Dear Friends,

As Christmas is approaching it would be a good idea to reflect over it for while, much more now, that we have been caught so dreadfully in the circle of violence.  The Christmas message  has always been identified with peace, harmony and human solidarity.  Whatever religious persuasions we may come from, the pursuit of human solidarity and of brotherhood (and sisterhood) is something that everyone owns as one’s own.  This may be a very good indicator for all good thinking people that our differences whatever their type  are superficial because beyond these functional  appearances, we all truly converge.

Being a Christian, I take the liberty of stating that the message of Jesus is and aims at only this: to understand and accept that God is our Father and that we are all His children, following of course into the obvious that we need to love, forgive, understand  and embrace each other as God’s children! The existential reality of the difference of belief and practices are the exterior aspects of understanding that message, whereas the core, that is called faith surpasses those external differences! And lo! Humanity is so much One family!

That however does not change the fact that we will differ, we will even fight to state that what “I” have or what “I” do is better than yours, much like everyone argues that one’s “Mother” is the best (which truly is), but one does not have to strike another on that issue!

I am writing this because the tragedy of Mumbai attacks has  left me completely revulsed. It becomes incumbent   on us to shield our children both from being traumatized with violence as also, comfortable with the same as a way of life or as a solution to our problem.  We need to understand that violence of any kind  is born in our minds, and there is nothing that the mind cannot overcome.  No one can take a stand that  what he/she  believes, compels him  or her to harm, main or kill another, because there is nothing that I believe which I cannot change.  Further and even more forcefully, beliefs and practices have to match our faith that cannot be sectarian, hateful and unforgiving! And if there is any one who thinks that his or her faith permits him or her to be sectarian, he is far from it.  So, the truth that terrorism does not faith is indeed so.

It would be interesting to discover that  however strong  our beliefs are,  faith  takes us to a much higher level, where beliefs  converge to a much higher reality of the divine, of the purer,  of the  eternal  level.

Wishing each one of you a wonderful Christmas Joy that will spring in your life Love, Peace and Forgiveness today, and each day of the New Year.  Happy New Year 2009.  May it be for all of us a source of Joy and God’s blessings!

Fr. J.A.Carvalho