by Fr. John Samuel, London

Hoodhosh Eetho Sunday

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand”. John 10:26-29

Discerning the voice of the dearest ones..... It is a higher spiritual realm, easy to understand, but difficult to get into it. Think of a husband coming to his home very late night and knocks at the door. “Who is that?“, the voice was heard from inside. On all a sudden, the man recognized his wife’s voice without any introduction and the reply was also quite simple and quick, “It’s me”!!. Immediately she opened the door for him.

What an answer!! Despite the odd time, without any sort of introduction they could realize each other just with an utterance of a few words which did not have any introductions. This is inexplicable because this is an experience. Realizing the voice of the Lord with inner senses is similar to this.

There is another miracle in the world which has surprised me; discernment of a mother with her own child. The child cries for whatever he/she needs. He/she has only one response, crying. When it feels for sleeping, it cries; when it is hungry, it cries; when it is in demand for something, it cries. But the mother discerns his/her desires. How does that happen? It is the spiritual interlink of the mother and the child. The child blindly believes its mother and is completely dedicated her.

After Koodhosh Eetho Sunday, the church enters to the Hoodhosh eetho Sunday.

Hoodhosh denotes Dedication and Eetho means church.

Hoodhosh is therefore, the dedication of the church. Dedication of the church is observed after the purification of the church. Offerings are purified first, and then dedicated. This is a universal religious principle. In broad sense, this denotes to the dedication of the whole church itself. The purified church is dedicated as a pure offering to the Lord to prepare herself for partaking in the celebration of the Holy Nativity.

Absolute dedication takes us to absolute protection. Lord assures that no one can snatch His sheep out His Father’s hand. Although the flock are on the direction and discipline of the shepherd, only a few sheep recognise the voice of their shepherd. Once it is discerned, they feel comforted and relieved.

Ask the Perfect Guru to receive the dedicated body mind and soul. The Perfect Guru is the possibility in our inner-selves. We may have to set apart some time for searching the perfect Guru in you. He may be sleeping, unconscious or even dead. Wake Him up and be enlightened.

Discerning the voice of the Lord has another meaningful dimension. This is an absolute mingling with the Creator. We might have heard of people who mingle with the nature. Even some people have misunderstood that taking only the vegetarian food is the major evidence of being with nature (Do not forget that the spokesman of vegetarian food is Hitler!!). Realizing the inner self is the evidence of being with the nature and thereby discerning the ‘touch’ of the Creator.