Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
DIASPORA SUNDAY
Abraham Mattackal,
MTC of Los Angeles
“ When your children ask their
fathers in time to come, what these stones are for, then you shall
let your children know, saying, Israel crossed over this
Jordan on dry land”
(
Joshua 4:21-22 )
After the death of Moses , God
appeared to Joshua and told him to lead the children of Israel to the
promised land of Canaan. God also told him to select twelve men, one from
each of the twelve tribes and ask them to carry 12 stones when the waters
of Jordan dried up for the passage of the children of Israel, out of the midst
of the river Jordan, where the priests’ feet stood firm and set up these
stones in front of the arc of the covenant in the lodging place
in Gilgal, on the eastern border of Jericho. Joshua then asked the
children of Israel to bear in mind that these stones were a
memorial to their posterity.
Consequent upon a decision taken by
our Diocesan Council and Assembly when our beloved late Zacharias
Thirumeni was the Diocesan Bishop, Diaspora Sunday is being
celebrated all across our North American Diocese on Sunday before
Thanksgiving Day regularly from the year 2000 on. The word Diaspora is a Greek word used to designate the dispersal of the
Jews at the time of the destruction of the first temple
in 586 BC and their forced exile to Babylonia. The term
Diaspora has also been applied to other peoples living outside
their homelands. We are a perfect example. We left our homeland of Kerala
and settled down in different parts of the world.
What do these two celebrations –
Diaspora Sunday and Thanksgiving – have in common?
The early English settlers,
pilgrims as they are often called, had to undergo enormous difficulties. The
harsh voyage and the fierce winter of New England were taking their tolls.
Nearly half of the pilgrims who landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts in
December of 1620 died within the first few months. The native Indians
were very much suspicious of the pilgrims. But the Pilgrims
did not lose hope or their steadfast faith in their living God.
With the onset of Spring, they planted Indian corn and in summer
they had a rich harvest. The native Indians turned out to be
friendly and helpful. The settlement was going to survive. And in
the Fall, in a spirit of victory over awesome odds and a feeling of
homesickness for the land they grew up and left behind, they
had a harvest festival to thank God for all His mercies and blessings. Every
year Americans observe this most typical national holiday with no real
understanding of its significance or meaning. Mostly it just
means a time to feast - a bountiful meal with turkey and stuffing,
cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.
As we celebrate Diaspora Sunday this Sunday, it is our hope and prayer that its real meaning would never be lost with the passage of time and that it would ever remain as a memorial to our posterity.
PRAYER
Our eternal loving Father, we thank You for Your manifold blessings
and guidance in our every day lives. We particularly thank
You for being with our early settlers, safeguarding them and helping them
while they were struggling to establish themselves as individuals and
families in different parts of this continent. Amen
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
“ What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me ?
I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the
Lord.” ( Psalm 116: 12-13 )