CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVES

Weekly Devotions:

CAIN, the first child

The first child to be ever born into this world. Cain was the eldest son of Adam and Eve. He was also the first murderer. He killed his brother Abel, due to intense anger and jealousy. Whilst all these are important issues, I find the most significant of all what happened in his life was the fact that God rejected his offering.

His anger and jealousy towards his brother escalated due to this and he ends up killing his brother.

The Bible says that when God rejected his offering Cain’s countenance fell and he was angered.

Gen 4:3-5

And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.

And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.

And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Does God reject people’s offerings? Yes, there are several times God has spoken out about offerings that are not acceptable to Him. To just quote a few verses, here they are for your reference:-

Isaiah 1:11-14 : Jeremiah 6:20: Malachi 1:7-8

There are many more references on this subject of God rejecting man’s offering. There are various reasons for this, but in Cain’s case, God actually speaks to him about it, but alas, Cain certainly does not accept it with the right attitude which should have ended up with him falling at God’s feet and repenting and putting matters right with God.

Gen 4:6-7

And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

What did God mean when he told Cain ‘if thou does well’ ? God was telling Cain ‘you know what to do to please me’ if pleasing me was in your heart, I would have accepted your offering, but you are wilfully rejecting the way I have shown you and you are following your own method.

What is this method that God is speaking about? It is the type of offering that is acceptable to Him. We see God teaching this method very clearly to the Israelites.

He goes into lengths about them not coming into His presence without making a blood sacrifice and gives instructions to Moses to build a holy place and then a holy of holies, a place where only the High priest can enter, and that too by making a blood sacrifice, where the others are not allowed at all, where a curtain separates them. Atonement of sin had to be made through sacrifice in anticipation of the unique sacrifice of His Son on the cross.

Abel made the right sacrifice, accepting what God had said through faith, but Cain wanted to do it in his own way.

There was no obedience, trust nor faith depicted in this action and God rejected it but communed with him explaining why he rejected it. God very clearly tells him, if you do not do it the right way sin will lurk around you, you cannot escape from it.

The reaction from Cain should have been repentance and asking for forgiveness but instead he storms off and murders his brother.

Again God speaks to him:-

Gen 4:9-12

And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.

And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;

When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

Even at this point there is no repentance from Cain, he is more interested in getting the punishment reduced, so that he could continue with his life without putting matters right with God. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. Verse 16 is very important to understand the choice Cain makes. He walks away from the presence of God without repentance and seeking forgiveness and continues to live in his own way.

Important Lessons to be learnt from Cain’s life here:- One must follow the way God has shown and not follow one’s own way of thinking. Christ’s sacrifice is essential to put one’s life right with God. If you do not follow God’s way sin will take over. You have a freedom of choice, God will not force you although he points it out to you

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches me right throughout its pages of your unique sacrifice to make atonement for my sins. No sin is too big for me to claim your blood to cleanse me. Help me to repent of my sins, Holy Spirit and open my heart to accept you as my Saviour. Thank you Jesus. Amen

Sunitha SAHAYAM

International Pueri Cantores

President in Sri Lanka:

The Sri Lanka Pueri Cantores Federation (SLPCF) with a membership of seven school choirs of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo 10 said that President of Foederatio Internationalis Pueri Cantores Rev. Fr. Robert Tyrala PhD, with its Headquarters in Switzerland will take part in many events in Sri Lanka during his stay here. Father Robert Tyrala, (45) is an eminent musician and liturgist from the Archdiocese of Cracow, a media release said.

Tyrala is well-known for his profound dedication to the promotion of Church music. He is known to have organized various musical events to stimulate musical experience and to enrich the spiritual life of young people. He believes in genuine openness and kindness towards every person and the need to persuade others to do good.

Fr. Tyrala will on January 28 visit the Pueri Cantores Choirs in Colombo, Kandana and Negombo and pray at St. Lucia’s Cathedral, Kotahena and Our Lady Lanka Basilica at Tewatta.

He was sheduled to be the special guest at a Choral presentation of sacred songs at the Chapel of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo yesterday. Today he will concelebrate Holy Mass at the same venue where over 500 singers from several schools are expected to participate.

He will leave for Mumbai that evening on his Indian tour.

In Sri Lanka he will be the guest of Rev. Fr. Rector, St. Joseph’s College who is also the President of SLPCF. The Sri Lankan Pueri Cantores Federation Secretary Rev. Fr. Joseph Indika and the National Coordinator Francis D’ Almeida seek the expansion of SLPCF and invite Catholic school choirs and children’s choirs in parishes to become members.

The focus of the local Federation is to propagate and promote Church music especially in Latin tradition. The Pueri Cantores International Federation is a global organization of the Catholic Church for choirs of young people and its local branch was set up last April with the approval and blessings of the then Archbishop of Colombo, the Most Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis, the release said.

St. Cecilia’s choir presents Cantate Domino

Cantate Domino, a choral concert of Sacred songs presented by St. Cecelia’s choir of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo 10 will beheld in the chapel on Friday, January 29 at 6.30 p.m., said the choral Director, St. Cecilia’s choir of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo 10 Francis D’Almeida.

He said the presentation is organized to mark the visit of the world renowned Polish musician priest Rev. Fr. Robert Tyrala, the President of the International Federation of Pueri Cantores, the global organization of Catholic children’s choirs. The Apostolic Nuncio in Sri Lanka, Rt. Rev. Dr. Joseph Spiteri will be the chief guest.

D’Almeida said the award winning choir of St. Joseph’s College with its boy sopranos and altos together with mature tenor and bass singers will present chants, canticles, anthems and choruses. Sung mainly in English and Latin, it will recapture the main events of the life of Christ including his birth, death and resurrection.

The concert will showcase a wider range of musical styles covering centuries of periods and traditions.

In keeping with the universal spirit of music the choir will also render compositions in Sinhala, Tamil, Italian, Nigerian and Hebrew. The mature voices of young old Joes and the 50-strong primary choir will provide the added diversity.

The event will commence with Hashivenu in Hebrew - a chant probably sung during the time of Jesus himself.

He said the program will also fearture among others - “Be Exalted”, “Namo Mariyeni”, “Jesu Redemptor”, “Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle” (Italian), “Bethlehemu” (Nigerian), “Pueri Hebreorum - Lauda Jeruselem”, “Athin Asena” (Sinhala), “En Theveni” (Tamil), “Tu Es Saccerdos”, “Miserere” by Allegri, “Ave Verum Corpus” by William Byrd, “Regina Coeli” (Latin), “Gloria Te” (Italian Millennium anthem), “From the sun’s rising”, “Glory Alleluia” and the modern composition - “The Prayer” (English/Italian). The concert will conclude with Handel’s Majestic “Halleluijah Chorus”.

The event will be a pre-pilgrimage presentation of the choir of St. Joseph’s College who are scheduled to sing at the most cherished shrines in the Holy Land in early February this year, he said.

Only those with pure hearts can rebuild this world

A message from the National Director of the Holy Childhood Society, Rev. Fr. Reginald Saparamadu, issued to mark Holy Childhood Sunday says that we must help children to come to know Jesus.

Illustrating this under year’s theme, “Strengthened by the World of God, let us go towards a New World”, the message also points out that it is spiritual decadence that leads to the downfalls of our society. Below is the full text of the message:

A New Heaven, a New Earth! A New World!

This is the genuine desire of all of us - the young and the old. “A Better Tomorrow” is everyone’s wish. “Strengthened by the World of God, let us go towards a New World” is the theme chosen for the Holy Childhood Sunday 2010, as well as for this whole year, which is really suitable when we take into account the reality of our society today.

The desire of a “Better Tomorrow” arises automatically to every genuine heart when we take into consideration the real social, political, economic and spiritual situation of Sri Lanka today.

It is the spiritual decadence that is the foremost reason for the downfall of our society in which we live. Religion has not been given the foremost place in the life of the society today. In a society where God is forgotten, a decadence of this sort is to be expected.

Yet, everything is not lost. There is still hope for the future. I was really impressed when I heard a group of orphan children singing at a concert recently - “It is we who can make this whole world beautiful.”

Let us understand that only those with pure and unspoilt minds; those who have no anger, hatred, revenge, jealousy and corruption in their hearts, and those who know real genuine love rather than love of power and money, that can make this whole world really beautiful.

It is those with pure hearts that can rebuild this world. Let us accept this truth and try to make others, too, accept it. God created this beautiful world because of His love for us. So, in turn, let us also do our best to accept this Lord and Master into our midst and try to make Him live with us.

St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthiansx writes:

“For that same reason, the one who is in Christ is a New Creation. For him old things have passed away. A New World has come” (2 Cor 5:7). Let us instill in our children the habit of reading the Word of God from their childhood.

Let us inculcate in them a desire to read and assimilate the Word of God into their lives. Let us help them to grow with the Food of Life - the Blessed Eucharist. In this way, they will come to know Jesus and will grow in Jesus.

They will then be able to make this Jesus known to others. It is these children who will show the real New World to those who try to build a world without God and try to bring darkness into our society. All of us will then succeed in marching towards a New World strengthened by the World of God. A New Heaven, Heaven, A New Earth! A New World, for all of us!

May God Bless you! May Mary Our Mother protect you.

Rev. Fr. Reginald Saparamadu National Director, Holy Childhood Society

Courtesy: Catholic Messages

Be a brother

Let truth be found in the depth of your thought
Be a brother of his when you feel you ought
It means so much just a clasp of a hand.
When a man’s borne about all a man ought to stand.

Sylvia PEIRIS