FEAST OF ANNUNCIATION

March 25, is celebrated as the Feast of Annunciation, which refers to the announcement of Angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary that she would become the mother of Jesus. 10 months from this day would be December 25 - Christmas. As we celebrate the Feast of Annunciation, let us also remember it is includes the message of 'Renunciation'... since Mary replied 'Here am I, Your servant. Let Thy will be done', knowing that her commitment would cost her to risk many things, much more than any of us could even imagine. It is easy to celebrate the Feast of Annunciation as a worshiper. But, the challenge is to practice the message of renunciation, as a disciple. May God bless you all!!!

mailto:gayathrijayaraj@mm.co.in "Response to 'Women's World' - March 19, 2011"

Dear Gayathri,

Greetings from the Church of South India.

Let me introduce myself.

I am Rev. Viji Varghese Eapen, a Priest in the Church of South India.

I belong to the Diocese of Madhya Kerala, Kottayam, but presently serving at the CSI Synod Secretariat, Royapettah, Chennai (this is the head quarters of CSI) as the Director for the Department of Ecumenical Relations and Ecological Concerns.

As you may know, the CSI has always been committed to the social and ecological cause and continues to be. Through our Department of Diaconal Concerns, we involve in Women Empowerment and Girl Child Empowerment, focusing mostly in the rural villages of South India.

Well, Gayathri, I mail this to applaud you for the letter you had published on March 12, 2011, in the News Plus under the title 'Penn Nagarm'. And in your subsequent article in 'Women's World', Metro Manorama, March 19, 2011, you have expressed your disappointment and frustrations in many not positively responding to your letter cited above (except three).

I just want to assure you that we all are there with you for this just cause. In fact, let me tell you that I myself has read your letter in the church where i had led the Communion Service on March 13, 2011. (For the past three years (2008 May -2011 January) I was the vicar of the Holy Trinity CSI Malayalam Congregation at Vepery, Chennai. As part of this huge congregation, we have a small church in Mogappair, Chennai too. Though the Church of South India celebrated March 8th as Women's Sunday, we celebrated Women's Sunday on March 13th.) During the service, just before the Public Confession, I read out your letter to the congregation, quoting your name, and led the confession in the light of this. The same letter was read just before the intercessory prayers during one of the Area Prayers, held at Kilpauk.

Gayathri, your letter is so moving, and we express our solidarity with your stand, and at the same time we the Church of South India, pray for a transformation of our society, that no more Anna Mammen, Radhika Thanvar and Soumya repeat...

May be we can even think of the Church and the Media joining hands together in conscientizing the public, not only bringing the churches together but bringing youth of different faiths together, championing against such social evils. After all, to foster a spirituality without sensitivity is to be like a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal, na?

Well,

I pray that the Almighty would continue to use you. Do continue to voice out.

Also, I thank God for the vision and mission of the Malayala Manorama. It is my hope that God would continue to bless the Malayala Manorama more abundantly so that all of you would be a blessing for others.

Yours Sincerely,

Rev. Viji Varghese Eapen

CSI EUCHARISTIC LITURGY

You are requested to go through an humble effort, "Church of South India Eucharist Liturgy: Celebrating 60 Years of ‘Intra-Pluralism’ and ‘Inter-Pluralism’ " by me in the book, "The Church and Culture in India, Inculturation: Theory and Praxis", Edited by Paul Pulikkan & Paul M. Collins

(Published from ISPCK, Delhi, 2010, pp. xx, 306. ISBN: 978-81-8465-097-6 Price: $ 15 £ 9 Rs. 325)

TSUNAMI HITS JAPAN: PRAYERS REQUESTED

DEAR ALL,

LET US BE ON OUR KNEELS FOR A MOMENT AND PRAY THAT NORMALITY WOULD EMBRACE THE SHORES OF JAPAN.

LET US STAND ON OUR FEET FOR A MOMENT AND REMEMBER ALL THOSE WHO HAVE LOST EVERYTHING.

LET US MOVE ON OUR HEELS AND OPEN OUR HANDS OF LOVE AND SOLIDARITY.

Below given is the NEWS of Tsunami. Courtesy : SIFY NEWS (http://www.sify.com/news/tsunami-damages-northern-japan-10-nations-on-alert-news-international-ldlo4phiaei.html )

North east Japan was hit by a massive earthquake on Friday, which rocked buildings in Tokyo and triggered a tsunami that dashed ships onto Japan's northeast coast and sweeping cars through the streets of coastal towns. The first earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter Scale struck at 2.45 p.m. local time about 237 miles northeast of Tokyo at a depth of 15.2 miles, the US Geological Survey said, revising the magnitude from an earlier 7.9.Ten nations are said to have issued tsunami-related alerts. Warnings have also been issued along the Pacific coast.

According to The Telegraph, among the countries that have issued a tsunami-related alert are Australia, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico, and the Mariana Islands, New Zealand, Peru, the Philippines, Russia and Taiwan. The Indian coastline has been declared safe as of now. The Japanese Defence Ministry has sent up ten aircraft to obtain an aerial survey of the damage caused by the wave, which early warnings said could be up to 10 meters high. Along Japan's coast, television footage showed massive damage from the tsunami, with dozens of cars, boats and even buildings being carried along by waters.

In Tokyo the car park of Disneyland was reported flooded. A large ship was swept away by the tsunami and rammed directly into a breakwater in Kesennuma city in Miyagi prefecture, according to footage on public broadcaster NHK. In Tokyo several fires were reported and the underground railway was evacuated. More than four million buildings reported a loss of electricity in the wake of the calamity. In downtown Tokyo, large buildings shook violently and workers poured into the street for safety. TV footage showed a large building on fire and bellowing smoke in the Odaiba district of Tokyo. In central Tokyo, trains were stopped and passengers walked along the tracks to platforms. Footage on NHK from their Sendai office showed employees stumbling around and books and papers crashing from desks.

Thirty minutes after the quake, tall buildings were still swaying in Tokyo and mobile phone networks were not working. Japan's Coast Guard has set up task force and officials are standing by for emergency contingencies. Several quakes had hit the same region in recent days, including a 7.3 magnitude one on Wednesday. Japan’s Earthquake Research Committee has warned of a 70 per cent chance that a great, magnitude-eight quake would strike Tokyo within the next 30 years. The last major quake to hit Tokyo was in 1923, when the Great Kanto Earthquake claimed more than 140,000 lives, many of them in fires.In 1855, the Ansei Edo quake also devastated the city. More recently, the 1995 Kobe earthquake killed more then 6,400 people. (ANI)

STATEMENT ON SITUATION IN LIBYA Released on February 24, 2011

The Church of South India is deeply worried about the political situation in Libya, where hundreds of protesters are reported to have been killed in the ongoing clashes with Libyan security forces. The escalating violence, arising from mass protests and wide scale use of forces, including fighter jets, by the government, have caused high number of causalities from the civilian population.

We strongly condemn all acts of violence, including the blood shed, targeting the innocents, violating international norms and common decency.

We express our disapproval of the disproportionate use of force against those who follow their fundamental rights to protest, and to the freedom of expression.

We affirm our solidarity with the people of Libya in their fight for universal rights, including the rights of peaceful assembly, free speech, and the freedom to determine their own destiny.

We urge all parties to respect the human rights of all people in Libya and calls for an immediate peaceful and political solution to the violence.

The Church of South India joins with all faith communities around the world, praying and hoping toward the establishment of peace with justice, upholding the aspirations of the Libyans for freedom and democracy.

RESPONSE OF THE CHURCH OF SOUTH INDIA ON SUPREME COURT’S VERDICT ON DARA SINGH RELEASED ON JANUARY 21, 2011

On Friday, January 21, 2011, the Supreme Court of India upheld the life imprisonment for Dara Singh and Mahendra Hembram, both accused in the killing of Australian missionary Graham Staines and his two sons in Orissa's Koenjhar district in January 1999. The Church of South India, which believes that Jesus, the prime mover of mission, has commissioned the Church to carry on the mission of God to be the agents of transformation and channel of Grace and Peace (Reference: “THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH OF SOUTH INDIA”, Chapter III “The Mission of The Church”, Paragraph 3) joins with the family of Mrs. Gladys Staines and the Christian Community in India, in welcoming the verdict upholding the Orissa High Court verdict in 2005, commuting the death sentence imposed by a sessions court, on Dhara Singh, to life imprisonment. We believe, all of us should affirm the value and integrity of any life at any stage and that every person should be given opportunities to realize his/her mistakes and to repent.

Moreover, the Church of South India welcomes the ‘modification’ made by the apex court of India on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, on its earlier verdict pronounced on January 21, 2011. Instead of its earlier view that the crime was driven by a passion to teach Staines a lesson for converting poor tribals to his religion, the Bench has said that a lapse of 12 years since the incident was the reason for it agreeing with the Orissa High Court decision to award Singh a life sentence. The Church of South India believes, as the Body of Christ, in her life and work, the Church should endeavour to bear witness to the Gospel of love. Mission is not aggressive propaganda but a way of life. True mission is carried out in a spirit of openness to and respect for other faiths, avoiding any attitude of triumphalism. (Reference: “THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CHURCH OF SOUTH INDIA”, Chapter III “The Mission of The Church”, Paragraph 7). We believe that the Supreme Court of India, through the modification made on the earlier verdict, has affirmed that, it is this dimension of the ministry and mission of the Church that was evident in the mission carried out by the Australian Missionary Graham Stuart Staines, who was working among those infected with ‘Hansen’s Disease’ in Orissa, while sharing the love of Jesus Christ.

Further, the Church of South India continues to pray for the families of Mrs. Gladys Staines, Mrs. Esther Staines and Mr. Dhara Singh, that God would continue to bless them in order that they all would toil toward the continuance of love, justice and peace.