NEWSLETTER - St. Thomas Philadelphia

Vicar’s Message
New Year, New Resolve and Firm in Christ
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing
move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the
Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in
vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
Years come, years go! Would that mean anything
to us? For most people it is just another year. But there
are many people who take seriously the beginning of a
year, a month or even a day. The believer finds his/her
faith active in everyday life. He/she will begin the day or
an event trusting in the power of the Lord. I have seen
such people making the difference in the community.
Their faith and action commingled with divine power.
A New Year is a new opportunity, and a new avenue
wherein we need some new plans for the Lord. In the
commercial world, we see directors set a plan for every
year for their business. Our business is with the Lord and
therefore we need to make some plans for the Lord. In
that respect we must look at what St. Paul says to the Corinthians
in the above verse. Stand firm, don’t move and
always give yourselves to the work of the Lord”.
These are the three stages of success in life.
“Stand firm” is an essential quality for anyone in
any profession. That shows one’s commitment and conviction.
When people with no conviction come to the helm of
affairs, they will not be able to do justice to the job. This is
the reason often many of the spiritual or religious organizations
lose its power and image. People uncommitted will
not be able to stand for the cause for which they work.
Mahatma Gandhi stood for non-violence and truth and he
was willing to lose his profession, property or even life for
that. At the point of being killed by a religious fanatic
Gandhi called out his God praying, “Raam, Raam, Raam”.
Even today the entire world admires and respect Mahatma
for his life witness. If it is a modern man he will use
the curse words when shot at. His convictions were rooted
in God. Often convictions are not beyond selfishness and
political interest. Whether in Church politics or party politics,
basic interest we see is in one’s own selfish gain
which is conditioned by financial or other material causes.
Once selfish interest props up, the entire atmosphere
changes. I have seen many political parties, parishes and
families disintegrate when people with selfish interest try
to come to leadership.
“Don’t move” is the byproduct of ‘stand firm’. It
may appear to be of the same meaning. The Malayalam
translation looks very interesting, it says, “do not be
shaken”. Being shaken by events and people around us is a
common thing to happen. It is like a storm or hurricane
that hits a house that is not built on firm foundation. Our
Lord makes it clear in his
sermon on the mount how
such houses built on sand
are destroyed. Adversity is
a common thing to happen
to all humans. But people
who are well rooted in the
Lord will not be shaken. Dr. Robert Schuler used to say in
his speeches, “tough situation will not last but tough people
will”. People who are afraid of adversity will budge
against divine principles. Such people can be threatened or
shaken easily. Where as, if one is sturdy to be unshaken,
he/she can control the situation and achieving a lot.
“Give yourselves to God” is rather a tough situation.
In one of the prayers of ‘preparation for holy
Qurbana’ (thooyobo), there is a prayer that the priest recites,
“Lord may I be able to offer myself as a sacrifice”.
While the bread and wine are set to offer as a sacrifice to
the Lord, the priest becomes aware of the fact that he himself
is being offered as a sacrifice. It is a huge decision that
a priest has to make before the Lord prior to the Holy
Qurbana. Only then the Lord will accept that priest’s offering
in a true manner. Giving certain things to the Lord
is an easy thing to do but when one has to offer himself/
herself it is a serious matter. St. Paul in 2Timothy 4:6 says
about his readiness to be ‘poured out as a sacrifice’ for the
Lord. This is called the total commitment. We can hardly
see anyone who is totally committed to the Lord.
Finally the Apostle Paul assures us that our work
in the Lord will never be in vain. Throughout the Bible we
get this assurance from God. Those who work with and
for God always will make the most profitable job. One day
a friend of mine in a private conversation mentioned to me
how much money he made in one year and at the end of
the year nothing was left. He could not even give some
money to the charity in the parish. I could not believe that
a person who made so much money in a year feels that all
his work was in vain. His life style was so bad and never
had any place for the Lord. No wonder at the end of the
year he sighs, “all I did was in vain”. This will happen to
anyone who works without the Lord.
It was my desire to obey the words of the Lord
that came through Malachi 3:10 about giving Tithe to
God’s temple. I gave more than the Tithe to the needy on
different occasions. But I did not obey the Word of the
Lord to bring the Tithe to the house of the Lord. The assurance
of God to reward us by ‘opening the floodgates of
heaven’ is for those who bring the Tithe to the house of
the Lord. Many people in our parish asked me if it is
enough that we give the Tithe to the poor. I had agreed to
that. In fact I was misguiding them and I was misguided
by them as well. Lately I understood one thing that the
Word of God should not be read to my convenience. The
Continued on Page 6
JANUARY 2013 2 NEWSLETTER