Budapest (Agenzia Fides) - A Indian face and heart walk through the streets of Budapest. Tireless hands, eyes that scatter joy, lips ready to speak - at any time - of the name of Jesus: this is Fr. Benvin Sebastian Madassery, SVD of the Divine Word Missionaries, a native of Kerala (South India) and the first Indian missionary in Hungary. At the conclusion of the Year for Priests, Fr. Benvin tells Fides, of his experience as a priest and missionary in the Eastern European country. In Hungary, the Catholic Church is relaunching its pastoral activity after the dark years of Communism that have been unsuccessful in crushing the seed of faith in the hearts of the faithful. "Today, that seed is sprouting and bearing new fruit," Fr. Benvin said in an interview with Fides, speaking of a future full of hope. The priest, who today is also National Director of Pontifical Mission Societies in Hungary, goes around the country visiting churches, parishes, communities, and schools, finding in adults, youths and boys, "a great desire for faith, values, transcendence, which find their clear and definitive response in Jesus Christ."
It's the mission that walks, with an Indian face, among the green hills of Hungary. It 's the sign of the universality of the "missio ad gentes," which leads many priests from so-called "mission lands," to attend to places of ancient Christianity and revitalize the Gospel spirit, contributing to what has been called the "New Evangelization."
Fr. Benvin was born in Kerala and grew up in a Catholic family immersed in the Eastern rites and traditions of the "Christians of St. Thomas,” those of the Catholic Syro-Malabar community.
He was young, athletic, and keen on martial arts and at age 15 suffered a serious injury to his hand, which led him to leave those activities. "The long period in the hospital and the long period of inactivity - he says - generated in me some deeper questions: What is the purpose of my life? Why am I in the world? The answer was brilliant: to make the world better." The next question born in the heart of the young man was: "Yes, but how?". And the answer: "In becoming a priest."
Fr. Benvin continues: "Then the strong desire for the priesthood took hold of my heart. Nobody has been able to prevent the will of God in my life. So, after a long wait, in 1992, I crossed the threshold of the seminary and began my training, which led me to the priesthood in a congregation with a missionary charism."
"Today, after years, I can say like St. Paul, by the grace of God I am what I am. It is only His grace that keeps me in the missionary vocation," he says. "In 2003, the Lord opened a new page of my life and from there, I started my adventure in the land of Hungary. Today, I can say that the Lord has been good to me. I feel at home in Hungary. I really like the Hungarians, the Hungarian culture, the language. The only hard part is...that I have not yet gotten used to the stuffed cabbage." (PA) (Agenzia Fides 06/02/2010)
