Today is Maundy Thursday. There is an age old tradition among Syrian Catholics of Kerala to commemorate that first passover that the Israelites kept that our Lord eventually transformed into the most holy sacrifice of Mass.
Pesaha Appam and Pal along with hot cross buns - all prepared by me today.
There is much hanky pankying among these families today about the man made tradition that is definitely lesser than mass in reality but often the reverence and attention given to the home made 'pesaha appam ' and 'paal' surpasses the Eucharist! And here lies the problem. Syrian Catholic families have made an idol of the tradition and we know nothing good comes out of idolizing anything!
Since a man made tradition, that in original spirit was intended as a type of liturgical living to help families grow deeper in understanding of God's salvific work and build love for Eucharist, has become a cause for power struggle and stress in families. The lukewarm catholic husband in these homes suddenly want to take an upper hand in how the meal is prepared, instructing the wife that she should do everything from scratch, clean the kitchen before doing it etc. Imagine this from a man who would usually be watching youtube or netflix late into saturday night and sleeping in late on sunday making the whole family late for mass! Now suddenly he wants to dictate terms for the pesaha meal. The mother-in-law or father-in-law or even the all-knowing aunt or Uncle want to insist to the hapless daughter-in-law that their recipe for pesaha appam and paal is the original/ superior/just plain 'traditional' hence must be followed. In reality there are as many varitions in pesaha traditions as there are families in Kerala . An old lady in church was telling me just this morning that in her family, they only ever had the tradition of making the paal and that she had to look up youtube for the appam recipe (since parish priest had requested us all to bring an extra pesaha appam to church in the evening to share as a community).
Increasingly, the importance is on maintaining human tradition/customs rather than fostering deep faith. Families have succeeded in preserving pesaha appam and pal recipes across generations but alas, the same cant be said about the faith in the Eucharist! Many Catholics as practical atheists as Pope Benedict would say. For all the fuss and attachment to Pesaha tradition, faith has only declined massively among the syro malabar community as with other rites within the Catholic Church. Most couples contracept, even resort to the crime of abortion for unwanted pregnancies and live a very wordly money /power driven life. Many even go for daily mass but it simply doesn't affect them because they have trivialized and compromised the faith for too long. Things of the faith have lost their original purpose to become cultural activities.
Even when one looks through pesaha recipes online one can tell that the publisher of the recipe has only an emotional attachment to the tradition. One blogger i read even declared that she doesn't do the prayer part in her family anymore since she is not into religion. But she has vivid childhood memories of the strictness and severness of her grandpa at pesaha. Perhaps this strictness and severness around man made traditions has to go so young people can love God and the church. God's laws are not a burden but actually give us joy and freedom should we choose to follow them. But man made rules and regulations are always a burden that turn people away.
Dont get me wrong. I am a great liturgical living enthusiast and i try to come up with various ways to celebrate different saint days and other feasts in the church's liturgical calander. I find it really helps my children have interest and builds a lively faith in us all. Hence i'm all for Pesaha celebration, but in the right spirit which is to keep focus on the Catholic faith!
A great way to bring back the faith aspect in the pesaha tradition would be for families to be less high strung around the preparation of pesaha appam. Take its easy. Jesus was all for embracing all kinds of people. St Paul talks about different members of the one body of Christ have different talents/roles. So be open to different versions/variations. Also know that liturgy /mass is not a place to innovate. We have gotten it all reversed now a days. We think nothing of changing different aspects in the mass but family pesaham appam/pal recipe- nobody dare touch that !!
Lets focus more on getting to mass well prepared and in keeping your soul free of sin and growing in virtues such as meakness, gentleness, joy etc
Have a blessed Pesha where Christ like love takes root in your heart, mind, soul and will.
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