New - His Lordship Maxwell Silvacolomboarchdiocesancatholicpress.com/archive/2017-08-13... · 2017....

Rev. Fr. Rohan Dominic CMFParish: Sillalai, Jaffna.Presently: Claretian rep-resentative to the United Nations, New York.

SILVER JUBILARIAN

MARISTS GOLDEN JUBILARIANS

Rev. Bro.Charles Fernando Rev. Bro. Noel Fonseka Rev. Bro. Ephrem ObrisParish: Bolawatte.Presently: Staff member St. Patrick’s College, Jaffna.

Parish: Burulapitiya.Presently: Principal, St. Jo-seph’s College, Nugegoda.

Parish: Waikkala.Presently: Marist Brothers Farm, Tudella.

His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Maxwell Silva, Auxilia-ry Bishop of Colombo

presided at the special Prayer Service with Benediction for students sitting the Advanced Level Examination, this year,

held at the National Basilica of Our Lady of Lanka at Tewatte, Ragama on August 5. Over 3000 students representing the many dean-eries of the Archdiocese of Colombo participated in this

prayer service, which was or-ganised by the Archdiocesan Faith Animation Team. Addressing the chil-dren, His Lordship advised them to face the examination with confidence, utilising all

the knowledge they had gathered during their entire school career. He reminded them that it was very impor-tant for them to get the

Pg.2Contd.

THE ASSUMPTION OF MOTHER MARY

August 15“ R E G I S T E R E D I N T H E D E PA RT M E N T O F P O S T S O F S R I L A N K A” U N D E R N O. Q D / 1 2 8 / N E W S / 2 0 1 7

Sunday, August 13, 2017 Vol 148 No 31 20 Pages Rs: 30.00 Registered as a newspaper

THE CATHOLIC WEEKLY OF SRI LANKA

“A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind” (1 Kings 19,11)

‘A/L - decisive factor for the future’ - His Lordship Maxwell Silva

◗ Special Prayer Service for A/L students at Tewatte

T. Sunil Fernando & Roshan Pradeep

Religious leaders pray for peace

TOKYO - Religious lead-ers have met in Japan to pray for peace in the world and as a response to Pope Francis asking them to foster dialogue, friendship and peace. Representatives of Buddhism, Shintoism, Christianity, Islam, Juda-ism, Hinduism and Zoro-astrianism came together in Japan at an inter-faith “Interreligious Gathering of Prayer for World Peace” held from August 3 to 4. This gathering has been held annually every August 4 to commemorate a “Religious Summit” held on Mount Hiei in 1987. About 2,000 people, in-cluding 24 delegates from 18 countries, attended the event to mark the 30th an-niversary of the first sum-mit. The religious summit was held in the temple city of Kyoto and at Mount Hiei, the most significant

holy place for the Japanese Buddhist denomination Tendai. Pope Francis sent a letter to Koei Morikawa, the present supreme priest of Tendai, to be read at the annual Interreligious Gath-ering of Prayer for World Peace. In his letter to this year’s event in Japan, Pope Francis asked participants to work and pray to foster dialogue, friendship and peace. In turn, it has been said that this Buddhist event had inherited the spirit of Pope John Paul’s landmark 1986 inter-faith ‘World Day of Prayer for Peace’ in Assisi, Italy. Bishop Miguel An-gel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Vatican-based Pon-tifical Council for Interre-ligious Dialogue, spoke as one of seven panelists at a symposium on terrorism and religion.

Archbishop Maroun Elias Nimeh Lahham, Patriarchal Vicar to Jordan of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, raising the statue of St. Anne in veneration at the feast in Talawila, last Sunday. Also in the picture are Their Lordships Rt. Rev. Dr. Christian Noel Emmanuel, Bishop of Trincomalee and Rt. Rev. Dr. Devsritha Valence Mendis, Bishop of Chilaw. (Pic: Roshan Pradeep) Pg.2Contd.

TALAWILA CELEBRATES

FEAST OF ST. ANNE

2 The Messenger August 13, 2017

“After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake” (1 Kings 19,11)

St. Anthony's Church, Hiripitiya in the Kurunegala Di-ocese celebrated its annual feast recently, with Holy Mass celebrated by Very Rev. Fr. Austin Marcus Fernan-do, Vicar General Kurunegala Diocese. Anton Hapuarachchi

St. Anne's Wattala,Vespers ServiceRev. Fr. Camillus Fernan-do, Editor, Gnanartha Pradeepaya, officiated at the Vespers Service at St. Anne's Church, Wattala in celebra-tion of the feast of the Church, last Sunday. In the picture are Rev. Fr. Sanjeewa Mendis, Parish Priest, Wattala, Rev. Fr. Mar-lon Mendis and Rev. Fr. Jude Algama.

T. Sunil Fernando & Roshan Pradeep

Borelessa celebrates St. Anne's FeastRev. Fr. Chandana of the Chilaw Diocese raises in veneration the statue of St. Anne, at the annual feast of St. Anne's Church, Borelessa.

Tesma Rose Perera

Corpus Christi at Enderamulla ParishSt.Sebastian's Church, En-deramulla celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi recently. Picture shows the Chief Celebrant Rev. Fr. Ranjan Silva blessing the people with the Eu-charistic Lord. Also in the picture is Rev. Fr. Ruben Leslie Silva, Parish Priest, Enderamulla.

Nirosha Chamari

Kandana celebrates Corpus Christi

St. Sebastian's Shrine, Kandana celebrated Corpus Christi with Rev. Fr. Indika Joseph officiating at Holy Mass. Picture shows the Eucharistic procession in progress.

Shyama Withana

Church Feast at DungalpitiyaRev. Fr. Amila Wickrama, Bursar, St. Aloysius' Minor Seminary, Borella was the Chief Celebrant at the Festive Holy Mass celebrated at St. Mary Magdalene Church, Dungalpitiya. Picture shows Fr. Amila being welcomed by Rev. Fr. Bernard Nishan Wilathgamuwa, Parish Priest and Rev. Fr. Anton Nuwan Tharaka.

E.A.D. Stanley

Pamunugama Parish celebrated the 149th feast of the Precious Blood of Jesus, with Festive Holy Mass of-ficiated by His Lord-ship Rt. Rev. Dr. Har-old Anthony Perera, Bishop of Kurunega-la, as the Chief Cele-brant. Concelebrating at the Mass were Rev. Fr. Francis Jayakody, Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Rohitha Rodrigo, Principal St. Jude's College, Negombo and Rev.Fr. Anthony Tirimanne (TOR).

Benjamin Kirihetti

Pamunugama celebrates 149th Church Feast

Annual Feast of St. Anthony's Church, Hiripitiya

Art and Handicraft Exhibition at Pilapitiya

A children's Art and Handicraft Exhibition was held re-cently at the Convent of Mary Immaculate, Pilapitiya in Kelaniya. The Chief Guest on the occasion was Rev. Sr. Pi-ettra from Italy and Catholic Journalist Dickson Antony. The exhibition was organised by the Sisters of the Convent under the guidance of Rev. Mother Supe-rior Amantha Senanayaka. Picture shows a dance item performed by the students. Anton Jayamanna

New Mahanayaka of the Amarapura Nikaya A religious ceremony to present the Mah-anayaka Scroll to the new Mahanayaka of the Amarapura Nikaya, Most Ven. Kotugoda Dhamma-wasa Thera was held at Independence Square, Colombo last Wednesday. During the ceremony, President Maithripala Sirisena presented the San-naspathra (Scroll) to the new Maha Naya-

ka Thera and Prime Minister Ranil Wick-remesinghe present-ed the Vijinipatha (traditional fan) to the Thera. Present on the occasion were, Archbishop of Co-lombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and Arch-bishop Emeritus, His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis.

T. Sunil Fernando

Contd. from Pg. 1

A/L - decisive...blessings of the Most High be-fore sitting the A/L examina-tion, as it was the one exam that will decide their future and it was important that they do their very best. Imparting his bless-ing on all the children in the

Archdiocese sitting the exam this year, His Lordship ob-served that the divine blessing they receive today is of utmost importance and will also help them face any examination they would face at University level in the future. His Lordship and priests laid their hands on all children and prayed for them in-dividually after the Benediction.

Contd. from Pg. 1

Religious Leaders...Archbishop Mitsuaki Takami, President of the Catholic Bish-ops’ Conference of Japan, strong-ly appealed for the abolition of nuclear weapons as a way to foster peace. The Archbishop’s mother survived the August 9, 1945 bombing of Nagasaki, when he had been in her womb.

Earlier, while marking the 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb-ings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Pope Francis in 2015 repeated the Catholic Church’s call for a ban on nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction. “This tragic event still gives rise to horror and revul-sion,” the pope had said adding that the sad anniversary “is a call to pray and work for peace,

to spread throughout the world an ethic of brotherhood and a climate of serene coexistence among peoples.” UCAN

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August 13, 2017

EDITORIAL

SINCE FEBRUARY 1869

“After the earthquake there was fi re, but the LORD was not in the fi re” (1 Kings 19,12)

To Her Excellency Elayne Whyte GómezPresident of the United Nations Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrumentto Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading Towards their Total Elimination

I extend cordial greetings to you, Madam President and to all the representatives of the various nations and international or-ganisations and of civil society participat-ing in this Conference. I wish to encourage you to work with determination in order to promote the conditions necessary for a world without nuclear weapons. On September 25, 2015, before the General Assembly of the United Nations, I emphasized what the Preamble and first Article of the United Nations' Charter indi-cate as the foundations of the international juridical framework: peace, the pacific so-lution of disputes and the development of friendly relations between nations. An eth-ics and a law based on the threat of mutual destruction – and possibly the destruction of all mankind – are contradictory to the very spirit of the United Nations. We must therefore commit ourselves to a world without nuclear weapons, by fully imple-menting the Non-Proliferation Treaty, both in letter and spirit (cf.Address to the General Assembly of the United Nations, September 25, 2015). But why give ourselves this de-manding and forward-looking goal in the present international context characterised by an unstable climate of conflict, which is both cause and indication of the difficulties encountered in advancing and strengthen-ing the process of nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation? If we take into consideration the principal threats to peace and security with their many dimensions in this multipolar world of the twenty-first century as, for ex-ample, terrorism, asymmetrical conflicts, cybersecurity, environmental problems, poverty, not a few doubts arise regarding the inadequacy of nuclear deterrence as an effective response to such challenges. These concerns are even greater when we consid-er the catastrophic humanitarian and envi-ronmental consequences that would follow from any use of nuclear weapons, with dev-astating, indiscriminate and uncontainable effects, over time and space. Similar cause for concern arises when examining the waste of resources spent on nuclear issues for military purposes, which could instead be used for worthy priorities like the pro-motion of peace and integral human devel-opment, as well as the fight against poverty, and the implementation of the 2030 Agen-da for Sustainable Development. We need also to ask ourselves how sustainable is a stability based on fear, when it actually increases fear and undermines relationships of trust between peoples. International peace and stability cannot be based on a false sense of security, on the threat of mutual destruction or to-tal annihilation, or on simply maintaining a balance of power. Peace must be built on justice, on integral human development, on respect for fundamental human rights, on the protection of creation, on the participa-tion of all in public life, on trust between peoples, on the support of peaceful insti-

tutions, on access to education and health, on dialogue and solidarity. From this per-spective, we need to go beyond nuclear deterrence: the international community is called upon to adopt forward-looking strategies to promote the goal of peace and stability and to avoid short-sighted ap-proaches to the problems surrounding na-tional and international security. In this context, the ultimate goal of the total elimination of nuclear weap-ons becomes both a challenge and a moral and humanitarian imperative. A concrete approach should promote a reflection on an ethics of peace and multilateral and cooperative security that goes beyond the fear and isolationism that prevail in many debates today. Achieving a world without nuclear weapons involves a long-term pro-cess, based on the awareness that “every-thing is connected” within the perspective of an integral ecology (cf. Laudato Si’, 117, 138). The common destiny of mankind de-mands the pragmatic strengthening of dia-logue and the building and consolidating of mechanisms of trust and cooperation, ca-pable of creating the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons. Growing interdependence and glo-balization mean that any response to the threat of nuclear weapons should be collec-tive and concerted, based on mutual trust. This trust can be built only through dia-logue that is truly directed to the common good and not to the protection of veiled or particular interests; such dialogue, as far as possible, should include all: nuclear states, countries which do not possess nuclear weapons, the military and private sectors, religious communities, civil societies, and international organisations. And in this en-deavour we must avoid those forms of mu-tual recrimination and polarization which hinder dialogue rather than encourage it. Humanity has the ability to work together in building up our common home; we have the freedom, intelligence and capacity to lead and direct technology, to place limits on our power, and to put all this at the ser-vice of another type of progress: one that is more human, social and integral (cf. ibid., 13, 78, 112; Message for the 22nd Meeting of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Agreement on Climate Change (COP22), 10 November 2016). This Conference intends to negoti-ate a Treaty inspired by ethical and moral arguments. It is an exercise in hope and it is my wish that it may also constitute a de-cisive step along the road towards a world without nuclear weapons. Although this is a significantly complex and long-term goal, it is not beyond our reach. Madam President, I sincerely wish that the efforts of this Conference may be fruitful and provide an effective contribution to advancing an ethic of peace and of multilateral and cooperative security, which humanity very much needs today. Upon all those gathered at this important meeting, and upon the citizens of the countries you represent, I invoke the blessings of the Almighty.

FrancisFrom the Vatican, 23 March 2017

The Miracle of a nuclear-free world

Pope Francis in his prophetic messages for a new Pentecost is calling on the Church and the world to give priority to nuclear disarmament and issues such as poverty alleviation and climate change. Whether this will happen in a worldly sense is another matter because for most of the group of 20 rich countries their main source of revenue and employment is the arms trade and related industry. But God can work a miracle and Christians need not only to pray for it but also prophetically speak out against the rich world that nourishes and profits from arms and ammunition. The world on Sunday August 7, commemorated the nuclear holocaust in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, followed three days later by the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki. The aftermath of the two nuclear catastrophes killed 90,000 to 146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000 to 80,000 people in Nagasaki. During the following months, tens of thousands more died from the effects of burns, radiation, sickness and other injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition. While the apparently reckless North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is conducting intercontinental ballistic missile test one after the other the equally arrogant United States President Donald Trump is threatening to retaliate against North Korea. It is in this backdrop the United Nations on August 29, marks the 'International Day against Nuclear' Tests. The UN says since nuclear weapons testing began on July 16, 1945, nearly 2,000 have taken place. Early on, having nuclear weapons was seen as a measure of scientific sophistication or military might, with little consideration given to the devastating effects of testing on human life, let alone the dangers of nuclear fallout from atmospheric tests. UN hindsight and history have shown us the terrifying and tragic effects of nuclear weapons-testing, especially when controlled conditions go awry and in the light of the far more powerful and destructive nuclear weapons that exist today. The human and environmental tragedies, the result of nuclear testing, are compelling reasons for the need to observe the International Day against Nuclear Tests. It is a day on which most countries conduct educational events and issue messages with the aim of capturing the world’s attention and underscoring the need for unified efforts to prevent further nuclear weapons-testing, the UN adds. Pope Francis is going beyond that. He insists there should be disarmament not only on nuclear weapons but also of the rich and powerful arms mafia which often promote war and violence. The 30-year War in Sri Lanka was also linked to this though the ethnic conflict was the clash point. The international instrument to put an end to all forms of nuclear testing is the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CNTBT), unfortunately, this has yet to enter into force. On December 2, 2009, the UN General Assembly’s 64th session declared August 29, the 'International Day against Nuclear Tests' by unanimously adopting resolution 64/35. The resolution calls for increasing awareness and education about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation. This is one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world. Moreover, “convinced that nuclear disarmament and the total elimination of nuclear weapons are the only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of nuclear weapons,” the General Assembly designated September 26, as the ‘International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons’. This is devoted to furthering the objective of the total elimination of nuclear weapons, through the mobilization of international efforts. Today nine countries including our neighbours, India and Pakistan are known to possess nuclear weapons. The US and Russia are known to have nuclear weapons which are about 50,000 times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The UN says the day is meant to galvanise member States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, academic institutions, youth networks and the media to inform, educate and advocate the necessity of banning nuclear weapon tests as a valuable step towards achieving a safer world. The Catholic Church and other religions should also speak out strongly for a nuclear free world and gradual dismantling of the arms industry while promoting dialogue as the more effective way to resolve conflict.

Message of His Holiness Pope Francis to the United Nations'

Conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit

nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination


Church in the Modern World

“After the fi re there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak …” (1 Kings 19,12-13)

According to a Vatican communique, Pope Fran-cis spent about half an hour in “a moment of rec-ollection” and prayer be-fore the tomb of Blessed Paul VI on August 6, the 39th death anniversary of the late Roman Pontiff, who died in 1978. Best known for his encyclical Humanae vitae, on the regulation of birth and his role in the Second Vatican Council, Paul VI was beatified by Pope Francis in 2014. Not only has Pope Francis acknowledged the important contribution of Blessed Paul VI to the

Universal Church, he has also followed closely in the late Roman Pontiff's steps, particularly in his travels abroad, going to several of the places where his prede-cessor had become the first Pope ever to step foot. This year also marks the 50th anniver-sary of Blessed Paul VI's encyclicals Populorum Progressio, on the develop-ment of peoples, and Sac-erdotalis caelibatus, on the celibacy of the priest. Popu-lorum Progressio was a key point of reference in Pope Francis' establishment this year of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Blessed Paul VI was born Giovanni Mon-tini in 1897 in the town of Concesio in the Lombardy region of Italy. Ordained a priest in 1920 and con-secrated as a bishop in 1954, he was appointed to the College of Cardinals in 1958. At the age of 66 he was elected Bishop of Rome and chose the name Paul VI, in reference to the missionary spirit of the Apostle Paul. He re-convoked the Second Vatican Council, which had automatically closed with the death of his predecessor, St. John XXIII and improved ecumenical

relations with the Eastern Orthodox Churches. In a historic move in December 1965, Blessed Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople mutually lifted the excommunica-tions that had been leveled against the leaders of both Churches in 1054. Montini's cause

for canonization was opened in 1993. In Decem-ber 2012, Benedict XVI rec-ognised the heroic virtue of Paul VI, giving him the title Venerable. In 2014, the Vatican approved a miracle attributed to his intercession, allowing for his beatification. In his October 19, 2014 homily for the beatification, Pope Fran-cis hailed Paul VI as “the great helmsman of the Second Vatican Council.” He cited Blessed Paul VI’s words at the closing of Vatican II's fi-nal session: “Perhaps the Lord has called me and preserved me for this service not because I am

particularly fit for it, or so that I can govern and res-cue the Church from her present difficulties, but so that I can suffer some-thing for the Church and in that way it will be clear that He and no other, is her Guide and Saviour.” “In this humility,” Pope Francis continued, “the grandeur of Blessed Paul VI shines forth: Be-fore the advent of a secu-larised and hostile society, he could hold fast, with farsightedness and wis-dom – and at times alone – to the helm of the barque of Peter, while never los-ing his joy and his trust in the Lord.” EWTN

Pope Francis visits Blessed Paul VI's tomb on anniversary of his death

Pope Francis has sent a special message to Peru-vians ahead of his visit to their country next year, telling them to look to the great saints of the na-tion as they prepare and, pointing to hope and unity as key areas of reflection. Standing beside a statue of St. Martin de Porres, the Pope told Peru-vians in his native Spanish that he will be with them in just a short time, and that “I have a great desire to go.” “You are a people with a large legacy, (and) the most beautiful legacy that a people can have is the legacy of the saints,” he said, noting that Peru has “many saints, and great saints that mark Latin America.” Among the best-known of these are St. Martin de Porres, St. Rose of Lima, St. Francis So-lano, and St. Turibius of Mogrovejo, in addition to the widespread devotion to the image of Our Lord of the Miracles. In his message, Pope Francis said it is

the saints who built the Church in Peru, “from scattering to unity,” refer-ring to the divisions pres-ent in the Viceroyalty of Peru, the Spanish colony during the existence of which many of Peru's can-onized saints lived. “A saint always works along this line: from what is scattered to unity, which is what Jesus did. A Christian has to follow this path,” Pope Francis said in his message, add-ing that “whoever works for unity looks forward.” While some look ahead with scepticism or bitterness, “a Christian cannot,” he said. “A Chris-tian looks ahead with hope, because he hopes to achieve that which the Lord has promised him.” Pope Francis closed the video telling Peruvians that he would see them soon, and that in the meantime, they have homework: “unity and hope, work on this. I'll pray for you, you pray for me.” The video mes-sage was published Aug. 5

by Cardinal Juan Luis Cip-riani of Lima. Francis' greeting comes just five months before his January 15-21, 2018, visit to Chile and Peru. In Peru, he is slated to visit Lima, Puerto Mal-donado, and Trujillo. If his message is any indication, the saints and their role in evange-lizing Peru will likely be a focus in his speeches, with a special emphasis on hope and unity – themes he is already known to speak about frequently. As far as Peru-vian saints, Rose of Lima is likely the most well-known. She was born in Lima to Spanish parents in 1586. At a very young age, she chose to conse-crate her life to God. As part of her commitment, she prac-ticed very intense prayer and penance each day, at times depriving herself of food and sleep. She even-tually joined the Third Order of St. Dominic, con-tinuing her tough pen-ances. After three years of

illness, she died at the age of 31 in 1617. Her feast day is celebrated Aug. 23 in many parts of the world, while in Peru and several other plac-es it is observed Aug. 30. Also among the more widely known saints is Martin de Porres, who was the son of a Spanish nobleman and a black slave woman. Born in Lima in 1579, he was a talented medical apprentice and sought to enter the Do-minican Order, but was initially prevented from becoming a brother due to a Peruvian law at the time that prevented people of mixed race from joining Religious Orders. Instead, he lived with the community and did manual work, earning the nickname “the saint of the broom” for his dili-gence and care in cleaning the Dominicans’ quarters. Eventually, he was per-mitted to join the Order despite the Peruvian law, and he worked with the sick in the infirmary.

Pope urges Peruvians to focus on hope, unity, ahead of t visit

Gunman kills 11 in attack on church in Nigeria

Authorities in Nigeria say at least 11 people are dead and others were critically wounded when gunmen at-tacked a church in southeastern Nigeria. Garba Umar, police commissioner of Anambra state, said a gunman attacked St. Philip Catholic Church early last Sunday. But one parishioner, Uche Nonoso, told The As-sociated Press there were in fact two gunmen and more than 15 killed at the church. The Rev. Hygi Aghaulor, Communications Di-rector for the Nnewi Diocese, said the community was praying for the wounded. No group has claimed responsibility for the at-tack, but the police say a manhunt has been launched. Authorities said they did not believe Boko Haram was behind the attack. The group has burned hundreds of churches over the past decade.

Catholic Herald

Prominent Christians urge Church leaders to raise voice against growing intolerance

NEW DELHI - A hundred and one prominent Christians belonging to various denominations wrote an open let-ter to the Church leadership on August 4, asking them to support the civil society in its struggle to safeguard India’s cultural and religious diversity. “We must save India’s religious diversity,” the writers shared their concerns over the steady shift “in our country from a pluralist, secular, democracy to a Hindu Rashtra.” It added that a new coercive culture is destroy-ing lives and families. “Fear stalks the land. The anger is as much over the killings as it is over our collective silence. The government’s double talk is apparent,” said the letter. Speaking to The Hindu, former member of the Delhi Minorities Commission, and a signatory to the let-ter A. C. Michael said: “This letter is addressed to all Chris-tians telling them that they cannot be passive any more. They have to raise their voice against the violence that the country is witnessing today against the common man. This is our country and we have to protect its diversity.” Other signatories included Jesuit theologians T. K. John and Francis Gonsalves, academicians Sr. Nirma-lini, St Stephen’s College dean, Fr. Monodeep Daniel and All India Catholic Union President, Lancy D. Cuna. “The National Crime Records Bureau docu-mented 47,064 acts of violence against Dalits in 2014, up from 32,643 in 2010. Violence against Muslims is reaching an alarming level. The hate spewed not just by non-State actors and political functionaries, but even by Members of Parliament and sometimes by Ministers forms the backdrop of this violence,” the letter note

UCAN

Asia's biggest eight-sided church stands nestled amid myriad buildings in the bustling city's heart of Khaira-tabad! The Shrine of Our Lady of Health is not only unique in architecture but has a majestic history asso-ciated with it. When it was constructed, its beauty was visible from far. But today, one can witness its splendour only when standing on the rooftops of neighbourhood build-ings. The road leading to the Church has also narrowed down over the years due to various encroachments. It is a Herculean task to navigate the road on a four-wheeler. The history of the Khairatabad Church dates back to 1903 when the Nizam VI, Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, permitted its construction on Army land. The Church was to serve the needs of the Army personnel stationed at African Cavalry (AC) Guards af-ter their return from Sholapur.

The idea of the Church was put forth in 1902 by Fr. Malberti of St Joseph's Ca-thedral. Work began in 1903 and was com-pleted within eight months at a cost of Rs 3,500. Of this, a sum of Rs 1,028 was con-tributed by the people.However, the present structure was constructed in 1954 and it was the Nizam VII, Mir Osman Ali Khan, who laid the foundation stone for it. At the time, he was the Raj Pramukh of Hyderabad State. It was he who in-augurated the Church later. UCAN

Asia’s biggest octagonal Church – a symbol of unity


“Then he made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds” (Matthew 14,22)

The advocacy by the president of China, Xi Jianping, for the

One Belt, One Road initia-tive has revitalised inter-est in topics related to the Silk Road. One of the most eye-catching has Christian relevance: The Nestorian Crosses found in Ordos, Inner Mongolia in China. Andrea Chen Jian, a young scholar at the University of Hong Kong describes them in this way, "The Nestorian Crosses are perceived as significant materials not only for Silk Road studies, but also for the study of Chinese Christianity, es-pecially in light of the cur-rent poor availability of historical data of Jingjiao (Chen 2017, p3). Nestorian bronze crosses were cast in the Ordos region in north-west China (Inner Mon-golia) during the Yuan dynasty (1272 to 1368). They measure between three and eight centi-metres in height are flat, plaque-like ornaments with an outline in high re-lief and a loop on the back suggesting that they were used as personal seals worn on the body. The loop facili-tates strapping to human clothing or girdles. The fine motifs of the cast Christian and Buddhist symbols and the rare sur-vival of red-coloured ink deposits in intermittent lower parts of the design, suggest that these seals were used as chops and transferred their indi-vidual designs by printing them on other materials. Although all crosses are cast, the Ne-storian crosses all seem to be unique and are, in fact, characteristic for their in-dividual designs (UMAG-University Museum and Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong] official web-site on June 7, 2017).

Origin of Nestorianism Wikipedia (June 7, 2017) describes Nesto-rianism as a Christological doctrine that emphasises a distinction between the human and divine per-sons of Jesus. It was advanced by Nestorius (386 to 450), the Patriarch of Constan-tinople from 428 to 431 and influenced by Nesto-rius' studies under Theo-dore of Mopsuestia at the School of Antioch. Nestorius' teach-ing brought him into con-flict with other prominent Church leaders, most notably Cyril of Alexan-dria, who especially criti-

cised his rejection of the title Theotokos (Mother of God) title for Mary, the mother of Jesus. Nestorius and his teaching were eventually condemned as heretical at the Council of Ephesus in 431 and the Council of Chalcedon in 451, which led to the Nestorian Schism. Churches sup-porting Nestorius then broke away from the rest of the Christian Church. Following this, many of Nestorius' sup-porters relocated to the Sasanian Empire, where they became affiliated with the local Christian community known as the Church of the East. Over the next decades the Church of the East became increasingly Nestorian in doctrine, leading to it also becoming known as the Nestorian Church. Nestorianism in China Lo Hsing-Lin's ac-count of the beginning of Nestorianism in China is widely accepted now: "With the Chi-nese conquest of the Eastern Turks during the reign of T'ai Tsung in the T'ang Dynasty, the West-ern Turks also vowed their allegiance to the T'ang Emperor. Commu-nications with the West-ern Land was re-opened. It was then that a Nestori-an metropolitan, Alopen, first came to China in 635AD (the ninth year of reign of Cheng-kuan). He arrived at Ch'ang-an and was well received by the Emperor T'ai Tsung who granted him permission to translate Nestorian sa-cred books and to spread its doctrines" (Lo, 1966,pl, in English).

The unearthing of the Ne-storian Crosses in Ordos The first bronze crosses of this kind were found in1927, although mass unearthing did not happen until 1929, but in the study of Nestorian crosses, nobody may ne-glect the role played by F. A. Nixon. Two years after the unearthing, a journal-ist named C. W Corman pointed out Nixon's crucial role, "Mr. F. A. Nixon, Postal Commissioner of Peking, is piling up the only notable collection in existence. He has more than 250 speci-mens on hand already and a thick file representing about all that has been written or spoken about the mystery which broke ground two years ago" (Corman, 1931, p10) Nixon became

the most significant col-lector, at least in terms of quantity, of the Nestorian Cross. Chen mentioned: "There are more than one thousand so called Nestorian Crosses, which, as a confluence, include the cross shaped pieces, the geometrical pieces, the seal shape pieces and the bird shape pieces, possessed by dif-ferent museums and insti-tutions around the world. These artefacts attract global attention due to the uniqueness endowed by their identity as Nestori-an relics from the Chinese Yuan dynasty. "The central clues in the Secret of the Mongol Cross are these: Bronze and brass cross-es as large as small belt buckles have been discov-ered in a single district of China, with practically no trace of their existence outside that restricted area. The tokens almost without exception contain the form of the Christian cross, but fewer than six duplicates have been dis-covered. Each is different from the other in some minor or major detail" (Corman 1931, p10)

The participation of Nixon The specimens intrigued Reverend Scott to such an extent that he commenced digging through the records of history and ethnology to try and trace the meaning of them. After two years of investigation, he found himself still convinced of their Christian origin, but not yet able to prove his contention to the com-plete satisfaction of all other scientists, though great ones side with him. During one of his trips to Peking he showed his crosses to Mr. Nixon. The Nixon quest for speci-mens was launched. He secured the cooperation of friends in the back country and be-gan a patient survey on his own through the curio

shops of Peking, especial-ly Mongolian agencies. That sent the market price of the cross-es sky high, from 30 cents to $20 and upwards. One adamantine dealer was holding out for $50 for each of his several items. The news spread far inland, too, where counterfeiters were al-ready at work casting copies of old crosses or in-venting their own designs. One needs the Nixon eye and experience to detect by patina and other indi-cations the genuineness or spuriousness of speci-mens (Corman 1931, p10) According to the Yuen Shih, (Dynasty His-tory of Yuen), the Onguts, or the Great Wall Tartars were one of the 15 tribes of White Tartars. The territory as-signed to them by the Mongol Khans was situ-ated to the North of the Great Wall in the southern part of the present Suiyi-ian (now Hohhot) district. Their principal cities were Tokoto (T'o-ch'eng), the capital of King George, the celebrated convert of Montecovino and Koshang (Huo-shan) in modern Shansi, the birthplace of the Catholi-cos Mar Yahbh-Allaha III (AD 1281 to 1317), patri-arch of the whole Nesto-rian Church in Asia (Cor-man, 1931, p10). Corman says that as far as he has been able to verify, the bronze crosses were strictly con-fined to the Ongut island, without a known source of inspiration. Inquiries in

the far north of Siberia, to the west in Turkestan, in Manchuria, and along the routes to Central Asia re-veal no connection. Although crosses have been in existence in those places ever since the first Christian mission-aries penetrated there, probably in the third and fourth centuries, they are not of the Maltese variety, with the peculiar shapes and subsidiary design of the Ordo crosses and birds (Corman 1931, p 11-12). Stylistically, all crosses fall into four differ-ent categories, many with mixed Christian and Bud-dhist motifs in the same artefact. The majority are executed in crucifix form—hence the group descrip-tion as crosses—with ei-ther flat or round ends. Other crosses in fact take the shape of animals, predominantly birds, but also hares and fish, as well as geometri-cal patterns, such as sun-like designs and miscel-laneous Chinese seal-like forms (UMAG, official website 7 June 2017). "Among them, the F. A. Nixon collection is the largest, with 979 pieces in

its original paraphernalia (according to James M. Menzies), and 935 pieces presently in storage and on exhibition in the Uni-versity Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong. "Studies have been made of them; and conferences and other ac-tivities have been held to promulgate their signifi-cance, since Silk Road stud-ies have been promoted to new levels during recent years" (Chen 2017, p3). Eventually the collection of Nixon was acquired by the Lee Hysan Foundation and donated to Hong Kong University in 1961 (UMAG, of�icial website 7 June 2017). Just as Chen men-tioned, only with system-atic and rigorous inter-rogation can we pay the appropriate respect to the idea of Nestorian crosses. "By eliminating unwarranted assertions, one can envisage not only the challenge, but also those elements which might even-tually serve as supporting evidence for the idea" (Chen 2017, p19). AL

Courtesy: Sunday Examiner

Nestorian Crosses of the Silk Road

"There are more than one thousand so called Nestorian Crosses, which, as a confluence, include the cross

shaped pieces, the geometrical pieces, the seal shape pieces and

the bird shape pieces, possessed by different museums and institutions

around the world"


MLIVING FAITHRev. Fr. Daniel Icatlo

“After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone” (Matthew 14,23)

First teachers of Faith “Parents are the first and most important educators of their own children, and they also possess a fundamental competence in this area: they are educators because they are parents. They share their edu-cational mission with other in-dividuals or institutions, such as the Church and the State,” wrote St. John Paul II in his Let-ter to Families (n. 16). Education is primarily the responsibility of the child’s father and mother. The family is the first school of learning. “Parents rely on schools to en-sure the basic instruction of their children, but can never completely delegate the moral formation of their children to others,” Pope Francis stressed in the Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia (n. 263). Since deep moral val-ues stem from religious values the primary teachers of Faith are the parents themselves. They are the best catechists, in fact.

How about the role of Catholic schools and Sunday schools? More than once, a num-ber of parents voiced out their concern that ostensibly the Sun-day school and Catholic schools alike are not transmitting the Faith well enough. They claim that the children’s knowledge of religion has become merely academic. They are taught some lessons on Faith and given term exams. They get some marks at the end of the year and that is all. Though this allegation may not be entirely fair and true for all cases, it may have certain basis in reality in school based Faith formation classes. Dr. Gregory Popcak be-lieves that in Faith, parents are the best teachers. I wonder how parent readers would react to his statement.

Schools’ subsidiary role As Executive Director of the Pastoral Solutions Institute in the US, Dr. Popcak dedicates himself through this organiza-tion to helping Catholics find faith-filled solutions to tough marriage, family, and personal problems. His main contention of this educator is this: schools simply cannot create the kind of loving atmosphere that dis-ciples a child’s heart and leads him or her to love Christ and his Church. All it can do is: (a) Fill the kids head with faith-facts or (b) Recognise that facts aren’t enough, so go in the other direction and produce a lot of tree-hugging, “you are special” twaddle that lacks au-thenticity or credibility much less content. Research convincingly demonstrates that religious education and formation of anyone –especially children– can only be effectively done in the context of a loving, disciple-ship relationship. If is this true, then when such atmosphere is fostered in school as well as Sunday schools then they could likewise do a fine job imparting the Faith to youngsters. In addition to the fact that an institution cannot by itself provide bonding, even if the Church offers the best cat-echesis possible in the most supportive environment imag-inable, it may not be sufficient because catechizing children

and then sending them home to poorly formed parents prac-tically illustrates sowing seeds in rocky soil parable in real life; and Jesus had something to say about that. It is extraordinarily difficult for a child to learn to cherish and develop what his own parents don’t appreciate, validate or practice themselves. Thus, schools should be viewed from this perspective: they play a subsidiary role, as-sisting the parents in their own educative work. Being aware of this reality is even more press-ing when we consider all the influences that can lead parents today, at times without being fully aware of it, to fail to grasp in all its fullness the marvelous task that falls to them, thus re-nouncing in practice their role as primary educators. The educational crisis Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI so often warned of is rooted in this confusion. Education has been reduced to “the transmission of specific abilities or capaci-ties for doing, while people en-deavor to satisfy the desire for happiness of the new genera-tions by showering them with consumer goods and transitory gratification” (Address to the Diocesan Assembly of Rome, 11 June 2007). In Gravissimum Educa-tionem, moreover, Blessed Pope Paul VI says, “Since parents have given children their life, they are bound by the most serious obli-gation to educate their offspring

and therefore must be recog-nized as the primary and princi-pal educators (n. 11). This role in education is so important that only with difficulty can it be supplied where it is lacking.”

Catechist-parents This is a wakeup call to parents. They must possess certain depth of knowledge of the Catholic Faith so they could transmit it to their children. Levelling charges of inefficacy on schools and Sunday schools does not solve the issue. Enough of those hopeless lamentations! They themselves should assume their role as primary educators of Faith and let the former take a subsidiary role in the faith for-mation of their kids. Rather than finger pointing, they should look into ways to deepen their knowledge of religion and en-hance religious practices within the family circle. Faith is an encounter with Christ, according to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. It is not simply a set of beliefs or doc-trines. It is a living Faith which is transmitted primarily through life and secondarily through the classrooms. Though they learn wonderful religious truths in Sunday school, kids need to see how those teachings are lived in real life. What they learn theo-retically must by reinforced by actual Christian living. For instance, children are taught the importance of prayer and Sunday obligation. But if they go back home and do not see their own parents pray-ing nor attending Mass every Sunday their Faith wanes due to that portentous incoherence between what is professed on one hand and what is lived in practice on the other, between doctrine and life. Parents must be very ardent in their religious prac-tices and steeped in Christian values. As parent-catechists, they need creativity in order

“PARENTS AS PRIMARY FAITH EDUCATORS”to be better transmitters of the Catholic Faith to their kids.

Creative catechists In this regard, the re-cent message of Pope Francis to catechists likewise applies to parents as well. He stressed the need to not only make Christ the center of their lives, but to be creative and adaptable in find-ing ways to reach more people. “The catechist is cre-ative; they search for different means and forms of announc-ing Christ,” the Pope said in his message. Believing in Jesus is “beautiful,” he said, because Jesus is the way, truth and life “who fills our existence with joy and gladness.” “This quest to make Jesus known as supreme beau-ty leads us to find new signs and ways of transmitting the faith,” he said, noting that while the means might be different, what’s important is to imitate “the style of Jesus, who adapted to the people he had before him in order to make them close to the love of God.” To change and adapt oneself in order to make the message closer to the people is necessary, he said, but stressed that at the same time, the mes-sage being transmitted is “al-ways the same, because God doesn’t change, but renews all things in him.” Pope Francis said that in the quest of making Jesus known to the world, “we must not be afraid because he pre-cedes us in this task. He is al-ready in the man of today, and there awaits us.” We encourage parents to strive to deepen their knowl-edge of the Catholic Faith and to lose their fear of talking to their children about God. They must make Jesus known to them through their words and exam-ple of a fervent Christian life.

By the Blood of Jesus all sinners’ souls were from freedom set,And Jesus paid a very large sum for their debt,While their sins were swept away like a �lood,By the Lamb of God and His Precious Blood.

Jesus’ Precious Blood spoke for sinners like you and me,And with this Blood all our curses made us free,Spoke to God the Father who is so good,It is no one but only Jesus and His Precious Blood.

The Precious Blood of JesusThe Son of God came as a man to earth and He was slain,For with His Blood pardon for our sins to obtain,Jesus came to earth from His throne in heaven above,With God’s blessings to �low on man with His Precious Blood.

Let us praise and thank Jesus our God who shed His blood,Like a stream of water from His wounded side,This Precious Blood washed all sinners guilt away.So let us praise and thank Jesus every, night and day.

J.A. Dulcie Perera

Man, GodBorn divine

Proving prophesyIncarnated

Expected MessiahHoly PreacherForgiving sins

Modern ShepherdMiracle WorkerUpfront Guide

RemainsGod of all.

Sent byMiran Perera

Jesus - A rundown


by: Kishani S. Fernando

“Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it” (Matthew 14,24)

“God’s ballroom”

“God’s ballroom” The Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in German - Basilika Vierzehnheiligen, is a Church located near the town of Bad Staffelstein in Bavaria, southern Germany. The Basilica sits on a hillside and overlooks the rRver Main in Franconia. It lies directly on the St. James’ Pilgrimage Way and attracts around 500,000 visitors a year. From the 15th century until the present day pilgrims have journeyed to the basilica at the foot of Staffelberg hill, one of the country’s best-known pil-grimage sites, to ask for the protection of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Feast August 8.

Legend The Church is built around the site of a series of apparitions. On September 24, 1445, Hermann Leicht, the young shepherd of the nearby Cistercian abbey of Langheim, saw a crying child in a field. As he bent down to pick up the child, it disappeared. In a second vision a short time later, the child appeared again in the same spot. This time, two candles were burning next to it. In the following year, on June 28, 1446, Leicht saw the child a third time. This time, the child bore a red cross on its chest and was accompanied by fourteen other children, who were all dressed in the same manner, half red and half white. The child said: “We are the fourteen helpers and wish to have a chapel here, where we will graciously rest.” Thereupon, the children disappeared in the clouds. Eighteen days after this last apparition, a fatally ill maid from Langheim was cured after invok-ing the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Immediately a pilgrim-age began and Langheim abbey, which before had been skeptical, recognised the apparitions. The first chapel was dedicated in 1448.

Basilica The present Church considered an architectural marvel designed by Balthasar Neumann constructed be-tween 1743 to 1772. From outside the glorious late ba-roque facade built in the wonderful local sandstone has a very appealing warm hue. Its unique interior, which is the one most strongly characterised by the spirit of the rococo, embellished with gold, marble, paintings, sculptures, decorations creating a singularly festive, up-lifting and simply transporting interior, is the work of stucco sculptor Johann Michael Feuchtmayr and painter Giuseppe Appiani. On the whole earning the title “God’s Ballroom.” The main attraction of the basilica stands in the middle of the main rotunda above the place of vi-sions – known as the Altar of Grace. The free-standing rococo altar with its representations of the Fourteen Holy Helpers is surrounded by heart-shaped altar rails, where communicants receive Holy Communion. The lower part of the altar is decorated in stucco marble, while a magnificent vaulted canopy permits views of the high altar, where four Holy Helpers are set on each of the three levels, with a further two on the side altars.

Altar of Grace At the Altar of Grace or shrine proper, Mass is usually celebrated. In the space beneath the baldachin and the high altar, is a statue of Our Lady the Queen of May. On the top apex you see the Divine Child of the ap-parition with the red cross on the chest. Sitting to His side on the baldachin are: St. George, soldier-martyr, for the health of domestic animals, St. Margaret of Antioch with her attribute the dragon, virgin and martyr, invoked in childbirth, St. Pantaleon with his hands nailed to his head, bishop and martyr, for physicians, St. Vitus with his rooster, martyr, invoked against epilepsy. On the but-tresses: St. Agathius with a cross and crown of thorns, martyr, invoked against headaches, St. Christopher, mar-tyr, invoked against bubonic plague, St. Eustace with a stag, martyr, invoked against family discord, St. Giles with a hind, hermit and abbot, invoked against plague, for a good confession. In the altar niches: St. Barbara with host and chalice, virgin and martyr, invoked against fever and sudden death, St. Catherine of Alexandria with the wheel at her feet, virgin and martyr, invoked

against sudden death. On the pillars of the altar rails: St. Blaise with the candles, bishop and martyr, in-voked against illness of the throat, St. Cyriacus with a bound dragon, deacon and martyr, invoked against temptation on the death-bed, St. Denis carrying his head, bishop and martyr, invoked against headache, St. Erasmus with his wind-lass, bishop and martyr, invoked against intestinal ailments.

At the very centre of the Basilica is the original spot of the apparition, with the earth visible below the floor level. It is marked by a silver star modeled after the one at the cave of the Nativity in Bethlehem, its fourteen rays being especially appropriate here. Whereas the star in Bethlehem reads “HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS EST” (“Here was born Jesus Christ from the Virgin Mary”), the star of the apparition at Vierzehnheiligen says “IN MEDIO XIV AUXILIATORUM JESUS CHRISTUS HIC APPARUIT 1446” (“Here appeared amid the Fourteen Helpers Jesus Christ in 1446”.

High Altar and other The central scene of the unobstructed and tow-ering high altar is a larger-than-life painting showing the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The statues depict her spouse Joseph, her father Joachim and David and Zachariah. There are many more art and architectural marvels to admire in this church like the ceiling fres-coes, the pulpit etc.


“During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea” (Matthew 14,25)

St. Lawrence

According to St. Ambrose, Valerian, the Emperor of Rome, had St. Law-

rence, the Archdeacon of Rome, arrested. He was given three days to turn over to the Emperor the treasures of the Church. But he distributed them among the poor and presented the latter as the true trea-sure of the Church. The furious Emperor had St. Lawrence roasted on a grid-iron and subjected to a slow death on August 10 in 258. Inflamed by the ardour of love for God, he, outstandingly faithful in ser-vice, became glorious in martyrdom. His death was the death of idolatry in Rome and paved the way for the conversion of Rome, stirring the hearts of both the Senators and the citizens to venerate the tombs of the Apostles and Martyrs.

The Shrine containing the grid-iron, used to roast St Lawrence to death, preserved in the Church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome

The stone on which St Law-rence’s body was laid after death, in San Lorenzo fuori le mura

Church of St. Lawrence

Don Lourenco de Almeida, son of Don Francisco de Almeida, the first

Portuguese Viceroy of India and Com-mander of the Portuguese Expedition, landed Colombo in 1505.

Don Francisco de Almeida

He put up a church or a hermit-age at the foot of the breakwater in 1506 and dedicated it to St. Lawrence, his Pa-tron Saint, to mark his discovery of Ceilao or Zeylom. Rev. Fr. Vincente, the Francis-can Chaplain of the fleet, offered the Holy Mass in Latin in that first Catholic Church in the City. Thus St. Lawrence became the titular of the first Chapel in Colombo as well as the first principal Patron of the City on equal terms with St. Lucy of Syra-cuse, titular of the Cathedral. King Bhuvaneka Bahu had agreed, one may think, with Don Louren-co de Almeida to permit the Portuguese to maintain the Church in order to serve the religious needs of the Portuguese in the City.

Extent of Portuguese Ceylon (Ceilão Português)

When the Portuguese settled down in Colombo as rulers, a better place of worship, called the Church of St. Law-rence, was built on the site of the small chapel. It became the Parish Church of the most important part of the new City. Thus Colombo’s earliest Church was built in honour of St. Lawrence and the first Parish was dedicated to him. Unfor-

tunately it was demolished by the Dutch when they captured Colombo.

1656: Siege of Portuguese Colombo by the Dutch and the Sinhalese

Coins of St. Lawrence

St. Lawrence exerted much impact on the City. The emblem of St. Lawrence, the grid-iron, figured on coins, issued in the City. For example, the silver Tan-ga with Coat-of-Arms of Portugal and Grid-iron of Saint Laurence struck in Colombo, Fort São Lourenço for circula-tion in Ceilão, with date of 1631 during the reign of D. Filippe III (1621-1640). On the reverse, you may see how the Grid-iron of Saint Lawrence divides S L (São Lourenço) and flames below within dotted-line-dotted circles.

Obverse: Crowned Coat-of-Arms of Portugal within circle of dots inside raised rim. Details of arms represent-ed also by dots.

Reverse: Grid-iron of Saint Lawrence monogram within two circles of dots with a plain circle between them.

Obverse: Crude representation of Ar-millary Globe within plain line circle.

Reverse: Grid-iron of Saint Lawrence divides S L (São Lourenço) and �lames below within plain line circle.

Obverse: Crowned Coat-of-Arms of Portugal divides G A (Goa) within a circle of dots between two plain line circles.

Reverse: Grid-iron of Saint Lawrence divides year I645 and �lames below within a circle of dots between two plain line circles.

Point, Fort and Mound of St. Lawrence

With his name were associated parts of ancient Colombo – the Point of St. Lawrence, the Fortress of St. Lawrence and the Mound of St. Lawrence – as tes-tified by Rev. Fr. Fernao de Queyroz SJ in his work, ‘The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon’ (1688). The whole piece of land jutting into the sea, known as the Point, came to be called the Point of St. Lawrence. The Portuguese Fort at Colombo became the Fortress of São Lourenço. The hill, covering a large por-tion of the Fort, was called the Mound of St. Lawrence. It was, however, leveled by the Dutch later.

A Time Honoured Devotion

The Parish of Wellawatte, erect-ed in 1937 and its beautiful Church, con-secrated on March 6, 1968, were dedi-cated to St. Lawrence. This magnificent House of God, fruit of thirty long years of hard labour of Rev. Fr. Robert Fernando OMI, has given a fresh impulse to the devotion to St. Lawrence within the City and has infused the spirit of self-sacrifice amongst our people.

Bless our fair City, Patron mine!Soft smiling plenty o’er our land,Be her Protector, good and kind,

Defend her from the impious hand.

St. Lawrence’s Church, Wellawatte

St. Lawrence - Colombo Connection

1656: The Dutch capturing and taking control of the Portuguese in Colombo


“During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea” (Matthew 14,25)

St. Lawrence

According to St. Ambrose, Valerian, the Emperor of Rome, had St. Law-

rence, the Archdeacon of Rome, arrested. He was given three days to turn over to the Emperor the treasures of the Church. But he distributed them among the poor and presented the latter as the true trea-sure of the Church. The furious Emperor had St. Lawrence roasted on a grid-iron and subjected to a slow death on August 10 in 258. Inflamed by the ardour of love for God, he, outstandingly faithful in ser-vice, became glorious in martyrdom. His death was the death of idolatry in Rome and paved the way for the conversion of Rome, stirring the hearts of both the Senators and the citizens to venerate the tombs of the Apostles and Martyrs.

The Shrine containing the grid-iron, used to roast St Lawrence to death, preserved in the Church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, Rome

The stone on which St Law-rence’s body was laid after death, in San Lorenzo fuori le mura

Church of St. Lawrence

Don Lourenco de Almeida, son of Don Francisco de Almeida, the first

Portuguese Viceroy of India and Com-mander of the Portuguese Expedition, landed Colombo in 1505.

Don Francisco de Almeida

He put up a church or a hermit-age at the foot of the breakwater in 1506 and dedicated it to St. Lawrence, his Pa-tron Saint, to mark his discovery of Ceilao or Zeylom. Rev. Fr. Vincente, the Francis-can Chaplain of the fleet, offered the Holy Mass in Latin in that first Catholic Church in the City. Thus St. Lawrence became the titular of the first Chapel in Colombo as well as the first principal Patron of the City on equal terms with St. Lucy of Syra-cuse, titular of the Cathedral. King Bhuvaneka Bahu had agreed, one may think, with Don Louren-co de Almeida to permit the Portuguese to maintain the Church in order to serve the religious needs of the Portuguese in the City.

Extent of Portuguese Ceylon (Ceilão Português)

When the Portuguese settled down in Colombo as rulers, a better place of worship, called the Church of St. Law-rence, was built on the site of the small chapel. It became the Parish Church of the most important part of the new City. Thus Colombo’s earliest Church was built in honour of St. Lawrence and the first Parish was dedicated to him. Unfor-

tunately it was demolished by the Dutch when they captured Colombo.

1656: Siege of Portuguese Colombo by the Dutch and the Sinhalese

Coins of St. Lawrence

St. Lawrence exerted much impact on the City. The emblem of St. Lawrence, the grid-iron, figured on coins, issued in the City. For example, the silver Tan-ga with Coat-of-Arms of Portugal and Grid-iron of Saint Laurence struck in Colombo, Fort São Lourenço for circula-tion in Ceilão, with date of 1631 during the reign of D. Filippe III (1621-1640). On the reverse, you may see how the Grid-iron of Saint Lawrence divides S L (São Lourenço) and flames below within dotted-line-dotted circles.

Obverse: Crowned Coat-of-Arms of Portugal within circle of dots inside raised rim. Details of arms represent-ed also by dots.

Reverse: Grid-iron of Saint Lawrence monogram within two circles of dots with a plain circle between them.

Obverse: Crude representation of Ar-millary Globe within plain line circle.

Reverse: Grid-iron of Saint Lawrence divides S L (São Lourenço) and �lames below within plain line circle.

Obverse: Crowned Coat-of-Arms of Portugal divides G A (Goa) within a circle of dots between two plain line circles.

Reverse: Grid-iron of Saint Lawrence divides year I645 and �lames below within a circle of dots between two plain line circles.

Point, Fort and Mound of St. Lawrence

With his name were associated parts of ancient Colombo – the Point of St. Lawrence, the Fortress of St. Lawrence and the Mound of St. Lawrence – as tes-tified by Rev. Fr. Fernao de Queyroz SJ in his work, ‘The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon’ (1688). The whole piece of land jutting into the sea, known as the Point, came to be called the Point of St. Lawrence. The Portuguese Fort at Colombo became the Fortress of São Lourenço. The hill, covering a large por-tion of the Fort, was called the Mound of St. Lawrence. It was, however, leveled by the Dutch later.

A Time Honoured Devotion

The Parish of Wellawatte, erect-ed in 1937 and its beautiful Church, con-secrated on March 6, 1968, were dedi-cated to St. Lawrence. This magnificent House of God, fruit of thirty long years of hard labour of Rev. Fr. Robert Fernando OMI, has given a fresh impulse to the devotion to St. Lawrence within the City and has infused the spirit of self-sacrifice amongst our people.

Bless our fair City, Patron mine!Soft smiling plenty o’er our land,Be her Protector, good and kind,

Defend her from the impious hand.

St. Lawrence’s Church, Wellawatte

St. Lawrence - Colombo Connection

1656: The Dutch capturing and taking control of the Portuguese in Colombo

A New Dogma How was the Dogmatic De�inition prepared?i. In 1854, the Immaculate Conception was accorded the status of Dogma.ii. Petitions reached in great numbers to Rome for the definition of the Assumption: ‘if the Immaculate Conception is a Dogma, why not the Glorious Assumption?’iii. On May 1, 1946 Pope Pius XII asked the Bishops all over the world for their view on the definability of the Assumption. The answer was affirmative. It was universally agreed.

What was the Dogma of the Assumption? On November 1, 1950, Pius XII in the Apostolic Constitution, Munificentissimus Deus (The Most Munificent God), declared: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the Immac-ulate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed, body and soul, into the heavenly glory.”

What does this New Dogma say?i. The definition does not conclude about Mary’s end. The question is left open. The Church remains neutral in this regard.ii. Mary’s glorious life is a fulfillment and continuity of her earthly life. iii. Mary, the total person is glorified. Body + Soul = total person.iv. Mary is assumed by God. God is the agent or subject of action. Mary is the recipient or object of action. God assumes Mary.

What was the theological reason for this De�inition? Munificentissimus Deus: “It seems

impossible that she who conceived Christ, bore him, fed him with her milk, held him in her arms and pressed him to her bosom, should after this earthly life be separated from him in either body and soul.” Did Jesus not make the promise to His disciples, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be” (John 14,3); “Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17,24)?

Judeo-Biblical RootsIs this Dogma mentioned in the NT? There is no direct or explicit biblical reference to this Marian dogmatic definition.

Does it mean it is not related to the Holy Bible? It is not so. The concept of ‘assump-tion’ is not alien in the Judeo-Biblical Tradi-tion. The Assumption of Mary has enough of Judeo-Biblical roots:- The story of Enoch- The story of Elijah- The story of Moses The early Christians who experi-enced the Assumption of Mary understood and interpreted it in the light of these OT and Jewish stories and supremely of Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension.

Enoch What does the Book of Genesis say about Enoch? “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5,24).

Did Enoch die? The usual formula in Gen-esis 5 (the list of generations from Adam to Noah): “... and then he died” is interrupted. It is replaced with “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” This clearly implies that he did not die like the others, but was taken alive to God’s abode. Why was he taken up? “Enoch walked with God” – i.e. he lived righteously. “... and he was not, for God took him.” Thus because of his righteousness, he was favoured by God being taken up to heaven at the end of his earthly life.

Elijah What does the Bible say about Elijah’s departure? “And then they were walk-ing, walking and talking, and be-hold a chariot of fire and horses

of fire and then they divided between two of them and then Elijah went up in the storm wind/ tempest to the heavens” (2 Kings 2,11). Elijah was favoured by God. Thus he was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind at the end of his earthly life.

How did the Jewish Tradition see this literally? As he went heavenward, he will return to the earth: “Lo, I will send you Eli-jah, the prophet, before the day of the LORD comes, the great and terrible day” (Malachi 3,23).

MosesWhat is the enigma about the death of Moses, the most impressive �igure in the OT? Deuteronomy 34,5-6 reads: “And then Moses, the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab on the mouth of the LORD and then he buried him in the val-ley in the land of Moab in front of/ opposite Bethpoer and/ but a man did not know his grave until this day.” Here the subject of the verb “bur-ied” is “he” and “he” means the Lord in the context. Thus it was the Lord, who had bur-ied Moses. Memorial of Moses, Mount Nebo, Jordan

What sprang out of this enigma? Out of this enigma, sprang The Assumption of Moses, a first century AD apocryphon.

What is the story of the Assumption of Moses? Moses dies. Michael is sent to bury him. Devil is interested in the body of Moses and so he challenges Michael. Then Michael and satan struggle for his body – a tradition-al cosmic battle situation as in Daniel 10,13; Revelation 12,7. Eventually Moses is taken up into heaven.

How is this story related to the Assumption of Mary and of the Church? According to the story, the end of the age would occur 1750 years after the assumption of Moses. On that day, the en-tire people of Israel would be assumed into heaven. Moses represents the whole of Isra-el. The destiny of Moses will be that of them as well (corporate personality). Mary, being the perfect disciple of Jesus, represents uniquely the Church, all His disciples. Hence what happened to Mary will happen to us in future. We will also be raised body and soul.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In Search of Judeo-Biblical Roots


A � � � � � � ��

“When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terri�ied. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear” (Matthew 14,26))

The Critical Importance of Education for Parenting and Marriage for Family and Social Well-being

By Charles Senarath, Professor Emeritus, University of MoratuwaEffective communication is another important

ingredient of successful child management (Bath, 1996). Child expert Haim Ginott (1965) stressed

the importance of making a distinction between feelings and behaviour as the key to clear communication. Since children (and parents too) do not choose how they feel, it is important to allow free expression of feelings. The child who learns to regard some feelings as bad or unacceptable is being asked to deny a very real part of his or her experience. Ginott encouraged parents to teach their children that all feelings are appropriate and it is only the actions that are subject to disapproval. Many parents are unaware of just how often they block communication and the expression of feelings in their children. Communication with a child can also be the basis of effective discipline. Thomas Gorden (1970), a child psychologist who developed a programme called Parent Effectiveness Training (PET), offers a useful suggestion. Gorden suggests that ‘parents should send I messages to their children rather than You-messages. You-messages take the form of threats, name-calling, accusing, bossing, lecturing or criticizing. Generally you-messages tell children what is wrong with them. I-messages tell children what effect their behaviour had on you. An I-message states the behaviour to which you object. It then clearly tells the child the consequences of his or her behaviour and how that makes you feel. In inculcating discipline in the child, there are some basic principles such as consistency of ‘rules’ and principles, kindness and firmness. A parent who gives in to the demands of a child merely to get over the nuisance of the child’s tantrums is doing much harm to the child in the long term. On the other hand, the parents have to be reasonable, just and fair in refusing a child’s request and gently explain to the child the reason for refusal. An important aspect of effective parenting is not to expect too much from the child too soon and not to compare the abilities of one child with those of another child of the same age. There are vast variations in the rate of development of physical and mental

abilitIes between children. Not all children will perform developmental tasks at a particular age according to ‘the book’. Parents have to realise this and appreciate them for what they are capable of doing and encourage them (but not force then) to reach higher levels. The examples set by parents in their family and social life have a remarkable influence on what the children become and the development of their personality.

Marriage Harmony between parents is as important as harmony between parents and children for proper psychological development of children. Therefore, family education must necessarily take into account the factors, which promote a harmonious relationship between husband and wife. Divorce rates in many nations have risen to record levels. According to a study carried out by Brody, Neubaum & Forehand (1988), in United States, 50 percent of all marriages end in divorce, and several million Americans have been married three or more times. The statistics today are probably higher. The situation in Sri Lanka, although may not be as bad as in USA, there is an increasing trend for marriages to break, especially during early years of marriage. In many instances, marriage break up causes much pain and regret and has a devastating impact on children. Marriage breakup can even precipitate mental illness in parents as well as in children (Grych & Fincham, 1990). Much of unhappiness and eventual collapse of marriage can be reduced through education at several stages of marriage particularly, before finding a partner, preparation for marriage after finding a partner, the early years of marriage and the early stages of any marital conflict. A common cause of unhappy marriages is the confusion in concepts of romantic love, ‘liking’ a person and commitment. Romantic love is a feeling of passion towards a person with an element of sexual attraction. ‘Liking’ a

person is also a feeling but not necessarily with passion and sexual element and is based on the feeling of happiness in associating with that person. It is essentially caused by the satisfaction of one’s psychological needs. Commitment is not a feeling (although it may be based on feeling and attitude) but a decision to unconditionally work towards making the other person happy, through kindness; appreciation, understanding, forgiveness and fulfillment of physical and psychological needs. For a marriage to be successful, all three of the above are needed but remembering that romantic love and ‘liking’ being feelings, can fluctuate whereas commitment is within one’s command provided the person has a reasonable degree of maturity. Many young people enter into marriage purely on the basis of romantic love erroneously assuming that the euphoric feeling associated with romantic love will remain unchanged throughout married life. This is different from reality. Since we cannot find a ‘perfect husband’ or a ‘perfect wife’ the ingredient of commitment of unconditional acceptance is essential for a happy marriage. Counselling can play a significant role in helping a couple to resolve conflicts and to maintain harmony. Most problems in marriage arise from personality weaknesses such as inability to handle negative feelings, self-centredness, lack of proper attitudes and values; lack of compatibility and lack of skills in adjusting to change; and external factors such as conflicts arising from economic issues and from other family members such as in-laws. The impact of most of these issues can be minimized through education and development of necessary skills. Skills in communication, particularly communication of feelings can be extremely helpful in maintaining harmony in marriage since unresolved negative feelings play a major role in collapse of marriage.

(Contd on Pg. 15)

Contd from last week

Remembering our dear friend

Rev. Fr. GlenFernando

on his 10th Death

Anniversary

It was a Saturday in the month of September. Even though

I could not remember the ex-act date, I still remember how remarkably enchanting that day was. Even though Satur-days were claimed to be very busy I never missed my class at Ms. Priyanthi Seneviratne VanDort’s house for my singing class. I was a bit late that day af-ter another class and when I en-tered through the gate I heard a beautiful voice singing one of my favourite Sinhala hymns which captivated me “Jesu Amme Me Ahanna.” I was quite curious to know who it was. When I entered I saw it was a new member. Chubby cheeks and the warm smile gave me a good impression about his personality. His eyes revealed a charismatic radiance. Ms. Pri-yanthi, introduced him to me and said “Ravindu, this is your new friend, Nadeepa” and I, a loyal Josephian and he a proud Royalist became very best “Bo-som buddies.” I will start with the beginning of my friend’s life: Devnaka Abhisith Nadeepa Dharmasiri was born on Sep-tember 28, 2002 - the son of Aunty Ruklanthi and Uncle Ajan-tha and, the beloved brother of Navodhi Akki. He is very loyal and humble, generous, graceful,

smart and funny. Someone who makes the people around him feel happy, because he laughs frequently and is always ready to greet with that endearing smile on his face. He had a great passion for music and for tech-nology. He was a junior prefect and an eminent chorister at his Alma Mater, Royal College. Sig-nificantly both of our ambitions were coincidentally the same: To serve God in the Priesthood. But the only difference was he wanted to be a scientist and a priest. That may sound as a unique combination. But for me it sounded like “Helapa and Fish Curry.” When I told him that, he started to giggle saying “yuck!!...But I could serve the world in two ways through that!” Even though it was a simple sen-tence the message he conveyed through it was greatly deep and divine. Our connection, as a matter of fact, was something beyond acquaintanceship, it was actually brotherhood. We only met each other on Sat-urdays at Ms. Priyanthi’s, but never forgot to have a “tête-à-tête” about the week and the latest news about a movie or a movie actor or some prominent incident which made headlines in a newspaper. I should men-tion about my brother Sandaru,

a Josephian and Josh and Her-shelle–two Peterites who were part of our clique. We were privileged to be chosen by God to be a part of Ms. Priyanthi’s Special Choir who sang the Welcome Song to receive Pope Francis at the Air-port when he visited Sri Lanka on January 13, 2015 Nadeepa was very happy. Even though he had made many speeches in front of large audiences and sung many times in variety of entertainment events he was very happy than any other per-formance he had taken part in. That morning as we were taken to the Airport Garden hotel to dress, an unforgettable incident happened. We, as the big “Ai-yyas” were told by Ms. Priyanthi to look after the younger ones in our room and one of them went screaming around the hotel cor-ridor, disturbing the hotel guests at 4.00am. For our bad luck, Ms.

Priyanthi caught us and scolded us and gave us the punishment of standing right along the hotel corridor, with our finger on the lip. Nadeepa who was standing next to me, looking at the tour-ists who were coming in was dripped in sweat of fear and shame. But after we welcomed Pope Francis while coming back in the bus he was sitting next to me he said, “I was really scared that she might not give us to sing. My parents’ hopes will be gone then.” I thought how that small incident could influence his parents’ hope. But today I understand why. It was be-cause of the extraordinary love and respect towards his family members. He had many short-comings, challenges and trou-bles in his life. He had asthma from his very small days. Once, he fell down in a pool and broke his ankle. Subsequently, he was on crutches for two months. Yet, he never lost his spirit. All these were signs of his confidence. I admired his ways and if it was me, I would definitely lie in bed complaining. Soon after recov-ery he had a fall in school and

Celebrating the Life of My Bosom Buddy, Nadeepa Dharmasiri

Rev. Fr. Glen was not only a devout priest, but also a

genuine friend, we could always turn to, in good times and sad times. He was always there if we needed him. On our 18th pl-grimage to Lourdes, he was the priest with us and my husband and I have very happy memories of the services he conducted and blessed memories of his very touching sermons and services. No doubt our dear Fr. Glen has fulfilled all his duties and is safe with the Lord in heav-en. Thank you dear Fr. Glen, we no doubt miss you and remem-ber the very happy times spent together with our family. May his soul rest in peace until we meet again.

Your dear friendsThe David Family(Contd on Pg. 15)

Written by your loving friendRavinadu Fonseka

(Chorister-the choir INSPIRATION)


Understand the intentions..

not words or actions

A doctor was called in to treat a patient on emergency. He asked everybody out of the room and wanted to examine the patient

alone. After a minute he opened the door and asked for a pair of pliers. It was given. After a few more minutes he opened the door again and asked for a screwdriver. The home folk were curious but didn’t disturb the doctor and they were anxiously waiting outside the room. After another few minutes the doctor opened the door for the third time and asked for a hammer. The family now could not take it any more and they decided the doctor was insane and the patient was in jeopardy, and pulled the doctor out of the room and started scolding and almost hammered him. Then they rushed into the room. Guess what? They found the doctor had been struggling to break open his briefcase with the hammer and the screwdriver. He had forgotten the password of his medical equipment briefcase. See, how misunderstandings can create unnecessary fear and trouble! Proper communication and understanding is a must for the existence of a happy and peaceful society. Most people love to talk but they don’t communicate. They waste hours and hours just talking, without listening to the inner voices of the others. Babies do not use words. But usually mothers understand why they cry. Unfortunately in day to day dialogue, people do not even seem to understand words. Many people we meet have a load of their problems and they’ll try to unload it on you. It is very important to understand the exact intention without getting emotionally carried away by what you hear. Many good hearted people get into immense trouble just by trying to help others. Helping is good. But failing to understand the ulterior motives is dangerous. The reason for most of our heartbreaks, pain of mind and losses is our failure to understand the intentions of others. Some shrewd people study our minds, but sadly we do not study theirs. We trust them, believe their spoken words and foolishly get cheated, taken for rides and experience a lot of mental pain and misery. Sometimes we have to suffer a lifetime. People’s thoughts and feelings are not transparent. Sometimes people conceal feelings from others and even lie. They may have good reasons to do so. Even the thoughts and feelings of our husbands, wives, children, parents and those who are closest to us are difficult to understand sometimes. Whether it is a heated argument or a lighthearted chat, we have to look for clues to what’s on the other person’s mind. It will help you to create a mental map of the other person’s internal state. To read others’ minds we should use the tool of thinking and not mere wellsprings of emotion. We have to constantly make educated guesses about what another person is thinking and feeling. So, if we wish to have balanced relationships, make it a point to understand their hearts and not words . Michael Angelo Fernando

“At once (Jesus) spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14,27)

In Silence

In silence the Lord created the world.In silence the �irst man came into being.In silence God sent His messenger to a virgin.In silence the Divine Son became a human.

In silence a woman gives birth to a childIn silence a tiny seed becomes a mighty tree.In silence day comes and night falls.In silence thousands of �lowers bloom

In silence tiny birds come out from their shells.In silence drops of water make a mighty ocean.In silence mighty rocks take their formation.In silence God whispers to our hearts.Sr. M. Lakmali ACLourdes Convent, Polgahawela.

St. Joseph Vaz was the third child in the family of Christopher and Mary Vaz. Both parents had prayed for the conception and the birth of this

third child because it was the tradition of the then Goan families to dedicate the third child to the service of God. St. Joseph Vaz’s father, Christopher Vaz, had noted this fact in his diary. When his third child was born on April 21, 1651 he was already dedicated by his parents to the service of God. Most probably he was aware of his special voca-tion when he was attending St. Paul’s College managed by the Jesuits. This may be the reason that he used to spend nights praying in his parish church. He used to go through the window of his two-storied house and use a jack tree as a ladder to go in and out of the house at night. When he came to Sri Lanka in 1687, according to tradition, he came disguised as a coolie. In various disguises he was looking for Catholic families. Those who write about Joseph Vaz say how overjoyed he was to find a Catholic family. He knew that he could contact other Catholic families through them and revive their faith and give them opportunities of receiving the sac-raments. During the time of the Dutch persecution all the churches were either demolished or converted into Dutch Reformed Churches. There were no other places to celebrate Mass other than houses owned by Catholic families. When the Dutch rulers took over the Maritime Provinces of Sri Lanka in 1658, records show that there were about 120 priests in the island. They belonged to the Franciscan, Dominican and Jesuit Orders. But unfor-tunately they were all of Portuguese or European origin and the Dutch rulers had no other option but to deport all of them from the island. They were regarded as spies

of the former Portuguese regime. The Catholic families in the Maritime Provinces of Sri Lanka did not have any priest to administer Sacraments or to lead them in their prayers. It was at this time that this Goan priest belong-ing to the Oratorian Order was longing to be a mission-ary in Sri Lanka. He prayed deeply so that he would be sent to Sri Lanka as a missionary. When the Oratorian superiors sent him to various other places in India such as Kanara instead of Sri Lanka, he was distraught but obedient. He had heard about the plight of the Catho-lics in this island. He knew that all the priests who were serving the Catholics in the country had been expelled from the island. He perceived that the plight of the Cath-olic families in this island was a struggle to maintain their faith without the help of any priests. Joseph Vaz took two vows more than the three religious vows that the other religious were taking (obe-dience, chastity and poverty). In addition he took a vow to be a slave of God and His people. Born and brought up in the Indian society where the caste system was pre-dominant, he knew what it was to be a slave (dasa). His second vow was not to wear shoes, sandals or slippers when he walks in his missionary soil, to walk in bare feet in terrain full of thorns, poisonous insects such as scorpions, centipedes and serpents. It was an unspeak-able mortifying experience. He offered these sufferings as sacrifices for the success of his ministry. To think that he walked bear-footed from Jaffna peninsula (Illavalai) to places such as Galigomuwa, Gurubavila (Hanwella), and places in the hill country such as Wahakotte and Kandy (Senkadagala) is amazing and awe-inspiring. It is astounding that the Catholic families that St. Joseph Vaz encountered in these places all over the island were still keeping their faith and never gave up their religion to get better employment or other social opportunities offered by the Dutch rulers. If they gave up their faith and embraced Calvinism their social sta-tus would have been uplifted. When Joseph Vaz came to Sri Lanka, he looked for Catholic families who had lost the means of sustain-ing their faith and the sacramental life without the help of any pastors. From one family he approached other families and encouraged them to sustain their faith by prayer and Sacraments, especially through the Eucha-ristic Celebrations that he offered in the family sur-roundings. He knew of the necessity to sustain and to strengthen the family life if Christianity and Catholi-cism were to survive and to grow in this island and the world.

(The writer acknowledges with gratitude that some of the material in this article was taken from a pre-sentation Mr. Mahinda Namal gave at the Archbish-op’s House, Colombo 8).

Joseph Vaz

& Family

BiTS &PiECES

By Ariel


“Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (Matthew 14,28)

Questions159. Who is a ‘prophet’ etymologically? 160. What were the formulae prophets used while prophesying? 161. How are the prophets divided or classified?162. Name the Early Prophets.163. What were the characteristics of the Early Prophets? 164. How are the Classical Prophets divided?165. Which is the criterion of their division?166. Who are the Major Prophets?167. Who are the Minor Prophets? 168. What were the characteristics of the Classical Prophets? 169. What were the general features of the Prophets of Israel? 170. When did we become prophets? 171. How are the Gospels symbolized?172. Where do these symbols appear? 173. How are these symbols applied to the four Gospels? 174. Which is the symbol of Mark? Why? 175. Which is the symbol of Matthew? Why? 176. Which is the symbol of Luke? Why? 177. Which is the symbol of John? Why? 178. What are the other names used for the Gospel of Mark?179. What are the other names used for the Gospel of Matthew? 180. What are the other names used for the Gospel of Luke? 181. What are the other names used for the Gospel of John? 182. How are these other names coined? 183. When and where was the Gospel of Mark written? 184. When and where was the Gospel of Matthew written? 185. When and where was the Gospel of Luke written? 186. When and where was the Gospel of John written? 187. Why was Mark written? 188. Why was Matthew written? 189. Why was Luke written? 190. Why was John written? Responses159. i. ‘navi’ (Hebrew) = someone who announces/ proclaims God’s Word, someone who is called and sent by God ii. ‘ish haelohim’ (Hebrew) = man of God (1 Kings 17,18) iii. ‘roeh’ (Hebrew) = seer iv. ‘hozeh’ (Hebrew) = seer (Amos 7,12) v. ‘prophetes’(Greek) = (‘pro’ = for, on behalf of) + (‘phemi’ = to speak) = someone who speaks on behalf of God

160. i. ‘Thus says the Lord’ – Isaiah 1,2; Jeremiah 1,4; 34,2; Ezekiel 5,1; Amos 1,3 ii. ‘The Lord has spoken/ speaks’ – Isaiah 1,2; Ezekiel 5,15 iii.‘The oracle/ utterance of the Lord’ – Jeremiah 31,33; 34,2 iv. ‘The word of the Lord came to …’ – Jeremiah 1,4; Ezekiel 1,3; Joel 1,1.3 Hence prophet = someone who speaks on behalf of God; prophetic word = God’s Word.

161. i. Early/ Non-literary Prophets ii. Classical/ Literary Prophets

162. i. in the days of Moses: Miriam (Exodus 15,20); 70 elders (Numbers 11,24-25); Moses (Deuteronomy 34,10) ii. in the days of Judges and Kings: Prophetic guilds (1 Samuel 10,9-13;19,20; 1 Kings 20,35-42), Samuel (1 Samuel 3,19 – 25,1), Elijah (1 Kings 17 – 2 Kings 2), Elisha (1 Kings 19; 2 Kings 2 – 13), Nathan (2 Samuel 7 – 12), Ahijah (1 Kings 11,29-39; 12,15; 14,2), Micaiah (1 Kings 22), Huldah (2 Kings 22,14-20)

163. i. to fall into ecstasy: 1 Samuel 10,5-10; 19,23-24; 1 Kings 18,46 ii. to work in groups: 1 Samuel 19,18-24; 1 Kings 20,35; 2 Kings 2 – 3 Prophetic guilds (1 Samuel 10,9-13); professional prophets (1 Kings 20,38); cult prophets (1 Kings 14,18) iii to perform miracles:1 Kings 17 – 18; 2 Kings 2,19-24; 4,1-44 iv. to function as court prophets: Nathan (2 Samuel 12,1-11), Elijah (2 Kings 1 – 2) v. Their writings are absent in the OT

164. i. Major Prophets ii. Minor Prophets

165. Criterion = length of the Book

A COMPANION TO SCHOOL STUDENTS THE HOLY BIBLE

2017 Fr. Don Anton Saman Hettiarachchi

Logos: 11

O/L CATHOLICISM

166. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel

167. Amos, Hosea, Zechariah, Jonah, Micah, Obadiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Joel, Haggai, Malachi, Nahum

Sirach 49,10: “Then, too, the Twelve Prophets – may their bones return to life from their resting place!-- Gave new strength to Jacob and saved him by their faith and hope.”

168. i. Their writings are present in the OT ii. They expand from the days of kings to the days of foreign rule – Isaiah to Malachi.

169. i. Prophets were engaged in inductive divinization – the seer sees some objects and deduces a message as divinely revealed. E.g. smoke coming out of a sacrifice. ii. Prophets were engaged in intuitive divinization – the seer receives a particular message revealed to him through intuition. E.g. in ecstasy. Isaiah 6,1-6: a profound religious experience which the prophet received from God in a personal manner. iii. Prophets interpreted the present in relation to the past and the future. iv. Prophets realized that they were called by God: (Isaiah 6; Jeremiah 1,1-10; Ezekiel 1 – 3; Amos 7; Hosea 1 – 3; 1 Kings 19). v. As called by God, they spoke and acted bravely (Jeremiah 26; Amos 7,10-17). vi. In difficulties, they were discouraged (Jeremiah 20,7-18; Habakkuk 1,2 – 2,20). vii. Prophets often criticized the status quo: Amos 2,4-16. viii. Prophets reminded the people to fulfill their Covenant obligations of the Mosaic Law. ix. Prophets functioned as advisers of kings. x. Prophets defended the poor, widows and orphans. xi. Prophets heralded the coming of the Messiah and the Messianic times.

170. At Baptism: “The anointing with sacred chrism, perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become a Christian, that is, one “anointed” by the Holy Spirit, incorporated into Christ who is anointed priest, prophet, and king” (CCC # 1241).

171. By four creatures172. In the apocalyptic literature of Ezekiel 1,10 and Revelation 4,7 173. According to the way the Gospel begins

174. Mark = lion as the Gospel begins with the cry (roar) of John the Baptist in the wilderness

175. Matthew = winged man as the Gospel begins with the genealogy (humanity) of Jesus

176. Luke = bull as the Gospel begins with the sacrifice in the Temple of Jerusalem

177. John = eagle that flies so high, since the Gospel which is lofty in its theology begins with the Christological hymn that exalts the divinity of Christ

178. Gospel of Passion, Shortest Gospel, First Gospel (written first)

179. Gospel of the Kingdom, Gospel of the Church (for Matthew is the only Gospel, where the name ‘Church’ is found: 16,18; 18,17)

180. Gospel of the Poor, Gospel of the Gentiles, Gospel of Mercy, Gospel of Women, Third Gospel, Gospel of Journey, Gospel of Prayer, Gospel of Praise and Thanksgiving, Gospel of Renunciation, Gospel of the Holy Spirit

181. Spiritual Gospel (since the Mystery of Christ is sounded out to greater depths), Fourth Gospel 182. Based on the theological emphasis of each Gospel 183. 64-66 AD; in Rome184. 80-90 AD; in Syria Palestine185. 80-85 AD; in Antioch of Syria186. 90-100; in Ephesus187. To strengthen the faith of the early Christians under persecution

188. To strengthen the faith of the early Christians under persecution; to demonstrate that Jesus is the New Moses and Promised Messiah of Israel who was open to the Gentiles as well

189. To strengthen the faith of the early Christians under persecution; to demonstrate that Jesus is the Saviour of Jews and Gentiles alike

190. To strengthen the faith of the early Christians under persecution; “But these are written that you may (come to) believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name” (John 20,31)

Contd. Next week


Girls, come and help us! Boys, come and help us!Girls, come and help us! Boys, come and help us!Girls, come and help us! Boys, come and help us!

The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Feast Day: August 14

“TAKE COURAGE, IT IS I”My Dear Young Builders, In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks to us about faith. When the disciples were alone in the boat, they saw Jesus walking on the water and �irst they thought it was a ghost. But Peter said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” If we put ourselves in the place of Peter, and if we saw Jesus and if Jesus told us to come out on the water in the middle of the ocean, where we know the waters are deep, it is cold, and we may drown, would we do it? When Jesus said, “Come”, Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water. Faith is an experience. It is given to us by the Church in words, but it is we who have to experience it. And faith doesn’t fall from the sky. Peter was close to Jesus, he knew Jesus, he lived with Jesus and he experienced Jesus. Let us ask ourselves today, how much do we experience Jesus? Are we so close to the Lord that we can trust and act when he tells us something, even though we may be in a sea of doubt, danger and uncertainty? This is why we are Christians; to believe in the unbelievable. This week as we celebrate the feasts of St. Maximilian Kolbe and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, let us pray that we too may grow in the experiences of faith and be pleasing to God in the life we live. Aunty Gerro

Child’s letter to

God

“He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus” (Matthew 14,29)

Catechism

The Ten Commandments‘Charity’

161. What is charity? Charity is a supernatural gift of God by which we

love God above all things and our neighbour as ourselves for Gods sake.

162. Why must we love God? We must love God because He is infinitely good

in Himself and infinitely good to us.

163. How do we show that we love God? We show that we love God by keeping His com-

mandments: for Christ says, “If you love me, you will keep My Commandments.” (John 14:15)

164. How many Commandments are there?There are Ten Commandments. They are

1. I am the Lord your God: You shall not have strange god’s before me.2. You shall not use the name of the Lord your God in vain.3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.4. Honour your father and your mother.5. You shall not kill.6. You shall not commit adultery.7. You shall not steal.8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.9. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife.10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s goods.

165. Who gave the Ten Commandments? God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses.

Raymond Kolbe was born in Poland. When he was just a teenager, he joined the Franciscan order and took the name Maximilian. Maxi-milian loved his work and enjoyed studying to become a priest, and he especially loved the Blessed Mother. Before he became a priest, he started the Militia of Mary Immaculate or the Immaculate Movement de-voted to Our Lady. Then when he took his vows to become a priest he added “Mary” to his name. Father Maximilian Mary knew that the world which was so full of sin, needed their Heavenly Mother to guide and protect them. He started a magazine called “The Knight of the Immaculate” so that more people would know about Mother Mary. The Mother of God blessed Father Maximilian’s work. He built a large center in Poland. This center was called “City of the Immaculate.” In 1941, the Nazis arrested Father Kolbe. They sentenced him to hard manual labour at Auschwitz. Three months after he arrived at Auschwitz a prisoner escaped. The Nazis became very angry and chose ten prisoners for punishment, they put them in a bunker without food or water so that they would starve to death. One prisoner they chose was a married man with a family. He begged and pleaded to be spared for the sake of his children. Father Kolbe, who was listen-ing, felt deeply moved and decided to help that suffering prisoner. He stepped forward and asked the command-er if he could take the man’s place. The commander agreed. Father Kolbe and the other prisoners were sent into the bunker and they remained alive without food or water for many days. One by one, as they died, Father Kolbe helped and comforted them. He was the last to die on August 14, 1941. He was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 10, 1982.

Feast Day: August 15

On this feast of Mary we cel-ebrate a special favor that God gave to Mary, our Mother. The As-sumption means that Mary was taken up into the glory of heaven not only with her soul, but also with her body. J e s u s , the Son of God was born from Mary’s pure womb. So when Mary died, God the Father and Jesus, would not let the body of the Mother of God be spoilt. This was her reward for her love of God and her years of faithful prayers and suffering. Now Mary is in heaven. She is the queen of heaven and earth. She is the Mother of Jesus’ Church and queen of apostles. Every time Mary asks Jesus to give us graces, He listens to her request. On the last day, we, too, can go to heaven with our bodies. Our bodies will be perfect. They will not suffer illness anymore. They will not need any more food and drink to keep alive. They will be beautiful and splendid! If we use our bodies now to do good, those bod-ies will share in our heavenly reward. As we celebrate the feast day of Mary, we can ask our Blessed Mother Mary to guide, protect and care for us.

Holy Spirit Interactive

Matthew 14: 22-33

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

thought for the week “When the devil wishes to make himself master of the soul, he seeks to make it (soul) give up the devotion to Mary.”

St. Alphonsus Mary Liguori

St. Maxmilian Kolbe

The Kids Bulletin

14 August 13, 2017The Messenger

1. Today we find the disciples of Jesus alone in the mid-dle of the Sea of Galilee laboring against the turbulent winds and waves. We also find Jesus up on a mountain alone in prayer. What a stark contrast! However Jesus intervenes “during the fourth watch of the night” (3 am-6 am). He walks on the waters and saves the strug-gling disciples.

2. In the days of the Old Testament, God walked on and through the waters. “The waters saw you, God; the waters saw you and lashed about, trembled even to their depths … Through the sea was your path; your way, through the mighty waters, though your footsteps were unseen” (Psalm 77,17.20); “He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea” (Job 9,8). Now Jesus walks on the waters. He expresses His power over the monstrous waves and chaotic wa-ters representing demonic powers. He further encour-ages (“Be of good courage”) and reveals Himself to the frightened disciples in the ancient divine language of “I AM” (14,27) reminiscent of how God revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush “God replied, “I AM who I AM.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you” (Exodus 3,14). Finally the disciples acknowledge His revelation and profess, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

3. Only Matthew the Evangelist narrates the episode of Peter (vv. 28-31). Peter, having trusted in the Lord (“Come”), begins to walk on the waters towards Him. Then seeing the strong winds, he succumbs to fear and doubt. His faith in Jesus is not as deep as it should be. He, so wavering and hesitant, becomes “You of little faith.” So he begins to sink. This is what happens to you and me. The story of Peter could very well be our own story. We start off our lives well and good. We believe in Jesus and profess Him in public. But then something catastrophic hap-pens in life. The stormy winds begin to dash against our bark. The pressures of life continue to batter us. As a

result, we may begin to waver and doubt. We may lose our balance. Our faith in Jesus may dwindle. So we sink in life. But when Peter, dependent on the gracious help of the Lord, cried out, “Lord, save me!” immedi-ately He stretched out His hand and caught him. Simi-larly, we of little faith who find ourselves in danger of being swallowed up by the worries of life need to say with Peter, “Lord, save me!” Then we will feel, sooner or later, the Hand of Jesus reaching out in love to save us. The Lord stands by us in our difficulty!

4. Elijah the Prophet was fleeing from Israel. Jezebel, the Sidonian wife of Ahab, the king of Israel, was seek-ing his life. Then he, having been divinely nourished, found shelter in a cave of Mt. Horeb and experienced God in a tiny whispering sound on the mountain (1 Kings 19). Peter found Jesus in the midst of a storm at sea. We having experienced His saving presence at the stormy waves of life may eventually profess, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

5. The story of St. Peter continues! John Newton was nurtured by a Christian mother who taught him the Bi-ble at an early age, but he was raised in his father’s im-age after she died of tuberculosis when he was 7. So he started life at sea at a tender young age; at age eleven he first went to sea with his father. Newton worked on slave ships in the slave trade for several years and later became a captain of slave ships. He carried goods to Africa and traded them for slaves to be shipped to the colonies in the Caribbean and North America. His life was thus sinking spiritually, though he was thriving materially. During his 1748 voyage to England, Newton had a spiritual conversion. The ship encountered a se-vere storm off the coast of Donegal, Ireland and almost sank. Newton awoke in the middle of the night and, as the ship filled with water, called out to God. The cargo shifted and stopped up the hole and the ship drifted to safety. Thus began his conversion to Christ, who held his hands in the storm.

Once safe ashore, Newton began to profess his faith in Jesus in real life. He began to read the Bible; ac-cepted the Christian doctrines; and avoided profanity, gambling, and drinking. Gradually he gained sympathy for the slaves, eventually renounced his trade as well as seafaring and became a prominent supporter of aboli-tionism, living to see Britain’s abolition of the African slave trade through the Slave Trade Act 1807. Newton then became an Anglican pastor. Soon he became well known for his pastoral care, as much as for his beliefs, much respected by all. He spent sixteen years at Olney. His preaching was so popular that the congregation added a gallery to the church to accom-modate the many persons who flocked to hear him. Young churchmen and people struggling with faith sought his advice. It was in the vicarage in Olney that he wrote the hymn that would become ‘Amazing Grace’, a self-reflection.

By Rev. Fr. Don Anton Saman Hettiarachchi

"At once Jesus spoke to them, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid."

First Reading: 1Kgs. 19: 11-13. Prophet Elijah was asked to stand before the mountain of the Lord. The Lord was not present in the mighty wind, earthquake or fire. He was present in the gentle breeze.

Second Reading: Rom. 9: 1-5. St. Paul expresses the anguish in his heart. He wants the Israelites to accept Christ. St. Paul would do anything to establish this relationship.

Gospel: Mt. 14: 22-33. The episode of Jesus walking on the water is related here. Peter is also able to do the same until he takes his eyes away from the Lord.

Re�lection. Our faith will not bear fruit until we trust and completely surrender ourselves to the Lord. The ways of the Lord are inscrutable. But the Lord follows a steady and a definite course of action with regard to our lives. We need a godly heart to understand some-thing of what is in store for us in His plans. When we seek to understand the plan of God we pray that pros-perity be ours all the time. We pray to God about those who are not in good terms with us, we pray God to treat them harshly. In the First Reading the prophet, having fled the wrath of the pagan queen expects God to punish her. He wants God to be a destructive force. He thought

that God would be present in the wind and the fire. He did not make Himself present in any way the prophet wanted Him to be. He made Himself present in a tiny whisper in the sound of a gentle breeze. God wants the prophet to return to his country and apostolate. Inscru-table ways of the Lord. In the Second Reading St. Paul tries to convert the Jews. He wants the Jews to be active in their faith. The Jews would not cooperate. St. Paul is trying to ap-ply his own way. But the way of the Lord is different. In the account of the Gospel Peter starts walk-ing on the water towards the Lord. The Lord welcomes Peter’s initiative. Everything goes well until Peter with-draws his attention from the Lord. He sees the perilous waves around him engulfing and beginning to drown. He loses the power he has received from the Lord when he succumbs to his ways. The Lord stretches His hand to save Peter. The Lord need not be present with us each and every moment physically. But His ways should be before us. They must be our motivating power. We should have our eyes fixed on Him and not be distract-ed. The Lord will have His way to lead us home for He knows what is best for us.

Aid Story 1. The Sufi Bayazid says this about himself: “I was a revolutionary when I was young and all my prayers to God were: “Lord give me the energy to change the world.” As I approached middle age and realized half of my life was gone without my changing a single soul,

I changed my prayer to: “Lord give me the grace to change all those who come to contact with me. Just my family and my friends and I shall be satisfied.” Now that I am old and my days are numbered I have begun to see how foolish I have been. My prayer now is: “Lord give me the grace to change myself.” If I had prayed for this right at the start I should not have wasted my life.” Eve-rybody thinks about changing humanity. Hardly anyone thinks about changing himself.

Aid Story 2. I never complained of my condition but once, said an old man – when my feet were bear and I had no money to buy shoes; I met a man without feet and be-came contented. Content can sooth, where by fortune placed; can rear a garden in the desert.(H. K. White)

Rev. Fr. Ciswan De Croos

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“But when he saw how (strong) the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14,30)

Sun: 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time 1 Kgs. 19:9a, 11-13a; Rom. 9:1-5; Mt. 14: 22-33Mon: Memorial of Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr Dt. 10:12-22; Mt. 17:22-27Tue: Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Rev. 11:19a,12:1-6a,10ab; 1Cor.15:20-27a; Lk. 1:39-56Wed: Memorial of St. Stephen of Hungary Dt. 34:1-12; Mt. 18:15-20Thu: Jos. 3:7-10a, 11,13-17; Mt. 18:21-19:1Fri: Jos.24:1-13; Mt. 19:3-12Sat: Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest Jos.24:14-29; Mt. 19:13-15Sun: 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time Is. 56:1,6-7; Rom.11:13-15,29-32; Mt. 15: 21-28

Liturgical Calendar Year A 13th August - 20th August 2017

“During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea” (Matthew 14,22-33)

15 August 13, 2017The Messenger

important to remember that it would be futile to attempt to develop society without developing the family because the foundation for one’s life is laid in childhood within the family. This foundation has to be strong. The factors outlined above are some of the issues relevant in education related to parenting and marital harmony. We have to take serious note of the fact that parenting and harmonious family life requires preparation and ongoing nourishment through educa-tion, for marriage and for bringing up children. Who will impart this education ? We need to have trained personnel at different spheres of society such as reli-gious organizations, schools and social service organi-zations to handle this task. There is also scope for this task through the cinema, television and other media.

References: 1. Brody, G.H.,Neubaum; E. & Forehand, R. (1988). Se-rial Marriage: A Heuristic analysis of an emerging fam-ily form. Psychological Bulletin, 1 03.

2. Dinkmayer, D. & McKay, G.D. (1997).The Parent Hand-book. Circle Pines, MN : American Guidance Service.

3. Ginott, H.G. (1965). Between Parent and Child. New Solutions to Old Problems. New York: Macmillan

4. Gorden, T. (1970). P.E.T. Parent Effective training: A tested new Way to Raise Children. New York:Peter H. Wyden

“Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14,31)

From Pg. 10 The Critical....

Four-and-a-half years after his election, Pope Fran-cis shows no signs of slowing down or of incapac-ity despite his 80 years.

He has been driving deep changes in the Church and has been stringent in his critiques of cleri-calism and careerism. He has renewed the momentum from the Sec-ond Vatican Council and is pushing major changes in structures and culture, calling for greater transparency, lay consultation and participation in the Church, espe-cially by women. He wants the Church to be more strongly involved in the struggles of poor and marginalised people. Not surprisingly, Pope Francis has upset many applecarts and is meeting resistance from some Catho-lics. As he says, it is not the end of an era, but a change of era in a vastly changed global context, in which faith must find fresh expression. Pope Francis has also become a key figure on the secular international stage and he contributes to the discourse about current problems, from issues of war, violence and terrorism, to economic and social af-fairs dealing with inequality, hunger, poverty, migration and refugees. But how is the pope managing such a brief, given the astonishing range of issues and the urgency of many of them? As a moral leader, the energetic Pope Francis has sharpened the relevance of his role, certainly in the urgent encounter with Islam, but also in the overarch-ing global issues of climate change and world poverty. At the World Youth Day events in Sydney in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI surprisingly made practi-cally no mention of the great social justice issues, even though he was preparing his encyclical Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate) in response to the Global Financial Crisis. However, Pope Francis has deliberately brought social justice to the centre of the Church's mis-sion today. World leaders and heads of government have been queuing to meet him, even the president of the United States of America (US), Donald Trump, lined up for a chat. The Pope gave Trump copies of his major documents and stressed that he had signed one on cli-mate change personally for him. But sadly, soon after-wards, Trump announced the US would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. But particularly in his best known work, Praise Be: On care for our common home (Laudato Si'), penned

in 2015, Pope Francis warned not only about the catastroph-ic threat from global warming, but sharply crit-icised economic policies that were exacer-bating inequal-ity and failing adequately to alleviate global poverty. But he also has his critics. Some have strongly criti-cised Pope Fran-

cis' views on social justice and inequality. In June 2015, commentators in The Australian argued that the pope's views were not Church teaching, but his own private opinions and Catholics need not take them seriously. Others declared that these questions should be left to scientists and Pope Francis had no authority to speak on such matters. The editor-at-large of The Australian, Paul Kel-ly, wrote on June 24 that the pope's language was "viv-id, almost hysterical. Profound intellectual ignorance is dressed up as honouring God." Kelly charged that the pope and his advisers are "economic ideologues of a quasi-Marxist bent." He added that the pope "delegitimises as immoral the po-sition of pro-market reformers." However, Pope Francis himself insists that his documents rely on the best scientific advice available and are meant to be taken seriously as authoritative Church statements, although Catholics are free to de-bate them, as criticism can help make any corrections.Nevertheless, he points out that his critique of unfair economic programmes has a long pedigree in Church social teaching, over 125 years, right back to Leo XIII's Of Things New (Rerum Novarum) in 1891. Despite opposition from the networks of right-wing media and think tanks aligned with and funded by major corporations, Pope Francis has many times reiterated his attack on extreme free-market ideologies and in part, blames them for growing inequality. He acknowledges the huge benefits of well-regulated markets in lifting millions out of poverty, but laments that markets have often been perverted and

corrupted by special interests, diverting the gains to small elite groups rather than benefitting the many. The social views of Pope Francis have resonat-ed profoundly with many others. There has been rising outrage in many countries against the neoliberal poli-cies that have fanned extravagance and greed among elite groups, while austerity policies have caused wide-spread unemployment and severe hardship. The resentment has been sweeping through Europe and even the US, helping explain the election of Trump and Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. However, Pope Francis has had teams of peo-ple consulting world experts, many not Catholic, such as the leading economist and critic of inequality, Joseph Stiglitz; one of the architects of the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals, Jeffrey Sachs; and on global warming, the director of the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, a world authority in this field, who helped launch On care for our common home in Rome. Schellnhuber insisted that the climate science behind the document is extremely sound. Many eminent scholars are members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and of the Pon-tifical Academy of Sciences. These bodies, which include numerous Nobel Prize laureates, have been researching such issues for years and advise Church agencies, including the Pontif-ical Council for Justice and Peace, under Peter Cardinal Turkson. It is too early to tell how well Pope Francis will succeed in his agenda to encourage all people, what-ever their belief, to work together in practical efforts to improve human life for everyone, with special regard for those on the margins and for the sustainability of the planet itself, as detailed in the UN Sustainable De-velopment Goals for instance. It is rumoured that Francis is preparing a new social encyclical. If so, one might expect him to contin-ue his critique of neoliberal economic policies, but also to examine the causes of conflict in the Middle East and elsewhere, as well as the arms trade, which keeps fur-ther stoking these fires. Pope Francis has said there is a war going on around the world, waged piecemeal.

Father Bruce Duncan CSSRYarra Theological Union

Melbourne

A scorecard on Pope Francis

In the context of achieving harmony between husband and wife, intuition and natural impulse do not necessarily reveal the correct attitudinal and behavioural techniques. Education is a process, the objective of which is to bring about change for the better. Since change is a continuous and dynamic process, education also has to be a continuous process. This applies to family education too. Means and avenues have to be found to make family education an ongoing process and not merely a ‘one-off event. Proper training of the resource persons for family education is necessary. Seminars, workshops, discussions, sharing sessions and other group activities focused on small groups on a regular basis would be very beneficial. The effectiveness of a person as an individual or as a member of society depends on the extent of development of his personality in an integral sense taking into account the physical, intellectual, emotional, moral social and spiritual domains. Family education therefore should focus on all these areas and would constitute principles and techniques related to human development, communication, empathic understanding and human relationships as well as spiritual values. Academic disciplines of psychology, sociology, philosophy and religion play major roles in family education. Some essential elements of family education should also be included in school and ‘daham pasala’ curricula. It is

got a fracture on his hand but he participated at the drill display of the school sports meet with a plaster cast on his left arm. He was often a victim of vicious acts of jealousy and envy. But my dearest Nadeepa never fell in front of any challenge. He remained courageous. His response was that “God is making me a mature person through trials in life.” It was quite upsetting to hear the news that Nadeepa was hospitalised. I could not believe my ears when Ms. Priyanthi called us and told us to pray for him. I went immediately to see him and I saw him through the glass door of the MICU of the LRH. I could not be-lieve my eyes, because his health was perfect when we met him a week before at St. Theresa’s Church, Thim-birigasyaya when we sang for a Wedding Mass. But, sad-ly my ‘Role Model’ and above all my friend left us and went to be with Christ, Our Lord on August 8, 2016. He was loved by everyone as it was evident in the way his friends, teachers and relations emotionally responded upon hearing of his sudden death. Happily, I can profess anywhere that I learned many things from him; characteristic self-confidence, inner strength in obstacles, good nature, helping and collaborating with others, welcome all with a smile and being large-hearted and many more. So, Nadeepa, a year ago you left me. But, still I am your biggest fan and will always be forever my be-loved friend. Goodbye Nadeepa. May your soul Rest in Peace!

From Pg. 10 Celebrating the life....

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