St Thomas, Apostle 1,950 years ago
St Francis Xaiver 450 years ago
On Sunday, 17 November, in the Cathedral of Ernakulam, Kerala, India,
Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the
Evangelization of Peoples, preached the following homily at the
Eucharistic Celebration for the 1950th anniversary of the arrival in
India of St Thomas the Apostle and the 450th anniversary of the death of
St Francis Xavier at the gates of China on 3 December 1552.
The Cardinal recounted the history of the two great missionary
saints. He praised the progress of the Church in the Indian
sub-continent. "There are thousands of dedicated priests, religious
and lay people, in both the Oriental and the Latin Church traditions,
who sacrifice their lives to help uplift the poor, the downtrodden and
the sick…."
The Cardinal pointed out the great good for evangelization from the
deepening of communion between Eastern and Western Churches. "…We
thank God for the richness of both the Oriental and Occidental
traditions in the Church here, and unite our prayer with the Priestly
Prayer of Jesus, 'that all may be one’" (Jn 17,21).
My dear Brothers and Sisters,
It is with great joy that I am here in Ernakulam, in this beautiful
State of Kerala, for the Jubilee celebrations of the two great Apostles
of India, St Thomas and St Francis Xavier. As Special Envoy of His
Holiness, Pope John Paul II, I assure you of the keen interest the Holy
Father takes in this celebration and of his prayers and solidarity, for
the Christian community, and for the whole Indian nation, at this
milestone in its history.
India is the land of ancient cultures and traditions, with its innate
spiritual insight and moral wisdom. It was here that several of the
world's great Religions were born, and where many others were accepted
and integrated. Unity in diversity has always been its hallmark, as the
different traditions strove to live side by side in a spirit of
complementarity and harmony.
The Apostle St Thomas' arrival in India
The Catholic Church in India traces its origin to the preaching of St
Thomas the Apostle, who, according to tradition, came to India in 52
A.D., nearly 2000 years ago, and who was martyred in Mylapore, where his
tomb is venerated ever since.
The personality of this great figure, with his own characteristic
traits, emerges in the Gospel of St John (Jn 11,16; 14,5; 20,24-29).
Together with the other Apostles, he formed an intimate community with
Jesus of Nazareth and shared all the joys and trials that accompanied
him as he moved around the countryside to preach his message of love and
unity. Thomas was an impulsive type of man, zealous in reaching out to
others, not afraid to ask questions and seek clarifications when
required, who battled with his own resistance and doubts surrounding the
extraordinary events of Christ's death and resurrection in Jerusalem. He
is the one who, touching Jesus' wounds after the resurrection, had all
his doubts disappear and his faith moved to a new level. He simply
believed, exclaiming from the depths of his heart: "my Lord and my
God". It finally came home to him the full import of what had
happened: Jesus Christ had risen from the dead, thus overcoming
suffering and death and offering new hope for all humanity. A new era
had begun.
Thomas understood his own mission as that of sharing this experience,
as in the words of Jesus, "go out to the whole world and proclaim
the Good news to all creation", that is, to proclaim the message
and reality of God's unconditional love to all peoples, regardless of
creed or colour, nationality or race. Each of the Apostles set out on
the mission assigned them by the Lord: "you will be my witnesses,
not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to
the ends of the earth" (Acts 1,8). What was the particular
destination of Thomas, and how did he arrive?
East Syrian Liturgical Tradition, example of inculturation
There is no answer to these questions in the New Testament books, but
other holy documents and traditions clearly allude to Thomas' preaching
and dying in India, and to the burial of his mortal remains in Mylapore
(Chennai).
According to tradition, St Thomas worked for 20 years in Kerala,
spreading the Good News, establishing different communities. The St
Thomas Christians faithfully preserved the Gospel message throughout the
centuries, fully integrating the faith into the local culture.
Because of their inculturation , the Christians of St Thomas were not
considered as followers of a foreign Religion; after all, Jesus was an
Asian. They were fully Christians in faith and Indian in culture. Thus
Christianity was a beautiful and precious stone in the enchanting mosaic
of Kerala Society.
The unbroken presence and belief of the St Thomas Christians through
two millennia gives witness to the missionary work of this great
Apostle. These Christians, with their East Syrian Liturgical tradition,
ensured that the message of the Gospel was kept alive and that the
memory of the Apostle Thomas would live on to inspire successive
generations. Early records of travellers finding isolated Christian
communities in India go back as far as 345, nearly a century before St
Patrick began the evangelization of Ireland, in North-Western Europe.
We give thanks to the St Thomas Christians for their fidelity to
Christ and to his beloved Apostle, Thomas. Through trials and
tribulations of all kinds, they remained firm, giving witness to God's
love, which was poured out for his people. Nobody can ignore the
substantial contribution that the Church of St Thomas has given, and
continues to give, to the evangelization of India and beyond her
boundaries. They have proved themselves true sons and daughters of St
Thomas, who brought the Gospel message to their forefathers, nearly 2000
years ago.
Portuguese discoverers
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to discover the sea route to
India when Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut in 1498. Two years later, on
24 December 1500, Portuguese ships visited Kochi, just across the bay
from where we are celebrating this Eucharist.
St Francis Xavier's arrival, his love for St Thomas
Thus the door was open for St Francis Xavier, one of the first
companions of St Ignatius, Founder of the Society of Jesus—the
Jesuits—who arrived a few decades later. He
set sail for the East, his heart burning with the desire to share the
Gospel of Jesus Christ with people of distant lands. He reached Goa on 6
May 1542 but soon headed further south, where he worked unceasingly to
bring the Good News to the people, learning the local language, making
endless journeys, and never caring for his own health or comfort. After
journeys to Thiruvithamcore (Travancore) and other places along the West
Coast, he moved east to Mylapore. There, at the grave of the Apostle
Thomas, he spent several months in prayer. As a sign of his great
devotion to the Apostle he had, already in 1542, introduced the saint's
name in the confessional formula of the Mass. It was after the prayerful
days spent at the tomb, enlightened and refreshed by that experience,
that Francis set out for his mission in the Far East. Many letters he
wrote at that time show his great interest in and concern for the St
Thomas Christians and their bishop, Mar Jacob.
Death of St Francis, 3 December 1552 at Sancian
Never having realized his ultimate dream of preaching the Gospel in
China, Francis died on 3 December 1552 at Sancian (Shangquan), an island
off the Guangdong Coast of China. His body, however, was brought back to
Goa where, to this day, it is revered in the church of Bom Jesus.
Francis Xavier is acknowledged by people of all walks of life as a
great saint. He was a courageous person, seeking always the will of God.
He could deal equally with the high and the low people of society,
though his preference was for the poor, the lowly, the suffering and the
weak. In his instructions to his companions at work along the Fishery
Coast and in Travancore, he urged them to be present to "the heart
of the masses" that they encountered in the villages they visited.
"Visit those who are sick", he said, "strive to make
yourselves loved by these people, for then your work will be much more
effective". Xavier saw the importance of making himself one with
people, of being inculturated. He and his companions spoke to the people
in the simple language of the slaves, the merchants, the settlers and
the servants. He respected the social customs of the Indians with regard
to food, dress and other areas of life, thereby showing his resolve to
have Christianity understood from within.
In a few short years, Francis achieved a lot for the Church in India.
He set the tone and pace for successive generations of Christians, who
would follow the same spirit of selfless service to spread the Good News
of Jesus Christ in all parts of the country. The later history of the
Church in India is a glorious story of heroic men and women who gave
their lives for the love of God and for the people of India.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta lived the Gospel of love
Both St Thomas the Apostle and St Francis Xavier have played a very
special role in India's story. At different points of its history, this
land of ancient cultures and deep religious values opened its heart to
these two Apostles from distant lands. These two figures were the
instruments chosen by God to preach the Kingdom of God, to teach the
people in India about the love of God and the love of neighbour.
Francis' fresh approach was built on the solid foundations of a Church
that had its roots from apostolic times. Both preached the same Gospel
of love, which was readily received by the people and which, in
later generations, found particular expression in the care of the sick,
the handicapped and the abandoned. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, known to
all, is just one telling example of this type of evangelization, which
has been acknowledged and admired throughout the world. India has
honoured her with the highest recognition by conferring on her the
"Bharata Rantnam".
Dedication of Oriental and Latin Churches
There are thousands of dedicated priests, religious and lay people,
in both the Oriental and the Latin Church traditions, who sacrifice
their lives to help uplift the poor, the downtrodden and the sick. The
thousands of schools, hospitals, dispensaries, centres for leprosy
patients, homes for the handicapped and aged, run by the Church all over
India proclaim every day this Gospel of love. The Church in Kerala, in
particular, has in its turn sent thousands of missionaries to share the
Good News beyond its own territorial limits, both in India and
beyond. Vocations to priestly and religious life are a cause of
admiration for the entire Catholic Church. This is no doubt due to the
strong sense of family values and traditions prevailing in the Kerala
Church. The Catholic faith is well preserved and transmitted to the
young generations through the faith education imparted in the families,
as well as in faith formation groups managed by committed lay people and
religious.
This land, which received Thomas and Francis, and which produced many
other great saints, faces into the third Millennium with gratitude for
the past and with hope for the future. Every age has its particular
emphasis and focus, and the occasion of this Jubilee can help all to
tune into the universal concerns of the Church, as she embarks on the
journey into the Third Millennium. At the end of the Great Jubilee 2000,
the Holy Father said that the great challenge is to make the Church the
home and school of communion. We must gratefully acknowledge this gift
of communion that India has been trying to foster down through the
centuries and we must focus more on ways and means of fostering and
strengthening a sense of communion both within the Church and with
people of all traditions and religions.
Greater sense of communion will foster evangelization
While numerically a small minority in a vast population, just like
the little mustard seed in the parable of Jesus, the Catholic Church in
India is nevertheless an inspiring and compelling sign of the Kingdom of
God, championing the cause of all, especially the poor and the
marginalized. Its credibility will be all the greater, to the extent
that the communion among all Catholics is enhanced and finds greater
expression. We thank God for the richness of both the Oriental and
Occidental traditions in the Church here, and unite our prayer
with the Priestly Prayer of Jesus, "that all may be one" (Jn
17,21). Solidarity and collaboration between the different Churches (cf.
Ecclesia in Asia, n. 26), and the "dialogue of life and
heart" with other religions (cf, Ecclesia in Asia, n. 31)
must be essential elements of this spirit of communion.
The faith that you have received through the two giants, St Thomas
and St Francis, has to be read and lived anew, keeping of course intact
its original meaning, and sharing vividly the Christ-experience they
lived so admirably, so that the present generation comes to know Christ
more deeply, as Thomas and Francis did, so that they too can say with
the same conviction , "my Lord and my God".
Invoking the Holy Spirit on all here present, and the protection of
the Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Queen of India, the Holy Father
cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of communion in the
Risen Lord.
|
