– Tom Varkey
First of all, last Sunday was a historic day to be noted not only in the history of the Coppell Church, but also in the history of the whole Syro-Malabar Church.
When I saw all the excitement expressed in this blog by various well-wishers of the Coppell St. Alphonsa Church, I was truly reminded of what Jesus said in Lk. 15:7: “… there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not …” I had even more reason to rejoice because I was the victim of the restraining order or at least that is what Fr. Sassery and Bishop Mar Angadiath wanted me to be. So when the restraining order was lifted, I thought to myself: “Has the Coppell parish truly repented now that they corrected a major mistake they had committed? Was that the reason why Fr. Johnsty and the Bishop decided to lift the restraining order?” When I thought about it a little deeper, I was convinced that it was not a repentance on the part of the Bishop.
I am not trying to take anything away from Rev. Fr. Johnsty. I don’t think that any other priest in the whole Syro-Malabar Church could do a better job than he did to resolve the issue. I would give him an A+ for playing the role that he did to resolve the scandalous issue in Coppell created by my restraining order even though I never took it seriously not even for a second. In the negotiations to settle the matter, the trustees of the church also did an excellent job and they were all very supportive of me. Truly it was a glorious day for the entire Coppell community including the Claver advocates and certainly for the Crucifix.
Now why do I say I did not consider it as a true repentance on the part of the parish? Because it did not have the ingredients of a true repentance. In the Bible we read about the repentance of Zacchaeus the tax collector in the parable that Jesus told us. When he became aware of his sins, he tells Jesus : “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” When somebody truly repents, he must show a willingness to do more than repair the damage that he caused to others and more. In this case Zacchaeus was willing to pay back four times the amount he swindled from his fellowmen by collecting excessive taxes from them. Not only that, he was willing to give half of his entire possessions as penance for his sins. In my case, there was clamor from many who wanted the Bishop to apologize to me for his role in the issuance of the restraining order by Fr. Sassery sent out to me while I was not even in this country. On my part, not even for a second did I want our Bishop to apologize to me. But I had this hurt feeling within me and the question that always swirled in my head was: “What did I do to deserve a restraining order banning me from St. Alphonsa Church?” Was it that I placed the Crucifix in perfect obedience to the Bishop himself and the Pope and Jesus Christ.
After all, an Archbishop replaced all the Mar Thoma Crosses from all his churches within the Delhi Archdiocese with the Crucifix and he has not been branded as a criminal as I have been according to the letter of the restraining order issued to me by Fr. Sasseril and our Bishop. Besides by denying me the right to come to the church, what his Excellency Bishop Mar Angadiath and Fr. Sasseril have done is a gross violation of one of my basic human rights – the right of religious freedom. Jesus tells us that ‘when you come to the altar to offer sacrifice and there remembers that your brother has anything against you, leave the offering there; first go and reconcile with your brother; then come and offer your sacrifice’. I wonder how Fr. Sassery and our Bishop could say the Mass during the days that followed their issuance of the restraining order against me. I am sure they probably had the same experience that Judas had when he received the bread from Jesus during the last supper when Satan entered into him.
When we consider the above, the repentance that Coppell has shown last Sunday is nothing more than hogwash. Still there was so much joy in Coppell last Sunday when Fr. Johnsty announced that the restraining order issue was resolved. I was wondering if such an incomplete repentance caused so much joy, what joy will there be if the repentance had been a complete one. With the withdrawal of the restraining order – are we seeing light at the end of the tunnel or is it an oncoming train? For it to be a light at the end of the tunnel, the black Mar Thoma Cross placed on the altar of the Coppell church by Fr. Sassery must come down. After all, this cross sits on the altar of the Coppell church having been placed there by a loser priest who himself admitted that he lost his faith after he came to the Chicago Diocese and to Coppell and after he embraced the Mar Thoma Cross. It will continue to sit there as a reminder that the history of the Syro-Malabar Church of Chicago for the past 10 years has been an utter failure just as the life of the priest who placed this ‘Mar Thoma Cross’ there in defiance of the Word of God, in defiance of the command of the Pope and in defiance of everything that the Catholic Church stands for.
First of all, last Sunday was a historic day to be noted not only in the history of the Coppell Church, but also in the history of the whole Syro-Malabar Church.
When I saw all the excitement expressed in this blog by various well-wishers of the Coppell St. Alphonsa Church, I was truly reminded of what Jesus said in Lk. 15:7: “… there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not …” I had even more reason to rejoice because I was the victim of the restraining order or at least that is what Fr. Sassery and Bishop Mar Angadiath wanted me to be. So when the restraining order was lifted, I thought to myself: “Has the Coppell parish truly repented now that they corrected a major mistake they had committed? Was that the reason why Fr. Johnsty and the Bishop decided to lift the restraining order?” When I thought about it a little deeper, I was convinced that it was not a repentance on the part of the Bishop.
I am not trying to take anything away from Rev. Fr. Johnsty. I don’t think that any other priest in the whole Syro-Malabar Church could do a better job than he did to resolve the issue. I would give him an A+ for playing the role that he did to resolve the scandalous issue in Coppell created by my restraining order even though I never took it seriously not even for a second. In the negotiations to settle the matter, the trustees of the church also did an excellent job and they were all very supportive of me. Truly it was a glorious day for the entire Coppell community including the Claver advocates and certainly for the Crucifix.
Now why do I say I did not consider it as a true repentance on the part of the parish? Because it did not have the ingredients of a true repentance. In the Bible we read about the repentance of Zacchaeus the tax collector in the parable that Jesus told us. When he became aware of his sins, he tells Jesus : “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” When somebody truly repents, he must show a willingness to do more than repair the damage that he caused to others and more. In this case Zacchaeus was willing to pay back four times the amount he swindled from his fellowmen by collecting excessive taxes from them. Not only that, he was willing to give half of his entire possessions as penance for his sins. In my case, there was clamor from many who wanted the Bishop to apologize to me for his role in the issuance of the restraining order by Fr. Sassery sent out to me while I was not even in this country. On my part, not even for a second did I want our Bishop to apologize to me. But I had this hurt feeling within me and the question that always swirled in my head was: “What did I do to deserve a restraining order banning me from St. Alphonsa Church?” Was it that I placed the Crucifix in perfect obedience to the Bishop himself and the Pope and Jesus Christ.
After all, an Archbishop replaced all the Mar Thoma Crosses from all his churches within the Delhi Archdiocese with the Crucifix and he has not been branded as a criminal as I have been according to the letter of the restraining order issued to me by Fr. Sasseril and our Bishop. Besides by denying me the right to come to the church, what his Excellency Bishop Mar Angadiath and Fr. Sasseril have done is a gross violation of one of my basic human rights – the right of religious freedom. Jesus tells us that ‘when you come to the altar to offer sacrifice and there remembers that your brother has anything against you, leave the offering there; first go and reconcile with your brother; then come and offer your sacrifice’. I wonder how Fr. Sassery and our Bishop could say the Mass during the days that followed their issuance of the restraining order against me. I am sure they probably had the same experience that Judas had when he received the bread from Jesus during the last supper when Satan entered into him.
When we consider the above, the repentance that Coppell has shown last Sunday is nothing more than hogwash. Still there was so much joy in Coppell last Sunday when Fr. Johnsty announced that the restraining order issue was resolved. I was wondering if such an incomplete repentance caused so much joy, what joy will there be if the repentance had been a complete one. With the withdrawal of the restraining order – are we seeing light at the end of the tunnel or is it an oncoming train? For it to be a light at the end of the tunnel, the black Mar Thoma Cross placed on the altar of the Coppell church by Fr. Sassery must come down. After all, this cross sits on the altar of the Coppell church having been placed there by a loser priest who himself admitted that he lost his faith after he came to the Chicago Diocese and to Coppell and after he embraced the Mar Thoma Cross. It will continue to sit there as a reminder that the history of the Syro-Malabar Church of Chicago for the past 10 years has been an utter failure just as the life of the priest who placed this ‘Mar Thoma Cross’ there in defiance of the Word of God, in defiance of the command of the Pope and in defiance of everything that the Catholic Church stands for.
3 comments:
Bishop need to take action to remove away the pagan cross also from the altar that placed by Fr. Sassari.
Whenever a bishop, a priests, a religious or an individual deviate from their core duty and obligation then he is at fault. Here we are not talking about a silly matter, a priest who act like a devil in a catholic church in front of the whole congregation on a Sunday morning cannot be considered as a silly matter. This is really warning to the Bishop from the faithful and this demonstrates the inability of Bishop as a good shepherd. I think the new chancellor who hides in the Bishop House basement is playing tricks like villan Kaduppan.
As mentioned in the article, the true repentance needs to follow action. Bishop need to take action to remove the pagan cross also from the altar that placed by Fr. Sassari. I hope this will heal all the wounds and bring harmony.
പശു ചത്തു.
മോരിന്റെ പുളിയും പോയി.
എങ്കിലും Fr.Sasseryയുടെയും Bishop Mar Angadiathന്റെയും അസുഖം മാറിട്ടില്ല. ഇവറ്റകളെ ഏത് ഊറ൯ പാറയിൽ കൊണ്ടുപോയി ചികിസിക്കണവോ ആവോ?
During this season christains should rejoice in the birth of Jesus not in Tom varkey as she claims and wishes.
Coppell has forgotten the goodness of the previous priest Fr sassery who worked day and night for them during last christmas..this is the story of jesus too..getting betrayed by the people he served.
.....Any way lets hope that coppell finds happiness in Baby Jesus rather than non sense of Tom during this holy season.
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