Our Church is an ancient Church, a true mirror of Apostolic faith (borrowing
the
title from Mr. ES John's translation work). The heirs to a great heritage, the
custodians of a rare treasure, we pride ourselves as St.Thomas Christians, a
Christian tradition as old as any in Christendom.
We value our tradition. It is thus not surprising that some of the oldest
practices handed down to us have been kept faithfully. The beauty and worth of
our tradition is in its historical roots.
Faith does not change, but tradition does adapt with time and change. Not all
need to change, but also, think about it -- not everything needs to stay. And
not everything has stayed. The church in the first century when St. Thomas came
to India is not the same as the church now. There are several changes that have
happened in the traditions -- in the liturgical, social and cultural fronts, to
name a few. With time, there needs to be adjustments. The Holy Spirit is not a
has-been of the past. His real presence guides the church even today. He
precipitates issues, He motivates change, He acts to cause reactions, He
influences change, and He helps manage them and cope with them. He works within
the world in a very real way, renewing and revitalising the church.
I was thinking how the church adapted to a change in recent times. Many of us
might have heard about Bro. Paul Ciniraj's work. Many people see him as doing a
great work for Christ, which the church ignored for a long time. Several people,
including myself, however do not agree with some of his ideologies and
methodologies. (I however have great admiration for his tireless capacity to
work for his cause, and his social works in the society). Whichever side we are
on, we can agree on a rational observation that Bro. Paul
Ciniraj's methodologies are notably different from those of
other missions of the church, even though the ultimate goals may be the same.
I believe that the Holy Episcopal Synod is guided by the Holy spirit, even
though individual bishops may have their own weaknesses as human beings. The
Synod in its collective wisdom had conferred the title "Malankara Sabha
Missionary" on Bro. Paul Ciniraj. HH Baselios Marthoma Mathews I had accepted
Bro. Ciniraj and had perhaps guided and encouraged him in his mission. Thinking
about it in that background, I was thinking, I should not have much problems
accommodating the works of Bro. Paul Ciniraj, even though I personally do not
understand and do not agree with him on several fronts. However the fact that my
church considers his work as acceptable is good enough for me to accomodate him.
There may be several avenues by which the Holy Spirit reveals His grace to the
world, and I may be ignorant of several of them. For me this is an instance
where the church is accepting a change in methodology, separate from her
traditional understandings of mission; the church accepting a change where she
felt the need to do so.
More recently I had the opportunity to discuss the activities
of Bro. Mathew Vergis (a.k.a. Bro.Vijayan) with a bishop of the
church. Again, I find myself not in agreement or in the same
wavelength as the activities of Bro. Vergis, even though I admire his tireless
capacity and energy to work for the cause he sees as right. The bishop's words
however did help me -- HG said "We should not feel threatened by another
person's unconventional ways". If another person chooses to pray and invites
others to pray in a slightly different way, perhaps we should not be overly
concerned about that. After all, in a world torn apart with strife and illwill,
these initiatives do help to come closer to the Creator. On that count alone, it
need not be discouraged. Also I have heard that the group of Brother Vergis
(Babu Upadeshi and his works in Mannar, Kerala) are members of the church who
participate and cooperate with the church in all her activities. So, even though
I myself may not personally agree to the methodologies, I guess I am willing to
now accomodate another diversity. As long as the church does not see it as
wrong, I should not be having a problem in them working in the way they see as
proper, even though I may personally never attend their meetings. The church's
silence in my opinion, is the church accepting another diversity, or atleast
being flexible enough to accomodate another novelty.
Thus, with time, changes that are needed should happen, it happens
even in the Apostolic Church. The Holy Spirit will make the
environment ready for change. Not everyone may agree with the change,
but we all need to fall in line with the Will of the church. Things
that were unthinkable in the past are routinely accepted facts now (for eg:
earth is round, Sabbath is on Sunday, private confession in front of the priest
has replaced public confession in front of the
congregation). There is a time for change; certain changes were
appropriate for the 1st Century, some for the 16th century, some are
appropriate now, and some are appropriate for a future era. As these
changes happen, we may need to adjust our thinking, adapt our
attitudes, rethink on past positions, and refocus on the cross. In my mind, the
greatest help to cope with change and the ultimate
assurance and hope are the words from the Lord Himself that whatever
happens, "..I am with you till the end of age" (St. Matthew 28:20)
and that "...the power of hell will not overcome the church" (St.
Matthew 16:18) which He established.
I am reminded of Makarios Thirumeni's words "Change is not a threat;
change is growth, and growth is change".
Regards,
Mathew Samuel, Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/11726
title from Mr. ES John's translation work). The heirs to a great heritage, the
custodians of a rare treasure, we pride ourselves as St.Thomas Christians, a
Christian tradition as old as any in Christendom.
We value our tradition. It is thus not surprising that some of the oldest
practices handed down to us have been kept faithfully. The beauty and worth of
our tradition is in its historical roots.
Faith does not change, but tradition does adapt with time and change. Not all
need to change, but also, think about it -- not everything needs to stay. And
not everything has stayed. The church in the first century when St. Thomas came
to India is not the same as the church now. There are several changes that have
happened in the traditions -- in the liturgical, social and cultural fronts, to
name a few. With time, there needs to be adjustments. The Holy Spirit is not a
has-been of the past. His real presence guides the church even today. He
precipitates issues, He motivates change, He acts to cause reactions, He
influences change, and He helps manage them and cope with them. He works within
the world in a very real way, renewing and revitalising the church.
I was thinking how the church adapted to a change in recent times. Many of us
might have heard about Bro. Paul Ciniraj's work. Many people see him as doing a
great work for Christ, which the church ignored for a long time. Several people,
including myself, however do not agree with some of his ideologies and
methodologies. (I however have great admiration for his tireless capacity to
work for his cause, and his social works in the society). Whichever side we are
on, we can agree on a rational observation that Bro. Paul
Ciniraj's methodologies are notably different from those of
other missions of the church, even though the ultimate goals may be the same.
I believe that the Holy Episcopal Synod is guided by the Holy spirit, even
though individual bishops may have their own weaknesses as human beings. The
Synod in its collective wisdom had conferred the title "Malankara Sabha
Missionary" on Bro. Paul Ciniraj. HH Baselios Marthoma Mathews I had accepted
Bro. Ciniraj and had perhaps guided and encouraged him in his mission. Thinking
about it in that background, I was thinking, I should not have much problems
accommodating the works of Bro. Paul Ciniraj, even though I personally do not
understand and do not agree with him on several fronts. However the fact that my
church considers his work as acceptable is good enough for me to accomodate him.
There may be several avenues by which the Holy Spirit reveals His grace to the
world, and I may be ignorant of several of them. For me this is an instance
where the church is accepting a change in methodology, separate from her
traditional understandings of mission; the church accepting a change where she
felt the need to do so.
More recently I had the opportunity to discuss the activities
of Bro. Mathew Vergis (a.k.a. Bro.Vijayan) with a bishop of the
church. Again, I find myself not in agreement or in the same
wavelength as the activities of Bro. Vergis, even though I admire his tireless
capacity and energy to work for the cause he sees as right. The bishop's words
however did help me -- HG said "We should not feel threatened by another
person's unconventional ways". If another person chooses to pray and invites
others to pray in a slightly different way, perhaps we should not be overly
concerned about that. After all, in a world torn apart with strife and illwill,
these initiatives do help to come closer to the Creator. On that count alone, it
need not be discouraged. Also I have heard that the group of Brother Vergis
(Babu Upadeshi and his works in Mannar, Kerala) are members of the church who
participate and cooperate with the church in all her activities. So, even though
I myself may not personally agree to the methodologies, I guess I am willing to
now accomodate another diversity. As long as the church does not see it as
wrong, I should not be having a problem in them working in the way they see as
proper, even though I may personally never attend their meetings. The church's
silence in my opinion, is the church accepting another diversity, or atleast
being flexible enough to accomodate another novelty.
Thus, with time, changes that are needed should happen, it happens
even in the Apostolic Church. The Holy Spirit will make the
environment ready for change. Not everyone may agree with the change,
but we all need to fall in line with the Will of the church. Things
that were unthinkable in the past are routinely accepted facts now (for eg:
earth is round, Sabbath is on Sunday, private confession in front of the priest
has replaced public confession in front of the
congregation). There is a time for change; certain changes were
appropriate for the 1st Century, some for the 16th century, some are
appropriate now, and some are appropriate for a future era. As these
changes happen, we may need to adjust our thinking, adapt our
attitudes, rethink on past positions, and refocus on the cross. In my mind, the
greatest help to cope with change and the ultimate
assurance and hope are the words from the Lord Himself that whatever
happens, "..I am with you till the end of age" (St. Matthew 28:20)
and that "...the power of hell will not overcome the church" (St.
Matthew 16:18) which He established.
I am reminded of Makarios Thirumeni's words "Change is not a threat;
change is growth, and growth is change".
Regards,
Mathew Samuel, Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/11726
No comments:
Post a Comment