Recent Tragedies in our Community : By Rev. Fr.Joel Mathew ( MGOCSM Diocesan Secretary)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I pray that your Lenten journeys are fruitful and that the Holy Fast is enabling you to grow closer to Christ by the controlling of passions.
This past week we have learned that two more young people (Houston & New York) have fallen asleep in the Lord. There appears to be a cloud of darkness hovering over the Malayalee-Christian community. These events have been extremely tragic and our hearts are shaken to the core for people whom we have never met. However, the saddest part of these events is, though we feel for the families that are suffering now, soon we will go back to our own ways of life as if nothing happened.
Unfortunately, in the past, we have developed a pattern of dismissing such tragedies as a consequence of upbringing, culture, or economic status; yet, in these recent events, we find ourselves able to identify with the victims or their family members as members of our own community and it is increasingly apparent that we are not immune to these horrific events. Though there will always be events in our life that are out of our control, we can take charge of our paths with making decisions that glorify God rather than our passions.
Now we see more than before that tragedy knows no discrimination, it is time that we open up the dialog between parents and children. There are many issues that our community is struggling with, such as premarital relationships, drug use, underage drinking, alcoholism and depression (to name a few). However, the greatest issue present in our community today is the lack of true communication within our families that leads parents to be completely unaware or oblivious to what their children are doing when they leave their sight.
Many of you may have already seen and watched this moving message by Lovely Varughese (Pravin Varughese's mother), but I urge you to watch it with your families and discuss how you can prevent events like this in our own lives:
This is not a time for judgement to condemnation, but rather an opportunity to fix and correct our own lives. God is asking us to 'make straight our paths' and to strengthen the bonds of our family life. We will never attain anything in life if we do not try to mend the relationships in our homes first.
May God have mercy upon all the families that are grieving. May the souls of the departed be eternal. May God's grace be upon us so that we can see that this life is short and it is meant to bring glory to God in all things.
Yours in Christ,
Joel Achen
News Articles:
Jobin Kuriakose (21, Orlando, FL; Feb. 9)
Angela Mathew (20, Albuquerque, NM; Feb. 10)
Pravin Varughese (19, Chicago, IL; Feb. 18)
Nadia Malik (22, Philadelphia, PA; Feb. 21)
Stanly Kumbanattel (31, Houston, TX; Mar. 6)
Jasmin Joseph (22, Syosset, NY; Mar. 11)