By Lissy M

Panaji, July 25, 2019: As we celebrated the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene on July 22, my mind was filled with sorrow thinking of the happenings in the Catholic Church in Kerala.

May Magdalene was a woman who was totally transformed after meeting with Jesus. Jesus looked beyond her sinfulness, and to the beauty of her simple and weak heart thirsting for meaning in life.

Mary accepted Jesus as her sole Master because he extended to her God’s unfathomable love. And Mary loved Jesus who was love incarnate. And her heart that once thirsted for comfort, now bubbled with joy and enthusiasm.

Then she followed him — followed him through his journey of preaching and teaching, journey to Calvary, and to the Cross. She stopped where Jesus stopped — Golgotha. As she stood beneath the Cross where he hung, her head bowed in pain.

She was unafraid and braved the painful circumstances that led to her Master’s death.

And she was the first to see the risen Christ – the Gift of Jesus to her. (Mk 16:9)

Jesus had already said wherever the Gospel is proclaimed, what she has done also will be remembered. (Mt 26:1#

The Church was being born as a small community of believers – a community that would live on in faith, sharing, and love.

We now weep for the same Church, particularly the Church in Kerala, which now seems to be buried under a lot of manmade follies and scandals.

It is buried under different rites; under the squabbles of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, under the luxurious Edappaly church (its altar is made of teak covered with gold foil imported from Italy and it has two bell towers), and under the sex scandals and land scams, to name a few.

Mary Magdalene did not lose hope as Jesus died and was buried. She was rewarded with the resurrection experience and the assurance the he rose from the dead to live forever.

Similarly, we too hope firmly that the Church in Kerala will also rise.

The faith that Saint Thomas the Apostle brought and planted in Kerala will rise and shine. The Church built on the prayer and sacrifices of simple folks of the land through the centuries will rise because it is built on the rock that is Christ, the rock of our faith.

But the Church in Kerala will rise only when the pride of the pastors and shepherds dies. It will rise when pastors deliberately choose moderate living eschewing luxury and worldly comfort. The Kerala Church will rise when the pastors rededicate themselves to serve the spiritual and material well-being of their sheep. It will rise when the pastors begin to smell the “odor of the sheep,” as explained by Pope Francis. It will rise when her leaders give up their greed for power, prestige, and money.

It is time the pastors are reminded that at their ordination they were anointed to bring to the people of God the good news of peace, hope and encouragement through their conversation and dealings. They are to dispel extreme darkness that engulfs their lives. They have walk to the “fringes” of life, where the people’s faith faces the most vulnerable conditions.

They were anointed to strengthen and revive the faithful who may sometimes succumb to discouragement, diffidence and disappointment. They can instill faith and hope in the people by praying over the realities of their everyday lives, their troubles, their joys, their burdens. The pastors need to keep reminding them that they are mediators between God and His people.

The faithful are now waiting — weeping at the tomb of despair and hopelessness. They are crying on their bended knees.

Would their pastors please listen?

Would they please return to the day when they sang something like this:

Take my life, O Lord, and ever let it stay
Consecrated to your care
Take my life and give me your life abundantly.
Make it beautiful in service, beautiful and free.”

When they sing it again we know the Church is rising from the tomb.

The Church will rise when the pastors of the three Rites sing together something like this:
Take my hands walk in the sun
And in your love, we’ll walk together as one
Wash my sins away in your tears
And in your mercy, drive away my fears.

Then they will be able to join the cry of the poor and hungry, homeless and abandoned, the sick and the suffering. Joining them the pastors will experience the pain of their soul, not just the hunger of their body.

The Church in Kerala will rise when its shepherds, pastors and the sheep return to the teachings of Jesus Christ and forgive each other, support each other and love each other.