June 2024

Dear Rev. Fathers, Religious and People of God,

        In this month of July, we celebrate the feast of St. Thomas, one of the apostles of Jesus. We should be proud that he preached the gospel in our land and in the 1st century and buried in San Thome. Aglimpse of St. Thomas' great love for his master is evident at the time when he was ready to accompany Jesus to the house where Lazarus had just died, though the other Apostles feared being stoned by the Jews in Judea. "Let us also go; that we may die with him" (Lk 11:16). The faith of St. Thomas was such that he was ever ready to die for his beloved master. According to the tradition, he was martyred on 3 July, in the year 72, at Little Mount (Chinna Malai) in Chennai. St. Thomas was declared the Apostle of India in the year 1972 by Pope Paul Vl.

      As we are privileged to receive our faith from him through the missionary activities of St. Thomas, now the responsibility is with us to  proclaim the good tidings of the gospel. As the Vatican Council in the document, Ad Gentes says that the Church by its nature is a missionary, Therefore, we who are his members should preach the Gospel far and wide of our area. Despite a lot of infrastructures with us, we have not preached the message of Jesus to everyone. Till today the last man at the comer of our area has not heard the message of Christ. It means that we have not done our duty and failed to fulfill the mandate.

       The best way to preach the Gospel is our life of edification and inspiration to fellow men and women. In the apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Nuntiandi n.41,Pope Paul VI says, "Modem man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses. As per the exhortation of the Pope, let us spread the message by our deeds and actions.

Thanking you and invoking God's blessings, I remain.

With God's Blessings

+L. Thomas Aquinas

Bishop of Coimbatore