Verghese V Joseph – On the eve of Lok Sabha elections in the southern state of Kerala, the visit of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena to the Syro-Malabar Church headquarters on Wednesday has sparked political speculation. The LG met with Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, a traditional Syro-Malabar Catholic from Thrissur, where BJP candidate Suresh Gopi is contesting. Saxena also reached out to Major Archbishop Emeritus George Alencherry at St. George Forane Church in Aruvithura, evangelist leader Tangu Brother in Kottayam, Chief Metropolitan of Syriac Knanaya Archdiocese Severios Ku ..read more

Thomas Lima csc – Readings: 1 Pt 5:5-14; Mk 16:15-20 Today’s first reading invites us to clothe ourselves with humility. Because “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” This is a quotation from Proverbs 3:34. When we lack humility, God stands against us. God is not with the proud. Now, everyone thinks they are humble. But our actions reflect whether we truly are humble. Today’s gospel assures everyone that Christ has what a person needs for salvation. Jesus is the way; to follow Him, a person should believe and be baptized. But to fear no evil and truly follow the Lord, there ne ..read more

Fr Arockia Rayappan – A special thanks to R. Pravin Jose, SJ, for collating this article in which six religious sisters from Vidyajyoti College of Theology (Delhi) respond to Pope Francis’ invitation to invest the resources to study, reflect, and meditate on the pastoral guidelines and theological highlights resplendent in the four constitutions of the Second Vatican Council. The contributors belong to the following Religious Institutes: Sisters of the Announcers of the Lord (SAL); Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN); Sisters of the Holy Cross Menzingen (HCM); Missionary Sisters of the Immac ..read more

By Lavoisier Fernandes – The summer months in India, with its hot scorching heat, can be a source of discomfort, raging with high temperature related emotions, while the delights of a variety of seasonal fruits can be a counter, a source of comfort and respite with an ever-increasing longing for the soon-to-come monsoon season. However, in India, especially for the tiny 2.3% Christian community, the summer of 2024 has an additional kind of discomfort, with genuine electoral emotions running high, precisely for the right reasons and with every increasing sense of skepticism hoping for some resp ..read more

By Isaac Gomes – Kolkota: In a time when intolerance is on the rise and divisiveness is being fostered among different religions and cultures, the Catholic Teachers Guild (CTG) of the Archdiocese of Calcutta is advocating for a single-minded pursuit of excellence by Catholic youth in their chosen professional fields. This approach, they believe, will help transcend polarisation and divisions with love and empathy. On April 20, 2024, Joseph Chacko, Senior Teacher of St James’ School Kolkata and President of CTG, welcomed around 700 Catholic students from classes 9 to 12 to a Career Guidance Wor ..read more

Fr Arockia Rayappan – Some more of our own Christ’s faithful have spared their valuable time to share their perspectives with the readers of the Indian Catholic Matters on the invitation of our Beloved Pope Francis to study the fundamentalistic themes of the documents of the Second Vatican Council in preparation for Jubilee 2025. Father Dr. Kuruvilla Pandikattu, S.J., is an author and a Chair Professor of JRD Tata Foundation on Business Ethics at XLRI, Jamshedpur, (India), Professor of the Faculty of Philosophy at Jnana Deepa – Institute of Philosophy and Theology, and formator of m ..read more

Santhiya Philomone csc – Readings: Acts 12: 24 – 13: 5; Jn 12: 44-50 In the first reading, we witness that the early church was directed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Despite facing persecution and challenges, the apostles remain steadfast in their mission, preaching the word of God fearlessly. As they pray and fast, the Holy Spirit guides them in discerning the next steps in spreading the gospel. The reading reminds me of the importance of relying on the Holy Spirit in my life and faith journey. Just as the early Christians sought guidance through prayer and fasting, I am called to cultiva ..read more

Verghese V Joseph – Fr Stan Swamy, a Jesuit priest and tribal rights activist, dedicated his life to fighting for the rights of the marginalised and oppressed in India. His unwavering commitment to social justice and human rights earned him the title of the country’s oldest prisoner charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for his alleged role in a Maoist conspiracy. Swamy’s death on July 5, 2021, while still in custody, has sparked outrage and calls for justice from human rights organisations and individuals around the world. Swamy was born on April 26, 1937, in Tiruchira ..read more

Philip Raj A csc – Readings: Acts 11: 19-26; Jn 10: 22-30 The liturgy of the word invites us to reflect on the theme, “Listen to the voice of the Lord and follow him.” The early Christian community faced persecution. As a result, they were scattered in different places, but they never stopped talking or preaching about Jesus. They listened to the voice of the Lord, and the hand of the Lord was with them to strengthen and encourage them to spread the good news. Amidst persecution, a great number of people accepted Jesus as their saviour, and the number of believers kept growing day by day. In t ..read more

By Fr Arockia Rayappan – For Pope Francis, a Jubilee is a religious event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church. As a special gift of grace to God’s people, the jubilee celebration is principally characterised by the remission and forgiveness of sins, particularly by way of indulgence, i.e., a full expression of the mercy of God as interpreted by the Catholic Church. The Jubilee in the Catholic Church is distinguished as ordinary and extraordinary. It is ordinary when it is celebrated after a customary twenty-five-year period. The celebration of an o ..read more