One day, His Excellency, Arch-bishop Joseph Parecattil of
Ernakulam-Angamali Diocese (later His Grace, Arch-bishop Joseph Cardinal
Parecattil) came for a visit to our parish church. He arrived in a fancy boat.
Jacob and I were very scared to go near him because of the regal costume and
the pompous cap that he wore. The crook he held and the diamond ring on his
ring finger added to his might and power. He headed to the altar of the church flanked by a few priests in high-born
costumes. The buzz of conversation lessened perceptibly as the Bishop entered; but I
gazed the excitement on the faces of people.
I was astounded to learn that bishops lived in massive palaces and had sumptuous,
luxurious habits and costumes. I recalled what ‘Ammachi’ told us, children, about God Almighty. “He loved humanity
and therefore he sent his son to the earth to redeem them from their sins and
other blemishes. He was born in a cattle shed. He moved among the poor as an
ordinary man. He was a symbol of humility.” I was taken aback on seeing this
bishop in front of me, a totally different image of what was told to us. What a
contradiction!! Are the priests, bishops and the hierarchy different from their
Master and Mentor, Jesus Christ? Religion
saps the material wealth of the laity and discourages their independent
thinking.
The stories narrated in the Old Testament are borrowed from Egyptian,
Babylonian, Persian, Indus-valley, Chinese and other civilizations. So also the
fables narrated in the New Testament are highly exaggerated, fabricated and
there are a lot of contradictions in it. Christianity has adopted various
doctrines, rituals, customs and followed practices from other religions like
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam, Taoism
and Mithraism.
Christianity adopted monotheism, heaven, hell and sacrifice from
Zoroastrianism. Christianity accepted from Judaism stories from other
civilizations which were included in Hebrew book, Divine Thora with suitable
changes and followed some of the doctrines of Zoroastrianism which were
followed by Jews. Christianity adopted the trinity in God, (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva
or Maheswaran corresponding to Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and the doctrines
of heaven, hell and incarnation, meditation – Yoga from Hinduism. Christianity
adopted rosary, confession, meditation - Yoga and Zen, asceticism and the three
vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, and the reddle cloth from Buddhism.
Christianity adopted rosary, meditation - Yoga from Jainism. Christianity
adopted meditation-Tao – chi from Taoism. Christianity accepted the doctrine of
one God from Sikhism and Islam. Christianity followed the teachings, beliefs
and practices and adopted the Holy Mass, Sunday worship, Mother-God, which was
transformed into Virgin Mary, the major festival of Mother-God in Mithraism celebrated
on December 23rd to 25th was converted into Christmas. Mithraism
ultimately merged with Christianity. Christianity also adopted from Paganism
the idol worship - grottos and saints, and realized it is a money-minting
business.
The accumulation of wealth and worldly power offered a temptation for
the clergy to neglect their spiritual duties and become engrossed in worldly
pursuits. The spiritual power is only a means to attain temporal powers of the
world. Neither a religion nor a political party could hold people or a nation
together for a long time. To think otherwise is an utopian dream. The priests
and bishops do not believe in equality. They prefer dining separately in their
private premises or palaces to dining with their laity even for a marriage or
other important events.
The
parish priest persuaded us and the other children to meet the bishop. He asked
us, “What our ambitions were?” After Jacob said he wanted to become a bishop.
It was my turn to answer; I replied that I wanted to become the President of
India. He advised us to work hard to attain our goals in life.
After
the evening tea, we broached our meeting
with His Excellency to ‘Ammachi’. She
advised us, “Whatever be your job, occupation or profession you should work
hard with devotion and dedication to excel in it. Your endeavour should be to
become a useful member of the world.” These sublime words of wisdom chanted out
to us by our mother made us what we are now. Years later, Jacob became a Marine
Chief Engineer; now superintendenting the building of warships in France and I
became a lawyer practicing in the High Court of Kerala at Cochin.
Excerpts from
MEMOIRS
An autobiography
by
Joseph J. Thayamkeril
Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.
josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com
josephjthayamkeril@google.com
josephjthayamkeril@gmail.com
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