Christian Perspectives

In the World You will have hardships; but be courageous: I have conquered the World (Gospel of St. John 16:33)

Balagala Church celebrates Silver Jubilee

E. Weerapperuma

SILVER JUBILEE: Balagala Church dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour is one of the three Churches coming under the administration of the Nayakakanda Mission today led by Rev. Fr. Gregory Jayantha.

The Church will celebrate the Silver Jubilee on Sunday, September 30 with a festive High Mass, the sublime form of thanksgiving.

Rev. Fr. H.D. Anthony, present Parish Priest of Kandawala will be the chief celebrant. He was responsible in initiating the separate Church building to serve the Catholic community at Balagala.

Colombo Archbishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis will officiate at the Vespers on Saturday. A retreat for the member families of the Mission will be conducted by the Franciscan Priests and Brothers.

The Church comes in a small plot of land donated by Vincent Rodrigo of the Rodrigo family of Hendala.The area has historical value because of the Balagala Kanda and Muthurajawela Welyaya which provided rice in the times of the Sinhala Kings.

It is claimed that Balanagala Kanda had its importance during the times of the Sinhala Kings to monitor the movements of the enemy. The area was also hallowed by the visit of Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkatta.

Until the new Church was put up Holy Masses, other church services and devotions were conducted at the old Church now turned into a Catechetical Centre.The late Badulla Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Edmund Fernando OMI, the then Auxiliary Bishop of Colombo on May 30,1982 placed the statue of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour with due honour, brought in a colourful procession.

The celebration of the feast began from September 1985. The last Sunday of September is the celebrating date of the new Church.

The construction work of the Church ended during the 2000 Jubilee Year of the Birth of Christ and on June 17, 2000 the then Colombo Archbishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando blessed the new Church.

Late Rev. Fr. Mervyn Jayakody took over from Fr. Anthony, as Parish Priest and began the weekly Novena to Our Lady from 1989. Fr. Jayakody expired while serving the Balagala community as a resident priest.

As the land was small the balance portion of the same land was brought with the financial support from the Archbishop. Rev. Fr. Sisvan de Croos commenced fund raising project in 1991 for a new Church building.

The foundation for the new church was laid down on August 23,1993 by the then Auxiliary Bishop Rt.Rev.Dr.Malcolm Ranjith, who now serves the Universal Church as the Secretary to the Sacred Congregation on Divine Worship and Sacraments.

Rev.Fr.Jude Samantha as one of the Assistants did his best to raise funds. Late Rev. Fr. Benedict Jayatilleke as the Parish Priest saw to the completion of the Church and was able to harness all resources finance and manpower to gift a beautiful abode for Our Lady of the Perpetual Succour.

The new Church building constructed according to the sketch drawn by Anura Jayatilleke of Seeduwa, is a living monument to late Rev.Fr. Benedict Jayatilleke whose efforts helped the growing Catholic community at Balagala to have a Church building of their own as they too were a part and parcel in constructing the Church building. The donors of the land, Rodrigo family could also be happy for being able to offer something to God they earn from toil and sweat.

The community would always remember in appreciation support extended by Archbishop Emeritus Rt. Rev. Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando, Very Rev. Fr. Placidus de Silva, the cash donations made by Archdiocese of Colon, Germany, the Propaganda Fidei, Rev. Fr. Peter Song of South Korea.

The new Church which celebrates the Silver Jubilee this weekend became a reality due to the numerous help extended by Gampaha District MP John Amaratunga, Western Provincial Council Member Lawrence Madiwala, Joseph Benedict Perera, Balagala Joseph Shelton Amarasinghe, Hendala Margie Jayasinghe, Lilee Senevirathne, Hamilton Senevirathne, Hendala Shanthi Lal Fernando, Balagala Linus Alahakoon, Nayakakanda Calistus Mayadunna, the members of the Daya Seva Samithiya and Blessed Joseph Vaz Youth Organisation. They deserve public appreciation and recognition.

Religion - a needful presence

Miran Perera

FEAST: The Annual Festival of St. John’s Church, Modera, Colombo - 15 took place recently. Here the decorated statue of St. John in procession. Pic By: A. Maduraveeran

FEAST: The feast of St Lazarus at Hekitta, will be celebrated on September 30. The Church dedicated to the Saint was constructed during the times of late Rev. Fr. Solomon Fernando OMI as Parish Priest of Wellapalliya, Hendala. (File Photo)

RELIGION: To understand why mankind opts for religion and what is there in religion that cannot be fulfilled by anything else we need to know the meaning of life and religion.

Rationality is the sum total of worldly wisdom expounded by all religious teachers and philosophers who adorn the colourful canvas of human history. It has been the mainstay of great civilisations that sprang up from time to time.

The clergy should not resort to superficial preaching of their respective religions to attract the blind faith of followers and should not indulge in rituals not found or sanctioned.

All must regard it as a great philosophy where people could ask questions and get the correct answers before accepting the statements on religion. People should not be drawn into unproductive debates or go astray with blind faith.

Every religion on earth is meant to pacify its followers whose minds are in turmoil with daily burdens. Religion should not sow hatred among people or engage in demeaning activities. Gauthama Buddha, Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed the founders of three major religions have been great rationalists.

The Buddha mastered and absorbed the collective wisdom of the ages and bequeathed to humanity an ethical code unsurpassed in value based on rational thought. Jesus Christ was a social reformer who stood to reason and had to pay the supreme sacrifice for going against the wrong and the irrational.

Prophet Mohammed was so rational in his thinking that he wanted the rich among his followers to distribute part of their wealth to the poor. A religion be it any faith survives on the merits of its teachings and its noble practices. Despite appeal or allurement even a microscope minority has not really easily deserted their avowed religion.

The egalitarianism preached in Buddhism if properly followed can entice so many followers like the Hindus in India who have been drawn towards the precepts and practices of the Noble Master.

A good religion which offers solace to believers should not be subject to or obliged to a civil government or political state to exist. Religions should rely on their intrinsic virtues and values. Religions should not be subject to vicissitudes and vagaries of governments.

A superior obligation which is different from regulations is what humans need for the fulfilment of his natural life and creation of order. Without this pure feeling humans are reduced to the status of a unintelligent and heartless being. Every human being should clarify one's opinion on the cause of need for religion in proportion to ones knowledge and understanding of ones self and the surrounding world.

Religion is a general concept and not exclusive to certain researches or class of society. Examination and discussion on the cause and necessity for religion is a generalised concept which every person is entitled to contemplate.

It is rational thinking that leads all to reasonableness. It is our reasonableness that the good of human society rests. Hinduism based on the Chatur Veda regulates life in this world in an extremely rational and systematic manner.

Just as man has developed culture after the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter have been satisfied, the followers of many religions have evolved various beliefs and rituals around them which the religious founders would never have thought of.

So much so it is now sometimes not possible to sift the grain from the chaff considering that most fundamental questions about life are always raised by sound reason and inner nature and not by partial theoretical reason, these two very significant issues are maintained as factors and motives for greater attention and inclination to religion.

Without considering that religion has invited and stressed these two factors and its concomitant question about the cause and need for religion it will be a question outside the realm of religion.

That is to say it is a question which does not stem from religion and religious text. Therefore the answer provided by reason for this question should be an answer provided by factors outside the domain of religion. Sri Lanka has received many a beating since independence of 1948.

There followed problems over the citizenship, enfranchisement, discrimination on grounds of language and in admission to higher education. Let not religion too be made in to an ineradicable problem owing to intolerance and discrimination by a few.

The country cannot afford to pay any more prices. Patience and prudence should wean citizens away from the disaster of bigotry particularly in an island dedicated and reiterated to loving kindness tolerance and accommodation which flows from Buddhism and all other faiths old and relatively new.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter - the foremost Catholic Scholar

W.T.A. Leslie Fernando

SCHOLAR: Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter is the foremost Catholic scholar living in Sri Lanka today. The well-known Catholic priest, educationist, historian, writer, poet, author, journalist and patriot turned 91 on September 25, 2007.

Fr. Welgama Lekam Appuhamilage Don Peter was born on September 25, 1916 at Kondegammulla, Katana. After a brilliant academic career at Maris Stella College, Negombo - the cradle of many a Catholic priest, he entered St. Aloysius Seminary in 1935.

He later had his education at St. Joseph's College, Colombo and attained priestly formation at St. Bernard's Seminary. He was ordained a priest on March 25, 1941 by Dr. J.M. Masson the then Archbishop of Colombo.

From 1941 to 1946, he served as an assistant parish priest at St. Mary's Church, Grand Street - Negombo and then at St. Thomas Church, Kotte. In 1946, he was appointed to the staff of St. Joseph College, Colombo. He also functioned as the Prefect of boarders, Prefect of studies and Prefect of discipline.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter who studied Pali on his own at the Seminary itself, now began to lean towards oriental studies. While leading a busy life at St. Joseph's, he spent his leisure hours in studying oriental languages, history and culture.

The Church was not slow to recognise the talents of this scholarly young priest. In 1950 Archbishop Thomas Cooray sent him abroad for further studies. He studied Missiology for one year at the Urbanian University, taking up his residence at the College of St. Peter, the Apostle in Rome.

In 1951, Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter proceeded to England and joined the school of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He presented the thesis 'A Comparative Study of Buddhism and Christianity in Ceylon Education' for his PhD at the London University.

In his scholarly articles like 'St. Francis and Buddha', 'Religious Life, Buddhist and Christian and in his research work Buddhist and Benedictine Monastic Education Fr. Don Peter brings forth the spirituality of the two religions, austere discipline of Catholic orders and their similarity to the Vinaya rules of the Buddhist Sangha.

It was as an educationist that Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter shined most. On his return to the island, he was appointed the Director of St. Aloysius Seminary.

He served there with great acceptance and introduced new educational methods and cultural features. In 1961, Fr. Don Peter was made the Rector of St. Joseph's College, Colombo. He was the first old Josephian, the first Sinhalese and first Diocesan priest to hold this post.

It was soon after the schools take over that Fr. Don Peter had to face challenges. However he steered St. Joseph's as non-fee levying private school without resorting to any fat donations for admissions. He also gave oriental studies a special place at St. Joseph's College and brought it to the mainstream of national life.

In 1967, Fr. W.L. Don Peter was appointed Domestic Prelate to the Papal Throne with the title Rt. Rev. Monsignor by Pope Paul VI in recognition of his services to Catholic education.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter has made a deep insight to the Church history in Sri Lanka. In 1963, he presented the work 'Studies in Ceylon Church History' embodying his historic research. Fr. Don Peter was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain in 1965. Both Prof. George D. Winius of Holland and our Prof. C.R. de Silva, renowned historians have expressed that Fr. Don Peter is the worthy successor to Fr. S.G. Perera, the great historian in Sri Lanka.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter functioned as the Rector of Aquinas College of Higher Studied from 1971 to 1976 and then from 1979 to 1989. He almost succeeded in raising Aquinas to degree awarding University status. But it was dropped at that time as a matter of policy.

In 1986 the Church authorities named the auditorium at Aquinas as 'Don Peter Auditorium' in appreciation of his services to the institution.

Fr. Don Peter is well-known for his zest for research and zealous application to work with a great capacity to maximise the use of time. He has presented over two scores of books and written over 400 learned articles both in English and in Sinhala for journals here and abroad. He is a much respected writer whose lucid style of writing provides fascinating reading.

Fr. Don Peter has also written a series of novels for children and some of them have been re-printed several times. His novel 'Vana Gatha Lamo' has gone through nine editions. His novel 'Tekkawatte Kathava' won the Presidential award for the best children's novel in 1998.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter has rendered his services to the State as well. He has served as a member of the Government Educational Publication Board.

He has represented Sri Lanka in Educational conferences held in Phillipines, Malaysia, Taiwan and Soviet Union. He has been thrice the President of the Headmasters' Conference in Sri Lanka. He had the honour of serving in the national committee of the Sri Lankan section of the UNESCO History of Nations.

In 1991 Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter set up the Daham Sarana Institute in Tudella to present Catholic literature in simple language at a low price. In fact this was a move proposed by Fr. Don Peter as far back as 1978. Daham Sarana Institute released 35 booklets from 1991 to 1995. Some of them repel the arguments of Fundamentalist as well as that of some priests who cause confusion within the Church.

Fr. Don Peter managed to get foreign funds for the project and made the booklets available at a nominal price around Rs. 10. However the authorities paid scant attention to it. Later they discontinued the project and the funds Fr. Don Peter got from abroad was utilised for some other purpose.

We could see Fundamental Christian sects going from house to house and distributing their literature so that some Catholics too are lured by them. Daham Sarana Institute would have been a great asset to the Church to meet the arguments of the Fundamentalists.

The Church spend so much money on film festivals and television ceremonies. Is not the faith of Catholics more important than those secular activities.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter with his research on the Church history is frank to admit that the missionaries made use of political power of the Portuguese to spread the Catholic faith in Sri Lanka. But he refutes the charge that there were conversions by force.

He vividly describes how the Catholic faith strengthened and its roots deepened down in the soil during the Dutch persecution.

Fr. Don Peter has been a fearless defender of the Catholic doctrine. The renowned writer and author Martin Wickremasinghe has been a close friend of Fr. Don Peter because of their common interest on indigenous culture. In 'Dinamina' Fr. Don Peter crossed swords with him over the Catholic Church and democracy.

Likewise Fr. Don Peter has entered into controversies with many on the Catholic doctrine.

In his writings Fr. Don Peter highlights the impact of Catholic institutions on education, culture and morals of people.

He believes that there is no better way to propagate the religion than by holy life, exemplary behaviour and good example.

Fr. W.L.A. Don Peter as a priest of God always projects a spiritual outlook in religion. He never transgresses on things where angels fear to tread.

His every endeavour as a scholar, educationist, historian and administrator is in harmony with his priesthood. He is a true representative of Christ and a good shepherd who could guide and lead the laity.

Ad Multos Annos.