Knanaito
Sunday
by Dr. Babu Paul
The Sundays in Lent are noteworthy for the readings prescribed by the Antiochean fathers. We enter the
Lent recalling the miracle at Cana. The idea is to remind ourselves that we are a
colorless, odorless, insipid liquid, but Jesus can convert us into the best of wine. In the Sundays that follow we find a hierarchy. On
Garbo Sunday we remember the healing of the leper,
who is to keep away from society. Yet Jesus who had healed people without even seeing them, not to mention without touching them, extended his arm in a touching
gesture of empathy, without the slightest sign of condescension, and healed the leper. The
leper was not only healed, his self respect was restored.
The next Sunday, Msharyo, we find that the faith of the peers heals a man. The man may or may not have been party to the decision of those who brought him to Jesus. The Gospel does not speak about that; it speaks about the faith of those who brought him in as the motivating trigger. This is the next stage. The leper knew that he was sick, and that Jesus could cure him if He would choose to. The paralytic does not seem to know the possibility. He has to be carried by others who have faith, and who know of the compassion of Jesus. On Knanaito Sunday we find the mission extended to the gentiles. The Syro Phoenician woman became a “pest”, so to say. At first Jesus ignores her. Compelled to notice, he says that his mission is with the Jews. She however argues her way into the heart of the One who created all hearts and Jesus yields. The next Sunday, K-pipto Sunday, the situation tackled is like ours, people who frequently go to church without missing a Sunday but not seeing the Lord on any.
Then we come to Samiyo Sunday where the person born blind is made to see. The reading on Samiyo is the longest in the year, the whole of John 9. I once caught a priest who skipped portions and raced through the reading! If you do not do that, you will find a hierarchy of spiritual growth there also, this can easily correspond to the hierarchy from
GARBO to SAMIYO: man, prophet, one who came from God, Master, and Lord.
The neglected character of Knanaito Sunday is the dog. The Holy Spirit inspired me during the last Knanaito Sunday to take note of the dog. The dog is perhaps the oldest animal to be domesticated
(refer to Britannica for details). Man uses dogs for various purposes but the dog mentioned by Jesus and referred to by the woman is a pet dog like the small dogs we keep inside
our homes. The word is KUNARIA. Dog is chosen by the master. It is possible though rare that a dog chooses a master, but the continuance of the relationship even there is with the master. If I am my Lord’s kunaria it is because He has chosen me. A dog is the best among domesticated animals. It can be trained. The famous Pavlovian experiment proved that a dog can be conditioned to respond. As my Lord’s kunaria am I trained and conditioned in his ways? A dog is loyal, obedient, and grateful. It has a personal relationship with its master. The dog kept by the teashopwala
(people who runs tea shops) at the Devaswam Board Junction sees the glory of
the Cliff House (a state government bungalow) every day. Yet it would not want to move to
the Cliff House without the teashopwala. If the Chief Minister tries to intrude into the life and property of the teashopwala the dog would chase the CM out. As my Lord’s kunaria am I loyal to him in all circumstances? Am I obedient to him at all cost? Am I grateful? A dog is the epitome of gratitude. Even if the master punishes it, it still wags its tail. As the Lord’s kunaria do we feel and show gratitude?
Adapted post facto from a sermon preached by
Dr. Babu Paul, Bar Eto Briro at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Trivandrum.
