In a powerful homily that challenged common assumptions about missionary success, a senior priest of the Mandalay Archdiocese declared that the Catholic Church in Chin State grew not because of eloquent preaching, but through faithful celebration of the Eucharist.

Rev. Fr. John Aye Kyaw, a former rector of St. Thomas Seminary, made the remarks on February 8 while presiding over Sunday Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Kalaymyo. The liturgy, concelebrated by six priests, drew approximately one thousand faithful.

Preaching on the Gospel call to be “salt of the earth and light of the world,” Fr. John posed a pointed historical question: Why did large numbers of Chin people embrace Catholicism even though Protestant missionaries had arrived nearly three decades before the Paris Foreign Missions Society?

His answer was direct. While acknowledging the eloquence of Protestant preachers and the language struggles of early Catholic missionaries, he argued that the decisive factor was not the sermon but the sacrament.

“You are not saved by the sermon; you are saved by the Eucharist,” Fr. John declared. He emphasized that salvation comes through participation in the Paschal Mystery made present in the Mass, where Christ is substantially present in His Body and Blood.

Citing Luke 22:19 and John 6:54, he described the Eucharist not as a devotional option but as “the Lord’s own mandate to the Church.” The missionary vitality of the Church in Chin State, he suggested, flowed from the missionaries’ unwavering commitment to celebrate Holy Mass, even amid linguistic limitations and material hardship.

Fr. John recalled his first arrival in Tedim in 1977 as a philosophate seminarian, when the Catholic population in Chin State was still small. Today, the Diocese of Kalay numbers more than 60,000 faithful—growth he described as a visible manifestation of divine grace rooted in the Eucharistic mystery.

His homily concluded by tying the Gospel images to contemporary witness. Authentic Christian witness, he said, arises from Eucharistic communion and expresses itself in charity, just as early missionaries shared their lives with the Chin people.

Fr. John, who has played a formative role in priestly education for the region—more than 30 priests ordained for Kalay Diocese trained under his leadership—was invited by Bishop Felix Lian Khen Thang of Kalay Diocese to serve as retreat preacher for the diocese’s clergy from February 8 to 12.

At the conclusion of Mass, Msgr. John Deng Cin Khup, the cathedral’s parish priest, formally introduced Fr. John to the congregation and expressed gratitude for his visit.

By RVA Tedim Chin Service