Christian Perspectives

Archbishop Gomis celebrates Golden Jubilee of Priesthood

E. WEERAPPERUMA

Colombo Archbishop Oswald Thomas Colman Gomis will celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Priesthood on February 2 with a thanksgiving Holy Mass at St. Lucia’s Cathedral at 9.00 a.m. On February 12th at 4.00 p.m. there will be a felicitation ceremony at national level at the BMICH.

Born on December 12, 1932, as the youngest son of Vincent Gomis and Roslin Florida Gomis family bringing the number of children to six, he became the finale of the offspring of Gomis family at Sinharamulla, Kelaniya.

He had his early education at the Pilapitiya Roman Catholic School, and his mid secondary education under the guidance of De La Salle Brothers at St. Benedict’s College, Kotahena and sat for his SSC Examination as a student from St. Joseph’s College, Maradana. In 1950 he joined the St. Aloysius minor seminary.

After his priestly studies at St. Bernard’s Major Seminary at Borella where the present Aquinas College is, he was ordained a priest at the age of 26 years, by late His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Cooray then Archbishop of Colombo on February 3, 1958 after his brief stay at the National Seminary of Our Lady of Sri Lanka at Ampitiya, Kandy.

As a young priest he joined the Staff of the St. Aloysius Minor Seminary and was the Spiritual Director of those aspiring to be priests (1958 to 1960). While serving as the Spiritual Director of the Minor Seminary he was also appointed as the Manager of the Catholic Press in 1960.

He became the 10th Editor of the “Gnanarthapradeepaya”, the Catholic Weekly on August 25, 1961, and the Weekly celebrated its centenary in 1966, while he was the Editor of that Weekly. He was responsible for the “Lama Pradeepaya” which saw the light of the day on May 7, 1966.

A prolific writer, a researcher and an author, he has several books to his credit including “Mahopadeshaya” and the “Lama Bibalaya”. He also translated Gunter Gronbold’s book “Jesus in Indien” on Christ into Sinhala.

Fr. Gomis was consecrated a Bishop in July 17, 1968 at the age of 36, and He served as Auxiliary to the then Archbishop of Colombo. He completes 40 years as a Bishop this year. On November 2, 1995, the Holy See appointed Him Second Bishop of the Diocese of Anuradhapura and He assumed office on January 15, 1996.

In the year 2002, July 6 he was called to take over the Archdiocese of Colombo and on July 27, 2002 he assumed duties as Archbishop of Colombo.

Archbishop Gomis is well recognised religious dignitary among the leaders of other faiths and religions. Recently He was felicitated by the Congress of Religions.

He served as the Secretary General of Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka (1968-1983) and was appointed to same in 1989 again and was responsible in setting up of Secretariat building of the conference at the Balcombe Place, Borella. He was also the Secretary General of the Federation of Asia Bishops’ Conference.

He obtained his degree on Education from the University Adamson in Philippines and was conferred a Doctorate in recognition of his services in the field of Media in Asia. He served as Chairman Media Commission (1968-1983), Liturgy Commission (1972-1976), Justice and Peace (1968-1972), National Catholic Education Commission (1982-1989) and Media Commission (1985-1991). He also served as a member of the Catholic Bible Committee 1962 to 1982.

He was also the Chairman of the National Catholic Commission on Tourism, Emigration, Health, Safety and Prison. He was member of the Inter-Church Committee on Bible Translation (1964-1982) and he served the “Veritas”- Catholic Broadcasting, OCIC and was a member of the Royal Asiatic Committee.

May he be blessed to serve many years in the vineyard of the Lord.

February 6: Ash Wednesday

Wednesday, February 6 is Ash Wednesday. It is a day of abstinence and fasting. Catholics are expected to attend Holy Mass on this day. The officiating priest at the Holy Eucharist will remind while signing the Cross on our foreheads with ash that we are made out of soil, will go back to soil.

The event commences the season of Lent and calls for real change of heart, Metanoia, repentance and return to God, like the prodigal son in the story of the ever loving and merciful father awaiting anxiously to embrace the son on his return. Let us not slip this opportunity.

Pope Benedict XVI - An Encyclical Letter on Christian Hope

Rev. Fr. Leopold Ratnasekera O.M.I., Ph.D., Th.D.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, the Spiritual Head of the Roman Catholics worldwide has written his second encyclical letter on Hope as understood in the Christian sense, entitled “Spe Salvi” (saved by hope), once again exercising his teaching office for all the Catholic faithful.

He shares it not only with the Catholics but with other Christians and all people of goodwill. It is dated November 30, 2007. In a short introduction the Pope presents the subject of reflection: “According to the Christian faith, ‘redemption’ - salvation - is not simply a given.

Redemption is offered to us in the sense that we have been given hope, trustworthy hope, by virtue of which we can face our present: the present, even if it is arduous, can be lived and accepted if it leads towards a goal, if we can be sure of this goal, and if this goal is great enough to justify the effort of the journey.

Now the question immediately arises: what sort of hope could ever justify the statement that, on the basis of that hope and simply because it exists, we are redeemed? And what sort of certainty is involved here?” The letter has eight major sections and is spread over 50 paragraphs.

The topic is very relevant since it is hope that sustains human beings especially in times of prolonged doubt, pain, suffering, trial and affliction whether bodily, emotional or mental in situations, which purely from a human and rational point of view, seem devoid of any ray of hope.

It also accompanies our efforts todesire and achieve something good and look into a happier future, if possible a permanent state of bliss, joy and fulfillment.

The emphasis is on a kind of hope that is of an absolutely higher spiritual kind which transcends all expectations rooted purely in the growth of reason, human freedom and progress, the achievements of science and technology and even political utopias.

These may have a relative value and is worth working for. But analysing the various historical phenomena, be they of a cultural, social, economic or political nature, the hope that had been held out to mankind through them have in reality turned out to be either not lasting or totally illusory.

Real hope that brings human fulfillment and ensures the integral development of human beings amidst life-struggle has to be of a different kind: beyond the material and the ephemeral and springing from more profound foundations.

The question of hope concerns living and dying in general and hence it embraces the concerns about here and now as well.

Emphasising that Hope is really based on Faith as is substantiated in the New Testament and in the spirituality of the early Church, the Pope probes into the important question of the nature of eternal life, for Christianity embraces this hope radically and sees the temporal phase of human existence as a stepping-stone to eternal life.

However personal one’s religious belief and practice may be, Christian Hope is not individualistic but is a shared experience and in practice has to be communitarian and social.

Then follows a very interesting reflection on the transformation of Christian faith-hope in the modern age: an age that betrays a marked tendency towards individualism and this-worldly fulfillment. A clear exposition is then made of the shape and experience of Hope.

This is an important section of the encyclical letter since the elements and form of hope specific to Christianity are elucidated with the response to the question as to what is meant by “eternal life”, life beyond suffering and death, time and space. It is a state of interminable joy.

This is the true destiny of human existence springing from the seeds of immortality sown within our own frail human nature. The Pope’s letter reaches the final section where a triple setting for learning and practicing of hope is explained.

They would be prayer, suffering and action on our part and thirdly, judgment which must ultimately flow from God and His law commanding man’s compliance with its demands.

Identifying what Christian Hope consists of, the Pope says in reference to the Letter to the Ephesians: “The Ephesians, before their encounter with Christ, were without hope because they were ‘without God in the world.’ To come to know God - the true God - means to receive hope.

We who have always lived with the Christian concept of God, and have grown accustomed to it, have almost ceased to notice that we possess the hope that ensues from a real encounter with this God.” St. Paul taught in the letters to the Hebrews and Philippians that Christians do not have a permanent abode on earth but seek one which lies in the future.

In the early Christian era Jesus Christ is depicted in the images of Philosopher who reveals the wisdom concerning reality and the shepherd who opened the path of eternal life.

The Pope cites the moving story of an African slave-girl, St. Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947) who was a helpless victim of sheer suffering and torture at the hands of the slave masters but later freed, discovered God’s love, became a religious nun and went about promoting the missions to spread her story of hope.

For us, the Gospel is not just information of some good news but it changes our life: it is “formative”. The dark door of time, of the future has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently, for he lives a new life.

The connection between Christian faith and hope, the Pope expresses in the following way: “Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the proof of things not seen....faith is not merely a personal reaching out towards things to come that are still totally absent: it gives us something.

It gives us even now something of the reality we are waiting for, and this present reality constitutes for us a ‘proof’ of things that are unseen. Faith draws the future into the present, so that it is no longer simply a ‘not yet’.

The fact that this future exists changes the present; the present is touched by the future reality, and thus the things of the future spill over into those of the present and those of the present into those of the future” (n.7) Faith gives life to a new basis, a new foundation on which we can stand, one which makes any other material or earthy surety relative.

It is a lived-hope, a life based on the certainty of hope. It is finally rooted in the expectation of God, standing with God, which takes on a new significance in Christ in whom God has revealed himself.

In this background the so-called “eternal life” is understood as something to which our being with Christ leads us to expect. It is not understood as a sequence of time but as an experience of sheer joy and fulfillment where our whole being is filled with life and love.

The most challenging section of this encyclical letter is the one on the transformation of Christian faith-hope in the modern age.

It is about a historical analysis of modernity that held out the pledge of hope to humankind but at the end of it all was futile and illusory since much of it was taught and diffused only in relation to efforts aimed at building “a kingdom of man” without any reference to God or a spiritual destiny.

Such ideologies and processes were bound to fail. The Pope in this section reflects on the foundation of modern age that led to the wrong understanding of hope and thus failed humanity.

He mentions to begin with, Francis Bacon who pointed out the correlation between science and praxis generating a new hope of for man’s rule over nature, thus leading further into faith in progress.

The Pope says: “Now..... Redemption, the restoration of the lost paradise is no longer expected from faith, but from the newly discovered link between science and praxis. It is not that faith is simply denied; rather, it is displaced onto another level - that of purely private and other-worldly affairs - and at the same time it becomes somehow irrelevant for the world.

This programmatic vision has determined the trajectory of modern times and it also shapes the present-day crisis of faith which is essentially a crisis of Christian hope. Thus, hope too ...... acquires a new form. Now it is called: faith in progress.

For Bacon, it is clear that the recent spate of discoveries and inventions is just the beginning; through the interplay of science and praxis, totally new discoveries will follow, a totally new world will emerge, the kingdom of man.... As the ideology of progress developed further, joy at visible advances in human potential remained a continuing confirmation of faith in progress as such.” (n.17)

The encyclical continues: “Two categories become increasingly central to the idea of progress: reason and freedom. Progress is primarily associated with the growing dominion of reason, and this reason is obviously considered to be a force of good and a force for food.

Progress is the overcoming of all forms of dependency - it is progress towards perfect freedom. Likewise, freedom is seen purely as a promise, in which man becomes more and more fully himself.

In both concepts ... there is a political aspect. The kingdom of reason, in fact, is expected as the new condition of the human race once it has attained total freedom. The political conditions of such a kingdom of reason and freedom, however, appear at first sight somewhat ill-defined. Reason and freedom seem to guarantee by themselves, by virtue of their intrinsic goodness, a new and perfect human community.

To be Continued

Catholic Citadels:

St. Mary’s Convent

A hundred years have passed since the establishment of our Alma Mater, then known as Convent of Mary Immaculate. It is the one and only non fee levying assisted Catholic school not only in the Southern Province, but also in the Southern region.

Our brother school, St. Servatius College was taken over by the government about half a century ago. It is correct to say that our school has played a unique role in Catholic education in general and educating the fair sex in the south in particular.

It has been undoubtedly the most outstanding English school for girls since its inception. It would be delightful news that it will be shifted to a premises with serene surroundings at Brown’s Hill in due course.

Catholicism was introduced to our country by the Portuguese in the 16th century. They had to leave our shores in 1658 because of the Dutch who were Protestants. After about one and a half century they were replaced by the British who were mostly Anglicans. But the Catholicism had rooted in Lanka and it has left an indelible mark in our education system.

Although our school was founded quite sometime later it is a direct and conspicuous impact of the Portuguese rule. We are celebrating 100th anniversary this year. Hence it is fitting time to see in retrospective the history of Catholic education.

A Franciscan friar named Vincent was the first Catholic priest who arrived in Lanka along with Lorenzo da Almaida.

His purpose was not to introduce Catholicism but to attend to their religious rites. A Jesuit friar, Francis Xarier who came to India in 1543 was able to convert large numbers to Catholicism, specially in South India. He is considered as the priest who brought Christ’s word to the East, just like Ven. Mahinda Thera introduced Buddhism to Lanka.

In 1543 the first friars came to Lanka as missionaries. Their chief, Juan Vila da Konde was entrusted to teach Prince Dharmapala by King Bhuwanekabahu. Another friar by the same famous name of Francis Xavier converted thousands of Tamils in Mannar.

Besides Franciscans (Order established by St. Francis of Assisi) other Catholic missionaries who came to Lanka were Jesuits in 1602 (Members of Society of Jesus-Francis Xavier was one) Dominicans in 1605 (Order established by St. Dominics-Thomas Aquinas was famous friar) and Augustinian in 1606.

Encouraged by Portuguese kings, John III and Philip II who were very devoted and pious, missionaries came to the East. The objective of these missionaries was to serve people for their salvation by spreading Gospel among ‘Heathens’ (Pagens or superstitions.) It is said that Vasco da Gama who was the first Portuguese to come to the East declared, “We have come for Christians and spices”. They relieved the poor and the sick from their sufferings.

In order to fulfil this purpose of spreading Catholicism they opened schools called ‘Parish schools’ which were in connection with churches. When Prince Dharmapala became king he donated some lands belonging to temples for the maintenance of schools as education was free.

The princes named Don Louis and Don John studied at St. Paul’s College in Goa in India. Prince Yamasinghe, nephew of King Karalliyadde studied first at St. Anthonio in Colombo and then in Goa. At first King Sankili in Jaffna also allowed to convert people to Catholicism.

In 1621 Jaffna was brought under the Portuguese rule. Jaffna King Hendaramanasinghe’s sons and two sisters studied at Catholic schools. A priest named Nigrad spent nine years in Kandy, teaching the sons of King Senerath.

In fact king Rajasinghe II was well versed in Portuguese and fluent in speaking that language. Thus with the royal patronage, Catholicism spread among Sinhalese and Tamils.

A Past student

To be Continued

Newly ordained welcomed

P. A. FERNANDO, Bangadeniya Special

The Catholic communities belonging to the parishes of Kumarakattuwa, Wennappuwa, Marawila, Waikkala and Dummalakotuwa welcomed the newly ordained priests W. D. Alex Nilantha Appuhamy, W. Danushka Fernando, Niman Poojitha Dananja Silva, W. Ranil Sandaruwan Fernando and W. Kamal Damian Perera when they came to offer their First Holy Mass in their respective parishes on Sunday, January 27.

They were ordained on January 26 at the Cathedral of Our of Lady of Mount Carmel by Chilaw Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Valence Mendis and former Chilaw Bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Franck Marcus Fernando.

On the day of the Ordinations the parents along with relatives and friends were present to witness the Ordination of their sons who they have given back as servants in the vineyard of the Lord.

The five Deacons had their philosophical and theological studies at the Our Lady of Sri Lanka Major Seminary in Kandy. They as Deacons had earned some experience as future priests working in the parishes they were assigned to before they were ordained to follow in the foot-steps of the Lord who went doing good.

The Chilaw Diocese is one of the oldest dioceses in the country whose first Sinhala Bishop was none other than the Sinhala scholar Edumund Peiris OMI.

The newly ordained had entered the minor seminary while the Bishop Emeritus Rt. Rev. Dr. Franck Marcus Fernando, who took over the diocese from the late Bishop Peiris. The new priests will be posted to parishes or institutions giving priority to immediate needs.