Last July, as you may remember, Christians in the Indian state of Orissa were subjected to severe persecution. A 22 year old nun was burnt to death, an orphanage in Khuntpali village was burnt down by a mob, another nun was gang raped in Kandhamal, mobs attacked churches, torched vehicles, and destroyed the houses of Christians. Fr Thomas Chellen, director of the pastoral centre that was destroyed with a bomb, had a narrow escape after a Hindu mob nearly set him on fire. All together, more than 500 Christians were murdered, and thousands of others were injured.In an extraordinary development, a herd of elephants has travelled some 300Km to attack villages that were the worst persecutors of the Christians, leaving Christian homes untouched. See: Elephants attack in Orissa exactly one year after persecutions
19 comments:
I've always loved elephants.
By the way, Fr Tim, the elephants in your picture are of the African variety so if they are the ones who attacked the villages they've travelled considerably more than 300km.
Elephants, having considerably more sense than humans in such matters, would know a lot better than to get involved in sectarian killing. Anyway, the elephants in your picture are unmistakeably the African genus, Loxodonta africana.
Hindus' favourite god is an elephant, Ganesh, This may have a profound effect on their belief, if they see it as the Christian God avenging through the elephants.
Sorry about the wrong elephants - I should have remembered the distinction from "Look and Learn" (an educational magazine for children that we used to have at home.)
I see I'm too late to be the first to comment on your 'long haul' elephants! :-)
I was interested to see your reference to 'Look and Learn'. I had forgotten all about that very interesting magazine. We spent many a happy hour poring over it as children in our home too.
"For thus saith the Lord of hosts: After the glory he hath sent me to the nations that have robbed you: for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye"
Zac 2: 8 (Douay version)
(((Look and Learn)))
My dad, an autodidact, who had had little formal education used to buy me that (and later Eagle) for their instructional value. My mum used to buy us the Beano and Dandy on the QT.
Dear Father Tim
Ganesh is very popular in Erith too. The elephant headed god features big time along with incense behind the counter at the Post Office where I collect my Jobseekers Allowance.
I have said to my Sri Lankan friends there, that I think Christ is a much better looking God "Jam lucis orto sidere":-)
Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith, formerly Secretary for the Congregation for Divine Worship and now Archbishop of Colombo could build bridges for us here, and his prayers for Erith PO would be greatly appreciated.
Let us hope and pray that those who worship Ganesh will discover the God who became Man.
Our Lady of the Rosary pray for us!
The Japanese tortured and crucified Catholic Missionaries in 1597.
During the murder of Saint Gonzalo Garcia, someone in the crowd remarked, “Because they have killed him, Nagasaki will one day be destroyed.”
When the Americans were on their way to drop the A-bombs, one target, Kyoto, developed cloud cover. The next target was chosen.
THE NAGASAKI MARTYRS
http://www.safran-arts.com/42day/more/more4feb/0205naga.html
The heathens in India are lucky it’s just elephants.
*
S'OK - I've found a picture of Indian elephants now!
Dear Padre,
I am certain fault will be found in this picture also.
I am a member of PETA, People Eating Tasty Animals; I will take your new picture to our next meeting and see what the muchachos there have to say about it.
I thought everybody knew the way to tell an African elephant from an Indian one was the size and shape of its ears. That way if you get stepped on by one, you can tell everyone if it was African or Indian.
That should help bring the critters to swift justice.
With the assurance of my Holy Rosary prayers for all your good work in the vineyard of the Divine Master, I remain yours truly in Jesus and Mary Immaculate.
Feliz Navidad, Padre.
*
Vesper says:
...Ganesh is very popular in Erith too. The elephant headed god features big time along with incense behind the counter at the Post Office where I collect my Jobseekers Allowance....
So ..... if they displayed a Crucifix or garden-variety cross behind the counter, that would make the news and they'd all be fired? But any other religious symbol or statue is allowed as long as it is non-Christian?
Sheesh-Ganeesh!
Better send those Elephants to Mexico City.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8425269.stm
Fr Tim,
Thanks for the nice pictures of Elephas maximus. It is the distinctive two bumps on the forehead, the convex hump at the middle of the back, and the smaller ears that distinguish them from a safe distance. If you get closer, then you can see that Elephas has a single lip at the end of the trunk, and Loxodonta has two. You can also count the toenails, but that is inadvisable. Look and Learn was part of my youth too, but so were elephants, the African variety.
I hope that you and your parish have a blessed Christmas season.
Dear Mr. Becket,
There is a plan for Mexico City.
However, we are being hindered at the moment from implementing our plan.
Please add our intentions to your prayers that our Lady, the Dispenser of Divine Graces, allows us the graces necessary to implement our plan. It has been a work in progress for several years.
Send your prayers and tears to Heaven.We are the Church Militant, and would love to engage the enemies of God and His Christ in Mexico City, much the same as Hernan Cortez did.
I entrust this whole matter in the hands of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, “Mother of the Priest par excellence, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and through Him, of all Priests in whom she forms her Son”.
Santa María de Guadalupe Esperanza nuestra, salva nuestra patria y conserva nuestra Fe.
*
"Look and Learn"
It had a yellow front on it. It was a rather large magazine too, in comparison to the beano anyway.
Hindus won't let up, so Tigers will upset Vasant Panchami.
http://www.ucanews.com/2009/12/21/christmas-fair-attacked
What an amazing story. Now how did the elephants know which villages to stampede. Me thinks there is more here than just coincidence.
How do the ears of Indian and African elephants differ?
I thought this was a very interesting article.
Post a Comment