“We need to celebrate the Qurbana all the time,” shared by a staff member of the former Saint Joseph College Seminary in Chicago.

The former seminary was the long-time home for many of the seminarians of the Saint Thomas Eparchy of Chicago when the diocesan vocations program was first launched. Once a year, Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath, with the priests of the curia, would visit the minor seminary (which belonged to the Latin-Rite Archdiocese of Chicago) to celebrate the Holy Qurbana in English. It was truly an opportunity which best reflects the timeless words of Pope John Paul II, that the “church needs to breathe with her two lungs – both West and East” to truly experience the fullness of our faith life. It was an opportunity for our seminarians to celebrate the Holy Qurbana at their home seminary, and for the seminary community – the Rector, faculty, priests, staff, and the many American seminarians – to experience the truth, beauty, and richness of our liturgy.

After the celebration of the Holy Qurbana, one of the seminary staff members approached one of our Syro Malabar seminarians on what we all just celebrated. Our seminarian explained that the Holy Qurbana is the liturgy of the Syro Malabar Church, unique with its own theology, spirituality, and prayers. Immediately the staff member responded: “we need to celebrate the Holy Qurbana here, all the time.”

This is one of the forgotten lessons within our Church: the very treasure of the Holy Qurbana itself. And sadly, a segment of the faithful lost this sense of awe and joy after three decades of vicious disagreements.

2021 will be a historic year for the global Syro Malabar Church as we approach a new liturgical year this November with the uniform mode. While we may (unfortunately) experience more distress from a small minority of the faithful – we can confidently remember the fruits of the original 1999 synod decision.

Chicago proves to be the useful example

Even while Syro Malabar missions in the United States was established in the 1980s, the vast majority followed the uniform mode immediately after the synod’s original decision. That’s why many of my peers messaged me directly, because they didn’t have the historical context of the Holy Father’s July 3, 2021 letter to the entire church. Many simply asked “why did the Pope have to say this” or “what is this really about?”

And Pope Francis correctly assessed: “Notwithstanding some difficulties, which require ongoing discernment in the life of your vibrant Church, the approved norms for the Eucharistic celebration have borne considerable fruit including evangelization in those places, especially the missionary eparchies, where the whole community has joined in peaceful and prayerful observance, interpreting the continuing consensus of the hierarchy as a fruit of the Holy Spirit.” There is now a growing generation of Syro Malabar Catholics, especially within our growing migrant church, which don’t remember the liturgical crisis of the 1990s. While I’m not calling for us to forget our history, it truly shows that we’ve “outgrown” our old problems.

What’s now apparent now more than ever: the conflict and harm caused by the divisions of the past three decades didn’t produce any fruit. But the 1999 uniform mode allowed for a pathway for growth, spiritual harmony for our global Eastern Catholic Church. The uniform mode has proven to be an effective foundation for the Syro Malabar Church to truly grow in the most important component of our very identify: the common celebration of the Eucharist. The precious act of worship itself.

The 1999 generation represents the future of a more global, more vibrant 21st century Syro Malabar Catholic Church: a generation who lives, loves, and shares a sincere joy in celebrating our beautiful Qurbana.