Kudhosh Eetho Sunday - 31/Oct/2010

Submitted by Rev. Fr. John Samuel on 29/Oct/2010

Purification of Body, Mind and Spirit

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Another cycle in the ecclesiastical calendar (Church Calendar) is on its way to its completion and also for the beginning of a new year by the Koodhosh Eetho Sunday. The name is a combination of two Syriac words ' Kadheesho' and Eetho.

And henceforth, Kudhosh Eetho Sunday is the purification day of the whole church. Normally, if Oct 30th or 31st is a Sunday, it is celebrated as a Koodhosh Eetho Sunday or else, the first Sunday of November.

Here is the story of two pots, one broken and the other, perfect. A farmer used to bring water from the river to his farm land by carrying them on his shoulder, fixing them on both sides of a pole. One the way, the water in the broken bottle drops down and becomes half of it or very little by the time the he reaches the farm land. The broken pot always therefore, felt self-dejected and of course, a bit of jealousy to the other 'perfect pot' which does not waste a single drop of water carried by the farmer from the river to the farm land. Nevertheless, the farmer did not destroy and leave the broken bottle. One day the broken pot grievously told the farmer, 'Master, just leave me; I can never be a thing as you expect from me; I am a broken pot which can never be a useful thing for you'. The farmer smiled hearing this and said, 'My dearly beloved, look at the sides of the ways you passed through and then tell me what I must do with you'.

The broken pot looked at the side of the way which it was being carried. There was a festival of flowers bloomed into blossoms. The cause of that beautiful flowers was nothing other than the water drops that leaked out of the broken pots and to the most surprise, there were little flowers on the other side where the 'perfect pots' passed by.

We are all broken pots with all human emotions. We may not become perfect in everything. Our imperfections are also helpful for the welfare of our brothers. We can be purified as far as possible by our tears before the Lord. Let our imperfections help us to repent more and more and thereby more tears to enrich and blossom our neighbour's ways and our own as well.

But this does not mean that we have to me imperfect for being repentant always as mentioned in Romans Chapter 6. The flow of grace was abundant with deluge of sins. The more people went astray, the more was the flow of grace. Nonetheless, St. Paul warns not to sin more for more grace to be flown.

Spirituality is the affiliation to the Light. Light purifies and also makes everything obvious before eyes. Facing the True Light brings courage also. A horse may become violent seeing its shadow in front if it is turned against the sun. When it faces the sun the shadow is gone back and it becomes calm.

Therefore, face the sun. Jesus is otherwise known as the Sun of Righteousness also. Whoever approached him received a kind of bliss and motivation to move further, despising all their negative elements and throwing them backward. Never turn against the Light, but meditate on it. Peace, happiness and courage will follow you.

Purification happens in different ways. All the experiences in lives have their own meanings. A worm passes through several stages before it is turned into a butterfly. One thing is certain that the worm is all the time in a Samadhi while the process goes on, or otherwise it may not withstand for that purification process.

Absolute meditation to the True Light is a process of purification or vice versa and ultimately it reaches to the Samadhi. The Light remains in everybody and we may not have realised that. Realisation happens through concentration (meditation) and it will make ourselves refreshed. The light will make everything calm and cleansed. We must be able to wake up the sleeping Jesus in our boat who will make us clean and calm. (In Zen tradition, the same concept is mentioned as Sleeping Buddha!!!).

In fact, individual's spiritual actions affect the whole church and eventually, the whole creation itself. When we conceive about a church, it is not the one we use to see before all of us in the most congested form with worships on one end and struggles on the other. It is something different. In a broad outlook, the church involves the whole creation. Henceforth, our actions are in a way or other affecting it wholly. If an individual does a Karma (either Sakama or Akama), it does have its own positive reflections on the creation and vice versa. The church also teaches the same thing. If one individual repents, the whole church repents. If one is blessed, the whole church is blessed and also if one sanctifies himself, the whole church is sanctified.

Prayers,

Fr. John Samuel

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