8.00 AM on Saturday, January 11, 2025 Matharpacady Village was blessed by a concelebrated Mass at Eymard Cottage, the Provincial HQ of the Blessed Sacrament Congregation (SSS). As Fr Peter Jayakanthan, Provincial Superior – Kristu Jyoti Province – India explained, this Mass was organized in Thanksgiving for the Diamond Jubilee specially for those residents of Matharpacady who weren’t in a position to attend the celebrations at the St Fancis Xavier Chapel in Colaba. Indeed, many of the ardent devotees of the Blessed Sacrament Community of Matharpacady are senior citizens well into their late seventies and eighties and it was definitely an enriching experience to attend a service where Rev. Fr. Jose Antonio (General Consultor) was the main celebrant and our old friend and one-time neighbour from Eymard Cottage Rev. Fr. Philip Benzy, now the Superior General of the Order delivered a thought provoking homily. More on that in a minute. The other co celebrants were Fr Peter Jayakanthan, Fr Jesu Augustine, SSS, Provinical Treasurer and Fr Martin SSS, in charge of the St Xavier’s Chapel in Colaba.
Why is this Diamond Priceless?
Protestant Christians pride themselves as a “people of the book”. And that’s wonderful because the Bible is the living, breathing, animated Word of God, the same Word Made Flesh.
We Catholics, are a people of The Sacrament. A Sacrament, put very, simply is a meeting, a conversation, a warm welcoming embrace of the Father in Jesus Christ where a physical, material sign provides comforting assurance and evidence that God has been in us, with us, around us, above us bearing the priceless gift of Grace. And possibly the most frequent, enduring, empowering, liberating, healing and enriching of the sacraments is the Blessed Sacrament. When the material host is consumed or the wine turned blood is sipped mystically we become empowered to do all the marvelous things that Christ did, if only our faith were as large as a grain of mustard seed. When we contemplate the Blessed Sacrament while pondering the Word in our Hearts as Mary did, it is the coming together of two manifestations of Jesus Christ in an incredibly powerful way.
In 1964 when the Eucharistic Congress was celebrated and the St Xavier’s Chapel at Colaba was allotted to the SSS Community to start the Blessed Sacrament Chapel no one dreamed that the Village of Matharpacady would one day see the establishment of their HQ: the Provincialate of the Kristu Jyoti Province. And, that we would gain a Blessed Sacrament Chapel where Jesus would himself become our most honoured and most important neighbour. In Matharpacady Village neighbours drop in on one another for a variety of reasons, volunteer help and services for celebrations like weddings, cooperate when organizing festivals and without hesitation rush to each other’s aid in times of crisis. Why would our neighbour Jesus be any different?
And Jesus is no ordinary neighbour. The Gospel of John 1:3 clearly cites Him as our creator and the creator of the entire Universe . And Ephesians 1:22 is categoric that God has put everything under His feet (and that too for our benefit). In that old, heritage, humble mud and stone built Eymard Cottage probably dating back two hundred or three hundred years resides the Creator of the World, our Brother, yet our King and you can bet that anything that we say to Him will find an answer. Isn’t that priceless?
Diamond in a priceless setting
Once upon a time Matharpacady was the habitation of fishermen. Like the apostles they went about their trade wearing loincloths or kashtis very much like the surkha worn at the recent paani celebrations in the village. They were Christians converted in the seventeenth century by priests brought by the Portuguese. Conversion changed their lives very little except that Jesuits brought literacy and some education along with a sense of faith. Then came the British with their vision to turn Bombay into a viable port. The demand for skills to support the port development brought farmers, toddy tappers, dairymen and people of various vocations to Matharpacady – all converts. Their meal ticket to prosperity was the little education they got from the fathers who brought them to the Christian faith qualifying them for employment. They came to Matharpacady as “Pilgrims of Hope’ from Utan, Vasai, Andheri and what are now, the suburbs of Mumbai. All Pilgrims in search of something. Hope of a better life!
To the Father and to the Good Shepherd every person is precious. Priceless. However humble their social setting. Within these sixty years the Holy Spirit led the Miranda family to present a home and the Word made Flesh came and dwelt among us.
Hope and Faith are not new to Matharpacady. The Holy Cross Oratory that completes 150 years this year, is evidence of faith and hope that sustained the Village through the Great Plague where the residents escaped unscathed.
That’s why the theme for the Church’s Jubilee Year beautifully expounded by Rev. Fr. Benzy resonates so powerfully with us. People who came from the four corners, touching each other in unity, striving for the Cross which in response leans towards them, the sheet anchor of faith.
Fr. Benzy the gifted preacher with the potential for great evangelism, whose teachings at many a Holy Hour in Eymard House uplifted and inspired all attendees, now called by the Lord to lead His Congregation to greater heights beyond the Diamond Jubilee Year! It was a delight to hear him speak. May that shining Host displayed in every shrine by the Kristu Jyoti Province draw millions to believe and be saved.
[ng gallery id=163]
