FOCUS October 2020

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FOCUS October 2020 Vol. 8 No: 4

Cover Photo by Canva: A Post – COVID -19 Landscape of Faith, Cover Design by Lal Varghese, Esq., Dallas

Contents 1. A Post COVID-19 Landscape of Faith: Editorial by Dr. Zac Varghese, London, Page 3……………………………………….

2. Professor George K. Zachariah’s Navathy, (90th Birthday Tributes and Good Wishes), Page 7……………………..

3. COVID-19: An Eco-Centric Perspective, Revd Dr. K.V. Mathew, Kottayam, Page 8 4. Coping with COVID-19, Revd Dr. Abraham Kuruvilla, Kottayam, Page 09 5. Spirituaalty of Virtual Chruch, Revd Dr. Ipe Joseph, Page 12………………............

6. COVID-19 Lessons, Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam, Page 14………………

7. Faith in the Times of Pandemic, V. Georgekutty, Karunagappally, Page 16..

12. Eschatological Views in Second Peter and its Relation to the Rest of the New Testament, Revd Shibu Kurian, Bangalore, Page 25……………………………………………

13. Casting Burdens, Dr. Zac Varghse, London, Page 28…………………………..

14. Lessons I Learnt During COVID-19 Pandemic, George Thomas,Copenhagen, Page 31……………………………………...

15. Member Church Reflections on COVID19 in the UK, Page 33………………………

16. Book Review: ‘Church and the New Normal: Ecclesial Imaginations for a New Community’, Rt. Revd Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius Suffragan Metropolitan,

By Revd Dr. Abraham Philip, Kottayam.

Page 35………………………………………

8. Worship is Celebration of Faith of People of God, P. T. Mathew, Dallas, Page 19……

17. Obituary - A Man Clad In Fire Celebrating Swami Agnivesh, By Revd Dr. Valson Thampu, Trivandrum, Page 36

9. When Only Two or Three Can Gather – A Post COVID-19 Thought About Our Faith, Lal Varghese, Esq., Dallas, Page 21………

18. The Next Great Even in Post COVID-19, Revd Dr. Martin Alphonse, Page 38

10. A Timely Response to a Crisis: CTE Presidents, England, Page 23…………….

19. Congratulations to Mr. John George Chirapurath, Microsoft VP, Page 40……..

20. Obituary of Dr. Abraham C. Thomas, Tampa, Florida and Rtd. Judge O. N. Ninan, Thiruvalla, Page 40……………….

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11. Religious Ethiests, Revd Dr. Valson Thampu, Trivandrum, Page 24……………

EDITORIAL A Post COVID-19 Landscape of Faith: (We are all in this together) “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1) Mankind has been suffering from the devastating COVID-19 pandemic since January 2020, with over 25 million infected people across the world and more than a million deaths as of the end of August 2020. National governments across the world used lockdown, quarantine, social distancing, hand washing, personal protective equipment (PPE), hospitalisation, ventilators and many other measures to save the lives of people. This virus is still with us and the scientific prediction is that we may have to live with it for a considerable length of time; the world is desperately waiting for vaccines and other preventive measures to come online.

Humanity suddenly woke up and realised that ‘we are all in this together’; there is no safe place on the planet to hide from this virus. It does not discriminate; it is infecting everyone in its path and it is more devastating to older section of the population, ‘Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Communities (BAME)’ and socially deprived people living in poor housing conditions and homeless people sleeping on the streets. We may possibly continue with blame games in one way or other. Apart from its immediate effect on man’s respiratory system, it affects various other organs of the body including unforeseen neurological impairments and has psychological long-term effects; it also has generated much socio-economic, welfare, psychological and spiritual issues affecting the wellbeing of humanity. Therefore, it seems to be a good time to assess the challenges and our responses to them. Has it strengthened or weakened our faith?

How do we adjust to this novel experience? Will live streamed, virtual, worship become a ‘new normal’ which has been one of the legacies of the pandemic and will become a way of bringing more people into a faith-based life in a post-pandemic landscape, particularly those who never attended church-based corporate worship? It is against this backdrop, we have selected the theme: ‘A post COVID-19 landscape of faith’ for the October issue of the FOCUS. ‘We are all in this together’ realisation is a good place to begin sketching more fully the sort of re-conception and reconstruction needed in our understanding of the Christian faith and corporate worship after many months of live stream worship, prayers and the inability in the physical participation for the Holy Communion, intimate person to person interaction and meaningful fellowship. What does this pandemic period contribute for humanity’s self- understanding and spiritual journey? We have taken for granted so many things in our spiritual journey and have become familiar to sacraments and faith practices without feeling its holiness or the presence of God in our worship services. Does the present situation invite and demand theologians and leaders of churches to undertake a critical analysis of the traditional concepts of worship and other practices?

Mankind has managed to avert a nuclear war after the hostilities of the Second World War; non-proliferation treaties, Gorbachev’s glasnosts, international peace initiatives, the end of the cold war and all such factors have lulled most activists into complacency. But the 9/11 destruction of the trade centre in New York, Al-Qaida, Iraqi war, social media-generated upraising in Egypt, Syria, Libya and Hong Kong has again created enormous challenges and instability. However, some of these were based on region-specific issues, but the threat from the COVID-19 pandemic is of a different scale and has wiped out many human aspirations. The ability of mankind to destroy itself was previously considered to be entirely due to man-made weapons of mass destruction, clash of civilisations, religious wars, the destruction of the environment and ecological damage; it has now shifted to the destructive powers of viruses and similar biological enemies and the threat may continue in different shapes and intensities for years to come.

In the middle of this pandemic we have heard loudly and clearly from Mr. George Floyd of the United States, “I cannot breathe”; he died because the knee of a law enforcement officer blocked his windpipe; the knee of racial hatred was on his neck chocking and preventing him from breathing. He was locked out of justice, compassion and love and he died with a message to the whole world about not having the most fundamental of freedoms, the freedom to breathe. Therefore, we need to believe and reaffirm our faith ‘in Christ’, which should help us to have the God-given strength and ever living hope to withstand these threats to care for each other and re-establish the notion that ‘we are all in this together’ to fight the pandemic, the racial discrimination, other violations of human rights and ecological issues for the good of everyone.

The Beveridge Report of 1942 during the Second World War identified five important priorities known as the 'five giants’ for post-war reconstruction of the UK. These were Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. Tackling these social maladies was the primary focus of the 1945 government of Atlee’s social welfare programme in the UK and remained important throughout the second half of the 20 century. It is easy to see the influence of Christian understanding in the development of the welfare philosophy and the creation of a welfare state in the UK. It was indeed influenced by the ethical values of the kingdom of God, a longing for Justice, truth and a concern for neighbours and communities. All that is good in the western society stems from Christianity and now that influence is slowly fading away. th

We need a new world-view and a worldwide programme for the socio-economic recovery from this pandemic. The faith community has a major role in developing this recovery programme. Apart from health-related issues, problems of poverty, issues of social injustice, racial and many other forms of dehumanisation surfaced during this pandemic, which raise serious challenges for the Church. It is indeed a challenge for the Christian communities to address these everyday issues. A new sympathetic understanding under the guidance of the Holy Spirit is urgently needed across the whole spectrum of human experiences and problems arising from this pandemic. Only when that comprehensive work begins we really understand what God has in store for us to reach a ‘new normal’ in the post-COVID-19 pandemic landscape.

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What then must the Church do in order to address this new situation to improve the human condition? Politicians often talk about a ‘new normal’; how do we find it? One often comes across super-minded critics demanding that the Church should say or do something about addressing all the post-COVID-19 problems confronting the global community. These critics always assume that responsibilities endowed on the Church entirely depend on the ordained ministry, and that it should be perfectly possible for a Pope, Patriarch or a Metropolitan to make pronouncements on these varied issues on behalf of the Church; others expect the Church to be able to solve all the problems of society. While I would not wish to get involved in clergy bashing, I would like to point out that the vast majority of the members of the Church, over 99%, are laity. Therefore, it is important for laity to move out of their indifference and inertia to take up their responsibilities individually and collectively in addressing problems confronting our world.

The failure of the Church to address various problems confronting the world has been laid willy-nilly at the feet of the leadership of the Church. The scapegoating of the leadership has become an escapist game and virtue signalling. We often forget that it is up to the ordinary members of the faith community with the intimate knowledge and involvement of the affairs of the world in their work places, homes, social living and in politics. Instead, we continue to blame the leaders and even say they have enslaved the laity and so forth, etc., etc.; if this is true, then it is time for lay people of the Church to seek liberation for the good of the whole world. We should highlight this post-pandemic landscape as a wakeup call to work for the values of God’s kingdom. Laity should regain their role as members of the ‘Royal Priesthood’ because we are given the authority through St. Peter’s epistle: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1Peter 2:9). There is no excuse whatsoever in not working together with our priests to achieve what we pray for in the prayer that Jesus taught us: “Thy will be done or earth as it is in heaven.” The time is now ripe for a much-needed reformation in our churches and the attitudes of laity towards achieving it under the grace of God. Now is the time that they should wake up from their dormant state.

We are grateful to Miss Sarah Ball of the ‘Churches Together in England (CTE)’ for sharing the varied reflections on COVID-19 pandemic by the members of the CTE. Revd Dr. K. V. Mathew has given us an eco-centric perspective on this pandemic. He gives very thoughtful advice: “Those of us who will survive this pandemic need to learn from the mistakes of our past and build a new humanity in the spirit of humaneness, mutual love, cooperation and respect for our cosmos.”

Revd Dr. Abraham Kuruvilla in his article highlights that the appropriate Christian response is to lament, groan with creation, and pray in the power of the Holy Spirit and to serve the poor and to defend their interests. He says, “Grief offered is grief transformed.” Grieving is indeed a positive response for maintaining emotional health and wellbeing. Revd Dr. Ipe Joseph examines the question: whether or not the virtual Church is a viable way to gratify the need for spiritual experiences when we are in a lockdown situation, unable to meet as a community for worship.

Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph highlights some of the lessons that we should learn for this epidemic; he states: “The problems emerging from Covid-19 are not simply an issue of Health and Medical science. It is a very complex problem concerning the whole humanity today in its social, cultural, economic and spiritual dimensions.”

Mr. George Kutty, in a well-crafted article, challenges the thesis that plague and such disasters are means by which a vengeful God punishes people who offend Him. He also questions the institutionalised and authoritarian nature of the Church and worship practices and suggests the need to find new ways of worshiping God ‘in spirit and in truth’.

Revd Dr. Valson Thampu’s article on ‘Religious Atheists’ requires our thoughtful consideration in the context of the pandemic. Jesus warns against a religion that is merely external, based upon rituals, traditions and regulations. Just as ceremonial washing cannot cleanse us from sin; neither can the observance of strict dietary and other laws prevent sin from taking hold in our lives. The faith Jesus proclaims is more internal, a matter of the heart, responding in faith and obedience to his teachings. It requires us to have an intimate, indwelling, relationship with Jesus.

We express our gratitude to Revd Shibu Kurian for his article on ‘Eschatology’ based on a study of 2 letter of St. Peter. It is appropriate to think about Eschatology and Parousia in the context of the current pandemic; we find that Christian life is a tension between an ‘already but not yet’ reality of the kingdom of God. Mr. P. T. Mathew has written on the theme that worship is a celebration of faith to give glory to God. nd

Lal Varghese, Eq., writes: “The disruption caused by COVID19 must help the people of God, the Church, to have a real transformation from a nominally worshipping community to that of a missional Church expressing God’s unconditional love for His whole creation.”

It gives the Editorial Board great pleasure to welcome Mr. George Thomas to the family of writers of the FOCUS journal.

His article on the ‘eight lessons learned from the CORONA-19 Pandemic’ should be of great interest to all our readers. Such an insightful article is very helpful for us to face a post- COVID19 pandemic landscape to formulate the policies necessary under the guidance of the Holy Spirit for providing the help needed in all aspects of living on this planet for giving glory to God. Revd Dr. Martin Alphonse gives a very balanced biblical perspective and highlights the ongoing theological discussions on the probable end time scenario and the second coming of Jesus Christ in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Human beings are created in the image of God for living in varied relationships: one with another, in family groups, other social groups and in the fellowship with others in church assemblies and with nature and so on. However, when Christian teaching is concentrated exclusively on the salvation of the individual in order to gain a passport for reaching to heaven, one forgets one’s responsibilities to others. It can easily become an escapist attitude of having a better life after death. The Indian mystic, Sri Aurobindo, said, “A solitary salvation leaving the

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world to its fate was felt almost distasteful.” Former bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, emphasised this in many of his books that “The whole point of Jesus’ work was to bring heaven to earth and join them together for ever, to bring God’s future to the present and make it stick there.” A former dean of the St. Paul Cathedral, W. R. Inge, wrote: “Is not this the charge so often brought against Christians and Christianity that their dreams of future bliss have sucked all the life out of their earthly existence, so that they do nothing to make this world better and promote human progress?” He also added, “Heaven is not a faraway place to which we hope to go; it is the presence of God in which we ought to live.” The Lord’s Prayer is a further emphasis on this understanding. St. Paul also made it clear that those in whom the Holy Spirit comes to live are God’s temples. “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?”(1Cor 3:16). The people of God are, individually and collectively, the media where heaven and earth meet.

1

2

3

I am attracted to a BBC television programme, ‘The Repair Shop’, where excellent God-given human skills are used for satisfying the emotional needs of people who hang on to various damaged artefacts and other items connected with their ancestors. I see God’s presence in these heart rendering emotional human encounters. Heaven is where God is. This particular place in Sussex is not a mere repair shop; I see it as a soul-repair shop. We need soul-repair shops to heal the damage within us. We need to have a rethink about such spiritual needs now. This epidemic has made us aware that people are neighbours to other people the world over; the public health and wellbeing are linked to people across the world and our ecosystem. We are bound together spiritually, politically, economically and socially; even if we normally hide behind national, racial and religious boundaries. It is indeed an opportunity once again to realize that ‘tears are a universal language, and help is a universal command.’

Lockdowns and physical distancing have highlighted the importance for close relationships and intimacy for maintaining our emotional health and well-being. Recent studies have shown that depression and mental disorders have increased during this epidemic. Social distancing – not having anyone to share our private thoughts and emotional feelings – has been found to be a significant contributor to depression. When relationships get strained, the immune responses weaken and the intensity of the disease and death arise. Therefore, intimacy is a fundamental human need; this intimacy is an expression of our love for others around us. For in worship as well as in daily living, man finds God not only in the vertical relationship – personal and private meditations – but also in the horizontal relationships of man with his neighbours. There is no private substitute for worshiping and glorifying God. It is a corporate offering of us with and through Christ, which brings God’s abundant love to be fellow-workers for God’s mission to build His kingdom on earth.

1 Satprem, ‘Sri Aurobindo’, The Mother’s Institute of

research, Delhi, page: 41.

2 Tom Wright, ‘Simply Christian’, SPCK, 2006, page: 87.

It may be that in every age some critical issue becomes the challenge that is fateful for the future of mankind; we are in such a fix now. If there is no Christian vision and insight and if Christians, individually and corporately, do not act vigorously according to such God-given wisdom we will have failed. Real healing happens when Jesus Christ meets mankind at the point of their needs. This healing is for the whole world. If we allow it to become the preserve of the church alone, we privatize it and opt out of the journey we are called out to travel. Therefore, let us continue to pray for the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us to overcome the various problems associated with this pandemic.

Israelites were ritualistic worshippers; they abandoned the true meaning and purpose of worship for which they were chosen and set apart. The heavenly vision we see in the chapter 6 of Isaiah was a call to the elected people of God to return to the true worship. God expects us to worship Him with our hearts and minds, ‘in spirit and in truth’ (Jn 4:24). He wants us to be holy as He is holy and this holiness includes both our actions and attributes. Let our live stream worship give us an experience of the sovereign Lord and give us a true insight into our present spiritual status. May it also help us to develop a genuine hunger for true corporate worship ‘in spirit and truth’.

The nature and the rhythm of worship has changed over the centuries from the early tabernacle worship in the desert to temple, synagogues, house churches, Orthodox and Catholic forms of worship, post-reformation patterns, charismatic forms to the present pandemic pattern of online-digital-virtual worship.

We need to think of these worship patterns again under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The following is a typical example of a directive from a Church of England parish for corporate worship after the removal of some lockdown restrictions in the UK: “We plan to hold a short said Eucharist in . . . subject to any changes in Government and Church of England guidelines between now and then. If you would like to attend, please send a message to . . . so that we have an idea of numbers: 1). Only one person, or household group, should sit in each designated place throughout the service. Each place will be clearly marked and all other parts of the church will be closed off. A sides-person will show you to your seat on arrival in church. 2). Adequate supplies of hand sanitiser and facemasks will be available. Those attending the service must sanitise their hands on arrival and wear facemasks all the time they are in church, unless you are exempt. 3).

Sharing of the Eucharist will be in one kind only (save for the President) and distribution will take place at the end of the service, with the congregation leaving immediately after receiving the Eucharist. Entry and exit will be through the main south door.”

Such thoughtful measures and rethinking are needed for reestablishing corporate worship in all parishes; such measures are our responsibility for the common good of the community.

There is no doubt that God is at work during the pandemic, we see God’s presence in thousands and thousands of front-line workers in hospitals, care homes, super markets, in transport network, many neighbourhood support-services, security services and many other agencies. It is the dedication and determination of the human spirit, which is searching for various avenues to find a vaccine and other preventive measures. Yes, God is on the frontline, suffering with humanity to bring healing and hope.

3 Inge W.R., ‘Personal Religion and the Life of Devotion’

Longman and Green and Co, 1924, Page 84-85.

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An individualized-faith, which ignores the fact we are members of a close-knit community and does not express in action of what is needed is less than Christian. Only those who by dedication and discipline by listening to God in silent prayer in humility can prepare themselves for the demands of the kingdom of God and are able to work together for God’s mission for realizing ‘the here and now reality’ of God and his presence at the point of human need.

This pandemic has already shaken our world in many different ways over the past few months. The explosion in Beirut, the killing of George Floyd at Minneapolis and the associated incidences are other examples of human violence, indifference and corruption. But for Christians, even in times of great insecurity and change, our instructions are to 'maintain constant love for one another' and 'serve one another' (1 Peter 4: 8& 10).

We know that our security is founded in our Father God, the “God who loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). As we share His love with those around us, we are able to give them the opportunity to know Him dearly and also as their Heavenly Father.

The Apostle Paul gives us a direction on how to find a ‘new normal’ in our faith orientation in times of difficulties such as this pandemic in chapter 13 of his first letter to the Corinthians. He wrote "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." We are facing various challenges and the pangs of growing up. This pandemic reminds us that the Christian faith is not a fairy tale and it is reassuring to know that when things are hard it is not because Jesus doesn’t love us anymore. The good news is that generations of Christians have found that when they face difficulties, Jesus is with them and they are never alone. It has worked for our ancestors and let us hope and pray that it will work for us too.

what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). We thank God for these two servant disciples who worked for establishing the values of the kingdom of God. We offer our condolences to the bereaved families. May their souls rest in peace and rise in glory.

Since people everywhere are affected by the COVID-19 and other severe illnesses and disabilities let us pray for them. Let us also remember Metropolitan Joseph Mar Thoma and Chrysostom Valiya Metropolitan in our prayers. We are very grateful to the past and the present contributors to this journal who helped us to complete eight volumes of this journal from April 2013.

Dr. Zac Varghese For the Editorial Board http://www.issuu.com/diasporafocus http://www.scribd.com/diasporafocus Web Site: www.facebook.com/groups/mtfocus E-Mail: mtfousgroup@gmail.com Published by Lal Varghese, Esq., Dallas for and on behalf of Diaspora FOCUS Disclaimer: Diaspora FOCUS is a non-profit organization registered in United States, originally formed in late Nineties in London for the Diaspora Marthomites. Now it is an independent lay-movement of the Diaspora laity of the Syrian Christians; and as such FOCUS is not an official publication of any denominations. It is an ecumenical journal to focus attention more sharply on issues to help churches and other faith communities to examine their own commitment to loving their neighbors and God, justice, and peace. Opinions expressed in any article or statements are of the individuals and are not to be deemed as an endorsement of the view expressed therein by Diaspora FOCUS. Thanks.

May our lockdowns, physical distancing, live stream worships and silent meditations help us to hear ‘the still small voice of God’ to help people and communities to recover from the damages caused by the pandemic. We must remain attentive in order to be able to hear ‘the still small voice of God’. Boris Pasternak wrote: “When a great moment knocks on the door of your life, it is often no louder than the beating of your heart and it is very easy to miss it.” May the Holy Spirit guide us to find holiness in virtual space and help us to transform the secular into sacred. Let us remember John Wesley’s mother’s prayer: “Help me, Lord to remember that religion is not to be confined to the church . . . nor exercised only in prayer and meditation, but that everywhere I am in Thy presence.”

The members of the Editorial Board thank God for the life of Swami Agnivesh who passed away on 11th September at Delhi.

He was a great son of India who served the nation and particularly thousands of suffering people as described in a most fitting tribute to him by Revd Dr. Valson Thampu. He contributed much for the Interfaith relationship, dialogue and wider ecumenism. He was a prime example that there is a living presence of Christ in the lives of some Hindus.

Dr. Abraham C. Thomas and Retired Judge O. C. Ninan, whose obituaries appear in this issue, were God-centred gentlemen who listened to the ‘still small voice of God’ and followed the prophecy of Micah: “He showed you, O man, what is good. And

Prof. George K. Zachariah, MTC of Washington (Navathy Tributes from FOCUS)

Greater

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Professor George K. Zachariah’s Navathy (90th Birthday Tributes and Good Wishes) Professor George K. Zachariah is a gentle giant who will be celebrating his 90th birthday on 23rd November 2020 with his family and friends. We thank God for this humble servant of God. We offer our felicitations, good wishes and prayers for his forthcoming 90th birthday.

Professor George Zachariah is a well-known and distinguished figure who has made excellent contributions in various areas of the ministry, administration and building ecumenical relationship of the Mar Thoma Church with other churches. His contributions in the academic fields of philosophy, psychology, theology and education both in India and in the USA are extensive and outstanding.

He hails from the Kuzhikkalakannimel family of Karthikappally in Kerala. He was born on 23rd November 1930. After his University education from the UC College, Alwaye, and the Madras Christian College, he started his teaching career at the UC College. While in Kerala he gave leadership for a host of Christian undertakings including the Student Christian Movement, the Mar Thoma Youth Leagues and the Mar Thoma student conferences.

He emigrated to the United Sates in the Seventies and lived in Greater Washington. His wife, Susan, is a graduate in Economics from the Kerala University and has gained postgraduate qualifications from the University of North Carolina. They have two sons, a daughter and ten grandchildren.

He is one of the founding members of the Mar Thoma Church of Greater Washington in1980; prior to this he was involved in the ecumenical Christian activities from1973. He then moved to the formation of one of the earliest Mar Thoma parishes in the USA, in Greater Washington. He was also totally involved in the development of the diaspora Mar Thoma communities in other cities and towns of the United States.

It is to his wise counsel people turned for advice and help in those early and difficult years. He gave leadership for establishing the annual family conference and also publishing the Messenger, and was one its early editors.

It is on the foundations that he helped to lay and build that we now have a coherent and vibrant Mar Thoma community in the USA. He contributed much for all the areas of the lives of the Mar Thoma Christians. He also taught for a year at the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary at Kottayam.

His holds a large number of graduate and postgraduate qualifications in theology, philosophy and education from a number of prestigious Universities in the USA including Princeton. His CV is over 33 pages, which lists most of his contributions and achievements over the last seventy years. He is a prolific writer and speaker on a variety of subjects. He published a number of books including a unique one, ‘The Four Gospel in One’, in 2000 with a foreword from Alexander Mar Thoma Metropolitan. There are a number of unpublished manuscripts of books in his library with a wealth of scholarship, which is kept under continuous review for future publication.

The editors of the Diaspora FOCUS Journal are particularly indebted to Professor George Zachariah because he was involved in all the three FOCUS Seminars at Santhigiri Ashram, Alwaye, Kerala, from 1999 to 2003. He has the following entry in his CV about the FOCUS Movement. During the first seminar in 1999 he presented a paper and the following is his entry on this in his CV: “‘The Mar Thoma Church in Global Context’ was the paper I presented at the ‘For Christian Understanding and Solidarity (FOCUS)’ Seminar at Santhigiri Ashram, Alwaye, Kerala, India, where about ninety church leaders from various parts of the world outside Kerala and eight bishops of the Mar Thoma Church met from February 9 - 13, 1999. I was authorized to represent the seminar in presenting to the Metropolitan the recommendations of the conference when a sizable number of the participants met His Grace at his residence.” This early blessed beginnings and initiatives helped us to begin the publication of this journal in 2013. We thank Professor George Zachariah and all other pioneers of this Movement.

It is fitting to quote Dag Hammarskjold’s short poem, ‘God the Artist’, to describe the life of Professor George Zachariah so far under the grace of God: “Thou takest the pen – and the lines dance.

Thou takest the flute – and the notes shimmer.

Thou takest the brush – and the colours sing.

So all things have meaning and beauty in that space beyond time where Thou art.

How, then, can I hold back anything from Thee?”

It is his total submission, and not holding back, to the will of God made Professor Zachariah who he is. Let us thank God for this vibrant, peace loving and loveable prophetic lay leader of the Mar Thoma Church and offer our prayers to God for his health and wellbeing. May he continue to be a blessing for others.

FOCUS Editorial Board

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COVID-19: An Eco-Centric Perspective Revd Dr. K.V. Mathew, Kottayam In the light of recent events, the erudite and the illiterate, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor all stand bewildered in the present pandemic invasion. Humankind is currently in pursuit of a satisfying answer and an adequate solution for the mystery that is COVID-19. I would like to share a few of my thoughts about COVID-19 for wider consideration.

As we know by now, the coronavirus is no newcomer to the Earth. It is just one among the billions and trillions of our invisibly acting nano-co-workers in the cosmic field. It is a fact that COVID-19 is a new avatar of the coronavirus that is also responsible for other infectious diseases like SARS and MERS. Its presence was discovered only recently as these viruses became active from their dormant state. COVID-19 appeared first in the city of Wuhan in China and has mutated into several strains since it was discovered in November 2019.

begun to malfunction, which is seen through our destruction of nature and its resources for our own gain.

This is where the defence mechanisms of this cosmic machine come into play, through natural disasters like earthquakes and floods, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. These mechanisms are homeostatic in nature, bringing balance to a cosmos that has been wracked by unnatural developments, working to eliminate the source of the problem: human beings.

This new predicament has opened our eyes to certain fundamental responsibilities that we have neglected while enjoying life on earth. A series of points to consider: were not our female partners under lockdown at home? How much time were we able to spend with our children and family? Have we not been separated from our neighbours by walls? Have we not created divisions between people in the name of caste, colour, religion and race? COVID-19 has shown us that it has no partiality. It has visited us all, irrespective of rich or poor, white or black, young or old.

In this time of crisis, did our false religions, rituals and superstitions show their collective strength? Did all the wealth and power we accrued in the past save us from death? We even learned that the deadly pandemic is not utterly ruthless and cruel. It has only removed a small percentage of the people it infected from the earth.

Ultimately, we can hope that this lockdown has taught us to be content with what we have and freed us from our greed. Those of us who will survive this pandemic need to learn from the mistakes of our past and build a new humanity in the spirit of humaneness, mutual love, cooperation and respect for our cosmos.

The Theme for January 2021 FOCUS issue: “Ex nihilo nihil fit” is a Latin adage that translates to “nothing comes from nothing”. Theists tend to accept the existence of a cosmic mind behind the cosmic order. If the cosmos is “Swayambhu” – or self-manifested – it will continue to exist no matter what. However, if it is not, this cosmos will eventually cease to exist as well. How can we understand COVID-19 and explain its functioning from an eco-centric perspective? During the course of its existence, many resources have been programmed into the cosmos for its multifarious functions. COVID-19 could be seen as one of the defence mechanisms that are currently active in order to protect the cosmos. We homo sapiens are but passengers on this colossal flying machine. We occupy this cosmic space station, enjoying all the comforts and luxuries it has to offer, but we have failed in our duties towards the maintenance of this machine. In such a critical situation, the cosmos has

'A New Normal: Not only from Pulpits but also from Pews and Aisles' Whatever happens next, we are going to realize slowly what the 'new normal' is going to be. We did not cope with the 'old normal' and how are we going to tackle the 'new normal'? Who will be setting up the parameters for this ‘new normal’?

As there is so much mistrust and critical commentaries on religions and its practices, something more appealing and contextual, the theme for next issue is 'A New Normal: Not only from Pulpits but also from Pews and Aisles'. We request all of you to send your articles to us by the last week of November 2020 to Lal Varghese, Esq., Dallas at his e-mail attylal@aol.com.

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COPING WITH COVID-19 Revd Dr. Abraham Kuruvilla, Kottayam 1 Introduction Coping with Covid-19 is a challenge for the human race.

The pandemic has turned human life upside down. Things we were taking for granted are no more available and are lost. Any loss, temporary or permanent, involves grief.

Some losses due to Covid-19, such as restrictions in social life, are temporary and will go away once the pandemic is over. However, there are also permanent losses such as the death of dear ones. Effective living under the changed environment requires that we learn to cope. Grieving the losses is an important part of coping.

We need to use all our resources, spiritual, social and emotional, to grieve the temporary losses as well as the permanent losses. Unfinished grief diminishes our ability to cope and live fully. Beyond grieving, Covid-19 is also inviting us to examine our relationship with planet earth and the eco-system. God appointed us to be stewards of the earth and all its inhabitants. There is need to review our style of stewardship so that the relationship may be more harmonious. Learning to live in peace with the ecosystem is an important part of coping with Covid-19.

2 Grieving the Losses (a) Taking Stock of the Losses Grieving involves taking stock of losses. The losses we have suffered due to Covid-19 are not limited to the health hazards associated with the virus infection. Corona has deprived us of precious elements of our social and emotional life. It has taken the lives of near and dear ones. The freedom to visit relatives and friends is lost.

Families are separated and are unable to reunite. The celebrations of life are out. Even grieving connected with death is blocked. There are no intimate expressions of love in social life. Corporate worship has ceased. Travel by road, rail or air remain disrupted. We have lost many things at the personal, social and spiritual levels, which we were taking for, granted. Many have also lost their means of livelihood and are facing a bleak future.

Humanity needs to take a comprehensive account of the losses, personal, relational, social and economic. Stock taking of losses is an essential part of grieving. (b) Grieving the Relational Losses The effects of Covid-19 on the health of the victims are in most cases limited and will be overcome soon enough.

However, disrupted relationship is a more significant category. There could be unfinished grief in the case of all categories of loss of relationship cited above. In each category, the unfinished grief will need to be attended to and processed. Regardless of the category of loss, the first challenge in grieving is to become aware of the loss and the emotions associated with the loss. The

community needs to permit by itself to experience this pain. The willingness or inner permission to experience the pain of isolation, pain of loss of job, pain of moving out from familiar work environment or residential environment is important in grieving. Although less frequent, the pain of death of the loved ones is a more important category of loss leading to intense grief.

There are some factors, which facilitate grieving and others that block grieving, when the loss is substantial and the grief overwhelming, people at times discount the significance of the losses. The assumption is that when the things lost are pushed out of the mind, the pain will also be pushed out. We cannot simply wish them away or push them out. The sense of false omnipotence based on advances in science and technology operates as a block in the present era. However advanced science and technology become, we will never be masters over the environment and nature will often dictate terms to humans. To grieve, we need to accept the fact that humans are finite, limited and not always in control of life.

The sense of omnipotence is a definite disadvantage in genuine grieving. Our Lord Jesus Christ frankly and genuinely acknowledged his humanity by going through the agony of his passion with no effort to cover up his pain and his finitude. In human response to Covid-19 we see a lot of denial in the behaviour of individuals, communities, and nations. The loss of freedom is real and painful. Loss of property, loss of job and loss of lives are realities. To come to grips with the losses, we need to allow ourselves to experience the pain due to our losses as normal and healthy. To grieve, we need to accept our humanity, our finitude and our vulnerability.

Grieving is the way to experience the emotions and to integrate the emotions and integrate the losses as part of our life. Just as we count the blessings, the many losses are also to be counted and the unpleasant emotions experienced and processed adequately to become free from them. By experiencing and expressing our emotions we become free from them. When we deny the emotions and suppress them, the emotions rule over us because our energy is wasted in denying reality and blocking emotions. Experiencing and expressing our grief is the way to liberation from being tormented by our emotions.

It is not enough to permit awareness of the losses. The associated emotions need to be processed. Emotions are processed through appropriate expression. The freedom to share our deeply hurting emotions with members of the family, with friends and with other trustworthy persons is an important resource in processing emotions. However, presently we do not have the option of face to face contacts with our relatives and friends to share emotions.

Nor do the clergy have the option of face to face listening

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to the members of the parish. We have to rely on smart phones and other social media to communicate. While this is not the ideal or the habitual way of communication, they are the media available and the best use of them is to be made. Clergy also have to rely on these rather than the traditional pastoral calls. (c) Grieving in the Company of God As persons sharing the Christian faith, prayer is an important medium of communication with God. As we read through the Psalms we notice how intimate the Psalmists are with God. They have the freedom to share with God their frustrations and disappointments. The Psalmists often come out openly with their anger towards God for not rescuing them from miseries. We frequently notice that the Psalms, which include such, open expression of rage towards God end with praise and thanksgiving to God. Genuine sharing of emotions liberates us from the power of those emotions and helps us see things from a different perspective. Similarly we who have gone through unpleasant experiences, ranging from moderate to the most intense, do good to ourselves by sharing our painful and tormenting emotions with God in prayer. That is the royal road to grieving which liberates us from tormenting emotions.

We grieve with God when we take the crisis experience in full to God. It involves taking our thoughts, emotions and behaviour associated with the loss in their raw unedited state to God. We are sometimes tempted to make them presentable, hiding what is glaringly open to God. We do much better when we take our raw, unedited experiences to God as an offering. There is healing when raw grief is unmasked and offered before God. As we make an offering of our pain before the throne of God, he would wipe our tears, heal our wounds and heal our souls. Our selfoffering needs to be comprehensive. We are entitled to offer the pain from the losses and all associated thoughts, emotions and behaviour. Grief offered is grief healed and transformed to become a resource in coping. (d) Grieving Death The grief of those who have lost their near and dear ones due to Covid-19 deserves special mention. When we lose our dear ones with sufficient warnings about their possible departure, the grief experience is moderate.

Grief is moderate because we get opportunities to care for the departing ones during their last days or hours on earth. Grief is also facilitated by the many who participate in the funeral service and visit us personally. In the case of deaths due to Covid-19, these normal processes are blocked. From the moment our dear ones are tested positive, they are isolated from us. We are unable to do any service to them in their dying hours and are not even allowed to be beside the bed when they breathe their last.

The normal funeral procedures are also blocked. These seriously disrupt the grieving process. It is the

responsibility of the community to facilitate grief using the telephone and other media. There are limits to such help and there is surely a loss here which no one can make up.

These losses will need to be shared in solitude with God who is always accessible. (e) Grieving the Economic Losses Corona has also brought economic disaster to a huge population across the globe. People have been made jobless and homeless. The torturous homeward journey of people pushed out on to the streets reminded us of the traumatic experiences after the partition of British India.

It was thoughtlessness, which led the government to the declaration of lock-down without making adequate provisions for the poor to survive in their habitat. These are vital losses and there are intense emotions associated with such losses. The sense of being abandoned will haunt the displaced population. The emotions need to be processed in helping people cope with the pandemic.

When people suffer huge material losses, the community often ignores the emotional impact of the loss and focus on the material loss. Focus on the material loss is surely vital. However, processing the emotions associated with the material loss is equally important. The processing the emotions associated with displacement is vital to carry on with life. It is particularly important that the victims do not attribute the reasons for their predicament on inappropriate persons or objects. In the Indian culture it is not uncommon for people to attribute bad experiences in life to wrong stars, ill luck, as predestined or as punishment from God. Attributing the bitter experiences of life on to such inappropriate objects reduces the ability of people to cope with such experiences.

While the loss of livelihood is indeed traumatic and the importance of grieving is vital preparatory work, coping with the crisis requires genuine support and help from the government, faith communities, social agencies and voluntary agencies. As a church we have a special responsibility to be with the victims of such displacement.

They deserve to be supported emotionally, spiritually and materially by all our resources. Our financial support and emotional and social support are all equally important.

The plight of those who have lost their livelihood needs to be defined as a problem of the community and not merely a problem of the affected individuals. The Christian community in particular has to express its solidarity with those who have suffered vital losses. Through our social, economic, emotional and spiritual support we enhance their ability to grieve and to cope.

3 The Transforming Power of God While Corona imposes serious limitations on us humans, it has not taken away everything from us. How to make life worth living within our limitations is amply demonstrated by our Lord through his life on earth. God lived on earth in human form without heavenly privileges

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and within the limitations of being human. Jesus was empowered by the Spirit of God who descended on him at the Jordan. The same Spirit is granted to us to act with power within the limitations imposed by Covid-19. While these limitations operate, God has given us other resources. While physical closeness is blocked we have many alternate ways of making contact with those around and make a difference to the world around.

During the grieving phase we made an offering to God: an offering of painful thoughts, emotions and behaviour.

What is offered is transformed and healed by God. Once we accept the losses, we are invited to make another offering: the offering of what is left with us. We have two good eyes to look at the world beyond the two meters distance with the compassion of Jesus. We need to offer our eyes to God for them to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Full of the Holy Spirit, we may look at those in pain with the same compassion with which Jesus looked at and healed people in pain. The world will then see in our eyes the compassion of God. We have two good ears to listen to what the world is communicating to us. Spirit filled listening to the agonies of the world has enormous healing power. We also are left with our voice. We may offer our speech to God for it to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we may modulate our voice and speak with the compassion of Jesus. Our brains are intact for us to think and come up with ideas to solve problems: our own problems and those around us. Spirit filled thinking is a powerful resource in solving problems, big and small. We have a lot more intangible dimensions of our personality, which Covid has not taken away. When they are offered to God, they are transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. The special charismata for any ministry come from God. When the Holy Spirit descends on the church in the Covid and post-Covid era, we are granted special charismata to minister to people suffering in this new era.

In the power of the Holy Spirit what is left is enough and more. Just as five loaves of bread and two fish were more than enough for five thousand to fill their stomachs, the compassionate thoughts, eyes, ears words, and deeds in the power of the Holy Spirit are more than enough to witness to the power of God unto salvation.

4 From Domination to Relationship An important part of coping with Covid-19 is to ask deeper questions about the way the Homo sapiens have been relating to mother Earth and it’s other inhabitants.

Our life style and ways of relating are to be reviewed in the light of the model displayed by God while he lived on earth in human form. With advancements in science and technology human potential to dominate the earth and our fellow creatures became more pronounced. Science and technology became an added tool of exploitation for the Western countries over the Asian, African and South American countries. Covid-19 is a powerful reminder to the moderns that there are limits to science and

technology. Nature is capable of retaliating when we abuse science for domination over the earth and its inhabitants. Covid-19 is inviting humans to repent about the craze for domination and come back to a responsible relationship with mother Earth and our siblings on earth who arrived before humans came on the scene. The craving for dominion makes human blind. Human resources, particularly the resources of science and technology, have been abused for exploitation all through history. Those with superior technology have repeatedly utilized it to exploit those lower down in technological development. During the industrial revolution those who had access to the tools of science and technology used it to exploit the poor in each country. The same resources were used to establish colonial rule across the globe and exploit, oppress and dominate those they ruled over. The people were treated like slaves and the resources of these countries were plundered. Industrial revolution was a period of rapid scientific advancement as well as ruthless exploitation. The end of the colonial era did not mark the end of exploitation. In the post-colonial era globalization simply enabled the continuation of domination, exploitation and plundering through the multi-national corporations (MNCs). In this new era of globalization, the rulers of the developing countries are simply pawns in the hands of the MNCs. The rulers dance to the tune of the MNCs, yielding to policy decisions that facilitate continued exploitation of the people and the resources of the developing countries by the richer countries. The MNCs are like giant trees with their trunk in the first world and the network of roots in the developing countries to suck away their resources. In this era of globalization colonialism continues under a mask. The need of the globe is a new international economic order which ensures greater justice to less wealthy countries and those with lower levels of technological development.

We are invited to cope with pandemics by shifting to an international economic order in which the richer countries stop domination and start respectful relationships with the rest of the world.

5 Conclusions Significant loss, whether temporary or permanent lead to grief. Meaningful and healthy grieving enables us to say bye to what is lost and to reconstruct life in a new way. The strength to grieve is to be found in the company of God. Grief offered is grief transformed. Biding bye to what is lost enables us to be emotionally free from the pain associated with what is lost. With that newfound freedom we are liberated to realistically assess what we are left with and to deploy our resources to cope with the challenges of living.

Covid-19 has not taken away everything from us. There is enough and more left with us to make life meaningful. Our new way of coping also demands that we look at ourselves from the perspective of the mandate given to us by God to relate and nurture and not dominate and abuse. A just international economic order and eco-friendly living helps us cope best and is the best bet against future pandemics.

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SPIRITUALITY OF VIRTUAL CHURCH Revd Dr. Ipe Joseph* On 16th May 2019, sixty Mar Thoma Clergy of North American Diocese were meeting in Carmel Mar Thoma Centre, Atlanta under the leadership of the diocesan bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Isaac Mar Philoxenos Episcopa. This was the first clergy meeting at this newly acquired facility by the Diocese. The theme of the Conference was Virtual Churches. Thirumeni had asked me to be the animator for the main session of this conference.

Introducing the theme I narrated an experience. That was about the funeral of our Geevarghese Mathew Achen who received his home call while I was in US. I miserably missed that occasion but decided to watch the webcast live. The final service was coming to a close at Eraviperoor and all the clergy were biding good-bye by coming in a line and kissing his hand. While the senior clergy were doing it I found a place for myself in the line and kissed his hand. Obviously, I kissed the image in my smart phone. After the narration I sought the responses from my colleagues. My affirmation was that I got full satisfaction of bidding farewell to my intimate brother priest. Then we discussed as to how to use virtual technology in our parish ministry. Several creative and practical proposals were made. Every day, in the morning or in the evening at stipulated time the Vicar can give a 10 minute message focusing on the Word of God and relating to life situations. This message can be received in a link by parishioners, may be while they are getting ready to go to the office or driving back from work. Another idea was to streamline all worship services so that those who stay at home can participate in them. This will be helpful for the sick, bedridden and the physically handicapped. In many cities regular house visit is not possible at all because of the different time schedules of working hours

of members. If the parish priest can make regular video calls from his mobile the parishioners will be kept alive in the fellowship. It may not be a substitute for house visit; it will be an effective alternative. One of the Achens shared his experience as to how he conducted a youth meeting with the help of conference audio call technique. In the Atlanta meeting we arrived at many more creative possibilities of virtual techniques. However, no one thought that just after a year all our churches have to become completely virtual due to the attack of the Corona virus!

It will be good to examine whether or not the virtual Church is a viable way to gratify the need for the religious experience when we are in a situation like the present one, unable to meet as a community. The virtual techniques have undergone fast development in recent years. The simplest form of virtual techniques is our telephone call. We are tempted to think that the voice of our friend we receive in our telephone is the original voice, which emanates from his mouth. It is not so. The voice is converted to electrical pulses and transmitted through communication towers and reconverted to sound energy in the receiver’s telephone. Then came television and tele-evangelism along with it. Now the Internet has come in its multiform enabling us to have videophone, webcasting, streamlining and zooming. As we know, many forms of social media like e-mail face book, you tube and twitter emerged with the help of Internet. During the lockdown period we have been participating in worship and Holy Communion services streamlined from Poolatheen every Sunday and from Diocesan Centres on Fridays. Now it is time to think about the efficacy and advantages of these virtual experiences. The virtual Church demands much adjustments and changes in our attitude and understanding. As we do not see the participants physically, we need to recognize the value of images in equal dignity with the physical form. In virtuality we are applying our senses of sight and hearing but we are bereft of the sense of touch. So we are required to perceive reality without the sense of touch. Our mind has to provide this extra hormone to our experience to make it complete.

Our generation is addicted to watching news, movies and serials. We have no roles to play in watching these shows other than engaging our eyes, ears and mind into them. In the case of virtual Church, instead of watching we fully participate in them. There is an ocean of difference between simply watching and fully participating. Last three months, every Sunday worship services and Holy Communion services were steam lined from Poolatheen Chapel under the leadership of His Grace the Metropolitan. We were not just watching them but we

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were participating in them. It is true that on the first day we felt uncomfortable to get started and to give responses, to sing along with the celebrant and those who assisted, make sign of the cross and to pass the peace to our family members. Now we are used to it and our religious experience became richer every day.

One major limitation of a stream lined worship service is that those who participate virtually are unable to receive Holy Communion. There are other limitations also like participation in the Birthday and Wedding Anniversary thanksgiving services as well as receiving peace. Our Church has been always innovative in resolving limitations. Making use of the virtual techniques itself is one example.

Think of this option. Let us have a family altar in our home. It needs to be only a small table or even a teapoy in front of which we can sit for worship in chairs or mats.

Now we are used to fully participate in the virtual service by singing along, giving prompt responses loudly, making sign of cross sitting and standing as in our regular service. At the time of birthday and thanksgiving service we can kneel down in front of our family altar when the celebrant is offering prayers for us. We can put our offertory in a plate on our family altar. We can do in a similar way in giving regular offertory. While passing the peace we can do it among our family members.

Now, about receiving he Holy Communion. We can set up small bread made in our home and a small cup of grape juice (Wine) on our family table. At the time of epiclesis (words of consecration) let us pay extra concentration.

The celebrant at the streamlining end may slightly modify the epiclesis, “May the Holy Spirit sanctify this bread and those on the family altars to be the body of Jesus Christ” Wine also may be consecrated in the same way. Our faith is strong enough to believe that the elements on our family table will be consecrated as the elements on the celebrant’s altar. Does this sound like heresy? Our immediate reaction will be about the possibility of our Church imitating the non-Episcopal churches that break bread at homes. No need to be confused. Our celebrant is still an ordained person at the streamlining end. Can our theology accommodate the ritual of members of the family sharing bread and wine among themselves at home? What about the priesthood of the laity in this context? Where will we accommodate the historical reality of house churches of early Christians?

Out of necessity the lockdown period has rather forced churches to use virtual techniques to keep the community together in fellowship. Message groups, WhatsApp, livestreaming, Facebook, e-mails, conference calls, videoconferences and webinars have become handy for all communities. Even after we come out of the COVID crisis and lockdown these gifts of technology will

continue to be our handmaids in the ministry of the Church. Of the recently available techniques the most useful ones will be message groups, videoconferences and webinars. In the latter two the participants are visible and audible to each other and so the business as well as transactions will be easy. The greatest advantage is that videoconference and webinars will reduce the huge expenses of travel of bringing participants from far and wide, accommodating them and providing hospitality.

The virtual world demands changes in our attitudes towards the various aspects of the life of our Church. Like good habits we have to cultivate them, internalize them and constantly practice them. We need to accept the authenticity of virtual experiences. This requires a revised definition of the Church. The Church is always understood as a community of “called out” people.

Koinonia has a visible form: a community physically coming together, worshipping together, sharing Holy Communion together and enjoying the fellowship. The emergence of the World Wide Web known as the Internet, brought about the formation of virtual communities. The revised definition of Church will require inclusion of not only physical communities but also virtual communities in the definition of Koinonia.

The virtual is the extension of the real. The real will be always the foundation of the virtual. As mentioned earlier our task is to learn to fully participate in the virtual experiences rather than watching them as non-participant observers. The greatest challenge is to find ways and means to “reform” our Church in this virtually saturated world without losing the kernel of our faith. *Revd Dr. Ipe Joseph is a retired priest of Mar Thoma Church. He is now serving as the ecumenical advisor to the Moderator of the Church of North India and the Director of Communication of CNI Diocese of Jabalpur. He now lives in his native village, Kuriannoor, Kerala. He is the manager of a school at Kuriannoor, which is 100 year old, where his father was a headmaster for 28 years. He was the General Secretary of NCCI. He also attended 5 NCCI assemblies, 5 CCA assemblies and 4 WCC assemblies.

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THE COVID-19 LESSONS Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam* One may ask: What has Covid-19 to do with theology? Is it a guru for the world community? Yes, it speaks to us about the Creator’s expectation of the whole humanity.

The COVID lessons are primarily concerned with the question of human survival on the planet earth. When we focus on problems, we will have more problems; when we focus on possibilities we will have more opportunities.

This is what we have learnt from the World War II. 1. Lessons from the Yesteryears.

The problems emerging from Covid-19 are not simply an issue of Health and Medical science. It is a very complex problem concerning the whole humanity today in its social, cultural, economic and spiritual dimensions.

One may quote 119:71 to find a moral code: “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn your statutes”.

It is a spiritual truth that the denial of self and discarding the wisdom of the world in times of trial has allowed God to disturb our comfort zones. We have read in the News Paper and other journals about the noble lessons the Japanese people have learnt as they underwent a period of recent Nuclear Reactor tragedy. They provide a pattern of life style for us. Let me briefly state them: (i) The prevalence of calmness everywhere in times of tragedy. (ii) The dignity shown in observing the queues for buying water and other essential groceries. (iii) The incredible architectural skill manifested in their public buildings. (iv) Radical concern for others shown in buying what people needed for the immediate needs without hording anything for the future. (v) Observance of public Order by manifesting no honking or overtaking on the roads. (vi) The spiritual trait of sacrifice by 50 workers who stayed back against several odds to pump sea water into the N-reactors. (vii) Tenderness by which restaurants cut prices for the sake of the weak. (viii) The old and the children knew what to do by mutual care. (ix) The media had shown restraint in reporting the news. (x) In shops the people have shown the spirit of order during power failure.

My attempt is to show that the Japanese people have greatly manifested the spirituality of religion in public life.

The Covid-19 is an occasion for us also to learn the lessons of decency and mutual care in our cultural contexts. Pope Francis has rightly said that the postcorona world must be just and equitable for reasons of its own. The word of wisdom uttered by Buddha is worth recalling. You may lose something good; but you will be able to find something nobler and better”. This is a spiritual challenge across the globe. The WHO DirectorGeneral Dr. Tedras Adhanom Ghebreyesas has also made it clear that the pandemic has made the world

community humble. The post-Corona world will not be the same as before. It may take time for the global community to overcome the present hurdles, but it has given us the motivation to fight the virus from various angles. He also asked the world community to remain vigilant as the only aim of virus is to infect the people at large!

The Novel Corona Virus has originated from Wuhan, China in Dec.2019 and it has spread to the nook and corner of the globe like a wild fire. In the midst of its catastrophic outbreak, it has taught the world community innumerable spiritual lessons for a sustainable future.

Yes, it has taught us that no matter how big and strong we are; we will not carry ourselves to our grave. Yes, we create beauty with our attitudes, behaviour and actions in God’s own world.

2. ”Milk nature; but don’t slaughter it” (Prof. S. Sivadas).

There is no serious attempt on our part to know more about the scientific and spiritual knowledge of microbes and viruses dwelling s in our body and the earth. It is indeed a myth to say that the human beings will be able to destroy completely the viruses around us. The microbes and viruses have their vital role to play for human survival if life is to remain creative and purposeful.

It is a naked truth that nothing may seriously happen to all the creatures on earth, if human beings are completely being wiped out. On the contrary, it is not the case if a small insect like a bee does not exist. It is the end of human life. In a world of human beings, small creatures like ants and white ants contribute much to human wellness. The rationale is that we should reckon the role of microbes in the created order as integral to the survival of human life. It is estimated that 500 core of microbes live in our mouth. So also a great number lives in our intestine. Many of them are our friends who sustain our life. We need to move from an anthropocentric to a biocentric attitude to life for human wellbeing. We should abstain from destroying the microbes and viruses completely, which adds fertility to the soil. If there were no microbes/viruses, all our dead bodies will remain in the tombs as they are. Think for a while such a catastrophic existence. In order to prevent the spread of Corona Virus, we need to follow the precautionary measures such as keeping physical distance, wearing of masks and washing of hands with water and sanitizers. But we should not live with such a myth that human life is possible without microbes and virus. In our educational /theological syllabus, we need to add lessons on microbes and viruses for a holistic living. The ecological Commission of

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the Mar Thoma Church has taken up the theme, Panchboothas: the Symbols of life for 2019-2020. It is a plain truth that The Elements of the Earth (Sky, Earth, Air, Water and Fire) are the symbols of life, but they have now become the symbols of death. The ecological sins have contributed much to the pandemic situation of Corona Virus today.

3. A universal divine call to reconciliation and Unity The theme chosen for the 11th Assembly of the WCC (to be held in Germany in 2022)-“Christ’s love moves the World to reconciliation and Unity” finds its relevance in the global context of Covid crisis. There is an interfaith prayer request for the reversal of the human situation today. There was an inter-faith pictorial portrait of six religious representatives of the world religions in the Week Magazine dated July 5, 2020 under the caption “The Lord is my shield” with the following note: “The men of God, and women, too, are in fervent prayer for divine intervention in a world that wishes to get rid of the mask.”

It also adds: “Let it come from the sea or the sky, or any country on the earth. The world is hoping for a miracle.”

The care of the Covid patients regardless of caste, religion and social status has spoken much to the need for living in oneness. In a consumerist society, the word “compassion” is absent”. We are taught by experience that kindness is a word, which the blind can read and the deaf can hear. For human existence, we need to live in solidarity and mutual care. The word “social distance” may carry several overtones. It has nothing to do with untouchability we practiced in earlier times.

Physical distance may the right word “No man is an island”. We are not like the sands on the seashore; we are like the leaves on the branch of a tree. This is a spiritual lesson, which will bring glory to the creator God. A life dedicated for others is the hallmark of new humanity revealed in Jesus Christ. We are indebted to the COVID

FIGHTERS like the government officials, doctors, nurses, health workers, police force, and volunteers all over the world. What they do for others could be pigeonholed under the term the Ministry (diakonia) of reconciliation” In 2 Cor.5:.18 &19, St. Paul speaks of reconciliation. The message (logos) of reconciliation is entrusted to the Church as prophetic diakonia. One may quote 2Chronicle7: 13-14 to speak about this for leading the world community to repentance and restoration as the sign of God’s kingdom in our midst .We come across such exhortations in all the religions of the world.

7. Upholding the spiritual values for a better tomorrow.

We notice the resurrection of spiritual values in different cultures when we pass through adverse circumstances.

In the Indian culture, truth, beauty and order (sathyam, sivam sunderam) are the noble virtues for the joy of living.

The lockdown period all over the world has taught us several values for an authentic existence. Our needs are not made of greed during this period. We have learned to live with the minimum and manifested the art of simplicity.

Several of us have said good-bye to our habits known as ‘disposable syndrome’. Wearing mask in the public has taught us to care for other’s health. The ageold Vedic slogan: “we are the birds of the same nest” has found practical steps in our common pursuits. We have also learned the importance of peace with nature. There are a lot of pollutants in the atmosphere. The amount of Co2 in atmosphere has come down. The sky is clear. So also waters in the seas, the rivers and the lakes. The lockdown period is a period of blessings for all living organisms. We were able to reduce all kinds of pollution around us. It is widely held that the lockdown period has turned our homes as places of worship. The online worship services and preaching have helped us to search for alternatives in our religious observances. The Webinars have become part of our interpersonal relationships and communications. The silent periods in our homes has also strengthened family bonds in different ways. It is true that youths and old people had to bear with several psychological problems. May God help them. Let me conclude with the words of Rabindranath Tagore: “My Lord, this is my prayer: Help me to root out all pride and arrogance from my heart. Help me to continue the pilgrimage of life gladly in the midst of joy and sorrow.

Give me the power from above to translate my love into fruitful service for humanity” (”Gitangali-36-a free rendering).

Editor’s Note: Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph was a former Principal Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam; he was also the Director Ecumenical Christian Centre, Bangalore and a member of Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, Geneva. He is currently the Convener, Ecological Commission of the Mar Thoma Church.

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Faith in the Times of Pandemic V. Georgekutty, Karunagappally “I have no idea what's awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing” (Albert Camus, ‘The Plague’).

On April 3, 2015, Bill Gates, philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, gave an eight minute speech at TED Talk in which he said, “When I was a kid, the disaster we worried about most was a nuclear war…” We then had big barrels down in our basement, filled with cans of food and water. When the nuclear attack came, we were supposed to go downstairs, hunker down, and eat out of that barrel. But today, the real threat comes not from missiles, but from microbes. “If anything kills over 10 million people in the next few decades, it's most likely to be a highly infectious virus rather than a war,” he said.

While we have invested heavily in nuclear deterrents, we have actually invested very little in a system to stop an epidemic.

Bill Gates was talking against the backdrop of the 2014 Ebola epidemic that had killed about 10,000 people.

Ebola did not cause greater damage for more than one reason. One of it is that Ebola virus does not spread through the air. Another is that by the time you are contagious, you would be too sick to move around and spread the virus. Besides, Ebola didn't get into many urban areas. That was just good luck. But “You can have a virus where people feel well enough while they're infectious that they get on a plane or they go to a market.” It might make things a thousand times worse in comparison. Bill Gates was truly prophetic, so were several others.

At the same time, some of the Christian preachers, who purportedly have a hotline to heaven and claim to be privy to all divine plans for humankind, had told their audience in 2019 that 2020 would be the year of unprecedented prosperity. ‘It is going to be the year of heavenly blessing. So, be ready to receive heavenly bounties in the coming year. Therefore, with our whole being, body and soul, let us shout praises to our Lord for his amazing grace.’ The preachers raised their hands over their heads and hollered ‘Hallelujah’; the frenzied audience smote the air with their palms and roared, ‘Hallelujah!’, ‘Hallelujah!’ It was a blatant lie as usual.

On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was formally notified about a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, the sprawling capital of China’s Hubei province. Ten days later, six people were dead, 51 were severely ill and 12 were in a critical condition in Wuhan. Cases were also reported from Japan, South Korea and Thailand. The cause of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that came to be called

COVID‐19 was identified as a novel coronavirus (SARS‐ CoV-2). The virus had probably jumped from animals to humans at a wet market in Wuhan. The rest is history – a history that is being rewritten constantly.

Across the world, nations were too busy augmenting their arsenals with weapons of mass destruction to bother about speculation on a pathogen waiting on the wings.

So, when COVID-19 started spreading, making millions sick and thousands dead, epidemiologists all over the globe stood shaking in their boots with hardly a clue about what to do to contain or combat this invisible monster.

All assumptions on the behaviour of the virus have been proven wrong. All forecasts about the infections peaking and declining have turned out to be fallacious. Wonder drugs and magic cures have all fallen by the wayside. The world suddenly realized that all the economic, scientific and technological advances are powerless against this ‘crowned’ virus that measure about 120 nanometre in diameter.

As panic spread, governments imposed lockdowns.

Businesses pulled down their shutters; markets wore a deserted look; campuses fell quiet; vehicles went off the roads and railroads lay idle. The lockdowns had hardly any impact on viral spread. People continued to fall sick and die. But it ended up compounding the misery of many. The abrupt stalling of all economic activities impoverished populations. The poor, the aged, the sick, the migrants and the ethnic minorities were hit the hardest.

Terms like Mask, disinfectant, sanitizer, physical distancing, personal hygiene, quarantine and work-fromhome suddenly acquired a prominence unknown in the past. The world suddenly shifted into a ‘new normal’.

Social gatherings were banned; places of worship were closed down and the aged were banished from the outdoors. Family members got stuck it distant locations and remained separated. Almost all activities went online – shopping, banking, working, worshipping, medical aid and even funerals.

The novel corona virus is an unknown player. Its behaviour remains unpredictable. The virus is back in New Zealand after the nation had remained free of infections for over a hundred days and celebrated its great ‘success’. It has also been reported that a 33-year-

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old techie from Hong Kong has become the first-ever confirmed victim of COVID-19 reinfection, some four months after he was cured of the first infection.

Researchers from the University of Hong Kong have reportedly discovered that the man had been infected by two different strains of the virus. This comes after news of finding a 10 times more infectious COVID-19 mutation in Malaysia.

bishops have fallen sick; many have died. Christian leadership might put own royal raiment and claim the power to act on behalf of God, the king of kings. But, they know that they are as vulnerable as the rest. No wonder, as the virus struck, the Pope and the Patriarchs scurried into hiding! As Steve Jobs said, “No one wants to die.

Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there”.

The signals suggest that this ‘new normal’ of life and death in isolation is likely to continue. As I write this towards the end of August 2020, all theories of antibodies protecting people from reinfection for long look more like fiction than fact. There is little hope of the return of our cosy, crowded pre-COVID-19 world. None knows how much this ‘new normal’ would undergo further changes in the coming days. Apparently, the old world is gone for good.

Epidemics have nothing to do with religion or faith.

Everyone is a potential victim. Those who escape uninfected are not special in any way. They are better protected or possess better immunity. There are no divine shields against pandemics. That is why the places of worship and other ‘holy’ spots remain deserted in the wake of the pandemic. It is futile to blame epidemics on fate or an angry deity. It is of no use questioning why the gods have ignored the fervent prayers and soulful supplications of their devotees. Investing in Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is wiser than bribing the gobetweens of the divine!

The pandemic has impacted every sphere of life and religious faith is no exception. Christianity is rooted in the traditions of Judaism. It apparently teaches that all blessings come to us because of the grace of God while all sufferings are caused by disobedience to divine laws.

As a rule, human sin offends God. Consequently, when Israelites were victorious in their battles, they praised Jehovah, whose mighty hands annihilated their enemies to facilitate their win. But when they suffered devastating defeats, people were told that their defeat was caused by their sins against the divine. You can’t blame God for your own failures!

The Bible teaches that “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God” ((Nahum 1:2). And plague is a means by which God punishes people who offend Him. Thus, the ten plagues of Egypt were sent down from heaven in order force a defiant Pharaoh to release the Israelites.

Even the Israelites had been victims of such plagues.

Obviously, for many Christians, the COVID-19 is a pandemic sent down from heaven, in order to punish the arrogant world that has sidelined God to rely more its amazing scientific and technological advancements.

Also, like Judaism, Christianity is an apocalyptic faith. It believes in a violent end to the existing world, preceded by a series of natural disasters and plagues. Thus, many Christians propose that the COVID-19 pandemic is part of the divine operation preparing the world for the Second Coming. So, many believers are busy combing through the scripture to prove how it was all foretold in divine revelations. For many Christians, COVID-19 is simply God pouring out His wrath over a sinful world or preparing the ground for Second Coming!

But the reality is different.

Epidemics are great equalizers. Everyone is open to infection and death. The innocent ones die as much as the guilty. Priests and

I am not suggesting religious faith is foolishness or prayers are useless. These have their useful roles in human lives. But I do not subscribe to the view that a vengeful God sends down pandemics from heaven in order to punish the inhabitants of the earth. I do not believe that the God of the Gospels is a deity seething with rage. He is a compassionate and forgiving Father waiting anxiously for his prodigal son to come back home. He does not send down plagues from heaven to torment and kill people on earth. Nor does he shower disinfectants from the skies to eradicate pathogens.

Such stories were meant for a different population in a different age in a different context. As Professor Yuval Noah Harari puts it, “When a thousand people believe some madeup story for one month, that's fake news. When a billion people believe it for a thousand years, that's a religion, and we are admonished not to call it "fake news" in order not to hurt the feelings of the faithful (or incur their wrath).” (21 Lessons for the 21st Century). Perhaps, the pandemic is an opportunity for us to review those stories embellished with marvels and miracles.

In his famous fictional work titled ‘The Plague’ (French: La Peste), Albert Camus (1913-1960), French author and philosopher, tries to address the roles of faith and science in the face of an epidemic. Written in 1947, ‘The Plague’ tells the gripping tale of a deadly epidemic sweeping the city of Oran, Algeria. The victims of the plague are condemned to great suffering and horrifying death. Fear, isolation and claustrophobia follow as the afflicted are forced into quarantine.

The author presents two characters to articulate the viewpoints of the secular and the religious. The secular view comes from a medical professional named Dr. Bernard Rieux. The religious position is articulated by Father

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Paneloux, a Catholic priest. The Church announces a prayer week. Father Paneloux delivered a sermon explaining the plague as divine action.

Father Paneloux said, "If today the plague is in your midst that is because the hour has struck for taking thought. The just man need have no fear, but the evildoer has good cause to tremble. For plague is the flail of God and the world His threshing-floor, and implacably He will thresh out His harvest until the wheat is separated from the chaff. There will be more chaff than wheat, few chosen of the many called. Yet this calamity was not willed by God. Too long this world of ours has connived at evil, too long has it counted on the divine mercy, on God's forgiveness. . . For a long while God gazed down on this town with eyes of compassion; but He grew weary of waiting… And so, God's light withdrawn, we walk in darkness, in the thick darkness of this plague."

Tarrou, another character in the novel, asks Dr. Rieux, "What did you think of Paneloux's sermon, doctor?" Rieux answered "I've seen too much of hospitals to relish any idea of collective punishment. . ." Tarrou then asked, "Do you believe in God, doctor?" The doctor said that if he believed in an all-powerful God he would cease curing the sick and leave that to Him. But no one in the world believed in a God of that sort; no, not even Father Paneloux, who believed that he believed in such a God. I do not expect God to come down to the earth to hand out masks, soaps and sanitizers. He does not produce or supply ventilators, drugs and vaccines. God works through people.

It has always been so. Even the Old Testament stories say it.

For instance, Moses had to erect a bronze serpent on a pole in order to save the lives of people bitten by fire serpents; he had to strike the rock for water to quench the thirst of his people. . . We may trust in God for strength to negotiate these dreadful times.

We may pray so that the medical personnel save more lives and their own and the researchers find a remedy for the pandemic at the earliest.

The world currently lives in a ‘new normal’. Christians, at least most of them, have not seen the inside of a Church anytime in the recent past. Most of us have not physically participated in community worship service now for several months. It has been a pretty long time since we have partaken in the ‘Holy Communion’. We still do not have the technology to receive Holy Communion online. Maybe, we might soon have it delivered through courier service, with a price tag attached to it. And most other religious activities, involving physical participation of believers, have remained suspended. Yet, people do not seem to be overly concerned. Hardly anyone worries that God would be angry for abandoning community worship. I do not know whether anyone fears of ending up in an ever burning hell for not partaking in the flesh and blood of the Lord.

The idea that God requires community worshipping has been drilled into us from our childhood days. Had this been true, God would not have allowed a situation that prevents the faithful from coming together to worship Him. This is where the words of Jesus to the Samaritan woman become

significant. The Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” And Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. . . a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4: 19-24). Maybe, this pandemic is meant to teach people how to worship God ‘in the Spirit and in truth’.

Religious faith is a personal matter. We do not need palatial structures or any particular rites and rituals to worship God. We do not need an institutionalized Church to live a Christian life – to love one another. Christianity can easily survive without the pomp of an ecclesiastical system that seeks to rule over the believers. Worship does not need the imperial Patriarchs or Bishops in their ceremonial regalia. Christians are under no obligation to maintain this obnoxious system by paying through their noses. The cunningness of early Christian leadership created this abomination. The faithful do not have to live under its tyranny. The clergy alone needs it.

Having been accustomed to the old order for a long time, many might find the new normal discomforting. But, it will pass given the time and space to cope. Look how treating the newly infected and the quarantining of their contacts have become an everyday task. Haven’t we become accustomed to death, to mourn silently, to leave our dead to strangers to dispose of as they choose? We no more bother that there are no coffins, caskets, priests or funeral prayers for our relatives and friends. We are not overly disturbed that dead bodies are dumped into mass graves. We do not complain that we cannot say adieu even to our parents, mates and children. “An epidemic normalizes the harshest and most inevitable truth of all: Death.”

The pandemic has changed everything, perhaps, forever. It has also been rather subtly changing our outlook on life. We no more feel guilty about preventing the burial of the dead for fear of contamination of the neighbourhood. We shutter up and barricade people in their homes so that they do not come out and spread the virus. We can even refuse to admit our life partners and children into our homes to safeguard ourselves from infection. Our own personal safety has become our foremost and rather only concern. In these times of the ‘new normal’ the beast in deep slumber within each of us seems to be waking up!

Editor’s Note: Mr. Georgekutty is a former Central government officer and academician. He is a gold medallist of the Institute of Cost Accounts of India (ICA) and its Fellow Member (FCMA). He holds postgraduate degrees in Business Management, Computer Application, Commerce, Journalism, English, History, Philosophy, Politics, Public Administration, Sociology and Gandhian Thoughts. He is passionate in studying Philosophy and Religions. After quitting his post retirement job as director of a business school, he has been devoting his entire time on reading, writing and public speaking. He has also written a number of books. He is settled in Karunagappally, Kerala.

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Worship is the Celebration of Faith of the People of God P. T. Mathew, Dallas* Worship is central to our faith; it is giving glory to God with the people of God. Worship is not an imitation, but a faithful expression of our commitment to Lord’s great commission and the celebration of faith of the people of God (Matthew 28: 19 and 20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age”). Worship is an act of fellowship, giving and caring.

The word worship is derived from an Anglo Saxon word, worth-ship- means worthiness to honor. In Greek the word Proskuneo, means worship, prostrate, bow down. In Hebrew Shachah, means worship, bow down, bend down etc. There are different forms and expressions of worship in the community.

Worship has become as an entertainment to some, rather than repenting and rejoicing the forgiveness and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Emphasize is given on the festive nature of the occasion rather than the celebration of thanksgiving and meditation on its reason or eschatological significance of the worship. In the name of modern technology, we have adulterated the sanctity of our worship and converted our praise and worship celebrations into secular stage performances. The worship focuses on the holiness and the holy presence of the Lord. Entertainment focuses people on the performance or on the entertainer.

Scripture says worship should be a delight, not just a duty. In the Old Testament, the great Jewish feasts were times of exuberant joy and heartfelt celebration. Some of them contained an element of sorrow and repentance for sin, but this led to the joy of knowing God’s forgiveness and mercy.

Let us look in to the background of the following verses in the book of Ezekiel 47: 1-11, “And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from the south of the Altar” (Ezekiel 47:1b). This is the vision of the prophet Ezekiel. He saw a river emerging from the Temple, flowing eastward beginning to flow slowly as thin stream and becoming a deep river. Trees will grow along the banks and this river flows in to the Dead Sea and so this water of the river transforms the water of the Dead Sea for fish and other life forms. Worship shows the celebration of the life, the abundant life, provided by the power of the water that begins from the altar of the temple, flows through the sanctuary – the people – cleanse them and prepare them to cleanse the world, like the stream cleanses the water of the Dead Sea to grow life in it. Through the above vision Ezekiel sees the origin

of worship, the place of worship, the form of worship and the final result of worship.

1. Where to worship?

We can see the answer of this in the conversation of Jesus with the Samaritan women at the well in John 4:20-24: “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” We can worship God in any place and at any time, provided we worship Him in truth and spirit. There is no particular place where we can see God, but we experience the presence of God in the place wherever we worship God in the truth and spirit.

2. Why do we worship? To glorify God and celebrate His Holiness.

He is our creator and we are His creations.

Celebrates God’s holiness and acknowledge the unworthiness of man. In the book of Isaiah chapter 6: verses 1-8 we can see the vision of Isaiah about the worship. Isaiah was seeing the glory of God in worship. In worship we should glorify God and see the glory of God. We should see the divine manifestation of the God. 3. Worship helps to have self examination, repent on our sins and enjoy the forgiveness of sins.

Worship helps to find out the unclean nature and the emptiness of our life. The Samaritan woman was giving many excuses to Jesus when he asked her for a drink. Sometimes we are also like her, giving excuses to Jesus when he tries to shed lights in to our inner life to show the unclean nature of our life. The prophet Isaiah told us that he made self-examination and found out that ‘he was a man with unclean lips and living in the midst of people with unclean lips.’ What is this unclean lip? The gossiping lips, the slandering lips and the self boasting lips. The true worship helps us for self-examination of our life. It leads in

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to a realization of the need of cleansing. Every Holy Communion is for the people who cleansed their life with the fiery piece of coal from altar.

4. Worship helps to find out the real source of our life –the Holy Spirit.

The Samaritan woman found the Messiah through her communication with Jesus.

Worship is true communication of the creations to the creator and recognizing Him as the Messiah. Through worship we realize the real source and the meaning of the life, the eternal life. Isaiah found the worship of heaven in his vision, the angels saying holy, holy, holy. John the Baptist also saw the angels and Seraphim saying holy, holy, God almighty. Worship is the celebration of the promise of the eternal life and prepares us for that everlasting eternal life.

5. Worship should reveal our calling (Liturgy after Liturgy), it is a commission given by our God. The Samaritan woman went to the village and witnessed the Messiah to the people. Isaiah heard the voice to say “whom shall I send and who shall go for me”? In worship we should submit ourselves to hear the calling of the Lord.

After the celebration of the worship, we should proclaim and witness the experience and the glory of this God. It is called a liturgy after liturgy.

It is a process of our experience of God in our worship to our daily living, in our homes, offices in all our interactions. Worship equips us for mission. This great commission is given by our Lord Jesus the Christ to his disciples, Matthew 28: 18-20, “And then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority under heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore and make disciples of all nation, and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” It is our commission from our Lord to share this joy of forgiveness and to celebrate with our fellow beings through our words and deeds. Our worship ends with this commission. Worship is the glorification of God, the celebration of our faith, and to experience the source of life and transmit this message of everlasting life to others through the experience of our life.

My experience of the corporate worship service of the Mar Thoma Church and its liturgy has the following elements. It is good to remember this as we are now in a lockdown state with social distancing due to COVID-19 pandemic. Let us pray to make the virtual worship sacred and real as God has given us the means to be in fellowship with others through the digital means. It is good to remember the following elements:

1. Celebration of God’s everlasting love 2. Celebration of God’s holiness-accepting man’s unworthiness 3. Celebration of the grace and mercy of God 4. Celebration of the Word of God 5. Celebration of the faithful promise of God 6. Celebration of the healing of God 7. Celebration of the gift and presence of the Trinity, The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit 8. Celebration of the crucifixion of Jesus Christthe redemptive act of God through His son 9. Celebration of the resurrection of Christ 10. Celebration of the kenosis of God 11. Celebration of the remission of our sin 12. Celebration of the faithfulness of God 13. Celebration of the companionship and the presence of God 14. Celebration of the fellowship of God and His people – Corporate worship 15. Celebration of the communion of God through the breaking of bread and the Holy Communion 16. Celebrate the second coming of Christ, God’s future in the present 17. Celebrate the promise of our eternal life 18. Celebrate the Liturgy after Liturgy Let us celebrate the God-given gift of life. Worship is for giving glory to God in the community of the people of God; it is for joining in the ancient praise of all His people, in the words of Psalm 106:1, “Praise the Lord.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures for ever.” Let us reflect on these words during the Covid19 pandemic, in our virtual worships and prayers, thanking God for who He is and for His goodness in our lives, remembering His commission that we show others the goodness He shows to each of us. Let me conclude this article with a prayer: O Lord our creator and the redeemer, we thank you for the opportunity for worshipping you and celebrating our faith in worship. O Lord who enables us to see our unclean nature of life and help us to cleanse it through worship. Enable us to realize the source of life and embrace the everlasting life through our worship and accept your calling and witness you to the world and fulfill your purpose of our lives.

Editor’s Note: Mr. P. T. Mathew.

M.A., M.S, was a college teacher in Kerala, from 1970-1975. He is living in Dallas Texas since 1976.

He is retired as an Engineer from Raytheon, USA. He is a member of the Mar Thoma Church of Dallas, Farmers Branch, Texas.

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When Only Two or Three Can Gather – A Post COVID-19 Thought About Our Faith Lal Varghese, Esq., Dallas The coronavirus pandemic has flipped many normal worship and ministry paradigms into smaller groups or to virtual spaces. Even if various countries are trying to come out of the self imposed quarantine to prevent the spread of Corona virus, still large gathering in the sanctuaries remain off-limits, at least for the foreseeable future. It seems that now the norm is ‘wherever two or more gather, illness can spread.’ This is the time when what Jesus promised becomes relevant: “When two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matt.

18:20).

While Churches demand governments to allow its faithful to fill it pews again, such hesitant demands need to be reevaluated. At the initial stages, WHO said Corona virus is not spreading through human contacts and no need to wear any masks. Later, WHO changed its policy and now every government is asking its people to wear masks, to keep social distancing and to wash hands as often as needed. Why Churches are in a hurry to fill its pews? Is it because, people do not have the adequate facility in their living rooms to worship the Lord? Some people may think that we go for corporate worship to fill the offertory plates of parishes to meet its expenses. Corporate worship is part of being a Christian to offer our gratitude and glorify God for his abundant blessings. Offertory plate giving is only one way of giving, there are many other ways to meet the missional needs of a called out community.

In large churches, it will be impossible for the priest to be in constant contact with all the members. It is not their fault, but the high demand from a few section of the worshipping community takes most of their time. Jesus ministry is an example that we need to follow during this pandemic. Jesus traveled with small groups from village to village and preached and did his ministry. He did not establish any church or build any sanctuaries, but he built a faithful community to continue his ministry in this world.

Our priests should adapt the same method adapted by Jesus, gather in small groups and preach the Word of God. The ministry and gathering should be for building the people and not for filling its pews or collection boxes.

Now is the time to reestablish the ministry of discipleship.

The Corona virus has engulfed the world when the technology is at its peak. The priests and others entrusted with the charge of a parish, need to contact its members using the technology like video calls, WhatsApp and such other means of technology. The Church leaders should be proactively pursuing these areas of discipleship, through check-ins, prayer and sermon discussion, at a time when their normal jobs and church programs are on hold. COVID-19 has introduced and made the words “social distancing” and “shelter in place” part of life. ‘Social distancing’ is a wrong phrase; it is just physical distancing, man is made for community living and social interaction is essential for the emotional health of a community. By the grace of God, we can maintain these social interactions through the digital technology.

Priests and Church leaders should visit their neighbors by conducting ‘drive-ins’ especially to pray for the sick and elderly. This drive in visits can be extended to visit elderly people, people celebrating birthdays, wedding anniversaries and even graduations. Thus this kind of ‘drive-in’ and ministry from a safe distance can ease initial interactions with others in isolation. The priest could sit in his car and the member may stay inside or come out and stay in front of the house thus keeping the safe distancing and offer a prayer or a short interaction asking about the welfare of the family.

Priests, Church leaders, faithful believers, the unchurched and all of us need meaningful connections, reminders of God’s promises, and a chance to breathe and laugh during this isolation more than ever. We also must remember the deep hope we have in Christ Jesus, which surpasses all other considerations. The Christian faith and God’s church has often thrived in times of crisis. They have done so because every Christian is filled with the Spirit of God, and God has given each of us his written Word. God has always worked through everyday ordinary people to do extra ordinary things. He used ordinary fishers to fish people for His mission in this world, who led his mission at the cost of their lives. He has turned ordinary situations and circumstances to do extraordinary things like healing a person to wholeness. Healing is more than curing; Jesus healed; it is a progressive movement from stagnation to wholeness and fulfillment of God’s purpose in everyone’s life.

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So, no need to worry whether we can worship our Lord in a sanctuary, but we need to believe that God can do extra ordinary things through his ordinary faithful believers even when we are in ‘lockdown’ or keeping ‘social distancing’. Pulpit is not empty, but the pews may be empty, but our faith is not empty and our hope is not empty. Jesus had overcome tough situations like this and resurrected and promised that he will come back again to gather his faithful believers for an eternal life with him in heaven.

We may find that only a few people can gather in person and there may be people who might never find their way to fill the pews and listen to the Word of God from the pulpit. Hebrews 10: 11 say: “Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” Hebrews 10 contains an amazing promise. Verse 14 says, “For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Jesus’ work on the cross has already saved us, completely and perfectly.

In God’s eyes, we are whole and finished. But paradoxically, that process isn’t done yet while we’re still on earth. We’re still being shaped into His likeness, still “being made holy.” Until the return of Jesus, we’re still “under construction,” people who anxiously wait the glorious day when the work in us is truly complete.

Hence, there is no more the need for the priest to offer sacrifices for the believers. The believers need not buy indulgences or offer funds for the Church to meet its corporate expenses. Of course, the faithful need to support the mission and charity works of the Church, but not based on the tithing principles in the Old Testament, but based on the full submission and surrender to Lord Jesus Christ. Faith without deeds is dead. Even Satan believes that God exists, but our faith needs to transform into actions by doing the mission that Jesus Christ entrusted to us.

In the Gospels, so much of the earthly ministry of Jesus was based on responding to the opportunities that presented themselves to him: encountering fishermen as he walked alongside the Sea of Galilee (Matt. 4:18-22); a lame man dropped through the roof (Mark 2:1-12); a despised tax collector named Zacchaeus who came to hear him (Luke 19:1-10); an outcast Samaritan woman (John 4). President Franklin Roosevelt – during the inaugural address to the nation gripped with the of the pain of great depression – said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." Same way the members of the Church need to convert the present retreat in our homes to advance the mission and ministry of Jesus.

We need human connection; God designed us that way!

Painful seasons of loneliness point to that need. Like the people of the early Church, it’s important for us to engage in the human companionship, our well-being requires it and we should offer it to those around us who also need it. The first Church was a growing, gracious and generous Church. The Greek word for “fellowship” (Acts 2:42) is ‘koinōnia’ and carries the meaning of “participation, sharing.” Believers participated in a shared identity and spirituality—learning spiritual truths, devoting themselves to fellowship, remembering Jesus’ death and resurrection, depending on God, experiencing His power, and showing extravagant acts of generosity toward the needy (vv. 42–47).

When the Pharisees asked Jesus why his disciples broke rabbinical tradition by not washing their hands, Jesus very well knew that the problem isn’t keeping rules, but making our hearts pure. He reminded them, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me’ ” (Matt.

15: 1-2, 7–8; also Isaiah 29:13). This is our problem too, we do not keep our hearts pure and at the same time want to keep the rules straight. We worship the Lord with our lips, but our hearts are far away from Him. The believers seem to be restless and concerned about their morality and looking forward to interact with other believers and friends during a corporate worship service.

Those who are far from God are watching these believers and astonishing how the believers can sustain their hope and faith in the midst of suffering, a hope that only comes from deep conviction and abiding with Christ. Disruption in our worshiping routines can create an environment where lasting transformation can take place in the lives of faithful believers and the Church. The disruption caused

by COVID-19 must help the people of God, the Church, to have a real transformation from a nominally worshipping community to that of a missional Church expressing God’s unconditional love for His whole creation.

At a time when we are forced to keep the social distancing to prevent the spread of Corona virus, the faithful are looking for ways how to keep their hearts and minds close together. This is where the promise of Jesus is relevant, ‘when two or three gather in my name, I will be in their midst.’ We gather together virtually from our living rooms to pray, to worship and to witness our Lord.

The Lord who promised that He will be with us is with us even in the midst of this pandemic.

Churches are going through unprecedented times and it is difficult period for the people of faith. Churches around the world have suspended regular worship services for an indefinite period of time. For an indefinite period of time, the Churches may witness the fewest people engaging in

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corporate worship. This is uncharted waters, less frequented roads and Samaritan wells for those in Church leadership. In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.”

A Timely Response to a Crisis: CTE Presidents call all churches to address racial injustice in church life and wider society On 28 July 2020, the presidents of Churches Together in England, named below, with the support of the Fourth Presidency Group, have issued a statement calling on churches to travel together on the journey of racial justice, addressing injustices both within our church life and in wider society. They write… th

We should understand that the Church is not a building and Sunday is just a part of Church life. No matter the quality of the online worship or sermon, they would trade it for a moment worshiping together—shaking hands, hugging, raising their voices, and receiving Communion.

“I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy,” Paul wrote to Timothy (2 Tim. 1:4). This is the want and the need of each faithful believer during this unprecedented time of COVID-19. While being physically separated is a tremendous loss, adhering to government directives and, more crucially, serving the common good out of love for neighbor makes this the wise and responsible choice.

The Church leaders and the faithful are grateful for Zoom and the technology that helps us broadcast live worship, but we must be most grateful for the reminder of the value that God puts on physical presence. The Word took on flesh and made his dwelling among us. Taking Shelter in our homes is a practical reminder that it is not the job of the Pastor to do the entire ministry, “but to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Eph. 4:12). The COVID-19 brought lots of people who never prayed or worshipped together to participate in live stream worship from their living rooms through online technology. We have the assurance in Jesus because he said: When two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matt. 18:20).

Let us hope and pray that the new patterns of ministry established during this COVID-19 season will bear fruit long after the virus is eradicated. God may be allowing the world to be disrupted during the COVID-19 season of pandemic, but God has His own purpose for everything happening in this world. To quote Pastor Evan Wickham, lead pastor of Park Hill Church in San Diego, California: “While we grieve the loss of physical presence, we also believe God is allowing the sap to be drawn back into the tree for a season.

This is not just a forced Sabbath. It is a mandated Lent. And we walk boldly into the wilderness with Jesus to receive his gift there. When we gather together again, the tree will be in full bloom, and hope will be on full display.”

Our post COVID-19 faith is a simple trust in God. Adapt to change! Be resilient! Be patient! These are challenging, scary times. But we must have the conviction and hope in Christ that the Church will survive and shine for expressing God’s amazing love for humanity and the whole creation. The Church is made for this. It has grown throughout history through compassionately loving the world when it has suffered most. We also need to accept the ‘New Normal,’ the way we are going to worship in the coming days. This new normal is going to be our new norm, which is another post COVID-19 effect.

We as Presidents of Churches Together in England have responded to the killing of George Floyd in the United States, and the widespread call for real change to combat racial injustice in our world, above all in our own country. We have spent time over the past few weeks listening to voices of people from the black community, especially the younger generation.

This has been a deeply moving experience and illustrated powerfully the many profound changes of heart and actions that need to be made. The attitude that regards black people – and indeed other people of ethnic minorities – as inferior is evil and mars our common humanity. We challenge this unreservedly, recognising the constant experiences of racism, including micro aggression, which black people face.

We believe that churches have a significant role to play in combating racial injustice. If we are to be effective in doing so, we must look at ourselves. We are painfully aware of the racism that blights the life of our churches. We are intent upon a process of identifying racial injustice within our churches – current and historic – repenting of it and taking action to effect real change. This includes the potential for discriminatory behaviour in the way that we make church appointments, which we know can happen at the conscious or unconscious level. We want to ensure that these processes are just and demonstrate the so often neglected gospel truth of Colossians 3:11 “there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all”. In this verse Paul makes it clear that racial injustice and discrimination is not only profoundly unjust and an affront to God but also the very denial of Christ who reached out to all human beings.

Some Member Churches of Churches Together in England have already embarked upon this journey of tackling racial injustice.

The Church of England plans a new action group, and among the Free Churches work by the Methodist and United Reformed Churches, together with Baptists Together is already under way, as is also true for the Catholic Church. The Pentecostal Forum has long held this issue in its view, as have the Orthodox Churches.

We call upon all churches to travel together on this journey of racial justice so that together, as one community of churches in England, we may reach out in love and respect to one another in pursuit of our common witness. An area of great concern to us as Presidents is the relationship between the black community and the criminal justice system. We will therefore be facilitating conversations between young black women and men and senior members of the police service. We are also seeking to engage both the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice in further considering the day-to-day experience of many young black people in England.

(Contd. on Page 27)

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RELIGIOUS ATHEISTS Revd Dr. Valson Thampu, Trivandrum Atheists are of two kinds: religious and irreligious. We may also call them dishonest and honest atheists. Our concern, for the time being, is with religious atheists. Those in the other category are less of a problem because they are easily identifiable.

Religious atheists are not unlike the corona virus: hard to detect, unless they are tested out with discernment.

Atheism is about denying God. We are, for the most part, aware only of one mode of denying God, which is the direct method of doing so, which is practised by honest atheists. In this mode, one takes a public stand and asserts or tries to prove that God does not exist. But the anxious eagerness of these exercises has a touch of poignancy about them. I think it was Joseph Mazzini who that those who feel the urge to deny God hide within them either a great crime or a great sorrow. In comparison, our religious atheists are a shallow category. They rob God of his or her attributes.

We do this to God all the time. The valid way to relate to God requires respecting the attributes of God. In the nature of things, the attributes of God can be respected and practised only in relation to fellow human beings. It is like air serving as a medium for sound. Sound will not carry in vacuum. Others serve a function analogous to that of air in our relationship to God. So, if we, in our dealings with our fellow human beings do not practise the attributes of God, then we alienate God from his or her core attributes.

In grammar it is impossible to separate the subject from its attributes. Suppose I write, “George is….” it makes no sense. I have to say that George is honest or dishonest, tall or short, married or unmarried. The subject cannot stand by itself. This applies all the more to God. But in the perverse grammar of our religiosity, we shave off all attributes from God. God becomes an impersonal, ethically blind phenomenon, whose only merit is that he is partial to us. But no one can be just, if he is partial.

But our rational faculties suffer suspended the moment we enter the hypnotic space of popular religiosity.

Jesus tells his disciples that they should pray in his name. This is taken to be a magic formula! As though the name of Jesus has supernatural potency, the very pronouncing of which suspends the laws of nature and the common-sense logic of life? Surely, that cannot be the meaning of praying in the name of Jesus. To pray in his name is to pray fully respecting his nature. It implies an awful discipline, which would, if taken seriously, make praying nearly impossible! Yet, how glibly, how loudly, how coercively we pray! Reducing ‘the name of Jesus’ to a magical means is the height of practical, religious atheism.

The irreligious atheist leaves Jesus alone; our religious atheist deforms him. The former is blind; the latter is cruelly callous.

Our religious atheists insist that God exists. But they are wholly indifferent to his or her nature. We need to have a closer look at what this religious atheism involves. God has two aspects: the person and the attributes. The major attributes of God are love, truth, justice and compassion. It is plain common sense that a person should not be separated from his attributes. For example, if you believe in being a sober-minded person, you wouldn’t like it if someone were to relate to you as though you are a drunken lout. If anyone does so, what he does is to separate you from one of your attributes. You could, likewise, be contemplative in your practise of religiosity. If, by virtue of belonging to a charismatic worship group, you are required to sing and swing in induced ecstasy, that group separates you from an attribute of yours that you value.

Religious atheism increases with the rise of popular religiosity.

As a rule, the attributes of God do not appeal to human beings.

The reason for this need to be recognized. What appeals to a person depends on his nature. A dishonest person will feel ill-atease in the presence of a person of integrity. In the Bible, whenever human beings become aware of the presence of God, they feel fearful. The reason is that the Person of God is an embodiment of attributes that far exceed the spiritual state of the person concerned. Jesus could say, “I and my Father are one”. Such a claim is tenable only in a state of total identification with the attributes of God. Taking the name of God, while rejecting the attributes of God, is the essence of hypocrisy.

Religious atheists outnumber honest atheists a thousand to one.

Honest atheists have a chance someday of encountering God and of turning a new leaf in their life; but in religious atheists, atheism and hypocrisy combine to create impenetrable hardheartedness. You shall know a tree, Jesus said, by their fruits – which also includes by its fruitlessness. If we choose to remain ignorant and undiscerning; notwithstanding glaring evidence, the fault lies not with the barren trees but with ourselves.

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Eschatological Views in Second Peter and its Relation to the Rest of the New Testament Revd Shibu Kurian, Bangalore* Introduction Second Peter is an apologia of primitive Christian eschatology.

It deals with a crucial question of the meaning and significance of the Parousia. What is the Parousia? When will it occur? What will happen when it does? It is a question of the relationship between the faith of the apostolic generation and every generation that follows. Based on the eschatological skepticism the false teachers taught, “the apostolic proclamation of the Parousia was a myth (For we did not follow cleverly devised myth… 1:16). The false teachers argued that Jesus was not coming back and therefore there will be no judgment. There existed a temptation of the believers to return to their former way of life. Therefore, the Second Peter refutes false teachers (2:1), their theory and praxis, and reinforces stability and commitment among the faithful through reminder of their divine gifts and calling. The author encourages his community to raise to the moral heights their vocation demands. Therefore, the purpose of Second Peter is twofold: to expose the false teachers for what they were and to set before the churches the conditions of survival when doctrinal and moral perversions infiltrate their fellowships, appearing to carry all before them. This paper is an attempt to describe the eschatological views of second Peter and its relation to the rest of the New Testament.

1.1. Audience of the Second Peter Second Peter is addressed to a congregation or congregations in the region of Asia Minor where Paul established churches (1 Peter.1: 1 “Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” 2 Peter 3:1, 3:15-16). These churches were predominantly Gentile churches. They are the people who came to faith from a pagan rather than Jewish background. According to John H. Elliott “Second Peter was directed to a Christian community to which converts from paganism (2:20), assuming the mantle of teachers (2:1) had began to challenge traditional Christian beliefs and norms of behavior.” The Epicurean philosophy influenced the audience of Second Peter because it was very popular in Jewish and Greek thinking. Therefore, the author taught the audience against this philosophy and affirms the providence of God in judgment, both past and future (2:3b-10a; 3:5-13) and the truth of the prophecies that undergirds it.

1.2. Philosophical Influence The philosophical world in which Second Peter addressed was the Epicurean way of life, which sought to avoid trouble and increase pleasure for its followers. They affirmed: 1.“There was not a creator involved in creation 2. Providence destroys free will.

3. The world came into existence by chance, so there is no foreknowledge, as that would require a predetermined order.

4. Since people incur injustice by the delay of the “gods” in coming to their recues, any “gods” that exist must not engage in rewarding or punishing mortals.”

1.3. Eschatological Skepticism – Skepticism about the Future The opponents or false teachers in Second Peter raised the question of “why does Jesus delay His return?" They argued that Jesus was not coming back and therefore there will be no judgment. This question influenced some of the believers of the churches and they failed to recognize the reality of the return of Christ. The opponents taught the Parousia and judgments are apparently a delusion; they are free to conduct their lives according to their own passions. Some believers denied Jesus authority and redemption and proclaimed a message of freedom from ethical living in favor of indulgence of the body’s pleasure desires. It led the young believers of the churches to go astray from their commitment to Christ and the ethical life, to which they were called. They assumed freedom from judgment as a release from the commandment of the Lord (2:21; 3:2) and a license for self-indulgence (2:2; 10a, 13, 18), pleasure (2:13) and personal gain (2: 3, 15-16). Therefore, the question and the Epicurean worldview reflected a kind of agnosticism that was growing in popularity in the first century.

1.4. Eschatological Teachings in 2 Peter With the influence of the Epicurean philosophy, the false teachers taught that the Parousia did not happen. They were denying the Parousia because, according to the apostolic proclamation, the first generations of Christians were to have experienced the Parousia but died without its materialization.

They taught it was a myth (2:3b; 3:4 everything goes on just as it even though the fathers have died…). They argued “everything remained the same; nothing has changed. Christ has not come; the Parousia has not taken place. Why then should the church continue to hope that the Parousia, and the judgment that attends it will occur? Were the prophecies that foretold the Parousia and the witness of the apostolic generation that testified to the Parousia mistaken?” The question is not about the mechanics of Jesus’ return or its truth but taken to another level when the delay is used as an excuse for ungodly behavior. Some persons in church have backslidden into the accompanying behavior of licentious and shameful ways of pagan immorality. nd

In his, letter the author is refuting the eschatological skepticism.

He emphasizes the apostolic tradition, which affirms the Parousia and its judgment. This tradition is founded on the teaching of Peter (1:12-18), Paul (3:15b-16), the other apostles (1:16-18; 3:1-2) and the Old Testament prophetic witness (1:2021; 3:2). The author emphasis the power of the gospel, which enables believers to escape from the corruption of this life so that they can, participates in God’s life.

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1.3.1. Transfiguration and Morning Star- Power and Glory of Jesus (Hope for the Parousia) In the church, the false teachers argued the message of Jesus was a myth. Therefore, the author taught the believers, Jesus is the savior who provides everything that they need for all aspects of their life (1: 3-11). This is not simply a provision for spiritual life but rather a provision for every part of life. In 1: 1621 the author refuses two objections raised by the false teachers.

1. The apostles employed ‘cleverly devised myths’ when they proclaimed the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. The prophetic word was merely a human word rather than God’s word.

He takes transfiguration as the example of the power and glory of Jesus. In the transfiguration Jesus kingship made evident.

The event of the transfiguration functions as a reason for expecting the return of Jesus. Jesus glory revealed in the transfiguration and at that moment, His identity is unveiled before His disciples. God proclaims that Jesus is the beloved Son and such an announcement on the mountain gives the kingdom of God a location and a purpose that is larger than the geographical and political focus and it is forever. The kingdom is both about the physical provision that the king makes for his subjects and about the full realization of a kingdom that is now and tomorrow and forever. The author taught that a day would come when Jesus himself will bring about the transformation of the world, even as the rising sun transforms the present world from darkness to light. The transfiguration and the metaphor of the morning star remind the believers that what is seen is only a part of the ongoing reach of the Kingdom of God. The kingdom is forever, and it is glorious, honorable, already begun, and still to come. He assured his community that their hope for the Parousia grounded in a reliable apostolic witness.

1.3.2. Eschatology and Judgment The false teachers taught the community two significant problems: 1.

2.

They deny Jesus and his redemptive work (2:1, …they will even deny the Master who brought them).

They taught that in Christ they are free to act upon their desires in an unrestrained fashion (2:2, Even so, many will follow their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be maligned). They exploit the believers for their own ends.

The author related the eschatology with judgment with the examples of God’s past judgment against the angels who sinned (2:4 For if God spare the angels when they sinned….), the flood generation (2:5….when he brought a flood on a world of the ungodly) and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (2:6 and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes …). Through these examples he shows the future judgment rests on the Lord (2:9, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the Day of Judgment). He affirms that God controls the end and He executes the justice and judgement of the world. Judgment will come in God’s time, for he is the

one who is storing up the heavens and the earth until the coming of the Day of Judgment (3:5-8).

1.3.3. Delay of the Parousia – Lord’s patient The false teachers challenged the validity of the Lord’s promise that He will return (3:4 where is the promise of his coming? for ever since the ancestors since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation). Peter answered through the words of 3:5-8. He argued God created the heavens and the earth by His Word and at His command that world can be destroyed as it was in the great flood recorded in Gen.7. In Verse 7 he used the word fire as a means of judgment (Deut: 29:23; Isa. 3:9, Jer. 23:14). He reminds that the world has not always goes on as they now see it and that this should remind them that judgment would come despite their false message. Judgment would come on God’s time, for He is the one who is storing up the heavens and the earth until the coming of the Day of Judgment.

In 3:8-10, the author puts forward two arguments, both already traditional in Jewish apocalyptic treatment of the issue of eschatological delay.

1.

2.

God who determines the time of Parousia. He is not limited by human life span but surveys the whole course of human history (3:8…. the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and the thousand years as like one day Ps. 90:4).

The delay is a respite, which God has graciously granted to his people before his intervention in judgment. Therefore, the sinners have opportunity to repent and encourage condemnation (Exod. 34:6; 2 Peter 3: 9 …but is patient with you, not waiting any to perish, but all to come to repentance). The delay of the Parousia is not a sign of forgetfulness or indifference but shows that he wishes to make it possible for more people to be saved. nd

In verse 3: 10 the day of the Lord would come as unexpectedly as a thief in the night (Matt. 24:43; Luke 11: 39; 1 Thess. 5:2). 3: 10b pointing towards the destructions of the heavens and the fundamental elements of the earth by fire.

There are three main arguments here: 1.

2.

3.

The form of the world will be destroyed The heavenly bodies will be destroyed (Isa. 34:4; Matt. 24:29) The angelic power or hostile spiritual powers will be destroyed (Gal.4:3; Col. 2: 8,20)

In 3:11-13, the author reminds the believers to live holy and godly lives as they wait for God’s justice. In the Bible, God’s judgment by fire is a recurring image. Something may survive the fire of God’s judgment is alluded to in several places in the Bible (Isa. 33:14-15; Zech. 13:9; Mal. 3:2; 1 Cor. 3: 13-15). It emphasizes two main concerns: 1.

2.

To demonstrate that God’s work of judgment is sure.

To call to believers to faithful living in the light of God’s judgment.

In 3:14-17 he advised the believers to manifest patience, remain steadfast in faith, hope, and to avoid all schisms and

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inconsistent behavior. Because of the ignorance and ‘lack of stability of Christian faith’ some of them misinterpreted Paul’s teaching of coming of the Lord, Judgment (1 Thess. 4:135:11, 2 Thess. 1:7-10, 2:1-12) and the teaching of Christian liberty. Therefore, the author once again remained that the way of the false teachers is the way of the destructions rather than path of life.

Parousia, and it deal with those who deny the resurrection of the dead and act as if the end time has already arrived. In the deuteron Pauline letters, although hope for the future has not been set aside, Paul’s apocalyptic vision begins to give way to a scenario that speaks of the believers inheritance in heaven rather than the general resurrection of the dead.

In 2 Peter, the Parousia will be the definitive movement of God’s judgment, and it will effect a transformation of the world as it is presently known. The description of the Parousia in Paul, the Gospels, and 2 Peter may differ, but the central affirmation does not change. There will be a final redemptive act of God that will set all things right. nd

1.3.4. Hope for the Parousia- Transformation The author emphasis the Parousia will not be the end of the world (3:12) but the occasion of the transformation. In 3:13 (But, in accordance with the promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, were righteousness is at home) the hope is firmly grounded in the book of Isaiah (Isa. 65: 17; 66:22) and it echoes in 2 Peter (1:1; 2:5, 21). So 2 Peter emphasize if there is no Parousia there is no judgment. If there is no judgment, there is no righteousness. If there is no righteousness the world will not be transformed. Therefore, the hope of the Parousia is an indispensable element of Christian faith. That hope portrayed as in terms of new heaven and new earth filled with God’s righteousness, affirms that God will have the last word. The central affirmation is, there will be a final redemptive act of God that will set all things right. nd

nd

1.4. Relation to the rest of the New Testament The expectation that Christ would come ‘soon’, presumably in the generation then living, is amply attested in all parts of the New Testament literature. There are ‘sayings of Jesus’ preserved in the Synoptic Gospels that hold out the hope of some kind of immediate return or reappearance of the Son of Man to His disciples (Matt.10: 23) or an appearance of Christ in the life time of the hearers (Mark: 9:1; 13:30). The Gospel of Mark sets forth an imminent eschatological perspective. The Parousia of the Son of Man is expected (8:38; 13:26) and the Kingdom of God is to come “with power” during the first generation of the followers of Jesus (Mark.9:1). In Matthew shares the view of an imminent expectation (25: 31-46) and the final judgment. In Luke the possibility of the delay of the Parousia before the coming of the Son of Man and other endtime events (9:27; 12:45; 17:20-21; 19:11), but his coming and his exercising of authority in a final judgment are certain. In John’s Gospel hope for the future is not set aside, but the experience of future salvation (5:25, 28-29; 6:27, 39, 40b, 44, 54b, 12:48; 21:22-23) and the present experience (3:36; 5:24; 6:40a, 47, 54a, 10:28; 17:2-3) of salvation have begun to merge.

In Pauline tradition, the Parousia was soon to happen, bring ig with it the wind up of history (1 Thess. 4: 11,13-15). In 1 Cor. 15:51 Paul pictured those who will be ‘still alive’ when the Lord appears from heaven, and he can write about the time of the end being ‘near’ (1 Cor. 7:26, 29). Paul’s understanding of the tension between what is now and what is still set in the future at the Parousia to come (1 Cor. 11:26; 15:23, 50-52) the final kingdom of God destined to take over from the interim ‘reign of Christ’ (1 Cor. 15: 20-28).

Both traditions, however, are aware of the problem posed by the Parousia and its apparent delay. The Synoptic tradition insists that no one knows the day or hour of the Parousia, not even the Son. Therefore, the disciples must work as industrious servants until their Lord appears. The Pauline tradition is also aware that no one knows the time or the season of the

nd

Conclusion In this epistle, eschatology is more closely integrated. Its eschatology is thoroughly appropriated and digested both in the mind of the author and in the life and thought of the audience. With the influence of the false teachers, the believers’ mistake to think that eschatology has nothing to do with the present day. He reminded the community that God is Lord of time. No human effort will enable to know when the kingdom of God will come. The Church itself is an eschatological phenomenon. The resurrection of Jesus Christ and Parousia are the core of Christian faith. So the task of the Church is to proclaim the Gospel to the world and look towards the end.

The life of Christians is the life of hope accepting all the implications of social relationships and the realities. We die to be reborn to a new life. Our faith in the everlasting life is seriously threatened by the contemporary cultural and theological context. The consumeristic world of secularism seems to be fixing its gaze only in the life here. The theology of the resurrection affirms our hope, determines our Christian identity today, and sets our lives in the light of the Kingdom of God. Otherwise, there will not be any meaning for our struggle and endurance. The tension between “already” and “not yet” keeps our lives going and extends our hope beyond the horizons of this present world. We always remember that the activities in this world connected with the Kingdom of God. There is no eschatology of the future without the eschatology of the present.

References: 1. Kelly, J. N. D. A Commentary on the Epistles of Peter and of Jude. Black New Testament Commentary. London: Adam and Charles black, 1969.

2. Lucas, Dick and Christopher Green. The Message of Second Peter and Jude. The Bible Speaks Today. Leicester: Inter Varsity Press, 1995.

3. Matera, Frank J. New Testament Theology. Exploring Diversity and Unity. Louisville: John Knox Press, 2007.

4. Reese, Ruth Anne. 2 Peter and Jude. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007.

5. Elliott, John H. “Second Epistle of Peter.” The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Volume 5 O-Sh. Edited by David Noel Freedman.

New York: Double Day Dell Publishing Company, 1992, 282287.

6. Dentis, Helen. “Eschatology and Social Responsibility.” Ephrem’s Theological Journal 12/2 (October, 2008): 151-170.

Editors Note: Revd Shibu Kurien is a D.Th Student. United Theological College, Bangalore, India.

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Casting Burdens: (‘Chumadu Thangi–Load Bearer’ and ‘Vazhi Ambalam – Wayside Temple’) Dr. Zac Varghese, London “My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me” (Psalm 55:4). ‘wayside temple’. In those days, people mostly travelled on foot. These simple wooden structures with a thatched roof acted as a resting place for such travellers. These sheltered travellers from the mid-day sun or rain. It was a humanitarian service provided by the community. Sadly, such places of rest, scattered all over the countryside in my childhood days, have also now disappeared. These have been replaced by wayside inns, motorway cafes and filling stations.

On March 23, 2020, the government of the United Kingdom declared a lockdown across the nation in order to arrest the spread of COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, my mind has been occupied with the thoughts of the devastating impact of the pandemic spreading quickly across the globe. Two days later I woke up with two powerful images of my childhood days, on a farm, in a village at Kerala.

One of these images was that of simple stone structures found on the sides of narrow dirt roads on the banks (‘Varambump’ in Malayalam) of paddy fields. This structure consisted of two heavy stone pillars bridged by an equally heavy stone slab placed horizontally on the top of the pillars. The structure was called a ‘Chumadu Thangi’ in Malayalam, meaning a load bearer or a load supporter. In those days, people transported goods from place to place by carrying them on their heads or on a yoke born on their shoulders. These stone structures were meant to help these people to take comfort breaks.

The height of the horizontal slab was such that people could effortlessly push their load on to it to take rest and get it back onto their heads or shoulders themselves when they wish to resume their journey. Our forefathers had erected these load bearing structures at strategic locations for helping people to ease their heavy loads.

Sadly, these structures are no longer standing since they have been fallen into disuse after newer means of transporting good have replaced traditional modes. But for me the strong symbolism of these structures still remains firm after all these years.

The second image is that of what is called a ‘Vazhi Ambalam’ in Malayalam. The term literally means

Of course, the world has progressed much since my days as a village boy in Kerala. Everything is now just a ‘click’ away, thanks to innovative technologies. But all these advances have not succeeded in easing our burdens – physical, mental or spiritual. If anything, these have only become more difficult. The pathways of life have become more difficult to negotiate. So, we still need places and people to give us succour and more people seem to be turning to spiritual resources to find solace in these times of tumult.

We now possess many state-of-the-art gadgets that are supposed to make life happier and more comfortable. We have enough weapons of mass destruction to completely destroy the world. Many nations claim to be superpowers and many have positioned themselves as economic powerhouses. At last the world has woken up to the meaninglessness of all that rhetoric about being powerful.

The world has discovered to its horror that with all its arsenal of nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers and supersonic fighters, it simply does not possess the power to knock out an invisible speck of RNA known as the COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed close to a million people and seriously challenged the global economy and the lives of billions. We still do not know what to do other than advising people to ‘wear masks, wash hands frequently and to maintain physical distancing’! The world is beginning to realize that ‘human needs are beyond human help.’

It wouldn’t be God’s will that mankind should be crushed with excessive burdens. So, let us submit to God to free us today from all our burdens. It is a Tower of Babel moment to realize human limitations with absolute humility. God is glad to carry our burdens and give us the daily strength that we need. Jesus will remove our heavy burdens of guilt and hopelessness and give us true rest.

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In the ancient time the Psalmist said, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved” (Ps 55:22). The Israeli prophets also assured: “Is this not this kind of fasting that I have chosen: to lose the chains of injustice, and untie the cords of the yoke, set oppressed free and break every yoke?”(Isa 58:6). Finally, we have the absolute promise of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ: “Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28–30).

In the middle of this COVID-19 crisis, we now mostly remain isolated in our homes of all sizes and shapes under lockdown conditions. Our good neighbours are offering us all sorts of help for easing our burdens and helping us to survive. Let us thank them for their Godinspired generosity; let us thank all the healthcare workers, staff in super markets, other support structures and the volunteers who are helping us to fight this indomitable enemy in many different ways. One of the comforting phrases in the Bible for these times is “fear not.”

One of the most poignant types of suffering during physical distancing is loneliness, a desperate feeling of separation from those whom we love and care for and those who provide meaning to our existence. Loneliness comes in a variety of ways; some of it is deeply hurting.

All of us know in some degree what it is like to be separated from relationships. The most painful form of loneliness and separation that can be experienced by a human being is that which comes with the death of a loved one. It strikes us with the very painful emotion that life will never be the same. Across the world, we had thousands and thousands of such incidents during the last few months. This number is increasing every day and have had reached over a million deaths.

This pandemic has cast us into a situation in which it has become nearly impossible to even have an adequate grieving process; churches are not in a position to provide satisfactory bereavement support or funeral services. Instead of using excuses, we must use WhatsApp and such digital communication channels to reach out to such families and people to carry them through their emotional crisis. We need to find alternative ways of helping people in need. Such emotional support is essential to avoid depression and other psychological disorders. When we discover that we ourselves are groaning in empathy with others and do not know what to do or say to others, we would discover that God, the Holy Spirit, is groaning with us as well. It is by this realization that we begin to understand why Jesus wept at the tomb of his friend, Lazarus.

There was a time when the Church was able to serve society as a whole in many different ways – in helping the poor or caring for the sick and the old or providing education for the marginalised children or finding means for meeting other societal needs. But all such responsibilities have now been taken over by the State or different earmarked charities. We can be thankful for that, but one of the sad effects of this has been that the Church has become inward looking and concerned only with her own members, instead of those outside.

Let us hope that the post-COVID-19 landscape will challenge every member of the Church to find once more their primary vocation to embody and implement God’s love and compassion in the world. We can only fulfil that vocation in places where we work and where we live. It is true that in the past we converted all support structures as convenient stores for selling merchandises of all sizes and shapes. There is a growing awareness that we have converted our worshipping places into ‘wayside inns’ (market places for buying a ticket to heaven or fuelling stations of fake-spirituality). In Matthew’s gospel we read: “The Scriptures declare, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a ‘den of robbers’” (Mt 21.13; Isa 56: 7; Jer 7:11).

Now the doors of the churches are shut and we are pushed into virtual slots for our worship and prayer through live stream on line digital events. Let us use this God-given time to correct our ways and find real worship for giving glory to God within us because we are the temples of God (1Cor. 3:16). May the virtual space become a sacred place for us. In the 14th century spiritual classic, ‘The Cloud of Unknowing’ it is stated: “Nowhere physically is everywhere spiritually.” We should experience this mystery in our daily living. The world and our worshipping patterns will be different after this crisis and let us think of the models of ‘Chumadu Thangies and Vazhi Ambalams’ for sharing and easing the burdens of others around us.

The experience of this pandemic is a challenge for commitment to life rather than a withdrawal from it; it is also a participation rather than passivity; it is about establishing the Kingdom of God on earth rather than anticipating in an after-life. It may be an opportunity, a space and a time, for seeking a comprehensive understanding of the meaning of life and its God-given purpose. Let us consider ‘the gift of the other’ and their needs. It is indeed the time for moving from the attitude of ‘being-for-itself’ to ‘being-for-others’ and ’being-with-others’. In this process the Holy Spirit will guide us to become ‘Chumadu Thangies’ and Vazhi Ambalams’.

Let us also take time to thank everyone that we come across in our lives for what they mean to us and how they help us to express our God-endowed humanity. May God continue to bless everyone. We can be absolutely certain that “God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear . . . Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46).

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Pearls of Wisdom Series: No.14 A Reading from St. Augustine’s Commentary on Psalms* “Keep me safe, LORD, from the hands of the wicked; protect me from the violent, who devise ways to trip my feet. The arrogant have hidden a snare for me; they have spread out the cords of their net and have set traps for me along my path. I say to the LORD, “You are my God.” Hear, LORD, my cry for mercy” (Ps 140: 4-6).

Christ’s whole body shares in his passion: I have called to you, Lord; make haste to help me! We are all in a position to make these words our own. Yet if I pronounce them, they will not be uttered by myself alone, but Christ in his totality. They are spoken in the name of his body; for while he was on earth he prayed as one who shared our human nature, he besought the Father in the name of all his members, and during his prayer drops of blood were forced from every pore of his body. That is what Scripture tells us; Jesus prayed with such earnestness that his sweat became like drops of blood.

This bleeding of his entire body surely signifies that the whole Church will bleed with the suffering of martyrs.

I have called you, Lord; make haste to help me! Hear my voice when I cry out to you. Certainly you could not have thought that once you had said ‘I have called to you’ you would have no further need for prayer. You may have cried out, but do not suppose that you are safe. When your suffering is over, then your crises may cease. But if we believe that the Church, Christ’s body, is liable to suffering until the end of time, then must we not only say: I have called to you: make haste to help me, but add with the Psalmist: hear my voice when I cry to you.

Let my prayer rise up before you like incense; let the raising of my hands be like an evening sacrifice. Every Christian is aware that this passage is usually understood of our Christ our head. For, as evening drew near, the Lord yielded up his soul upon the cross with the certainty of receiving it back again; it was not wrested from him against his will. But we too are surely also represented here. He had nothing to hang upon the cross except the body that he had received from us. And it was surely not possible for God the Father to abandon his only Son, who shared with him one God. Nevertheless, when he nailed our human weakness to the cross––that cross to which, as the apostle says, our unregenerate nature has been fastened along with him––it was with the voice of our humanity that he exclaimed: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

That, then, is the evening sacrifice: the Lord’s own passion, his cross, the offering on it of the saving victim, of that holocaust which is acceptable to God. And by his

rising, Christ has turned the evening sacrifice to a morning oblation.

Similarly, the pure prayer, which ascends from a faithful heart will be like incense rising from a hallowed altar. No fragrance can be more pleasing to God than that of his son’s own prayer; may the prayers of all the faithful breathe out the same perfume.

Our unregenerate nature––it is the apostle who speaks once more––has been fastened to the cross along with him, in order that our sin-stained humanity may be renewed and cleansed, and we ourselves may no longer be salves to sin. *This important sermon is taken from a collection edited

by Henry Ashworth O.S.B, ‘A Word in Season’, The Talbot Press, Dublin, 1974, page 208-209. Collected by Dr. Zac Varghese (Contd. from Page 23)

A Timely Response to a Crisis: CTE Presidents call all churches to address racial injustice in church life and wider society We encourage all churches throughout England to do all they can to build trust and improve accountability between black communities, the police, civic bodies and wider community groups. In particular we call upon groupings of Church Leaders throughout the nation to reach out to their black colleagues in church leadership who are currently absent from their membership, making more inclusive ecumenical leadership. Our desire is that these groups will create spaces for those in authority to listen, as we have, to the powerful testimony of young black women and men as a step towards greater social cohesion.

We see these issues as matters of gospel and faith for all who follow Jesus Christ, the one who calls every nation and people to the justice of the Kingdom of God. Presidents of Churches Together in England: Archbishop Justin Welby, The Archbishop of Canterbury Cardinal Vincent Nichols, The Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster Revd Dr Hugh Osgood, The Free Churches Moderator His Eminence Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London and CTE President for the Orthodox Churches Pastor Agu Irukwu, head of Redeemed Christian Church of God UK and CTE Pentecostal President The Fourth Presidency Group comprises Lutheran, Quaker and The Church of Scotland (English Presbytery) Member Churches.

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Lessons I Learnt During COVID-19 Pandemic George Thomas, Copenhagen* The COVID-19 Pandemic is wreaking havoc across our world. It is an uncertain time. And yet for all the pain, the Bible teaches that for Christians, these trials are not wasted or meaningless. God is at work through it all, teaching us things that we might not otherwise learn (Romans 8:28, Hebrews 12:5-11).

human control. Only Jesus is our steadfast companion – carrying us in his arms when we cannot walk alone. What a friend we have in Jesus! “Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come” (Luke 10:1).

4. Our sense of security or safety is a myth. I used to feel reasonably “safe and insulated” from public health-related disasters or catastrophes in a modern, advanced country like Denmark.

Similarly, I have not been overly concerned about my financial security as a retired senior person.

Suddenly I have been watching how some of my basic assumptions are getting overturned. Thus, I have come to discern: “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches the city, the watchman stays awake in vain” Psalm 127:1).

During this Pandemic it is easy to see bad things happening all around us. However, with a biblical view on the present circumstances it may become clearer that what God could be doing during this time of taking things away is actually giving us something wonderful and eternal in return.

Here are the eight things that I have been learning during this time: 1. Time has one direction–forward. We cannot get anything back from yesterday. Appreciate today while we have it and what we have in it. “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). This should teach us a great deal about the precious value of time.

Putting off a reconciling conversation until later, praying for some dear person, writing few words of encouragement to a distressed or burdened friend, or helping a needy person today, are all choices we could make right now. When that golden opportunity is gone, it is gone!

2. Jesus is our only dependable companion on this earthly journey. I started realizing that even our nearest and dearest ones cannot be with us 3. or holding our hands in our final hours or times of distress under certain circumstances beyond

5. No one is guaranteed tomorrow. I have been living my life as if I will have a longer future on this earth. I think about next week, next month, and next year like they are guaranteed dates on my calendar. This Pandemic has emphatically taught me to ponder over our own mortality with better clarity – especially not to say: “Today or tomorrow we will do this…” (James 4:13). It heightens our “death-awareness”. Yes, it’s a confronting thought. But if we combine this death-awareness with the Gospel of the Risen Christ who has overcome death, we can become more captivated by the resurrected life to come.

“My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:23).

6. Redeeming today requires an unfamiliar pace of life. I am convinced that we are just too busy.

There are too many options to stay busy, and we have learned a pace of life that devalues the things that matter most. I can hear the words of Jesus to Martha: “You are worried and troubled about many things” (Luke 10:41). We need to choose the things that cannot be taken from us and those things require a slower pace and more time than they generally get.

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7. Church gatherings are somewhat undervalued and underappreciated. This is the first time in most of our lives that we have not been able to “be” with the church every week. We have failed to recognize how important it is to be with other believers regularly. I did not realize how much I was gaining from being there every week until it suddenly was missing. “Let us not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

8. Prayer is vastly undervalued and significantly underutilized. Most of us pray every day. A quick mealtime prayer or a few moments in the morning or before we go to bed are pretty common practices. But praying, and I mean really praying, is a rare effort. What might happen to our families, our churches, our countries and our world if we seized this opportunity of relative stillness and used it for concentrated, long periods of prayer? My wife and I did appreciate the opportunity, among others, during the Lent Season this year to pray for a couple of specific migrant churches in Denmark continuously for 40 days – as part of an initiative by a multicultural Christian platform. “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face continually” (1 Chronicles 16:11).

9. Leaning into suffering versus avoiding suffering at all cost. There is a key difference between the typical secular response to suffering and uncertainty, and the biblical response. In the modern secular worldview, suffering (especially life threatening suffering) is to be avoided at all costs. But in the biblical view, a Christian’s suffering serves a higher purpose. Yes, suffering is painful - the Bible doesn’t deny that. But it is a key way that God achieves His purposes, namely, to make us more like Christ (“Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2-4). That goal gives meaning and purpose to our suffering. And so, Christians can lean into suffering. We don’t have to fear it. We don’t have to avoid it. Instead, we can use it to glorify God, and serve others.

Thus we are interrelated, interconnected, and interdependent. What happens in the Americas is felt in Africa, what happens in Asia is felt in Europe, and the like. This means that the people of this world are our brothers and sisters, and that we are all one family under Almighty God. What happens to some of us will ultimately have impact on all of us. Our world today desperately needs God’s intervention and an integral solution that encompasses the whole creation.

In closing, my hope and prayer are that during these strange times, we learn the lessons God would teach us individually and collectively as the universal Christian church, and as nations. And though we are locked down in our homes for a little while, take heart—Easter is coming.

Editor’s Note: Mr. George Thomas retired as Principal Industry Specialist of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group based in Washington DC. He has been serving on the Boards of several companies in the manufacturing sector wherein the IFC has equity investments. He holds a Master's Degree in Structural Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai. He is settled in Copenhagen, and is a member of the State Lutheran Church of Denmark.

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Member Church Reflections on Covid-19 in the UK [The following collections are reflections of the

members of various churches and its leaders who are members of the ecumenical body, Churches of Churches Together in England (CTE). It is collated by Miss Sarah Ball who is a communication assistant of the CTE. We are very grateful to CTE for allowing us to publish this because it gives us a post-COVID landscape of faith from a wide spectrum of Christian communities in the UK.] We have received a marvellous variety of reflections to share. They range from the deeply personal response to the pandemic of an 18-year-old, via practical, technological and financial challenges, through to theological perspectives on Covid-19.

Many churches are also grieving the loss of members, and in some cases leaders, during this unprecedented time. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

The Church and the world “We will emerge from this as a society in collective trauma. A traumatised society will need a church which has a light touch, which knows how to play, to experiment, to laugh and to rest – a church which can offer and exhibit the fullness of life about which Jesus speaks.”

Anticipating the future - Revd Dr Stephen Hance, National Lead for Evangelism and Witness for the Church of England “’The World is my Parish’, or so the founder of the Methodist Church Movement John Wesley wrote in his diary. Never before have his words held quite so much weight. With our buildings closed, we are learning afresh what it might mean for us as local communities, a national organisation, and a global church – to see the whole world as our place of ministry.”

The World is my Parish - Rev Dr Joanne CoxDarling, Acting Superintendent, Wolverhampton Methodist Circuit Brewood, Codsall and Coven Methodist Churches “Relationships were strengthened; stronger bonds

were formed, and individuals were engaging in a much more meaningful manner.”

A place where love grows - Deaconess and Trustee in the New Testament Church of God in Willesden, Charlotte Johnson Growing unity “My prayer is that this ‘new normal’ will retain the ecumenical spirit we have re-discovered during Pentecost 2020, so that we may live out the call of Jesus’ message in John 17:23, ‘that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me’. Rarely has the world needed that unity more than now.”

Towards ‘a new normal’ - Rev Philip Brooks Secretary for Ecumenical & Interfaith Relations, United Reformed Church “I think, now more than ever, working towards Christian unity is vital as we have much to learn from one another in our spirituality, mission, theology and traditions… Faced with the stark realities of inequality, climate breakdown, systemic racism and an imbalance of power and privilege, together, as one Church in Christ, we have the ability to make a difference.”

Disruption leads to renewal: God at work - Church of England Lay representative to the Churches Together in England Enabling Group, Annika Mathews “I see the commitment of all kinds of people including Quakers wanting to connect with one another, listening carefully to wide range of views and recommitting to shared work. Alongside suffering and grief, COVID 19 has engendered astonishing creativity and compassion.”

A man may look on glass - Head of Peace Programmes and Faith Relations for Quakers in Britain, Marigold Bentley.

Using technology “Living in the midst of a global pandemic is not comfortable but it has forced the church to occupy

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some space that up to now we’ve not been fully convinced it’s a space we should inhabit. Well, we’re here now. Let’s get used to it. Welcome to the new normal.”

“With the doors locked” (John 20, 19) - Parish Priest of St. Panteleimon Greek Orthodox Community in Harrow, The Very Rev Protopresbyter Fr. Anastasios D. Salapata

Moving online - International Leader for Pioneer Network Canon Billy Kennedy

“Hello, my name is Kai Daley...Covid-19 didn’t just affect my education - that same week that my education ended, I was scheduled to be baptised. I was devastated, but now I have spiritually grown closer to God...so close I guess… it’s true, the Lord works in mysterious ways.”

“May the Archangel Gabriel, patron of communications continue to pray for us!"

Being Church in the time of Covid-19 - Parish priest of Saint Ambrose Barlow, Swinton and Pendlebury, in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford, Monsignor Paul Smith Positive opportunities “We are called to embrace the challenge that the crisis has opened for us and to see in a ‘new normal’ a renewed opportunity for encounter and engagement with God, with one another and within ourselves.”

Coronavirus: a challenge and an opportunity? Parish Priest of the Most Holy & Undivided Trinity, the Catholic Church in Grimsby, Cleethorpes & Immingham, Fr Andrew Cole “Being salt is not about spreading our name, but it is about spreading the name of Jesus... If there is anything positive to come out of this pandemic it is that all Christ’s followers would positively touch and impact lives.”

“Salt” - President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the British Isles, Pastor Ian Sweeney “This crisis has come at a time when we were already considering prophetically what God is doing in the nation at this time. This is a source of reflection and prayer for us as we move forward.”

Ground Level Network member and CTE Trustee, Richard Bradbury Parish perspectives “It was very upsetting to hear the closed doors of the Church being hit and banged by the people, who couldn’t understand or accept why they were left outside … or to see certain others “attend” the Service through the Church window.”

Covid and me - Kai Daley from the New Life Wesleyan Church in Handsworth, Birmingham “The beginning of this pandemic brought a myriad of questions. How we will still be church if we cannot physically meet? How will congregation members be affected by this? How will we continue to fulfil God’s mission here?"

Church life in the Covid-19 pandemic - Pioneer Baptist Minister for Ebbsfleet, Rev Penny Marsh “The church universal birthed in crisis still shines in these very times.”

The Reset - Pastor at Acts Christian Church, which is part of the Joint Council of Churches for All Nations (JCCAN), Lloyd-Anthony Hall "The pandemic storm, otherwise christened as COVID-19, has become a beacon allowed by God [John 3: 27] to shake the whole world..."

"Weekly income has fallen by 80%..." "...We also suffered the death of our Church Leader, who at the time of writing was yet to be buried."

Two churches from our Pentecostal and Charismatic Forum reflect on COVID-19 Lamentation “The church needs to restore the practice of Lamentations as a normal appropriate spiritual response. . . a time of lamenting for the grief and sorrow that the Covid-19 plague has wrought on the land and particularly on those from the BAME community.”

A Call for the Restoration of the Praxis of Lamenting Chair for the Movement for Justice and Reconciliation, Rev Alton P. Bell.

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Book Review: ‘Church and the New Normal: Ecclesial Imaginations for a New Community’

By The Rt. Revd Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius Suffragan Metropolitan CSS Publication, Tiruvalla, 2020, Pp 114. Rs. 120/-; US $10/ISBN-978-81-7821-858-8.

‘Church

and the New Normal: Ecclesial Imaginations for a New Community’ is a new book authored by The Suffragan Metropolitan, The Rt. Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius.

This book consists of a series of talks and articles by the new Suffragan Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Church, Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius. It took its present form during the quarantine period of 28 days during June 2020 when the bishop came to Kerala from Mumbai to shoulder additional responsibilities in the Church. Actually the book is a reflection of the immense experience of the bishop in his ecclesial involvement in mission in the dioceses in Kerala, Chennai, USA-UK-Europe, and Mumbai and above all with his involvement in the work among the transgender communities.

Rev. Dr. Sunil Caleb (Principal, Bishop’s College, Kolkata) has written an exciting foreword for the book and in it he states, “This challengingly relevant book is an extremely timely and exciting addition to theological and ministerial reflection on how the Church or Ekklesia should move forward in these strange and difficult times. It deserves to be read by not only theologians, but by all Christians and people of faith. By its careful scholarship and practical application, the book will challenge Christians not to sit back and wait for the work of God to be done by others, but rather to stand up and be counted in the fight against the forces of the ‘Empire’ that seek to dominate and control the world through their control of the levers of government and the economy in order to benefit the few”.

Rev. Dr. M. C. Thomas (Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam) in his apt Prologue to the book says, “For the academe and the intellectuals, the book has genuinely challenged to voice radical questions with critical rationality and self reflexivity on the politics and diverse shades of the ‘new normal’ situation which has already been evidenced in our major universities . . . though the protests have been labeled with other names and reasons”.

The new situation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to the return of the emigrants to their native places, and has brought about a new situation in many parts of the world. The articles in the book such as ‘Locating the Other’, ‘Envisioning Hospitality’, and ‘Churching the Diaspora’ reflect the contemporary situation in many ways. Of course, talks made at the clergy conferences of the various dioceses by the author such as ‘Recreation of New Life’, ‘Pastor Journeys with Christ’, ‘Ecclesia – a Counter Culture against the Empire’, ‘Reformation as an Invitation for Sacramental Living’ have found importance and timely relevance in this work.

The work has its opening article on ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Digital World’, and the concluding ones are on ‘Family Values and Transgender Awareness’. The essay on Artificial Intelligence may be an eye-opener for many. As home is the safest place and people are advised to stay at home, the study on strengthening the family values carries great significance.

The article on transgender community throws light to understanding all sections of marginalized communities. The need for the church to stand with the marginalized rather than with the Empire has been explicitly brought out. The essays include two recent articles written by the author and published in a magazine and a book respectively as well: “Coming Humanity – Culture, Politics and Theology” in Chalanam 2020, the annual magazine of the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam; and “Perspectives on a New Normal in South Kerala” in a book (a collection of essays) published in 2019 edited by Prof Babu Zachariah, Retired Head of the Department of English and a teacher of the Suffragan Metropolitan when he was a student at his Alma Mater, Mar Thoma College, Tiruvalla.

The book challenges us to know about the pitfalls of the new normal that the world wants us to get used to. It draws our attention to the areas in the ecclesial ministry, which needs to be strengthened in the new scenario. Can missional challenges be faced in any way better in the new normal than what used to be when things were normal? The post Covid situation and the disruption of the “old normal” way of life are well reflected through the various essays. Certainly the book reveals the academic awareness and commitment to mission of the author and the church he represents in the present scenario – the new normal. The book enlightens us regarding the changes that happen every day and tries to portray how the Kingdom of God envisaged by Jesus Christ could be realized. The need for reformation in the church and the pastoral ministry are emphasized. A disciplined sacramental living in this world draws special attention.

Ample attention is given to the changes needed for it in the praxis of the ecclesia, and not merely in its liturgy or theology. In his Acknowledgement the Suffragan Metropolitan Mar Theodosius points out that it was the Metropolitan Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma who suggested to him to publish a book while he has to go through the process of quarantine for a period of almost a month.

Openness, lucidity and straightforward utterance mark the style of the book. There is no doubt that the book will provide food for thought for all the readers in this new normal. Let me conclude with my sincere appreciation to the author for this excellent work and offer best wishes and prayer for his future ministry in the elevated position as the Suffragan Metropolitan of the Church.

Review By Revd Dr. Abraham Philip Parolil, 27 B, CTC Manganam, Kottayam 686018

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OBITUARY- A MAN CLAD IN FIRE Celebrating Swami Agnivesh Revd Dr. Valson Thampu, Trivandrum

I did not feel emotionally overwhelmed that one of the liveliest of men I have encountered in my lifetime was sinking. Instead, I felt grateful that on the very day he was hospitalized for a prospective liver transplant, he called me and said, “Valsonji, can we publish a book capturing the essence of our many discussions on the meaning of spirituality and the futility of religion?” Before I could say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, he said emphatically, “Religion has become a pestilence. It needs to be eradicated for the sake of humanity.” I agreed to undertake the task to which he had been orienting me for long. It struck me as his last wish, though his state of health was not a cause of great concern then. I embarked on the task right away, being keen that it be published in his lifetime. I sent each completed chapter to him. Swamiji read it and got back to me with his concerns and comments. The last chapter of the book was finished a week before Swamiji’s health took a turn decisively for the worse. Now, in retrospect, it strikes me as particularly significant that the last word I heard from him was ‘resist’.

And the last request he made to me was to write a book – as his will and testament- that exhorts humanity to outgrow subhuman religiosity. He wanted the book to be titled, “Brethren of the Eternal Spirit, Unite!”

The last time I heard from Swami Agnivesh was a week ago.

He was in hospital, sinking. In the few moments of lucidity he gained, he had his assistant connect him to me. “I had a great vision early this morning,” he said in words barely coherent. I was eager to know. I have been in continual contact with him ever since he was admitted to ILBS hospital in New Delhi two months ago. Deep inside of me, the process of disconnecting with this great soul had begun by the time he called me this time; a pattern I had experienced with every person I loved on the eve of his or her death. He was as eager to tell me- “I saw a hundred and forty million people standing together, united,” he struggled to say as his voice rose and fell in cadences of eagerness and breathlessness. “They were saying they would not take it anymore. They will resist.” What it was that they would resist, he didn’t say. His voice failed him altogether. His assistant took the phone and informed me that Swamiji could talk no more.

Once, in the course of our discussions on religion, I alluded to the anomaly, given the radical nature of his views, of his being a saffron-sporting swami. “I am not in saffron,” he corrected me, “I am clad in fire. I am Agni.” I thought at once of Prometheus, the mythological hero of proto-European spirituality, who ‘stole’ fire from the gods and imparted it to humankind.

He inaugurated civilization, incurring unspeakable agony. Prometheus’ rebellion was not so much against the idea of God, as against the idea of hierarchy in religion. Religious hierarchy of every kind thrives by alienating people from the fire within them. As a result, religion anchors humankind in existential darkness.

Hierarchy is the poison to spirituality; whereas it is the backbone of religion. Prometheus’ heroic ‘theft’ addresses this seminal anomaly. Because Prometheus stole fire from the gods in pre-history, a Swami Agnivesh was able to wear it about him in history. Humankind shares the same destiny.

What’s cooked varies; but fire is the same universally.

Fire explains the essence of this great man, dying all alone, forgotten and unsung in a hospital ICU. He had been murderously attacked a couple of years ago at Pakhur, Jharkhand; an outrage from which he never recovered. He was attacked, a month later, in New Delhi. The circumstances are irrelevant from a cosmic viewpoint. What is important is that Prometheus-like, Agnivesh too needed to be tormented, if only to authenticate the eternal pattern.

Metaphoric vultures preyed on his liver for the rest of his life.

It failed. He was to undergo a liver transplant; but destiny willed otherwise. His time had come.

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To me, Swamiji was a child. It is an aspect of his personality that few know. He came to his true, playful self when he was with children. The poor, for him, was children of sorts. They were God’s children. So, spirituality made sense to him only as social spirituality: the relentless struggle for securing a modicum of justice to the harijan -children of God. Yes, he was brave, as very few were; but his bravery was the bravery of children. He was brave, because he knew no danger; as children too don’t. This made the first multi-religious pilgrimage in the history of India possible. When, in 1999, the Australian missionary Graham Steins and his two sons were burned alive in Manoharpur, Odisha, and his bereaved wife, Gladys Steins, captured the conscience of India by forgiving the assassins, I suggested to Swamiji that we visit the site of the tragedy. He turned that tiny idea into a massive event; and the first multi-religious pilgrimage was born. A group of 55 leaders from diverse religions visited, first, the leprosarium in Balasaur and, thereafter, the church in Manoharpur where, in the two jeeps the missionary and his sons had slept, they were burned alive at night. We held a meeting in the church. Swamiji spoke. By the time he finished, there wasn’t an eye that was not wet with tears. He spoke like a child; and the children in us responded in the spontaneity of our emotions. We wept together over what humanity had come to. By the time we emerged from the church, a crowd of Santhals had gathered outside. “Our father is no more,” they said. They sang for us the songs that Graham had composed in Santhali, set to music, and taught them. They sang zestfully, as if to assert their spirit over a tragedy that was too vast for them to understand.

What is it that makes a man renounce all he has, and become one with the poor and the downtrodden? Why bear the cross of calumny, personal loss and hardships, when a contrary option is readily available? Swamiji had climbed the political ladder. He was the minister of education in Haryana; but lasted only six months in that capacity. He ceased to be a matri and became a missionary. He was instrumental in releasing and rehabilitating over two hundred thousand bonded labourers. The quarries and brick kilns became his temples of worship; wiping the tears of the oppressed, his pooja; and speaking truth to power, his Githa-paraayan.

If the impact a man has on others is the yardstick of his greatness, I bear witness today: here was truly a great soul. I changed inside out under his influence. His greatness was mired in the grime of the world with which he did battle till the end.

You don’t take on systems and men of might, and remain unsullied or intact. Bearing witness to the truth, history tells us, is a lonely journey that winds its stony way up the mountainside.

What awaits at the mountaintop is martyrdom. Swami Agnivesh may have died in a hospital bed, but he is a martyr. And like a martyr, he held his spirit unbroken till the last. He died with a vision of people becoming one in resistance. Goethe’s last word was light. “A little more light!” he muttered feebly, as he breathed his last. Swami Agnivesh was not a star of enlightenment. He was agni, fire. Appropriately, his last word was “resist”. In that word is captured, the essence of a life lived in fierce and unapologetic resistance. There are times in history when the courage to resist becomes the essence of philanthropy. Swami Agnivesh was destined to live in such a time. He lived it well.

NATURE: A MIRACLE Revd Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam Look at the tiny ant on your shelf, It is a miracle It can climb any dizzy heights!

I am indeed surprised by joy when the entomologists say: “An ant can lift up to 50 times more than its weight!

It is indeed remarkable.”

I am indeed surprised When Solomon, praises ants: “O you lazybones, go to an ant Consider its ways, and be wise.

Without having any chief or officer or ruler, It prepares its food in summer, And gathers its sustenance in harvest.

How long will you lie there?

O lazybones?

When will you rise from your sleep?”

I am indeed surprised by joy When the botanists say: “The wild fig tree has roots more than 100 meters long” It is unbelievable!”

I am indeed surprised by joy When I am told: “Pre-historic dragon flies were as big as pigeons” It is indeed unimaginable...”

I am indeed surprised by joy When I am told: “Ants give a warning to the symptoms of diabetes!

It is indeed remarkable!”

I am indeed surprised by joy When I am told: “A certain species of night- flies Can detect sugar content even in a large quantity of water.”

It is indeed a miracle!

Nature is the greatest miracle.

The ant is a miracle.

The fig tree is a miracle.

The night fly is a miracle.

A bee is a miracle.

A butterfly is a miracle.

A spider is a miracle.

A planet is a miracle.

I am indeed a miracle.

My birth is a miracle.

My death would be a miracle too.

My life after death is a greater miracle!

Each moment in my life is a miracle.

Wonder, praise and gratitude.

“O Lord, how manifold is your works.

In wisdom you have made them all” (Ps 104:24).

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The Next Great Global Event in POST COVID – 19 A Biblical Perspective Revd Dr. Martin Alphonse, Portland Introduction: It has been six devastating months since the whole world got locked down by the COVID-19 pandemic. While we thank God for the current gradual decline of its impact that has ushered in a bit of sigh of relief, no one is exactly sure as to when exactly will the ultimate “Post-COVID-19” era completely free of the pandemic will begin. The world is longing for the day to cry out in the historic words of Dr. Martin Luther king Jr.: “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty we are Free at last!” Experts in the field anywhere from the World Health Organization to the local national governments differ in their opinions and estimates on an exact time frame of the possible demise of the pandemic. It is contingent upon the discovery of the magic vaccine. Some say it could happen by the end of the year and so 2021 will be a fresh, secure, restassured Post-COVID-19 New Year! Others are not so optimistic. They say it could linger on for another year or it may take even up to five years to vaccine every person in the whole world! Hence, they say we must accept the New Normal and learn to live with it! We are told that life will never be the same again. They say we can never return to the old normal we were so used to enjoy in every sphere of human activity especially the social and the religious, although the economy may somewhat bounce back.

A Biblical - Faith Perspective While the secular and scientific world is busy speculating on its theories and earnestly searching for a global medical solution, Christendom is busy raising questions on the connection between COVID-19 and the fulfillment of prophecies pertaining to the End Times. Could COVID19 be a forerunner in the fulfillment of a series of End Time Prophecies? A lot of Christians seem to strongly believe it is a sign. Others seem to dismiss it. Those who are in the middle seem to be totally confused. Hence, at this juncture it is good for us to give serious thought to COVID-19 being a possible sign and that of the Second Coming of Christ as the Next Great Global Event.

However, as we do so, I also would like to be cautious in approaching this enquiry as wisely warned by C. S. Lewis, a great global Christian thinker of the 20th century when he said in relation to Christian belief in Demonology: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is their disbelief in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them” (In ‘The Screwtape Letters’ 1942).

As such we should neither totally dismiss the possibility of COVID-19 being a forerunner of the series of End Time

Prophecies, nor should we be obsessed with it by paying attention to nothing else all around us. A balanced biblical view of the Post Pandemic era urges us to ask the question: “What if COVID-19 is a forerunner of the series of End Time Prophecies?” If it is, then what is the next great global event for which we should prepare ourselves?

End Times as the Possible Next Great Global Event Post COVID-19 All the three Synoptic Gospels (synoptic means having a common view or perspective) describe in detail the signs of the End Times, namely Matthew 24:1-51, Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:3-36. Apostle John took a different perspective in writing to his Greek readers. In two of the three synoptic narratives, the Lord Jesus Christ pointed to the outbreak of “pestilences in various places” (Matthew 24:7 KJV; Luke 21:11 NIV) along with famines, earthquakes etc., as a forerunner of the End Time or as the “beginning of labor pain”. Lest anyone wonders why Evangelist Mark did not mention it, a reasonable explanation for it is that Mark was the first one to write the gospel in 55 AD, followed by Luke in between 59 to 63 Ad, and Matthew in 70 AD. Hence, Matthew and Luke were able to gather more materials on several things than Mark. That explains why their gospels are lengthier than Mark’s.

Pestilence is an endemic, which is a localized plague that affects a few groups of people, communities or countries.

It is much less in its severity and damage to life in comparison to what a huge fatality rates a pandemic which is much greater in its magnitude and intensity could cause humankind at a global level. Hence, the question arises if COVID-19 is a forerunner of the series of End Time Prophecies that the Lord spoke about? If it is, then can we afford to ignore it?

When the Lord said, “... there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in various places”, did He mean that they shall occur simultaneously or sequentially? We are not sure of that. However, we do know that the fourth quarter of the 20th century and now the 21st century has been witnessing recurring tragedies of famines in different parts of the world especially in the great continent of Africa and several parts of Asia, not to mention floods and Tsunamis. There has been a constant increase in the frequency of earthquakes in various places, which by and large have not been noticed by a lot of people unless they strike with a devastating intensity.

And of course, for decades in a row we have been living in a world full of “wars and rumors of wars”.

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As such, we should not take COVID-19 singularly as “the” forerunner of the fulfillment of End Time Prophecy but take it in combination with the other related prophecies.

Perhaps, the most prominent among them is the current political development in Israel.

Current Political Development in the Middle East as a Positive Sign of the End Times The current political development in Israel in conjunction with the End Time Prophecy is a huge subject. The scope of this article doesn’t permit me to delve into it. Let me point out to just one most significant development and its relevance for our observation here. As a sure sign of the End Time and His Second Coming, in Matthew 24:15-16 the Lord said: “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation’, spoken of through the prophet Daniel- let the reader understand then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains”.

The reference here ‘the abomination that causes desolation’, is to the audacious sacrilegious action of the Anti-Christ who according to Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11 will set up his own statue in the Temple of Jerusalem (Holy Place), declare himself as God and order the whole world to worship him. This prophecy by Daniel was also emphasized by Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 as a sure sign of the End Time.

The crux of the prophecy here is, first there should the temple or the holy place for this prophecy to be fulfilled because as foretold by the Lord in Matthew 24:2, Mark 13:2 and Luke 21:6 the Temple of Jerusalem was totally destroyed by the Roman Army in 70 AD and was reduced to Ground Zero. It has remained that way for 1950 years until today. In what is being called the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where the Temple stood magnificently 1950 years ago, there are now only two Islamic holy buildings, namely the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of Rock.

Hence, unless the Third Temple is rebuilt on the vacant Ground Zero first, this prophecy of Daniel, which was strongly endorsed by the Lord and by the Apostle Paul cannot be fulfilled. The important question is, given the centuries of continuing enmity between the Jewish and the Muslim communities, and especially the number of intense fights between the Arab/Palestinian Muslims and the Jews since the rebirth of the nation of Israel on May 14, 1948 and the escalation of fights between them almost on a daily basis, is the building of the Third Temple on the site even possible? The current positive Political Developments in the Middle East seem to suggest that it could be a fast approaching possibility.

If the Arab Muslim Nations and the Nation of Israel can come to a peace treaty with each other, then there is a strong possibility for the reconstruction of the Third Temple. Two major Islamic nations immediately surrounding Israel, namely Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994 have signed a peace treaty with Israel. On August

13, 2020 the United Arab Emirates declared its decision to sign the Abraham Accord with Israel. Now Bahrain has also joined the peace accord. Both these Islamic nations are expected to sign the peace accord with Israel in the White House on September 15, 2020. There is a political speculation and expectation that Saudi Arabia, the most important Arab Muslim nation is likely to sign a peace accord with Israel soon. If Saudi Arabia does so, then it is most likely for smaller Arab Nations in the region are likely to follow suit. With this kind of rapid development in the peace process, the rebuilding of the Third Temple seems a fast approaching possibility. According to Daniel’s prophecy, the countdown of the End Time will begin with the construction of the Third Temple. It is just a matter of time, but no one knows exactly when it will be.

Should we be Alarmed?

No true Christian should be terrified by the turn of these events. On the one hand, if it will happen soon in our own generation, can anyone stop it? So, let it be as the song goes “que sera sera – whatever will be will be”. On the other hand, aren’t the End Time and the Second Coming of Christ an integral part of the Confession of Christian Faith that we have been declaring Sunday after Sunday in the Holy Qurbana of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church when we affirm: “His crucifixion we commemorate, His resurrection we celebrate, His Second Coming we await!”

Recently I had the privilege to preach in the Revival Meetings of the St. John’s Mar Thoma Church, London, UK. I noticed that in the Order of the Divine Service, we repeatedly and emphatically express our earnest hope in and our eager expectation of the Second Coming of Christ. For example, -

KAUMA: “Blessed is He that has come and is to come again in the name of the Lord. Hosannas in the highest”.

Second Sunday SEDRA: “Make us worthy to meet you joyfully at your Second Coming”.

Second Part of Prayer: “Make us worthy at your coming again”.

NICENE CREED: “He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead ...

In the congregational response in the LITANY: “Remember us O Christ when you come”. (Four times).

It is possible that the Grand Finale of the End Times climaxed by the Second Coming of Christ which the founding fathers of the Church had eagerly looked forward to in their lifetime could be actually fulfilled in our own generation.

As such, could COVID-19 be a forerunner of the series of End Time Prophecies? What if it is? Then, we could possibly be living now in a time of the great hope to which we have been called. If it is not, then let us continue to live our life of Christian Faith in love, peace and justice, and faithfully carry out our God given responsibilities by being true witnesses of Christ’s redemptive love on the cross to the world until His Second Coming whenever that might We know that one day the Lord will come again!

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Congratulations to Mr. John George Chirapurath – Microsoft Vice President It is indeed a great pleasure and privilege for FOCUS to congratulate Mr. John George Chirapurath on his prestigious appointment as one of the Vice Presidents of the Microsoft Corporation.

We also thank God for the dedication and service of his family for generations for God’s mission and establishing God’s kingdom values.

He hails from Kottayam, Kerala, India. He belongs to the ancient Chirapurathu family. His grandfather was late Revd C. V. John of the Mar Thoma church who contributed much to the life and growth of the Church in the 20th Century. As the Principal of the Mar Thoma theological Seminary, he upgraded the Seminary to Provide BD and postgraduate degrees; He contributed much to the theological education in India. Mr. John George’s father, late George John (Georgie) and his mother, Grace, were loyal members of the Mar Thoma Church and builders of the Mar Thoma parishes in Kuwait and Bahrain. Georgie was a Sabha Council member and represented the Mar Thoma Church in the Eighth Assembly of the WCC in Harare in 1998. Georgie was also a founding member of the FOCUS Movement and gave leadership for the seminars at Santhigri from 1999 to 2003. For these and many other reasons, it is right to congratulate Mr. John George for following the footsteps his ancestors in having exemplary qualities, which the business community also appreciates.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. John George had a long distinguished career record in software companies in the USA and occupied senior management positions in the Microsoft Corporation and other software companies. He is settled in Seattle in Washington State. He is married with Jessica and has two children George and Sara. He believes that a person should be humble and work hard to succeed; he has super work ethics. We wish him well in this new assignment and may God continue to bless him and his family.

FOCUS EDITORIAL BOARD

OBITUARY Dr. Abraham C. Thomas, Tampa, Florida Dr. Abraham C. Thomas, (Babychaan), Karackattu Chruvazhakunnel House, Mannamaruthy, Ranny, member of St. Mark’s Mar Thoma Church, Tampa, Florida and founder of Karnataka Navajeevvana Samithi (KNS Mission) was called to eternity. Prior to settling down for his retirement life in U. S. A., he has donated the entire property, buildings belonging to KNS Mission to Chennai – Bangalore Diocese of the Mar Thoma Church. He also served as Sabha Council member of Mar Thoma Church and also received the Manava Seva award from Mar Thoma Church for his services to the community.

He was married to late Grace M. Thomas, Mannakunnil, Kottayam. He is survived by children, Abe C. Thomas and Thomas Karakad, and grandchildren Valeska Grace Thomas, Abey Emilio Thomas, Nathan Abraham Karakad, Rebecca Grace Karakad. He was 93 years old.

Rtd. Judge O. N. Ninan, Thiruvalla Retired Judge, O. N. Ninan (93) of Ooraipadikal family, Thiruvalla was called to eternity. He was the son of famous late Advocate O. C. Ninan, who was the legal advisor to Mar Thoma Church, late Alexander Mar Thoma Metropolitan, Chrysostom Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan, Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan, who was also member of the Kerala Legislative Assmelby from Kallooppara constituency in 1955. His father also served as the lay trustee of Mar Thoma Church for several years.

Judge Ninan is survived by his wife Nalini, Panampunnayil, Kottayam and children Suresh Ninan (Senior General Manger, Malayala Manorama Publication Division), Justice Satish Ninan, (High Court of Kerala, Ernakulam) and daughter in laws Meenu, Vadakedathu, Kallely, Elizabeth, Valiyaveettil, Thiruvalla. Funeral was held at St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church (SC Church), Thiruvalla on Sep. 24, 2020.

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