Reflections

  Sacrament of Holy Qurbana: Celebration of Salvation   Luke 24: 13-35 v.30. “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them”   Rasad Mohammed was distraught over his medical reports that said both his kidneys were failing, and only a kidney transplant could save him. He had not been able to find any donors and was clueless about his future. As he shared his sad story to a stranger and priest, who was traveling next to him in bus—Fr. Sebastian, gauged the hopelessness in Rasad face and said without hesitation “I will give you my kidney”. Fr. Sebastian had only met Rasad on that bus journey. They were strangers, but after that journey they became friends, one living because of the other’s sacrifice— a friendship they would call ‘the celebration of life’. The Bible passage brings our attention to two travelers who are on their way from Jerusalem to their home in Emmaus, when a stranger, Jesus, whom they did not rec...

  Sacrament of the Holy Qurbana – Celebration of Salvation 1 John 1:1-10 v7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. For the past few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted every aspect of our lives, and we have had to adapt new practices, virtual church services being one of them. In today’s passage, we read that the apostle John invites us to be in “fellowship with one another,” but what does that look like in the age of social distancing and when the church is unable to come together as a community and partake in the Holy Communion? Holy Communion is a fundamental and beautiful component of our church service, a vivid reminder of God’s grace and Christ’s victory over sin through His death and resurrection. It reminds us that “while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son” (Rom  5:10 ). Jesus’ resurrection is t...

  Sacrament of Holy Communion Luke 22:7-20 “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” v. 19b Jesus was having His “Last Supper” with His 12 disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem before His crucifixion. This took place after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. The “Last Supper” is commemorated by Christians every year on Maundy Thursday during the Passion Week. The “Last Supper” provides the scriptural basis for the Eucharist, the Christian Sacrament in which Jesus’ last meal with His disciples, according to the Gospels , is commemorated by the consecration of the bread and the cup. This Sacrament is also known as Holy Communion, Holy Qurbana or The Lord’s Supper by different denominations. I. THE PREPARATIONS: Like any other festival, The Feast of the Unleavened Bread called 'the Passover' required preparation. Jesus sent Peter and John, his two most trusted disciples, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”v8. Being obe...

  Sacrament of Holy Qurbana: Celebration of Salvation 1 Corinthians  10:15-17 v17 “Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all share the one loaf.” Since the pandemic, most of us have not been able to have our “typical”  Sunday morning  services. As the service starts, you have your Ammachis and Appachans getting in nice and early to get those “good” seats or “their” seat, where your young families are struggling to get their toddlers to get inside the church, and where the Sunday school students are hanging around trying to prolong their time, before they have to commit to the 2.5 hour service. And so the Holy Qurbana service starts, with a diversity in the generations that come to worship, with a diversity in the genders that come to worship, with a diversity in professionals that come to worship, a diversity in the nationalities that come to worship, and so on. Just within the congregation itself, even as a predominately Malayalee co...

  Sacrament of Holy Qurbana: Celebration of Salvation 1 Cor 11:23-34  v26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. C.S Lewis described the communion table to be a paradox between physical and spiritual life when he writes the following in his book Mere Christianity , “When they speak of being ‘in Christ’ or of Christ being ‘in them’, this is not simply a way of saying that they are thinking about Christ or copying Him. They mean that Christ is actually operating through them; that the whole mass of Christians are the physical organism through which Christ acts-—that we are His fingers and muscles, the cells of His body. And perhaps that explains one or two things. It explains why this new life is spread not only by purely mental acts like belief, but by bodily acts like baptism and Holy Communion. It is not merely the spreading of an idea; it is more like evolution—a biological or superbiological fact. There is no ...

  Sacrament of Holy Qurbana: The Celebration of Salvation Genesis 14.17-24 I really enjoy good movies.  The good ones unravel their stories well. At the end of any action movie, the hero/heroine is rewarded with the “fruits” of his/her labor.  In today’s passage, our hero Father Abraham rides in like a cowboy with his cavalry after saving his nephew Lot.  He has defeated evil kings and kingdoms.  Today’s scene takes place after all the action is done.  We see that God Most High delivered Abraham’s enemies into his hands.  We should never take credit for the innumerable ways God delivers us from evil.  We see the king of Salem coming to meet Abram. His name is Melchizedek (King of Righteousness) and he is one of the most amazing people we meet in the Old Testament (and later in Hebrews).  Verse 18 is absolutely stunning; what does this king bring to Abram?  Bread & Wine !  Before the first Holy Communion with Jesus and his discip...

  Holy Communion: Celebration of Salvation Mark 14:12-26 Vs 22  While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.”  As a pastor to my parish, I cherish the opportunities of sharing a meal with parish members at the parsonage or in their homes. In the Indian culture, sharing a meal is not only a mark of hospitality but also an invitation to a closer relationship. It is an invitation to partake in the life of that person or family who shares the meal.   In today’s reading, Jesus shares the Passover meal with his disciples. This would be his last meal with his disciples. For Jesus, it is a solemn occasion that should be meaningful to his disciples then, and a message to his Church in the future. With this supper, Jesus institutes the Holy Communion for the Church to follow.    Every Holy Communion is a new opportunity for us to experience God. In the passage, we see Jesus...