Gratitude in Fort
Cochin
I am reminded of
the line from the French writer, Marcel Ayme:
I, said the man, am
a Jew
As I walked up to
the offices at the Santa Cruz basilica, built initially in 1505, a very kind
young Priest wished me good morning.
I, said the man, am
a Jew
My sister and her
husband, who look after me well and have my welfare in their heart, live in
Miami. My sister, for clarification I said, is a devout catholic, so is her
husband, has been blessed with the power of prayers, escaping the tortures of
chemotherapy more than once and now free of her cancers.
She is blessed,
exclaimed the priest. I continued, in the style of a professor I am, I have
seen the power of prayers in the case of my sister. I would like to express
thanks for her cure,
You may do one of
many things, continued the baby faced priest.
You can do things
in your own tradition. But if you wish to do something in Catholic tradition,
as we are going through Lent, there are many possibilities: giving alms for the
poor, sacrifice foods and feed the poor or if you wish we can say a Mass.
Soon after she was
free of cancer, at that time I was living in Paris, and Ima Lea, organized
mass to be said for her at Montmartre in Paris and it was my pleasure to go
there with my sister and her husband as well as her daughter and her family on
another occasion.
I would like a Mass
to be said expressing gratitude of all of us for the life of my sister as well
as the kindness of her husband.
He takes out a
ledger and writes down
7 am 23 March
2015 Mass of Thanks for Jacqueline and
Joseph Simmons, Miami
If you wish, you
can be present.
So, this Jewish
professor brother of hers, who spent all of yesterday with some dedicated
people on preserving the Jewish heritage of Cochin and this region, will be
present at the Mass at 7 AM!
I will think
especially of my teachers among the North American Indians, who taught me,
Gratitude is a concept to bring you back into harmony. My good friend MC who
introduced me to Yoga, talked about Gratitude list, so does Dalai Lama from the
Buddhist philosophical canyons.
Cochin is an
appropriate place to be, on the morning of the Mass, where unlike elsewhere in
the world, Moslems and Christians and Hindus live in complete harmony.
I, said the man, am
a Jew
I, said Yehuda, am
Grateful
PS 7 am on Monday Morning
here in Cochin would be still Sunday evening in Miami and Cayman Islands
