Foreword

Third Year Anniversary of the Enthronement of HH Ignatius Aphrem II as The Patriarch of Antioch & All The East and The Universal Syriac Orthodox Church

Enthroanment of HH Ignatius Aphrem II Patriach

"Jesus said to Simon Peter: Simon, Son of John, do you love me? Yes Lord, he said, you know that I love you. At which Jesus said: Feed my lambs, tend my sheep." For almost two thousand years, Jesus asked One hundred and twenty three men that same question and gave them the same mandate.

On May 29, 2014 His Eminence Karim Thirumeni heard the question: "Do you love me," and accepted the mandate to feed Christ's lambs and to tend His sheep.

His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, The Patriarch of Antioch & All the East and the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, has completed the 3rd year of the Patriarchal enthronement on 29 May 2017.

His Holiness is the 123rd Canonical Patriarch in the lineage of Patriarchs on the Apostolic throne of St. Peter. We extent our sincere good wishes to the Patriarch on this glorious occasion. We pray to God Almighty to shower HIS abundant blessings on our patriarch, during the years to come.

May God the Almighty be kind enough to keep our Moran in Good health & safe to rule and lead us wisely in the years to come, guide the Church and it's children in the right path - the path shown to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles and Disciples.

We thank God for giving us this most Noble Moran, who has always exhibited his class, character, ability, power of understanding and love to his children and wish our Holy Father a long life shepherding his children.

[Message adapted from SOCMNet]

Introduction to MWJ Special on Pentecost

The Pentecost is a very important feast of our church. While all the feasts of the church are important, the Annunciation, Incarnation and the Easter are three extra important feasts and then the Pentecost. After the ascension of Jesus to heaven, He kept his promise to send the Paraclete (Helper). On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down visibly on the Apostles (Acts 2:1-4). He gave them the power to speak in strange tongues to the crowds that came to Jerusalem for that Feast. Till then the disciples of Jesus were not quite ready to take the leadership challenges required to organize the Holy Church. The Holy Spirit gave them wisdom, interpreted the events in the life of Jesus that they witnessed during his public ministry and empowered them. He transformed them, from selfish and timid men into giants of courage and faith. They were not afraid to face the world and carry 'the cross' and die for Jesus. There was no looking back!

The arrival of the Holy Spirit marked the birthday of the church. Holy Spirit is with us ever since. The Holy Spirit converts the bread presented at the qurbano to the body of Christ and the wine to the blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit is present in us after our baptism.

Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 2:38)

The liturgy of the Pentecost in our church is beautiful. It is divided into three sections -

Section 1 is dedicated to God, the Father,
Section 2 is dedicated to Jesus Christ, the Son, and
Section 3 is dedicated to the Holy Spirit.

So, as we profess it in the Creed, the whole trinity is celebrated together and are worshipped and glorified during the service. We have presented some of the prayers used in the liturgy in this issue of the Malankara World Journal to give you a sense of the liturgy (The full liturgy is given in the Pentecostal Supplement in Malankara World.) I hope that you will take a look at these before attending the service and contemplate the mystery. Read it again after the church service to grasp the meaning of the service.

Due to the length of the issue, we have skipped the General Features. These will return next week.

Last Monday (May 29) was the third anniversary of the Enthronement of our Holy Father, His Holiness Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of the Antioch and All The East, and the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church. We pray to Almighty God to give long life and good health to our Moran and provide him the wisdom to carry on the difficult task of being the shepherd of our church in this difficult time when the very existence of our church in the Middle East is threatened.

Please pray for us.

Dr. Jacob Mathew
Malankara World