EDITORIAL
S
anthome Mission wants to place on record our devotion to St. Thomas
the patron of MST, whose Dukhrana (memorial of martyrdom) falls on July
3. A beautiful reflection by Pope St. Gregory the Great in his homily is a
matter of pride to all sons and daughters of St. Thomas: “Thomas’ unbelief has
benefited our faith more than the belief of the other disciples; ... By his doubt
and by his touching the sacred wounds the apostle became a witness to the
truth of the resurrection. ... Seeing, he believed; looking at one who was true
man, he cried out that this was God, the God he could not see. (St. Gregory the
Great (d. 604 AD) (Hom. 26, 7-9).
A recent Hymn “These Things Did Thomas Count as Real” by Thomas H. Troeger
(1983) , brings alive the same thoughts on St Thomas in modern terms:
“His reasoned certainties denied
That one could live when one had died,
Until his fingers read like Braille
The marking of the spear and nail.”
St. Thomas was himself martyred by the spear and thereby embraced the
wounds of the Lord in his own body. Thus was fulfilled also his spontaneous
statement, “Let us go and die with him.” May the unique courage of St. Thomas
inspire and empower all missionaries.
This issue of Santhome Mission brings to you three stories of pioneering
endeavors of “the missionaries of St. Thomas”. Fr Abraham Ettackakunnel, one of
the founding fathers of MST, wanted to open mission fronts for MST in the North
East. His dream has come true 40 years after his demise. MST has opened a new
mission this year in Pakke-Kesang in the parish of Sagalee in Itanagar diocese
of Arunachalpradesh. Our cover story gives a glimpse of this new venture in
the article “Easter in the dawn-lit mountains” by Fr James Athikalam, the former
SANTHOME MISSION
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