Xavier Thelakkatt

          I was at a Thanksgiving party in the home of Janet and John. A few of their close neighbors were also invited. Among them I met Nancy, a bubbly middle aged woman. She engaged others in conversation well and was funny. I also noticed that she wore a wig. When the neighbors had left, Janet told me a bit about Nancy. She was apparently dying of terminal cancer and was on radiation therapy. She had work...

          Teresa was thinking of entering the convent to become a nun, but needed an extraordinary sign that God was really calling her to Religious life. It didn’t happen and years went by. Then one morning while praying at the grotto of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she heard a voice “My daughter, why do you delay?” She looked closely at the statue and Mother Mar...

          A seminarian attempted suicide by swallowing a handful of sleeping pills. The paramedics rushed him to the hospital and saved his life. It was surprising to me that suicide was so rampant in the university campus wherein the seminary was located. Among the student population of about thirteen thousand every year there would be at least one serious attempt. When the seminarian’s parents arrived th...

          He had been convicted for seven years in prison for sexually molesting his own niece, a girl of fourteen. Interestingly Marvin (not his real name) became very active at the Bible study sessions in the prison. He also completed a couple of correspondence courses on the Bible and was feeling a strong call to be a minister in his church when released. However, that thought sometimes tormented Marvin because he ...

          It was a suburb of Dublin and the three of us wandered through the posh golf course to walk into the Club House hoping to get a snack or sandwich. At the entrance we were gently reminded that we had to follow the club rules by wearing a suit and tie for the meal. It was an exclusive club and that made a lot of sense, so we had to look for snacks elsewhere. Such a club approach can creep into religious group...

          “How did you become a missionary?” I asked Reginald, in that remote village in Saskatchewan. His story was simple. As a teenager he was invited to proclaim a reading at his Confirmation, presided over by the Archbishop. He had read and re-read the passage beforehand; so much so, he read it at the mass with feeling. The Archbishop during his homily pointed to him and said, “You did tha...

           The cross on top of the church steeple was wobbly and one could see it shaking in the wind. It was more than a hundred feet above ground and needed immediate fixing. Ordinary lift buckets couldn’t reach it and those I consulted acknowledged their helplessness. As a last resort, I talked about it in the church from the pulpit and the miracle happened. One of the parishio...

             “Do you mean you heard a voice from heaven?” I inquired. “Yes, I did” He asserted. Apparently the beggar-woman holding a baby had just told Paul that she had absolutely no means to raise that baby. “Pick up that baby” the voice had said to him. That’s exactly what he did, taking that baby home. Today, he has thirty such orphans a...

           “That changed my life inside out” she said. Becky was talking about the trip she undertook for last Christmas. Her friends agreed that her lifestyle was different now. For Christmas she had decided to go to a village in Guatemala rather than celebrate it here with family and friends. The family tried to dissuade her, but she was determined. It was a hard choice. Thus she...

               The darkness in the early hours was deep. My thirteen-year-old brother had not returned home. In the afternoon he had left towards the neighborhood lakes with his fishing line. The lakes were deep and the night was dark; he was alone. There was reason for concern. My parents plunged themselves into a panic mode. Dad left with a flash light in hand and Mom made us kneel b...