When Grace Rewrites the Script: A 42-Year Journey to the Feet of Peter

To be completely honest, Rome was never on my initial itinerary.

When talks began about the Jesus Youth International Conference celebrating our Ruby Jubilee and a decade since our pontifical recognition, my heart was hesitant. I didn’t feel that burning pull to pack my bags. But God often plants a whisper where our own desire ends.

Out of the blue, the vision to bring out Fourteen Lives, One Witness took root. Almost immediately, a daring, seemingly foolish thought crossed my mind: What if this book could reach the hands of the Holy Father? That single spark changed everything. Suddenly, a journey had a purpose.

Then, grace began to snowball. We envisioned the Malayalam translation. Soon after, Eddy Chettan reached out with Amazed by the Wind, a treasured anthology of magazine reflections that simply belonged on the world stage. Meanwhile, Joe Mathew—tireless animator and faithful brother on the Kairos Board—had been pouring his soul into gathering stories of young men and women whose vocations were sparked by Jesus Youth. That collection, too, had to be born. And as if to crown this divine momentum, Bishop Alex Vadakkumthala, our beloved Ecclesiastical Advisor, entrusted Kairos with his own manuscript.

What followed was nothing short of holy chaos. With the clock ticking down and just a handful of weary, faithful souls at Kairos, our days dissolved into a blur. Writing, relentless editing, cover concepts, page layouts, frantic calls to printers, scraping together finances, producing promo reels and posters, pricing… every waking minute demanded everything we had.

Just when the finish line appeared, everything seemed poised to crumble. The presses were overwhelmed. Deadlines frayed. By the hour our first delegation boarded their flights to Rome, only three titles were in hand. Then came the agonizing reality of airline weight limits—we could only ferry a handful of copies across the continents.

Yet, when we gathered in Rome under the banner of the GO Conference, every sleepless night melted away. Watching bishops stand before thousands in the auditorium to release these labours of love, my heart overflowed with quiet awe.

Still, one dream lingered like an unresolved prayer: the Papal Audience. I had asked Bishop Alex if he might personally present the volumes to Pope Francis. With his characteristic serenity, he gently replied, “Let us see.”

I was ready to leave it at that. But God’s plans are far more generous than our neat arrangements. At the eleventh hour, the message arrived: a tiny handful of us would be permitted to meet the Holy Father directly.

My heart stood still.
Bishop Alex stepped forward to present his own work; Dr Edward Edezhath offered his. And then, the room seemed to fall silent. It was my turn.

Standing face to face with the Vicar of Christ, the weight of decades suddenly rested on my shoulders. I held out Fourteen Lives, One Witness and Called, Formed, Sent. Looking directly into the eyes of the Pope, I spoke with a trembling, unvarnished honesty that could only come from the heart:
“Holy Father, I am from India. Please read at least one chapter from each of these books.”

It wasn’t rehearsed diplomacy. It was the simple, earnest offering of a servant who had carried these pages across oceans. Whatever happens next, I know that my mission is fulfilled.

Fourty-two years.
My mind flies back to 1984, to the small, fragile beginnings at a prayer group and then this movement that shaped my life, my soul, and my entire vocation. To look back along that winding road and realize that it led all the way to this sacred moment in the heart of the Church leaves me completely undone.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, my beloved Jesus Youth family. To every editor who burned the midnight oil, every friend who prayed us through the strain, and every companion who has walked beside me across these years—this moment belongs to all of us. I am endlessly, humbly indebted to you all.

Dr Chackochan Njavallil, Director, Kairos Media

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