Christian Perspectives

Christian faith and the new life

Professor Anton Meemana

Faith is absolute trust in God when everything looks hopeless, dark and sombre. Humanly speaking, when we have lost trust in everything then only we can begin to cultivate faith. Human life is absolutely impossible without faith. Christian faith has concrete historical consequences. Faith asks something of us concretely. Faith is never or politically or economically neutral. There is a value judgment in faith. Faith is never indifferent to human suffering. Faith is never passive, nor does it slumber.

Faith always seeks and desires the greater good for all. Faith interrupts the status quo and demands greater credibility from it. Judgments born out of faith are the most accurate and objective because it does not serve any political ideologies but challenges them all. God does not desire suffering for the innocent.

God wants to abolish all kinds of sufferings. Faith exposes ruthlessly and mercilessly the nakedness of every political ideology for what they really are. Faith is both a great asker and a seeker.

Jesus Christ being helped to carry the cross

Faithless life is an aimless life. The depth of one’s faith is the depth of one’s commitment life. Faith is sustained Christian praxis. To have faith is to become faithful to God’s commandments. The vision of faith is the most comprehensive vision for it harbours no ideological agenda or follows no party line.

Faith is active all the time. Faith must radiate through one’s character, lifestyle and relationships. Faith and character cannot be separated. Faith always seeks and desires greater good for all. Faith yearns for greater clarity of vision about life. Faith makes distinctions and nuances. Faith clarifies but never confuses.

Faith brings light and dispels darkness. Without faith, we become neurotic, narcissistic and cruel. Without faith one can hardly function as a normal human being Lack of faith leads to lack of compassion, sympathy and empathy. One’s conduct reveals one’s faith and one’s faith nourishes one’s character and integrity.

Without the gift of faith, we cannot cultivate and sustain hope. Hope is faith directed towards future. One’s hope is in proportion to one’s faith. Faith leads us to hope and brings us hope even in hopeless situations.

As we ought to grow in faith, we need also grow in hope. Faith and hope are intimately interlinked. Faith is not a static or a stagnant reality. It is dynamic and ever activate, giving life a sense of mission and purpose. As we grow older, we must also grow in faith. So that by the time we die, we die in faith. Facing one’s death is also an act deep faith in God.

True happiness in life comes from faith. The greater our faith, the less anxiety we have and the less our faith, the greater our anxiety and restlessness.

Faith purifies our intentions and brings a greater depth to one’s conduct in life. Faith makes us treasure our friends and without the vision of faith, this world is too cruel, brutal and broken to inhabit. In the midst of all the despair and growing anxiety, faith sustains our hope for a better tomorrow. Faith tells me that life is meaningful in spite of all the suffering, pain, difficulties and hardships.

Faith encourages me to love all, including my enemies and appreciate even the little good my enemies may possess.

Nobody is totally evil or bad or malevolent in this world. Faith is never pessimistic about human nature. If my faith in others is too little, then my capacity to love them is seriously hampered.

We need to trust God more and more and in proportion we must also trust others. To have faith in God is also to have faith in the humanity’s capacity to do good. Faith asks us the grand question; are we freely capable of loving a Hitler while condemning his evil deeds? Faith makes a distinction between a sinner and sins. It condemns the sins uncompromisingly while restoring and healing the humanity of the sinner.

Faith facilitates healing, wholeness and vitality in life. Faith cleanses our hearts and it is a great gift from God and therefore we must inspire people to ask for the same gift from God. God never disappoints people.

Faith purifies reason and is never an enemy of it. Faith is the most sensible thing on earth. Faith is never blind. Faith is the most purified form of reason. Faith is the zenith of rationality. It brings greater clarity to human mind. Blind faith is not real Christian faith, but emotional immaturity. Faith is neither childish nor naïve.

It encourages us to trust the universe more and more for the right reasons and hence faith does no wrong to a neighbour. Faith challenges all sorts of evil and wrong perspectives about the universe.

Faith takes away our selfishness, our me-for-me mentality and ego centeredness. It destroys our bloated ego and restores humility which is our true identity. Faith whispers to me that truest part of my character is my humblest part. Without faith we cannot become a blessing to others.

To have faith is to become a person like Jesus. To sustain faith is to live like Jesus. Jesus was the happiest man ever on earth because He had the perfect faith. The deeper one’s faith, the greater one’s service to humanity.

As Mother Teresa of Calcutta says that our task here is to be faithful not successful. Faithfulness means stability of the hearts. Only such people become loyal to their spouses, theirs professions, vocations, friends, country and convictions.

To take one’s faith seriously is the beginning of a new life in God.

Catholic Bishops’ Conference Message

“Be committed to rebuilding the nation on the basis of justice, inter-racial and religious harmony”

It is the Passover of the Lord from Death to the New Life of the Resurrection. Therefore, we believe that the Lord Jesus who is our hope is not merely a person who lived and died at a given period of history as all human beings. But today he is risen and he continues to live among us.

This fact is at the core of Christianity. It forms the very basis of Christian Faith. St. Paul underlines the unique importance of the Resurrection of the Lord when he says, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (1Cor 15:17)

Hence, as Baptised Christians we are Easter People. We need to live our Christian lives conscious of the fact that Jesus continues to live among us and that he accompanies us on our journey.

We need to believe that amidst life’s manifold trials and dangers, and that he desires to guide and lead us along the right path giving us the strength and hope to be engaged on our Christian pilgrimage moving to the Home of the Father.

Easter calls each of us first to receive the new life, the Risen Jesus brings and then we Christians are duty bound to share the new life of Easter with others. It invites us to move from death to life, from different forms of slavery of sin to the new life of grace. St. John states towards the end of his gospel: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).

His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith

President

Rt Rev Dr Norbert Andradi Secretary General

Courtesy: Catholic Messenger

Jesus Christ’s crucifixion nails found?

The two nails, presented in Jacobovici’s new documentary, are displayed at the Department of Anatomy and Anthropology at Tel Aviv University, April 6, 2011.A new documentary made by Simcha Jacobovici claims that the nails found in a tomb in al-Quds (Jerusalem) were used to crucify Jesus Christ. The Nails of the Cross follows three years of research during which Jacobovici presents his assertions, Reuters reported.

The veteran investigator says this find is different from the ones he announced before because it has special historical and archaeological context.”What we are bringing to the world is the best archaeological argument ever made that two of the nails from the crucifixion of Jesus have been found,” he said.”Do I know 100 percent yes, these are them? I don’t.” Jacobovici’s previous film, which claimed to reveal the lost tomb of Jesus, also sparked debate.

The Nails of the Cross revisits a 2,000-year-old tomb found in 1990 which was believed by many to have been the resting place of Jewish high priest Caiaphas, who in the New Testament presides over the trial of Jesus. Two iron nails were found in the tomb and were according to the film mysteriously disappeared shortly after.

Jacobovici claims that he tracked them down to a laboratory in Tel Aviv, which belonged to an anthropologist and expert on ancient bones.The nails are eaten away by rust and bent at the end.”If you look at the whole story, historical, textual, archaeological, they all seem to point at these two nails being involved in a crucifixion,” Jacobovici said.”And since Caiaphas is only associated with Jesus’s crucifixion, you put two and two together and they seem to imply that these are the nails.”

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Were Passion Plays the earliest Sri Lankan drama?

W T A Leslie Fernando

During the Portuguese period a Fransiscan friar at Matara called Antonio Peixoto had enacted drama on Christ and lives of saints. These plays have impressed even the non-Catholics. He had also composed hymns on the Passion of Christ and Fr Jacome Gonsalvez is said to have drawn inspiration from them when he composed ‘Pasan’ or lamentations on the Passion of Christ, in the Dutch period.

It is very likely that Antonio Peixoto had staged plays on the Passion of Christ. None of the plays on the Portuguese times have come down to us. It was the Oratorian Fathers who came to the country in the latter half of the 17th century who introduced Passion plays with images of sacred personages. The Jesuit Priests in Goa used the technique of puppet plays to instruct and edify the devotees. Blessed Joseph Vaz seeing that the people loved to see these puppet plays initiated the performance of the Passion plays to Sri Lanka with images of sacred personages on the model he had witnessed in Goa.

It is on record in the ‘Oratorian Mission’ that there were Passion plays in Kandy and in Vanni during the season of Lent in 1706 and later in Trincomalee and several other places.

Fr Jacome Gonsalavez, the assistant, companion and successor of Blessed Joseph Vaz did much to improve these passion shows. He wrote ‘Dukprapthi Prasangaya’ a book of nine sermons to be chanted while the dumb show was on.

Listening to sermons

To break the tedium of listening to sermons he also composed ‘Pasan’ or lamentations to be recited in a plaintive tone. When Fr Jacome Gonsalves was at Bolawatta the passion shows were enacted with all the solemnity.

These Passions shows were performed inside a large shed which was covered at the bottom with cadjan walls about six feet in height. The statues were moved by the people covered by the cadjan walls so that to the spectators it appeared as if the statues were moved on the stage. A leader called ‘Annavi Rala’ who had an appealing voice explained the various scenes to spectators in the chanting style.

According to Prof E R Sarathchandra the earliest passion show known in the present form was performed at Pesalai, Mannar. Most of the scenes in this traditional Passion play except the crucifixion was enacted in the open air. The movements of the statues were effected by strings.

Later this form was enacted in Jaffna as well. The fishermen from Negombo and Chilaw who went for fishing expeditions around Mannar during the off season performed passion shows in their homelands emulating the Pesalai passion play. Till recently a Passion Play similar to that at Pesalai was enacted at St Sebastian’s Church, Sea Street, Negombo.

These Passion Plays later spread to Sinhala Catholic areas like Pitipana, Duwa, Negombo, Nanjukkara, Bolawatta, Wennappuwa, Katuneriya, Chilaw, Maggona and Wadduwa. The world famous Duwa Passion Play was also a development and innovation of these traditional Passion Plays enacted with images of sacred personages and human actors.

Nadagam

It is the general consensus that the earliest Sinhala drama is Nadagam. The Nadagam to were introduced by the Catholics. Rt Rev Dr Edmund Peiris the late Bishop of Chilaw who has done much research on the origins and development of Nadagam proves that the first Sinhala Nadagam was ‘Raja Tunkattuwa’ presented by Mihindukulasuriya Gabriel Fernando of Chilaw. It was based on the birth of Christ in a cattle shed and the worship of the new born baby by the Three Kings or the Magi and incidents connected with it.

As Raja Tunkattuwa was a success Gabriel Fernando presented another Nagam called Marigida Nadagama based on the life history of St Margarits. This was followed by many other Nadagam based on the lives of Saints and other Christian themes. Philippu Singho who has done much to popularise the Sinhala Nadagam was the author of many Catholic Nadagam like ‘Santha Susew’, ‘Santha Nicholas’ and ‘Helena’.

Before long Nadagam on secular themes like ‘Ehelapola’, ‘Sinhavalli’ and ‘Portia’ were performed all over the country. By the beginning of the 19th century Nadgam became a recognized form of Sinhala drama in Sri Lanka.

Sacred personages

The first Sinhala Nadagam Raja Tunkattuwa of Gabriel Fernando was enacted around the year 1761. The Oratorian priests introduced the Passion shows in the earlier half of the 18th century and Passion shows have definitely appeared before the Nadagam. However the Nadagam had a complete dramatic convention in contrast to the earlier Passion shows which were only meditative narrations on the sufferings of Christ with images of sacred personages.

It was very much later specially after the Passion Play at Pesalai, the Passion Plays developed into fully fledged drama.

Even the famous Duwa passion play which was first enacted in 1839 was earlier a meditative narration based on the Nine Sermons of the Dukprapathi Prasangaya written by Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez. In 1939 Fr. Marcelline Jayakody recasted and renewed the Duwa Passion Play based on Dorothy Saeyers’ Born to be a King, while maintaining the traditional outlook.

The Passion Plays had a tremendous impact on Sinhala drama. They had some impact on Nadagam and it is said that the ‘Pothegura’ in Nadagam had some aspects of the role of ‘Annavi Rala’ in Passion shows. When Nadagam faded away in the latter half of the 19th century with the appearance of ‘Nurthi’, Nadagam artists began to present puppet plays. In this process they were inspired by the Passion shows performed in Catholic areas.

The traditional Passion shows were much more advanced than the crude native primitive plays. Even today the traditional Passion shows and the three hours of agony of Christ are performed with images of sacred personages and human actors all over Catholic churches in the country. They move the faithful to the depths of their souls with devotion.

(The writer is a former High Court Judge and a Vice-President of the Newman Society Alumni Association)

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Scream of the Babe

Babe in Mary’s womb - a manger afore the straw.
Cocooned in warmth as God fittingly saw.
No anguish in both womb and straw.
A woman’s care - with sanctified awe.

Of million ways to come on earth,
He chose the caring woman to come by birth.
To show womankind care for the fetus child,
In womb, in birth-in His life and strife.

She showed care to babes born-not yet born,
And to the being crushed - yet not born.
To the life so crushed, anguish is felt and shown.
Danger! Babe distorts face in anguished spawn.

Instrument pierces fortified lulling sac -
Babe repulses and slides back.
Instinctive run to preserve dear life for keeps.
A scream uttered - baby weeps.

Contraption to tear organs from toes to top.
Babe struggles and screams stop-stop.
Brain in function says the doctor.
Larger instrument for the head - the rest now butchered.

Time for skull-mouth opens for final cry of despair.
Let me live-let me live - the demonic ritual goes unimpaired.
Once peaceful face writhes in pain when it’s done
By the doctor swearing never again will this be done!

Adult with fist weapons and might to challenge,
Can brave the onslaught to avenge.
Escape - live another day for his human right.
Did this brain have a chance in hade for tempered fight?

Couples! Do follow a cautious pattern.
Others! Avoid exposure for rape and traumatic passion!
Teach children use of free will making choices-
To distinguish - be cautious on rape and embryo sale devices.

Technology will discover no doubt
A technique to hear scream of the babe in its shout
The impact - more obnoxious for the mother to hear the wail-
Of the scream of the babe!

Based on the videos “The Silent Scream”, and “The Brutal Truth” available on the internet - Whatever the views on the rights and duties on the subject are, the factuality of the emotions, displayed by the babe in the videos, is very evident. Oscar E V Fernando