17 October, Palamaner: In the year we remember 800 years since Saint Francis passed to the Father, our fraternity gathered for its annual retreat at St. Luis Friary, the cradle of the Indian Franciscans, from 12 to 17 October. The preacher was a son of Saint Dominic, which recalled the friendship of the two founders. Fr. John Kusumalayam OP is a Dominican priest of the Indian Province of the Order of Preachers, a scholar and formator with a Doctorate in Moral Theology from the Catholic University of Leuven. He served as Prior Provincial of India from 2012 to 2016, and as Dean and Vice-Rector at St. Charles’ Seminary, Nagpur. He is the author of Human Rights: Individual or/and Group Rights? and has a wide preaching ministry among priests, religious and laity.
Fr. John opened with a simple question: “Why do you want to make this retreat?” After hearing our answers, he gave his own. We were there to celebrate our vocation with God. That is how the retreat unfolded. The Word of God shaped every meditation, reflection, homily and Eucharistic adoration. By one rough count, he quoted Scripture nearly 350 times, about 500 verses in all. Francis honoured even a scrap of parchment bearing God’s name, and he would have rejoiced. He wanted his friars to be soaked in the Word until it became not only something they read but something they are. Fr. John invited the brothers to enter the Bible, promising that God would enter with them, and many found their own stories meeting the story of God.
Along the way he left questions that lingered. Am I alive? Is my basket full? What happened to my first love? Who is Jesus for me? Am I a doer of the Word? Do I have the mind of Christ? Am I a person of joy? The retreat was made possible by many hands. Thanks are due to Br. Tommy TJ, Guardian, for organizing it, and to Br. Charles Bernard, vicar and novice master. The novices served quietly, and their care for rooms, meals, liturgy and every hidden task preached without words. We also thank Br. Bipin and Br. Felix Vijay for the food, Br. Andrew Thomas, bursar, for all the arrangements, and the retreatants and the whole community. Thanks go as well to Br. Xavier Durairaj, Minister Provincial, and the Provincial Administration, for their constant support.
At the end of his life Francis told his brothers, “Until now we have done nothing; let us begin anew.” Fr. John has done his part, and now it is our turn.
