The first Seminarians.

His Grace Geevarghese Mar Ivanios Thirumeni of blessed memory shares the spiritual lessons learnt from the journey of the ‘first seminarians’-the holy Apostles. Excerpts below:

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The world’s first theological seminary was the place where the disciples received the doctrinal and spiritual instructions. The Lord Himself was their Teacher in the subject of theology. The below Scripture verses are from the notes of the last lecture that they attended to in the ‘classroom’.

“Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”  When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marvelled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.” (St Luke 24: 36-43; NKJV)

Even after completing their ‘theological studies’ over the course of three and half years, the disciples still battled with doubts, disagreements and faithlessness.

Simon Peter was the leader of the disciple band; in the present-day seminary terms, he was selected as the ‘Reesh’ (leader) of this group.

The attributes of Simon Peter’s personality are reflective of the disposition of the entire disciple community. In a nutshell, he was an impulsive individual. There are many passages in the Holy Scripture that reveal this aspect of Simon Peter’s persona.

When Simon Peter saw that the Lord was walking over the waters, he too felt an urge to do the same (ref -St Matthew 14:22-33). The Lord called him- ‘Come’. Simon Peter got off the boat, looked onto the Lord, kept his foot on the waters and started walking. Suddenly the wind started blowing. Simon Peter got scared and started drowning. The Lord gave him a helping hand and safely took him ashore.

We need to pay attention to an important fact when we read about this incident. As soon as Simon Peter took his gaze off from the Lord, he started sinking in the waters! It isn’t the only lesson that we learn from this episode. These verses caution us of our desire to become Christ-like hastily, without putting any effort. In today’s times, everyone wants to quickly reach a stage when they can perform miracles. One nurtures a desire to be ‘the one’ who can walk on waters and be the object of awe of the mesmerized onlookers on the dry land. This thought of being ‘the one’- wherein we exaggerate our worth and wish to become the entity of reverence for others – this very thought is harmful for the spiritual life.

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Let us pray- O Lord, You who called the holy Apostles- ordinary men for a divine mission, transforming them- patiently and lovingly, in Your abundant mercy, transform and illumine our hardened hearts.

By the prayers and intercessions of the holy Apostles, may the Lord have mercy upon us and help us!

Wishing all a blessed Apostles Fast.

In Christ,

Rincy John

Reference: ‘Maunathinte Laavanyam’ (The Beauty of Silence); Chapter-2 ‘Gyanathinte Aathmaavu (‘The Spirit of Wisdom’), Baselian Books, Sixth Edition-Oct 2014 Pg-25, 26)