Dear St. James family members,
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatian 5:1
We are in the season of Great Lent. John McCarthy is a British journalist. He worked for a television news agency during the Lebanese civil war. In 1986, he tried to leave that country for security reasons. He was kidnapped at gunpoint by Islamic fundamentalists on his way to the airport to leave the country. After five years of hardship, he was released on August 8, 1991. An Italian diplomat named Giandomenico Picco risked his life to mediate negotiations for his release as a UN representative. Picco has repeatedly risked his life to save innocent hostages, and so he is known as a “disarmed soldier of diplomacy.” It was 20 years later that John McCarthy met this diplomat, Picco. McCarthy's words during his first meeting with Picco were very touching: “Thank you for my freedom.” Now, we are in a crisis where we have lost the clarity of the freedom we have achieved in our faith journey as God’s people. Lent is a time to remember and meditate on the freedom that Christ gave us through the cross. May God help us at this Lenten time to recognize the freedom we have been given and to grow in the conviction of freedom.
This is my final salutation as the vicar of St. James Mar Thoma Church in New York. I thank God for allowing me to live and serve with you as the Vicar of our St. James Mar Thoma Parish for the past three years with my family. We arrived here just after the limitations created by the COVID-19 crisis. So, before we reached here, we had the opportunity to participate online for a year in various services in our parish. I would like to express my gratitude to everyone in our parish who has served at various levels for the spiritual enrichment, witness, and growth of our parish during this period, especially the office bearers of the parish and organization, the executive committee. Also, thankful to our Metropolitan and Diocesan Episcopas.
I wish all the best and greetings to our new vicar, Rev. Sabu Issac and family, for their ministry here. Please provide support for their blessed and meaningful ministry. May their ministry with you be a blessing. As a family, we are grateful for the support and love you all extended to us. Thank you.
God bless us all.
Rev. Ajith Varghese and Family
