Archbishop's Message
  • FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG (2Corinthians 12:10)

    FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG (2Corinthians 12:10)

     

    We rejoice in our sufferings

    The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ is not a bygone historical event that is lost in the hoary past but an ever present ‘mystery’ that is reenacted in the liturgy and in our lives. As St. Paul affirms: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, the church...” (Colossians 1:24).   

    Much of what the Christian Community is experiencing today in our country and in many parts of the world is the Passion re-lived – the opposition to the Lord’s ministry to the poor and the downtrodden, refusal to accept his call to repentance and new life, the questioning of his identity and authority, twisting of his words to trap him, attributing wrong motives to his good work for the marginalised, fear of the status quo being shaken up,  the conspiracies to annihilate him, unlawful arrest, hurried trial, false charges and false witnesses, mob baying for his blood, and finally unjust sentence of death by crucifixion in the midst of two robbers.  

    He did not need advocates to defend him, because his very life of communion with the Father was his defence. He did not require any witnesses because he came into this world “to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37). There is no human support at his trial because his disciples have deserted him out of fear; we can only hear the ferocious and inimical mob shouting against him, ‘crucify him, crucify him’.

    This could be sometimes our experience too in the current situation, but the Lord will never desert us when we place all our trust in him and our dependence on him. In his own way and in his own time, he will vindicate us in order to demonstrate through us the power of his love.  

    Exactly like Pilate who asked Jesus, ‘what is truth’, there may be some sitting in judgement over the Christian community today and asking the same question. To them, like Jesus, we have no answer because our life itself is called to be a witness to the truth of God’s Kingdom.

    When we are weak, then we are strong

    From a human point of view, Jesus on the Cross is an epitome of utter powerlessness, weakness and foolishness, but from a divine point of view, he is God’s power, strength and wisdom – a philosophy that defies and militates against human wisdom that sets store by wealth, power, popularity, prestige and all that the human heart craves for as signs and symbols of greatness.   

    St. Paul, who was Saul before his conversion to Christ, understood this mystery; therefore, he could acclaim: “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:22-25).

    Before his conversion to Christ, Saul was a proud and boastful pharisee who had studied under the eminent Professor Gamaliel; but after his baptism into Christ and after being re-named Paul, he understood the great paradox of the Death and Resurrection of Christ and what really matters for salvation. Therefore, he could exclaim: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10).   

    The entire New Testament leads us into this ineffable mystery of light though darkness, joy through suffering and life through death revealed through the Death and Resurrection of Christ.   

    Jesus drank the chalice to its dregs in total surrender to his Father’s will and was strengthened by the Holy Spirit throughout his excruciating suffering on the Cross to bear it unto the end for our salvation. He died with LOVE in his heart and on his lips, not revenge,  as he forgave his enemies and surrendered his soul into the hands of his Father.  On the third day he rose again from the dead victorious over sin, over the devil, and over death itself.

    From the day of Resurrection and Pentecost our Risen Lord constantly sends us the light of the Holy Spirit to open our minds to understand the Scriptures which tell us that “the Christ should suffer, and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem” (Luke 24: 45-47).

    Therefore, the hatred we are experiencing in these days against the Christian faith and our mission, which causes us much pain and suffering, is ordained by God for the purification of the Church, for her growth in holiness and unity and for greater commitment to her mission to proclaim God’s love and mercy, reconciliation and peace, joy and new life in Christ.

    Growing incidents of violence against Christians

    Incidents of threats and violence against the Christians are increasing in our ‘democratic’ and ‘secular’ country – a cruel irony! One such unspeakable incident in a series of many was the arrest, on July 25, of two Sisters belonging to the Assisi Sisters of Mary Immaculate Congregation who were brutally dealt with at the Durg Railway Station at Chattisgarh on the false allegation that they were indulging in ‘human trafficking’ and ‘religious conversion’ when all that they were doing was helping two major Christian girls to avail of better employment in their own institution in Agra as compared to their meagre earnings  in their own village; and the saddest part of the episode was the way in which justice became a victim of mob rule with human dignity and decency thrown to the winds – and we are in the 21st century!

    What  a tragedy when mobs take the law and order in their own hands and the law enforcement personnel themselves go the mob way!

    Every now and then we hear of Christian pastors being subjected to mob attacks, dragged to police stations on fabricated suspicion of ‘conversion’ with false charges of ‘forced/by allurement conversions’ slapped on them; then they are thrown behind bars until bailed out after a lengthy and expensive judicial process which may take days and months and even years. This appears to be the pattern and the new ‘normal’ of spewing hatred towards Christians who are all but officially reduced to second-class citizens of our country.     

    The arrested ones do get bail eventually; but bail alone is not the issue. The issue is the severe restrictions being consistently imposed on the fundamental right to profess, practise and propagate one’s faith guaranteed by the Constitution.      

    We should not be dismayed

    Should we be dismayed and demoralised that we have to face such harassment which causes a creeping feeling of insecurity – that Christians are not full-fledged citizens of their Motherland because of their faith? 

    I don’t think there should be any reason for us to be demoralised or discouraged because we have to suffer for Christ.

    Remember the words of Our Lord in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mathew 5: 11-12).

    These words of Our Lord at the very beginning of his ministry serve as a clarion call  to his disciples to be ever ready to suffer for their commitment to him and their readiness to follow the path of the Gospel at all times.     

    To follow Christ authentically

    To follow Christ authentically is not a bed of roses as Our Lord himself  has clearly laid before us. He has spoken of state sponsored hatred towards his disciples and targeted violence against them,  being dragged before authorities on fabricated charges, being mocked, insulted, ridiculed, reviled and made butt of scorn and finally even killed.

    His words have rung true all through the history of the Church:

    “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Mathew 10: 17-20).

    This happened already at the beginning of the Church as described in the Acts of the Apostles. The Apostles were dragged before the Council, forbidden to speak about Jesus as the Risen Lord,  arrested, imprisoned, flogged, treated as imposters; but the more they were persecuted the more the faith spread, the more the Church grew and the more God worked marvels in the life of the Church.

    Therefore, the quintessence of our discipleship is to follow the Master on the path of the Cross: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mathew 16: 24-26).

    He has told us very clearly: “A servant is not greater  than the master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.” (John 15: 20-21).

    However, the moment of deepest suffering and pain is also the finest opportunity given by God to bear witness to the Gospel. The strength and courage to do this comes from the Holy Spirit in whose ‘power’ the Church is anointed by the Risen Lord. As St Peter exhorts us: “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil” (1Peter 3: 14-17).

    The genuineness of our faith, hope and love is tested by the trials and tribulations we have to go through in this life – like gold is tested in fire – but we rejoice in the hope of the imperishable, undefiled and unfading inheritance kept for us in heaven through the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Peter 1: 3-16). Let us glory in that hope thanking and praising God at all times.  

    Archbishop Anil J T Couto