Category: Church Reform
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WEAPONIZING SCRIPTURE
Trump has weaponized tariffs to subject both friend and foe. He has even weaponized (appropriated) the Bible to further his self-centred goals. Sacred Scripture, like anything else, can be used or abused. It’s like a knife. It can be used in a well lit kitchen to chop vegetables, or in a dark alley to slit…
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PENNY FOR YOUR PENANCE
There are two common English phrases where the word “Penny” is used – “A Penny for your thoughts”, and “Going to spend a penny”. The first is obvious; the second means going to relieve one’s bladder. That could cost a penny in a British public convenience. Either way, the penny, as a fraction of the…
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ECUMENISM IS NON-NEGOTIABLE
When we say that something is non-negotiable we mean that it cannot be compromised or water down. Its message and mission must be forthright, sincere and enduring. Ecumenism, commonly understood as Christian Unity, comes from the Greek word oikoumene, meaning “the whole inhabited world”. This embraces not jusr Christians, or the human family, but all…
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JEMIMAH – THE FEARLESS
Have I spelt Jeremiah wrongly? No. This is not about an ancient prophet, but about a modern young social influencer – Jemimah Rodrigues, the 24 year old Indian women’s cricket sensation. Let me make a frank admission – I am an unabashed fan of our Indian women’s cricket team. My earlier favourite was Mithali Raj,…
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CHRISTMAS – HISTORY OR MYSTERY
Where was the Holy Family when Herod ordered the killing of the children in Bethlehem? As we approach Christmas, this question began to haunt me. It forced me to look deeply into the infancy narratives in both Mathew’s and Luke’s gospels. As a layman without any scriptural studies, I also had to take recourse to…
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WAS JESUS CHASTE?
( A sequel to “Playing on his Mind”) Please don’t make haste, or waste your breath on condemning me for even asking such an audacious question. It is not altogether irrelevant or irreverent. Some years ago there was a huge outcry in Kerala over the Malayalam drama “The Sixth Wound”; an adaptation from “The Last…
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PLAYING ON HIS MIND
What does a dying man think of? What is uppermost in his mind, obviously. Have we ever reflected on what Jesus’ last thoughts were before his impending cruel death on a Tau shaped cross? He would have seen many slaves/ criminals dying such a tortuous death, dangling in agony for three or more days while…
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HARVESTING SOULS?
Back in 2000 Arun Shourie wrote a book “Harvesting Souls – Missionaries, their designs and claims”. It was a condemnation of everything remotely connected with missionaries. In the Indian context it was about our Christian presence. For those who came in late this book was written in the aftermath of his address to the CBCI…
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VARANASI VIGNETTES & VINEGAR
Varanasi has a special place in my life, long before “You Know Who” discovered it 10 years ago. It’s a long story harking back 55 years. The immediate cause for this piece was occasioned by the sacerdotal golden jubilee on 29th September of a good friend Rev Dr Joseph Satyanand of the Indian Missionary Society…
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FRATELLI TOOTI
Had I entered a Spelling Bee contest I would have failed miserably, considering that I have mis-spelt the title of Pope Francis’ encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” that he wrote during the Covid pandemic. Unlike previous Popes, he wrote in Italian, not Latin. Seven centuries earlier St Francis of Assisi also preferred Italian to the classic Latin….