Fire, baptism and division

Reflection: Luke 12:49-57 The Gospel for this Sunday is part of Jesus’ teachings to the disciples during his journey to Jerusalem, where death on the cross awaits him. Jesus explains the purpose of his mission through three images: fire, baptism and division. What is the fire that he came to bring on earth? What is the baptism that he must receive? Why does the Lord say, he comes not to bring peace but division? After the flood in the book of Genesis, God makes a promise: “Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen 9:11). Therefore, the Israelites came to the conviction that, to cleanse the world of iniquity, God would no longer use water, but fire. The fire of God is not intended to destroy or torture those who committed mistakes. Instead, God wants to destroy evil and purify us from sin through the fire of his Word and the Holy Spirit. This fire lit by Jesus is his Word that saves, cleanses, and heals. It is his Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, descended like tongues of fire on the disciples (Acts 2:3-11) and changed their lives forever. “How I wish it were already kindled!” It expresses Jesus’ burning desire to see the world’s weeds burned in the fires of his Word and Spirit. The images of baptism and fire are interrelated. To unleash the fire of the Spirit, Jesus says, he must first go through a baptism. This baptism refers to Jesus’ immersion in the waters of death. He will indeed be overwhelmed by the waves of humiliation, suffering, and death, but these will not extinguish the fire of his Word, love, and Spirit. The books of the prophets have introduced the Messiah to be “the prince of peace”; during his reign, “peace will have no end” (Is 9:5-6). At his birth, in Bethlehem, the angels sing about “Peace on earth!” (Lk 2:14). But now, Jesus says he has come to bring divisions. Jesus was only quoting a passage from the prophet Micah (Mic 7:6) to explain the divisions between young and old generations and among the family members. The Words of Jesus is the fire that wants to destroy all the unjust structures, inhuman situations, discrimination, greed for money and the frenzy of power. Many reject the words of Jesus because they feel threatened by this “fire.” They react violently because the Word of God disagrees with their projects of selfishness. At this point, divisions and conflicts arise. Today the Lord confronts us with the question: How fiery is your love? How fervent is your faith? Can our faith accept contradiction and ridicule without reducing us to silence?

 “Do not prevent them”

Coffee With God

13 August 2022

Reflection: Matthew 19: 13-15 Who doesn’t love children? Parents and family love watching them growing up. Being a parent is a vocation. But giving birth to a child does not make anyone a parent. A parent is one who accepts the task of integral formation of a child and raises him or her into physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual maturity. Today’s Gospel reminds us of our responsibility to take our children to God. How often do we hear secular-minded parents say, “Faith is a personal choice, and religious beliefs should not be imposed on children? Let the children choose their faith when they are old enough to do so.” But these generous parents, ironically, do not give that equal freedom to their kids when it comes to choosing the food they eat, the dress they wear, the schools they go to, and the activities they engage in. Because when it comes to these aspects, parents believe they know what is best for their children and wish to give them the best of everything. The Gospel talks about people bringing their children to Jesus so that he might bless them. A faulty understanding of secularism and personal freedom prevents today's parents from bringing their children to God. There are many Catholic parents who do not consider religious and faith formation as anything worthwhile. The parents would not mind if their children skipped the Sunday liturgy and catechism to attend tuition classes and co-curricular activities. While giving their children the best of everything, parents no longer feel the necessity of introducing God to their children. It is the sacred mission of the parents to teach their children not only to aspire to be successful people in the world but, even more, important to aspire for heaven! “Do Not Prevent Them” Jesus rebukes his disciples who tried to send the parents and their children away from approaching Jesus: It is a moving Gospel narrative. Our experience is that children in grave difficulty are often given extraordinary parents, ready and willing to make every sacrifice. Parents of children with special needs turn out to be extremely gifted special parents. But these parents should not be left alone! As disciples of Jesus today, we should not leave them aside; instead, we must accompany them in their struggles and offer them moments of shared joy so that they are not left alone with their daily routines. Pope Francis reminds us of the lesson about the angels of children: The Lord judges our life according to what the angels of children tell him because these angels “always behold the face of the Father who is in heaven” (cf. Mt 18:10). Let us always ask ourselves: what will the children’s guardian angels tell God about us?

 

God blesses the choices you make with Him

Coffee With God  

12 August 2022

Reflection: Matthew 19: 3- 12 Once again, Matthew presents a catechesis for his community on issues of marriage and divorce and human relationships. Perhaps he was witnessing troubles in family relationships in his community and reminded them of the sacredness of marriage. The influence of the Judaisers and Pharisees on the Christian community was so strong because most of the believers who accepted Jesus came from the Jewish faith. Now Matthew reminds them of the teachings of Jesus on marriage. It is not an ordinary union of one man and one woman; instead, it is a sacrament – because God wills it in his creative plan. The world of Jesus and Matthew was patriarchal. On marrying, the wife left her family and moved to the husband’s home, becoming a member of the husband’s extended family. Both remained under the general control of the husband’s father until the father’s death. Within the culture, only the husband could initiate divorce; the wife could not. But, Matthew wished to insist to his community that Jesus denied the universally accepted right of the male within the culture to initiate divorce. The answer given by Jesus, “What God has joined together, let no person separate,” fails to convince many people even today. Many continue to raise the same question of the Pharisees: “Is it legal to divorce?” The Gospel answers – Marriage is a Sacrament – willed by God – and the Sacraments are for life; they are not meant for a short period. It is never easy to have two people united as a couple. The Word of God teaches us that married people are no longer two but one. But how does that logic work? It is the logic of love, surrender and sacrifice. The love between the spouses enables them to sacrifice their lives for each other. Jesus often compared his love for his people to the love between spouses. St. Paul would develop this teaching to describe the relationship between the Church and Christ. Love without conditions, total surrender to each other, and even offering one’s life for one’s partner are the principles of marriage. This is how Jesus loves his people - the Church, without conditions, even unto death on a cross. Whoever believes in Jesus and agrees to live by what Jesus taught would not consider separating from one another.  

The fear of the disciples of Jesus is our fear today. They say, “it would be better not to marry!” Many youngsters are afraid of making choices in life – for marriage and family or for religious life and priesthood. They are afraid of failure in their choices. Running away from making life choices is failing to place our trust in God. Pope St. John Paul II told the youth: “God will not make choices for you, but he blesses the choices you make with Him.” Jesus repeats his words of power and encouragement to us: “Do not be afraid, only believe.” 

  “You will pay for it”!

Coffee With God

11 August 2022

Reflection: Matthew 18: 21 - 19:1 Jesus gives us a catechesis about the unity of brothers and sisters and ends it with a promise: "I assure you that if two of you on earth will agree and ask for a grace, it will be granted to you." Unity, friendship and peace among brothers and sisters attract the kindness and providence of God. But it is not always easy to be in unity with people around us. There are disagreements and quarrels. And Peter asks, "What should we do with the people that offend us? If my brother offends me, how many times will I have to forgive him? Seven times?" And Jesus answered with an idiom, "Seventy times seven," which meant, “always.” You must always forgive. Our selfish heart is always attached to hatred, revenge, and resentment. We have all seen families destroyed by hate. Hatred is passed on from one generation to the next. We have seen siblings who, in front of the coffin of their parents, refuse to greet each other because they carry on old grudges. The devil succeeds in making us believe that nurturing hatred is a symbol of being strong and to love and forgive is an act of weakness. The devil always occupies himself among our grudges and destroys everything. It succeeds in keeping us away from the Lord who celebrates our repentance and forgets all our wrong-doings. When God forgives us, he forgets all the evil we have done. God loses the memory of the awful stories of so many of our sins. He asks of us only one thing: "Do the same: learn to forgive." Have you ever said to anyone: "You will pay for it". This word is neither Christian nor human. The generosity of Jesus teaches us that to enter heaven, we must forgive. Remember the Lord raising this question: "When you go to Mass, and you remember that your brother has something against you, reconcile first; don't come to me with love for me in one hand and hate for your brother in the other." May the Lord teach us this wisdom of forgiveness that is not easy. And let us do one thing: when we go to confession, to receive the sacrament of reconciliation, let us first ask ourselves, "Do I forgive?" If I feel that I do not forgive, do not pretend to ask forgiveness because I will not be forgiven. Asking for forgiveness is forgiving. They both go together. They can't be separated.

 Bible Portico 

The latest title from the Pastoral Bible Foundation! 

A priceless resource book in Chinese for Bible Study 

Mothers' Meal - responding to the hunger of the poor in Macau

 "TDM T

alk Show" with Jijo Kandamkulathy, Co-Founder of 'Mother's Meal Macau', and Terry Kuok, Coordinator at 'Mother’s Meal Macau'.

Claretians in East Asia - Missionaries without borders

Claretians of East Asia 

Hong Kong and Macau Community Response to Corona Crisis

It was by January 6th that Macau community was getting fully aware of the crisis that was unfolding in China. From that day onwards, Jijo kept contact with the priests and bishops in China through translation help from Sr. Viktoria. He kept calling Ningbo, Beijing, Nanjing, Weinan, Anhui and Wuhan almost every day. Then the priests and bishops started talking about shortage of masks and the increasing number of deaths there.

In the next week of January we knew that it was an epidemic. Our first response was to ask the Indian medical students in Ningbo with whom Jijo was in touch with regularly, to get out of Ningbo. There were 4 students who had no plans to go to India for shortage of flight fares. We contacted the Indian embassy in China and asked for help which they did not. Then we arranged some funds and they managed to fly back to India. The internees had to stay back and they stayed put there.

On 28^th Keicey, our student in Spain sorrowfully informed that his relatives had come away from Wuhan and was staying in Gunagzhou but had no masks. We managed to collect 200 pieces and sent to his family which arrived there only after two weeks.

We then wrote a letter of solidarity to all the bishops with whom Claretians were familiar with. We were specifically requested for masks from Anhui (Hunagshan) bishop and the priests in Ningbo. Then we looked for masks to be sent to China. We could not gather since there was a ban on sale of masks in Macau already. In the meanwhile we asked Fr. George Kannanthanam CMF from Bangalore, if it was possible to send some masks. The initial parcel of 1000 pieces did not reach Macau.

Fr. General called us almost every day to update the matter and we asked him to send a letter of solidarity to the Chinese bishops which he promptly did. The letter was sent to all the bishops and the bishop conference, who responded with great respect and gratitude. The letter was published in the weekly of Faith Press. At the request of Fr. JB Zhang, we contacted the mother General of the MC sisters in Kolkatta, requesting for a letter of solidarity. She did that very promptly.

Then by 1^st of Feb, we had decided to bring in some masks from India through a person. By 5^th of Feb. when Mr, Sibu was bringing 10000 pieces of masks from Bangalore, that very day the Government of India had blocked the export of any mask. Thanks to the airport staff’s mercy, Mr. Sibu boarded the flight with a heavy luggage. When he reached Kualalampur, his flight to Macau got cancelled. He managed to board another flight and arrived Macau. I paid them 1500 USD. Further expenditure was incurred in sending goods to China for which Fr. Rossa transferred 1000 Euros from Hong Kong community.

On 19^th Jijo had a talk with Hong Kong community over skype to discuss what could be further done from our communities. It was decided to act on Fr. Jojo the prefect of apostolate’s advice (Fr. Jojo was in Nepal at that time). Then Hong Kong community decided to contribute a sum for charity related to Covid-19. The 1000 Euros the Fr. Rossa transferred came after this decision.

By that time, flights from Macau also was getting cancelled and a few cases got reported in Macau as well. Sibu’s return flight was cancelled. Thankfully, he was able to get an earlier flight and reach back to Bangalore safely. A team of volunteers helped us repack the masks and they were sent to Jin De charities, Hebei. The paperwork was difficult and sending was filled with uncertainities. Fr. Jijo then contacted red cross China and they helped in moving the cargo through SF freight company.

The Nuncio was kept informed of the activities.

Once we successfully sent the cargo to Hebei, there were other requests from JB Zhang. He asked for funds and logistics help for moving cargo from Portugal, arranged by Opus Dei (Fr. Mandia). We originally agreed to bring the cargo to Macau and I promised to sort it to Hebei. Fr. General and Fr. George and Jojo were kept informed of the developments. Then, Macau closed down. Moving cargo to Macau was difficult and with the advice of Mr. John Mampally, the regional manager of Lufthansa for cargo the materials were instructed to be directly sent to Shanghai from Portugal. Fr. General then,  advised against more involvement that needed money.

On 11^th Feb. Fr. Jijo’s mother expired. He decided not to go, due to the quarantine conditions in Kerala.

By, now it was getting clearer that the whole world was going to be affected by this crisis. The demand for masks were increasing and could not be found. With Fr. George Kannanthanam, we  explored the possibility of installing a mask production machine in Bangalore which was later was abandoned on the advice of the General.

When the first cases were getting reported in Kerala and Delhi, I discussed with Fr. George about the need to close down the Churches. We drafted a letter and sent to CBCI, KCBC and other bishops with whom we are familiar with. After the initial resistance, CBCI and bishops started sending circulars asking to close down the Churches. Later, on 22 of March one day shut down was announced in India. It was found an ill prepared address of the PM to India and I wrote on my FB page and on Whatsapp groups, what were missing in the address. After a few minutes, Fr. Mangattuthazhathu from India  called to say, that it is important to write and express difference of opinion. Fr. George Kannanthanam was also of the same opinion. The same sentiment was shared by other whatsapp groups.

The following day, however, Fr. Jacob from Bangalore wrote that such writings would endanger all Claretians in India with political vendetta, to which I made a curt reply, noted, thanks.

Later, Fr. George discussed about starting the online support centre for corona crisis to which I readily agreed and discussed the matter with Jojo. www.coronacare.life was floated with the help of Santhosh from Billion Lives tech company. The Chinese consultancy is handled by Jijo. It gave opportunity for me to get connected with a lot of good willed doctors and social workers in India.

In the meanwhile Fr. George and I discussed about how the Catholic medical facilities should be made available to the Government for the care of the patients. Fr. George then drafted a letter to this effect after consulting CHAI and other Christian Hospitals association which I edited and  was submitted to CBCI. The body promptly pledged support to the Government of India for treating the patients.

As soon as the shut down in India began, Fr. George and I discussed the need to give support to migrant workers who will be stranded in the cities. We discussed the matter of asking our bishops to open up our schools to give shelter and food to these people who will be rendered homeless in just a few days. Fr. George later drafted a letter and sent to me for editing written to the Archbishop of Bangalore ccied to Fr. Xavier Manavath about availing the schools and personnel during the time of the disaster. Two days later, the Archbishop of Bangalore notified that 5 schools in the diocese would be set apart for taking care of the migrant workers.

Fr. Xavier checked on my health status, seeing a very emotional letter I wrote to George saying that perhaps some of us will have to loose our lives in this battle, probably I and George. When I wrote that letter, I was developing sore throat and slight fever. The following morning I went to the hospital for a test. After the initial look on my throat, they said, I was on a mild risk category and sent me for detailed swab test. For 8 hours I stayed in isolation and the test came thankfully negative. I found the agony of those who are under screening and isolation.

Later I called up the Health Department in Macau and suggested to segregate the patients with mild risks and serious risks. The practice was to put all men in one room and all women in another after taking the swabs. That gave chances of spreading among them if one of them in the room happen to be positive. The Department then, thanked me and assured that immediate steps would be taken to  change the rooms.

One of the things that Fr. George and I discussed was taking care of the people who will be stranded in the cities without documents. At that time, the Government had not announced yet any economic package for taking care of them. Then we decided to a launch a program called Corona Care Bangalore, together with two other organizations that were working with Fr. George during the flood in Kerala. I consulted the matter with Jojo and he said, he can provide 500000 INR from the Procure fund. This amount was then advanced by Dr. Anand to Project vision account.

26^th March

Patricia started raising another fund raising campaign and reached an initial amount of 25000 MOP. More funds are coming in. From the US., Bobby is also raising some funds. He promised to send 50000 INR. I informed Kannan that this amount would be transferred soon to India.

2^nd April

Mr. Mampilly from Hong Kong also promised to transfer some funds from his Indian account. He is given the local account number of Hope. Today, Cita also promised to contribute 5000 MOP.

The funds kept coming through different funds for the survival kit projects. We had reached around 130000 by the end of April.

In the meanwhile we had published a book in Chinese for the Provincial of the Franciscan Friars in Philadelphia. He mentioned that they were in short of masks. On16th April, a group of volunteers from India including doctors and nurses enquired if we could mobilize some masks for them.

Eventually we ended up sending 30000 masks to Fr. Thomas Betz to the University hospital and 5000 to his old age home. Of these 20000 masks were sponsored by JB Zhang, Jin De. 10000 masks were collected by the friends of Fr. Jojo And MC sisters in Macau.

By 6^th of May the Indian volunteers in Dallas also received our 4500 masks for which they paid.

The forwarding costs for all these, were taken care of from the funds raised by Grace Educare.

May 17^th. The Churches opened. Grace Educare. Volunteers had organized a Bazaar for raising funds for Northeast Province of India where they had visited. An ill prepared lock down in the area brought food shortage. They pledged 100000 INR to the Procurator of the Province.  The Bazaar brought in 30000 MOP which was forwarded to Hope, Claretian Seminary who will forward the funds to Northeast Province.

Draft report

Jijo Kandamkulathy

Macau

Christmas in the fishing village of Tai O

 Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel in Tai O has a small Catholic community in the peripheries of Hong Kong. A 45 minutes bus drive either from Tung Chung or from Mui Wo in Lantau Island would take one to the Chapel in this fishing village. The chapel belongs to the Epiphany Parish, Mui Wo and has a weekly mass at 10 am on Saturdays. 

Although few in numbers and in their old age, Catholics in Tai O did something extraordinary in this Christmas for the people living in the vicinity and for hundreds of visitors who come from far and near. They recreated the nativity scene, utilizing the entire premises of the chapel.

A huge Christmas crib was set up at the entrance with life-size statues at the manger, giving a photo op even for the passers by. Hundreds of flowerpots decorated the premises, giving the chapel a face-lift and festive ambience. A large collection of religious articles such as holy medals, rosaries, statues of saints, t-shirts with religious themes and spiritual books are on display for grab. The small chapel in the first floor hosts the main crib, complete with angel flying down on the manger!

A curious addition to the elaborate decorations this year was a display of enlarged images of Christmas postal stamps from around the world.  Numerous counties in the past have issued postal stamps with the nativity theme. Explaining the display, Claretian Father Jojo Ancheril said that one of their priests had a large collection of Christmas stamps and the idea was to display how the nations around the world celebrated Christmas in the history. Hundreds of tourists, especially those from around the world who visit Tai O every day during the Christmas holidays found it amusing to see these rare stamps on display, he added.

The Community organised two Christmas gatherings during the season, one for the people of the locality – especially the elderly of Tai O and the second one for the alumni of Wing Cho primary school which was closed down in 2003 after serving the community for over six decades.

Other than the weekly Mass on every Saturdays, the Chapel organises overnight Eucharistic adorations on the first Fridays of every month. Although the Catholic presence in the region is very nominal, various prayer groups and religious organisations frequent to the chapel for a day of seminars and recollections. 

PBF proudly associated with the 200 Million Copies of the Bible

200 Million Copies of the Bible printed in China

Amity Printing at Namging (Nanjing), China, the largest Bible Printing Press in the world scaled yet another milestone on 11/11 this year when it rolled out the 200 millionth copy of the Bible printed in its state-of-the-art facility. Amity printing is a joint project of the Amity Foundation, a local Christian NGO, and United Bible Societies (UBS).

Bible printed for the Bible Society of South Africa had the privilege to be 200 millionth copy. The press began operating in 1987 and Amity Printing Company (APC) was established in 1988. An association of 145 national Bible societies, Amity Printing produced its first copy of “the Good Book” in 1987.

Today, Amity Printing operates with high speed, state-of-the-art printing equipment, run and operated by 500 staff. The new 85,000 square meters facility is capable of printing more than 20 million copies of the Bible a year, and is currently producing an average of one copy per second!

Amity has printed Bibles in 130 languages. While the printing company produced 85 million Chinese Bibles in its 33 years of history, over 114 million bibles were in foreign languages.

Pastoral Bible Foundation, under the umbrella of Claret Publishing Group, has printed and published over four million copies of Bibles with Amity Printing Company in 12 different languages including Chinese, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Tagalog.

Fr.  Alberto Rossa with the Amity Printing Company's recognition for "All Weather Friendship" with Claretian Communications, Philippines, together with with Fr. Jose Cherukara, Allan and Bob. 

Fr. Alberto Beto Rossa, Director of Pastoral Bible Foundation and Fr Jose Cherukara participated in the celebrations for the 200 millionth Copy Bible in Nanjing.