Eucharist and what changes should be made in the Eucharist so that both churches and the Eucharist complement each other?

Definition
“The Holy Eucharist is a sacrament and a sacrifice. In the Holy Eucharist, under the appearances of bread and wine, the Lord Christ is contained, offered, and received.”1 Furthermore “The Sacrament of Communion is a Holy Sacrament by which the believer eats the Holy Body and Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, presented by the Bread and Wine. This Sacrament has the greatest importance among the Seven Church Sacraments. It is sometimes called the ‘Mystery of Mysteries’ or the ‘Crown of Sacraments’; for all the Sacraments are crowned by the Eucharist.”2

How the Eucharist is interpreted
Eucharist is the Lord’s table or the coming together of people around the Lord’s table commemorating the event of the sharing of bread and wine by Jesus Christ with his disciples. The event is also given importance because it is about the transformation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. The commemoration present in the verse “Do this in remembrance of me” suggests that we have to come together and partake of the elements (the body and blood) to be one in Christ. In the early church there was an understanding that “Thus the bread and wine in the celebration actually united the participant to Christ and to all true Christians. In this way, the eucharist not only symbolized but actually effected the unity of Christians in Christ. Participation in the eucharist, therefore, was the appropriate ritual of adherence to the unity of the church. Those who refused to accept the behavioral obligations which accompanied eucharistic fellowship were outside the church and would be excluded from the kingdom of heaven.”3

Eucharist also suggests a faith proclamation or expression whereby the church declares what it believes and how it believes. The dogma or teaching of the church is expressed clearly and the eucharist forms a clear form of this expression. In this sense the eucharist is a clarity of where one stands (which side of the fence) and what one is prepared to do. The eucharist has become limiting because it is now institutionalized in and therefore only available within gated communities or denominations. What was earlier available in open, free spaces (as in the feeding of the four thousand and five thousand) is now available in limited spaces which are not fit for such eucharist events. Philip Sheldrake explains this phenomenon and says “The trouble is that some versions of a theology of spirituality of the Eucharist concentrate on building up the community of the Church in and for itself. In this case the Eucharist ends up as the celebration of the spiritual equivalent of the well secured “gated communities”…”4 He further says “To live eucharistically beyond the church doors commits us to cross the boundaries of fear and prejudice in an embrace of strangers in the public square in whom we are challenged to recognize the Real Presence of God.”5 In a positive way Eucharist is also a celebration or coming together whereby the people who belong to a particular group or community commune together to celebrate the oneness they possess and the one they believe in. This is a celebration of their history, tradition, story, and growth.

Eucharist is a food for the way whereby church members are given strength to do good and profess their mission statement to the world. The eucharist becomes a great opportunity whereby the people are called forth to do this good by being part of a community of faith. “Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. He who eats this Bread will live forever”6 As food develops the body and keeps it healthy, so too the spiritual food, which is the Holy Body and Blood of Christ, strengthens the soul so that it may grow continually in grace. “It provides remedy to the soul, body and spirit, as we say in the Offertory Mystery: “That they (Holy Body and Precious Blood) may become to us all for participation and healing and salvation for our souls, bodies and our spirits”.7

Eucharist is a memory. Memory can be selective but it is still memory. It is a memory of what has happened. This memory is kept alive so that no one forgets what happened and how we are linked to that. It is a memory that Jesus Christ lived, died and resurrected for us. This has been initiated into our collective memory and the eucharist keeps this memory fresh and alive by making us repeat what we have learnt as children. It is also a memory of the sacrifice through protest of Christ and the similar protests that are present in our own society. The Eucharist becomes a time when we then link the past, present and future through this memory.8

The eucharist is also associated with food and with the great commission of sharing food. Limited means are not the problem but the mind to share what we have makes the eucharist a beautiful act which teaches us that poverty and hunger are human made and not natural. It also teaches us that Christians are called to do away with poverty and hunger and not accentuate it and increase it. Those of us who think that poverty and hunger are not the concern of the church have got the commitment and call of the church totally wrong. One has to therefore know that the act of the eucharist strengthens us to do good and this meal for the way keeps us in the path of goodness. It gives us the promise of eternal life : It provides growth in the Spirit and spiritual perfection and life in Jesus Christ, for He said: “For My Flesh is food indeed and My Blood is drink indeed .... As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me”.9 Jesus was quite explicit with this attitude to share. “When people do come together for a meal, it’s not just to nourish their bodies but to enjoy each other’s company, to build up their relationships, to share what’s been happening in their lives. Food gives life, so the sharing of food is the sharing of life. Jesus invites us to share in his divine life when we accept the sacred food he provides for us. Jesus ate meals with people of all levels of society though he showed a preference for eating with the lowest classes. Not only was this most unusual it was breaking one of the strict taboos of Jewish culture.”10 Monika Hellwig says that “The simple, central action of the Eucharist is the sharing of food- not only eating but sharing.”11

Church and churches in India
The church is a gathering of people who belong to a subscribed faith proclamation. The gathering will be a part of what the group stands for and is a visible union of people. The church also suggests that there is but one church and therefore divisions are not part of this. It also means that there is an attempt to make the church as part of a visible union and all people are brought under this union with or without their permission. The usage of church also suggests that there is a union of different people and communities who are in different places and under different cultures. The usage then could be misleading and will cause a misunderstanding as to what the church actually means. It could also be that several denominations will use it very loosely but actually only mean the existence of their own denominational church.

Churches on the other hand suggest and explicitly state that there are not one but several churches. This could also mean that every church has truth present but will also have things which may not be accepted by other churches. This means that there are several representations of one truth. Just like we try to get an inter-religious understanding of life, we then try to get an inter-denomination, ecumenical view of life. It is also argued whether the churches come under the church.12

Churches in India are divided into the mainline, traditional, ritualistic, free, protestant, Orthodox, Catholic, Pentecostal, free and various other groupings.13 Some accept others unconditionally, conditionally and in and for certain things. In many cases a total coming together and working with each other happens in the time of some sort of persecution from other religions or from the government in the form of any legislation or special measure being followed. Each church then has its own set of beliefs, traditions, liturgy and Eucharistic model. Each church has its own understanding of the nature of the bread and wine during the eucharist and its transformation and the extent of the transformation. Every church also then has the case of acceptance in which some condition is put forth to be a part of the eucharist undertaking whereby the body and blood of Christ is given and shared on the completion of a particular clause. The belief in the nature of the bread and wine and its transformation into the body and blood of Christ itself forms a basis of division instead of unity between churches. This division is played out very strongly in the case of different churches where this becomes a very emotive and strong case of how people understand the very concept of unity.

Churches are also divided on the lines of caste and colour whereby this becomes a basis for exclusive churches which then do not accept people who they feel do not fulfill certain conditions for membership and communion during eucharist. The concept of church brings everyone under one umbrella but the challenge is that it is a concept which is hollow and not true. Unless everyone is brought under the one umbrella, it cannot be one church. The other way of looking at it would be to say that everyone is different in their own way and the struggle is to bring about unity in this diversity. Church, ecclesia and communion becomes a way of understanding the possibilities offered by the church/churches but it also brings out challenges which ask for a critical view of the church as well. This is the case in India as well where there are so many different churches. Each church is unique in its own way and people of one church do not necessarily have much idea of people of other churches and their eucharist service. This short coming many a time prevents any actual ground unity.

Challenges facing the church and possibilities for the future
Can the eucharist lead to unity rather than being a divisive element? Should we thus broaden the very horizon of the eucharist as an official act in the church or should it be seen as much more expansive and elaborate? Has the eucharist from being an act to instil the habit of sharing in people become an act which is a part of institutionalized religion? This is now further and farther from sharing and does not truly and fully make people understand the concept of sharing as part of Christian witness.

As part of the commission of Jesus to his disciples to do this in remembrance of him, the passage in the bible is referred to as the last supper. One critical part of this was the feet washing which Jesus performed. In it he tells Peter that unless Peter allows him to do this, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. This then suggests that feet washing becomes the epitome of humbling oneself and therefore without this humbling and humility one cannot hope to be a part of the true Eucharist experience. Even when we do feet washing it is limited to men and to certain men only. The true spirit of the feet washing goes much beyond this and is suggestive of washing the feet of a representation of people belonging to all genders, communities, regions, and caste.

Eucharist today also has some problems with the concept of purity and untouchability. Purity and untouchability form the basis of caste and race divisions. Anyone who comes to the Lord’s table should be given the body and blood. It is not our decision and prerogative as to who should be given and who should not. We are not supposed to decide the fashion of distribution too. The problem of purity existed in the early church as well. “When Christian rituals of baptism and eucharist were performed outside and in opposition to the unity of the church, however, they not only failed to sanctify but polluted their participants in the same way as the idolatrous ceremonies of Roman polytheism.”14

Different denominations are comfortable within their own comfortable spaces and do not want to risk any sort of problem by thinking outside the box. This forms a problem as it only brings about name sake ecumenism without really taking any risks as far as property, churches and wealth is concerned. The challenge of full unity and the fear of failure prevents small attempts at church unity. “Sykes suggests that Christianity is an 'essentially contested concept' and that what Christian unity amounts to is 'contained diversity'. He characterises Christian identity in dynamic terms: 'Christian identity is … not a state but a process; a process, moreover, which entails the restlessness of a dialectic, impelled by criticism. ' For Sykes, it is imperative that the community in which this process is worked out is a community held in unity by common worship.”15 On the other hand “for Chretian Duquoc, the churches are 'provisional societies', whose provisionality consists in 'the condition of innovation, of continual creation, of presence in changing situations'. He finds that it is 'in the positive acceptance of plurality that the churches, by their capacity for communion, bear witness to the ultimate.”16

Eucharist does bring about the possibility of commonness and unity among churches when common causes are taken seriously. “One of the major concerns of the early Church was for the Eucharist to be a sign of unity, especially when persecution threatened to divide the assembly. Eating from the same loaf, drinking from the same cup, gathered around the same table – these were symbols of a united people. This sense of belonging is still very important today.”17 Communities have to work together for this. “The liturgy is an act of the community. This is even indicated in the etymology of the term "liturgy" - leitourgia - service of the people. It is not a clerical solo performance but a concert of the whole Christian community, in which certain of its members play a special part, in accordance with their different charisms and mandates.”18

Eucharist also shows Jesus breaking himself and showing his brokenness for the sake of people. Unless we break bread we are not the true followers of Jesus. Breaking bread and ourselves is possible when we stand for the right causes. This can be done through liberative ecumenism. Such ecumenism looks at various challenges like caste, gender and ecological violence that face us today. We then come together in a unified expression against such violence.19

Conclusion
One can look at the future from the perspective of what can be done. Stanley Harakas suggests “that the main aim of ecumenism should be to bring about unity and not anything else. It does not involve human knowledge, ground realities but the unity which exists in God.”20 He suggests a moving beyond a dogmatic rigid model for ecumenism through the Eucharist. Gideon Goose on the other hand suggests using emancipatory theory for disassembling structures of dominance, dependence and inequality.21 Erin Michelle Brigham uses the communicative action theory of Jurgen Habermas to suggest how change can be brought about. “Habermas suggests that communicative rationality avoids the pitfalls of relativism and positivism, providing a helpful framework for addressing our post-metaphysical age. On one hand, the framework of communicative rationality acknowledges that truth is historically located and open to critique. On the other hand, it affirms the rational character of knowledge, opening the possibility for reaching a shared truth through inter-subjective understanding.”22 The concept of a people’s Eucharist may also suggest a future course of action. This may come about by a movement from below which has the blessings of the church hierarchy as well.23

1. http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/eucha1a.htm

2. http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/thecopticchurch/sacraments/4_eucharist.html

3. J. Patout Burns Jr., Cyprian the Bishop, Routledge: London, 2002, p. 172.

4. Philip F. Sheldrake, Explorations in Spirituality. History, Theology and Social Practice, Paulist Press: New Jersey, 2010, p. 176.

5. Ibid.

6. John 6: 54, 58.

7. http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/thecopticchurch/sacraments/4_eucharist.html

8. Margaret Scott, The Eucharist and Social Justice, Paulist Press: New Jersey, 2009, p. 76.

9. John 6:55,57

10. http://theeucharist.wordpress.com/index/chapter-11-eucharist-as-nourishment/

11. Monika K. Hellwig, The Eucharist and the Hunger of the World, Sheed and Ward: Lanham, 1992, p. 2.

12. G.R. Evans, The Church and The Churches, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1994, p. 29.

13. M. Thomas Thankaraj, Indian Christian Tradition in Religions of South Asia, An Introduction, Sushil Mittal and Gene Thursby (eds), Routledge: New York, 2006, p. 195.

14. J. Patout Burns Jr., Cyprian the Bishop, Routledge: London, 2002, p. 132.

15. Nicholas Sagosvy, Ecumenism, Christian Origins, and the Practice of Communion, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2000, p. 201.

16. Ibid., p. 202.

17. http://theeucharist.wordpress.com/index/chapter-1/

18. http://www.oikoumene.org/en/resources/documents/wcc-programmes/unity-mission-evangelism-and-spirituality/spirituality-and-worship/the-eucharistic-liturgy-of-lima

19. Martin L. Daneel, Liberative Ecumenism at the African Grassroots, in Fullness of Life for All: Challenges for Mission in Early 21st Century, Inus Daneel, Charles Van Engen and Hendrik Vroom (eds), Rodopi: Amsterdam, 2003, pp. 324, 325.

20. Stanley Harakas, What Orthodox Christian Ethics Can Offer Ecumenism, Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Volume: 45. Issue: 3, 2010, p. 376.

21. Gideon Goose, Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue Seen through an Emancipatory Theory, Journal of Ecumenical Studies. Volume: 42. Issue: 2, Spring 2007, p.280.

22. Erin Michelle Brigham, Communicative Action as an Approach to Ecumenical Dialogue, The Ecumenical Review. Volume: 60. Issue: 3, July 2008, p. 288.

23. A point in case is how the NCCI meeting in April, 2012 experimented with an unconventional method of the Eucharist which resulted in everyone partaking of it.



(This paper was presented in the Ecumenical Christian Centre (ECC), Whitefield, Bangalore to a group of theological students on 15-5-2013)

Picture courtesy http://resurrectionde.org/new/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/PrayBelieveLivetheEucharist-001.jpg

The towel code of cricket in India

The Indian Premier League has lead to a premier allegation against three Rajasthan Royals players that they took money to fix matches. The allegation is of spot fixing whereby certain overs or balls were fixed to bring about a certain result. Gone are the days when an entire match was fixed. These are the days when bets are placed on single balls, multiple balls and overs, number of fours and sixes, instead of the entire match.

There have been allegations and counter allegations that match fixing and spot fixing have been a part of Indian cricket for a long time. Former cricketers have been punished and apart from players from different countries there was always a doubt over players from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka from where the bookies and betters also happened to be. This continues even now as the fresh charges show.

S. Sreesanth, the player with international cricket credentials along with Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan have been charged by the Delhi police of wrong doing. They also showed visual evidence of fixed matches during the press conference yesterday. The visual evidence has also lead to television channels being abuzz with how the betting gangs told the players that they had to show codes or signs that they were going to give certain runs in an over. Among the codes being talked of are a towel, tucking out the t shirt, and taking time while doing the run up to the delivery.

The study of signs and codes is called semiotics and it is a very interesting field of study in communication studies. Not everyone can understand the signs and codes. Proximity is not what matters but sharing of a culture whereby the signs and codes can be understood. Prefixed understanding of a particular code could also lead to understanding a particular sign. “Semiotics sees communication as the generation of meaning in messages- whether by the encoder or the decoder. Meaning is not an absolute, static concept to be found neatly parcelled up in the message. Meaning is an active process: semioticians use verbs like create, generate, or negotiate to refer to the process. Negotiation is perhaps the most useful in that it implies the to-and-fro, the give-and-take between person and message. Meaning is the result of the dynamic interaction between sign, interpretant, and object; it is historically located and may well change with time.”(John Fiske, Introduction to Communication Studies, Routledge: New York, 1990, p.46)

The use of codes in the IPL matches by players and bookies cannot be denied. If they did take money and bet, they might have used codes. The codes were also pre-determined and therefore likely to be understood by both parties. What does not go well with the entire episode for me is that everyone associated with the IPL is saying that they were not aware that this was happening. This, despite allegations already coming up in the previous IPL editions, and the BCCI having a special arrangement in place for this very thing. This refusal to accept that the system is flawed is the problem.

My effort may appear to be defending the three players. It could at least appear that I am trying to defend Sreesanth, since we are from the same state. My intention is neither. One can also ask other people from Kerala whether Sreesanth is actually a popular cricket player there anyway to dispel doubts that I would take this as a personal fight.

My point is the point of sign, code and meaning. The guilt of the players will be investigated and we will be informed. My questions in the mean time include aren’t any others apart from the three involved, didn’t anyone along with the team owners, BCCI officials and other players know about this or even doubt that this was happening, didn’t the audience know about this? If the three players in question and the bookies had a secret code, weren’t there other codes which owners, officials and other players understood? What do you say when an under performing player is picked for a match again? What is the rationale of giving a critical over to a player who has already gone for runs? While the bowler bowls is he in complete control of the number of runs he is going to give away. If the bowlers in question said that they would give not less than 13- 14 runs, what would happen if a batsman did not connect? How is it that this perfection of spot fixing is attained? It suggests that the code is also being understood by others including us. How many times have we felt that matches are getting too close and matches that should have been completed in the 17th over are still on in the final few balls? Could it be that entire matches are being arranged (I would not say fixed) in a particular manner to increase the entertainment quotient?

Subhash Chandra, chairman of Essel group and Zee was the pioneer of 20-20 cricket in India. His ICL was a bit more open and I would say that the league would have openly admitted that matches would be made interesting for spectators. BCCI understood the lucrative business of 20-20 and took over. What now occurs in several editions is one of the richest league competitions in the world. Players are paid huge sums and other perks are included. This is entertainment and we are all being entertained. Can we now say that we did not know that we were being entertained?

The police is well within its limits to crack down on betting. But Delhi was always in the news for violence against women and the lack of safety for women in the last six months. I would have liked to see a crack down on how women are used as mere objects in the IPL. There may even be many cases of violence and misuse of women. None of this has come out and instead betting is made to look like a grave offence that is being committed by the underworld and three cricket players!

We the audience, team owners, players and even the BCCI can say that we understood the codes and knew that something was wrong but did not say anything because we feared someone. That in all probability is true. But then what does it make the accused three? Wrestling has been popularized by the WWE. Wrestlers fight in what appears to be a pre-determined thought out fight. The audience also knows that it is so. Yet, many people watch it and enjoy it and appreciate the athleticism showed by the wrestlers. Cricket also has to play to the crowd, it has to entertain and even titillate to bring in the money. How can we now collectively say that “we didn’t know”? There has been no special code and no code has been broken. The codes were also there in front of us. Everything happened right in front of us. More than the spectators, the others involved are professionals. If anyone was underperforming it would appear so to many. The coaches, ground staff, commentators,and others who know so much about the game are likely to know if something were happening.

I would reject the headline of a “billion Indians cheated”. If anything we have cheated ourselves by ignoring all codes and signs while watching cricket matches.