Our New Wineskin

Introducing Fr. Savio Arokia, associate pastor of I.C.

07/05/2025

Matthew 9:14-17 The disciples of John approached Jesus and said, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast much, but your disciples do not fast?" Jesus answered them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one patches an old cloak with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for its fullness pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. People do not put new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise the skins burst, the wine spills out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, they pour new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved."

I want to tell you a little about Fr. Savio Arokia, the new wineskin who has arrived as our new associate pastor at I.C. Every priest is a wineskin that carries the new wine of the Gospel. First, and most importantly, he’s a dog person! I was  little worried when he came straight from India. In my home country they don’t treat dogs like family members.

But Fr. Savio told me he had a German Shepherd for 14 years named Rinto. And he warned me: “It is very hard on you when they die.” That is why he did not get another dog. In that way, Fr. Savio reminds me a lot of Fr. Daniel Velasco who had a German Shepherd named Lola for 13 years.

It was very hard on Fr. Daniel when she died because she was living here with us at the time. That was the first time I gave Fr. Daniel a hug – he really needed it. But I won’t need a hug because Apollo and I have made a deal that he will stay young and handsome forever.

Fr. Savio has worked in the United States before, in the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, from 2012 to 2024. So he is fully inculturated with baseball, apple pie, and oversized SUVs. But I noticed he has already found the Indian restaurants in town, cooked Indian food the last two days, and keeps the thermostat upstairs at 78 degrees. You can take the man out of India, but you cannot take India out of the man.

He said he comes from a traditional Catholic family, but that is an understatement. His parents – both deceased – had 8 children: 4 boys and 4 girls. Besides Fr. Savio, another brother is a priest, and one sister is a nun in the Bethlemite Religious Congregation. Fr. Savio was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Nellore (where Fr. Samy and Fr. Bala are from) back in 1983, which was before I was born.

Let me mention a few of the roles he has played as a priest for 42 years: pastor, director of communications and multi-media, youth minister, on the Human Rights Council of the state, on the diocesan Educational Committee, Director of Catechetics, Director of the retreat center, on the college of consultors for the bishop, rector of the boarding school, and the list goes on and on.

Most telling, though, for the past year while in India, he assisted the diocesan bishop as his secretary. That is perhaps Fr. Savio’s highest position because the bishop usually wants his best and brightest close to him. Notice how far away I am from the bishop in Fort Smith. That proximity to the bishop tells you a lot about Fr. Savio and about Fr. John. And incidentally, I am not complaining.

In just a few days after arriving Fr. Savio has already made a great first impression. People are pleased that his Indian accent is not too pronounced, and they can understand him. He said he likes to come to the office and be present to the people – not like your pastor who runs and hides from the people.

He asked to concelebrate the 4th of July Mass with me, even though he was not scheduled to be there. And most importantly, he spends time in personal prayer. If Fr. Savio has one weakness, it is that he does not speak Spanish. But that is no fault of his own; he has not had the opportunity to learn.

Perhaps he will pick up some Spanish in his time here. Spanish pairs well with Margaritas, I have learned. So, of the four English Masses we have every weekend, I will take two and Fr. Savio will take two. Please welcome Fr. Savio, our new priestly wineskin here at I.C. I am sure he will bring us more of the new wine of the gospel in his ministry.

Praised be Jesus Christ!