Priest In Indian Clothes

[A Poem on Fr. Berchmans Kodackal, written by Jeffrey L. Jones, an American friend while he was visiting Kerala, India in December 2002]

There is a Catholic priest wearing Indian clothes

Bearing a smile wherever he goes.

He knows the ancient wisdom bold

Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim

And the Greatest Story Ever Told.

Fr. Berchmans comes from a small village where

Life is simple and people long to share.

A rooted family man he walks among us

Bringing the good news

Jesus has promised.

We met in America

Too many years ago,

To me he brought more

He awakened my soul.

He said, “Jeff, there are many ways to look at life

I come from a land of great trouble and strife.

I also come from a land one day you will see

A land filled with love and creation history!”

Now Jeff and Fr. Berchmans walk down a dusty Christmas Indian road

Talking of gurus, saints, and Gandhi

And the Greatest Story Ever Told.

“So Fr. Berchmans, Catholic priest in those strange Indian clothes

Come to us once again.

Show us the way to go

By way of your land

And walk with us down a dusty gospel road.”