“THEY SHALL BE LIKE STARS FOREVER” (Daniel 12:3)

Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C.

Kerala is known as God's own country. The name has come to stay thanks to its rich scenic beauty which imparts the feel of peace and tranquility, a token of heavenly bliss rare to find in this fast-paced world. This celebrity name is further adorned in recent times by a galaxy of saints that has arisen on the horizon of the State.

Six years ago, devout Sister Alphonsa, a humble Clare nun was raised to the altars giving India her first saint. On 23 November 2014, two personages of renowned sanctity from the native land are due to be canonized by Pope Francis: Blessed Chavara Kuriakose Elias and Blessed Euphrasia.

The story of the saints, in Pope Benedict XVI’s memorable words is "the great luminous wake with which God has passed through history." The Mother Church is reminding us that God has walked in this country in the history of these two holy persons. It is a call to the Church of India to follow in their footsteps and thereby rise up to a life worthy of our calling.

 Chavara Kuriakose Elias – Contemplative in Action

Archbishop Antonios Petti, the Promoter-General of Faith for the Causes of Saints in Rome, presented Kuriakose Elias as "a pearl truly Indian and oriental." Born on 10 February 1805 at Kainakary, a village situated in the scenic backwaters of Alleppey in Kerala, he had been a great stalwart of the Church in Kerala. His spirituality was a rare combination of immense social and spiritual commitment.

“I Set You As A Covenant For The People” (Isaiah 49:8)

He is described as the St. Benedict of India for he fathered and moulded religious life in India. He founded the first indigenous religious congregation of India in 1831 by name 'Carmelites of Mary Immaculate'. Later with the help of Fr. Leopold Beccaro OCD, the Italian missionary, he started the indigenous congregation for women religious known as the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel. He had personally initiated the first seven Indian monasteries, which became the spiritual nerve centres of the Kerala Church in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Understanding the great importance of the training of the clergy, he started a Major Seminary in Mannanam near Kottayam in 1833. This was also the first major seminary in the Syro-Malabar Rite. Systematic seminary formation was given in this seminary, not only for religious candidates but also for diocesan clergy of the time. There was a time when as many as a hundred and fifty seminarians were undergoing training at one time in this seminary. In 1894, this seminary was amalgamated with the seminary at Puthenpalli which later shifted to Alwaye in 1932.

Around this time, there was the threat of the Rochos schism looming over the Kerala church. In 1861, Kuriakose Elias had been appointed the Vicar General of the Syro-Malabar Christians who were being governed by the Verapoly archdiocese. This appointment was primarily meant to counter the schismatic influence of Mar Thomas Rochos. Kuriakose Elias realized the pre-eminent role of the priest to counter this schism and to establish and foster integral Catholic faith among the believers.

“Like A Shepherd He Feeds His Flock” (Isaiah 40:11)

His love for the Church was incomparable and he wanted all the faithful to remain loyal to the Catholic Church by leading an authentic and vibrant Christian life. With great pastoral zeal, he had introduced devotional practices in the churches in order to keep faith alive in the hearts of the people.

He was convinced that Catholic faith is to be lived centered on the Holy Eucharist. For this purpose, he had introduced what later became immensely popular - as the Forty-Hour Eucharistic Adoration. All the parish priests were instructed to send the people to participate in such Eucharistic devotion. Together with introducing the Adoration, detailed instructions were given on God's Love manifested in the ultimate expression of God giving Himself to us in the form of bread and wine. The people were encouraged to make the Holy Eucharist the source of strength and direction for their lives. One would call to mind the memorable words of Pope John Paul II instructing the whole Church that the Holy Eucharist is the Source, Centre and Summit of Christian life. Alongside this, pious practices such as meditations of the Way of the Cross and the Rosary were introduced in the life of the Church.

The Way of the Cross was meant to keep the Paschal Mystery of our salvation alive in the hearts of the people. The Rosary devotion popularized by the saint has kept the Catholic families in Kerala united in prayer every evening. Pope John Paul II speaking to the Kerala bishops, had commended highly the strong tradition of the family rosary and remarked that due to this, there was the rich harvest of priestly and religious vocations in this Church. He also introduced the ministry of preaching God's Word to the parishes and instructed the Fathers of his congregation to take the proclamation of the Word as priority.

“I Appoint You… To Uproot And To Tear Down, To Build And To Plant” (Jeremiah 1:10)

This servant of God was not only an untiring spiritual visionary but also a social revolutionary. In his time, the Kerala society was ridden with the caste system. The higher castes that consisted of ‘namboodiris’ and ‘nairs’ dominated the political economic and social structures keeping the lower castes under oppressive and inhuman situations. Only the members of the upper castes were allowed access to the facility of education. The vast majority was in servile dependency for their meagre livelihood. The heart of Kuriakose Elias was deeply grieved over this pitiable predicament. His love for God urged him to take a prophetic stand to bring about a social change where all are brothers and sisters.

Education, he realized, would be the key to this emancipation. He started the first school for the poor in Mannanam in 1846 and that was also in Sanskrit language. Soon more schools were founded attached to churches, and as the Vicar General, he gave orders that every church should have an adjacent school. The schools were open to all irrespective of caste and creed. He instructed all the parents that it was their responsibility to send the children to school because in his words, "Children are God's investment in the hands of the parents." He told the children that they had to prepare for a bright future by studying hard for he said wisdom was food for the spirit -, as important as natural food was for the body. He introduced free noon meals in the schools. This practice was adopted later by the rulers of the time and has come to stay on in all the schools to this day across this country.

In a prophetic vision, Kuriakose Elias understood the indispensable value of media for the propagation of faith. In those days, there were no spiritual books available to the Catholics for their spiritual growth. Only two printing presses were functioning in Kerala - one in Kottayam belonging to the Protestant missionaries and the other in Trivandrum owned by the government. Having a first-hand experience of the Press in Trivandrum, he instructed a carpenter to manufacture a wooden press. He was able to make available to people spiritual reading material. It was in this wooden press that in 1887 that the first Malayalam daily called Nazarani Deepika was first printed and published. Indeed he was responsible for ushering in an age of enlightenment among the people!

As a man whose heart beat for love of God, he was drawn to focus on the least of the brethren of Jesus. The people whom society despised as anathema, Kuriakose reached out to serve. In 1869 he started a home for the destitute. This in fact was the first charitable institution in the Syro-Malabar church. His advice to the members of his congregation was to be always available to the poor and marginalized of society. All the pioneering activities of this man of God stemmed from his clear prophetic vision of what society should be. As St. Francis of Assisi has rightly said, "Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify your society."

 “A Man After My Own Heart; He Will Carry Out My Every Wish” (Acts 13:22)

In his total commitment to Jesus Christ, his prime concern was to mould his life after Jesus. As Jesus was intimately united with the Heavenly Father in the Holy Spirit, this man of God was always deeply aware of the in-dwelling Presence of God in his heart. During his lifetime, people from all walks of life recognized the depth of his spirituality and called him 'Servant of God', 'Divine Person' and 'Man of Divine Vision'. The first person who wrote his biography was his own confessor and spiritual director, Fr. Leopold Beccaro OCD. On the day of the death of Kuriakose Elias, Fr. Leopold wrote in his diary, "O beautiful and holy soul, pray for me."

The people of his time saw in him a remarkable man of God and longed to get a blessing from him. It is recorded that when he was travelling, people who came to know he was in the vicinity ran after him to get blessed by him. He was always at the disposal of the sick and the suffering, consoling and comforting them. St Alphonsa during her intense suffering was comforted when she had a vision of Kuriakose. He was truly a contemplative in action. The Compassion of the Lord that filled his heart, flowed out of him - rebuilding distressed lives and a decadent society. His integrated spirituality was moulded by his intense love for God and his radical openness to the needs of his fellowmen. As St. Augustine had rightly said, "The peace of the celestial city is the perfectly ordered and harmonious enjoyment of God and of one another in God."

Euphrasia – Mystic and Intercessor

Rev. Sr. Euphrasia CMC, lovingly called ‘Evuprasiamma’ by the sisters and the neighbours, continues to be honoured as the ‘Praying Mother’ to all. She was born on 7 Oct 1877 in Kattoor, a village near Thrissur in Kerala. Her maiden name was Rose Eluvathingal. She grew up in a wealthy family of landowners. It is said that at the age of nine, she had received an apparition of Mother Mary - an overwhelming experience that inspired her to devote her life totally to God. The piety of her mother deeply influenced her prayer life. Her mother used to relate to her the stories of St Rose of Lima, which strengthened her resolve to live for God. She entered the convent of the Sisters of the Mother of Carmel which was founded by the saintly Fathers Chavara Kuriakose Elias and Rev Leopold Beccaro. After her religious profession on 24 May 1900 at St Mary's Convent, Ollur, she was appointed as Assistant Novice Mistress and later as Novice Mistress. In 1930 she was made Mother Superior of the convent where she was to spend the rest of her life.

“My Beloved Is Mine, And I Am His” (Songs 2:16)

Since her childhood, Euphrasia suffered frail health. At one time during her formation, it became so critical that her superiors were to send her back from the convent. During this phase, she had a vision of the Holy Family and she was healed of her sickness and could continue in the formation. It was a rare spiritual courage that sustained her then and all through her life.

Among the Sisters, she was known as the 'walking tabernacle' because of the remarkable Divine Presence she radiated. Sr. Euphrasia spent much of her time in the chapel before the Blessed Sacrament. Her soul was so close to God that she could receive visions from above which led her to experience ineffable joy in spite of the hardships of failing health. From the letters she wrote to Mar John Menachery, the Bishop of Trichur and her spiritual guide, we understand that she had risen to the mystic level of spiritual betrothal that St. Teresa of Avila speaks of. In such moments of intense love and joy, her soul was united with God in an intimate mystical union with the Lord.

The sick and the suffering from the neighbourhood would constantly come to her asking for her intercession. With a divinely charming smile, she would console them and tell them, "I will not forget, not even after death." These words are etched in the hearts of the people of the time and are bequeathed to the younger generation of today who flock to her tomb seeking her Divine intercession. As in her lifetime, even today her heavenly presence remains in the St Mary's Convent at Ollur as a tender compelling force inviting all to God's Love. The Praying Mother remains a consoling hope for everyone in need - leading all to God.

This holy nun shows the way to and challenges all the consecrated persons in the Catholic Church to be men and women of prayer. Her closeness to God was her greatest asset, leading her to be raised to the glories of the altar where she shall be venerated as a Saint of God. It is such holiness which makes consecrated life credible and relevant for the people. Though largely confined to the inner cloister of the convent for an entire lifetime, her sanctity has radiated across continents and down generations as the life-giving aroma of Christ.

These two saints by their commitment to Christ conquered the ravages of time and fickle human memory; they even conquered death to live on forever captivating the hearts of all generations to shed heaven’s graces upon these.

Let Us Pray

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the two saints You have given to the Church and very specially to our country. They are luminous stars shining in the heavenly places. Let the rays of the light of their sanctity enlighten our ways to reach You.

Amen.

VIDEO: "WHY DO CATHOLICS PRAY FOR THE DEAD?" by Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C.

An enlightening and uplifting talk by Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C. – Director of Divine Retreat Centre, Kerala India on “WHY DO WE PRAY FOR THE DEAD?”

“On 2^nd November we observed the Commemoration of the Departed Souls – those who are dead.“There are people who ask. ‘Why should we pray for the dead?’ There is a beautiful doctrine, teaching in the Church. We call it the Truth of the Communion of Saints. What does it mean? The Church is at 3 levels:

1.  The Church in Heaven – those who lived in Jesus Christ and entered into glory – the     Glorious Church.
2. The Church on this earth – the Struggling Church. We are the Struggling Church.  We are struggling in the face of temptations; we are struggling to be faithful to Jesus Christ every moment of our life.
3. Then there is the Suffering Church – The Suffering Church is the Church in Purgatory – those who are dead and being purified now in Purgatory. These are the people in the Suffering Church.”

“What  we can do today is to help them by praying for them. Why do we pray for them? This is because there is a connection between these 3 Churches – the Glorious Church, the Struggling Church an d the Suffering Church.  In the Glorious Church, Mother Mary and all the Saints intercede for us; they pray for us. We need to pray for those who are still suffering and being purified. This is a beautiful way we are connected in love.”

“We are not wanderers on this earth. We are pilgrims! Pilgrims have a definite purpose, a definite end – we are moving towards the heavenly end!”

LIVING WATERS is a 30-minute daily Divine TV programme of anointed sharing of God's Word by Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C, Director -- Divine Retreat Centre. It is the largest Catholic retreat centre in the world.

DIVINE TELEVISION (UK/Europe & Middle East) Is known as GOODNESS Channel in India & Asia-Pacific and DVN Network in USA/Canada.

It can also be viewed worldwide ONLINE at www.dvnonline.org

“HAVE LIFE IN ALL ITS FULLNESS” (John 10:10)

Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C.

The youth flocked from different countries to the Divine Retreat Centre in search of life. The Ninth International Youth Conference was celebrating as its theme the grand offer of Jesus, “Have Life in all its fullness” (John 10:10). In fact the Lord describes this as the very purpose of His visitation: “I have come that you may have life in all its fullness.” The promises of Jesus had always this tone – the generosity of God inviting us to graces in full measure. While speaking of joy He said, “I say these things that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete” (John 15:11). The peace He offered again was something that would completely dispel all anxieties and unrest of the heart. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27). He came indeed in the form of man to fill us with Himself as St John writes, “Out of His fullness we have all received grace” (John 1:16).

“I Have Called You By Name” (Isaiah 43:1)

This offer of the fullness of life was a great revelation for the new generation. It was indeed beyond their asking and imagination for they had settled for the minimum in their practice of religion. 

For many young people, though Christian by upbringing, God was an abstraction or a vague power that was distant and irrelevant. Though they habitually prayed, it was mostly an exercise done out of a sense of obligation. They could not imagine that God was there to listen to them. It was at the retreat that they were led to the experience of God as someone real in their lives – God had become for them a love that touched their hearts, transforming their lives to give them a new purpose.

When Serena, an engineering student, heard Jesus calling her by name during the Eucharistic Adoration, she was thrilled by the revelation that she was not one in a crowd but very special to the Almighty God. She observes, “Though I was a cradle Catholic and I observed all the obligations, for me God was too distant to be considered. Even when I went to church, I felt I was there as part of that big congregation. I never imagined that I could be of any consequence to God. I lost my interest in God. I even lost the sense of the sacred. I never even considered that God was there. It was at the retreat that I was drawn to the reality of God at the altar. I realized that He knew me by my name and that His eyes were upon me. That sense of love filled my heart and it is for this love that I wish to live.”

The marvelous experience of the Spirit was unmistakable as the one effect was the revelation of a God of compassion, closely following the concerns of His children.

Virgil from Goa described that he had come for the retreat with a heavy heart. “I doubted God cared for me. I took it for granted that my name would never be called out. My despair was mounting when I started to think on these lines. This was during the Inner Healing prayer service. I could not concentrate and I was doubtful if Jesus would hear me. That was when Father called out my name and the message went thus, ‘Hand over your heavy heart to Jesus’. I felt a fire pass through my body and I cried out aloud. I could not be worried what those around me would think of me; for at that very moment I realized that Jesus cares for me and that He has not given up on me. I started believing in the Presence of Jesus and would love to experience this over and over again!”

“Our High Priest Understands Our Weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15)

Lewis, a medical student, was born and brought up in a traditional Catholic family. Though he was by nature very intelligent and hard-working, when he came for the retreat he was a man suffering from a tortuous sense of shame and self-contempt. In the first year of his medical studies, his friends had introduced him to watching pornography. He resisted the pressure in the beginning but soon thereafter gave in and found himself addicted to the evil. He could not concentrate during the lectures and lost interest in his studies. He was not able to sleep either because the pernicious images that he had seen during the day on the computer would return to haunt him when he lay down to rest. He started on sleeping pills and would wake up in the morning more tired than when he had gone to bed. He felt desperate and lost. He could see no way out of the crisis. He knew no one could help him. 

He came for the retreat in his desperation. From the start of the retreat, he prayed in tears as he was reasoning to himself that God would not answer his prayers for he did not deserve God’s favour. However something very beautiful happened! During the Offertory at the Holy Mass, he confessed in earnest prayer to his helplessness in this habit of his addiction. He placed his wretched state of mind on the altar alongside the bread raised up on the paten. He had almost given up on his medical studies - yet as he prayed he began to sense a new hope that God would intervene and set him free. He continued to look at the altar and offer with the Host, the filthy images that were stuck in his mind - residues of the evil habit that had enslaved him.

At the very moment of Consecration, when the celebrant raised the piece of bread and prayed the liturgical words of the Consecration, an awesome fear gripped him, for he saw behind the altar not the priest any more, but Jesus in the garb of the High Priest and the words were coming from the lips of Jesus, “This is my body.” He was still more shaken for the realization dawned on him that the bread Jesus was holding up was what he had offered with the ugly memories of his past. It struck him that all the mess that he had made by his sinful indulgence was now being taken up by the Lord. The Lord was taking responsibility for his licentiousness. The Lord was being broken in his place. Great love flowed into his heart and with ineffable joy, he began to repeat the Name of Jesus! His life choked by the ugly mess of sin was now purified in the Heart of Jesus. During the distribution of the Holy Communion, when he received the Sacred Body of Christ, he felt a flame of fire burn into his tongue. This soon developed into a pleasant burning sensation that filled his heart and seemed to take over his entire being. As he was describing this to me, he turned and said, “I knew I was made a new creation.”

I remembered the account of the experience of the apostles on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit descended upon them in the form of tongues of fire. In that burning sensation, they were created anew to be the pillars of the Church proclaiming that Jesus is the Lord and Saviour!

As Lewis was describing this life-transforming experience, he shared with me that he was taking on the mission of bringing over the very friends who had led him astray - for them to experience the liberation Christ was offering them from their despoiling addiction with its destructive effect. “I am praying for them. When I return, I will meet them personally and I know God will be merciful and save them as He has been so good to me.”

“Proclaim The Praises Of Him Who Called You From Darkness” (1 Peter 2:9)

Year after year, God is leading His children to the International Youth Conference to a deep and life-transforming experience and through it moulding them as His witnesses! The gospels describe in detail how Andrew and John pursued Jesus, being directed by their Master John the Baptist. Jesus turned and asked them “What do you seek?” They said, “Rabbi, where do you stay?” Jesus invited them to “Come and see.” St. John concludes this encounter saying, “We went and saw and stayed with him” (cf John 1:35-39). That was the beginning of a new life of discipleship. This intimacy grew into surrendering their lives totally to Jesus and it matured into a great desire to bring the whole world to the same experience that they were blessed with. Much later St. John would begin his letter declaring, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.” (1 John 1:1-4).

In their search for life in all its fullness, the youngsters came to a realization that there were many factors that stifled the flow of life. In the milieu of education and work, they were often associated with friends who were so secularized that God did not mean anything to them. The media has brought in a very materialist set of values that focused on momentary pleasures and luxurious living. All the time the talk of the youth was about the latest brands of clothes, cars and mobiles. Their preoccupation was to find time to hang out in malls and pubs. It seemed that money was all that one needed to make it in life! Relationships had become fragile and were seen as dispensable, with no perspective on the future. Any talk of religion or religious values was considered as obsolete and offensive. The youth has been sucked into the new, nefarious culture devoid of vision and values.

All these trends perpetuated by peer pressure had led the youth away from the foundations of their faith. They were doing things against their own will because they were not able to resist the compelling influence of their friends. They had to hide much from their own parents because they knew their behaviour patterns would not be acceptable. When the youth experienced the Power of God’s Love liberating them from the clutches of their addictions and deceptive thinking, it was clear that all along, deep in their hearts, they resented the slavery that peer pressure had come to mean for them.  

“I Will Declare Your Name To My Brothers” (Psalm 22:22)

During the counseling and in the feedback notes many of them expressed their great desire to share their newfound love of Jesus with everyone around. This enthusiasm is a clear revelation of how they wanted to fight back against the evils of peer pressure by becoming agents of life to the very culture that led them to death.

This expression of their new mission was not mere wishful thinking but evolved as clear decisions that the youngsters had settled for. Mary Claire writes that she is determined to speak about Jesus at least to one person a day. Derrick’s decision is to get all his friends for the Power Conference next year. Stenisa has taken it as a vow to “help my friends to experience Jesus as I have experienced Him.” The youngsters are charged with a new mission in their life, a reason to live for! The mission of evangelization that the Popes are recently speaking about has come into their hearts in a powerful way. The Church is enriched with a fresh batch of warriors whose heart beats for the Love of God!

Reading through the feedback forms, I am reminded of the cry of St Augustine, “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.”

The grand finale of the Conference was marked by the solemn High Mass officiated by the His Eminence Cardinal George Allencherry, the major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church. There was an emotional moment, memorable to every participant. The Cardinal at the end of the Mass, came in front of the altar and knelt down in his priestly vestments before the multitude of the youth, and sought their prayers. He was suffering from unbearable pain in his shoulders. It had become acute with the monsoon season. The youth moved by an affectionate and filial response, prayed with great fervour for their Shepherd! Later the Cardinal joyfully shared during his breakfast with the Vincentian Fathers that he was completely relieved of the pain! The youth were already becoming channels of the fire of God’s Healing Love. The love and prayerfulness in their hearts is bound to bring healing and life to the Church and to this world.

Let Us Pray:

Thank you Lord for bringing Your children to experience the Loving Promise of Your Son that they would receive “Life In All Its Fullness” (John 10:10). They have gone back to their educational institutions and workplaces with the thrill of this Promise being fulfilled in them. Let your Holy Spirit continue to fill them to be the torchbearers of Your Kingdom. Let the whole world know that the fullness of life that every heart is searching for is in You.

Amen.

DIVINE MUSIC VIDEO - "ARE YOU LIVING YOUR FAITH?" - WORLD MISSION SUNDAY 2014

"ARE YOU LIVING YOUR FAITH?" -WORLD MISSION SUNDAY 2014 is a special music video by Divine-Potta Ministry on Mission Quotes that every Catholic should reflect re Christ's Call to each of us. The hymn "THRIVE" is sung by Casting Crown who own all the copyrights to this music.

In his WORLD MISSION SUNDAY 2014 Message, Pope Francis exhorts the Call of Jesus to every Catholic – “Dear brothers and sisters, on this World Mission Day my thoughts turn to all the local Churches. Let us not be robbed of the joy of evangelization! I invite you to immerse yourself in the joy of the Gospel and nurture a love that can light up your vocation and your mission. I urge each of you to recall, as if you were making an interior pilgrimage, that “first love” with which the Lord Jesus Christ warmed your heart, not for the sake of nostalgia but in order to persevere in joy. The Lord’s disciples persevere in joy when they sense his presence, do his will and share with others their faith, hope and evangelical charity.”

World Mission Sunday is celebrated by the Catholic Church on the third Sunday of October - this year on 19 October 2014.

Divine Retreat Centre is the largest Catholic retreat centre in the world. Retreats are held every week of the year in English and 6 Indian languages. 

Over 10 million people have attended retreats here since the Divine-Potta ministry by the Fathers of Vincentian Congregation of India opened Divine Retreat Centre in late December 1989.

VIDEO: "BEHOLD I AM THE HANDMAID OF THE LORD" (Luke 1:38) by Fr. Michael Payyapilly V.C.

Why is Mother Mary so important in our Catholic faith? Why do we honour Her as the Mother of God? What role does She have in our faith journey?

In this spiritually enlightening talk during a retreat at Blessed Sacrament Church in Singapore -  "BEHOLD I AM THE HANDMAID OF THE LORD (Luke 1:38)",  Fr. Michael Payyapilly V.C., Director -- Divine Retreat Centre, Somersby NSW, Australia, explains with great clarity and holy inspiration why Mother Mary is given the greatest honour by Catholics for Her unique role in our faith journey on earth. 

Father shares, "The Lord knows what we need and He gives us a Mother who will intercede for us - a Mother who understands sorrow and pain because She went through it with Her Son. That is why Jesus gives Her as a beautiful gift to you and me. Let us know in our hearts that we have a Mother in Heaven praying for us. Unceasingly She is interceding to God for us. Whenever we are fighting ugly battles especially sin, ask for the Blessed Mother's intercession because the one person who fights against the evil of satan is the Blessed Mother and the one person satan is afraid of is the Blessed Mother!"  

For details of Divine Retreat Centre Australia, please visit the website: www.divineretreatcentre.org.au

Divine Television ministry is part of  the evangelization efforts of Divine Retreat Centre - the largest Catholic Retreat Centre in the world. 

DIVINE TELEVISION  (UK/Europe & Middle East) Is known as GOODNESS Channel in India & Asia-Pacific and DVN Network in USA/Canada. 

It can also be viewed worldwide as DVNONLINE at www.dvnonline.org

“MATTHEW GOT UP AND FOLLOWED HIM” (Matthew 9:9)

Rev. Fr. Augustine Vallooran V.C.

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St Matthew is mentioned in the gospels as one of the twelve apostles of Jesus.

St. Matthew is mentioned in the gospels as one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus. The twelve Apostles were chosen by Jesus by name to be with Him and to be sent out to preach the gospel. St. Matthew therefore belongs to the band of the closest associates of Jesus and became the primary teachers of the gospel message.

The biographical details that we know of St. Matthew are minimal and fragmentary. He was born in Galilee as the son of Alphaeus. During the Roman occupation of Palestine, Matthew was a government official with the charge of collecting taxes from the Jews for Herod Antipas - the tetrarch of Galilee. His tax office was located in Capernaum. As a tax collector, he was despised by his own Jewish community and was considered an outcast.

The Gospels tell us that after his call, Matthew invited Jesus home for a feast. His apostolic activity was first restricted to the Christian communities of Palestine. His gospel is designed to convince the Jews that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah - in whom all the promises of the messianic kingdom are fulfilled. It is believed that after his apostolate in Palestine, he went over to Ethiopia and even perhaps to Parthia and Persia during the time of the persecution by Herod Agrippa in 42 AD.

“It Depends Not On Human Will Or Exertion, But On God Who Shows Mercy” (Romans 9:16)

St. Matthew, in his life and message, proclaims that salvation of man is because of the Mercy of God. He should have been surprised that Jesus invited him, who was regarded by his own tribe as a public sinner, into the group of the chosen Apostles. He was a tax collector and as was usual of that profession, he was dishonest and driven by greed until he was chosen as a disciple of Jesus. The gospel tells us that Jesus met him in Capernaum in his tax booth on the main highway. He must have been collecting customs duty on the imported goods brought by farmers, merchants and caravans. According to the Roman Empire's system of tax collection, a tax collector paid a huge amount as tax revenue to the government and then would go about extorting unreasonably high taxes from the citizens and travellers to ensure for himself a good commission. They were protected by the Roman soldiers in their business. Precisely because of this system, the tax collectors were notoriously corrupt and because their decisions were enforced by Roman soldiers, no one could fight them. Matthew was well aware that he did not deserve to be close to a godly person like Jesus. However as soon as he was called by Jesus to follow Him, he responded immediately. We learn three lessons about following Jesus.

The Good News of the Gospel is that it offers God's Grace not depending on human merit. God does not exclude anyone from His friendship. In fact, the Pharisees and the scribes were shocked that Matthew was included by Jesus. In response to this Jesus said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners."(Matthew 2:17)  Matthew himself was deeply aware of his unworthiness to be a disciple of Jesus. However, he was more impressed by the fact of his special call to be in such a close association with Jesus. Hence he was not ashamed of his sinful past - rather his past made him grateful for what the Master had done for him. It is noteworthy that while Matthew avows that he was a publican, the other evangelists do not mention this derogatory word about him. This could have been because of the reverence and the honour they felt to their brother evangelist. In fact, the word publican was so derogatory that it is always used in the gospels in reference to the despised sinner. In the gospels, several times the two words come together "publicans and sinners" (Matthew 9:10, Luke 15:1) as well as "publicans and prostitutes" (Matthew 21:31).

However St. Matthew does not shy away to use this term about himself because of the decision he had made to quit his past life and follow Jesus. He responds instantly to the Call of Jesus. The gospels tell us, "He rose and followed Him" (Matthew 9:9, Mark 2:14, Luke 5:28). It was an instant readiness to respond to the Call of Jesus - leaving his tax accounts incomplete without the fear of his masters. This ready obedience to the Call of Jesus meant abandoning everything especially what guaranteed him a source of sure income. He did not weigh the consequences of his obedience or calculate the possibilities of a certain future. Moreover his response was a celebration for him because we are told that he made a great feast in honour of Jesus in his house. It was during this feast that, when the Pharisees and the scribes murmured about Jesus associating himself with publicans and sinners, Jesus proclaimed the mystery of God's heart, "I desire mercy not sacrifice." (Matthew 9:13)

The call and response of St. Matthew reveals the central focus of our salvation. Our life in God depends on God's Mercy and not on our merit. When God chooses us and we respond generously to His Call, even our painful and sinful past experiences will bathe in the Glory of the Mercy of the Lord. We will then look back into the past not with shame and regret but with an ineffable joy for having been forgiven by the Compassion of the Lord.

“Not By Works But By His Call” (Romans 9:12)

St. John Chrysostom commenting on the Call of the Apostles explains to us that though these Apostles have a glorious name and rule in the salvation history, their past was sinful or socially insignificant. While St. Matthew was a tax collector and there was nothing more despicable than that;  Peter, Andrew, James and John were called when they were fishing which was considered a socially low profession in those days. However the glory of their ministry comes from their call and their willingness to respond wholeheartedly.

I know a businessman who is very committed to the Lord. He is known for the charismatic gifts that the Holy Spirit has bestowed on him. People approach him in the moments of their distress to be comforted and to be guided. He has a way of telling them openly of his own past that was anything but inspiring. He had an unholy affair and his prayer life was to the minimum. His friends had led him to drinking and gambling habits. He was not honest in his business either. That was when he met with a heavy loss in his business. In desperation he came for the retreat as he did not know where else to go. Even his wife and son had deserted him. His spiritual crisis led him to the retreat centre. He was deeply moved by the experience of the Mercy of God. He came to a painful realization that he had taken God for granted. His routine religious observances were out of a custom rather than acts of faith. He realized how far he was from God. It also occurred to him that his failure in business was a blessing which brought him to the Lord. In that failure he felt the call of God to turn to Him and to make Him the priority of his life. His return to the Lord was complete and wholehearted! He spent a few months in the retreat centre and with the help of the Fathers, he got his family back. He spent his time in prayer and got a call from God to the ministry of counselling. He got attached to the retreat centre and began his service of counselling for the retreatants. Something striking about him was that he would tell his own conversion story openly without any shame. When I spoke to him about this, his comment was that all that he was, was God's work in him. He was an example of what God could achieve with a human life. He would not take credit for his ministry. He is grateful to God for all that He does in and through him.

“To Be Moulded As He Pleases” (Sirach 33:13)

Here indeed we touch the inner core of Christian life and ministry. When we want to be what we want to be, we make a mess of our life. When we surrender our life in the Hands of God, God is able to mould us according to His Will. That is when God is able to achieve through our lives what He wants of us. It is only then that we become relevant to and accept our role in the Divine history of Salvation.

Once Matthew offered himself in the Hands of Jesus, there was no turning back and he made sure that he did not want to go back to his old ways by the grand celebration of his conversion in the banquet he held in his place. It was the bidding of a farewell to his old friends and a declaration of his new life. It was at this feast that he learnt the lesson of God's Mercy. From then on his concern was to make Jesus known. As a tax collector, he would have been fluent in Aramaic - the language of the people, and in Greek - the language of the market place. He wrote his gospel for the sake of his own people by demonstrating to them that Jesus was the Messiah awaited by the Jewish nation. His gospel was the answer to the question posed by the disciples of St John the Baptist, "Are you He who is to come or shall we look for another?" (Matthew 11:3)  Of the four evangelists it was Matthew who proclaimed to the Jews that in Jesus, their hope of salvation was realized! Even today, it is the Gospel of Matthew that reveals to us that our aspirations for a meaningful life are fulfiled in Jesus Christ.

“Those Whom He Called He Justified And He Also Glorified” (Romans 8:30)

St. Matthew teaches us two lessons. Our present life is not to be determined by our past. Whatever might have gone wrong in our past, we shall not languish in guilt and shame. What is needed is to wait to hear the invitation of the Lord, "Come and follow me". Our God is not a god of the past but the Lord of the future. Every saint has a past and every sinner a future. The more we delay to answer the Call of Jesus, the more wasted our lives will become. Following Jesus will bring in glory to our life. We shall always be ready to rise up and never be satisfied with the status quo. Great will be our future when we are ready to follow Him.

Once Matthew followed Jesus, he was listening to the words of the Lord. That is what is meant in being a disciple. Jesus said as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock." (Matthew 7:24)  Matthew not only listened but wanted the whole world to hear the words of the Master and follow the way of The Lord that leads to life. It was for this purpose that he wrote the gospel. The concern of Matthew was that no distraction of the world should deter a disciple of Jesus from following the Way of the Lord. "The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock." (Matthew 7:25)  What Matthew has achieved with his discipleship was to make sure that those who followed Jesus will build their lives solidly on the Word of God. A man who would have wasted his life by collecting customs has made his life meaningful in the kingdom of God by gathering souls for God!

Let Us Pray

Help me, Lord to wait on You, inviting the Holy Spirit – that God’s Own Power will enlighten and come into my heart:

-That I may be able to understand God’s Will.

-That I may be able to accept God’s mission for my life.

-That I may be able to hear God’s Call in my heart and in my life.

Open my heart, O God, for Your Own Spirit to come upon me.

Amen