Editor’s Note: The Simple Catholic Sunday Funnies This new weekly feature of wholesome and funny Catholic comics strips is presented by The Simple Catholic. Current contributors include Father Alvaro Comics, The Catholic Cartoonist, Sam Estrada and Fr. Michael DeBlanc.
You can follow Fr. Michael on Instagram: @patermichaeldeblanc and on Facebook Fr. Michael DeBlanc).
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I am a cradle Catholic. In my childhood, my parents would take me to Sunday Catechism classes. During my college years, I fell away from the Church. I think mainly because it was due to not having Catholic friends. Most of my friends were Hindu or Atheist. For about six years I was a nominal Catholic. In 2022, I came back to the Church. I went to some Latin Rite Masses when I was far away from my home. During Covid I was getting used to the online Masses, but eventually I stopped going. I met a woman who asked me if I was going to Mass. I had a powerful experience when I returned back to the Church. After about a month, I had a desire to go to Confession. There was only one Mass on Sundays and Confession was before it. The lines were long for Confession and by the time I got to the confessional, the priest told me that he was out of time and had to be ready for Mass.
In 2022, I found my first Catholic friend who referred me to another priest who had the time to administer the sacrament of Confession in October. He told me after my Confession, “Welcome home!”. That was the first time I felt back in the Church. In the months prior to my Confession, I was studying the Scriptures and attending the Mass.
Saint Thomas came to India 52 A.D. In the 15th century the Portuguese came to India and started missionaries. This is out when the Latin Church was first brought. We were under the guardianship of the bishops. When the Latin missionaries and bishops came there were some problems in the Indian church as they were following some Hindu. The Synod Diamper (1599 A.D.) gave the church more restrictions. There were a variety of reasons beyond religious for the synod, including political. A lot of the Syrian textbooks were burned, they Latinized the Mass, while keeping the Syrian language, they changed some elements.
Many people didn’t like this and protested the changes. During the synod no one opposed it due to fear of excommunication. But about 50 years later, protests started. “Coonan Cross Oath”. The protesters pledged to not be under Portuguese rule. They wanted a bishop from Rome, not a bishop from Portugal. After many years, a split happened in the church. Some stayed with the Latin bishop (the older faction) and those who opposed the Latin bishop (new faction). The new faction is no longer under the umbrella of the Catholic Church. Syro-Malabar Church was a name for the old faction.
The new faction wanted to be under a Syrian bishop and didn’t want to be Latinized. No bishops were coming, but eventually a Western Syrian bishop, from the Jacobites, came to India. What happened was that the new faction joined this Western Syrian bishop. Again a split happened in 1912. The new faction wanted to have self-governance not under a Jacobite bishop. Some people in the new faction said they would be under the Jacobite bishop and the others would be under the Indian Metropolitan. The Metran faction formed under the Indian Metropolitan. And the others under the Jacobite patriarch were known as the patriarch faction (eventually known as the Jacobite-Syrian Church). And the Metran faction became known as the Indian Orthodox Church.
In 1930, Rome accepted the request by the Indian Orthodox Church to be under their governance. One priest was the primary contact in this communication and he became the first bishop of the Malankara Church. His name was PT Geevarghese and became Mar Ivanios. My great-grandfather’s family was one of the first to join the Malankara Church. Also my grandfather was a personal assistant to Mar Ivanios near the end of his life.
There was a college started during Mar Ivanios’ tenure. My aunts and uncles attended this college along with my mom.
Initially it was all Syriac. Later, everything was in the vernacular. Now it is fully in Malayalam (it’s a newer language). About 20 percent of the liturgy is in Syriac. People are comfortable with Malayalam because they know the songs. They also like singing in Syriac.
Not really, we have a devotion to all the Catholic saints. Some of the popular saints are Saint George. Before the Synod, there were many Churches named after the Syriac saints, but after the synod many churches had their names changed to Roman saints.
These things I came to know about recently, the basics of the Western Church is the emphasis on reasoning and Scholasticism. Compared to that, the Eastern Catholic Church has more of a focus on mysticism. We called the Mass Quarbana. It has a meaning called “offering”. We also use the term Divine Liturgy. In the Malanakara Liturgy the first thing that happens is the offering. And it occurs behind the curtain. The priest will be offering the bread and wine. The first service is called Melcizdek and the second service is Aaron. He will incense the offering and after that we will start the Mass. Once the curtain is open the public life of Jesus is presented. We say a shorter version of the Creed. There is a short prayer (Trisagion). After the readings happen (Two Epistle and Gospel). There is no Psalm reading. The Old Testament reading is read at the beginning of the Liturgy before the preparatory service.
After the Liturgy of the Word, prayers from the priest are like a catechism (it’s like 10-15 minutes), followed by the Creed (we don’t use the filioque clause- because our church came from the Orthodox, and this was a compromise made with Rome), anaphora is next it’s where the service of offering happens. During the anaphora the Institution of the Eucharist happens.
Immediately after the anaphora we have the intercessory prayers. Then the Service of Fraction (meaning the Crucifixation of Jesus) and during this time the curtain is closed. After this, the curtain is open to symbolize the Resurrection of Jesus and we sing many songs (devoted to Mary, saints, faithful departed, priests). It’s more like a chain of songs.
After the songs the priest starts a procession for the congregation to Adore Jesus (this was a tradition started before the widespread use of Eucharistic Adoration Chapels). Then the faithful receive Communion. A similar procession happens after Communion. This procession is more of a thanksgiving. Closing prayers happen and the Divine Liturgy concludes.
Whenever I think about the Holy Mass inside one of the songs there is a line that is similar to this quote by Saint Maximilian Kolbe, “If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion” –-St. Maximilian Kolbe
The Divine Liturgy of the Malanakara Church is kind of like a minor scale whereas the Syro-Malabar and Latin Masses have more of a major chord and happy tone.
We don’t kneel during Sundays because we are celebrating the Resurrected Jesus.
Jibin Jose, Mechanical Design Engineer from Kerala, India, settled in UAE, Syro Malankrite.
Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Joan Watson via phone call on April 9th, 2025. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
I have been to Rome about ten times and lived there twice. I studied in my Junior year at Christendom College and a semester when I was a graduate student at Franciscan University. I had been drawn to one panel in particular, it was the Good Shepherd. This panel drew me into the rest of the door. Ave Maria Press reached out to me about doing a book on the Jubilee.
All of my writing and speaking focused on how the Bible should stay with us and change our life. I wanted a book of how the Jubilee can impact our life.
I wasn’t strictly a tour guide, I led a series of pilgrimages. These experiences helped me notice places in Rome where God could use them as conduits of grace. There’s so many things on pilgrimage He can use as doors to grace so why not the Holy Door. And I wanted this book to speak to all people, not just daily Massgoers, about how Scripture can be part of our life.
It was interesting to pray with all of them. Each panel spoke to me differently. Besides the Good Shepherd, probably the panel of the Good Father (in the Prodigal Son story) reminded me to focus on the Father.
Some of the panels are unique and some aren’t as unique, but they are still good reminders like the Prodigal Son to come home to the Father.
So that was one of the reasons I wrote the book. Everyone is called to celebrate the Jubilee whether they can go to Rome or not. The world gives us so many reasons to despair even within the Church so many are voices of doom and that the world is ending. Regardless of what the pope or the president or what the stock market does, Jesus is our Savior.
I think the theme that I wanted to bring out is that there’s nothing new under the sun. The Bible is active and not dead. Sometimes we think we have discovered something new or are in “unique times”. But the Scriptures speak to our time and what we need.
I love the quote (JPII- the door is Christ). The door is an outward manifestation of our life. This door is an expression that we are going to start again. That our pilgrimage is just beginning when we go through. What door do you need to open to Christ?
Outside the Jubilee Year the door is closed, what door have you closed to God? Maybe during this Jubilee Year do you need to tear down and open yourself up to Christ?
My website is joanwatson.faith. This can link to my YouTube channel and my other work.
“It is Christ who is the true ‘Holy Door’; it is he who makes it possible for us to enter the Father’s house and who introduces us into the intimacy of the divine life.”
– Pope St. John Paul II (6 January 2001)
Joan Watson is a Catholic speaker and author who loves to make Scripture, theology, liturgy, and history accessible and applicable. With degrees from Christendom College and Franciscan University of Steubenville, she has worked for the Church and various religious apostolates for almost 20 years. She is currently the Pilgrim Formation Manager at Verso Ministries. In addition to hosting two podcasts, she is the Associate Editor of Integrated Catholic Life, where she writes weekly. Propelled by Luke 12:48, she is passionate about helping others encounter Christ and enter into friendship with Him through the daily circumstances of life. Her first book, Opening the Holy Door: Hope-Filled Reflections from St. Peter’s Basilica is available from Ave Maria Press.
Hope you had a blessed Third Sunday of Easter!🙏✝️
Time for another Catholic Meme Monday.
That’s all I have this week. Stay tuned for next week’s Catholic Meme Monday. Receive updates straight to your email inbox by subscribing to The Simple Catholic blog.
P.S. If you prefer receiving quality Catholic humor in daily doses follow me on Instagram @thesimplecatholic.
Editor’s Note: The Simple Catholic Sunday Funnies This new weekly feature of wholesome and funny Catholic comics strips is presented by The Simple Catholic. Current contributors include Father Alvaro Comics, The Catholic Cartoonist, and Sam Estrada. Special shout-out to Fr. Michael DeBlanc for being our newest Catholic comic contributor!
Today we are featuring a comic from Father Michael DeBlanc:
You can follow Fr. Michael on Instagram: @patermichaeldeblanc and on Facebook Fr. Michael DeBlanc).
Find more from The Catholic Cartoonist today.
You can find the work of our other contributors at:
Before you leave here’s a couple comics I found on my meme-hunt I thought you might like!
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While the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah are the most obvious and biblically clear animal symbols for Jesus Christ, the pelican is an under-rated symbol that is rich in meaning and beauty. There are many birds used in Christian history to represent God: like the dove for the Holy Spirit and even the Mother Hen as an analogy to speak of Christ’s protection of his people in Luke 13:31-35.
Honestly, I had never heard about the pelican as a symbol of Jesus Christ until a few years ago. Since discovering this powerful symbol I have started to notice it more and more in various parishes where I have attended Mass over the years. I have seen etchings of this majestic bird on pillars at the cathedral in my city and have seen the pelican adorned on altars in a variety of ways.
I traveled to Italy during college and visited both Assisi and Rome. I wish I had known about the pelican symbol back then because I would have seen some beautiful portrayals of this symbol of Christ in those awesome churches. Before learning about its spiritual significance, the only time I really thought about pelicans was when looking up NBA scores and seeing the New Orleans Pelicans! It’s amazing how something can transform from mundane to meaningful once you understand its deeper significance.
Today, I wear a pelican brown scapular (I alternate it with my traditional style brown scapular every other day), and I received an awesome pelican t-shirt from Archangel Outfitters to celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi. These small reminders help keep this powerful symbol of Christ’s sacrifice close to my heart.
The image of the mother pelican feeding her baby pelicans is rooted in several ancient Roman legends that precede Christianity. One version is that in time of famine, the mother pelican wounded herself, striking her breast with her beak to feed her young with her blood. Another version was that the mother fed her dying young with her blood to revive them from death, but in turn lost her own life.
Given these traditions, one can easily understand how early Christians adapted it to symbolize our Lord, Jesus Christ. The pelican symbolizes Jesus our Redeemer who gave His life for our redemption and feeds us with His Body and Blood in the Eucharist. We were dead to sin and have found new life through the sacrifice of Christ.
While the pelican doesn’t appear directly in Scripture as a symbol for Christ, Jesus himself uses bird imagery to describe his protective love. In Luke 13:31-35, after Pharisees warn him about Herod’s death threats, Jesus laments over Jerusalem:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, yet you were not willing.”
This tender image of a mother bird gathering her young under wings for protection parallels the sacrificial nature of the pelican legend. Both emphasize Christ’s desire to protect, nourish, and save his people, even at great personal cost.
As Jesus told his disciples (and us), “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Saint Cyril of Alexandria echoed this when he wrote, “Christ came into this world in human flesh not to be served, but, as he himself said, to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
This tradition and others is found in the Physiologus, an early Christian work which appeared in the second century in Alexandria, Egypt. Written by an anonymous author, this text recorded legends of animals and gave each an allegorical interpretation.
The legend of the pelican is described: “The little pelicans strike their parents, and the parents, striking back, kill them. But on the third day the mother pelican strikes and opens her side and pours blood over her dead young. In this way they are revivified and made well. So Our Lord Jesus Christ says also through the prophet Isaiah: I have brought up children and exalted them, but they have despised me (Is 1:2). We struck God by serving the creature rather than the Creator. Therefore, He deigned to ascend the cross, and when His side was pierced, blood and water gushed forth unto our salvation and eternal life.”
This work was noted by numerous authors and was popular in the Middle Ages as a source for the symbols used in stone carvings and other artwork of that period.
The pelican symbol appears frequently in Renaissance literature. In 1312, Dante wrote in his “Paridiso” of Christ as “our Pelican who shed His blood in order to give eternal life to the children of men.” In 1606, John Lyly wrote in his “Euphues” of the “pelicane who stricketh blood out of its owne bodye to do others good.” Even Shakespeare referenced this symbolism in Hamlet: “to his good friend thus wide, I’ll open my arms and, like the kind, life-rendering pelican repast them with my blood.” In modern English this would translate as: “I’ll open my arms wide to his true friends, and like a mother pelican with her brood, I’ll even give my blood for them.”
The pelican has been part of our liturgical tradition for centuries. In his great Eucharistic hymn “Adoro te devote,” St. Thomas Aquinas directly addresses Christ as the “pie pelicane, Jesu Domine” (the pious pelican, Lord Jesus), asking him to “wash my filthiness and clean me with your blood.”
This Eucharistic connection is why we often see the pelican image on tabernacles, altar frontals, and other church furnishings. The image powerfully reminds us of Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, where He continues to feed us with His Body and Blood.
As Saint Pio of Pietrelcina said, “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass.” The Eucharist is not merely a symbol but the very life of Christ given to sustain us spiritually, just as the pelican in the legend sustains her young with her own blood.
Saint John Paul II reminded us that “Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love.” The image of the pelican helps us visualize this profound truth—Christ giving Himself completely for our salvation and nourishment.
Next time you’re in a church, especially an older one with traditional furnishings, look around carefully. You might spot a pelican carved on an altar, etched in a stained glass window, or painted on a tabernacle door. These images aren’t random decorations but powerful reminders of Christ’s sacrificial love.
In Catholic tradition, the pelican image on a tabernacle door symbolizes the “body of Christ” within. But more commonly, the pelican symbol is found at the top of the cross in late-medieval and Renaissance Crucifixion images, reinforcing the connection between Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and the nourishment we receive in the Eucharist.
The pelican serves as a beautiful reminder that Christ not only died for us but continues to feed us with His very life. As we receive the Eucharist, we can meditate on this ancient symbol and be thankful for the Lord who, like the pelican of legend, gives His very life to sustain His children.
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When darkness held dominion deep,
And stone stood guard o’er death’s repose,
A secret stirred where shadows steep;
The mighty paradox arose.
Not in the blare of trumpets loud,
But in the hush where mourners trod,
The graveclothes folded, death disavowed,
The greatest jest of the laughing God.
For what is this but worlds remade?
The Paschal mystery unfurled:
The debt of ancient Adam paid,
The hinge on which turns all the world.
They sought the dead among the living,
Found emptiness where death should reign;
A gardener stood, His presence giving
Proof that dying was not in vain.
This is no mere remembrance pale,
No dusty legend time erodes;
But present power that cannot fail,
The cornerstone of new abodes.
The Feast of feasts, Solemnity prime,
Where bread and wine bear witness true;
The sacrifice outside of time
Made manifest for me and you.
On Friday’s cross, from sin we’re freed,
In Sunday’s light, new life begins;
This twofold gift is all we need—
The Paschal victory that wins.
What madness this! What wild decree!
That God should die that man might live;
That eyes once blind are made to see
The glory heaven deigns to give.
The world spins on, both old and new,
As men seek rest in towers of stone;
But hearts find home in what is true:
The place where Christ makes all His own.
So stand amazed at break of day,
When death gives way to life’s increase;
The stone that blocked is rolled away,
And thunders forth the word of “Peace.”
In Eastertide, our joy extends
Beyond one day to fifty more;
The season starts; it never ends,
A feast that reaches shore to shore.
For we walk now in newness of life,
Adopted heirs and siblings all;
Beyond the tomb and mortal strife,
Responding to our Father’s call.
The first day of creation’s dawn
Shines brighter than the ancient sun;
The old world died; the new world born:
Heaven and history now are one.
© 2025 Matthew Chicoine