Convention 2015 Welcome Message

My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,

Hearty welcome to the 9th Syro-Malankara Catholic Convention in North America. ‘Convention’ evokes in us strong feelings of family fellowship, ecclesial belongingness, joyous celebrations of our liturgy and prayers, marvelous display of talents and a lot of fun. Evidently the last convention provided us all these in abundance. I thank all of you who contributed to the fruitfulness of the last convention through your participation, support and sacrifice. Serious preparations are on for the 9th Syro-Malankara Catholic Convention, to be held from August 6 to 9, 2015, at a beautiful venue, namely, the National Conference Center in Leesburg, Virginia. The overarching theme that the Universal Church is reflecting on presently is ‘the Family’. Against the contemporary cultural challenges, especially against the family, we as Christians, have to reestablish the centrality of family for the human society and revive the traditional Christian family values for the integrity and redemption of our society. Hence our forthcoming triennial Malankara Family gathering shall delve deep into this theme from three angles, namely, family as the home of love, family as the school of faith and family as the source and sanctuary of life. This convention is hoped to provide us insights into and inspiration for bringing more warmth of love into our families, making them true nurseries of faith and sanctuaries where human life originates and is protected from its inception to its natural end. The Convention will be an occasion to joyfully celebrate these family values in our larger Malankara Family. I most earnestly entreat all our families to contribute to and be enriched by this Family Gathering through your full and active participation in it. May the Lord bless and reward you abundantly for being such faithful families in the Church which indeed is our extended family.