The period of advent or Subara is a time to prepare ourselves to receive the Child Jesus in our hearts. I wish you all a blessed advent time.

ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE

3RD JULY, THE FEAST OF ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE

On July 3rd we celebrate the feast of the apostle St. Thomas. This feast is known as Dukrana the day of remembrance, the remembrance of the martyrdom of St. Thomas. In God’s providence St. Thomas was specially set apart to preach the Gospel and bear witness to Christ in India especially in the South.

There are three references to St. Thomas in the Gospel of St. John and each one of them portrays the aspects of his personality. The first reference is in the 11th chapter of St. John’s Gospel. Jesus wanted to go to Bethany to visit Lazarus who was sick. Knowing that many of the Jews were plotting against Jesus and were trying to kill Him, the disciples were of the opinion that Jesus should not go there. But St. Thomas encouraging others proclaimed his readiness to go with Him and even to die for Him. (John 11:16) That was, in a way, a prophecy that was fulfilled in his life. He was ready to go not only upto Bethany for love of Jesus but even to India and he was ready to be martyred for Christ. The words of Jesus “there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for others” (Jn 15:13) was fulfilled in the life of St. Thomas. We are all called to bear witness to Jesus even at the cost of our life. Do we have the courage to proclaim Jesus even in the unfavourable circumstances? Jesus reminds us that whoever wants to be His disciple should take up his cross daily and follow Him. Our call to discipleship demands our readiness to lose our life for the sake of Christ.

The second reference to the apostle St. Thomas is in St. John’s Gospel Chapter 15. When Jesus was speaking about His Father’s house and the way that leads to the heavenly abode St. Thomas very sincerely and openly confessed that the disciples did not understand anything that Jesus was telling. That gave an occasion for Jesus to explain what He was teaching. This again shows how St. Thomas was a man of sincerity in thoughts, words, and actions.

The third and the most touching reference to St. Thomas is given in St. John Chapter 20:24-29. When Jesus appeared to the apostles St. Thomas was not with them. So he insisted and said unless I too get a chance not only to see Him personally but also to touch and experience Him I would not believe. It was not an expression of disbelief but rather an expression of his ardent desire to see Him. Knowing the earnest desire of His disciple Jesus gave him the privilege to touch and experience Him and he expressed his deep faith and God experience saying “My Lord and my God”. But Jesus said “happy are those who have not seen and yet believe”. In a way, St. Thomas became the doubting Thomas, in order that he might be able to say with St. John “what I preach to you is about what we have seen with out own eyes and touched with our hands” (I Jn 1:1)

It is his disbelief that gave him the occasion to touch the Risen Lord and that makes us strongly founded in our belief that Jesus is truly risen. It is his doubt that makes us free from all doubt and makes us blessed, those who have not seen Jesus yet believe.

When St. Thomas heard the other apostles saying that they saw the risen Lord, he could not believe. It might be because their sharing of Christ experience was not strong enough to convince him. If only our Christ experience is strong enough to convince others that Jesus is truly risen and alive, only then will we be able to live a life of Christ witnessing in our life situations.

May the life of St. Thomas be a model and inspiration for all of us for a life of total dedication and Christ witnessing.

Bio-data of Bishop Thomas Elavanal

Bishop Thomas Elavanal was born to Zacharias and Thresia on 28^th March 1950 at Mutholy, near Palai, in Kerala. But his stay at Palai was to be very short as the family migrated to Chathankottunada, near Kuttiady in Calicut district, where he completed his High School Education. He then jointed, or we can say with a spiritual meaning, migrated to the MCBS Minor Seminary in June 1966 and had his first religious profession on 17^th may 1968 and priestly ordination by Mar Sebastian Mankuzhikary on 22^nd December 1975. After a brief period of 3 years appointment at the MCBS Minor Seminary, Kottayam, he once again “migrated” for his Higher Studies, first to Rome and then to the USA. He holds a Licentitate in Litugry from Pontifical Oriental Institute and a Doctorate in Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome. He had his post-doctoral courses in the Catholic University of America, Washington. At his return, he was appointed Rector of the MCBS Seminary, Alwaye and in 1989, the Asst. superior General of the Congregation, at the age of Thirty-nine. He was the visiting professor of Liturgy at the Pontifical Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Alwaye and Paurastya Vidyapitham, Kottayam. In 1995 he was elected the Superior General. But as providence may have it, on 18^th December 1996 he was nominated Bishop of Kalyan. On 8^th February 1997, he was consecrated Bishop, the shepherd of over one hundred thousand migrants of the Syro-Malabar Catholics spread over in the big cities of Bombay, Pune and Nashik. He is the Chairman of Western Regional Commission for Health and a member of Syro-Malabar Synodal Commission for Litugry.