Christian Perspectives

All roads lead to the Cross

Nayomini R Weerasooriya

"The message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved it is the power of God..." - 1 Corinthians 1:18 As Christians, for us, life's journey is all about the Cross. With a focus on the Cross and its deep meaning, everything comes into a proper perspective. Often, it is easy to lose focus on the most important symbol of our faith. It is easy to get lost in the religiosity, the systems, the familiar symbols and it is easy to become an extension of the world and lose ourselves in carnal pursuits. Yet one look at the empty Cross will bring us out of everything, enabling us to focus singularly on the Saviour.

The Cross was and is the centre of our faith. It is Jesus and Jesus alone - the price He paid for our sins on the Cross, the blood He shed that heals, protects and restores us. The more we learn to meditate on the Cross, the more we realize how much of our egos must be crucified as we welcome our Saviour more and more into our lives. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me" - Galatians 2:20 The Cross not only liberates us from carnality but also sets us free into a fresh dimension of faith and liberty. The true Christian life is lived with the daily, constant focus on the Cross.

The more we gaze at its beauty, its message, its eternal presence in our lives, the more we are transformed into the kind of people Jesus wants us to be. The Cross looms over our lives - and its message is never too far. Fellowship with our Saviour, learning at His feet, humbling ourselves under the Word renews our inner man. I have personally discovered the beauty of quiet fellowship with our Lord at the foot of the Cross, and nothing comes closer to it. Such fellowship is when all anxieties fade away and you see yourself renewed, transformed, healed, restored and set truly free. Sometimes there is no need to ask for anything or even say anything; the Lord just makes connections with His people that bring the Cross into its proper perspective and its power will almost always bring you to your knees.

The Cross is where all roads end. Where there is hope when all else says hope is lost. The Cross is where medical diagnosis that seems so fatal sometimes fades into supernatural healing...where faith is restored and lives transformed. The Cross stands tall over debt, debauchery, abuse and other vile ways of man. Faced with the Cross, we can only be redeemed from the curse.

The majesty of the Cross never fails to overwhelm us when we are stuck in a rut. It fills us with joy and retains the peace Our Lord gave us. It assures us that everything is ok and that His shoulders are never too small to carry our burdens.

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls." - Matthew 11:29 Rest is indeed what we find at the feet of the Cross. Because Christ Jesus died on the Cross for us and rose on the third day and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, we can turn our eyes on the Cross and be guided by its power. Rest is what we find when we leave all our cares in His hands and affirm to ourselves that He can handle much more than we expect Him to. And be assured that He always and will always comes through.

The best testimonies to the grace of Our Lord come from experiences that humble us and teach us just how much we must rely on Him to take us where He wants us to go. Everyday, the Cross stands in the midst of our lives and enable us to learn afresh. There is so much we learn from the Cross - its shadow is spread over our lives, its fragrance perfumes our lives and enables us to reach out to others in pain.

Galatians 3: 13 tells us that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. The Cross is where Our Lord turned that curse into a blessing, empowering us on from high.

The Cross is where our pain becomes our blessing, our comfort zones fades into fresh challenges and we are able to come face to face with everything our Saviour wants us to experience. There's nothing we can aspire to outside the shadow of the Cross. Some of us have tried and come back empty handed. Some of us have rejected the Cross and gone back to the world but have come back, having realized that the world has nothing to offer in equation with the Cross.

The Cross does not merely symbolize Christian faith - nor is it to be looked at during Lent and Good Friday alone. The more we make the Cross a very active part of our daily lives, the more we experience the kind of faith that can move mountains and empower our lives.

The first Catholic Church in Sri Lanka with an indigenous outlook

W.T.A. Leslie Fernando

On Sunday May 27 the Catholic community in the Peradeniya University celebrated their patronal feast in collaboration with the Newman Society Alumni Association. This years celebrations has added significance as it is the Diamond Jublee of the formation of the Newman Society. Some founder members of the Newman Society, Fr. Derrick Mendis, Fr. Egerton Perera, Fr. Joseph Eustace Fernando and Prof. Ashley Halpe were present at the occasion. The concelebrated High Mass was offered Dr. Vianney Fernando the Bishop of Kandy. This unique Church is considered as the first chapel in Sri Lanka with an indigenous outlook.

The European Missionaries who established the Church in Sri Lanka in the 16th century imposed Western culture along with Christianity. During Dutch times the Oratorian priests made an attempt to set up a Church adapted to the country and to suit its needs and circumstances. Nevertheless art and architecture in the Church remained Western.

In the 1940's when the administration of the Church began to be indegenised, there was a national resurgence, in the church. The pioneer of this movement was Bishop Edmund Pieris who wanted to make the Church in Sri Lanka a thing of the soil. With this end in view he edited and presented many prayers in the chanting style of Sinhala and Tamil prose and Hymns set to Carnatic reggae and folk music well-known in the soil.

Following the initiative taken by Bishop Edmund Peiris, others like Fr. Marcelline Jayakody, Fr. D.J. Anthony, Fr. Henry Rodrigo, Fr. Adrian Joseph, Sunil Santha, Douglas Perera and J.K.S. Perera began to produce outstanding literary art payers and hymns. Until the 50's the Churches in Sri Lanka were built following Roman forms and Greek Gothic style. However the Bassilica in Tewatta designed be in 1940 has some elements of Oriental Culture. However, the first church to built strictly according to Oriental art and Architecture is supposed to be the St. Mary's Church, Badalgama. It was the brainhild of Fr. Henry Rodrigo. The construction of the church was begun in 1953 and completed in 1956.

When St. Mary's Church Badalgama was built it was admired by both Catholics and non-Christians. In fact several Nayaka Theras visited the site and admired it. Sinhala forms of art and architecture are sculptural forms and decorative designs are masterpieces of art in comparison to study and flamboyant work of contemporary India. The Sinhala artist had always been restrained and moderated by the puritanical and philosophical outlook of Theravada Buddhism.

In building St. Mary's Church Badalgama, Fr. Henry Rodrigo followed art and architecture, sculptural forms and decorative designs in the Anuradhapura period. He adopted Kandyan architecture in designing the outer structure, fa‡ade and the roof of St Mary's Badalgama proved what a beautiful Catholic church could be built following indigenous art and architecture.

Following St. Mary Church Badalgama several other churches like St. Joseph's Anuradhapura, St. Sebastian's Katuwapitiya (Negombo) St. Martin de Pores, Gangoda, Wennappuwa are built to indigenous style. Now almost all the churches in Sri Lanka are built with an indigenous outlook.

When the building of St. Mary's Church Bedalgama was in progress another church with an indigenous outlook though not in such grandiose form was taking shape in the foothills of Hantane. This was the church of Our Lady of the Seat of Wisdom in the Peradeniya Campus. This could be the first church in Sri Lanka with an indigenous outlook that sees the light of the day.

This Church was designed by the then Chapalin of the University Fr. Ignatius Pinto. Its construction was initiated in 1953 and completed in 1955. It was Blessed by Bernan Regno the then Bishop of Kandy and formally inaugurated in 1955. In 1992 the Catholic Union was formed in Peradeniya. In 1953 its President Denis Bartholomeus proposed to change it to the Newman Society to get wider representation of the university student and it was adopted. Aloy Ratnayaka P.D, Fr. Joseph Eustus Fernando, Prof. Ashley Halpe were among the first batch of students to come to Peradeniya.

With the first batch of students and Fr. Ignatius Pinto too came to Peradeniya as the Lecturer in European History and Chaplain of the Catholic Union. Soon he got an idea to build a Chapel and a hall of residence. After tenacious correspondence he managed to get a land in the University Campus. While the construction of the project was in progress Fr. Pinto took up residence in the site and occupied the premises for workers. Due to his courage, determination and perseverance he could make his dream a reality within two years.

The building of the chapel was made in accordance with the early University building and the national concepts. The triumphant climax or the thinking of Fr. Ignatius Pinto was naming of the church as Our Lady of the Seat of Wisdom.

The Church of Our Lady of the Seat of Wisdom with its wonderful Mosaic is a unique structure that adorns the University Campus Peradeniya. It stands as a monument of the great and Holy Priest of Good, historian, the first chaplain of the Newman Society Fr. Ignatious Pinto. The writer is a former High Court Judge and Vice-President of Newman Society Alumni Association.

Song of the strings

DEEPA ALEXANDER

Denis Azabagic's guitar that melded cultures and compositions struck a chord with listeners

A musician from Bosnia-Herzegovina who lives in the U.S., a repertoire of music that traverses centuries and cultures and an instrument with an inherent passport for crossing genres. All three fused under the mellow arc lights of the Museum Theatre for a Western classical guitar concert organised by Musee Musical and The Madras Guitar Ensemble.

The centre-piece in almost every kind of folk music from the Continent, the lissome lilt in jazz, the svelte soul in blues and the amplified roar in rock, the guitar also has a rich tradition of classical music that harks back to the Baroque. On this weekend evening, the Angel Romero Special Edition guitar from Steve Connor fitted with D'addario strings cast a spell in the hands of Denis Azabagic. This classical guitarist from Bosnia is one of the most compelling on the international circuit, coming into the spotlight when the former Yugoslavia was fading into oblivion, and has over the past 20 years managed to strike a balance as a soloist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestras around the globe. At 20, he was the youngest winner at one of the most prestigious guitar competitions held in Madrid and was labelled one of the greatest guitarists in the world by renowned Spanish composer Anton Garcia Abril.

Azabagic opened his programme with Latin American composer, Heitor Villa-Lobos' "5 Preludes" that merges facets of the classical with conventional Brazilian music. Its rich winding chromatics, lush energy and rhythmic complexities immediately spell out 'Brazilian' and Azabagic's precise rendering ornamented the cross-board trills to give off a rounded, creamy sound.

Next, he chose to play the works of his former teacher, contemporary Bosnian composer and guitarist, Vojislav Ivanovic. His "6 Pieces de Caf‚" run through a gamut of emotions and sounds and Azabagic moved from the lilting 'Funny Valse', to the gentle tinkle of a rippling brook in 'Tango Caf‚', to a dreamy haze in 'Nostalgia', a comforting melody in 'Lullaby' and the memory of whirling dervishes in 'Improvisation and Dance'.

Joaquin Rodrigo's "Invocacion y danza", written by the visually-impaired composer as a tribute to Manuel de Falla does not reflect the happy ethos of sunny Spain, rather it takes on darker hues. Azabagic's fingers moved across the frets like pieces on a chess board.

The music began softly with tinkling harmonics but slowly became agitated as it moved through tremolos and repetitive arpeggios. The vivid flamenco beats at times broke into exuberance while retaining a graceful skipping stance.

By now most of the audience were stomping their feet and not only because Azabagic had opened the doors to Andalusian plazas, gypsies and flamenco dancers with his chromatic composition but also because sibilant whispers and screaming cellphones from some of the listeners threw a dark cloud on the concert.

Thankfully it lifted by the time Alan Thomas' "Suite Out of Africa" ushered in the magic of that great, heaving continent. Inspired by Karen von Blixen's best-seller, Thomas has used different strands of African music to paint a picture of rolling meadows, wide veldts and a pace of life untouched by time. Azabagic recreated that magic in 'Call at Sunrise', where he developed the canon into a beautiful vocal melody. The second movement, 'Morning Dance', had a touch of popular South African music. The guitar turned percussion in 'Evening Dance', while 'Cradle Song' drew the suite to a serene close.

Fernando Sor's 'Variations on Mozart's Theme Op: 9' rounded off the concert. Spanish music however mesmerising it may sound on other instruments, invariably sounds the best on the guitar. Azabagic's grand orchestral chords were clear from the opening notes of Sor's work and his plucked solidity and rolling strum evoked the sensuous strut of men in boleros and women in ruffled skirts.

Azabagic's sound technique and use of subtle amplification more than showcased the splendour of the score and the warmth of the guitar's rich timbre. Like in the fable about following your dream, Azabagic opened the doors of imagination to a world of pageantry and passion, inherited patterns of music and primeval sound.

The Hindu

Make the right choice: obey the Spirit's voice

Before leaving us on that Ascension Day:
Jesus promised to send a gift our way
It's no other than the Holy Spirit to guide
us, lead us, help and with us abide

In whatever walk of life we be
Lawyer, doctor, a higher or lower post you see
He is ready to help us always - one and all
Pay heed to His promptings lest we fall.

He may nudge us and make us feel.
Someone needs our aid and the best way to deal.
He reminds us that we should pray,
For one experiencing a crisis: Thus lead Him the correct way.

The Holy Spirit who dwells within us now
Teachers, comforts, guides us with truth some how.
For sending us the Holy Spirit let's thanks
and praises sing
To Jesus Christ, our Lord, Saviour and king

"Holy Spirit help us hear
Your inner prompting soft and clear
And help us know your still small voice
So we may make God's will our choice."

Norma Perera