‘The Priest and Pastoral Ministry’

Pope’s message on the 44th World Communication Day:

The theme of this year’s World Communications Day - The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word – is meant to coincide with the Church’s celebration of the Year for Priests. It focuses attention on the important and sensitive pastoral area of digital communications, in which priests can discover new possibilities for carrying out their ministry to and from the Word of God.

Church communities have always used the modern media for fostering communication, engagement with society, and, increasingly, for encouraging dialogue at a wider level. Yet the recent, explosive growth and greater social impact of these media make them all the more important for a fruitful priestly ministry.

All priests have as their primary duty the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, and the communication of his saving grace in the sacraments. Gathered and called by the Word, the Church is the sign and instrument of the communion that God creates with all people, and every priest is called to build up this communion, in Christ and with Christ. Such is the dignity and beauty of the mission of the priest, which responds in a special way to the challenge raised by the Apostle Paul: “The Scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame … everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? (Rom 10:11, 13-15).

Responding adequately to this challenge amid today’s cultural shifts, to which young people are especially sensitive, necessarily involves using new communication technologies. The world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the more Saint Paul’s exclamation: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16) The increased availability of the new technologies demands greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the Word, but it also requires them to become more focused, efficient and compelling in their efforts. Priests stand at the threshold of a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media ever more effectively at the service of the Word.

The spread of multimedia communications and its rich “menu of options” might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web, or to see it only as a space to be filled. Yet priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different “voices” provided by the digital marketplace. Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechism.

Using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the Church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of Christ. They will best achieve this aim if they learn, from the time of their formation, how to use these technologies in a competent and appropriate way, shaped by sound theological insights and reflecting a strong priestly spirituality grounded in constant dialogue with the Lord. Yet priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ. This will not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also will give a “soul” to the fabric of communications that makes up the “Web”.

God’s loving care for all people in Christ must be expressed in the digital world not simply as an artifact from the past, or a learned theory, but as something concrete, present and engaging. Our pastoral presence in that world must thus serve to show our contemporaries, especially the many people in our day who experience uncertainty and confusion, “that God is near; that in Christ we all belong to one another” (Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2009).

Who better than a priest, as a man of God, can develop and put into practice, by his competence in current digital technology, a pastoral outreach capable of making God concretely present in today’s world and presenting the religious wisdom of the past as a treasure which can inspire our efforts to live in the present with dignity while building a better future? Consecrated men and women working in the media have a special responsibility for opening the door to new forms of encounter, maintaining the quality of human interaction, and showing concern for individuals and their genuine spiritual needs.

They can thus help the men and women of our digital age to sense the Lord’s presence, to grow in expectation and hope, and to draw near to the Word of God which offers salvation and fosters an integral human development.

‘What was spoken by the Lord will be fulfilled’

Lalith PERERA

As I pray and reflect today the Holy Spirit and Jesus teaches me about true devotion to the Blessed Mother and her true value for me. She is a model of all what God can and wants to do in a human being.

We humans are created in the image of God. Therefore we have the basic freedom and independence that God himself has.

Without this freedom and independence we are mere robots run in accordance with a pre set programme.

The wonder of this independence is that it is an independence and a separation from God which He himself will not or maybe even cannot bridge for the fear of violating our freedom! Therefore within us lies a universe that is on its own. All our internal functions, thought processes, fears, desires and joys are moved and controlled by cause and effect and the limited knowledge within us. They are heavily influenced by the information and experiences conveyed to us through our senses. Because of the gift of free will within us we determine what is real and true for us.

That is the reason why a small incident becomes a gripping reality within us and influences every area of our lives. Like the boy we met in Canada who hides in a basement of his home because of a rejection by a girl.

Our inner being is a self-contained universe with its own realities that drive us and make many of our lives a terrible hell!

Is that one reason for God to become a man and come amongst us! To reveal another dimension of reality and invite us to open up our self contained universe to this great truth and blessing of God with us and in us! When we accept this truth and invitation a great transformation happens within us.

The blessed Mother is one who opened herself up completely to this great truth of God and had Him live inside of her! She teaches us how to carry God within ourselves and how to yield in a way that is fruitful both for her and for the world around.

The feast of the ascension is the celebration of the ultimate reward for opening to the reality of God with and within her. She is taken bodily into the presence of God.

By her silent relationship with Jesus with no place or no prominence teaches us that the inner journey with God is the path of total fulfillment. That fullness in Jesus can be had in poverty, obscurity, lowliness and insignificance! That journey will be crowned with ascension into heaven one day and a deep intimacy with the Holy Spirit, Jesus and the Father.

The Gospel of today speaks the words of Elizabeth to Mary inspired by the Holy Spirit. Blessed are you among women. Why and how did the reality of God with her and within her enter her inner universe by the promise of the Angel? How do we know that this is true? Again under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Elizabeth says “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled”! She accepted the word of God into her and treated it as true.

This opened her to the blessings of God. This can be done in the lowliest and poorest circumstances of life, as Mary did through out her life! Again a ray of light and hope to everyone of us. We can be blessed when we permit God’s word to become the reality of our inner world!

Feast of the Queen of Angels Church

Malathi PERERA

August 20th was a great day for the Parishioners of Queen of Angels Church Moratuwa. It was vespers, the day before the feast, it was declared during the novena that the golden jubilee Year had begun. In another 364 days the golden jubilee of the church! What an excited congregation!

During the Novena, a youngster wearing a ‘Nilame’ costume in a pageant of Kandian dancers and drummers carried the ‘Sannasa’ - letter to Rev. Fr. Elmo Dias, who declared that the Jubilee year had begun. Church bells pealed and crackers lit.

After the novena the feast procession began proceeding through by- lanes and roads covering the whole of Rawatawatte Town. Golden Jubilee Tills which were distributed to each catholic family a few months back, was collected. The Queen of Angels (the Mother Mary) started to commence in pro cession travelling in a floral decorated chariot. The moon shone above, thousands of stars glittered to give light to Our Lady to visit her children once a year.

The procession took its usual path. When they arrived at a junction, the people in the area lit crackers to weclcome Our Lady to step in. When the statue arrived at the church, Rev. Fr. Prasanna Fernando blessed the crowd with the miraculous statue amidst pealings of church bells, fire crackers and a beautiful fire display above the church. Completing the days mission with the happy applause of the congregation, the statue was replaced in the church. The following day (Sunday), was the 49th Feast of the church. High Mass was celebrated by Rev.Fr.Bonny Fernando and the congregation sang the Feast Hymn for the 49th day : “Surathavinge Rajiniyeni Pembara Manieni – Hama Vipathin Apa Mudawanni…..” and the mass came to an end.

Christian Thought for the Week

1 King 21-24

When Reheboam arrived in Jerusalam, he called together 180,000 of the best soldiers from tribes of Judah and Benjamin. He intended to go to war and restore his control over the northern tribes of Israel. But God told the prophet Shermiah to give this message to Reheboan and to all the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.

‘Do not attack your own relatives, the people of Israel. Go home, all of you. What has happened is my will. They all obeyed the Lord’s command and went back home.

Parable on the text

The first book of Kings continues the story of Israelite monarchy. In the two books of Kings each ruler is judged according to his loyalty to God and national success is seen as depending on this loyalty. Idolatry and disobedience on the other hand, lead to disaster.

The Kings of the northern kingdom all fail the test while the record of Judah’s king is mixed.

Especially notable as Elijah and the story of his contest with the priests of Baal.

Gwen Herat from the Holy Bibile

Weekly Devotions:

Lord Jesus sacrificed his life on behalf of sinners

To live under the Direction of God, you must understand your place in Him. You are special to Jesus. He died to save you. His death on the Cross was not easy. He sacrificed His position and stepped down and not only that He was willing to suffer immensely in order to redeem you from the clutches of sin and second death as a result this would have destroyed you eternally. Instead, He gave you an eternal place in heaven in His presence, as His child.

If you really grasp the truth of this matter, you will constantly praiseJesus and be so grateful for this wonderful gift. When your spiritual eyes are opened to see and understand the salvation plan, then, whatever you are undergoing in this life becomes bearable.

In factwith the help of the Holy Spirit one can even be joyful in the circumstances, as the promise from the Word of God is that ‘ all things work together for good to those that love God’.

If you really understand how precious you are to Jesus your life on this earth does not take over as you know there are better things to follow and thereby you are able to give the right priorities to the right things. This is very important to receive the peace that Jesus has to offer you.Life is full of choices to a Christian.

We must constantly discard thenatural from the spiritual. We have to believe and understand that we are caught in a spiritual warfare between God and Satan. There is a plan being worked out by God to save man and unless we put our heart and soul into finding this plan we will miss out . Jesus told us clearly ‘what does it profit a man to win this world and lose his soul’ - everything becomes a waste of time and effort if this is where your interest lies.

The world and its pleasures, its systems, its kingdoms and all what it stands for will pass away - this is not the permanent city we are looking for, in fact if you love the world you are in enmity with God You have to make a choice here as Jesus taught us that we cannot serve two masters One must learn to look at every situation through the eyes of God, as God is a spirit we must learn to think on a spiritual level, this very often means we have to trust in things we cannot see and act through faith.

Faith is a very important ingredient for our spiritual life to be successful. Faith will have to be exhibited when God asks us to do something and when our common sense screams at us in disbelief . ‘are you crazy to behave like this?’The most obvious lessons on faith are seen when we read about Noah – God asks him to build this huge ark during clear nights and sun shiny days, impending a great flood . Did you know that Noah did not even know or had seen the rain come down as during his period, the word of God informs usin Genesis 2:5-6.

And every plant of the field before it was in the earth and every Herb of the field before it grew for the Lord God had not caused It to rain upon the earth and there was not a man to till the ground..Genesis 7:11 But there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face Of the ground So Noah had to take what God was saying with a whole lot of faith He had not seen rain, here God was saying for forty days and forty nights the heavens were going to open up no wonder the people jeered at Noah as he took on this mighty project of building this greatcontraption that God was giving him specifications for! Noahpreached to the people as he built this boat and warned them of the impending flood that was going to destroy the whole world, but of course they did not heed to him but considered Noah to be a crazy fool and ignored his warnings.

God’s last chance lasted for 120 years – that was how long it took Noah to build this huge boat. Noh’s commitment to this project was a long term one and had to with stand the enemy’s attack through the people surrounding him laughing and jeering at him.

The flood did come and everything was destroyed except Noahand his family and the species of animals that were protected in the boat as God commanded- but it took immense amount of faith, and Noah could not have done it without walking and talking with God and believing in what God told him. If you are having a close walk with God today, you too will believe in what God is telling you.

You have the Word of God, complete in its message as to what is going to happen and the presence of the Holy Spirit to teach and reveal God’s plan to you, in an one to one basis, if you are interested - it might take a long time as it did during Noah’s time for God’s plan to take effect, mostly because God is merciful and giving us time to have a change of heart - but God keeps to His word - IT WILL HAPPEN!

He sent His son, Jesus as He promised to save the world,Jesus’ second coming is IMMINENT - The signs mentioned in the Bible are taking place one by one - the jigsaw is almost complete, we are so very close, so close that one cannot help but talk about it. Don’t be on the wrong side when He does come in His glory - the people who laughed at Noah did not escape the flood, how much more dangerous is it not to believe God when.

He says He is coming soon? Prayer: Our Loving Heavenly Father, I thank you so much that I am recognized by you as a child of God. Thank you Jesus for all the suffering that you underwent to save me to this position. Let me never forget this and help me to get my priorities right to put spiritual matters before the natural Lord, take off the scales from my eyes to understand your ways so that I will receive this true peace that you have promised to impart to your children.

El Shadai, , the Great God Almighty! Have mercy on me and grant me thy favour in believing and awaiting your second coming. Grant me more faith to live expecting you to come any time now Lord protect me from apostasy, let me not become luke warm in matters concerning your glorious coming. In Jesus name.

Amen.

- SUNITHA SAHAYAM