Christmas,06

This is a time when there is a cultural repugnance to say “Merry Christmas “ by the so-called spokespersons of corporations and public institutions in our land. Every one wants to bask in the glory, beauty and the pageantry of Christmas but they do not want to mention the word “Christmas.” They want to eliminate purposely from the collective memory of our people the reason for the celebration. They don’t want to mention the name of Christ who has called upon all the members of the human race to love one another. The believers in Christ cannot be timid in their response to this conscious and deliberate omission of Christ from the celebrations. The angels sang “ Glory to God in the highest and peace to men favored by God.” Hence, it is a golden and evangelistic opportunity for us to say boldly and confidently without any sense of temerity “Merry Christmas” to our neighbors because this is the only word that can conjure up images of peace and joy.

Christmas is the celebration of the greatest love story on this planet-- the Father’s love for mankind by sending His son to live and to die for us. It is a time to reawaken in us the smoldering embers of love and to reach out to one another in a spirit of love and forgiveness. As the famous theologian Rahner has mentioned, Christmas is the celebration of God’s utterance to us. Jesus is the Father’s word to us. He is love. “God so loved the world that he sent His only begotten Son that those who believe in him should not perish.” Yes, this is the time to reclaim the wholeness of our lives and to speak to one another in a language suffused with love and compassion.

As the Diocese is completing the fifth anniversary of its existence, it is gratifying to note that eight parishes have already been established and two more will be erected in December. The Diocese is catering, thus, to the spiritual needs of its people steadily and consistently. More than 2000 students pursue catechetical instruction in the various Sunday schools attached to the parishes of the Diocese. The construction of the new Cathedral church will begin within a few weeks.

The Diocese has purchased an office building as the Pastoral Center and a new house adjacent to it for residence. Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath, the priests and the people of the Diocese deserve congratulations and greetings on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the diocese for the splendid work done in the past few years in building up the community spiritually and socially.

This year is also significant because of the announcement of the Holy Father proclaiming Sr.Euphrasia as a Blessed. Her life will be a source of inspiration for all who come to know her life because of her intense and total devotion to the Lord.

This issue of the Syro-Malabar News comes in the format of a magazine as it is thought the magazine format will be more attractive, reader-friendly and amenable to be preserved.

We wish all of our readers and the members of the community a very beautiful and merry Christmas. May the Lord be with you at all times in your lives.

The last few months in Kerala were dominated by the impact of the Bill on Self-Financing colleges passed by the Govt. of Kerala. Under the pretext of controlling corruption and the collection of exorbitant fees for admission, the Govt. introduced a Bill that would annihilate the right given by the Constitution to the minority communities to start educational institution of their choice. The Constitution of India under article 30(1) guarantees the right of the minorities to establish educational institutions of their choice and the Govts. are prohibited from discriminating against them. Article30(1) states the following: “ All Minorities whether based on religion or language shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.” Several times the Supreme Court has issued their judgments on this right, preserving the integrity of this right. It is this Constitutional guarantee that the present Marxist Govt. wants to abrogate in their present Bill on the Self-financing colleges.

The present Govt. seems to forget nature of the genesis of Self-financing colleges. The demand for starting new courses and establishing new professional institutions has been made in Kerala for many years in the past by educational experts and by people who work in the field. Even with the willingness to pay high fees, it was not possible for students to study professional courses. As it was not possible for the Govt. to start new colleges, it was left to the private initiative to start new colleges. Reasonable guidelines are in existence with regard to the collection of fees. The Govt. has enough power in its hands to stop corruption or the collection of exorbitant fees. Instead of doing that, it decided to whittle down the rights of the minorities .They closed their eyes to the fact that it was the educational institutions run by the Christian managements that paved the way for such a rapid growth in the literacy rate of Kerala.

We hope that better sense will prevail in the minds of the authorities and that they would do their utmost in expanding the horizon of educational opportunities in Kerala.