The activities of last week have all died down. The crowd of
mourners that came for the funeral have all gone back. The many
priests, deacons, Seminarians and the Thirumenis have gone back. The
leaders of my little parish are slowly taking stock of things, and
trying to see what can be done for the parish in a manner that
Mundukuzhy achen would have wanted.
And many thoughts flash in my mind as I ponder over what happened
about 10 days ago.
Albany and perhaps the entire North America has not seen anything of
this sort ever. A very revered and beloved priest was bid a fitting farewell by
the Holy Church led by the Metropolitan, Assistant Metropolitan, many priests
and many hundred mourners. This was the first time I am seeing a farewell given
to a priest in the Holy Church.
In the days immediately following Mundukuzhy achen's passing away,
everyone was in a kind of a trance, just going through the motions,
taking care of what had to be done, making arrangements, seeing if
everything is taken care of, double checking if something was
missed, and basically running around trying not to think of what had
happened. But now, as the time passes by, and atleast the initial flurry of
activities have subsided, we have no place to hide from our
thoughts.
Achen and the Syracuse parish go a very very long way back. The
children there have grown up from little kids to young adults under Mundukuzhy
achen. The commotion of the funeral is over, but it will take many weeks,
months, even years for some people in Syracuse,Albany and other places where
achen served especially in these last days, to come to terms with the fact that
Mundukuzhy achen has actually passed away. It will take some time for many of us
to realize that the caring and loving voice that called us, spoke to us, advised
us, admonished us like a loving father, and rejoiced with us - will not be heard
anymore. Those hands which touched our foreheads giving us Hoosoyo and
forgiveness for our sins, and which placed the Holy Elements into our mouths,
will not be touching us anymore. [We are now in the Kyamtha days, when we are
reminded of the Risen Lord, so we must bear in mind that this separation is
temporary, for how long, we do not know, but our hope and faith will and must
see us through]By faith, we know that achen is praying for us, and we on our
part offer our prayers for him. It is the strength of our faith that tells us
that we all would be blessed, by the Lord's abundant mercies, to come together
one day to praise and worship at the Heavenly Altar.
Mundukuzhy achen was a person who never would show his pain to
anyone. Most people who would meet achen, including me, mostly saw
achen on Sundays or the weekends. Since we saw him active,
enthusiastic, full of energy and vigour during the celebration of
the Holy Eucharist; smiling, laughing and cracking jokes with the
parishioners when he met them, we all would assume that everything
was ok. But as his son Anil Thomas pointed out at the funeral, he
would be in much pain during the week, but would be preparing his
strength for the Sunday to spend with the parishioners. He would not
even entertain much talk about his illness and ailments. On
persistent enquiry he would divulge a little bit, thats all.
Also I remember Barnabas Thirumeni's words at the funeral which I
thought was most apt summarizing - 'He was not perfect, as nobody
among us is perfect, but what he deserves praise for is, he tried
his very best to serve the Church with whatever resources he had'.
May achen's soul rest in peace.
Regards,
Mathew Samuel, Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/16040
mourners that came for the funeral have all gone back. The many
priests, deacons, Seminarians and the Thirumenis have gone back. The
leaders of my little parish are slowly taking stock of things, and
trying to see what can be done for the parish in a manner that
Mundukuzhy achen would have wanted.
And many thoughts flash in my mind as I ponder over what happened
about 10 days ago.
Albany and perhaps the entire North America has not seen anything of
this sort ever. A very revered and beloved priest was bid a fitting farewell by
the Holy Church led by the Metropolitan, Assistant Metropolitan, many priests
and many hundred mourners. This was the first time I am seeing a farewell given
to a priest in the Holy Church.
In the days immediately following Mundukuzhy achen's passing away,
everyone was in a kind of a trance, just going through the motions,
taking care of what had to be done, making arrangements, seeing if
everything is taken care of, double checking if something was
missed, and basically running around trying not to think of what had
happened. But now, as the time passes by, and atleast the initial flurry of
activities have subsided, we have no place to hide from our
thoughts.
Achen and the Syracuse parish go a very very long way back. The
children there have grown up from little kids to young adults under Mundukuzhy
achen. The commotion of the funeral is over, but it will take many weeks,
months, even years for some people in Syracuse,Albany and other places where
achen served especially in these last days, to come to terms with the fact that
Mundukuzhy achen has actually passed away. It will take some time for many of us
to realize that the caring and loving voice that called us, spoke to us, advised
us, admonished us like a loving father, and rejoiced with us - will not be heard
anymore. Those hands which touched our foreheads giving us Hoosoyo and
forgiveness for our sins, and which placed the Holy Elements into our mouths,
will not be touching us anymore. [We are now in the Kyamtha days, when we are
reminded of the Risen Lord, so we must bear in mind that this separation is
temporary, for how long, we do not know, but our hope and faith will and must
see us through]By faith, we know that achen is praying for us, and we on our
part offer our prayers for him. It is the strength of our faith that tells us
that we all would be blessed, by the Lord's abundant mercies, to come together
one day to praise and worship at the Heavenly Altar.
Mundukuzhy achen was a person who never would show his pain to
anyone. Most people who would meet achen, including me, mostly saw
achen on Sundays or the weekends. Since we saw him active,
enthusiastic, full of energy and vigour during the celebration of
the Holy Eucharist; smiling, laughing and cracking jokes with the
parishioners when he met them, we all would assume that everything
was ok. But as his son Anil Thomas pointed out at the funeral, he
would be in much pain during the week, but would be preparing his
strength for the Sunday to spend with the parishioners. He would not
even entertain much talk about his illness and ailments. On
persistent enquiry he would divulge a little bit, thats all.
Also I remember Barnabas Thirumeni's words at the funeral which I
thought was most apt summarizing - 'He was not perfect, as nobody
among us is perfect, but what he deserves praise for is, he tried
his very best to serve the Church with whatever resources he had'.
May achen's soul rest in peace.
Regards,
Mathew Samuel, Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/16040
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