Category: Fr. Abraham’s Weekly Column

Dear Friends,

Three related observances are happening this week:

National Marriage Week (Feb 7-14): This week draws our attention to the beauty of marriage. The theme selected by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for National Marriage Week 2022 is “Called to the Joy of Love,” referring to Pope Francis’2016 Encyclical on the family Amoris Laetitia. The theme was chosen to highlight the many ways that married couples and families are accompanied by the Church to live out the call of love. National Marriage Week was started to honor husbands and wives for their never-ending sacrifices and faithfulness that hold these unions together.

World Marriage Day (Feb 13): began in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1981 and grew out of the experience of couples engaged in the “Worldwide Marriage Encounter,” a movement founded in Spain — “Encuentro Conyugal” — by the late Father Gabriel Calvo (1927-2021), who devoted his entire priestly ministry (1952-2021) to the pastoral care of married couples and families. “There is within each couple,” he reflected, “a divine energy of love. It has to be released by a deep sharing between husband and wife, through the communication of their feelings and of the whole of their lives together. It cannot be done in just one moment.” Pope St. John Paul II imparted his apostolic blessing to “World Marriage Day” in 1993.

Valentine’s Day (Feb 14): One of the most romantic days of the year, Valentine’s Day, has a Catholic connection. Saint Valentine, officially known as Saint Valentine of Rome, is a third-century Roman saint widely celebrated on February 14 and commonly associated with “courtly love.” One of the many legends about him, says that he refused to sacrifice to pagan gods, was imprisoned and while imprisoned he healed the jailer’s blind daughter. On the day of his execution, he left the girl a note signed, “Your Valentine.” His feast day came to be dedicated to love, and people observed it by writing love letters and sending gifts to their beloved.

These three observances invite us to promote marriage and love. We know that the number of marriages have fallen drastically in recent decades due to cultural and attitudinal changes. While the Catholic church is at the forefront of promoting marriage and family, I was happily surprised to find great support for the same from certain unexpected quarters:

Time Magazine: “…We should provide the facts about the importance of marriage as a matter of child welfare and economic aspiration. As a society, we have launched highly effective public education campaigns on much less momentous issues, from smoking to recycling… For now, the decline of marriage is our most ignored national crisis…”

Fox News: “The Brookings Institution says that if we had the marriage rate today that we had in 1970, there would be a 25 percent drop in poverty. The Heritage
Foundation says that marriage drops the probability of a child living in poverty by 82 percent.”

Newsweek Magazine: “National Marriage Week presents a chance to focus on rebuilding a culture of marriage for this generation.”

May such support for marriage and family spread more and more. As we appreciate and encourage all our married couples, we pray for God’s blessings to enable them to continue the path of love and unity despite the many challenges they face.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal

Dear Friends,

Last Sunday Mrs. Mary Lynch, our Principal gave a pulpit invitation to us to join the special Mass this Sunday as we celebrate the Catholic School Week nationally. She spoke beautifully about St. Matthias School that is an integral part of our parish. The success of St. Matthias School impacts St. Matthias parish. I am truly grateful to all of our parishioners, all of the school parents, faculty, staff, all other supporters and well-wishers for helping our school become truly a sanctuary of “Faith, Caring and Excellence” – as the school motto reminds us.

I’m sure you are aware of the “synod on synodality,” a worldwide gathering of bishops and other leaders called by Pope Francis. Synodality literally means walking together. Pope Francis invited the Catholic Church to embark on a journey of listening and discernment to develop a deeper understanding of its mission and look toward the future. This Synod, entitled “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission”, began in October 2021 and will conclude October 2023. Even though the Church is structured in a vertical hierarchical way, Francis said this synod is meant to “listen to the questions, concerns and hopes of every church, people and nation.”

The word ‘synodal’ refers to the involvement and participation of all the People of God in the life and mission of the Church. The goal of this journeying together is not to create a new pastoral plan with objectives. Rather, the goal is to be present with one another, to listen and learn with each other, and to grow closer to the Lord and His Church. Pope Francis has said: “Let us ask: in the church, are we good at listening? How good is the hearing of the heart? Do we allow people to express themselves, to walk in faith even though they have had difficulties in life, and to be part of the life of the community without being hindered, rejected or judged?”

Some fear that it will change the structure of the church and make it more democratic like some of the Protestant churches. That is an unfounded fear. The hope is that now on, everyone will have a voice to tell his or her own personal story as well as bring ideas and suggestions for the common good, and the bishops in their dioceses and pastors in their parishes will listen to these and will make the final decisions on these. Thus, we become more of a listening church.

A key part of the Synod are “listening sessions” to be held in all Catholic communities throughout the world. Our diocesan sessions in deaneries were originally scheduled for late January but have been postponed. But the Diocese will be having a “Virtual Synod Facilitator Training” on Thursday, February 3, 2022, from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m. Everyone is welcome to join that by registering at: https://www.diometuchen.org/facilitator-training

In addition to these diocesan deanery sessions, I am proposing to have our own parish listening session here at St. Matthias, probably sometime in early
March. Keep an eye out in coming weeks for the exact date. But if many of you can attend the Facilitator training on February 3, it will be helpful for our
own parish listening session. Have a look at the Synod Preparation materials and other important resources on the diocesan website at: https://www.diometuchen.org/synod2023

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal

Dear Friends,

Martin Luther King Day is observed every year on the third Monday of January. This year it falls on this Monday, January 17. Dr. King became minister of the Dexter Ave. Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama in 1954 and was the most prominent leader in the American civil rights movement until his assassination in 1968. We are thankful for the path that he forged, together with countless others, for bringing about racial equality and ending racial segregation in the United States.

From what we have witnessed in recent years, it is obvious that we are experiencing deep divisions and polarizations on this issue and on other social justice matters. We need to ask the same questions that Dr. King asked: How will we struggle against the injustices in our society? What means will we use? Inspired by his Christian convictions and his admiration for Gandhi’s nonviolent activism that led to India’s freedom in 1947, Dr. King opted for civil rights through nonviolence and civil disobedience. He wanted to overcome hate with the wisdom of the Gospel of Jesus who taught loving our enemies. He kept reminding his audiences to seek reconciliation and not to fall easy prey to the temptation to violent reprisals. In 1958, Rev. King wrote: “Along the way of life, someone must have the sense enough and the morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can only be done by projecting the ethics of love to the center of our lives.”

As Catholics, we have been doing a lot of self-examination in becoming aware of racism that denies respect, equality and human dignity to people of color both in the church and in the society. In November 2018 the Catholic bishops of the United States released a Pastoral Letter Against Racism called, Open Wide Our Hearts. Our Bishops acknowledged the truth: “Racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and it corrupts the souls of those who harbor racist or prejudicial thoughts. The persistence of the evil of racism is why we are writing this letter now.”

Yes, the letter is a powerful initiative but more needs to be done, and soon, to bring that awareness to us Catholics on the national, diocesan and parish levels. I’m very happy that our parish of St. Matthias has taken some significant steps to address racism and other social justice issues by having events and retreats as well as launching the Social Justice Initiative by our Pastoral Council and the Racial Justice Initiative by our St. Martin De Porres Society.

I invite us all to read the Bishops’ letter ‘Open Wide Our Hearts’ as well as get new resources from usccb.org/racism. May the legacy of Dr. King remind us that God’s plan for us is to live in peace with all, by loving and respecting everyone without any discrimination.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal

Dear Friends, Happy New Year!

Did you begin the New Year in the right spirit? St. Paul gives an excellent piece of advice he practiced himself: “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13). Basically, Paul is telling us to be forward-looking at the possibilities that we have in the call of God in Christ Jesus. This is something that we can apply at the beginning of this New Year.

“Forgetting what lies behind” is an invitation to not dwell on the past failures, hurts and wrong choices but to learn from them in the light that Jesus brings into our lives. No doubt, our desire is to be better persons, to live better lives, to make more healthy choices and to live with all in harmony and peace. “Straining forward to what lies ahead” is the promise of the fulfillment of our longings in Jesus. As we begin this First Sunday of the New Year together, let us remember that it truly is a New Beginning for all of us here in the Catholic Community of St. Matthias where Jesus is the center. What is our New Year gift to Jesus? We have the answer in the 19th century English carol, Christina Rosetti’s A Christmas Carol, which begins, “In the bleak midwinter.” The carol sums up, in its last stanza, the nature of” giving to the Christ Child.”

What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I could give a Lamb.
If I were a wise man, I could do my part.
What I can I give Him? Give Him my heart!”

Today’s feast of the Epiphany reminds us of the manifestation of the Christ Child to the whole world. Luke’s gospel in a special way stresses this universal salvific plan of God who came to save everyone. There is a place for everyone in the family of God – no matter how different a person is. “Unity in Diversity” is another way of stating who we are as Christians. Today’s 12 noon Mass is a celebration of our diversity as the Catholic Community of St. Matthias.

I plan to take my vacation this month and God willing, I hope to reach home (in the southern state of Kerala, India), this coming Sunday. I commend myself to your prayers. Many of you know that I could not attend my father’s funeral last January. My hope is to be with my mother and family to celebrate his first death anniversary on January 11. I am so very happy that Msgr. Brennan who has vast pastoral experience and wisdom is with us and will oversee all the parish needs. At the moment, he is having a short but well-deserved vacation to Ireland to be with his sister and other family members.

May the Blessings of Baby Jesus stay with us and with our dear ones for the whole of 2022 and beyond!

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal

Dear Friends,

Have you thought of inviting someone to our Church this Christmas? Dr. Thom Rainer who conducted a national research “The Unchurched Next Door” says: “Eighty-two percent of the unchurched are at least somewhat likely to attend church if invited.” But the problem is that “only two percent of church members invite an unchurched person to church. Ninety-eight percent of church-goers never extend an invitation in a given year.” Thankfully, that is not fully true about our parish! I have heard a number of stories of our parishioners joining us because of the invitation of another parishioner. Two weeks ago, I mentioned in my homily about a parishioner who expressed her joy and gratitude that she joined our parish following the suggestion of her friend, and she felt that was the right decision she made. Another parishioner told me that after getting discouraged with ‘parish-shopping,’ a neighbor suggested that he try St. Matthias and his family felt very much at home here and continues to feel so.

Many are looking for some good news, some hope, because they are hurting in so many ways: families experience conflicts, devastating test results, and a host of other problems that make people scared at the thought of a bleak future. Yet on the first Christmas, those who were frightened and in desperate need of good news and great joy were addressed directly by the angel: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born…” (Luke 2:10-11) Isn’t that a good enough reason for us to invite someone to church this Christmas?

Christmas is a time of giving gifts – to families, to charities, to church. But giving an invitation to church could be the best gift you can give to someone who really needs God’s presence in their lives. In my previous parish, I had a banner fixed at the entrance: “Every Member A Minister.” Seeing it every time the parishioners came to Church, it helped them realize that each of them is a minister of Jesus and so taking ownership of the message of Jesus means to become a disciple who will bring others to Jesus. You are acting as a disciple of Jesus when you invite someone to come to our church. You are introducing to our Savior those who need his healing and comfort especially if they are hurting.

The Mission Statement of our parish has this line: “As a diverse people, journeying together in faith, we are growing in awareness of the pain and joy of our brothers and sisters ….” Our Church is that place for the kind of support and fellowship where they can meet the God who loves them, understands their greatest fears, sees their deepest longings, and who sent His Son to save us. From the testimonies of those joining us, we can be certain that, true to our mission statement, we are a very inclusive and welcoming community. So, see you at Christmas with your invited guests, family and friends.

As we celebrate Christmas in a few days, my prayer is that your Christmas will be filled with the wonder of “Emmanuel” (Matthew.1:23: God-with-us). May his light shine upon you; may his peace and joy fill your hearts and your homes.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal