Thursday, November 18, 2010

Da Vinci Code

As we celebrate this year the fifth anniversary of the establishment of our Diocese, it is natural for us to look back on the blessings that we have received, the hard work done by our parish priests and the people in building up the parishes and on the dedication and commitment of our Bishop to make the diocese to develop into a vibrant community of the Syro-Malabar faithful. As the first Syro-Malabar diocese outside of India, the growth and the development of the Diocese have been looked upon with great expectation by the faithful in India. It is a matter of gratitude for us to note that the growth of the diocese during the last five years has been steady and consistent. With eight parishes established in different parts of the country and with the number of the families being enrolled at these parishes increasing year by year, it is no exaggeration to say that God has been blessing the work of the faithful, the pastors and our Bishop in their ministry.

When the Diocese was established, a lot of people expressed their anxiety and doubts with regard to the success of the new diocese in an environment where there is a generational disparity among the faithful. Some of the doubts centered around the effectiveness of the diocese in dealing with the young who are being brought up in America. But when the parishes began to be active and as many programs were started for the youths like the SMYO, Retreats for the Youths, CCD classes, and special conventions for the youths, these doubts began to dissipate.

It is also a matter of joy to note that the Diocese has bought a new office building

very close to the Cathedral to coordinate the various pastoral activities of the Diocese. Within a few months the work for a new Cathedral would begin. In a way, this year marks a significant step in the development of the Diocese.

Of course, a lot more has to be done in the coming years. More and more activities have to be organized to bring the youth into the mainstream of the Church. More and more missions have to be established in places where there reside significant groups of the faithful. Those of the faithful who are leaving the church because of the lapse of their faith through marriages or through misunderstandings of the basic tenets of the faith have to be brought back into our community again.

This year also has seen great changes in the Catholic world. We have just observed the first anniversary of the passing away of our beloved Holy Father, John Paul 11 and of the first anniversary of the accession to the office of the new Holy Father, Pope Benedict XV1. The Holy Father’s visit to Germany for the world Youth Day and his recent visit to Poland have been immensely successful in continuing great ministry of evangelization initiated by Pope John Paul11.The thoughts and reflections of our present Holy Father on various contemporary issues as expressed in his recently published books have been very effective in educating the faithful in forestalling the swift onward march of secularism.

The Da Vinci Code

The publication of the novel The Da Vinci Code has created a lot of confusion in the minds of the general public because of the fact that the novel is camouflaged in pseudo-history. Its use of cryptography and the employment of so many myths hailing form the Middle Age have given it an appearance of false authenticity. The movie that is based on it continues to perpetuate the false sense of authenticity created by the novel.

Every Christian believer knows that what is published in the novel as history is pure trash and a concoction of wild fantasies and imaginary events. The way it is written gives the impression of the presentation of some historical truths on the origin and rise of Christianity. It is pure fantasy and nothing else.

As a novel,it is incendiary and highly inflammable in its presentation of characters. To denigrate image of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the center of worship of billions of the faithful down through the centuries, is pure arrogance and effrontery.

As F.R.Leavis, the great critic of fiction observes in his work “The Great Tradition” , a great novel is the one that enhances one’s awareness of life and its moral dimensions. From that point of view, it does not need any intellectual effort to say that “ The Da Vinci Code” is pure trash and is worth to be thrown into the dustbins of history. The best response to the release of the movie has been given by a reporter of the Times of India in its issue of May 20,06: Many would say that the movie is a sensational stuff, that it is slanderous of Christian faith. But compared to the central tenet of Christian faith, Brown’s pot boiler is a damp squib. A nine-day wonder that does not stand a chance against the awesome might and mystery of a faith system whose reverberations resound 2000 years after it was formulated. What is that tenet? That the Son of God could be born in the guise of a flesh-and blood-mortal, suffer crucifixion and undergo the miracle of resurrection to redeem human kind. It is not a bombshell of a plot; it is a thermonuclear explosion. No sensation –seeking thriller writer could have had the imagination or the nerve to dream it up. And even more profoundly mysterious and baffling is that the Christian credo is the phenomenon of faith itself.”(Jug Suraiya)

We have to mention the impact of the novel in this editorial as so many of our readers are now familiar with the work either by reading the novel or by seeing the movie. There so many books available in the market exposing the inherent deficiency and falsity of the facts presented in the work ,although it is done in the guise of fiction. As there is a tendency to blur the genres of writing on account of the various media presentations, it is necessary to be aware of the pitfalls facing us in our search for truth.



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