His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith · Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo addressing a...

Sunday May 5, 2019 Vol 150 No 17 16 Pages Rs: 50.00 Registered as a newspaper

“After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias” (John 21,1)

THE CATHOLIC WEEKLY OF SRI LANKA

"Taking into custody the per-petrators of the unfortunate heinous crimes committed recently appears to be a very slow process. Those respon-sible for these violent acts and those who aided and abetted them need to be taken into cus-tody and interrogated irrespec-tive of their political affiliations, race, religion, social standing or public office they hold. Further, the government must formu-late a permanent plan of action

to strengthen the national secu-rity with the participation of all political parties to ensure that there is no repetition of simi-lar incidents in the future. If not the people may go beyond their limits of patience and take the law into their hands, which may ultimately turn out to be something beyond our control," stated His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo addressing a special media briefing to notify the

present situation of the coun-try, held at Archbishop's House, Colombo last Monday. Continuing, His emi-nence said we appeal to the Government on behalf of all re-ligious leaders not to allow the destabilization of the country to take place by creating dis-sension among different na-tionalities and those profess-ing different faiths. We came to

His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal RanjithNational Security Paramount

“ R E G I S T E R E D I N T H E D E PA RT M E N T O F P O S T S O F S R I L A N K A” U N D E R N O. Q D / 4 8 / N E W S / 2 0 1 9

➢ CONTD ON PG. 4

T. Sunil Fernando

"The dastardly and gruesome bomb attacks that took place last Easter Sunday is

"The Easter Carnage-a disgrace and dishonour to our country and the world"

His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith

Text: T. Sunil Fernando and Roshan PradeepPic: Asika Priyadharshana

➢ CONTD ON PG. 4

# “Shun inmate hierarchy” Pope to prisoners

# “Remember that with war, all is lost!” Pope to President of South Sudan

Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of 12 prisoners at the traditional Holy Thursday Service, telling them to shun any inmate hierarchy structure ➢ CONTD ON PG. 4

Pope Francis on Thursday, April 11, got on his hands and knees before the leaders of South Sudan’s government and its opposition, kissing their feet and imploring the two men to maintain the tenu-ous peace that exists between them. “I’m asking you with my heart,” the Pope said to the President, Salva Kiir, and the opposition leader, Riek Machar, clutching his hands in front of his chest “Stay in peace.” ➢ CONTD ON PG. 4

The Sabaragamuwa Catholic Church condemns the recent terror attacks on Christian Churches and Hotels and the Ineffective Response of the

State and Security Of�icials when it could have been averted

The Catholic Commission for Justice, Peace and Hu-man Development of the Ratnapura Diocese (Catho-lic Church in the Sabaragamuwa Province), that gath-ered on April 25, 2019, presided over by His Lordship Bishop Cletus

Christianity redefi ned➢ CONTD ON PG. 4

Catholic RightsProtection Council

NegomboCondemns the

terrorist attack on Easter Sunday

We are compelled to announce that we strongly condemn the dastardly terror-ist attacks, which targeted innocent civil-ians of Catholic churches and main tour-ist hotels on April 21, 2019. We solemnly pay our respects to all the Catholic mar-tyrs and innocent foreigners who lost their lives in the name of our Lord. May all of them enjoy the glory with God. We extend our condolences to all our families and friends who are af-fected by this ➢ CONTD ON PG. 4

Relief fund for the Rehabilitation of 2019 Easter Sunday Victims

and Reconstruction of the Churches

Account Name: Archbishop of ColomboBank: Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC, Borella BranchAccount No: 1190038741Swift Code: CCeYLKLX

Account Name: Archbishop of ColomboBank: Hatton national Bank, Head Office BranchAccount No: 003010484963Swift Code: HBLILKLX

*All donations for the relief work are to be kind-ly deposited in one of the above accounts and will be acknowledged with an official receipt.

* no other person, organization, institution or Churches have been authorized to collect funds on behalf of the Catholic Church for the Disaster Relief Fund.

Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo

TOR Franciscans Ordination - 2019Two deacons of TOR Franciscans of the vice Prov-ince of Our Lady of Lanka, Sri Lanka will be ordained priests by His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Raymond Wickra-masinghe, Bishop of Galle on Saturday, May 11, 2019, at 3.30 p.m. at St. Joseph's Church, Wennappuwa.

Rev. Deacon Amila Dayantha Fernando,

TORFirst Holy Mass: on Sun-day, May 12, at St. Francis Xavier's Church, Mam-puriya at 8.00 a.m.

Rev. Deacon Anthony Lakshman

Tissera, TORFirst Holy Mass: on Sun-day, May 12, at St. Anne's Church, Palangature at 7.30 a.m.

Text and Pix by: T. Sunil Fernando

National Small Christian

Community Sunday

2 The Messenger May 5, 2019

“He revealed himself in this way” (John 21,1)

Information to the publicI, Sr. Jacintha Silva of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Jesus and Mary in Sri Lanka, wish to inform the Public of Sri Lanka that the services started by me, under the name of MeTH ASIRI for the differently able children in Kadolkele, negombo, have been terminated; and no one is authorized either to continue under this name or to collect any funds or materials for this organization anymore. Hereaf-ter neither my Congregation nor I myself holds responsibility for any matters regard-ing the services of this nature in the area of Negombo.

Rev. Sr. Jacintha Silva

� Diyalagoda

Conducted by Rev. Fr. Jude Tennyson - D. Anselm Fernando� Wellawatte

Conducted by Very Rev. Fr. Manokumaran Nagaratnam and Rev. Fr. Buddhika Jayamanne S. B. David

� Kalutara

Conducted by Rev. Fr. Roshan Silva OMI and Rev. Fr. Anton D. Peterson OMID. Anselm Fernando

� Pamunugama

Conducted by Rev. Fr. Francis Jayakody Benjamin Kirihetti

� Bologna, Italy

Conducted by Rev. Fr. Christo Viraj Fernando and Rev. Fr. Prageeth Dishan, Holy Mass Celebrated by Rev. Fr. Shehan Fernando Chamara Sri

Lenten Way of the Cross

Passion Play� Koralawella, Moratuwa

"Galavumkaruwano" staged under the guidance of Rev. Fr. Shihan Indika Perera Asika Priyadarshana and Christie Ferdinando

� Maggona

� St. Joseph's Church, Ratmalana

"Love of the Cross", staged under the guidance of Rev. Fr. Prageeth Chamra Perera Anthea Peris Flambert

Staged by the youth "Dharma-ratna Janapada-ya", Diyalagoda

D. Anselm Fernando

Good Friday Service in Maggona CalvaryChief Celebrant: Rev. Fr. Suranga Indrajith OMI.

D. Anselm Fernando

3 The Messenger May 5, 2019 3 May 5, 2019 Messenger

EDITORIALEmail:[email protected]

Website:colomboarchdiocesancatholicpress.com Telephone: 011 2695984 Fax: 2692586 / 2670100

May 5, 2019

SINCE FEBRUARY 1869

“Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples” (John 21,2)

One of the excruciating questions the early Christians were grappling with was Jesus’ betrayal by Judas. Jesus was betrayed not

by an outsider but by one of His disciples, o` ei-j tw/n dw,deka /one of the Twelve, whom He summoned and commissioned. How was it possible? That was the sad and shy memory, which haunted and tantalized the early followers of Jesus. As we go through the Gospels, we �ind how the Evangelists address this issue in variant ways. The early Gospels of Mark and Matthew present the reason for betrayal as ‘avarice’: “Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went off to the chief priests to hand him over to them. When they heard him they were pleased and promised to pay him avrgu,rion /silver/ money. Then he looked for an opportunity to hand him over” (Mark 14,10-11); “Then one of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him tria,konta avrgu,ria /thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over” (Matthew 26,14-16). Avarice as the motive behind the great betrayal is ‘implicit’ in Mark, whilst ‘explicit’ in Matthew. The later Gospels of Luke and John add a ‘new’ reason for the betrayal. At the end of the temptations, we are told by Luke “When the devil had �inished every temptation, he departed from him a;cri kairou /until an appointed time/ for a while” (Luke 4,13). This appointed time occurs before the passion and death of Jesus: “Then Satan Eivsh/lqen/entered into Judas, the one surnamed Iscariot, being from the number of the Twelve, and he went to the chief priests and temple guards to discuss a plan for handing him over to them. They were pleased and agreed to pay him avrgu,rion /silver/ money. He accepted their offer and sought a favourable opportunity to hand him over to them in the absence of a crowd” (Luke 22). In John, the activity of satan is presented in a more dramatic fashion: “The devil having already thrown into the heart so that Judas, son of Simon, Iscariot might hand him over … Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it." So he dipped the morsel and (took it and) handed it to Judas, son of Simon, Iscariot. After the morsel, satan then eivsh/lqen /entered into him … So having taken the morsel, he went out immediately. And it was night” (John 13). Judas is instigated by satan, the great adversary. Its hour is at hand; the night is closing in on the light, but only with Jesus’ permission since He is still in full control of His destiny (and so He commands Judas, satan’s agent). These Gospel presentations do help us today understand the ‘why-ness’ of the bloodbath on the last Easter Sunday. The suicide bombers were not foreigners but locals, who were born and bred within our shores. They belonged to the educated and wealthy class of our society. They were in a word ‘our own.’ If so, how did they commit this heinous crime against their own brothers and sisters? The reason should be by now clear: satan entered into them. Yes, satan, the ancient liar, entered into these youth, radicalized them with its empty promises and tried to frustrate God’s plan by killing His People on their knees at prayer and worship.

Let us at this point quote Raymond E. Brown, “probably the premier Catholic Scripture scholar in the U.S.” (Time magazine). To the question ‘Do you believe in a devil?’ he responded this way, “Does the recent history of the world incline one to doubt the existence of such an evil force at work? Indeed, to the more pessimistic, the recent history of the world might make it easier to believe in the devil than to believe in God ... Moreover, I do not �ind much in our modern experience of the continued proclamation of God’s kingdom to make me think that deliberate resistance by evil is something that belongs solely to worldview of the �irst century” (Responses to 101 Questions on the Bible, Q. 51). Hence the Easter Sunday massacre could be seen as part of resistance, orchestrated by some Islamic extremists under satanic instigation, against the continued proclamation and presence of God’s Kingdom in their midst. Did satan, the one who opposed the coming of God’s Kingdom in the days of Jesus, become victorious on the Easter Sunday, when our innocent faithful were bathed with their own blood? To answer this, we may go back to the story of Judas, who voluntarily became an agent of the devil. Was Judas victorious by his great betrayal? Did satan achieve its purpose at last? What happened on the �irst Easter Sunday is now part of our sacred history – i.e. God raised Jesus from the dead, having vanquished the power of satan. In the words of St. Peter, “Therefore let the whole house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you cruci�ied” (Acts 2,36). Hence “Christus vincit! Christus regnat! Christus imperat!” – ‘Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands.’ In neither Colombo nor Negombo, was satan victorious. The faithful who physically died received the crown of martyrdom. In the language of the Book of Revelation, they “stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands … These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they stand before God's throne and worship him day and night in his temple. The one who sits on the throne will shelter them. They will not hunger or thirst anymore, nor will the sun or any heat strike them. For the Lamb who is in the centre of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 7). Having died in the Lord, the Easter Christians are now triumphant ("white robes" and "palm branches"). What became then the fate of Judas, the agent of satan? Concerning the death of Judas, there are clearly two traditions. In Matthew, Judas commits suicide: kai. avpelqw.n avph,gxatoÅ “and going away, he hanged himself” (27,5). In Acts, Judas purchases a piece of property with the betrayal money and is killed on it in a fall: “He bought a parcel of land with the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out” (1,18). What happened to Judas did happen to satan’s new agents, the human bombers of Easter carnage. It is now a dark patch of our national history and an indelible blemish in the future of our country. Accordingly, the Islamic extremism is, like any other form of extremism, a satanic ideology. There is no second word about it. It has travelled, like a ghostly shadow, across the globe and struck every nation by its barbaric tentacles. To cite a few examples, which are galore: the so-called teachers, who are graduated not in ‘humanism’ but in ‘demonology’, have turned

devotees to human bombs, interpreting to them the sacred verses in the most sacrilegious and fanatic way; the so-called places of worship have been used as hideouts of weapons, terrorists and illegal propaganda material. These factors would de facto create an ambience, sinister and satanic, within a religious community for extremism to grow. The Easter Sunday Christians became eventually the innocent victims of this culture of death, brewed over the years. Hence battle against this new form of satanism is the need of the hour. It is better ‘late’ than ‘never’ but we should not make it ‘too late’, for it is only a stitch in time which saves nine and closing the stable door after the horse has bolted is futile. What could jeopardize the battle against the home-grown Islamic terrorism? It is our own lack of patriotism – love for one’s own land (πατρίς patris). Had all leaders, politicians and public servants of the country worked for ‘Country First’ and not for ‘Vote First’, then the gruesome and ghostly massacre of the innocents in the Houses of God on Easter Sunday could have been avoided; the tourists would have safely returned to their countries; and the families worshipping in Churches would have enjoyed the Easter lunch together at home. Hence the recent carnage on Easter Sunday is a wake-up call for the polarized politics of the country to recall the proverbial wisdom of antiquity, ‘United we stand; divided we fall’ (Aesop’s The Four Oxen and the Lion) or the Words of our Lord, “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (Mark 3,24-25). The Opposition should join hands with the Government in this national crisis, without trying to �ish in troubled waters. Both should refrain from giving blatantly unethical and grossly illegal orders on socio-politico, ethno-religious grounds to the police, security forces and CID for the release of actual or potential terrorists and extremists in custody lest the citizens be again left with the rhetorical question, ‘Who shall guard the guards?’ In the battle against extremism, the national enemy has to be identi�ied and confronted with leaving aside sectarian politics and political rivalries. The leaders ‘of the people’ come to power in a democratic way, they should keep in mind, ‘from the people’ and ‘for the people’ and hence they should not give a step-motherly treatment to the ‘public’ security, whilst strengthening their own VIP security. In democracy, citizens are not the Cinderella but the cynosure. In the wake of gross failure in national security, it is customary to fabricate post-factum explanations, clari�ications, baby talks, cover-ups, political rhetoric; start blame game; shed crocodile tears; and start promising the sun and the moon. These big cosmetic shows will not raise the innocent dead or dry the tears of the living dead in Colombo or Negombo. Further, the intelligentsia of the country can hardly be fooled today by lies, half-truths and unfounded statements vomited out ex-eventu on media. People are critical, analytical and well-informed living in a global village. As Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” All, the rulers and the ruled alike, should also remember �inally the words of this sixteenth aforementioned President of the USA that it is only a “Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”

“Satan entered into him ...”


“Simon Peter said to them, "i am going fi shing." they said to him, "We also will come with you" (John 21,3)

Introduction: We are in the 3rd Sunday of the joyful easter season. Today's Gospel presens us with the third encounter of the Risen Lord with His disciples. In all the readings, to-day we are called to rediscover our Faith in Jesus and witness to Him in our neighbourhood by going beyond justice and seeking the lost sheep to strengthen our own Small Christian Communities. The good news of the Risen Lord today is His deep merciful understand-ing expressed towards His confused, perplexed dis-ciples who want to return to their normal life. Jesus is calling them back to Follow Him in his mission of love. Today we celebrate the National Small Chris-tian Community Day with the above theme filled with Jesus’ Mercy going beyond justice to seek the lost sheep. Are we ready to follow Jesus by showing un-conditional mercy to our brother/sister who has wan-dered away from our own family, community? Are we ready to go beyond the accepted norms and justice to welcome him/her back to our own family, community? Let us pray for one another to have courage, to be au-thentic witnesses, to the mercy of the Risen Lord in today’s world.

Gospel Re�lection:John 21: 1-19

- Today’s Gospel text brings us to another beau-tiful Encounter which the Disciples had with the Risen Lord at the Lake Tiberias. The Disciples' rediscovery of themselves and their faith in Jesus again at the Tiberias lake. They lost their FAITH in JeSuS after His death and getting back to their previous life of fishing.- Jesus is waiting patiently at the shore of Lake Tiberias till the tired disciples return. He is also wait-ing for all of who are running tirelessly , aimlessly till we return to Him. Just think, look into your life style..what sort of a life are you leading… just carrying on the routine…- Jesus knew their helpless situation, their tiredness, their hunger, discouragement, fruitless night they spent without catching a single fish…Similarly Je-sus knows of our real situations..He knows our help-lessness, our fatigue, our struggles, how hard we are fighting along in our own ways to better our lives…but without any sense of fulfillment…and satisfaction..be-cause we are trying to catch �ish alone by ourselves..

just like disciples, we are casting our nets on the wrong side.- Jesus responds to the immediate need…He made the disciples to throw their nets on the other side and get a big catch of fish – one hundred and fifty three in all…If we too listen and obey his command “throw your nets on the right side of the boat, and you will catch some” We must try to listen deeply to Jesus through his WORD..take into heart and act on His WORD..We must take the risk of doing things in new way…in a different way..but guided by His WORD. Then only we will be able to get the required catch…in life..net full of �ish. - Jesus shares the bread and the burnt fish al-ready on the charcoal fire ..here Jesus’ merciful love is expressed again in concrete deeds..he had prepared the meal (bread & burnt fish) for them. This is going be-yond traditions, accepted customs..but compelled with bountiful mercy He invited them to come and eat. He responds to the basic needs of His disciples. Hence we are reminded of the necessity of expressing and showing our merciful love in concrete deeds, in con-crete situations.- The most important part of today’s Gospel Message comes after this encounter. Jesus entrusts Peter with the Shepherding role of his Flock (Church). Jesus simply showed the disciples with his example a little while ago what he expects from them, specially from Peter as the leader of the Disciples. Namely to show one's love in concrete, meaningful deeds just as he did.- Peter Do you love me ….? Then take care of my Lambs. Peter Do you Love me…? Take care of my sheep. Then third time Do you love me..? Take care of my sheep.- Jesus expects all disciples (Pope, Bishops, Priests, Religious and Lay leaders as well as faithful) to take care of his lambs & sheep (tender & mature, young & old, faithful & unfaithful) alike. He wants them to know the smell of the sheep. - Pope Francis is very clear in his thinking and acting with this Shepherding Mission proclaiming this by his every action. His special document presented in this jubilee year of mercy – Misericoriae vultus-Gods Merciful Face is a definite call to act immediately in today’s context. Our Call today is to be a caring and daring merciful shepherd to one another.

- He expects us to feed (physically, mentally and spiritually) all his lambs & sheep.He hopes that all would cast their nets at his Word…so that we may not tire ourselves fruitlessly.- He also wants us to follow Him both in our words and deeds so that we may be able to get catch of 153 fish (the entire kinds of fish in the sea) symbol-izing that one day all nations, all people will be in this net of Love, the Kingdom of God.- The leadership in Jesus’ Community(Church) is not of governing and administering only but of shepherding with merciful love.

Prayers of the Faithful: 1. Heavenly Father, We wish to bring before you the Leader of our Church, Pope Farncis and all the Bishops, Clergy and Religious together with all the lay leaders. Bless all of them and strengthen them in their call to leadership so that they continue to be the authentic Shepherds of their flocks.Let us Pray to the Lord! Lord Hear our Prayers

2. Father We thank you for the life-giving WORD you spoke to us today through the Scriptures. Help us to Listen Deeply and Obey promptly to the command of your Son Jesus, so that each one may become a caring and daring shepherd to one another through concrete acts of merciful Love in their own neighbourhood communities.Let us Pray to the Lord! Lord Hear our Prayers

3. Heavenly Father with gratitude we recall the en-counter, the Disciples had with Your Son Lord Jesus Christ at the shore of Lake Tiberias. Indeed it was a life transforming experience of Faith in the Resurrection of Your Son Jesus. Help us also to rediscover our Faith in Resurrection and have Hope in life to come .Let us Pray to the Lord! Lord Hear Our Prayers 4. Father let the poor and the needy hear the words of Jesus through the generous and sensitive persons “do you have anything to eat?” and receive what they deserve.Let us Pray to the Lord! Lord Hear Our Prayers

National Small Christian Communities Secretariat, No.19, “Lanka Rama”, Balcombe Place, Colombo 08.

National Small Christian Communities Sunday - 5th May 2019Theme: “ Filled with Jesus’ mercy let us go beyond justice and seek the lost sheep through our SCCs .”

Contd. from Pg. 1 National Security... know that a commission had been appointed to examine these unfortunate incidents. We wonder whether the find-ings of this commission would be kept away from the public similar to those findings of other commissions. Similarly we request the Government to provide the relief measures

and compensation which have been promised to those who have lost their kith and kin and to those injured due to this tragic incident, as soon as possible. Most venerable It-tapane Dhammalankara The-ro, President of the Congress of Religions was also present at this media briefing and ad-dressed those who were pres-ent.

Contd. from Pg. 1 The Easter Carnage... not only a disgrace and dish-onour to our country, but to the whole of humanity. It is not possible for us to kill an-other person or inflict pain on them in the name of God," said His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, in his homily at the Holy Mass celebrated at the Sacred Heart Chapel at the Archbishop's House, Colombo to commemorate all those who had died during the re-cent bomb attacks. Continuing the homily, His eminence went on to state that the beauty of our motherland lies in diver-sity. We need to be tolerant of differences amongst us and should show brotherly love to our fellow human beings. On the earth you and I are also members who have the right to life and no one has the right

to take it away from us. All are valuable human beings. If anyone tries to snatch away another's life in the name of

God is in a grave sin. A large gathering of Clergy and Religious were present at the Holy Mass which was concelebrated by Their Lordships Rt. Rev. Drs. Maxwell Silva and J. D. An-thony, Auxiliary Bishops of Colombo. Special prayers were conducted on this occa-sion to Commemorate those killed in the recent bomb at-tacks and to seek the inter-cession of St. Anthony and St. Sebastian for the repose of their souls. His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena, Presi-dent, Hon. Ranil Wickrem-esinghe, Prime Minister and Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa, Leader of the Opposition also joined in the lighting of can-dles in memory of those who lost their lives.

Contd. from Pg. 1 Christianity redefined...

# “Shun inmate hierarchy” Pope to prisoners or law of the strongest and to help each other instead. Thursday's ritual in a prison in velletri, outside Italy's capital Rome, marks the fifth time since his election in 2013 that Pope Francis has held the Service, which commemorates Jesus' gesture of humility towards His apostles on the night be-fore He died, in jail. Francis' predecessors held the traditional Holy Thursday Rite in one of Rome's great Basilicas, washing the feet of 12 priests. But to emphasize its symbolism of service, Francis transferred it to places of confinement, such as prisons, immigrant centres or old-age homes. The Pontiff told the inmates that in Jesus' time, wash-ing the feet of visitors was the job of slaves and servants. "This is the rule of Jesus and the rule of the Gospel. The rule of service, not of domination or of humiliating others," he said. "Among you, it must not be this way (domination). The strongest must serve the smallest one. The one who thinks he is the strongest must be a servant. We must all be servants," he said.

# “Remember that with war, all is lost!” Pope to President of South Sudan

Last September, Mr. Kiir and his former vice president turned rebel leader, Mr. Machar, signed a peace agreement in ethiopia. On Thursday, the two men went to the vatican for an exceptional two-day ecumenical retreat inside the Pope’s resi-dence. “There will be fights among you, but let these be inside the office,” Pope Francis said, staring the leaders and other South Sudanese officials in the eye and urging them to respect their recent armistice and commit to forming a unity govern-ment next month. “But in front of the people, hold hands.” This way, the pope said, they can “become fathers of the nation.”

Contd. from Pg. 1 The Sabaragamuwa Catholic... C. Perera OSB, the Bishop of Ratnapura, vehemently condemns the atrocious and barbaric terror attacks by the

Islamic Extremist group on three Christian Churches and three prominent hotels in the Western and Eastern Provinc-

Most Rev. Dr. Cletus Chandrasiri Perera OSBBishop of Ratnapura and the Chairman of the Catholic Diocesan Commission for Justice, Peace and Human Development

Rev. Fr. B. Anton SriyanSecretaryCatholic Diocesan Commissionfor Justice, Peace and Human Development

Contd. from Pg. 1 Catholic Rights Protection...

unexpected dreadful incident and our blessings are for early recovery for all the injured. Our humble honour is for the Archbishop, all the Catholic priests, all the religious leaders, tri forces and police personnel, Doctors and hospital staff who extended their full-est support for all the Sri Lankan communities at this devas-tated situation. We request all the responsible authorities including President, Prime Minister and Opposition Leader to devote themselves disregarding their own political views and con-cepts to save our country and make it again a peaceful place to live without the fear of life.Emmanuel PiumwardenaGeneral SecretaryCatholic Rights Protection Council, Negombo

Very. Rev. Fr. Ciswan De Croos ChairmanCatholic Rights Protection Council, Negombo

es. We, the Catholic Community in the Sabaragamuwa Province, express our deep sentiments of sympathy and grief with the af-fected families and assure them of our prayers and solidarity. This Catholic Commission strongly condemns with displeasure the inability of the Government officials to disclose on time to the public the security threat and to act wisely in the face of such planned suicide bombings, which resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives of inocent people. We also reiter-ate the need to intensify the security measures to guarantee the freedom of citizens and especially the freedom of worship to all religions. Let us not allow our unity and brotherhood to be shattered by these sad events but rather walk steadily in the the path of peace and reconciliation as one country.

This may disturb your normal sleep pattern and give you nightmares and horror- rid-den dreams. Keeping yourself mentally alert is another way of postponing Alzheimer’s disease. Read new things, learn a new language or learn to play a musical instrument like a guitar. Even solving crossword puzzles and jig-saw-puzzles can help to keep the mental faculties active. Keeping your brain alert is one of the best ways to avoid short term memory loss which is a devastating effect of dementia.

Nutritious Diet Go back to our village diet. That will prolong your life and put off dementia symptoms. unpolished brown rice just from the paddy field, vegetables such as bitter gourd, brinjal, snake gourd, ridge gourd, pump-kins and beans directly from the home garden are the best food we Sri Lankans can eat. Avoid polished white rice or white bread like poison. Eat manioc and sweet potatoes. eat fresh fruits like papaya, mangoes, guava, avocadoes, and bananas. use virgin coconut oil to pre-pare food. Prefer breadfruit and jack prepared accord-ing to village recipes as carbohydrates. For proteins eat dhal, or soya and drink fresh cow or goat milk. eat more fish than meat. If you prefer meat products eat animal protein in free range chicken and their eggs. Avoid alcohol, tobacco or drugs. Smoking ciga-rettes, cigars and the pipe and excessive intake of alco-hol are addictive as bad as taking street drugs. All these can affect the brain cells adversely and instead of pro-longing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s these habits can accelerate the onset of dementia. Avoid processed foods such as cheese, sausages, ham and bacon and also fried food. Cook and prepare your own food and avoid fast or over the counter food. Experts also advise people to have an active so-cial life. Call or email friends and relations. Learn more about social networks and try to keep in contact with

“So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing” (John 21,3)

BiTS &PiECES

By Idam

Health relatedIssues in Sri Lanka

By Dr. Maxie FernandopulleEmail:[email protected]

We hear sad stories about elderly people go-ing missing from their homes all of a sudden. Family members cannot find a trace of them

and these elderly individuals cannot find their way home or identify themselves, because they have lost any memory of their names or their home addresses. Families are devastated because they could never find their loved ones. They have gone missing without any trace. Another friend of mine was totally devastated when his wife with whom he had lived for almost 50 years yelled at him and ordered him to get out of their bedroom because she thought that he was an intruder. Memory loss or dementia is eroding this wife’s mind gradually and she has come to a stage that she cannot even recognize her own husband. Pharmaceutical companies, psychologists and gerontologists are doing extensive research to find miracle cures to regain mental faculties that the elderly patients who are afflicted by dementia could be cured with. They are researching for a pill or a treatment to counteract the devastating memory loss of the elderly. Since our present generation has made a breakthrough to combat diseases and gained a longer life span, dis-eases of the elderly such as rheumatoid arthritis, car-diac and endocrine diseases such as diabetes and de-mentia or memory loss are on the increase. So far gerontological researchers have come to the conclusion that the neurological damage done to the brain cells which causes dementia cannot be retrieved, at present. They hope one day after ongoing intensive research gerontologists may find a way to rejuvenate the destroyed cells. Till such time the only cure for de-mentia is to take preventative measures.

Physical Fitness Research reveals that the risk of developing devastating senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease can be prevented by doing regular physical exercises. Experts advise you to start with simple workouts such as walking 15 to 30 minutes a day. This routine should be gradually increased to running, using the gym or playing games like badminton, volleyball, tennis and

Dementia Preventionbasketball. Swimming too is an excellent physical exer-cise routine. It develops all the muscles of the body. The exercise routine should be done regularly for 30 min-utes a day into five days a week. Taking part in heavy household chores such as sweeping and cleaning the garden or the house, lifting or carrying heavy objects, taking stairs instead of eleva-tors or lifts, doing laundry can be substituted for regu-lar workouts. The regularity of the routine exercises is extremely important than going to the gym once a week or cleaning and sweeping once in two weeks. Avoiding head trauma is one more way of pro-tecting dementia. Wearing helmets while cycling or wearing seat belts when driving are two examples of measures preventing head injuries. Head injuries in-crease the chances of experiencing dementia later in our life. Routines which improve your balance too are beneficial to prevent injuries. Routines such as Yoga, Tai Chi or any workout using balance balls and discs can help in improving your balance and preventing falls and head injuries.

Sleep and Rest Regular sleep and rest are important for opti-mum brain function. Deep sleep is essential for forma-tion of memory, retention of facts and figures and the re-trieval of what we learnt. Sleep deprivation slows down our thinking processes and retard our brain function. Our brain gets used to regular rhythms. It is best to have a regular time to go to bed and a specific time to wake up. Keeping to this regular routine will make you have enough rest at night so that you are rejuvenated in the morning to keep you alert and energetic during the day. In addition to regular night time sleep some people also have a regular nap in the afternoon. Researchers advo-cate this type of a short nap provided it does not disturb your regular night sleeping pattern of 7 to 8 hours. Regular pre-sleeping activities, such as a bath, or a shower, reading or praying, writing a journal re-flecting on what happened during that day can also help to induce sleep. Physicians advise us not to watch the news where they show the pessimistic side of life such as wars and terrorist activities, before you go to bed.

Very important and serious causes of fever in chil-dren are intracranial infections or infections af-fecting the brain. The infections can be confined

to the membranes covering the brain (meninges) when it is called meningitis or the brain substance is affected when it is called encephalitis.

Meningitis is often caused by bacteria but less com-monly can also be caused by viruses.The three com-mon bacteria are meningococcus, streptococcus and haemophilus influenzae. The common virus is herpes simplex. Menigitis can affect any age , and is more seri-ous in infants. The features are a child presenting with fever has manifestations of pressure inside the brain increasing due to the swelling of the membranes.There is an unbearable headache persistently present even when the fever is lessened and often not relieved by paracetamol. vomiting is a marked feature. The child cries due unbearable pain and the cry is high pitched and inconsolable. He is sleeping most of the time. The illness can start off also as an upper respiratory tract infection and progress to the much worrying menin-gitis. There is often an altered level of consciousness, irritability. Once it has spread to the brain the child is very ill looking. He resents exposure to light or is pho-tophobic. His limbs are stiff and movements of the neck is absent or limited and painful, which is a character-istic sign of meningitis reffered to as neck stiffness by doctors. If you attempt to lift him from the back of his neck, the movement occurs at the hips and not at the neck. The lower limbs are stiff and you cannot bend his knees or the hip joints. This sign is called the positive kernig’s sign. This child should be immediatly taken to the closest children’s ward managed by a child special-ist. Fortunately now they are available even in the dis-trict state hospitals in the small towns. The doctor will do a blood count which will

help to establish the infection and may be the causative germ. The very important test to do is a lumbar punc-ture and collect the brain water or the cerebro spinal fluid for examination for excess cells, decreased sugar levels and increased protein levels. A culture of the fluid is done to identfy the bacteria that has caused the infec-tion. The child should be started off with a broad cover of strong antibiotics intravenously, the duration may be more than 10 days. Just prior to giving the antibiotic, an injection of a steroid may be given to minimise the chance of developing a later complication of deafness. Some of the causes of meningitis due to bacte-ria can be prevented by taking very expensive vacines like the pneumococcal and meningococcal which are routinely not given. There is a place for preventive anti-biotic treatment for the other children at home in some cases. This decision should be taken by the child spe-cialist. But the most important thing is to detect it early, and if there is the slightest possibility the child should be admitted for confirmation of the diagnosis rather than give an adequate antibiotic by mouth at home which will make it difficult to diagnose the half treated child.

Encephalitis Different from meningitis, encephalitis is the inflammation of the entire brain which can affect the covering membranes or the meninges. The brain swells up. The pressure inside the head increases and cause symptoms. Encephalitis is more commonly due to a vi-ral infection and not infrequently preceeded by a viral upper respiratory or gastro intestinal infection. There is severe headache, fever, sensitivity to light, altererd level of consciousness, lethargy, irritability and repeated fits. The stiffness of the neck is not so remarkable. Some of viruses that can cause encephalitis

like Measles, Rubella, Chicken pox, Poliomyelitis, Rabies, Japanese B encephalitis have been reduced by vaccina-tions. Herpes simplex is another cause of encephalitis. If a child with fever has some brain affected features like repeated fits, altered level of consciousness, vomiting unexplained sleepiness, irritability he or she should be seen by a child care doctor and admitted to a paediat-ric ward. You may loose your child by your delay. In any case about a 3rd of patients who get a serious form of encephalitis like the Jap B variety encephalitis die. Only about a 3rd of them recover in the best of centres. The other 3rd end up with neurological sequale. There is of-ten no specific drug or an antibiotic. Symptomatic sup-portive intensive care is given with the best of hopes. In-vestigations in the blood, cerebro spinal fluid, scanning, E.E.G are the usual tests which are done. Japanese B encephalitis is a type of encephalitis that is of concern to us in Sri Lanka. not very long ago it caused serious epidemic havoc. With the introduction of the vaccine it is drastically reduced. Get your child vaccinat-ed against JAP B. It is caused by a mosquito bite and be-longs to the same group as dengue virus. The virus exists in a transmission cycle between mosquito, pig or water birds. It was very common in the north central province. It spread to the rest of the country except the upcountry where the mosquito did not flourish. It has more or less the same clinical picture of other encephalitis infections but more often serious with sinister outcomes. Infective Endocarditis is another serious cause of continued fever. It is very important to identfy a child or an adult suffering from this infection as it carries a very high death rate without proper treatment. Even with treatment the outcome is not very good. In the u.K. the death rate is 6 to 7% and it is higher in the develop-ing world.

Contd. on Pg. 15

SERIOUS CAUSES OF FEVER IN CHILDREN

Contd. on Pg. 15


This may disturb your normal sleep pattern and give you nightmares and horror- rid-den dreams. Keeping yourself mentally alert is another way of postponing Alzheimer’s disease. Read new things, learn a new language or learn to play a musical instrument like a guitar. Even solving crossword puzzles and jig-saw-puzzles can help to keep the mental faculties active. Keeping your brain alert is one of the best ways to avoid short term memory loss which is a devastating effect of dementia.

Nutritious Diet Go back to our village diet. That will prolong your life and put off dementia symptoms. unpolished brown rice just from the paddy field, vegetables such as bitter gourd, brinjal, snake gourd, ridge gourd, pump-kins and beans directly from the home garden are the best food we Sri Lankans can eat. Avoid polished white rice or white bread like poison. Eat manioc and sweet potatoes. eat fresh fruits like papaya, mangoes, guava, avocadoes, and bananas. use virgin coconut oil to pre-pare food. Prefer breadfruit and jack prepared accord-ing to village recipes as carbohydrates. For proteins eat dhal, or soya and drink fresh cow or goat milk. eat more fish than meat. If you prefer meat products eat animal protein in free range chicken and their eggs. Avoid alcohol, tobacco or drugs. Smoking ciga-rettes, cigars and the pipe and excessive intake of alco-hol are addictive as bad as taking street drugs. All these can affect the brain cells adversely and instead of pro-longing the symptoms of Alzheimer’s these habits can accelerate the onset of dementia. Avoid processed foods such as cheese, sausages, ham and bacon and also fried food. Cook and prepare your own food and avoid fast or over the counter food. Experts also advise people to have an active so-cial life. Call or email friends and relations. Learn more about social networks and try to keep in contact with

“So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing” (John 21,3)

BiTS &PiECES

By Idam

Health relatedIssues in Sri Lanka

By Dr. Maxie FernandopulleEmail:[email protected]

We hear sad stories about elderly people go-ing missing from their homes all of a sudden. Family members cannot find a trace of them

and these elderly individuals cannot find their way home or identify themselves, because they have lost any memory of their names or their home addresses. Families are devastated because they could never find their loved ones. They have gone missing without any trace. Another friend of mine was totally devastated when his wife with whom he had lived for almost 50 years yelled at him and ordered him to get out of their bedroom because she thought that he was an intruder. Memory loss or dementia is eroding this wife’s mind gradually and she has come to a stage that she cannot even recognize her own husband. Pharmaceutical companies, psychologists and gerontologists are doing extensive research to find miracle cures to regain mental faculties that the elderly patients who are afflicted by dementia could be cured with. They are researching for a pill or a treatment to counteract the devastating memory loss of the elderly. Since our present generation has made a breakthrough to combat diseases and gained a longer life span, dis-eases of the elderly such as rheumatoid arthritis, car-diac and endocrine diseases such as diabetes and de-mentia or memory loss are on the increase. So far gerontological researchers have come to the conclusion that the neurological damage done to the brain cells which causes dementia cannot be retrieved, at present. They hope one day after ongoing intensive research gerontologists may find a way to rejuvenate the destroyed cells. Till such time the only cure for de-mentia is to take preventative measures.

Physical Fitness Research reveals that the risk of developing devastating senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease can be prevented by doing regular physical exercises. Experts advise you to start with simple workouts such as walking 15 to 30 minutes a day. This routine should be gradually increased to running, using the gym or playing games like badminton, volleyball, tennis and

Dementia Preventionbasketball. Swimming too is an excellent physical exer-cise routine. It develops all the muscles of the body. The exercise routine should be done regularly for 30 min-utes a day into five days a week. Taking part in heavy household chores such as sweeping and cleaning the garden or the house, lifting or carrying heavy objects, taking stairs instead of eleva-tors or lifts, doing laundry can be substituted for regu-lar workouts. The regularity of the routine exercises is extremely important than going to the gym once a week or cleaning and sweeping once in two weeks. Avoiding head trauma is one more way of pro-tecting dementia. Wearing helmets while cycling or wearing seat belts when driving are two examples of measures preventing head injuries. Head injuries in-crease the chances of experiencing dementia later in our life. Routines which improve your balance too are beneficial to prevent injuries. Routines such as Yoga, Tai Chi or any workout using balance balls and discs can help in improving your balance and preventing falls and head injuries.

Sleep and Rest Regular sleep and rest are important for opti-mum brain function. Deep sleep is essential for forma-tion of memory, retention of facts and figures and the re-trieval of what we learnt. Sleep deprivation slows down our thinking processes and retard our brain function. Our brain gets used to regular rhythms. It is best to have a regular time to go to bed and a specific time to wake up. Keeping to this regular routine will make you have enough rest at night so that you are rejuvenated in the morning to keep you alert and energetic during the day. In addition to regular night time sleep some people also have a regular nap in the afternoon. Researchers advo-cate this type of a short nap provided it does not disturb your regular night sleeping pattern of 7 to 8 hours. Regular pre-sleeping activities, such as a bath, or a shower, reading or praying, writing a journal re-flecting on what happened during that day can also help to induce sleep. Physicians advise us not to watch the news where they show the pessimistic side of life such as wars and terrorist activities, before you go to bed.

Very important and serious causes of fever in chil-dren are intracranial infections or infections af-fecting the brain. The infections can be confined

to the membranes covering the brain (meninges) when it is called meningitis or the brain substance is affected when it is called encephalitis.

Meningitis is often caused by bacteria but less com-monly can also be caused by viruses.The three com-mon bacteria are meningococcus, streptococcus and haemophilus influenzae. The common virus is herpes simplex. Menigitis can affect any age , and is more seri-ous in infants. The features are a child presenting with fever has manifestations of pressure inside the brain increasing due to the swelling of the membranes.There is an unbearable headache persistently present even when the fever is lessened and often not relieved by paracetamol. vomiting is a marked feature. The child cries due unbearable pain and the cry is high pitched and inconsolable. He is sleeping most of the time. The illness can start off also as an upper respiratory tract infection and progress to the much worrying menin-gitis. There is often an altered level of consciousness, irritability. Once it has spread to the brain the child is very ill looking. He resents exposure to light or is pho-tophobic. His limbs are stiff and movements of the neck is absent or limited and painful, which is a character-istic sign of meningitis reffered to as neck stiffness by doctors. If you attempt to lift him from the back of his neck, the movement occurs at the hips and not at the neck. The lower limbs are stiff and you cannot bend his knees or the hip joints. This sign is called the positive kernig’s sign. This child should be immediatly taken to the closest children’s ward managed by a child special-ist. Fortunately now they are available even in the dis-trict state hospitals in the small towns. The doctor will do a blood count which will

help to establish the infection and may be the causative germ. The very important test to do is a lumbar punc-ture and collect the brain water or the cerebro spinal fluid for examination for excess cells, decreased sugar levels and increased protein levels. A culture of the fluid is done to identfy the bacteria that has caused the infec-tion. The child should be started off with a broad cover of strong antibiotics intravenously, the duration may be more than 10 days. Just prior to giving the antibiotic, an injection of a steroid may be given to minimise the chance of developing a later complication of deafness. Some of the causes of meningitis due to bacte-ria can be prevented by taking very expensive vacines like the pneumococcal and meningococcal which are routinely not given. There is a place for preventive anti-biotic treatment for the other children at home in some cases. This decision should be taken by the child spe-cialist. But the most important thing is to detect it early, and if there is the slightest possibility the child should be admitted for confirmation of the diagnosis rather than give an adequate antibiotic by mouth at home which will make it difficult to diagnose the half treated child.

Encephalitis Different from meningitis, encephalitis is the inflammation of the entire brain which can affect the covering membranes or the meninges. The brain swells up. The pressure inside the head increases and cause symptoms. Encephalitis is more commonly due to a vi-ral infection and not infrequently preceeded by a viral upper respiratory or gastro intestinal infection. There is severe headache, fever, sensitivity to light, altererd level of consciousness, lethargy, irritability and repeated fits. The stiffness of the neck is not so remarkable. Some of viruses that can cause encephalitis

like Measles, Rubella, Chicken pox, Poliomyelitis, Rabies, Japanese B encephalitis have been reduced by vaccina-tions. Herpes simplex is another cause of encephalitis. If a child with fever has some brain affected features like repeated fits, altered level of consciousness, vomiting unexplained sleepiness, irritability he or she should be seen by a child care doctor and admitted to a paediat-ric ward. You may loose your child by your delay. In any case about a 3rd of patients who get a serious form of encephalitis like the Jap B variety encephalitis die. Only about a 3rd of them recover in the best of centres. The other 3rd end up with neurological sequale. There is of-ten no specific drug or an antibiotic. Symptomatic sup-portive intensive care is given with the best of hopes. In-vestigations in the blood, cerebro spinal fluid, scanning, E.E.G are the usual tests which are done. Japanese B encephalitis is a type of encephalitis that is of concern to us in Sri Lanka. not very long ago it caused serious epidemic havoc. With the introduction of the vaccine it is drastically reduced. Get your child vaccinat-ed against JAP B. It is caused by a mosquito bite and be-longs to the same group as dengue virus. The virus exists in a transmission cycle between mosquito, pig or water birds. It was very common in the north central province. It spread to the rest of the country except the upcountry where the mosquito did not flourish. It has more or less the same clinical picture of other encephalitis infections but more often serious with sinister outcomes. Infective Endocarditis is another serious cause of continued fever. It is very important to identfy a child or an adult suffering from this infection as it carries a very high death rate without proper treatment. Even with treatment the outcome is not very good. In the u.K. the death rate is 6 to 7% and it is higher in the develop-ing world.

Contd. on Pg. 15

SERIOUS CAUSES OF FEVER IN CHILDREN

Contd. on Pg. 15


“When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus” (John 21,4)

3rd Sunday of Easter – Meditation – (John 21:1-19) – Year 3Rev. Fr. Nilindra Gunesekera

Mystery of Innocent SufferingSufferings in a fallen world “One week ago many dozens of children were killed in Sri Lanka's easter Sunday attacks. Dressed in their finest clothes for one of the most important church services of the year, this was the first generation in decades to grow up free of violence,” Ayeshea Perera reports. Little did they know that after that Mass, they would not go back home to their parents for tea and lunch anymore; they were going back instead to the house of the eternal Father. One survivor of the negombo attack comment-ed that so many women and children were among the casualties only because they sat inside, where it was cooler, while the men stood outside. Other survivors are very much in need of support and prayers as they come to terms with the unexpected crosses they have to bear. Why such senseless carnage and sufferings? When we search for answers in the Scriptures and open the Book of Genesis, we read the words of the Lord to eve: “In pain you shall bring forth children (Gen-esis 3:16)” and to Adam, “cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you (Ibid. v. 17).” Pains and toils will be our constant companions hence-forth. ever since the Fall of our first parents, life in this fallen world will consist of a mix of joys and sorrows. “The whole creation has been groaning in tra-vail together until now (Romans 8:22),” St Paul tell us. Thus, sins, violence, crimes, murders, disease, food and water shortages, even natural disasters are ultimately the result of sin. They remind us of the need for salva-tion in Jesus Christ.

Cross illumines the mystery St. Paul vI once preached that “the mystery of innocent suffering is one of the most obscure points on the entire horizon of human wisdom; and here it is af-firmed in the most flagrant way. But before we uncover something of this problem, there already grows up in us an unrestrained affection for the innocent one who suf-fers, for Jesus (Address on Good Friday, 12 April 1974).” The same holds for all innocent people, whether they be young or old, who are also suffering, and whose pain

we cannot explain the reasons why. If Jesus opened the gates of heaven through His Holy Cross, anyone who wishes to enter into life eter-nal should likewise pass through the cross. As we tread along the Way of the Cross, we will inevitably encoun-ter the very first Person who led the sorrowful proces-sion of innocent people who suffer pains and injustices. And this first blameless and suffering Person uncovers for us in the end the secret of His Passion as He hangs on the Cross. It is a sacrifice. The suffering of the innocent ones could there-fore be transformed into a sacrifice when joined to that of our Lord Jesus Christ. etymologically, the word sac-rifice comes from “sacred” (sacrum) and the verb “to make” (facere), a sacrifice sancti�ies. When united to the passion of Christ, our human sufferings acquire greater magnitude and becomes salvific and sanctifying. We can find similar insights from a short but intense spiritual reflection written by St Carlo Gnoc-chi entitled, “The Pedagogy of Innocent Suffering,” pub-lished just a few days before his death in 1956. This Saint dedicated years of priestly ministry among the victims of war, but especially with amputee children. He recognized that the innocent suffering can be united to Christ’s sacrifice for the sake of human salvation pre-cisely because their suffering is innocent, blameless, and totally transparent to the fullness of the true and spotless humanity of Jesus Christ.

Suffering of the innocent Pope Francis gave a powerful address some four years ago. It was a potent address not because the Holy Father resolves the age-old mystery of the suffer-ing of the innocent. But because he doesn’t; because he acknowledges that he cannot. “There is also a question, whose explanation one does not learn in a catechesis,” the Pope admits. “It is a question I frequently ask myself and many of you, many people ask: ‘Why do children suffer?’ And there are no answers. This too is a mystery. I just look to God and ask: ‘But why?’ And looking at the Cross: ‘Why is your Son there? Why?’ It is the mystery of the Cross.” Pope Frances imagines himself at Mt Calvary. “I often think of Our Lady, when they handed down to her

the dead body of her Son, covered with wounds, spat on, bloodied and soiled. And what did Our Lady do? Did she carry Him away? no, she embraced Him, she ca-ressed Him. Our Lady, too, did not understand. Because she, in that moment, remembered what the Angel had said to her: ‘He will be King, he will be great, he will be a prophet’; and inside, surely, with that wounded body lying in her arms, that body that suffered so before dy-ing, inside surely she wanted to say to the Angel: “Liar! I was deceived.” She, too, had no answers.” The Pope advised us not to “be afraid to ask God: 'Why?’, to challenge Him: ‘Why?’ May you always have your heart open to receiving His fatherly gaze. The only answer that He could give you will be: ‘My Son also suffered.’ That is the answer. The most important thing is that gaze. And your strength is there: the loving gaze of the Father.” Though said in a different context, the Holy Fa-ther’s words relate well with the sentiments of victims and survivors of the recent tragedy. “I accompany you thus as I am, as I feel. And, in truth, the compassion I feel is not fleeting, it’s not. I accompany you in my heart on this path, which is a path of courage, which is the path of the cross, and yet a path that will help me; your example helps me. And I thank you for being so coura-geous.” Why do the innocent suffer? “It is a mystery. We need to call on God as a child calls his dad and says: ‘Why? Why?’ to draw the gaze of God, which will tell us one thing: Look at my Son, He too.” May all of us draw strength from the Lord, tru-ly present in the Eucharist during these trying times in order to learn how to forgive from the heart. Let us pray so that our suffering brothers and sisters may live the charity of Christ; may they keep from nurturing in their hearts any anger against God or hatred and revenge against those guilty of atrocities. We also pray so that there be greater for respect for pluralism and diver-sity, more solidarity in fostering a culture of unity and peaceful coexistence so that this country could move on and prosper.

Today’s Gospel narrates of Jesus’ third post-resur-rectional appearance. We begin our meditation.

Simon Peter, Thomas, nathaniel, James, John, and ‘two others of the disciples’ are on the shores of Lake Galilee. I am one of these two. Counting Judas, six are absent: Andrew, Philip, Matthew, Simon the Zealot, James son of Alphaeus and Jude Thaddaeus. Well, in case you are wondering about what is happening, it just means that most of the disciples have returned to Galilee. Yet, they do nothing. They simply sit and mope, on the shores of Lake Galilee. I recall how Jesus preached and healed along these shores, yet we remain paralyzed and inert. We have gone back to our former lives as fishermen. We have given up. In this backdrop Simon Peter says, ‘I am going fishing because I don’t want to sit around here and be depressed’. Peter’s decision energizes us. We respond saying, ‘Good idea. We'll come along’. So, we go out in the boat and fish all night, but catch nothing. I mutter to myself, ‘Well, so much for fishing’. The gloom of dis-couragement turns into dark despair as we realize that we have failed on all fronts. We are morose as we put out towards the shore, early next morning. Someone shouts out to us from the shore ‘Friends, have you caught anything?’ Peter shouts back, ‘no’. The man shouts back ‘Throw your nets to the right side of the boat and you will find some’. I say to Peter, ‘Who is that Mr. Know-it-all?’ Peter says to me ‘Oh, keep

quiet. Just throw the net again. It will be good to have some fish, don’t you think?’ I wonder why Peter obeys this stranger. But lo and behold, we have a large catch of fish – 153 to be exact. Then, the disciple whom Jesus loved says in awe ‘My goodness. It is the Lord!’. We follow in the boat, towing the net, but with familiar spontaneity, Peter wraps his outer garment around himself, and jumps into the sea. We are only hundred yards away from the shore, so I shout after him sarcastically saying, ‘Peter where are you going all dressed up like that? Are you off to someone’s wed-ding? Come back. We must pull the nets ashore’. Peter pauses swimming, looks back at me and shouts, ‘no, I am going back to follow My Lord and Master’. When we come ashore, we see a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. The man who called out to us from the shore is standing before us. Peter and the Beloved Disciple think that he is Jesus. I am not sure because the man looks different. With au-thority, this man says to Peter, ‘Bring some fish you've caught’. So, Simon goes back on board and gets some fish. The man cooks it, and gives it to us saying ‘Come and have some breakfast’. We share a moment of cama-raderie but none of us dares to ask this man ˋWho are you?ˊ We are convinced that this is the Risen Jesus. After breakfast, Jesus asks Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ Peter is non-plussed. He exclaims, ‘excuse me?’ So, Jesus explains

His question saying, ‘Do you love me more than you love fishing and more than you love these other dis-ciples?’ now, Peter understands the question, and an-swers saying, ‘Yes, Lord. I love you more than I love my fishing and my friends’. Jesus says to him, ‘Feed my sheep’. Again, Jesus asks Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter asks Jesus, ‘Lord why do you ask me the same question again? Have I not answered you clearly and without any ambiguity?’ Jesus says to Peter, ‘Did you not deny me three times?’ Peter responds say-ing, ‘Lord, you know that I love you’. Jesus says, ‘Tend my sheep. Feed them, guard them, and guide them’. Je-sus asks Peter a third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter is grieved and says, ‘Lord you know ev-erything. You know that I love you’. Jesus says, ‘Feed my sheep. For when you are young you will go where you want, but when you are old they will bind you and drag you where you shall not want to go. Peter, you will die for me. So, I am asking you, as I once did at the very be-ginning of my ministry, ˋGive up the respected profes-sion of fishing, and follow me. Be a shepherd. Consider it not a lowly task, though the Mishnah states ‘Don't have your sons do three things: be a butcher, a doctor or a shepherd’. Shepherding is a hot, dusty and difficult job, but I need you, Peter. So, be with my sheepˊ’. Peter replies, ‘I will die for you, O Lord’. Peter will, but can we die for the Lord?


“Jesus said to them, "children, have you caught anything to eat?" They answered him, "No" (John 21,5)

Who is Jesus?History and the scriptures say that Jesus lived among people in this world. It was a mystery of an incarnation that brought Him to their world to fulfil an obligation to His father in heaven to save people from sin. He was not an ordinary human being but a divine entity. To accomplish His mission, He preached a Gospel to His people that concerned the purpose of life in a new spiritual perpective and what it held for them Many of them viewed His teaching as being in conflict with the mo-saic teaching which they followed. How-ever, His teaching enlightened some to believe that there was credibility in what He said. He was meek and humble and He endeared the hearts of many. ( John 15:13). Speaking to His disciples one day, He said that in Jerusalem where He would go to, He would be seized and put to death by His enemies. But on the third day after Hid death, He would be raised to life. (Matthew 20: 18-19). He said this as He wanted them to know that He had come to this would to "give His life to re-deem many." (Mattew 20:28). Many did not understand the vicarious nature of His death or believe that he would rise from the dead. After He had gone to Je-rusalem, His enemies conspired and suc-ceeded in putting Him to death. (Mattew 26 3-5, 65-66).

The empty tombThe scriptures say that at dawn on the

third day after Jesus' death, two women who went to the tomb where His body laid in repose, saw an angel of God at the tomb who rolled away the stone at the entrance. He had an exceptional and dazzling appearance. The guards at the tomb who were frightened by the pres-ence of the angelic spirit, unfamiliar to them, left the vicinity in haste. (Mattew 28: 1-4). The angel's message to the women was that Jesus whom they were seeking had risen. Having seen the emp-ty tomb, they left at once to convey the mystifying news to His disciples. They were taken aback when Jesus appeared to them on the way. His appearance was somewhat different, as His risen body had spiritual attributes. They knelt and clasped His feet as an expression of their faith in Him. He asked them to tell His disciples to set out for Galilee where they would see Him (Matthew 28:5-10) Later Him eleven disciples who went to Galilee saw Him and bowed before Him, although some of them doubted that it was Him. (Matthew 28:16-17). Critical Views History does not say that Jesus had risen, although His tomb was empty, as there were no eye witnesses at the tomb at the moment. He was believed to have risen. As many took the view that His rising was unreal, they did not accept the circumstantial testimonies of the women merely because they said

that the body was not in the Tomb. His appearances to the women were also set aside as figments of their own creation, intended to mislead people. These ad-verse views were expressed by those who blatantly rejected Him when He was living, and also thought that His crucifix-ion was falsified, as they accused Him of blaspheming the God they worshipped and also as a rabble rouser. They also viewed His missing body, and His appearances as factors which, besides being untrue, were inde-pendent by themselves, one in no way contributing to uphold the other. They also maintained that the testimonies of His disciples concerning them were bi-ased and were intended to vindicate His own predition of His death and resurrec-tion.

The truth of the Resurrection The scriptural view of Jesus' resurrection is that it had to take place for the sake of humans (1 Corinthians 15: 12-14: 20) The spiritual impact it made on humans had two dimenrious. One was that it bestowed on humans the continuity of the life of the soul af-ter death. That is, at death the soul of the believer goes to be with Jesus is heaven (2 Corinthians 5:8). The other was that it conferred on humans who believed in Him the privilege of the resurrection of their bodies on the last day (John 6:54).

Jesus' rising fulfilled His own prediction of His death and resurrection. The sequel to His prediction was that a mystical process gave life to His body in the privacy of the tomb, not seen by anyone. His rising was the final phase in His messiahship that bought salvation to humans. Jesus' empty tomb was merely supportive of His rising which had al-ready taken place. But the tomb which was protected and guarded was not opened by humans as revealed in the Scriptures, it was opened by angelic in-tervention which was God's way of mak-ing humans know that He had risen. Faith in God, in Jesus and in His Gospel teaching would lead people of believe in the truth of His resurrection

Jesus had RisenBy E. M. Aldons

The Father's Grace is Free but not CheapLet us see the beauty

of the gift of life, ac-cording to the Holy

Gospel. It shows us who we are, and Who God is. We will find the meaning of life- we will find the meaning to our own life. In the creation account in the Book of Genesis, God created us in the image and likeness of His Trinitarian mys-tery. "Let us make man (Adam, which is Hebrew for man) to our own im-age and likeness. Thus the Lord God formed man of the dust of the earth: male and female, He created them. Sages comment on how God formed Adam's Covenant partner: not from his feet, to be used as a doormat- not from his head to be put on a pedestal, but from Adam's rib to be at his side, close to the heart. Adam named her 'woman' because she was taken out of his side: "bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh". This accounts for their human bodies. God breathed into Adam's face the breath of life. What God breathed into Adam was His own Image and likeness- a spiritual soul. From that moment

of his existence, Adam stood in the presence of God, as a son before his loving father. Adam was not only a man, he was the representative man: by bodily descent we are all children of Adam. Though man was created on earth; he was created for 'heaven'. From the very beginning, it was God's intention to walk with man in a love relationship. Our stay on earth was only meant to be temporary. Here we see the union of heaven and earth, God and man, male and female. Adam, as the representative man was put to the test. Gen-esis describes it as eating the forbidden fruit. Adam willed to break the union with God Who had cre-ated him. This is called the 'Original sin'. Bishop Sheen describes the 'fall': "it is as though the moon in love with its own light, rejected the sun". Sin is exposed for what it is. The human race is born with only natural life; without sanctifying grace in our soul. If we haven't sancti-fying grace, to heaven we shall not go. St. Paul states:

"For as by one man's dis-obedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be righteous" (ROM: 5:19). How did God re-spond to the temptation and the 'fall'?. God, our Creator promised a Sav-iour (and a woman), who would crush the head of Satan. God said to Satan: "because you have done this, I will put enmity be-tween you and a woman; and between your seed and her seed..." (Genesis 3:14-15). This promise is known as the 'first Gos-pel'. It is the hinge on which the rest of human salvation history turns and continues to turn from one covenant period to the next as we await the fulfillment of God's prom-ise. We live everyday of our lives in space and in time in the world and in his-tory. This is exactly where God has spoken. God has introduced Himself to us by meeting us right where we are. There is a consol-ing doctrine, 'the Annun-ciation' to think upon. The voice of a heavenly Angel Gabriel announces joy from God. How beautiful are the footsteps of those

who bring good news. (ROM: 10:15-17). The An-gel speaking to Mary (a young Jewish Maid) says: "Hail!. Mary, full of grace. You have found favour in the eyes of God. Behold, you are to be a mother, and bear a son, to call Him Jesus. He will be great, the Son of the Most High" . Mary is appointed by God to co-operate with the work of her Son. She is to share in a joint work just as the old Eve had shared in the joint work of 'Origi-nal Sin.' Man could not share divine life unless the Lord came down to give it. St. Irenaeus asks us to imagine a com-plex knot. To untie it, we must make the rope pass through the same move-ments that were used in tying the knot; but in re-verse. Mary by her great 'fiat', unties the work of Eve. The moment Mary ac-cepted the Will of God, the Word became flesh within her womb. The Sacred Scripture turns on the life of one Person Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah prom-ised, expected and prayed for in the Old Testament. In the New Testament He

is the Saviour to fulfil all those hopes. He was out-side the current of human sin, and therefore He could save man from sin.

SCAPEGOAT: The Jews had long realized that forgiveness of sins was in some way connected with sacrificial offerings. The Israelites had a scapegoat. A priest would lay his hands on a goat and transfer to it all the iniquities of the Jewish people, and they believed all the sins of Israel were forgiven. This forgiveness comforted only on the surface of the conscience because sin was not re-moved by the blood of the goat or bull (Hebrews 10:4).Man could not share divine life unless the Lord came down to give it. Only God's own Son could do that and bring humanity to the mystery of the Liv-ing God. In the Old Testa-ment and among the pa-gans, the victim such as a sheep or goat offered was apart from the priest who offered it. The animal lost its life, but the priest

lost nothing. Christ hav-ing joy set before Him ratified the new Covenant with His own blood. The salvation we know in Je-sus is nothing at all if it is not Covantal He was the victim, the true Paschal Lamb of God. (Matthew 26:28). He was neither the people's lamb, nor the lamb of the Jews, nor the lamb of any human owner. In the Old Testa-ment the lamb was a sym-bol of Israel's deliverance from political slavery in Egypt. John The Baptist had foretold that Christ was the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. The lamb as a victim of sacrifice, be-cause of its innocence and mildness, was an emblem most suited to the char-acter and the role of the Messiah. A particular hour existed for everything Our Blessed Lord had to do. Even His birth is described as 'in the full-ness of time'. So, His cross too had its appointed hour. His death

(Contd on Pg. 15)

By Bryan Landsberger


“While he was praying his face changed in appearance and his clothing became dazzling white” (luke 9,29)“So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will fi nd something” (John 21,6)

Glimmer of HopeRev. Fr. Theodore Fernando, S.J.

Professor of Media Studies, Open University of Sri Lanka

It is true as Sri Lankans we have suffered heavy casualties during what happened last Sunday. As a media academic and a Jesuit working in one of the State univer-

sities, I feel it is also time to question the traditional news values. “If it bleeds it is news”. Yes, but what about the reporting of the good things that happened on that day and days that followed? I was driving for a scheduled lecture to the university when one of my friends called me and narrated what happened at 8.40 a.m. in Co-lombo and elsewhere. Many of my Buddhist friends, fellow academics and students were asking whether I was all right and our Jesuit Chapel was safe. Television sta-tions and news outlets had a field day reporting the horror that was unfolding. The Cardinal and religious leaders, especially Buddhists, were appealing for blood do-nations. I was surprised by how the news spread. People, irrespective of their faith, especially Buddhists, were rushing to the nearest blood donation centres to donate blood. Soon there was an announcement asking donors not to come because they had collected enough blood. As the ambulances rushed I also saw lots of volunteers, including Buddhist monks and Catholic priests and lay people, rushing to the af-fected churches, helping and distributing food, water and consoling the kith and kin. All the church services were ordered by the Cardinal to stop until further notice. It was remarkable except for a few isolated incidents, People did not retaliate and they were restrained from doing so. Some Muslim friends told me that Catholics and their leaders should be congratulated and emulated for the fine example they showed on Easter Sunday. I heard that Muslim neighbours had volunteered to provide security if Catholics wanted to go to Mass on Sundays. However, it is also time to look over own shoulders because we Catholics never showed any public concern on the attack on a Methodist church during the Sinhalese New Year which was celebrated just before the easter in Sri Lanka. I like to end with a poem sent by a friend:

You have taken our hotels, but you will never take away our hospitality.

You have taken our churches, but you will never take away our values, generosity or kindness

You have taken our people, but you will never take away our humanity.

Because Sri Lanka is not a hotel, church or person..

IT'S ALL OF US

And you will never take that away.Pray for Sri Lanka

The Holocaust"Sri Lankan Tourism will bounce back"So the caption stated nonchalantly.But who or what can bounce back to life?The three hundred and fifty odd heaped up dead in mass gravesThe quarry of this holocaust?-crass negligence of vigilance--How can compensation in any form compensateFor the loss of so many precious lives?Who or what can bounce back to normalcy the life-long traumaOf the bereaved and the survivors of this carnage?How can those racked on bed of pain in the hospital wardsBounce back to complete recovery?Those maimed for life?Pause awhile!The disrupted, crippled services of our churchesunprecedented!Can the faithful enter the churches again without an involuntary backward glanceIn fear and trepidation?Who can bring back to its original pristine stateThat revered shrine of St AnthonyThat had withstood the pressure of time and eventsFrequented by those of varying denominationsFrom all walks of life?The honoured shrine we've known and prayed atFrom childhood to ripe old age.The desecration of the churches!That mass massacre of innocents -men, women and forty five childrenThese sacrificial offerings on the altar of martyrdomThat woeful and horrendous day.!Tourism will bounce back no doubt,But this carnage will be etched in traumatized hearts and mindsEmbedded in the history of this Paradise IsleAnd of the Catholic Church in this isle.What could we say but echo the words of Christ on the cross."Father forgive them for they know not what they do" and say.And find consolation in the Risen Christ"I am the Resurrection and the life"His promise of eternal life

Jeannette Cabraal

Prevention is better than Cure

The joy of the resurrection of Our Lord on easter Sunday - the greatest miracle on earth;

overcoming the power of death last-ed only until 8.45 hours during Holy Masses at St.Anthony's Church and at St. Sebastian's Church and at sev-eral other places of Sri Lanka. The destructive products used for this massacre had been produced at dev-il's workshops during a period of po-litical instability when the gradually deflating ball of "good governance" was passing from government to op-position, while there were security lapses and lack of duty conscious of-ficers of the intelligence serving two or more Masters, thus neglecting the early warnings and possibility of prevention of blasting by these hy-enous suicide bombers; whom Jesus referred to as, "Better for them not to have been born;" caused the lives of many of our innocent loved-ones, injuring almost double the number of dead people and damaging the property. Well, at least as Catholics, from now on we should take special care thinking, "Better safe than sor-ry;" because whatever begins with destruction ends in shameful fear. In fact our hearts are still burning within us, but let us re-member that Jesus was crucified by his enemies, who crushed Him like a rose trampled on the ground; but how He resurrected above all hu-man powers. Now that the ISIS has accepted these inhuman terrorist

attacks, let me draw the awareness of our brothers and sisters to this organization for the sake of of their safety. ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, which is a Jihad-ist terrorist group in the Middle East that wants to bring mostly the Mus-lim religion of the world under its political control as Sunni religious extremists; causing social injuries using car-bombs, suicide attacks etc. up to date these terrorists have killed more than 2,500 people and more than 3,000 people have been wounded. They even use brain-washed child soldiers for those attacks of Shea-Muslims in Medina, Jeddah and Khatif, Istanbul, Ankara in Turky, Bagdad in Iraq, Bangladesh etc; blam-ing mainly the united States. Since the ISIS is presently the greatest threat to world peace, super powers like the united States should make a difference in Iraq by compromising and making a peace treaty to resolve these issues that the ISIS demands or eradicate this Jihadist terrorist group through in-telligence services of all countries by giving more strength and support promptly to solve this, because at present the ISIS has turned out to be an international terrorist group by crossing the seven seas of the Globe. However, as faithful Catho-lics let us proclaim our faith by sing-ing: Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus, Christus Imperat!

Ivor Hapuarachchi

The Good, the Bad and the ugly amongst the 225 Members of Parliament came to the fore yet again, on Wednesday 24th,

during the Parliamentary debate on imposing a state of emergency in the wake of the Easter Sun-day massacre. While some spoke sense the rest did their best to outdo each other in a unique tragicomedy. For those of us who watched this pathetic performance on television, it was disgusting to see the lows some stooped to, to make maximum political mileage out of the easter Sunday carnage. Their vitriol, and obvious hypocritical lamentations may have touched the hearts of only the gullible. To put it mildly, their stark lack of dignity and deco-rum given the tragic reasons for the debate left a bitter taste in our mouths. At a time when an entire nation is still reeling in shock, sorrow, despair and fear, the last thing we needed to see was such a crude and ugly drama. This was a stark reminder of the quality of the people – asinine, immature and irresponsible – we have elected to repre-sent us, and how politically bankrupt we are. To say that politicians on both sides of the divide – the Government and the Opposi-tion – have ‘screwed up big time’ is a justifiable summation. To begin with, the Head of State of this country – Maithripala Sirisena – who is also the Minister of Defence and national Security, took off on a private overseas sojourn leaving the likes of Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando in charge of overseeing Defence and National Security-related matters in the country. This is the man – Hemasiri Fernando – who had prior knowledge of the Easter Sun-day attacks. He, along with several amongst the Police hierarchy, and heaven knows how many others, had been alerted by the State Intelligence Service (SIS) of a probable at-tack being carried out targeting Christian and Catholic Churches. He is now on record for telling a foreign journalist “To how many Churches could we give protection? It was quite impossible to protect a large number of Churches last Sunday despite receiving prior information on these attacks”. The stark lack of remorse and downright arrogance with which he made this inhumane statement was shocking and disgusting to say the least. Moderate Buddhists like myself de-mand to know from Mr. Fernando, if his re-sponse would have been the same had Bud-dhist temples been targeted on a full moon (Poya) day, instead. I don’t think so! Are Chris-tians and Catholics not our fellow humans, Mr. Hemasiri Fernando? Against this tragic backdrop we now have a President and a Prime Minister who claim they were “not told/did not know” of a probable attack targeting Christian and Catho-lic Churches on Easter Sunday. What message does this convey to the people of this country of their ability to look after our interests and ensure our safety? It is only now, Prime Minster Ranil Wickremesinghe tells us that he, despite be-ing the most senior member, next to the Presi-dent, of the national Security Council (nSC) – the executive body charged with the main-tenance of national security – was kept out of NSC meetings along with the State Minster of Defence Ruwan Wijewardene, following the failed Constitutional coup in October last year.

Why did the Prime Minster fail to raise this issue publicly, before? Had he the will/back-bone/spunk, would he not have insisted on or even forced himself into those meetings? Af-ter all, he had every right to do so! It now transpires that post Octo-ber 2018, it were some members of the Op-position and not the Government who sat in on National Security Council meetings. This makes the Opposition too, responsible, for the Easter Sunday carnage. They too cannot claim “we did not know”! Further, it is now reported quoting a member of the Badriya Mosque in Katankudy that they had informed the authorities in power, way back in 2012, of the extremist ac-tivities of the radicalized suspected master-mind of the easter Sunday massacre, Zahran Hashim. Members of the mosque had even provided dockets containing detailed and vi-tal information about Zahran Hashim to elev-en authorities including the then Secretary of Defence, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General. However, a trustee of the mosque claims, “They all fell on deaf ears”. The hard and unpalatable truth for some is, the battle of egos between the two leaders of this country – the President and Prime Minster – and the Opposition failing to act in 2012 when they were the government in power to nip this extremist scourge in the bud, cost the lives of 253 innocent civilians, in-jured over 500 and has left a nation in shock, despair and utter disgust. Hence no one has the right to point a finger at the other at this juncture because all are equally culpable. While it may not have been possible to entirely prevent the dastardly terrorist at-tacks on easter Sunday, the destruction to life and property could definitely have been minimized had those who were privy to in-formation disclosed by the State Intelligence Service acted responsibly. And others who ob-viously knew but publicly claim they did not know, will have to deal with their conscience, eventually. At this point I recall an article I wrote one year ago (March 2018), titled Shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. What I stated then, still holds true. I repeat, “Proactive – control a calam-itous situation rather than just responding to it after it has happened – is not a quality our laid-back politicians and bureaucrats are familiar with. No matter which political hue they belong to, proactive they are not! Instead, they remain inactive until the situation goes beyond control and only then do they react. usually, too late! Once all hell breaks loose the blame game and finger pointing starts. It’s never the responsibility of those who are rightfully re-sponsible but the blame is laid at the doorstep of every other Tom, Dick and Harry. now, the country has returned to a state of emergency, a blow to the economy with foreign governments issuing travel advi-sories against Sri Lanka, followed by the blan-ket social-media blackout, leaving those de-pendent on it for their daily bread wondering what hit them and for no fault of their own. An entire country is now being made to pay the price for political and bureaucratic apathy!” Alas, nothing much has changed since I penned those words, one year ago – déjà vu!

Sharmini Serasinghe

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Emerge in Post-Easter Sunday Massacre

The Massacre of the Innocents on Easter Sunday - April 21, 2019

One Day in April…Like children covering in a storm we lean on you todayThis road is rough, with many forks,The light more grim each day,But we will rise again from dustWith unity and compassion, one day…

We ask you Lord, Oh carry thoseWho lost their lives that day,To that beautiful Promised Land on yonder,That Home we wish for every day…

We strive to forgive all of those who gave us pain and griefOh, protect us Lord from harm and evil thoughts we prayIt’s so hard to bear sometimes our hearts may break I fearBut Lord help us be like You, even if they care not for our tears…

And most of all dear Lord I ask,Do not forsake this special prayer,The one who leads us through the dark,Shield our gentle Archbishop most lovingly in your care…

Ruth Kasturirathne

The Easter Sunday catastrophe sent shockwaves around the whole is-land and its ripples are still infus-

ing a deep sense of insecurity and a fear psychosis in the minds of everyone. The events that transpired have shaken us to the core, we feel as if we are blindfolded and groping, not knowing where the next life-threatening danger is lurking. We are a people of God. Every-thing we do revolves around God. Our daily life and activities are orchestrated through divine intervention, inspiration and guidance. If you have ever wondered if God sees what you are going through at this moment or whether he hears the cry of your prayers in the time of distress, recall God coming down to Moses in the wilderness at that burning bush and say-ing to him, “I have seen the misery of my people, I have heard them crying out, I know how much they are suffering, I have come down to rescue them.” That’s why God had called out to Moses. God

had seen and heard the wretched misery His people had endured as slaves, and he had come to rescue them. God calls these slaves, “My People.” This is the God who knows us, the God who calls us by name. He knows our weaknesses, our helpless despair, our restless misery. The moment when we are sud-denly jolted and begin to have a profound, burning desire to seek God is called the Moment of Truth. For Moses, it was the sight of the burning bush, the place where he hears the voice of the living God. For anyone of us, it could be an earth-shat-tering moment, an irreparable loss. It is the moment when the Presence of God breaks in on us. It is probably because we have settled for a watered-down, luke-warm Christian lifestyle and God is not happy and satisfied, He is asking us to “launch out into the deep” and give out our one hundred per cent and make our lives more fruitful. The curious thing is that we never know how long it will take to reach that point. It is so easy to grow up in the Christian faith. Most of us grow up in a fam-ily where it seems as if everything is focused on God and we are al-ways surrounded by a Christian community. But then, suddenly, the world around you is shat-tered, something stops you in your tracks, a disheartening event crash lands into your life, and you realize that everything you know about Christian faith is disconcertingly-shallow, as shal-low as a puddle of water on a sidewalk. It is that moment when life takes a sharp turn from the mad pursuit of ev-erything trivial and meaningless to a deep

awareness of God. You want to know Him with all your heart. You want to abandon everything just for the sheer joy of know-ing Him. So, what are we to do in these in-creasingly dark days when walking as a Chris-tian makes us feel like an exile or an alien? Here’s what the Word of God says to us. “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” 1 Peter 4 : 12-14

An Indian nun speaks to the ter-rorist. Here’s what she has to say. It is in-spiring and thought-provoking.

*“ You may have achieved your aim of intended destruction, but I guess you failed to incite hatred, fear and despair in all of us.* You have broken many hearts and you have made the whole world weep. But what you also have done has brought us closer together. It has strengthened our faith and resolve. * Appreciate how you have brought the churches, govern-ment and communities together to stand with us. * Perhaps you didn’t know that

what you did made them Martyrs.* In the coming weeks, more people will turn up in the church, a place you hate so much, fortified by the strength in our faith, and inspired by our fallen brothers and sisters.* And while I understand that it may have been your objective, I hate to say that after all of that elaborate planning, and the perverse and wretched efforts on your part, you still failed to drive a divide among the Catholics and Non-Christians in the world.” Our peaceful country plummeted to the abyss of despondency. Mayhem and bedlam became the order of the day. There were accusations and counter alle-gations as to who was responsible for the carnage. But in the midst of the blood-soaked rubble, a beacon of light shone in the darkness. There wasn’t even a whis-pering cry for vengeance. The entirety of God's community who were affected

intensely, stood together steadfastly in their faith and rallied round to show their solidarity in stoic, prayerful silence, turn-ing to God, who alone was their unassail-ably-comforting Presence.

Ananda Perera

The Silver Lining in Our Darkest Hour


“So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fi sh” (John 21,6)

By Rev. Fr. Athanasius Samarasinghe

Where was God on Easter Sunday?

The strange coincidences that alter the lives of Great Men: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelts

By Sirohmi Gunesekera

Courage

“I am still shocked by what happened. I know so many who went to pray and follow the Mass on Easter Sun-day and then were injured or died in the explosion. What do you think?” asked David. “I think that each one of us must be prepared for death each day. God gives us days to live and then we have to face death at unexpected times. Some-

times, it is not death but a life-threatening injury. Why are we always thinking of being hale and hearty? Good health is a blessing in itself and we must be thankful” said Mona. “You are right. There are so many blessings we have to be thankful to God for and we must pray for the courage to accept what comes our way” said David, adding, “I think that we go once a week to church to pray and automatically we come home and lead our worldly lives. Maybe we may think of dying of old age and sickness but never of a sudden death.” “I also know of an old lady who told me that she spent her time praying even when walking along the road. She used to be careful when crossing the road but was knocked down by a lorry and she died in hospital. So she was prepared for death. She even gave me a small amulet which said, “I am a Catholic. If I am injured, please call a priest” said Mona. “So maybe we must start thinking of both life and death and perhaps be more spiritual too. Most of us think of eating, drinking and sleeping and nothing else” commented David. “Being more spiritual means that we must start thinking of the real meaning of life. Why we are born and how we live and maybe reaching out to oth-ers so that they too can have a better quality of life” said Mona.

“I won’t go to church any more…and I don’t believe in God any more Little Bird”“Why?”“I have lost faith in God after the massacre on Eas-ter Sunday.. Why couldn’t He protect the people? How can a powerful all knowing God allow such a tragedy ?Where was God... Sleeping ?“I understand your anger, pain, shock and loss my friend… But frankly, I too don’t have the answer.. However, this is not a time for answers my friend… let our tears, our caring and love for one another be the answer at this painful hour…This is a time for sharing the grief and giving a shoulder to cry… and stand together as one family….”“To whom shall we go hereafter? Where is our hope? Our trust? Our refuge?..Why why why Little Bird… Why do things happen this way…It happened to so many…”“We don’t have explicit answers to most of our life’s problems my friend… only implicit answers during this short journey of life… We don’t know why Jesus had to be brutally whipped, wounded and killed as a result of an un-just verdict of a bunch of demented fanatics and power-hungry maniacs..We don’t know why God didn’t answer when Je-sus pleaded ‘Let this cup be taken away’ at Geth-semane… We don’t know why so many mothers had to scream in pools of blood… when innocent infants were slaughtered brutally in Bethlehem...We don’t know why Jesus cried, “Why did you for-sake me?”…We don’t know why the immaculate Mother of Je-sus had to weep, keeping the lacerated mutilated body of her youthful son in her lap at Calvary…We have no answers my friend...till some day we meet God face to face. Probably God is allowing these things for the stu-pid world to understand the uncertainty of life , the futility of political power, wealth or misguided fa-natical tenets…. and love and love alone can bring happiness…Love cannot kill. Jesus did not kill...He healed peo-ple, gave life to others and gave up His life for oth-ers. He bore no weapons, nor swords… His weapons were love and forgiveness.. He taught us to turn the other cheek, instead of taking revenge; bless those who curse us and pray for those who do us wrong…We don’t know how Jesus forgave His killers say-ing “Forgive them… they don’t know what they are doing…”We don’t know the answers my friend…I’m sure those who left us on Easter Sunday are with the Lord now, happy with their crowns of martyrdom.The loss and pain is for us…Life is short and soon we will be joining our loved ones in heaven…Till then, let us follow the foot-steps of Jesus, spreading the message of love and forgiveness… forgiving the freaks.A flower leaves its fragrance in the hand that crushes it..… Let’s be crushed flowers in honour of our lost loved ones… trusting Jesus’ words…“Blessed are you when people revile and perse-cute you …for my sake..”

Michael Angelo Fernando

You have certainly heard of the President of a large democracy who served his country on crutches and in a wheelchair! Franklin D. Roosevelt - the

longest Serving President in the history of the united States, is credited with leading his country out of the Great Depression and through much of World War II. It was very heartening to note at the age of 39, a life altering coincidence had taken place and that seemed to be a dark event, until enough time passed to be able to discern why fate played this hand. Such was the day that changed the lives of two extraordinary people who made such a mark on the world of their day and beyond - Franklin an eleanor Roosevelt. The coincidence that affected the dashing up and coming politician and led to his wife defining a new role in their relationship occurred in August 1921 at Campobello, where Roosevelts had a summer home. They had bought a little sailboat, they called the vireo and had gone sailing with their boys. Suddenly, they saw great flames, and knowing this was a forest fire, they hastened to get to the shore to help light it. Roosevelt proved to be a valuable worker. Before four in the afternoon the fire was out. When the family got home, Roosevelt decided it would be a good idea to take a dip with the boys in a land - locked lake called Lake Glen Severn, on the other side of the Island. After their swim, the boys went back to the house. Roosevelt took another dip, this time in the Bay of Fundy, where though it was summer, the waters were quite icy. He then ran back home. A lot of mail had come in, and the robust politician sat around in his wet suit reading it. Before long, he said he had a chill and a fever, and went to bed instead of going to supper. Two days later he was paralyzed. Within a few weeks the diagnosis was in, Franklyin Roosevelt had infantile paralysis, the dreaded disease also known as polio. This was years before it would be discovered that a virus caused Polio, so there were neither preventive measures nor cures at that time. It appeared that Franklin's career was over, and it would have been, except for his wife. She would not consider him an invalid. early on she made him, crawl to get him moving on his own, and she later got him to use crutches, she took over as father as well as mother to her sons, learning to pitch a tent, paddle a canoe, and mount a horse. With the encouragement of a friend Louis Howe who had worked with Frank-lin when he was assistant secretary of the Navy a few years earliar, eleanor did all she could to keep Franklin interested in and in contact with politics. To accomplish this Mr. Howe urged her to get into political work her-self. She did. She started with the Women's Trade union League, and where she went from there leaving her mark as woman who had a passion for human equality and peace - is history. As for Franklin he made history as the President who carried the burden of World War II, and, for the first time ever for an American President,

was elected to four terms. His last term was never finished, interrupted by his death on April 12, 1945. As he travelled with his incapaci-ties round the country Franklin Roosevelt demonstrated that his illness had not destroyed his youthful resilience and vitality to lead. He brought such verve and vigour to the presidency that people tended to forget he was physically handicapped, and photog-raphers and cameramen of his times reinforced his dy-namic image by acceding to White House requests to take all their pictures of him from waist up. Some historians have called the coincidence of the Roosevelts being in their boat near where a fire erupted the "turning point" in FDR's career, meaning it had set him back from the bright political career track he was already on. More likely the fire was the turning point for eleanor. If Franklin had not gone to fight the fire, would he have needed or wanted, to take a swim in the waters that turned out to be unseasonably icy? If he had not become paralyzed and had zoomed along in his career, would eleanor have remained behind the scenes content to maintain the expected role of mother and wife? If so, we would never have heard her voice, which spoke so forcefully to the conscience of the world, urg-ing all to abolish poverty, seek racial equality, provide for the education, health and welfare of women, and children everywhere, open new homelands for refu-gees, and make peace the formost goal of all nations so that the world would be united and human. We cannot set limits on the possiblities that can be activated by unseen forces. We can only be open to ac-cepting that a greater power may be the mover when an apparent coincidence affects the course of a life. The coincidence of the fire at Campobello in 1921 led to life-altering events for the Rossevelts and indirectly prepared them both for a destiny they could not have imagined, but would courageously embrace. Taking a closer look at life and at its origin, purpose and significance would prove a great boost to us. A deep awareness that we are not on planet earth by chance but have been created for a purpose in the very image and likeness of God Himself cannot but help redouble our love for self. God is the prime mover of ev-erything in the universe. He is the guiding force in any situation of life, whether it is a circumstance or a coin-cidence. God will lead a life of a person to light through a life-altering coincidence. Let us turn our attention to the words of Sirach. "There may be good fortune for a man in ad-versity and a windfall may result in a loss. There is a gift that brings a bouble return. These are losses because of glory and there are men who have raised their heads from humble circumstances. (Sirach 20:9-11)


A Window into Culture

“So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "it is the lord" (John 21,7)

Sangeetha visharad Rev.Fr edmund Tillekeratne Di-rector of the Archdiocesan Social Communication

and Cultural Centre launched his latest production in an effort to propagate the Word of God for the daily use of ordinary people in a pack of 4 MP3 CD’S comprising of a dramatized version of the Gospels of the 4 evangelists namely Mark , Matthew, Luke and John at the Joe neth Studio Complex at Kynsey Road Colombo 8 on Mon-day 8th of April. 2019 in the presence of His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. J.D.Anthony, Auxiliary Bishop of Colombo, brother priests and amidst a representative gathering of well wishes both lay and religious. The launching ceremony commenced with Holy Mass presided over by Rev.Fr.edmund Tillekeratne followed by the lighting of the traditional oil lamp after which copies of the pack consisting of the 4 CD’s bear-ing the title “Listen to the Word of God” was presented to His Lordship and the distinguish invitees. The distinguish invitees present included Fa-ther Don Anton Saman Hettiarachchi. Rev. Fr. Basil Ro-han Fernando, national Director of the Pontifical Mis-sion, Rev. Fr. Jude Chrysanthus Fernando, Chaplain to the university students, and priests, together with Rev.Priyantha Wijegundawardena, the President of the Cey-lon Bible Society and former Secretary Ms.Lakshani Fer-nando were also present on the occasion. Rev.Fr. Jude Chrysanthus Fernando the mod-erator who in his opening speech said that Rev. Fr. ed-mund by his production of the CD’s has made available to us the light of God’s Word which is Jesus Christ, say-ing that even to physically handicapped persons such as Robert Summer featured in the book “Wonders of the

LAUNCH OF GOSPEL CD BY REV.FR. EDMUND TILLEKERATNE

Word of God”. It would definitely be a great help in get-ting to know the Word of God who he said had “read” the word of God by means of Braille four times with the use of his tongue. The Keynote address on the launch was delivered by the guest speaker Rev. Fr. Don Anton Saman Hettiarachchi who spoke at length about the var-ied abilities and talents of Rev.Fr.edmund and went back in time to his days in the national Seminary in Kandy (Dumbara valley) where he was taught by Fr. edmund. He was approachable at all times when they needed his help. under his guidance as Professor of epistemol-ogy he was taught the magic of Logic and with the aid of a black board on which drawing diagrams of vary-ing shapes to demonstrate finer points of the subjects that were taught. In addition to his accreditation as a Sangeetha visharada, Fr. edmund has demonstrated the ability of putting across the message inherent in Sacred Scripture in a manner that was comprehensible to the lay persons, which was the method employed by Fr. ed-mund in his attempt at producing the CD’s by present-ing a dramatized version of the four Gospels leaving it to the listeners to be a part thereof by the use of their imagination. Rev. Fr. Saman compared the output of Rev. Fr. edmund to the manner in which famous authors and poets in english Literature had made use of the insights gained through Sacred Scripture to highlight matters of spiritual significance such as “Journey of the Magi’ by T.S.elliot, the poem by G.K. Chesterton titled “The Don-key” which our Blessed Lord made use of in His trium-phal entry into Jerusalem on which we commemorate on Palm Sunday wherein the donkey claims that it too had its hour of glory which is expressed in the words “Fools! for I also had my hour; One far fierce hour and sweet: there was a shout about my ears, and palms before my feet”. Then there is the poetry of John Donne wherein he says ‘Death be not proud” speaking on the level of an eschatological discourse and in his composition of the holy Sonnet titled ‘Batter my heart Three Personed God” gives expression in these words to his thoughts of God who is the Creator and sustainer of the universe. Fr. Saman also referred to art as a medium of conveying Scriptural thoughts and made reference to the paint-ing of The Last Supper by Leonardo Da vinci and the Last Judgement by Michael Angelo where tourists from non-Catholic and non-Christian countries such as Japan, Korea make it a point to visit when they are in Italy and the only Bible that they would possibly read could well be through these paintings. He also during the course of his speech, referred to the much loved novels written by Charles Dickens who highlighted the plight of orphaned and delinquent children bringing them to the forefront

in his portrayal of characters such as in Oliver Twist, Great expectations, David Copperfield and through them making reference to the love that Christ had for children being reminded thereby of the incident in Scripture and the words spoken by Christ when the dis-ciples forbade the parents from bringing their children to Christ to be blessed by him and Jesus intervenes and tells his disciples not to forbid the Children from coming to him and embracing them he blessed them saying for such is the Kingdom of God. Rev. Fr.Saman went on to say that the main book in his Library was the Bible and it was the Bible that was the source of inspiration for his many writings. He also highlighted the predicament ex-pressed by the composer of the hymn “Amazing Grace” John newton, the slave trader when he came to the re-alization that human trafficking was evil in the sight of God and making mention of his conversion he went on to say that he was lost and was found, he was blind and he has found his sight which bears direct reference to the parable of the prodigal son about whom his father as Scripture says expressed his great joy in having his son back safe and sound as he was one who was lost and is found who was dead has come back to life. Rev Fr. edmund in his concluding speech said that this project was his brainchild which was in the back burner for many years. After a lot of hard work and much effort involving the burning of mid-night oil and with the assistance and knowledge of many per-sons he was able to achieve his objective by making it finally to come out of the production line to see the light of day and he expressed his sincere thanks to all those who contributed in various ways for making it a reality. He said the main purpose for putting out the Gospels in this format was for the benefit of the sick and for the use of those who are too busy attending to their routine activities to find time to read the Bible and therefore could listen to the Sacred Scriptures by playing these CD’s while going about their daily tasks at home or in their vehicles while driving and could also be used to propagate the knowledge of the scriptures among those who have never heard of Christ and therefore his target audience was the common ordinary person. Although the production and material cost was high it was his decision to sell it at a nominally affordable price of Rs 500/- per pack of four CD’s. He said that he would ex-plore the possibility of using other modes of propagat-ing the Sacred Scriptures such as through the ubiqui-tous Pen Drive. The launching ceremony was concluded with a prayer followed by a fellowship.

Ridley Casie Chitty

Miss Chamodi Hewawitharana hailing from a respect-able Catholic family from Katunayake is an english poet with promise and already two of her poetry collections are on the book stalls for sale. Chamodi has written her first poetry book while she was studying at 8th Standard She has done her studies at St. Bridget's Convent, Colombo and Ave Maria Convent, negombo and has got through her Ad-vanced Level in the Bio Science stream. Following the footsteps of her mother Dr. (Mrs) niroshini De Silva, Consultant Family Physician, Chamodi has already taken necessary steps to become a doctor. Her father is Supun Hewawitharana. The two already published are: 'Lonely Star and other poems' and 'Summer Wind and other Poems'. As a true Christian Chamodi is also determined to fight for the rights of women, ensure equality and de-fend their rights. "Though whatever is said and done, male domination is very much alive at varying degrees in the world" says Chamodi. (Quintus Perera)

Easter-Alleluia!Easter people shout and sing, AlleluiaA risen Lord is with us today, AlleluiaSo all who fasted and prayed to prepare Alleluia.Thanking God, your happiness share AlleluiaEver loving Jesus died with all our pain AlleluiaRisen Jesus Christ will never die again Alleluia

Emilda S. Dougals

EASTEREaster has dawned let's raise our voiceAll who fasted and prayed now rejoice.Some realise the value of fast and prayer.They experience God's love and His care.Everliving God wil die no more.Rejoice friends, your happiness show

Emilda S. Doulgas

Saint JosephSon of David, Spouse most pure of the mother of God.Affectionately did you unite yourself to the virgin Mary

and protected her.Immediate obedience you showed to God's word, cou-

rageously defending infant Jesus from the sword of Herod

Nothing did you leave undone to your Holy Family.Tendering very humbly attending to the needs of God's

son and His virgin Mother, you gave them fatherly love and great affection.

Joseph's heart was filled with joy when he found lost child Jesus in the temple of Jerusalem.

O Saint Joseph most mighty deliverer, even as you snatched Jesus from the danger of death defend the Holy Church of God from the snares of the enemy.

Solas of the afflicted, help them in the hour of need. Everlasting blessedness can be obtained if we pray to

Him for a happy death. Protector and guardian of virgins pray and intercede for

them in Heaven. Hope of the sick and ailing cover them with your mantle

so that they may gain good health and obtain ever-lasting life.

Ruth Peiris

Young Poet with Promise


Portrait of Rector unveiled

“When Simon Peter heard that it was the lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea” (John 21,7)

Good Shepherd Convent, PanaduraWins the Zonal Athletic Championship

The students who won the Zonal Championship with trophy appeared for a group photograph with Kalutara Zonal education Director Mrs. Priyani Mudalege, educa-tion Director Mr. Dimuthu Lokuge, Panadura Divisional Director of education Mr. M.n.H.Tilak De Silva and the Principal of Good Shepherd Convent, Sports Teacher Mrs. Manorika Saputhanthri, the Sports Officer Mr. nimal Dharmarathna.

Chinthaka de Mel

The Annual Interhouse Sportsmeet of Convent of Our Lady of victories Moratuwa was held recently. St. Bernadette House won the overall Championship. Pictures shows the House Captain of St.Bernadette House receiving the Overall Champion Trophy from the Chief Guest Mr. H. K. Jayasekara, Assistant Direc-tor of education Sports Piliyandala Zone. The Principal of the School Rev.Sr.Chamila Fernando and the Prefect of Games Mrs.Sandya Wijeweera are also in the picture.

Sr. Chamila Ann Fernando

OLV Sportsmeet

A ceremony was held in the SJC Sports Complex to bid farewell to Rev. Fr. Travis Ga-briel who completed 34 years of his teaching vocation and the Rectorship of 5 years at St. Joseph's College, Colombo 10. The pictures shows the unveiling of his portrait attended by Their Lord-ships, Rt. Rev. Dr. Maxwell Silva and Rt. Rev. Dr. J. D. Anthony Jayakody, Auxiliary Bish-ops of Colombo and Rev. Fr. Anton Ranjith the vice Rector.

Text: Stanislaus Pius, Pic: Ajith Perera

The Josephian Lenten Choral Service under the theme "Consumatum Est" (It is ful-filled) was held at the Chapel of St. Joseph's College, Colombo 10. In the picture the senior students of St. Cecilia's Choir are seen performing. Rev. Fr. Travis Gabriel, the Rector, Rev. Fr. Anton Ranjith, the vice Rector, Rev. Fathers, Rev. Sisters, parents, past and present students were present on the occa-sion. Text: Stanislaus Pius Pic: Ajith Perera

Prize Giving 2018 Christ King College, Pannipitiya

Christ King College, Pannipitiya held its Annual Prize Giving 2018 on March 8 at the College Hall. Rev. Fr. Travis Gabriel, Rector, St. Joseph’s College, Colombo 10, was the Chief Guest. In his address Rev. Fr. Gabriel spoke on social media and its advantages in the pursuit of information and knowledge. He also enumerated the adverse influence by misuse of social media on the young and society in general. He further said that parents should specially be cautious and guide children to derive what is good and leave out what is harmful.In her report the principal Rev. Sr. Priyantha Fernando OP highlighted achievements and the progress made in the year 2018. She was thankful to the Chief Guest and oth-ers for their presence.

John Jayaweea

Kandy Animators prepare forDiocesan Children's Rally

30 Animators of the Kandy Diocese gathered on March 20, 2019 for a preparatory meeting presided over by Rev. Fr. Leslie Perera, Diocesan Director of Pontificial Mis-sion Socieities at St. Mary's Church, Gatambe to finalize arrangments for the Kandy Diocesan Children's Rally schedued to be held on October 5, 2019. In the picture animators with Rev. Fr. Leslie Perera at the preparatory meeting.

Charmini Chrishanthika

Josephian Lenten Chorals


“the other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fi sh” (John 21,8)

Girls, come and help us! Boys, come and help us!

“Don’t be content in your life just to do no wrong. Be prepared every day to try

to do some good.”- Nicholas Winton

Hey there Young Evangelizer,

Life gives us various opportunities where we have only two choices, either to accept it or ignore it. If it were an opportunity to do some good for another where you would not have any reward in this world, what would your choice be? Most often we are told not to do bad. It should also be remembered that refraining from doing bad alone is not what Christians are called for. Doing good is our primary vocation. Jesus summed up the entire law under two main commandments. The �irst is to “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22, 37) and the second is to “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22, 39). It is noteworthy that both these commandments are interlinked. We cannot say that we love God when we hate our neighbours or even ourselves. Without loving God we cannot love ourselves or our neighbours, because we would fail to realize the image and likeness of God in ourselves and our neighbours. The second commandment prescribed by Jesus enfolds a responsibility towards our neighbours. We as Christians are responsible for the wellbeing of our neighbours. Our neighbours could be anyone from anywhere, either known or unknown, Christian or non-Christian. Bearing this in mind, as kids we should make efforts to help others whenever we can. If we are unable to help them, we should direct them towards those who can help them.

MJ & AJ.

Catholic Lingo

Life

The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human

person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. This belief is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching. In our society, human life is under direct attack. The value of human life is being threatened by cloning, embryonic stem cell research, and the use of the death penalty. The intentional targeting of civilians in war or ter-rorist attacks is always wrong. Catholic teaching also calls on us to work to avoid war. Nations must

protect the right to life by finding increasingly effective ways to pre-vent conflicts and resolve them by peaceful means. We believe that ev-ery person is precious, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every in-stitution is whether it threatens or enhances the life and dignity of the human person. Pope Francis says, “God's tenderness leads us to understand that love is the meaning of life”. A theology of tenderness, the Pope said, expresses "the beauty of feel-ing loved by God" and the beauty

of feeling the need to love others in God's name. "Furthermore, if God is infinite tenderness, then people — created in His image — are capable of tenderness, too." "We feel called to pour onto the world the love re-ceived by the Lord, to offer it in the church, in the family, in society, to join it in serving and in giving our-selves," while is all done "not out of duty, but out of love," he said.

Source – National Catholic Reporter; Unit-

ed States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Victims of the recent bomb attacks

Winton was born in 1909, to parents of Jew-ish descent who were keen to integrate into British life. They anglicized their name and

Winton was baptized into the Anglican Church. In 1938, nicholas Winton was a young stockbroker in London. He was known for organizing the rescue of 669 Czech children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia during the 9 months before war broke out in 1939. The story be-came known to the public in 1988 when it featured on BBC. In 2003 he was knighted by Queen elizabeth II for Services to Humanity for this work. Jews were under threat in Nazi-occupied Eu-rope. In the early years of Hitler's rule, the nazis at-tempted to make life so unpleasant for Jews that they would be forced to emigrate. Yet few other countries were willing to accept an influx of Jewish refugees. In-stead of wringing his hands, he headed to Prague and hatched a plan that saved the lives of hundreds of chil-dren in the months before the outbreak of World War Two. Nicholas Winton was a socialist with an inter-est in international affairs and links with many Labour politicians. In Prague, Winton saw for himself the full scale of the problem facing Jews in German-occupied Sudetenland. Refugee camps were filling with families

forced from their homes. Occupants were struggling to survive the harsh European winter. Winton was struck by the appalling conditions and his greatest concern was for the children. As a British citizen with contacts, Winton was convinced he could arrange the evacuation of young refugees to England. Winton and his colleagues Martin Blake and Doreen Warriner set up a makeshift head-quarters in a hotel in Prague and began taking the names of families who wished to send their children to safety. Transporting hundreds of young refugees across Europe required careful planning. Winton re-turned to London and a mountain of paperwork. The

British government was only willing to let vulnerable children enter the country if strict conditions were met. Winton had to arrange a foster family for ev-ery refugee who left Czechoslovakia. A few children had relatives waiting in Britain. But in most cases, Winton had to persuade complete strangers to take the children in. He placed ads in newspapers calling for volunteers. Fortunately, the British government had already begun plans to evacuate British children from city centres in the event of war so the British public were familiar with the idea of opening their homes to those in need.

Source – NicholasWinton.com; BBC

Nicholas Winton: A man who chose to rescue lives

14 May 5, 2019The Messenger

Sun: Third Sunday of Easter National Small Christian Community Sunday Acts. 5: 27b-32, 40b-41; Rev. 5: 11-14; Jn. 21: 1-19 (or 21: 1-14)Mon: Acts. 6: 8-15; Jn. 6: 22-29 Tue: Acts. 7: 51 - 8: 1a; Jn. 6: 30-35Wed: Acts. 8: 1b-8; Jn. 6: 35-40Thu: Acts. 8: 26-40; Jn. 6: 44-51Fri: Acts. 9: 1-20; Jn. 6: 52-59Sat: Acts. 9: 31-42; Jn.6: 60-69Sun: Fourth Sunday of Easter Acts. 13: 14, 43-52; Rev. 7: 9,14b-17; Jn. 10: 27-30

“When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fi re with fi sh on it and bread” (John 21,9)

Liturgical Calendar Year C 5th May - 12th May 2019

SUNDAY WORD

By Rev. Fr. Don Anton Saman Hettiarachchi

1. The Risen Lord inquires Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” Jesus wants him to love Him more than the other disciples do. To love Jesus is very significant because it is on this criterion of love that Peter is going to receive his shepherding role.

2. Before Jesus prophesied Peter’s denial at the Last Supper: “… Truly, truly, I say to you, the cock will not crow, till you have denied me three times” (John 13,38), he boasted that he would follow Jesus and that he was willing to lay down his life: “Lord why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you” (13,37). He was sure he knew better than Jesus what he would do. But now after the drama of denial, he admits thrice that Jesus knows his heart: “Lord, you know ev-erything; you know that I love you.” Then only he actu-ally gets a chance to follow Him: “Follow me.”

3. The Risen Lord asks this question: “Do you love me?” not just once but thrice. So Peter has to confess thrice, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Why should he confess thrice? It is because he denied Jesus thrice: “I am not” (John 18,17.25.27). Thus the threefold confession of Peter counteracts his earlier threefold denial. Thus the threefold test of Peter is, as some Fathers of the Church interpret, the reparation for his threefold denial. With such intense and repeated confession, Peter is rehabilitated.

4. not only is Peter tested but he is also given a role in the church. Jesus willed to form into one flock all His sheep under one shepherd: “… So there shall be one flock, one shepherd” (John 10,16). now Peter is commissioned: “Feed my lambs … Tend my sheep … Feed my sheep.” Thus Peter is given, as the First vatican Council defined, the jurisdiction of supreme shepherd and ruler over the whole flock.

5. The Old Testament presented a shepherd ruler with an authoritative role. But Jesus presents Himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10,11). Peter, now the shepherd of the entire flock of Jesus, has got to imitate Him. He also has to keep in mind always that the sheep remains Jesus’: “my lambs … my sheep.”

6. not only Peter is given a role but he is also told of his des-

“Follow me” (John 21,1-19)tiny: “… when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Originally this seems to be a proverb – a prov-erb about old age. But here in the context it figuratively refers to Peter’s crucifixion on vatican hill which was already history for the Evangelist.

7. As the shepherd, Peter got his chance to imitate Je-sus, to lay down his life just like Him. In 64 or 66 AD (in Nero’s time) at the ancient Nero’s Circus (though in reality built almost entirely during Caligula’s reign) in the vatican, Peter was crucified head down and buried where Basilica di San Pietro stands today. If the vatican Obelisk that stands today in Pi-azza San Pietro (from 37 BC to 1596 AD it stood in the place where Peter was martyred – that is, beside the Ba-silica) can speak, it will tell this heroic tale of how Peter followed Jesus as the shepherd for the sheep.

8. Pope Francis has enjoyed enormous goodwill since his papacy began. He is more popular than the former uS President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former uK Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande, an opinion poll has suggested. The poll by WIN/Gallup International indi-cates that Roman Catholics (85%) and Jews (65%) have the most favourable opinion of the Pope. The Philip-pines was the most enthusiastic nation with 93% think-ing favourably of the Pope. More than half of the world’s Protestants and even the majority of atheists and ag-nostics view him favourably. BBC religious affairs corre-spondent Caroline Wyatt says that Francis has enjoyed enormous goodwill and won the hearts and minds not just of Roman Catholics but also of people from other religions and the non-religious. WIN/Gallup Interna-tional President Jean-Marc Leger said: “Pope Francis is a leader who transcends his own religion. Our study shows that an ample majority of citizens of the world, of different religious affiliations and across regions, have a favourable image of the Pope.” Yes, this Man of God, who came ‘from the end of the world’ – from the Great South where 60% of our Catholics live – has today won the entire world. The Suc-cessor of Peter has cared and tended the sheep of Jesus. His mercy (solidarity) has transcended all man-made taboos and barriers. It has embraced the whole of hu-manity. Three million pilgrims have passed through the Holy Door of Mercy at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome with-

First Reading: Acts 5:27b-32, 40b-41 The Apostles continue to witness to the Risen Lord. The council of priests and the leaders charge them not to do so. But the Apostles wish to obey God. They go on preaching the Good News.

Second Reading: Revelation 5: 11-14 John describes his vision of the Risen Lord. In the vision he sees the living creatures, elders and angels in their thousands honouring, praising and glorifying the Risen Lord.

Gospel. John 21: 1-19 Jesus reveals Himself to the Apostles through the Resurrection appearances. Here He appears to Pe-ter and the crowd on the shore. He performs the same miracle as that of the great catch of fish. Here Christ gives Peter the mission of feeding the sheep.

Re�lection Today’s Readings remind us of our mission and invite us to put it into practice both by word and deed. Our mission is to thank, honour praise and glorify the Risen Lord. For this we have to increase our faith in the Risen Lord. We also should imitate, preach and talk about Him, and if possible, even perform miracles in His name. The greatest miracle is the forgiveness of one’s sins and his conversion. We ought to do it even at the expense of our life. That is the faith that the Apostles had when they preached about the Risen Lord. This is the mission given to Peter and later handed over to the leaders of the Church and according to today’s under-standing to all the baptized. This is clearly seen when all the readings are taken together.

Third Sunday of Easter In the Gospel, we see the Risen Lord on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius. The Apostles had gone back to their old profession of fishing. Here the risen Lord performs the miracle of the great catch of fish. As a result the Apostles recognize Him. Peter is questioned three times, “Simon Son of John, do you love me?” He answers, “Yes Lord you know I love you.” Jesus tells him, “Feed My sheep.” This is done as if to make up for the three denials of Peter on the night of Christ’s arrest. With these words a mission is assigned to Peter and the other Apostles. They are to feed the sheep with the good news that the Lord is raised and that the Risen Lord is their hope and salvation. Hence they are to give thanks, honour and glory to the Lord. In the First Reading the Apostles have taken up their mission with all responsibility. They go on preach-ing the Good News to the people. The high priest and the leaders want them to stop this. But the Apostles are not ready to do their bidding. Rather they say “We must obey God rather than man." And they continue their mission. They are brave and strong in their witnessing. They do all this with the sole purpose of honouring and thanking the Risen Lord for the salvation He brought about. In the Second Reading it is quite clear that even the heavens glorify the Risen Lord. In the vision John sees the living creatures and the elders, together with the voice of many angels, thousands of them saying with a loud voice “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to re-ceive power and wealth and wisdom and might and hon-our and glory and blessing.” If the inhabitants of heaven glorify the Lord why should not we? Therefore it is an invitation for us who are on earth to say along with the heavens “To Him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb; be blessing and honour and glory and might for

ever and ever.” The only way we could show this honour, glory and thanksgiving to the Risen Lord is by bearing witness to Him in word and in deed. Therefore let us take up His mission with all responsibility.

Aid Story 1 During World War II a certain church in Frank-furt, Germany was heavily hit by bombs. At war’s end the parishioners began repairing. One badly broken object was a statue of Christ. They finally found and put together all the parts, except the hands. The hands they could not find. After considerable debate and dis-cussion about engaging a sculptor to mold a new pair of hands, the people of the parish decided to leave the statue without hands. Beneath the statue one reads these words:“Christ has no hands but our hands.”“Are you ready to provide Him your hands?” The work of Christ is carried on by those who have chosen to follow him. And they are the Baptized.

Aid Story 2 When the archaeologists were digging in the ruins of Nineveh they came upon a library of plagues containing the law of the realm. One of the laws reads, in effect, “that anyone guilty of neglect…. If, you fail to teach your child to obey. If you fail to teach him to re-spect the property of others, you and not he are respon-sible of your neglect.”

Saying. Jesus wants us to feed His sheep. Not to feed on His sheep

Very Rev. Fr. Ciswan De Croos

in the first hundred days after the Holy Year of Mercy began, as revealed by Archbishop Rino Fisichella. Gio-vanni Maria vian makes a comment in L’Osservatore Romano (Friday, 18 March, 2016) as Francis, our Pope, the great, the good began the fourth year of his Pontifi-cate: “Indeed, since the evening of his election, the Pope has done nothing but witness and proclaim the Gospel, transparently and directly, in order to speak to every-one … His mission, therefore, is directed at proclaiming the Gospel, personally witnessed first and foremost by the Pope himself, but also many others …” True, what is strong in this Pope is his simple life witness. It is this which has attracted millions and millions across the world. He follows Jesus today to the core, as his Prede-cessor St Peter followed Him to the end. Leonardo Boff, the Brazilian Liberation Theo-logian and an ardent vocal supporter of Pope Francis once said: “Francis isn’t a name; it’s a plan for a Church that is poor, simple, gospel-centered, and devoid of all power. It’s a Church that walks the way together with the least and last, that creates the first communities of brothers and sisters who recite the breviary under the trees with the birds. It’s an ecological Church that calls all beings those sweet words “brothers and sisters.” The plan has seen the light of day. We have witnessed it over the years of his Pontificate. Thus Pope Francis who loves Jesus shepherds His Church. He has truly become St. Peter for us. We pray he will continue to proclaim Jesus the Messiah like St. Peter despite the Sanhedrin floggings and the Roman crucifixion of today – the continuing extremist threats to his life.

15 May 5, 2019The MessengerContd. from Pg. 7 The Father's Grace...would be brought about both by the evil hearts of men and by his own willingness. Jesus under-went two contradictory charges: Religious charges under Annas and Caiaphas, and political charges under Pilate and Herod; and was sentenced to the symbol of contradiction, which is the cross. He hung on the Cross in loving submission to the Will of the Father; and so that Scripture May be fulfilled he said: "I thirst". (Psalm 22:16). This was a thirst that was spiritual as well as physical. Dying, Jesus held back nothing- all that He was in Body, Soul and Divinity, He lay down for us in total surrender. From the Cross He even gave us His Mother as a refuge to sinners. Our Blessed Lord's Passion was the cause of her suffering, for which she earned the title "Queen of martyrs". As the divine emptied Himself to fill the human, there must always be an emptying of the human before man can be filled with the divine. Christ has entered once for all into the Holy Place of heaven to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Resurrection gave Him power upon the earth conquering sin and death; Ascen-sion gives Him power in heaven to act as mediator between God and man. Tremendous is the power of freedom man has within himself to reject or to accept the salvation offered to him. The Father's grace: Free, but not cheap.

Contd. from Pg. 5Dementia....others. See your friends and family members and have regular contact with them. Keeping in con-tact with your social and family network is para-mount in keeping your mental faculties alert. Ac-tive social networking can prevent deterioration of mental and physical faculties. Stress of daily living can create trauma to the memory and retaining areas of the brain such as the hippocampus. People who know how to keep one’s stress down can help retain the memory cells of the brain and preserve their memory for a longer period, thus preventing early onset of memory loss. Concentration, daily exercise, yoga, Tai Chi and other relaxation tech-niques help you to keep the stress levels to the minimum, verbal ventilation of stress-inducing feelings, meditation, deep breathing, prayer and belief in a universal source, creator, sustainer and life-giver can help to keep the stress level to the minimum. At present we do not have a cure for se-nile dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Research-ers and gerontologists are of the opinion that we can prevent dementia in later stages of our life by participating in regular physical exercises, taking proper nutritious diet, proper rest and sleep and learning new things and practicing stress-reduction techniques.

from Pg. 5Serious causes.... As for its cause there are two factors; the presence of or-ganisms in the blood stream and an abnormality in the heart, facili-tating the adherence and the growth of the organism. The child has to suffer from a congenital heart disease or valvular heart disease usually following rheumatic fever. A predisposing factor is a dental extraction or a surgical procedure the common organism is Strep-tococcus viridans. The onset of the disease is insidious, so that it is very important for parents to be concerned if their child with a heart disease is unwell and having fever. Following the procedures mentioned, the organisms go and settle down in proximity to the damaged portion of the heart. There are growths or vegitations at these sites which contain the organisms and the growths. The fever child is anaemic, blood in the urine, and red patches in the skin. Majority of the children are malaised, there is evidence of the heart lesion. The dangerous sequel is that a piece of the vegitation can break off (embolus) which can get lodged in an important organ like the brain or kidney with serious sequels. This child should be in a well supplied and staffed pae-diatric ward for investigation and treatment. Blood and urine are tested. The heart growths can be viewed with imaging techniques. The most important test is the repeated blood cultures to identify the organism and administer the appropriate antibiotic by injec-tions over a long period of time. The infection often occurs following a dental extraction or some surgery in the child with underlying heart disease. This can be prevented by starting the child on an antibiotic a day or two before such procedures and continued for a few days.

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