THE CATHOLIC WEEKLY OF SRI LANKA

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 / 1 2 8 / N E W S / 2 0 1 7

Sunday, March 26, 2017 Vol 148 No 12 24 Pages Rs: 30.00 Registered as a newspaper

THE FILM ACCORDING TO MATTHEW - NOT CATHOLIC

Archdiocesan Social Communication Director, Rev. Fr. Edmund Tilakeratne has issued a statement
clarifying that the film According to Matthew is not about a Catholic Priest. It points out that Catholic
Priests are not allowed to get married and therefore this film is not in line with Catholic spirituality.

Only God can make a tree

T
uesday March 21
was International
Forest Day with the
theme being, Forests and
energy a global celebra-
tion of forests providing a
platform to raise aware-
ness of the importance
of all types of woodlands
and trees and the ways in
which they sustain and
protect us.
The United Na-
tions says, Wood is a ma-
jor renewable energy
source and provides the
world with more energy
than solar, hydroelectric
or wind power accounting
for roughly 45 percent of
current global renewable
energy supply. Wood pro-
vides 27 percent of total
primary energy supply in
Africa, 13 percent in Latin
America and the Carib-
bean and 5 percent in Asia
and Oceania.
Wood energy
powers economic develop-
ment. Almost 900 million
people, mostly in develop-
ing countries, are engaged
in the wood-energy sector
on a part or full-time ba-
sis. Modernizing the wood
energy sector can help re-
vitalize rural economies
and stimulate enterprise
development. Greater in- wood fuels can provide growing forests and more the Church this is an impor- Department was set up
vestment in wood energy revenue to finance better jobs, the UN says. tant event. When Sri Lan-
production and advanced forest management, more For Sri Lanka and kas Forest Conservation Contd on Pg. 2

Calvary Sevana a major work Easter Vatican hosts conference on

by Catholic University students Articles
Please send
water values
VATICAN RADIO - The value and

H is Lordship, Rt. Rev.

Dr. Cletus Chandrasiri
Perera has said that during
this season of Lent our mo-
tive should be to seek the
narrow gate and journey to-
wards the Kingdom of God.
The Lord Himself
has told us that the road to
Gods Kingdom is through
the narrow gate.
His Lordship was
addressing the gathering
at the first Way of the Cross
conducted at the new Cal-
vary Sevana at St. Marys
Shrine Thanjanthenna, Bal-
angoda in the Ratnapura Di-
ocese, recently. The Calvary
Sevana was blessed and de-
clared open by His Lordship.
The Calvary Seva-
na with its 14 Stations
of the Cross was jointly
sponsored by the Catholic
Students Movement of the
University of Sri Jayawar-
danepura and the Catholic
Graduates Society of the
University.
His Lordship also
commended the work of
in your
articles
values of water was at the heart of a
conference that took place in Rome
on March 22 titled, Watershed: re-
before 31st
plenishing the water values for a
March. thirsty world.
The one-day event marked World
Water Day 2017 and was organised by the Pontifical
twelfth Council for Culture and the Club of Rome, in collabo-
ration with Circle of Blue and the World Economic
anniversary Forum Global Future Council on the Environment.
of Episcopal Policy makers, academics, and business
leaders joined top Vatican officials in a dialogue
ordination aimed at recovering the values of water and the cen-
trality of water for human life.
The event represents a concrete response
by the Pontifical Council for Culture to the questions
raised by Pope Francis in his Encyclical Laudato Si
about humanitys relationship with the environment.
(See Editorial on Pg. 3)
New National Director for
Liturgy and Culture
Rev. Fr. Soosainathan OSB, has been
appointed as National Director for
His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Liturgy and Culture. He holds a
Valence Mendis Licentiate in Sacred Liturgy and a
Pic. Viran Setunga Text: T. Sunil Fernando Prayer-filled wishes Diploma in Sacred Music in Rome.
the students in embarking students effort focussed April 2. He is, at present the Parish
on a project of this nature on uplifting the spiritual- Priest of Sacred Heart Church,
while being involved in ity of the Catholics in this Ad Multos Annos! Katugastota, Kandy and serves as Professor of Liturgy
their studies. He said the remote village. at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.

EMAIL: ccpmessenger @yahoo.com cmesenger@sltnet.lk WEBSITE: colomboarchdiocesancatholicpress.com

 2 The Messenger March 26, 2017

Pamunugama Parishioners celebrate Batticaloa Diocese

141st feast at Madhu Shrine Lenten Pilgrimage
The annual Lenten Pil-
grimage of Batticaloa
Diocese was held at
Mount Hingurana on
March 18 with a large
gathering of devotees
covering all the par-
ishes in the Diocese.
His Lordship Rt.
Rev. Dr. Joseph Pon-
niah concelebrated
the Holy Mass after
concluding the Way
of the Cross.
His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. pated at the Festive School, Kadolkelle and conducted in addition to
Harold Anthony Perera, High Mass were Rev. Fa- Kennedy Perera, Director the feast. Confession and Batticaloa Diocese
Bishop of Kurunegala thers Emilianus Pillai, St.Thomas' International counselling were also in- Bulletin
presided the Festive High Ad m i n i s t ra to r, M a d h u School with a vast gather- cluded in the programme.
Mass at the Madhu Shrine
which was conducted by
Shrine, Francis Jayako-
day Parish Priest, Pamu-
ing of devotees and Priest
sons from Pamunugama.
A procession car-
rying the statue of Our
Way of the Cross in
the Parishioners of Pamu-
nugama for the 141st year
nugama, Noel Sampath
Parish Priest, Uswetakei-
A day of Holy Eu-
charist and special pro-
Lady of Madhu marked
the conclusion of this sol-
Bandarawela
consecutively. yawa, Darshana Jaya- grammes for youth and emn event. Bandarawela Dean-
Also partici- manne, Director, St. Joseph adults have also been Banjamin Kirihetti ery, in its annual
Lenten programme
Way of the Cross at Awareness programme on has conducted the
Way of the Cross
Wellawatta on Good Friday Dengue iradication on March 10 with
the participation of
Liturgy Committee of St. Lawrence's Church, Wellawatta, eight parishes in the
chaired by Very Rev. Fr. Manokumaran Nagaratnam, region.
Parish Priest assisted by Rev. Fr. Shika Rodrigo has The faithful
drawn up plans to conduct a public Way of the Cross on representing all par-
Good Friday in accordance with the Year dedicated to ishes, with their Par-
St. Joseph Vaz, who walked barefoot preaching the Word ish Priests walked
of God and performing miracles. from Haputale to Di-
The Way of the Cross will commence at 7.30 yatalawa and offered
a.m. carrying Statue of Lord Jesus on a chariot from Holy Eucharist at the
Mayura Place along Havelock Road, Suvisuddarama Christ the King Church, Diyatalawa.
An awareness programme on dengue eradication was
Road, Peterson Lane, Hampden Lane, Manning Place, Thiwanka Lakshani
conducted at the Pamunugama Church after the Sunday
Galle Road and reach St. Lawrence's Church to conduct
Holy Mass recently.
the 14th station. It will be conducted in all three
languages. S.B. David
The programme was initiated under the guid- National Joseph Vaz Secretariat
ance of Rev. Fr. Francis Jayakody, Parish Priest, Pamu-
nugama following the request made by His Eminence Lenten Pilgrimage to Goa
Programmes to experience Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo. A ten day Lenten pilgrimage by the National Joseph
Passion of Christ in Payagala In the picture, Dr. Roshini Perera, Assistant
Medical Officer of Health, Wattala who also serving as
Vaz Secretariat to Goa, Mangalore, Vallankanni Poondy,
Mysore, Bangalore and Chennai will leave on March 27
a Sunday School Teacher at Pamunugama Parish is con- comprising 50 pilgrims and four priests. His Lordship
Rev. Fr. Sisira Samarakoon, Parish Priest, Payagala has ducting the awareness programme. Priests of Pamu-
Rt. Rev. Dr. Vianney Fernando, Bishop of Kandy will ac-
launched several programmes to prepare his parish- nugama were also seen in the picture.
company the pilgrims who will be housed in religious
ioners for a spiritual penance during the Lent season. B. K. places and Goan priests will guide the pilgrims.
There will be Way of the Cross and Holy Eucharist dai-
ly at all the churches in the parish over the 40 days of Legion of Mary Spiritual Roggy Corera
Lent.
In addition, the faithfulls of Payagala will em- Retreat at Waragoda Lenten Retreat for Judges,
bark on a Lenten pilgrimage and a Way of the Cross at
Alagollewa on March 25. The annual Lenten Spiritual Retreat organised by the Lawyers and Law Students
A drama on the Passion of Christ directed by Legion of Mary, Waragoda was held for the seventh suc- A Lenten Retreat fro all Judges, Lawyers and Law stu-
cessful year at St. Paul's Church, Waragoda, Kelaniya re-
Radio and teledrama artist P. Leonard Cooray will be dents will be held on April 2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at
cently under the guidance of Rev. Frs. Joseph Indika and
staged at the church premises on April 7. Benedict XVI Cultural Institute (BCI) Bolawalana, Ne-
Dilantha Fernando, Parish Priest and Assistant Parish
A common Way of the Cross will be conducted Priest respectively. gombo which is a time for discussion, reflection and
on Palm Sunday from Kuda Payagala to Payagala South The retreat was conducted by Rev. Frs. Prasad confession. Way of the Cross will be conducted by Rev.
with the assistance of Cistercian Priests resident at the Harshana, Anton Dinesh and Eranga de Silva. Fr. Claude Perera OMI, and Mr. Lalith Perera. Rev. Fr.
Parish and Rev. Sisters of the Holy Angel's Convent. Quintus Fernando will celebrate the Holy Mass.
Clarence Leonard Details: Contact Rev. Fr. Noel Dias (Tel. 0777349446)
Nihal Fernando

Contd. from Pg. 1 tions and other areas.

Only God...
in the 1890s the forest cover was reported to be
more than 80 percent of the land area. Today it has
been axed to 20 and 30 percent. This is a criminal
offence and a sin. One of Gods greatest blessings
to this tropical island was the trees and the for-
est cover. But over the decade misled by the false
conceptions of modern development we have cut
down tens of thousands of trees, devastated our
forest cover and upset the delicate eco balance
that God gave to us.
This is one of the areas spotlighted in
Pope Francis historical encyclical Laudato Si. As
an act of repentance during this Lenten season we
need to acknowledge that in different degrees we
all have been part of the crisis. Now we need to
ask Gods grace to be part of the solution in our
home gardens, church premises, schools, institu-
One solution is to start planting trees,
big or small and see that they are given adequate
water and organic fertilizer to grow to their full-
ness. Some churches and schools have huge gar-
den premises and they could even employ a gar-
dener to grow or maintain trees or plants. This
needs to be seen as a sacred duty and children es-
pecially need to be given regular classes on what
they should and could do to protect Gods creation
which is being crucified by a selfish and crooked
world.
For instance, if we read and take to heart
this immortal poem by George Pope Morris, we
will never cut a tree or allow to do so. The poet
says: Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single
bough! In youth it sheltered me and I will protect it
now. It was my forefathers hand that placed it near
his cot. There, woodman, let it stand, they axe shall
harm it not. catholicpress.com
Financial aid to Kandy Churches
Tourism Promotion and Christian Affairs Minister John Ama-
ratunga has donated financial aid for the development of
churches in the Kandy Diocese, namely - Infant Jesus Church,
Mahakanda, Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Bogawantalawa, St.
Jude's Church, Telwatta, St. Joseph's Church, Gampola and also
for Junior Seminary, Kandy and National Seminary, Ampitiya.
The donation was granted on a request made by His
Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Vianney Fernando, Bishop of Kandy.
Morris Nanaykkara
Messenger E-mail
ccpmessenger @yahoo.com
cmesenger@sltnet.lk
Website:colomboarchdiocesan
3 The Messenger
Editorial
Email:ccpmessenger@yahoo.com
Website:colomboarchdiocesancatholicpress.com
Telephone: 011 2695984
Fax: 2692586 / 2670100
March 26, 2017
Water: The Elixir of Life
Dont waste it
Last Sundays Scripture readings focused on supernatural water
- how God gave the grumbling Jewish people water from the rock
and how Jesus told the Samaritan woman that He could give her
living water. He was referring to the Holy Spirit who moves all
over the world giving a mighty revelation of Gods glory and as
vast as the waters that cover the seas.
In this backdrop we need to also reflect on our life giving
fresh water resources. Last Wednesday March 22 was World
Water Day with the vision and goal being to focus attention on the
importance of freshwater and how to conserve and sustainably
manage our freshwater resources.
God has blessed Sri Lanka with as many as 16 rivers
which run to more than 100 kilometres in length. They are the
Mahaweli Ganga, Malvathu Oya, Kala Oya, Kelani Ganga, Yan
Oya, Deduru Oya, Walawe Ganga, Maduru Oya, Maha Oya, Kalu
Ganga, Kirindi Oya, Kumbukkan Oya, Menik Ganga, Gin Ganga,
Mi Oya and Gal Oya. In addition we have also being blessed
with more than 25 river, streams or canals which are less than
100 kilometres in length. Through the marvels of our ancient
engineering skills we also had more than 10,000 wewas for the
storage of water during rainy seasons so that it could be used
during droughts such as the ongoing one. Unfortunately most of
these wewas are now in ruins and lots of rainwater goes waste
though King Parakramabahu pleaded that not a single drop of
rain should be allowed to go waste without being used for the
benefit of human beings and other creatures.
The theme for World Water Day this year is - Why waste
water?. We hope and pray that duty conscious Sri Lankans will
make a Lenten pledge or commitment that they will not waste
fresh water. We also have a prophetic role to play. We need to tell
our family members, church communities and others that it is a
grave sin to waste fresh water that God so freely gives to us.
Let us in our prayers and actions reflect on some
shocking and heart-shattering realities. According to the United
Nations, today there are more than 663 million people living
without a safe water supply close to home, spending countless
hours queuing or trekking to distant sources and coping with the
health impacts of using contaminated water. If that is shocking
here is something that is more devastating and needs to bring
about a flood of tears. Globally as many as two billion people are
using a source of drinking water that is faecally contaminated.
We need to be aware that there are thousands of such people in
Sri Lanka also while most of us casually waste freshwater not
being aware that it is a sin.
What are the effects of this? The World Health
Organisation reveals more than half a million diarrhoeal deaths
in low and middle-income countries are attributed to inadequate
drinking water and the vast majority of these deaths occur
among children under five. The UN has also underlined, through
its sustainable development goals, the importance of improving
water quality and reducing, treating and reusing wastewater.
Globally, the wastewater from our homes, cities, industry
and agriculture flows back to nature without being treated or
reused polluting drinking and bathing and irrigation and losing
valuable nutrients and other recoverable materials.
What do we need to do in putting into action our
resolutions that we will not waste water? When washing hands,
utensils or food items do not open the tap fully but only half
way. We could also cut down on the time we take for our shower
baths. If each one of us could save about litres of water a day that
would mean the saving of 220 million litres a day.
Those who are deeply committed to social justice could
also take some steps to install rainwater harvesting facilities in
their houses or a recycling process where bath water is sent to
the cisterns. While the citizens play their role, the government
also needs to take effective action to prevent factories from
polluting our precious fresh water resources. It has also been
reported that a notorious transnational soft drink giant - facing
problems in India because of extensive use of fresh water in its
57 plants - is trying to set up its plant in Sri Lanka. This must be
stopped and the Church also needs to speak out in a prophetic
way.
Freely, freely God has given us fresh water. Without
taking that blessing for granted let us act responsibly. Let us stop
wasting water and also take action to protect our fresh water
resources.
March 26, 2017
Confession must be a pastoral priority
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis has told "Confession must also be a true
priests to make confession a priority in
their parishes, and, if they want to be place of evangelization, Pope
good confessors, to have a strong prayer Francis said, stressing that there is
life focused on growing in humility and
closeness to the Holy Spirit in order to
no more authentic evangelization
evangelize. than the encounter with the God of
The confessor, in fact, is called mercy, with the God who is mercy"
daily to go to the peripheries of evil and
sin, the Pope said on March 17, adding teach his own doctrine. He is called always to
that this is an ugly periphery, but the priest is do the will of God alone, in full communion with
called to go and his work represents an authen- the Church, of whom he is the minister, that is, a
tic pastoral priority. servant.
To confess is a pastoral priority, he Discernment, the Pope said, allows the
said. Please, may there not be those signs that priest to distinguish individual cases instead of
say: confessions only Monday and Wednesday, generalizing and putting everyone together in
from this time to this time. Confess each time the same category, which helps the penitent to
they ask you, he said, telling priests that if they open the shrine of their own conscience in or-
are sitting in the confessional praying, You are der to receive light, peace and mercy.
there with the confessional open, which is the This discernment is necessary above
open heart of God. all because many people who come to confes-
Pope Francis spoke to participants in sion find themselves in desperate situations.
the Apostolic Penitentiarys annual course on They could also be spiritually disturbed, he
the internal forum. The Internal Forum branch said, explaining that these cases have to be
of the Apostolic Penitentiary is one of the three discerned well, keeping all of the existential,
tribunals of the Roman Curia and is responsible ecclesial, natural and supernatural causes in
for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in mind.
the Catholic Church, particularly sins involv- When the confessor becomes aware of
ing some types of grave matter which require the presence of genuine spiritual disturbanc-
a special form of absolution that only certain es that may be in large part psychological
priests can administer. and therefore must be confirmed by means of
Taking place from March 14-17, the healthy collaboration with the human sciences
course is held every year in Rome and is de- he must not hesitate to refer the issue to those
signed to educate attendees on canon law re- who, in the diocese, are charged with this deli-
garding Confession, as well as what the inter- cate and necessary ministry, namely, exorcists.
nal forum does. It is attended by around 500 But these must be chosen with great care and
seminarians in their third year of studies and great prudence.
by priests who wish to participate. Confession must also be a true place of
In his speech, the Pope said that to evangelization, Pope Francis said, stressing that
be a good confessor, a priest must be a man of there is no more authentic evangelization than
prayer, who is attentive to the Holy Spirit and the encounter with the God of mercy, with the
knows how to discern well, and who also is a God who is mercy.
good evangelizer. The confessional is then a place of
They must be a true friend of Jesus the evangelization and therefore of formation, he
Good Shepherd, he said, adding that without said, explaining that in the brief dialogue with
this friendship, it will be very hard to mature the penitent, the confessor is called to discern
that paternity which is so necessary in the min- what is most useful and what is even necessary
istry of Reconciliation. for the spiritual path of that brother or sister.
This friendship is cultivated primarily At times this will mean re-explaining
through prayer, he said, whether it's a personal the most basic fundamentals of the faith, the
prayer constantly asking for the gift of pasto- incandescent core, the kerygma, without which
ral charity, or a special prayer for the exercise the experience of Gods love and mercy would
of the duty of confessors toward the faithful be mute. Other times it will mean explaining
who come to us looking for Gods mercy. the basics of the moral life, always in relation
A ministry of confession that is to the truth, to the good and to the will of the
wrapped in prayer will be a credible reflection Lord.
of Gods mercy and will help to avoid the bitter- It involves a work of ready and intelli-
ness and misunderstandings that can at times gent discernment, which can be of great benefit
happen in the confessional. to the faithful, the Pope said, urging the priests
Confessors must also pray for them- to be good confessors who are immersed in re-
selves, the Pope said, specifically to understand lation with Christ, and who are capable of care-
well that they themselves are sinners who have ful discernment and attentive evangelization.
been forgiven.
One cannot forgive in the Sacrament EWTN
without the knowledge of having been forgiv-
en first, he said, adding that prayer is
the first guarantee of avoiding every
attitude of harshness, which uselessly
judges the sinner and not the sin.
Pope Francis also stressed the
need for priests to pray for the gift of
a wounded heart, which is able to un-
derstand other wounds and heal them
with the oil of mercy, like the Good Sa-
maritan did to the man on the side of the
road.
A priest must also pray for hu-
mility and invoke the Holy Spirit, who
is the spirit of discernment and com-
passion that allows him to accompany
others with prudence.
A confessor must also be a
man of the Spirit, a man of discern-
ment, who knows how to listen to the
Holy Spirit in trying to discern the will
of God.
The confessor does not act
according to his own will and does not
 4 The Messenger March 26, 2017

Church in the Modern World

Pope Francis visits Egypt end of April
VATICAN CITY - In what
will be his first interna-
tional trip of the year, Pope
Francis will be traveling to
Cairo, Egypt, on April 28-
29, showing that interfaith
dialogue is a priority.
He will visit the
country in response to an
invitation from His Holi-
ness Pope Tawadros II
and the Grand Imam of the
Mosque of al Azhar, Sheikh
Ahmed Mohamed Al-
Tayyib, as well as Egypt's
president Abdel Fattah
el-Sisi and the bishops of
the local Catholic Church,
a March 18 Vatican com-
munique announced.
While the full
program for the Pope's
the trip will be published
shortly, he will almost
certainly visit Al-Azhar
University in Cairo, which
has recently partnered
with the Vatican to dis-
cuss combatting religious
justification for violence
in a warming of relations
between the two.
The Popes trip
will likely focus largely on
inter-faith dialogue and
Catholic-Muslim relations
especially in combating
Christian persecution
continuing dialogue from
a seminar Vatican officials
attended in February.
CardinalJean-Lou-
is Tauran, president of the
Pontifical Council for Inter-
religious Dialogue, along
with the council's secretary
and the head of their Office
for Islam, traveled to Cairo
Feb. 24 to participate in the
special seminar at Al-Azhar
University.
They discussed
the theme The role of al-
Azhar al-Sharif and of the
Vatican in countering the
phenomena of fanaticism,
extremism and violence
in the name of religion.
Persecution of
Christians has long been
an issue in Egypt, with
a recent spike in attacks
causing even more reason
for alarm.
There have been
40 reported murders of
Christians in Egypt in the
last three months, His
Grace Bishop Angaelos,
general bishop of the Cop-
tic Orthodox Church in
the United Kingdom, said
in a statement Feb 28.
Twenty-nine
were killed in a bombing
at St. Marks Coptic Or-
thodox Cathedral in Cairo
in December. The Islamic
State took credit for the
bombing and released a
video threatening to tar-
get Christian crusaders
in Egypt.
Since the videos
release, more Christians
have been killed in Egypt
and hundreds have re-
portedly fled their homes
in the Sinai region in the
north of the country after
several murders there,
the group In Defense of
Christians claimed.
Egyptian soci-
ety was also profoundly
shocked by the beheading
in Libya of 20 Orthodox
Coptic faithful and a com-
panion by Islamic State mil-
itants in February 2015.
Pope Francis was
invited to visit Egypt by
Coptic Catholic bishops
during their ad limina
visit at the Vatican on
February 6, during which
they also gave a report on
the state of the Church in
their country.
Pope Francis meets the Grand Imam Sheik Ahmed Muham-
The Pope had
mad Al Tayyib at the Vatican on May 23, 2016.
also received an invitation
to visit Egypt from the the al-Azhar institution surprisingly fast pace,
countrys president and and the Holy See, which leading to the Oct. 21 an-
from the Grand Imam of were strained in 2011 nouncement from the Vat-
al Azhar, Ahmed Al-Tayy- with claims that Pope ican that sometime this
ib, who occupies a pres- Benedict XVI had inter- spring the Holy See and
tigious place in the Sunni fered in Egypts internal the Al-Azhar Mosque and
Muslim world. affairs by condemning a adjunct University will of-
Al Tayyib paid a bomb attack on a church ficially resume dialogue.
visit to the Vatican May in Alexandria during the Pope Francis vis-
23, 2016 for a meeting time of Coptic Christmas. it to Cairo and to the Uni-
with Pope Francis, which Since then re- versity in April will likely
marked a major step in lations have continued mark the official resump-
thawing relations between to move forward at a tion of this. EWTN

Lebanese President meets Pope Francis Pope Francis goes to

VATICAN CITY - With the
6th anniversary of the
start of the Syrian war as
backdrop this week, Pope
Francis last week met the
President of Lebanon, Mi-
chel Aoun. Their discus-
sion centered on the large
number of Syrian refugees
now in Lebanon and the
efforts to find a solution
to the conflict.
According to a
March 16 statement by
the Vatican, in the 20-
minute meeting, the Pope
and President Aoun dis-
cussed Syria with special
attention to international
efforts to find a political
solution to the conflict.
The Pope ex-
pressed appreciation for
the many Syrian refugees
Lebanon has welcomed
during the years of the
Civil War. The two leaders
confession
also exchanged views on VATICAN CITY - At the end of his annual Lenten peni-
the greater regional con- tential service last week, Pope Francis was the first to
text and other ongoing go to the Sacrament of Confession, afterward hearing
conflicts, particularly the the confessions of seven lay people, three men and four
situation for Christians in women, in attendance.
the Middle East. Instead of giving a homily during the service,
Lebanon, official- which he has done in years past, Pope Francis led peo-
ly known as the Lebanese ple in a lengthy silence following the readings in order
to reflect and pray prior to receiving the sacrament of
Republic, is a Sovereign confession.
State bordered by Syria Earlier on March 17, Pope Francis spoke with
to the North and East and participants of the Apostolic Penitentiarys annual
Israel to the South. Before course on the internal forum about the importance of
President Aoun, 82, was confessors being available to people and spiritually
well-formed.
elected on October 31, In his speech, the Pope said that to be a good
2016, the Lebanese par- Pope Francis with President of Lebanon Michel Aoun in confessor, a priest must be a man of prayer, a man who
liament was under a 29- Vatican City. is attentive to the Holy Spirit and knows how to discern
month deadlock to choose well, and who also is a good evangelizer.
munities in favor of the Lebanon and Francis gave
the next president. Held in St. Peter's Basilica, the penitential ser-
common good and the de- Aoun a bronze sculpture
The two empha- vice usually takes place on the fourth Friday of Lent, in
velopment of the nation. of olive branches as a sign
sized, the statement con- anticipation of the 24 Hours for the Lord initiative
At the visit, Presi- of peace, as well as three held yearly on the fourth Friday and Saturday of Lent.
tinued, the hope for an
dent Aoun gifted the Pope books: Evangelii Gaudium This year, however, the Pope's penitential ser-
increasingly fruitful future
a statue of the Infant Child in French, and Amoris La- vice was moved to the week prior, March 17. In addition
collaboration between
of Prague with emblems etitia and Laudato Si in to going to confession and hearing the confessions of
the members of diverse
of the Holy See and of Arabic. seven others, the service included prayers, songs and
ethnic and religious com- readings from Scripture.

Kerala priest stabbed by Italian in Melbourne US congratulates Pope Francis

A Catholic priest from Kerala was attacked
by an Italian last Sunday when the priest
was leading the Sunday mass in a Mel-
bourne church.
Father Tomy Kalathoor Mathew
was stabbed in the neck with a kitchen
knife by the Italian during the mass at a
Catholic church in Melbourne suburbs, me-
dia reports said.
While the Mass was going on the
accused, aged in his 50s, came forward and
shouted that since the priest was an Indian,
he must be a Hindu or a Muslim and there-
fore cant be saying mass.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Mel-
bourne said the priest was doing well in
hospital and wanted to get back to work
soon, The Australin reported.
His thoughts are only for his pa-
rishioners, Vicar General Monsignor Greg
Bennet said.
Archdiocese spokesman Shane
Healy said, the behavior was appalling and
people should never be treated like this,
the Australian reported.
Police arrested the attacker soon,
according to Indian news service IANS.
At this stage, we believe the incident
is isolated. Theres nothing to suggest hes a
danger to anyone else, Detective Senior Con-
stable Rhiannon Norton told reporters.
UCAN
on his 4th anniversary
On the fourth anniversary of Pope
Francis being elevated to the papacy,
the United States offered its con-
gratulations and wishes for collabo-
ration in the future.
On behalf of President
Trump and the people of the United
States, I offer my congratulations
to His Holiness Pope Francis on the
fourth anniversary of his election
as Bishop of Rome and leader of the
Catholic Church, said U.S. Secretary
of State Rex Tillerson in a statement.
On March 13, 2013, then-
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argen-
tina was elected Pope.
The United States and the
Holy See have worked together for
decades to face global challenges
such as trafficking in persons, food
insecurity, epidemics, and the exploi-
tation of religion as a tool to incite
hatred and divide nations, Tillerson
said in his statement. Together we
have built vital partnerships and
cooperated to advance peace, lib-
erty, and human dignity around the
world.
On this day I join millions
of Americans, and people around the
world, in congratulating the Holy Fa-
ther and wishing him continued suc-
cess in leading the Catholic Church
to make a better world for all.
Catholic News Agency
 5 The Messenger March 26, 2017

Health related
HYDOCEPHALUS (Child with a Large Head) Issues in Sri Lanka
By Dr. Maxie Fernandopulle
Email:maxiefernandopulle@gmail.com

H
ydrocephalus means excessive brain water
(Cerebro Spinal Fluid C.S.F.) inside the head
CSF is produced in the cavities (ventricles) in-
side the main part of the brain and this water flows
downwards through channels to the spinal cord. Hy-
drocephalus is a disease where there is or has been
an obstruction to CSF outflow, resulting in high pres-
sure inside the ventricles producing enlargement of the
ventricles. The same effect can uncommonly be due to
excessive production of CSF Hydrocephalus is common
in the newborn and in childhood.
Hydrocephalus in adult life. Hydrocephalus in adult
is often an unsuspected finding, seen on X-ray or scan-
ning of the head. However hydrocephalus developed in
infancy can sometimes become apparent only in adult
life. Some of the complaints are headache, intellectual
impairment, vomiting, loss of balance and stiffness of
the limbs. Hydrocephalus may also develop for the first
time in adult life. The latter can be due to:
1. Tumours in the brain that obstructs the flow of the
CSF downwards.
2. Due to hemorrhage in the brain following a head injury.
3. Infection of the brain (Meningitis).
Treatment is surgical removal of the tumour
Normal pressure hydrocephalus is where the brain
cavities (ventricles) are enlarged but the pressure inside
the ventricles is not increased. These patients present
with dementia, progressively worsening memory loss,
unsteady gait, loss of urine control. This is seen special-
ly in old age. Investigations include neuropsychological
assessment, brain scanning and lumbar puncture. (in-
serting a needle into the lower spinal canal and drain-
age of CSF)
Hydrocephalus in infants (Head enlargement in in-
fancy) Occurs in one in about 2000 live births. There
are no Sri Lankan figures. There are many causes and
mechanisms for it. The CSF is produced in the ventricles
of the brain. The CSF flows through connecting chan-
nels to the lower part of the brain and then to the spinal
cord. Any increase in production or obstruction to the
flow will cause ventricular dilatation resulting in an in-
crease in the size of the head. The latter is recognized
by measuring the head circumference. The obstruction
can be due to a congenital abnormality of the brain or
due to brain cysts, tumours or complicating a hemor-
rhage seen specially after a difficult delivery. The CSF
is absorbed back into the blood stream. There is a dis-
ease where this absorption is decreased which will also
produce excess accumulation of CSF in the ventricles
producing hydrocephalus.
In hydrocephalus the pressure inside the brain
is higher due to the accumulation of excess fluid. Raised
pressure within the brain results in decrease of blood
supply to the brain. In newborns the pressure need
not be that high to produce ill effects as compared to
an elder child. These children will show insidious de-
terioration of school performance, intermittent head-
aches over many months, behavioural and personal-
ity changes, failure to grow and dizziness. The clinical
features of hydrocephalus with raised pressure inside
the brain may be extremely variable and any child with
a rapidly increasing head circumference should have
an ultra sound or CT scan of the head. The older child
who come with an enlarged head with no complaints is
likely to have hydrocephalus if there is developmental
retardation. This can be identified by a paediatrician.
It is called developmental assessment.
50% of cases of hydrocephalus or large head
will have no complaints. The common symptoms if pres-
ent are headache, irritability, vomiting loss of appetite,
drowsiness or lethargy. The examination findings are
inappropriate increase of the head circumference. The
opening in the middle of the skull bones (anterior fon-
tanel) is bulging outwards. The skull consists of sever-
al bones which are separated from each other at birth
which later get joined together. The lines along which
the bones are in contact with each other are called su-
ture lines. In hydrocephalus due to the increase in pres-
sure inside the separation there is widening of the suture
lines which occur and can be felt. There are prominent
veins in the scalp. There is loss of upward gaze in the eye.
Only a part of the black of the eye is visible. This is like
the picture of setting sun in the evening. The neck is of-
ten bent backwards. There may be slowness in sucking
of the breast milk and feeding.
Foetal hydrocephalus Hydrocephalus can be
identified in a foetus while inside the mothers womb
by scanning techniques. There are two broad causes.
Firstly those associated with chromosomal disorders.
The second group is due to narrowing of the channel
that drains brain fluid to the spinal cord, brain hae-
morhage, or infection with a germ called Toxoplasma
found in dogs and cats. Pregnant mothers who play
with dogs and cats can collect this germ in their fingers,
swallow them and through her blood is transmitted to
the foetus in her womb. The Toxoplama will enter the
brain of the foetus and damage it, producing an abnor-
mally large head.
Patients who already have been treated sur-
gically by inserting a drainage shunt can also develop
problems. If the shunt gets blocked pressure will once
again increase. There will be vomiting, drowsiness or
lethargy, headache, behavioural change, loss of appe-
tite, malfunctioning of the valve in the shunt tube, sleep
disturbances and fits. One fourth of them will not have
any abnormality on examination.
All children with hydrocephalus should be un-
der the care of a specialist paediatrician or child neu-
rologist. They will be regularly monitored and X- rays,
ultra sound, C.T scans will be done.
When and if indicated treatment by surgical
intervention is carried out. A common procedure is to
insert a shunt from the ventricle of the brain to a lo-
cation outside. The two common receiving receptacles
are:
1. Right atrium, the cavity in the heart where blood is
collected from the periphery.
2. To the peritoneum. This is the sack or space between
two membranes covering the intestines.
3. A separate reservoir is sometimes inserted to collect
the water from the brain.
4. No. 3 may be combined with 1 or 2.
Complications of shunts. The two common complica-
tions are blockage of the shunt or infection in the shunt.
These can be identified as mentioned earlier. A patient
with a shunt should see a doctor regularly. Less com-
mon complications are tearing of the shunt tube due to
trauma or twisting. The distal or the proximal ends of
the drainage tube can get shifted to another location.
In conclusion hydrocephalus is not an uncom-
mon condition specially in infants and children. A baby
with an abnormally appearing large head should arouse
the suspicion of the parents and the child is best seen
by your local paediatrician.

People who sleep longer twice as likely to develop dementia?

A
lzheimer's disease
affects millions of
Americans and the
numbers are expected to
grow. New research sug-
gests there may be a link
between prolonged sleep
and the risk of dementia.
Over 46 million people
are living with dementia
worldwide and the num-
ber is expected to almost
triple by 2050.
In the United
States, over 5 million
people are currently es-
timated to have Alzheim-
er's disease. The disease
risk increases with age, as
1 in 3 seniors die with Al-
zheimer's or another form
of dementia.
The financial bur-
den of the disease is also
great. American families
are believed to spend over
$5,000 yearly on caring for
someone with Alzheim-
er's, and the national eco-
nomic burden is estimated
at $236 billion.
A new, large-scale
study suggests people
with prolonged sleeping
patterns may have an in-
creased risk of developing
dementia.
The research was
led by Dr. Sudha Seshadri,
Professor of Neurology at
Boston University School of
Medicine (BUSM) and the
findings were published in
the journal Neurology.
Researchers ex-
amined data from the
Framingham Heart Study
(FHS). FHS is a large co-
hort study that started in
1948 by enrolling 5,209
men and women aged be-
tween 30 and 62 living in
the town of Framingham,
MA. The original purpose
of the study was to iden-
tify risk factors for cardio-
vascular disease.
Sleeping 9 hours or
more linked to greater
dementia risk
For this study, a
large number of adults
enrolled in the FHS were
asked to report how long
they usually slept per
night. The researchers
then clinically followed
the participants for 10
years to see who devel-
oped Alzheimer's disease
and other forms of de-
mentia. BUSM research-
ers then examined the
data collected on sleep
duration and calculated
the risk of developing de-
mentia.
The team found
that people who sleep reg-
ularly for 9 hours or more
were twice as likely to de-
velop Alzheimer's within
10 years, compared with
those who consistently
slept less than 9 hours.
Additionally, as the study's
lead author explains, edu-
cation seems to be play-
ing a role in staving off the
risk of dementia. New research suggests those who sleep for more than 9 hours each night are at a higher
risk of developing dementia
The study also
found that people who sequence, they speculate, of neurology at BUSM and ment and monitoring for
slept longer seemed to reducing sleep duration is investigator at the FHS, problems with thinking
have smaller brain vol- not likely to lower the risk weighs in on the signifi- and memory."
umes. Being observa- of dementia. cance of the findings. The sooner a pa-
tional, the study cannot The authors be- "Self-reported sleep dura- tient is diagnosed with
establish causality, but lieve the findings may in- tion may be a useful clini- dementia, the more time
the researchers suspect form future dementia and cal tool to help predict per- they and their families
excessive sleep is prob- cognitive impairment de- sons at risk of progressing have to plan ahead and
ably a symptom rather tection practices. Co-cor- to clinical dementia within make crucial healthcare
than a cause of the neu- responding author Mat- 10 years," he says. "Per- decisions.
ronal changes that come thew Pase, Ph.D., who is a sons reporting long sleep
with dementia. As a con- fellow in the department time may warrant assess- Medical News Today
 6 The Messenger March 26, 2017

LIVING FAITH
RETURNING TO THE FATHERS HOUSE
The Lord is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger
and abounding in stead-
fast love; the Lord is good
to all, and his compas-
sion is over all that he has
made (Ps. 145[144]: 8-9).
We can situate
before our eyes the im-
age of Jesus quoting these
words of Scriptures as he
was surrounded by pub-
licans and sinners, who
draw close and listen to
him. And since the Phari-
sees and the scribes mur-
mured, saying, This man
receives sinners and eats
with them (Lk. 15:2), our
Lord told them one of his
most moving parables:
that of the prodigal son.
Parable of the merciful
father
There was a cer-
tain man who had two
sons; and the younger of
them said to his father, Fa-
ther, give me the share of
property that falls to me.
And he divided his living
between them. Not many
days later, the younger
son gathered all he had,
and took his journey into
a far country, and there he
squandered his property in
loose living (Lk. 15:11-13).
Succinctly, Jesus depicts
the tragedy of a son who
leaves his fathers home,
where he had all he want-
ed, in order to meet with
the sad experience of mis-
used freedom.
St. John Paul II,
commenting on these pas-
sages wrote: That son,
who receives from the
father the portion of the
inheritance that is due to
him and leaves home to
squander it in a far coun-
try in loose living, in a
certain sense is the man
of every period, beginning
with the one who was the
first to lose the inherit-
ance of grace and original
Rev. Fr. Daniel Icatlo
justice... The parable indi-
rectly touches upon every
breach of the covenant of
love, every loss of grace,
every sin (Encyclical Let-
ter Dives in misericordia,
5).
Many of us might
think that we are far re-
moved from the image of
that younger son. Self-love
can sometimes reach such
levels as to make us blind
to our feebleness. The fact
is, in a lesser or greater de-
gree we have gone astray
from the sure path of fol-
lowing Christs footsteps.
Surely, if the Lord were to
let go of our hand, could
become that prodigal son.
Any one of us is
capable of making the
great mistake which we
deplore as we read the
parable of the Gospel, the
mistake of abandoning our
Fathers home, because
we Christians carry the
great treasures of grace
in vessels of clay; God has
entrusted his gifts to the
weakness and fragility of
human freedom. We can be
certain of the help of Gods
power, but our lust, our
love of comfort and our
pride sometimes cause us
to reject His grace and to
fall into sin (St Josemaria,
Christ is Passing By, 131).
We, nevertheless,
must never lose heart be-
cause God, our Creator and
Redeemer, knows perfectly
well that we are made of
clay and, full of mercy, he
keeps His arms open to us,
and readily forgives us.
Because of their
weakness, men cannot
always act uprightly in a
world so corrupt, writes St
Ambrose; Hence, the good
doctor has provided you
with cures, even against
error; and this merciful
Judge has given you the
hope of forgiveness. St.
Luke had good reason for
M
telling us these three para-
bles in order: the parable
of the lost sheep, the par-
able of the lost coin, and
the parable of the son who
was dead and came back
to life. He did so in order
that we might learn from
this threefold remedy how
we can cure our wounds,
for a threefold cord is not
quickly broken (Eccles.
4:12; Expositio Evangelii
secundum Lucam 7, 207).
Miserable state of sin
The Prodigal son
must have easily earned
the friendship of other
youngsters of that region.
After all, he could afford
to treat them anytime and
to their hearts content to
whatever pleasure trips
they may take fancy to.
No sooner had he
ran out of cash than he lost
all his friends. After squan-
dering his inheritance, the
prodigal son was reduced
to dire poverty, so that he
joined himself to one of the
citizens of that country,
who sent him into his fields
to feed swine. And he would
gladly have fed on the pods
that the swine ate; and no
one gave him anything (Lk.
15:15-16).
Jesus words must
have made a tremendous
impact on his Jewish lis-
teners since Jews were for-
bidden to raise swine. The
Law of Moses declared to
be unclean. Yet, the best
the prodigal son could do
to keep himself alive was
to feed swine. How mis-
erable his state was! It is
a portrait of each of one
us when we preferred to
commit sin rather than
obey and trust Jesus.
Moreover, that
extreme degradation por-
trays the harm and evil
caused by mortal sin, by
voluntarily leaving our Fa-
thers home. The prodigal
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University
sons hunger is merely a
pale image of the empti-
ness and anguish which
overwhelm a soul when it
has lost God. The slavery
to which he was subject
is a graphic indication of
how people who throw off you; I am no longer worthy
the gentle yoke of the Lord
fall under the dominion of
these tyrannical masters:
pride, the concupiscence
of the flesh, and the desire
for riches. In short, they
fall under the dominion of
the devil.
If ever we fall
into a similar misfortune,
we must kneel down and
examine our conscience.
In prayer, we will realize
the wrong we have done.
Like the Prodigal son, we
too must recall our fa-
thers home, where we had
lacked nothing.
Turning back to God
How many of my
fathers hired servants have
bread enough and to spare,
but I perish here with hun-
ger (Lk. 15:17)! He had
not thought of that before, by means of the sacrament
when he rejected not only
the material well-being of-
fered to him by his father,
but more importantly, his
fathers affection and gen- bers of Gods family.
erosity. But now a light
shone in the depths of his
heart, and he decided to
return: I will arise and go to
my father, and I will say to
him, Father, I have sinned
against heaven, and before
to be called your son; treat
me as one of your hired
servants (Lk. 15:18-19).
Let us never lose
sight of the fact that in
spite of our offences and
our shortcomings, we are
Gods children, because
Christ died for each of us,
will give us the confidence
to turn back to God our Fa-
ther whenever it is neces-
sary.
Human life is in
some way a constant re-
turning to our Fathers
house. We return through
contrition, through the
conversion of heart which
means a desire to change,
a firm decision to improve
our life and which, there-
fore, is expressed in sacri-
fice and self-giving. We re-
turn to our Fathers house
of pardon in which, by con-
fessing our sins, we put on
Jesus Christ again and be-
come His brothers, mem-
God is waiting
for us, like the father in the
parable, with open arms,
even though we dont de-
serve it. It doesnt mat-
ter how great our debt is.
Just like the prodigal son,
all we have to do is open
our heart, to be homesick
for our Fathers house, to
wonder at and rejoice in
the gifts that God makes
us of being able to call
ourselves his children, of
really being his children,
even though our response
to him has been so poor
(Christ Is Passing By, 64).
It is as if the Lord
begs from us the favour to
allow him to pardon us!
How many occasions we
have to give him the fa-
vour! We are full of de-
fects and sins! Do we ask
for pardon from the Lord
everyday by making many
acts of contrition?
Do we go to con-
fession frequently with
sincere contrition? Do we
see occasions of forgiving
others as a favour given to
you? Forgive your spouse,
parents, children, broth-
ers, neighbours, compan-
ions, etc.

Suffering the path to salvation

P ope John Paul I, who sat on the Papal throne for just
33 days, was known as the Laughing Pope. In a
book he- wrote, he writes about a person who was al-
lergic to the cross and anything that resembled a cross.
This cross-allergy patient would destroy any cross that
he found.
One day he was walking along the road and
he saw a cross erected on one side. He immediately
destroyed that cross and he was going ahead as if he
had done a great thing. Soon he noticed a fence made
of bamboo. When he saw the bamboos crisscrossing on
the fence, the entire fence looked to him like a collec-
tion of crosses, Without wasting time he destroyed the
fence. He felt elated at doing this great job and then he
went home and lay on, the bed. His building had tiles on
the roof. As he was lying on his back, he looked at the
roof and what does he see there! The rafters on which
the tiles were placed looked like crosses to him. His al-
lergy made him climb up the roof to break down the
rafters.
The Pope then says he fell down from the roof
as he was breaking the rafters and he broke his neck!
In Saul, we find another person who was al-
lergic to Jesus, the cross and all those who preached
about Jesus and His cross and also those who believed
in Jesus and venerated the cross. The Word says, Saul,
still breathing threats and murder against the disciples
of the Lord, went to the high priest (Acts 9: I). In the
life of Saul, who was keen on destroying all those who
preached about Jesus and who believed in Jesus, God let
a crisis befall. As Saul was approaching Damascus, with
his murderous intentions, he fell to the ground (Acts
9:4). Soon he heard the voice of Jesus asking him, Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me? He asked:
Who are you Lord? The reply came, I am Je-
sus whom you are persecuting. (Acts 9:4-5). Although
his eyes were wide open, Saul was not able to see any-
thing. So as per the instruction of Jesus people had to
lead him to Damascus. Jesus sent his disciple Ananias to
Saul. Aninias laid his hands on Saul and prayed. Soon
the Scales of blindness fell from Sauls eyes and he was
able to see. Saul, fortified by the Holy Spirit, was trans-
formed into Apostle Paul who, courageously preached
Jesus and his cross (Acts 9:20-22).
God allowed this crisis to befall Saul for his wel-
fare and he became the zealous Paul. The speeches of
Paul , who had seen, heard and experienced Jesus, were
so thrilling and even now they inspire the believers.
He proclaimed, Jews demand signs and Greeks desire
wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling
block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles (1, Cor 1:22
23). May I never boast of anything except the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:14). He suffered a lot in the
name of Jesus. But filled with the love of God he said, I
consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worth comparing with the glory about to be I revealed
to us (Rom 8: 18). Who will separate us from the love
of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? (8:35).
(Contd on Pg. 12)
 7 The Messenger March 26, 2017

St. Anthonys Feast, Kachchativu

The uninhabited 285 acre Island, is home to a shrine of St. Anthony
claimed by both Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen as their Guardian
Saint. The first church built there in 1905 by an Indian Catholic of the
Ramnad Catholic diocese, Tamil Nadu was known as the Anthoniyar
Kovil. Today the Jaffna Bishop holds the administrative responsibili-
ties of this Church. The Island stands in disputed territory claimed by
both India and Sri Lanka. In 1974 India recognized Sri Lankan owner-
by: Kishani S. Fernando ship of the Island on a conditional agreement. The Kachchativu feast
was held on 12 March. Pix by Mr. Prasanna Wijesinghe and Mr. Chris-
topher.

( ) , ( )

Top: The beautiful new church by the

Sri Lanka Navy in five months.

Top: Raising the flag post and Vespers, on Saturday - the eve of the Feast.
Top: Prepairing for the festive Mass in the morning.

W
Top: Feast day Holy Mass on Sunday presided over by the Vicar General of Jaffna Very Rev. Fr. Joseph Thas
Jebaratnam. Rev. Fr. A. Jayaranjan, Parish Priest for Delft and Kachchativu was also present.

high Mahogany statue of St.

statues of
 8 The Messenger March 26, 2017

'Drawer Tomb Mausoleum' at Maggona Calvary

I
t is an accepted fact that the Calvary Shrine, Mag-
gona, is the oldest in Sri Lanka. It is historical not
just because of this shrine but also because of the
cemetery that is situated on the top of the hill. In this
cemetery there is a unique mausoleum. It is believed
that in the whole of Sri Lanka only in the Maggona Cal-
vary one finds such an unusual and unique tomb. It is
comparable to a chest of drawers and has 10 drawers
and each drawer is sealed with a concrete slab. This
mausoleum is named Drawer Tomb Mausoleum and is
approx. 15ft in length.
Mausoleums are one of the oldest types of for-
mal burial places where the body is laid to rest in an
above-ground crypt. The drawer tomb at Maggona is
more or less similar to the Spring Valley Mausoleum in
Minnesota, listed on the National Register of Historic
Places. As is defined a mausoleum is an external free-
standing building constructed as a monument enclosing
the internment space or burial chamber of a deceased
person or people.
We can see very clearly the names of the Priests
and Brothers who are buried there. They were foreign
missionaries who came to work in Sri Lanka. Some of
them never returned to the country of their birth and
even requested that they be buried at Calvary, Mag-
gona. They are saints.

The names of the Priests and Brothers who are buried
at the Calvary Mausoleum:
Rev. Bro. Louis Emile Lepinay OMI
Birth: 13th May 1864, France
Death: 1st February 1945, Maggona
Rev. Bro. John May Thoraval OMI
Birth: 5th April 1874, France
Death: 17th November 1946, Maggona
Rev. Fr. Eugene Comes OMI
Birth: 22nd February 1873, France
Death: 28th May 1957, Maggona
Rev. Fr. Francis Goury OMI
Birth: 14th August 1869, France
Death: 6th March 1958, Maggona
Rev. Bro. Dominic Tufi OMI
Birth: 30th October 1884, Italy
Death: 14th September 1966, Maggona
Rev. Bro. Ludovicus Tillet OMI
Birth: 11th October 1880, France
Death: 2nd May 1964, Maggona
Rev. Fr. Francis M. Bizine OMI
Birth: 11th November 1878, France
Death: 21st August 1964, Maggona
Rev. Fr. Antoine Varnat OMI
Birth: 21st April 1868, France
Death: 30th November 1964, Maggona
Rev. Bro. Vincent Siejka OMI
Birth: 6th July 1899, Poland
Death: 13th December 1965, Maggona
Rev. Bro. Leo Renaud OMI
Birth: 5th September 1881, France
Death: 8th July 1972, Maggona
Rev. Bro. Stephen Duda OMI
Birth: 14th February 1904, Germany
Death: 30th October 1974, Maggona
Rev. Fr. Henry Mauss OMI
Birth: 4th February 1888, France
Death: 28th September 1969, Maggona
There are also many other Priests and Brothers who
have served St .Vincents Home and Sri Lanka and are
buried at Maggona Calvary. May they rest in peace!
Rev. Fr. Dilan Perera OMI
Director

Thanjanthenna the new Calvary Sevana at Rosarian

Monastery in the Ratnapura Diocese
Being confident of this, that He who
began a good work in you will carry it
on to completion until the day of Christ
Jesus (Phil. 1:6).

The second Sunday of Lent which fell on March 13

was indeed a memorable day and would be writ-
ten in golden letters in the history of St. Marys
Shrine, Thanjanthenna, Balangoda. This was the
day we had the solemn opening ceremony of the
newly-erected outdoor Calvary Sevana in the
morning graced by His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Cletus
Chandrasiri Perera, O.S.B. Bishop of Ratnapura.
This monumental work was initiated by
the Catholic Students Movement of the University
of Sri Jayawardenepura in collaboration with the
Catholic Graduates Society of University of Sri
Jayawardenepura. Many helping hands came to-
gether to support this noble and holy endeavour
but we feel sorry that we are unable to include all in the Island to come and experience the love of
their names. God in the maternal compassion of Our Lady of
In his homily His Lordship thanked and Assumption in whose Name this Shrine is dedi-
appreciated the thoughtfulness of the University cated.
students to come forward and embarked on a holy Present on the occasion were the Vicar
venture in this rural area. Withstanding the rain General Ratnapura Diocese, Very Rev. Fr. Dami-
and putting up with whatever that was available to an Fernando, Colombo Archdiocesan University
achieve such a noble task. Their efforts are indeed Chaplain Rev. Fr. Jude Chrysantha Fernando and
truly commendable, His Lordship said. His Lord- several other priests.
ship imparted his apostolic blessings on the stu-
For details contact:
dents, wished them well and said, May your dream
Rev. Fr. Priyantha Kamal Suranga, CR
for which you entered the University be realized. Director on 071 812 4273
The Calvary Sevana has been declared Rev.Fr.Joseph Selvan, CR
open by the Bishop of Ratnapura for all the faithful Pix. Dilum Jayasinghe, Viran Sethunga
 9 The Messenger
Calvary:The Only Pathway Home to God
By Bryan Landsberger
Looking back into the
mists of time, we begin
with the name of Adam
and then his wife, Eve.
They were created by God;
and they are our first par-
ents. In Adam, the whole
human race was con-
tained. We are all created
for fellowship with God
and destined to be fully
'divinised' by God in glory.
But, first, God put them
to the test. Adam and Eve
had a basic choice: Listen
to the devil and become
like God (Gen:3:5), or Lis-
ten to God and partake of
His very life. Seduced by
the devil, Adam chose to
be like God, but without
God. This was the Original
Sin that caused a broken
relationship between the
Creator and the creature.
As surely as sin
is punishable, from the
pages of the Holy Scrip-
ture, we hear the echoes
of God's promise to send
a Redeemer. No man's
life is destined to decay
like crushed flowers.
Who shall the Redeemer
be? An angel from heav-
en? No! The Scripture
verse makes it very clear.
Speaking to the devil, God
said:"Because thou has
done this, I will put enmi-
ty between thee and the
woman; and thy seed and
her seed: she shall crush
thy head, and thou shalt
lie in wait for her heel."
The early Christian writ-
ers, and Fathers and Doc-
tors of the Church, see in
this passage the promise
of a Redeemer announced
through the woman, as
Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
Salvation
Our Salvation
was decreed from all
eternity, so from all eter-
nity the name 'Jesus' was
given by God Himself and
not by any man. Never-
theless, this name was
bestowed on Jesus in the
world, the day of His cir-
cumcision. Years later,
Our Blessed Lord's Testi-
mony concerning Himself
said; "I have come into the
world," not that He was
born. There is the affirma-
tion that He did not begin
to be in time, but only that
He as God became some-
thing He was not, namely
a man; and the reason
for His coming was to do
something for sinners.
Man, by his sin had fallen
so low that he could not
without help reach up to
God.
The person of-
fended is Infinite, there-
fore only a divine Person,
who at the same time be
human can make up for
that sin so that it would
profit the human race.
While man can not be-
come God, God can be-
come man.
The Annuncia-
tion of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, is the consoling
doctrine of the Incarna-
tion of Our Lord. Mary
offered herself, her body
and her soul to God as a
dwelling place. Mary was
a virgin, not only through
the absence of man, but
also through the presence
of God. From the first mo-
ment of His incarnation,
the Son of God embraces
the Father's plan of divine
salvation, in His Redemp-
tive mission. In Bethle-
hem, a child is born for
us, and given to us, as our
Saviour. Calvary cast its
shadow over Bethlehem.
Prophet Isaiah
had foretold that the Mes-
siah would be preceded
by a Messenger. Many
centuries later, there ap-
peared in the wilderness
John the Baptist who be-
gan to prepare the way
for the coming of the
Messiah, and calling the
people to repentance. It
was the Passover time
and John was baptising a
multitude of people with
water by the River Jordan
when he spotted Jesus in
the crowd and cried out
loud:" Look; there is the
Iamb of God; it is He who
takes away the sin of the
world" (Jn:1:29). This
was the answer to Isaac's
question from his father,
Abraham: "Where is the
lamb for the sacrifice?"
Jesus was not a sinner in
need of baptism but He
too submitted to baptism
as an Israelite faithful to
the prophetic summons.
When Jesus en-
tered the waters of Jordan
to be baptised, He went
in as the son of Mary; and
when He came out of the
waters, He came out to
reveal Himself as the Son
of God. Heaven opened
(heaven had been closed to
humanity since the Fall of
Adam) and God spoke say-
ing:" This is my Son, with
whom I am pleased" and
the Holy Spirit descended
upon Jesus in the form of
a dove and anointed Him
for Redeeming a fallen hu-
manity. The Spirit of God
never appeared again as
a Dove anywhere else in
the Scriptures. With the
anointing of the Spirit, Je-
sus can now be called the
'Messiah', for in Hebrew,
Messiah literally means
' the Anointed One'. In
Greek Jesus is called 'the
Christ'. Therefore, Christ'
is not originally a name,
but a title.
Meal
At Cana, Our
blessed Lord told His
mother that His 'hour' had
not yet come. Whenever
the word 'hour' is used in
the New Testament, it is
always in relation to His
Passion, death and Glory.
The Book of Exodus or-
dered that in the month of
Nisan, the Paschal Lamb
was to be selected and
four days later taken to
the place where it was to
be sacrificed. Jesus pur-
posefully chose Passover
as the time for His Mes-
sianic meal, known as
the Last Supper, and for
His Passion and death,
to complete His Ministry
and Mission. Jesus reveals
to His disciples: "I have
earnestly desired to eat
this Passover with you"
(Luk:22 :15). This de-
sire is for regathering of
sinners around the fam-
ily banquet table of the
Father. Jesus invited the
twelve Apostles to share
the meal with Him. What
does this mean?
The Kingdom is
already there in the Upper
Room. Jesus said: "And I
appoint to you a kingdom,
even as my Father has
appointed to me, so that
you may eat and drink at
my table in my kingdom".
(Lk:22:29-30).Where the
Eucharist is, there is the
King, and where the King
is there is the Kingdom.
God's Kingdom is a Eu-
charistic Kingdom for the
unity of the Mystical Body,
the Church. In the Old Tes-
tament Sacrifice offered
by the Jews, the people
and the priest who offered
the sacrifice invariably
ate part of the sacrifice.
In the New Testament,
Jesus is the New Passover
Lamb who must be eaten
as well. In instituting the
Eucharist, using the sub-
stance of bread and wine
and having blessed them,
He said to the Apostles,
"Take and eat, for this is
My Body; taking the cup
of wine: He said, take and
drink from it, for this is
My Blood of the New Cov-
enant shed for: you and
many for the forgiveness
of sins. Do this in memory
of Me, to the end of time."
His command
was 'Do'; Jesus did not say,
go and write. And that, is
why speak of the Sacri-
fice of Calvary, instead of
the Sacrifice on Calvary.
By the two separate con-
secration, Our Blessed
Lord symbolised the way
that He would die on the
Cross the next day; blood
separated from the body.
This is the Memory of the
Church. John the Baptist
gave Jesus the Baptism
of water; the Roman sol-
diers would give Him His
Baptism of blood. Sin is
in the blood and must be
poured out; and Jesus was
going to shed His Blood
for Adam's fallen race. Af-
ter washing the feet of the
Apostles, Jesus knowing
the evil intention of Judas,
He said, "You are clean,
but not all of you, for one
of you is about to betray
Me'! Evil works are some-
times done in a hurry,
and so Our Blessed Lord
told Judas to go about his
dirty work quickly. The
scripture says:" when Ju-
das went out it was night"
(Jn:13:30).
After the supper
ended, Jesus went out with
the other apostles into the
Garden of Gethsemane,
and began to pray to His
Father. The agony was in
His Soul, taking upon Him-
self, the crushing weight
of all man's sins. Judas re-
turned with a great crowd
carrying swords and clubs.
Judas knew where to find
Jesus because he has been
there many times with
Jesus to pray. Judas had
given them a sign, saying;"
He whom I shall kiss, that
is He." Judas drew near to
kiss Our Blessed Lord, and
Jesus said to him: "Judas,
dost thou betray the Son
of man with a kiss?" Jesus
was now under arrest. He
who took the form of a ser-
vant washing the feet of the
Apostles was sold for thirty
pieces of silver, which was
the price of a slave.
Charges
Jesus had two
natures: Divine and hu-
man. Both were on trial
on totally different charg-
es. The first trial on the
grounds of religion under
Annas and Caiphas and
then on political charges
under Pilate and Herod.
They could not agree on
the charges and so Je-
sus was sentenced in the
symbol of contradiction,
which is the cross. Carry-
ing the Cross, Jesus came
to the place of the ex-
ecution called 'Golkotha'.
The word in Aramaic
means 'the skull'. When
Jesus was nailed to the
Cross and lifted up, hang-
ing between heaven and
March 26, 2017
earth, His sacred human-
ity is the connecting link
to bring back to God His
lost creatures, and bring
back man to all he was
created for. We hear Our
Blessed Lord Pray; "Fa-
ther forgive them, for they
know not what they do".
The Redeemer, was raised
up on the Cross in the
midst of the unredeemed.
The criminal on the left
remained unrepented
for his sins; but the one
on the right hand had a
change of heart and said
to Jesus: "Lord, remember
me in Paradise" and Jesus
answered him, "Amen, I
say to thee, this day thou
shalt be with Me in Para-
dise;" so the thief on the
right hand has a share in
Christ's Kingdom.
Beneath the Cross
stood Mary Magdalene,
Salome, John, the disci-
ple whom Jesus loved so
much, and also Mary the
Mother of Jesus so pure
and lovely. St.Alphonsus
points out: "It is very fit-
ting to compare her grief
to the sea, for the sea is
vast in extent and all bitter
to the taste." The Church
has honoured Mary with
the title: "Queen of Marty-
ers." Looking down from
the Cross, Jesus spoke to
His Mother. He does not
call her Mother. In order
to indicate a new relation-
ship by which His Mother
became the Mother of all
humanity, He gave her
the title 'Woman,' and
looking at John He said,'
Behold thy son'. Jesus left
John unnamed, and said, "
Behold thy Mother'. From
that moment on, Mary be-
came the Mother of the
New Living, and John, the
first 'born' of the Church.
All things done
which needed for the Re-
demption of man, Jesus
looking up uttered a cry
of Joy : "It is finished," and
bowed His head, gave up
His Spirit to the Father
and died. With Jesus's
last breath on the Cross,
the exile from Eden ends
and leaves reopened to
Adam and his descen-
dants. It was a night of joy,
the night of salvation , the
night of pardon.
In the Person of
God-man we have a God
Who knew His way out of
His grave. His message is:
Come follow Me. I am the
Resurrection and Life. He
who believes in Me, though
he be dead, shall live.
 10 The Messenger March 26, 2017

Lettters to the Editor ... Lettters to the Editor ... Lettters to the Editor ... Appointed Justice of the Peace

Focus on human sin Rev. Sr. A.M. Ranjanie Silva

The Messenger on March 19, 2017 in its front page car-
ried a news item on the analysis of human sins by Pope
Francis as well as by the Bishop of Chilaw. During the
Lent such emphasis on sin is timely.
The importance of focusing on sin is that Chris-
tians alone have the opportunity to have their sins for-
given so that Christians do not need to be desperate in
their sinful life. The forgiveness of sins arises out of di-
vine grace but there are many ways to achieve it.
It is recorded in history that the King of Sitawa-
ka, Seethawaka Rajasinha killed his father and feeling
guilty wanted to get redemption of it. So he solicited
the help of a Hindu priest who was against Buddhist
monks and guided by the priest killed many Buddhist
monks. This period is the background to the popular
novel, Avichara Samaya by famous author of yesteryear
W. A. Silva.
So for the necessity to cleanse the conscious-
ness of sinful man, forgiveness is necessary. The classi-
fication of sins in their gravity is found in the Catechism
of the Catholic Church (CCC) pp. 347-351, where a com-
plete analysis is found and is a comprehensive guide
which need not be repeated in this article.
The emphasis should be on forgiveness of sins
and how it can be achieved. Forgiveness of sins against
fellow human beings can be forgiven by the wronged
person (Matthew 18:21) or by the genuine disciple of
Jesus through the power of Holy Spirit (John 20:23) or
by Jesus Himself through divine mercy (Luke 23:43).
So there are many ways to achieve forgiveness
of sins depending on the origins of it. The original sin of
has been appointed as Jus-
tice of the Peace for the
whole Island by Dr. Wijaya-
the man can be forgiven through baptism (Acts 2:38).
dasa Rajapakse the Minis-
It is the original sin that is built into mans genetic pro-
ter of Buddhasasana and
pensity perhaps in his DNA. Hardened criminals, per-
Minister of Justice.
sons who do not respond to behavioural therapies such
As a Religious Sis-
as rehabilitation programmes fall into this category.
ter of the Holy Family Con-
Then there is also social sins (CCC p. 351 para-
gregation, Rev. Sister Ran-
graph 1869), which is the sin committed by peer pres-
sure in society. Christian living protects us from social janie Silva served as a teacher in several schools in the
sin because it develops a strong moral conscience in North Western Province and Western Province. She is
man. We notice this in government schools and Chris- a Degree holder from the University of Kelaniya and did
tian schools. Even non Christians want their children her Post Graduate Degree at Open University at Nawala.
educated in Christian schools because they want chil-
dren protected from social sin.
The forgiveness of sins can be obtained by the
Lent and the Holy Cross
sinner himself through genuine repentance. This is deep During Lent Season Catholics
and pervasive repentance of the wilful commission of round the world offer prayers
the sin. All intentional wrong doings leave an indelible more than any time in the year.
mark in the deep psyche of the man who commits it. His They pray to Jesus because He
subsequent life is always influenced by the traces of his gave His life in the cross, the big-
wrongful deeds and requires strong effort to erase the gest sacrifice in human history
traces of it. and ask His help and guidance for
There are numerous stories of murder com- their life.
mitted during the southern insurrection by the JVP. Talking about praying,
Those who committed them later could not sleep at all Author R.H. Benson has said It is
and some persons who committed murder for political Christ that prays in every soul in whom He lives.
motives committed suicide. This shows that those who Prayer is worship. Our praying should be full
committed grave sins of murder cannot get away from of adoration, affection and fondness for God. In a quiet
their guilty conscious though they escape the law. place of prayer, God comforts, instructs and listens to us.
P.V.D. Leo Samson There we learn to love and worship Him.
Kandana During Lent, the Cross is the most venerated
symbol. Everyone knows that the Cross holds a central

TV Reply to the artricle written

m Audience. The Cross is the most characteristic, most
b
u
by Judith Werkmeister
er
V I am an ardent and frequent viewer of our
Catholic Channel, Verbum TV and it is doing
a tremendous job on spreading the Word of
God among the Catholics all over the world. The pro-
grams and liturgy speak to the lowly hearts thirsting
for Word of the Lord. We, Sri Lankan Catholics, should
support to preserve this Channel which is being judged
unjustly. We are thankful that we are able to view the
programs of the EWTN and mainly the live programs
from the Vatican.
In response to the comment made by Ms. Judith,
Verbum TV does telecast the Eucharistic Celebration in
English and Sinhala which is very fruitful to the sick
and the disabled who are unable to attend Holy Mass.
However, I feel that Verbum TV is educating the Catholic
community in bringing the Holy Scriptures to their life
and this is mainly because of Verbum TV.
As commented by Judith Werkmeister in the
Messenger (dated March 12, 2017 - Letters to the Edi-
tor), there could be one in a thousand who watch only
EWTN in Sri Lanka; but as many Catholics confess (I
A p p r e c i a t i o n
place in the Catholic religion. His Holiness Pope Paul VI
stressed the importance of the Cross during a General
common, most expressive and most venerated symbol
Let us make it a point of keeping a cross in our
have personally met some) Verbum has really penetrat- home. It will be a source of blessings and consolation.
ed their spiritual life and as a result of watching Verbum With the Cross Jesus is also with us all the time.
many have experienced a genuine change in their faith Christopher Ranasinghe
life. Almost all who watch Verbum believe that it is in- Colombo
deed a work of God.
Verbum TV has identified the need of the hour
and it caters to the spiritual needs of the majority of Sri PASSION OF CHRIST
Lankan Catholics and in common it gives priority to our To my mind the most
local churches and clergy who proclaim the Word of excruciating moment
God. We as Catholics should not condemn our brothers for Jesus on the way
and sisters as Our Lord Jesus Christ said, Do not judge, to Calvary was, when
or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge He was stripped of His
others, you will be judged and with the measure you garments. In all prob-
use, it will be measured to you. ability He would have
The comment, cannot represent all the Catho- been stark nude. This
lics in Sri Lanka as it has no legitimate grounding and is why He folded his
the writer has not asked us for any approval for her hands below the waist.
statements. A statue of Jesus Christ depicting this sorrowful
Great work Verbum team! Keep it up! We are scene is there for all to see, at the Karthar Matha Kovil
with you! or Kela Palliya near Murunkan which is 30 kilometres
An ardent viewer from the facade of the Madhu Church, on the road to
Mannar.
There is a legend, that a master craftsman and
woodcutter from the area which was covered with thick

Late Rev. Fr. Lucien Ireneus Dep jungle, had a dream some 500 years ago that he should
carve a statue from one of those massive trees depict-

87th Birthday remembrance
Late Rev. Fr. Lucien Ireneus
Dep was born on March
26, 1930 in Wattala. He
was the son of late Mrf.
Lambert Dep, Headmaster
of St. Josephs College, Co-
lombo in 1940. Fr. Deps
preliminary education was
at St. Annes Girls School,
Wattala. He continued his
studies at St. Josephs Col-
lege, Colombo from 1939
to 1949. He played first
eleven cricket from 1947
to 1949 and was captain-
elect for 1950. He could
not captain the team since
he joined St. Bernards
Seminary to become a
priest. He was one of the
greatest athletes that St.
Josephs has produced. He
captained the College ath-
ing Jesus as He was stripped of His garments. When the
axe cut the bark of the tree, there were signs of blood.
1961. He served as Parish letic coach. He had many He then thought that this was the tree that he should
Priest of Uswetakeiyawa friends both Old Josephi- cut. Perhaps it is the only statue in the whole island, de-
from 1961 to 1967 on four ans and non Old Josephi- picting this tragic moment. Many pilgrims to the Madhu
occasions. He served as par- ans. Though Fr. Lucien Church visit this miraculous church in the jungle. It is
ish priest in Kandana, St. Dep passed away on May said bitter battles were fought during the 30-year long
James Mutwal and in 1997 24, 2014 his memory still war in the recent past at this place.
as Parish Priest of St. Marys remains with us and is re- J.T. Mirando
Church, Bambalapitiya. membered in our prayers. Negombo
He was on the RTN. Lazarus
staff of St. Josephs Col-
letic team in 1948 and es- lege three times as Prefect
Perinpanayagam
Past pupil and boarder
Bible Diaries - Original Opinion
tablished a new record in of Boarders and Prefect of St. Josephs College, To make available at a lower price so that the reader-
the Pole Vault event which Games. He was a good ath- Colombo ship could be greatly increased. Towards this end it was
even bettered the British thought fit to publish it in the Messenger so that those
Empire record and this who cannot afford this at the prevailing price will at
record lasted 42 years. least be contended that their cause is being considered
In 1956 on March and not brushed aside. It was never intended that the
23, he was a ordained Messenger should take up this cause. Hence towards
priest. He has served as this end, the proper channels were followed and it was
Assitant. Parish Priest in only long after, that the Messenger was resorted to, so
the parishes of Dunagaha, that all concerned could be enlightened.
Palangathurai, Pitipana Roggy Corera
and Moratuwa from 1956- Wattala
 11 The Messenger March 26, 2017

Annunciation of the Lord

Feast Day: March 25
The time arrived for Je- came the Mother of God.
sus to come down from Mary knew that as
heaven and save us from the mother of Jesus, along
our sin. God sent his glo- with great joy she would
rious Archangel Gabriel also have many sorrows.
to Marys little house in She knew she would have
the town of Nazareth and to suffer when her Son suf-
found her praying. fered. Yet with all her heart,
Hail Mary, full of she said, Be it done to me
grace! said the angel. The according to your word.
Lord is with you, and you Reflection: This
Girl's come and help us! Boy's come and help us! are blessed among wom- feast celebrates Marys
en. Mary was startled and response to God, and the
GOD DOES NOT SEE surprised to hear the an- awesome moment of the
Incarnation. Take some
AS MAN SEES gels words of praise.
Do not be afraid, time today to think about
My dear young Builders Mary, said Gabriel. He told how greatly our lives have
We judge people according to their ap- her that she was to be the been changed because Mary
pearance or according to the way they treat us, but mother of Jesus, our Sav- ing her. And she said, Be- to do as He commanded. said yes to God.
God Our Father does not see the appearance but iour. Mary was confused hold the handmaid of the At that very mo-
but understood what a Lord! She only wanted to ment, through the power Holy Spirit Interactive
the heart. He sees the deepest depths of our souls,
great honour God was giv- serve God and was willing of the Holy Spirit, she be- Kidszone
which we ourselves might not know.
The blind man, which the gospel speaks
about today did not ask to be healed, yet Jesus
sent him to the pool of Siloam and restored his
Colour the picture Lenten Calendar
sight. It is the same with us. We did not ask
A little activity for
to be baptized, but God in His love and mercy everyday of Lent
called us through baptism, chased away the
darkness in us and restored us as Children (Contd. from last week)
of light. Like the spirit of God rushed upon FoUrtH SUNdaY oF lENt
David when Samuel anointed him, we were
filled with the Holy Spirit at our baptism. The Scribes and Pharisees nd fault with Jesus because he
cured the blind man.
Then let us ask ourselves today, are we liv- Be silent for a while, think of those who are blind, deaf and
ing as children of light? How much have we fallen dumb.
into darkness? How much are we aware, that we daY 23 daY 24
are Temples of the Holy Spirit. Let us remind our- Monday tuesday
selves that God sees our hearts and our most secre- Soldiers put a crown of sharp The soldiers mock Jesus,
tive actions. Let us set out to try and learn what is thorns on Jesus. saying, Hail King of Jews.
What type of punishment Look at the crucix on your
pleasing to the Lord and continue to live as chil- would you give, if someone rosary and say, Jesus you
dren of His Light. has done you wrong. are my King.
daY 25 daY 26
Aunty Gerro
Wednesday thursday
They beat Jesus with whips Jesus is brought before the
and spit on Him. people after being scourged.

Questions do or say something kind

to someone poor.
Carry a picutre of Jesus
crowned with thorns during
this Season of lent.
Kids Ask What is name of the man Jesus cured ?
......................................................................................
daY 27
Friday
daY 28
Saturday
Q: Why did God let Jesus be hurt,
spat upon and humiliated? The people shouted, Crucify Pray to Our Blessed Mother.
CROSS WORD PUZZLE Him, Crucify Him! dear Mother Mary. i offer
myself to you. Help me to
A: When Jesus was suffering all these insults, Jesus, help me overcome
my sins, because they cru- do good and avoid evil.
he could have called on angels to save him. But Jesus amen.
cify you again.
chose to suffer and die for us, because He loved us.

The Blind Girl

Oh, what a
happy child I am
Although I cannot see.
I am resolved that
in this world,
Contented I will be.
How many blessing I enjoy.
That other people dont.
To weep and sigh
because I am blind,
I cannot and wont.
Written by Fanny Crosby
When she was eight years old
(Fanny was totally blind when she was six weeks,
she went on to write over 8000 poems and hymns
to praise and glorify God)

Veani Nila Fernando,

St. Marys Sunday School,
Sermon4kids Mattakkuliya (English Medium)
 12 The Messenger March 26, 2017

Good Governance
The Christian Perspective
Introduction drin, the supreme legislative body of the to the need and the work of ethnic, social

G
ood governance is much men-
tioned and debated today. In fact,
it had become a much volatile
and an openly controversial subject. The
very first pages of the Bible open with
the story of the wonderful creation of
the universe. The God of harmony and
beauty brings out from His creative hand
an orderly universe of planets, plants
and animals and finally man with inter-
mittent period of seven days amidst the
dawn of light and darkness. At the end
of this creation, God says that it is good.
Once the harmony of life of the first par-
ents in the garden of Eden is disrupted,
division, conflict, hatred and violence
intrudes into the life of man and thus
begins the story of evil with nature it-
self rising against man, fratricide and
conflict among nations. Yet we see that
once again after the great deluge of for-
ty days, humanity begins once again to
flourish from the household of just one
family, that of Noah. All tribes following
the great flood derive from this family
and its sons. This leads finally to the for-
mation of the people of Israel who begin
an incredible national story of its own,
dramatically seen even in todays world
of the Middle-East. Through and in it, in
fulfilling all dreams of the great proph-
ets and expectations of the people, the
Messiah appears in the humble son of a
Galilian carpenters family in the hamlet
of Nazareth in Northern Palestine of the
time.
1. The Value-System of Jesus arises the economic question of sharing
Christs Teaching
a) Jesus appeared in
Galilee making the magnificent proc-
lamation of the Sermon on the Mount
announcing the blessedness of those
who live in righteousness and justice.
The poverty in spirit opens the source
of sharing even material goods of those
who have with the have-nots. Clean
hearts and the right-intentioned can
behold the face of God and experience
his presence. Above all, there is the ref-
erence to all peace-makers who will be
the children of God. Jesus Christ was not
a politician or a social reformer but his
religious teachings have social implica-
tions. Some of these things filter more
clearly as he traverses the landscape of
Palestine: the fishing villages of Galilee
in the North, Samaritan towns in the cen-
tre region, the land of the gentiles and
in the south, the whole region of Judea
where the political and religious centers
and monuments are located. The Sanhe-
Jews composed of the most learned and
influential Pharisees, had its quarters
here. The holy city of Jerusalem (mean-
ing city of peace) which King Davids son
Solomon took forty years to build com-
manded the whole landscape of the city.
He was known to be a wise man who
beseeched God for the wisdom needed
to rule the kingdom in justice and due
honour. Besides, the colonial power of
Rome under which Palestine was a Ro-
man province housed all the palaces of
the kings like Herod and governors like
Pilate who wielded the ultimate power
over the lives and destinies of the Israel-
ites, their subjugated colonial subjects.
b) Jesus too had to pay the
Roman tax but also dared to call King
Herod a fox for his cunning ways. Jesus
was continuing the prophetic trend un-
leashed by John the Baptist in the banks
of Jordan river denouncing King Herod
for his adulterous marriage and thus
having to pay the price of being behead-
ed during a drunken orgy of the royals at
the palace. It was a dancing girl who was
able to dupe him into this heinous mur-
der of an innocent, courageous and out-
spoken man. The story of the Rich Man
who enjoyed himself with exotic ban-
quets but not caring about the poor La-
zarus languishing at his door brings out
not only the issue of the oppression and
the marginalization of the poor but also
that of social justice wherein to those
much is given, much is expected. Here
material goods and its connected issues
of the basic needs of human beings to
have their hunger satisfied with decent
food.
The story of the Prodigal Son
highlights the sad plight of those who
abuse their freedom in reckless and ir-
responsible behaviour, squandering the
goods entrusted to them, thus ending in
breach of trust. Jesus Christ who was
a Jew by natural descent moved we are
told very freely with the Samaritans who
were the arch-enemies of his race, the
racial enmity caused historically due to
the fact that they were descendants of
pagan tribes settled by the Assyrians in
the former northern kingdom of Israel,
the region where most Samaritans live
even today. But by contrast, Jesus exalts
a Good Samaritan coming to the aid of an
unfortunate Jew fallen among brigands
on a lonely stretch between the city of
Jerusalem and the village of Jericho, who
tends his wounds and takes good care of
needs. He explicitly draws our attention
and religious reconciliation. It means
that all men have equal rights born of
their common human dignity. Cultural,
social and civil differences are no barrier
when these radical issues are in question
and deserving strict justice.
c) Jesus Christ also gave due place
and honour to children who in Jewish
society had no rights or social stand-
ing. Childrens dignity and the responsi-
bilities and duties of the adults vis--vis
children is beautifully brought out by
his teaching that it would be better that
those who scandalize the little ones be
drowned in the depths of the sea with
a milestone hung round their necks. In
a society where there is violence to the
unborn, trafficking of children and their
abuse in various ways, the attitude of
Jesus Christ highlights the dignity and
fundamental human rights of children,
the more vulnerable of our society. Jesus
lived a hidden life for 30 years living in
the house of Nazareth, the only son of
the family, helping in domestic chores
and learning the trade of his father, who
was a carpenter by profession.
He had shown the dignity of la-
bour and our bounden consequent duty
to respect the worker and his rights. La-
bour is an important social issue today
and raises a plethora of challenges and
vexing issues in building up a country of
good governance in the matter of work
and employment and jobs. Truth must
always be safeguarded and never put
under the carpet. As taught in the Gospel
of Christ, it is truth that makes people
free. Truth should be plain and integral,
never twisted to ones advantage or ma-
nipulated. Obedience to truth is the path
to progress for anyone. The million dol-
lar question that the Roman Governor
asked of Jesus, What is Truth is the key
to the manifold vicissitudes of mass me-
dia communications. Their call is to be
truthful and avoid wisely any interpreta-
tion that will distort the truth and mis-
lead the reader.
2. The abiding Christian Social fight hard to get at their political and
Tradition
The Book of the Acts of the Apos-
tles in the Bible, the first History book of
the Christian Church records the way of
life of the first Christian communities
where it is said that they all came togeth-
er for their religious activities, shared
whatever they had, with the rich even
selling lands and bringing the money to
the church leaders for common use an
distribution to the needy. It was observed
By Rev. Fr. Leopold Ratnasekera OMI.
that no one lacked anything. There was a
spirit of oneness and solidarity. The reli-
gious spirit inspired the sharing of ma-
terial goods (Acts 2: 42-45). Probably,
that social ethic was a truer communism
than the compromised forms of com-
munism today: indeed more favourable
to a moderate socialism that solves the
conflict between the haves and the have-
nots, between capital and labour.
Todays social context might be
quite different on the margins but the
core human problems and battle for life,
justice and human dignity remain abid-
ing values, whatever the cultural differ-
ences may be and a plethora of political
ideologies and economic systems to wit.
Neither materialistic communism nor lib-
eral Capitalism provides the final answer
to basic needs. Communism had miser-
ably failed in the former Eastern Europe
in which the Soviet Union was the politi-
cal and economic colonial power. Liberal
Capitalism has failed in the European
Union with UK pulling out of its tutelage
and there is increasing criticism of Brus-
sels becoming the monetary dictator
in the Western economies. The Trump
government is closing its borders to mid-
east countries now embroiled in internal
conflicts and terrorism. It threatens to
pull out of NATO, questioning NAFTA and
Trans Pacific Partnership pacts.
There seems to be a crisis at the
roots of capitalistic economies and a ten-
dency of countries to turn inwards and
ensure their own economic prosperity
and military security. One wonders what
is happening to the contemporary world
after the two world wars which saw
the dropping of the atomic bombs and
the emergence of radical Muslim ter-
roristic groups threatening the affluent
west. There is also the race for nuclear
supremacy even in the horizons of the
Asian continent with certain countries
testing nuclear devices and going in for
nuclear energy for questionable purpos-
es. The so-called third-world countries
and emerging economies have really to
economic targets to stay in competi-
tion in international trade and security.
This is the complicated status-quo of our
world today the so called global village
with culture, fashion, music and food
gone global. The flow of immigrants and
refugees have reached such an appall-
ing degree making it almost impossible
to contain this social phenomenon or as
some might call it, a menace.
(To be continued)

(Contd from Pg. 6)
Suffering the path ...
Paul relinquished his past life of hatred for
Christ and Christianity and then transformed himself
to become a mighty warrior of Christ living a life aimed
at his own salvation as well as the salvation of others.
In AD 67 he was martyred by Emperor Nero. Before his
death he proudly said, To me living is Christ and dying
is gain (Phill :21). The crisis that befell him was used by
Saul to become Paul and it became a blessing for himself
as well as others to get blessings and salvation. When
we make our sufferings, small and big, opportunities for
transformation, they, too, will prove spiritually benefi-
cial for ourselves as well as others.
On the Calvary there were two thieves hanging
on the left side and right side of Jesus. The thief on the
left was sceptical about the power of Jesus .. He said de-
riding Jesus, Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself
and us! (Lk 23:39}. This thief was a person who did not
understand anything about salvation of the soul and he
lived a life of sin and debauchery, creating problems for
his family, society and nation. The cross is a stumbling
block for those who want to live sinful lives. The thief
wanted Jesus to get him off the cross so that he could
continue with his old sinful life. But the good thief on the
right thought in a different manner altogether. It was
because of my sin that I am hanging on the cross now. It
is because of this that I can see Jesus and confess my sins
and seek forgiveness. Thus the cross became a means
of salvation for the good thief. The Word asserts: The
message about the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power
of God (1 Cor 1:18).
Through each suffering, however painful it might
be, God gives us a message. If we pay heed to this message
we will realize that, our suffering is ultimately meant for
our salvation. When we move against the Word and God,
God might grant us some crises to prevent us from utter
ruin. When such falls happen we must realize their mes-
sage as did Saul when he fell down to the ground. Recog-
nizing the purpose of the fall, when we turn to God we
will get Gods love and mercy and forgiveness.
The Word assures us: For a brief moment I aban-
doned you, but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from
you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on
you, says the Lord your Redeemer (Is 54:7-8). Since
therefore. Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also
with the same intention (for whoever has suffered in the
flesh has finished with sin), so as to live for the rest of
your earthly life no longer by human desires but by the
will of God (1 Pet 4: 1). Do not, therefore, abandon that
confidence of yours; it brings great reward (Heb 10:35-
36). Let us pray for the compassion and blessings of God
in spheres which are burdensome and agonizing.
Courtesy: Vachanolsavam
 13
Scriptural Reflection - 7
W
hat does scripture say about prayer? In writing
to the Philippians, Apostle Paul said: Do not
be anxious about anything. In everything re-
sort to prayer and supplication together with thanksgiv-
ing and bring your request before God. Then the peace of
God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your
hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6-7). The prac-
tice of praying is important to us. Prayer is an elevation
of the soul to God, to adore Him, to thank Him, to ask His
pardon and to beg for His graces. Some may feel uncer-
tain about the efficacy of prayer as their prayers would
perhaps have gone unanswered. As this Scripture points
out do not be anxious about anything when we pray, if
we want our prayers to be answered.
What Jesus had said about prayer is a tenet that
we should follow. He said: When you pray, do not be
like those who want to be seen. They love to stand and
pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen
by everyone. I assure you, they have already been paid
in full. When you pray, go into your room, close the door
and pray to your Father who is with you in secret; and
your Father who sees what is kept secret will reward
you. (Mt: 6: 5-6). We have to bear in mind that it was
Jesus who said this in His own prescription about how
we should pray. In simple terms, if we do not condition
ourselves to what Jesus had said, our efforts in prayer
would be in vain.
Jesus also said when you pray, do not use a lot
of words, as the pagans do, for they hold that the more
they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do
not be like them. Your Father knows what you need,
even before you ask him. (Mt 6:7-8). Jesus had taken a
critical view of the way the pagans prayed. Their prayer
was directed to pagan gods of a different realm, outside
the faith Gods people followed at that time. He was par-
ticular that it was not a good example to follow.
Some sources say: Prayer is a part of our wor-
ship and for this reason should be directed only to the
Creator, Jehovah. (Mt 4:10). Jesus Christ taught his fol-
lowers to pray to his Father is the heavens. (Mt 6:9).
Jesus did not teach them to pray to himself, nor to his
human mother Mary, not to any other person, Jehovah
is all powerful, all-wise, perfect in justice and in love.
So why should we go to any lesser person? Their views
on prayer do not altogether accord with the Scriptures,
which shed much light on prayer. The scriptures tell us
that we may address our prayers to God that He may
Himself be pleased to hear them, to Jesus who is an ob-
ject of divine worship (Act 7:59; Rev. 5: 8-14), to the Vir-
The Church and society need you,
Pope Francis tells youth
L ast Tuesday Pope Francis released a video message
to youth in advance of the next World Youth Day, to
be held in Panama in 2019. He said that like the Virgin
Mary, they are needed, and they should not be afraid to
leave their mark on the world.
Like the young woman of Nazareth, you can
improve the world and leave an imprint that makes a
mark on history your history and that of many others,
Pope Francis said in the message, released on March 21.
The Church and society need you.
The message, made in advance of the annual
diocesan-level World Youth Day which takes place
on April 9 this year, reflects specifically on the spiritual
journey pilgrims will take before reaching Panama, en-
couraging young people to cultivate a strong friendship
with Our Lady, saying they will not regret it.
The theme for the upcoming local World Youth
Day is taken from the words of Mary in the Magnificat:
The Mighty has done great things for me (Luke 1:49).
Mary recognized the great things that God was
accomplishing in her life, gave thanks for it, and then
put it into action, going to help her cousin Elizabeth, the
Pope said. She was not a young couch potato who looks
for comfort and safety where nobody can bother them.
Dear young people, God is also watching over
you and calling you, and when God does so, he is looking
at all the love you are able to offer, Pope Francis said.
In anticipation of World Youth Day in Panama
January 22-27, 2019, the Pope also released a longer
written message to youth, reflecting on themes from
the last international World Youth Day in Krakow in July
2016 and on the themes of each years meeting leading
up to Panama.
Continuing the Marian themes, in 2018 the
The Messenger
By E.M. Aldons
gin Mary who is an exalted divine entity, (Gen. 3:15; Is
7: 14; Song 4: 12-16), and also to His Saints who are
chosen by Him, (Eph 1: 18, 2:10) for their intercession
with Him on our behalf.
Relevant to the Scriptures referring to Jesus
as an object of divine worship is a text in John 14: 6
which reads: I am the way, the truth and the life; no
one comes to the Father but through me. What Jesus
meant to say is that He is the Saviour of sinners, the
substance of truth and the source of spiritual and eter-
nal life. There is no way of access to the Father but
through Him, meaning that His doctrine should be fol-
lowed to lead them to the Father.
Jesus did not teach the people to pray to His
Mother, the Virgin Mary, and to the Saints at that time.
He did not prevail on them to pray to His Mother as she
was still alive and in her home. What she achieved in
Her Spiritual life after her death is due to Her contribu-
tion to salvation in being the Mother of Jesus. Besides
this, She was a holy person throughout her life which
enhanced the Spiritual quality of her life, for which she
received special privileges from God after her death. However, the past is a good place for a
The Saints are people whom God has chosen
and called. (Eph 1:18). They are people who have lived
a pure and whole life and in the holy state they lived,
they were consecrated to God. In that status in the eyes
of God, the enjoy the power to intercede for humans
who pray to them. Praying to a Saint does not mean
that believers worship them in a manner that is for-
bidden by the First Commandment. On the contrary,
worship due to a Saint and worship of God are two dif-
ferent forms of worship. To pray to a Saint is not an
alternative to worship due to God. In Pauls letter to
the Romans, he said Pay to all what is due to them; to
whomever you owe contributions, make a contribution;
to whom taxes are due, pay taxes; to whom respect is
due, give respect; to whom honour is due, give honour.
(Rom. 13:7).
Intercessionary prayer had been a practice
from the days of the Old Testament. This form of prayer
was peculiar to the prophets. They communicated with
God to bring about and prevent events. In the history
of the Jewish people, those who interceded with God
on their behalf were Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Amos and
other prophets. (Gen. 20: 7; 18:22, Ex 17:8; 32: 11, 33:
12; Num 11: 11; 14: 13)
theme will be Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found
favor with God (Luke 1:49) and in 2019, in Panama, it
will be I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to
me according to your word (Luke 1:38), the Pope said.
Pope Francis said that he hopes preparations
for World Youth Day in Panama and for the Synod of
Bishops in October 2018, will move forward in tandem,
since the topic of the Synod will be youth, faith and voca-
tional discernment.
At the Synod, we will talk about how you, as
young people, are experiencing the life of faith amid the
challenges of our time, the Pope said. We will also dis-
cuss the question of how you can develop a life project
by discerning your personal vocation...
In discerning the plan God has for our lives, we
can look to Mary, who was very young herself, as an ex-
ample of the gift of faith lived out, he said.
Referencing an address he gave at World Youth
Day in Krakow, Pope Francis said to not be afraid, for
though we might think, but I am a sinner, what can I
do? the truth is that when the Lord calls us, he doesnt
stop at what we are or what we have done.
On the contrary, at the very moment that He
calls us, He is looking ahead to everything we can do, all
the love we are capable of giving.
Another suggestion the Pope made is to spend
more time reading the Bible. If you, as young people,
want to make your life a gift for humanity it is essential
to connect with the historical tradition and the prayer of
those who have gone before you, he said.
Doing lectio divina, a method of prayerfully
reading the Bible and applying Gods word to your own
life will help to illumine your steps.
EWTN
March 26, 2017
A bend in the road is not
the end of the road
Almost all of us think about our past from time to
time. Thats natural.
Some things that happened in the past
may be joyful and some painful and shameful.
We like to go back nostalgically to our
memory store to relish the happy feelings once we
enjoyed in the past.
And about the unfortunate unhappy
things of the past we may think with disgust , re-
gret , remorse and pain. That again is natural.
Almost everyone of us has had sad / mad
/ bad /glad / past experiences to reminisce. No-
body has a clean trouble-free past.
brief visit, but not to live in. Specially if the past is
full of painful memories.
But most people make their lives miser-
able just by brooding over their past.
Can brooding over a painful or shameful
past make things any better?
Definitely not!
All of us may have done things we shouldnt
have done. Things we hide in our life may not be
very pleasant to rethink .
You cant erase the past. But that doesnt
mean you have to be a prisoner of your past.
Nelson Mandela, the former President Oof
South Africa had a brilliant thought.
As I walked out the door toward the gate
that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didnt
leave my bitterness and hatred behind, Id still be
in prison.
What an enlightening idea!
You too shouldnt be mental prisoners of
your past.
Nobody is going to put you behind bars of
this mental prison. It is you who do it. But if you
decide to walk out of this torturing mental prison
of your past bad memories, you are on your way to
a happy future.
May be you have never been in a physi-
cal prison. But it is worse to be in a mental prison
brooding over the past , remanufacturing your
pain and feelings of guilt and remorse.
You have the key to this prison. Its up to
you to unlock it.
You can change nothing that took place
in the past. You can fix nothing and you cant take
anything back.
But every new day is an opportunity to
start your life all over again however blemished or
shameful or unpleasant life had been in the past.
Decide today, to forgive those that need
your forgiveness, to forget the things that need to
be forgotten . Forgive your loved ones that hurt
you and walked away. Dont continue living in re-
sentment toward them.
Youve made mistakes and youve repent-
ed. Thats enough . God has forgiven you and made
you white as snow. So, why cant you forgive your-
self?
Remember., and remember it well. The
past can do nothing!
So say your final goodbye to your past.
Dont wallow in bitterness or guilt because of a
few unfortunate happenings in your road of life.
Dont regret one more day.
Your story doesnt end here. Its just a
bend... not the end.
Michael Angelo Fernando
 14
i am the light of the world, says the lord;
anyone who follows me will have the light of
life. Jn. 8:12
First Reading. 1 Sam.16: 1, 6-7, 10-13.
Prophet Samuel visits the house of Jesse in
search of the future king of Israel. The elder sons are
shown to him as probable candidates. But only the
youngest son David is anointed.
Second Reading. Eph. 5: 8-14.
This reading invites us to shun sin and to re-
main in the light and assume the duties of a luminary.
Gospel. Jn. 9: 1-11.
Jesus meets a blind man and says that He has a
mission on earth. He cured this blind man on a Sabbath
day and this provokes the Jews to reject Jesus. But Jesus
proclaims that He has come to give sight to the blind so
that they would see the glory of God.
Reflection.
Blindness is thought to be a physical defect.
But more serious is the problem of spiritual blindness.
Though some see, yet they do not perceive. It is the
light of faith which must enliven our minds to see the
way of the Cross as a necessity to salvation. There are
times when we refuse to see because we are stubborn
and besides much humility is needed to be submissive.
During this season of Lent we could ask the Lord to heal
us of our spiritual blindness so that we may absorb His
light. A sinner who accepts his plight and has a change
of heart may be said to have received the light of Christ.
As of the living water we saw last Sunday this light is
inexhaustibly rich. A genuine effort must therefore be
made to seek this light and break the fetters of our
stubbornness.
Gods choices are inscrutable and His criteria
are different from those of men. Jesse thought that one
of his elder sons could be anointed king of Israel, but
God has other ideas. He chose the most ill-favoured
one, thus bringing David to light. Thus we see that those
I am the light of the world
(John 9,1-41)
1. By Rev. Fr. Don Anton Saman Hettiarachchi
With Jesus, the living Water, we journey this Sunday
from Jacobs Well in Samaria to the Temple area in Je-
rusalem. We see Him healing a man born blind. We hear
Him saying I am the light of the world. What we see
and hear is co-related. The healing miracle, the sixth
sign in the Gospel of John, does illustrate that Jesus is
truly the Light of the world.
2. Earlier Jesus said, I am the light of the world. Who-
ever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have
the light of life (8,12). Now these words become true in
the person of the man born blind. This man, so wretch-
ed in life as he is destined to sit and beg for life, gradu-
ally believes in Jesus, the Light.
This is evident in the behaviour of the healed
blind man. Unlike Naaman the Syrian who initially dis-
obeyed the prophetic word of Elisha (2 Kings 5,12: Are
not the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar,
better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in
them and be cleansed? With this, he turned about in
anger and left), goes he straight to the waters of Siloam
with mud smeared on his eyes, shut from birth. Here he
obeys, unlike Saul but like Samuel (1 Samuel 16), the
word of the Lord, Go wash in the Pool of Siloam. The
seeds of faith in Jesus, the Sent by the Father (=Siloam),
have already been planted in the field of his heart. So he
wins this test of faith went and washed and came back
able to see.
3. The physical sight the blind man received out of ini-
tial faith leads him now to a deeper faith and following
and own eventually the light of life. Reminiscent of the
Epitaph of John Henry Newman which reads Ex umbris
et imaginibus in veritatem (Out of shadows and images
into truth), the man born blind walks out of darkness
and comes to Jesus the Light. It is like Samuel who real-
ized the divine truth/ light that the way God sees is far
different from the way man sees: But the LORD said to
Samuel: Do not judge from his appearance or from his
the Messenger March 26, 2017
Fourth Sunday in Lent
who are last become first.
Men living in darkness of death are brought
to the light of life by Christs passion, death and res-
urrection. Thus Jesus became the light of the world.
This Second Reading encourages us to retain this light
throughout our lives. During this season as we prepare
ourselves to receive the light at Easter, we must be res-
olute not to turn back to darkness.
In the Gospel the Lord is the giver of light in
that He is the healer of all forms of blindness. The caus-
es of his blindness are immaterial; it does not matter
whether he was born blind or became blind later on.
Jesus can heal any blindness as long as there is the light
of faith. The Jews through fear of excommunication by
the Pharisees, refused to see the light. We also fall unto
this category when due to all kinds of fears we refuse to
see the light and receive sight.
The blindness of the Pharisees could have been
due to many reasons. It could have been the total igno-
rance or else the belief that they already had that light;
in other words that the light was with them, or even the
difficulty in giving up what they already believed. Let us
try to be open during this season and not be blinded by
various causes and thereby allow the light to penetrate
into our lives.
Aid Story 1
One day Pope Pius XI was walking by a row of know that it is day and that night is over? One of them
pilgrims during an audience when he saw a blind boy. said; When I look through the window in the morn-
The Pope stopped and raised his ring to the lips of the ing and if I can distinguish a mango tree from an ap-
boy who started to tremble with emotion, tears stream- ple tree it is day, and the night is over. The rabbi was
ing down his blank eyes. All of us are blind until God not happy with the reply. Many of the answers were on
enlightens us; we cannot see what the great facts of our the same line. None of them pleased the rabbi. Then he
life mean until the Holy Spirit show them to us with the said; When you look at your neighbour and if you can
gift of understanding. recognize in him or her your own brother or sister then
it is day for you. As long as this is not the case you are in
Aid Story 2. darkness.
Once a rabbi asked his disciples, How do you Rev. Fr. Ciswan De Croos.
Prayer for
Reconciliation
lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man
sees does God see, because man sees the appearance Lord, it is your will and desire that all people
but the LORD looks into the heart (1 Samuel 16). should live in amity, love, cooperation and
This unwavering walk of the enlightened man fraternity. We place all those persons and families
is also evident in his behaviour. For him, Jesus is now a
who live in disagreements and quarrels in your
prophet, from God, devout, and a doer of God will
and he boldly proclaims it in a gravely hostile situation heart flaming with divine love. We remember
of darkness, represented by the Jews and the Pharisees your injunction whereby you asked the people
in particular, who consider Him a sinner who broke to reconcile with their brethren before they
the Law of Sabbath. For doing so, he pays the big price
came to the altar with their offerings. We pray
of excommunication: Then they threw him out. He
goes through an experience of excruciating pain, as he to you to give the people who live in enmity the
is totally cut off now from the Jewish synagogue and the grace to reconcile their differences and live as
community life. Nevertheless he mounts on the summit brethren in Christ. Wash and cleanse the deep
of his faith, seasoned with Jewish hostility and ostra-
wounds that remain unhealed in the hearts of
cism, as he now professes I do believe, Lord and wor-
shipped him. The seeds of faith, sown in the field of his people with the precious blood streaming from
heart, bear now an abundant harvest! your heart. Holy Spirit, help me to keep my
mind calm. (Praise the Lord and Pray for some
4. Jesus continued to be the Light of the world. People
time.)
continued to own the Light of Christ and receive the
light of life. They too suffered on their faith odyssey
like the blind man in John. St. Paul, who realized later
the paradox of the cross (1 Corinthians 1,23-24: but
we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews
Liturgical Calendar Year A
and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called,
March 26th - 2nd April 2017
Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the
Sun: Fourth Sunday in Lent
wisdom of God) is one among them: Five times at the
hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one. 1 Sam. 16:1b,6-7, 10-13a;
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, Eph.5:8-14;
three times I was shipwrecked, I passed a night and a Jn. 9:1-41 or 1:6-9', 13-14 or 3:4-38
day on the deep; on frequent journeys, in dangers from Mon: Is. 65:17-21; Jn.4:43-54
rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own Tue: Ez.47:1-9,12; Jn.5:1-16
race, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers Wed: Is.49:8-15;Jn.5:17-30
in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false Thu: Ex.32:7-14; Jn.5:31-47
brothers; in toil and hardship, through many sleepless Fri: Wis.2:1,12-22;Jn. 7:1-2,10,25-30
nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent Sat: Jer.11:18-20;Jn. 7:40-53
fastings, through cold and exposure (2 Corinthians Sun: Fifth Sunday in Lent
11,24-27). He is not the first, the last or the only one to Ez. 37:12-14;Rom. 8:8-11;Jn.11:1-45
experience Jesus, the Light of all humanity. or 3-7,17,2027,33-35
 15 the Messenger March 26, 2017

Cybersex fortress of the The Philippines LENTEN THOUGHTS

where the poor sell their children Anticipate

A photograph of the who's who of Philippine commerce
is in itself a kind of pornography, as they represent the
0.0001 per cent of the population that determine how
much can be spared for the support of the other 103
million people in the country.
The Philippines has 21 billionaires, according
to Forbes Magazine, with 2016 creating a record for that
number. And the daddy of them all, retail and property
mogul, Henry Sy, can boast a net worth of US$13.7 bil-
lion ($106.18 billion). : What did I do to deserve this?" or "What did that old
They take their place among the world's richest
people, eight of whom, according to an Oxfam report,
own more wealth that half the people in the world.
The tycoons stood alongside Rodrigo Duterte
for a photograph in the Malacanang on January 17,
capturing their moment in the sun for posterity. They
feasted and talked business for three hours over a
sumptuous meal that could have fed 200 people for a
week.
The irony of the occasion is that these are the
very people that the President vowed to bring down
during his election campaign and the ones not being
fed are the very ones : that he promised to support.
Or was he just fattening up the grossly rich be-
fore bringing them in for the kill?
"The only way for the deliverance of this coun-
try is to remove it from the clutches of the few people
who hold the power and money," the President said on
November last year.
The President had previously warned the tele-
com corporations, like Philippine Long Distance Tele-
phone Co. and Globe Telecom, to change their monopo-
listic ways.
They are the leading Internet server providers
and are allegedly in violation of the Anti-Child Pornog-
raphy Law of 2009 for failing to block child pornogra-
phy on their servers.
On August 2 last year, Duterte promised he
would destroy the Philippine oligarchs. On another oc-
casion, he said he would destroy the corrupt business
tycoons and moguls.
"I am fighting a monster... Believe me, I will de-
stroy their clutches on our nation," Duterte said at an
environment summit in southern Davao City.
Now to the relief of the business elite, moguls
and tycoons, a more compassionate, understanding,
forgiving and business-friendly president emerged
during the night of feasting, as he welcomed the mon-
sters into the warmth of his dining hall.
We can only hope that his message to them was
not to continue with more of the same, but to share their
vast wealth by investing in the poorer regions of The Phil-
ippines and to do something about paying just wages.
The poor are so poor some trade in small
amounts of drugs, but it is the drug barons that ben-
efit. They are the untouchable ones, some of whom no
doubt feasted at the banquet hall in Malacanang and
smiled for the camera.
Other poor people sell their children to the cy-
bersex operators connected to the Internet through the
PLDT, which is the biggest provider in the country, as
well as Sun, Smart and Globe.
The criminals of these companies allow live
images of children being sexually abused to be sent to
foreign customers around the world and then pick up
their reward at Western Union or some other money
transfer station.
Child pornography and cybersex involving mi-
nors is a heinous crime against the person and dignity
of the child.
The Philippines is one of the leading countries
in the world in providing these illegal images and chil-
dren are being abused in order both to make and dis-
tribute them.
The child porn images are spread around the
The child porn images are spread
around the world through the
Internet by service providers in
every country that does not have
filters and blocking technology
world through the Internet by service providers in
every country that does not have filters and blocking
technology. The provider companies are aiding and
abetting these crimes against children.
If Duterte is true to his word he will challenge
the tycoons and force the ruling elite to invest in the
development of the country.
He could begin with Manny V. Pangilinan, the
chairperson, president and chief executive officer of
PLDT, Suncellular and Smart.
He and his company are bound by law to filter and
block every web site that carries child pornography. The
2009 anti-child porn law is quite clear and explicit on this.
In 2014, the National Telecommunications
Commission, through Memorandum Circular No. 01-
01-2014, ordered the providers to "install available
technology, programme or software that will block ac-
cess or filter all websites carrying child pornography
materials" within 120 days from the submission of a list
of these solutions to the Inter-Agency Council Against
Child Pornography.
They have not complied. It was announced in
the media in January that only three pornography web-
sites containing child images are currently blocked.
This is an insult to the law, the government's
National Telecommunications Commission and the
secretary of the cabinet, Leoncio Evasco, the represen-
tative of the president and the one to whom the com-
missioners must report.
There are hundreds of child pornography web-
sites in cyberspace. The law requires the installation of
blocking software, but they are defiant and refuse to do
it in the interests of profit-making and expanding their
vast wealth at the expense of the abuse of children.
In the Philippines the telephone companies
have seemingly placed themselves above the law and
put a few government officials in their pockets.
But in addition to the anti-child pornography
law, they also appear to be violating the Public Tele-
communications Policy Act of 1995 and Executive Or-
der No. 546 issued in 1979.
The tycoons are now cheek by jowl with the
President, dining with him in his home and hoping that
he will overlook their crimes of ignoring the law and
exploitation and aiding and abetting the abuse of vul-
nerable children.
However, it is to be hoped that the President
and his cabinet secretary, Evasco, will hold them to ac-
count and protect children from this horrific and hei-
nous cybercrime of child sexual abuse.
Courtesy: Sunday Examiner
"Rabbi, who sinned: This man or his parents,
causing him to be born blind? "
Jesus said, "You 're asking the wrong question.
You're looking for someone to blame.
There is no such cause-effect
here. Look instead for what God can do."
JOHN 9:2-3
IT'S HARD NOT TO DO IT, Not to ask, "Why me?
man do, or this little baby?" or "How could God let a
tornado kill all those innocent people?"
Evil and suffering are twin monster mysteries
to which no philosophy satisfactorily responds.
Religious systems only describe the monsters and
aim to give their backstory, ranging from the whim
of the gods to human arrogance. The only answer to
evil and suffering that would suffice for us is one that
makes them both go away, that repeals their effect
and rids us of their disastrous consequences.
We want a world without cancer, a life
beyond terror, a home free from natural disaster,
a place where life does not hurt. If there ever was
such an Eden, it is not recorded past the opening of
Genesis. What we have got is this world, with all its
warts and dangers and dreads. We live in a universe
subject to rules we know about and some we do not.
We are free choosers living among other choosers
who sometimes choose the wrong. We are each given
a body that is also a time bomb and someday it will
certainly go off. If we entertain any other fantasy
about the human predicament, we are going to be
disappointed.
And yet; that is not the whole story, for
people of faith. Beyond limitations that chaff and
burn, we also experience the call to transcendence.
The saddest child facing the fewest options feels the
same urgency towards a finer, better reality as you
and I do. The dying woman in the hospital senses
it. The depressed hotel maid lifts her eyes from
her work and knows it too. The soldier far from his
family and country, and the undocumented worker
harvesting strawberries for supermarkets he will
never visit, pins his hopes on it. All of us together
look to what God can do, because we believe this
much: When it comes to transcendence, God is the
only one who delivers.
Idea of the Day
Which limiting conditions in my present circumstances
must be accepted? Which can he transcended and
what can I do to participate in that movement?
Courtesy: Daily Reflections for Lent
During Lent,
let us find
concrete ways
to overcome
our indifference.
Pope Francis

Good Friday Collection to benefit Holy Land Christians

As Christians in the Middle East
continue to suffer innumerable
hardships this Lenten season,
the Vatican has announced that
this years Good Friday Collec-
tion will benefit Christian com-
munities in the Holy Land.
This announcement
means that in most Catholic
parishes around the world, a
Good Friday Collection will be
taken up to aid Christian par-
ishes and their outreaches in
the Holy Land. This initiative
has been an annual tradition in
the Church since its institution
by Blessed Pope Paul VI.
According to Blessed
Pope Paul VI, the collection was
crated not only for the Holy
Places but above all for those
pastoral, charitable, education-
al, and social works which the
Church supports in the Holy
Land for the welfare of their
Christian brethren and of the
local communities.
The Catholic communi-
ties that will benefit from this
aid include the Latin Patriar-
chal Diocese of Jerusalem, the
Franciscan Custody and other
jurisdictions, such as the Greek-
Melkite, Coptic, Maronite, Syr-
ian, Chaldean, and Armenian
churches.
These funds will be
used to help the parochial
schools, hospitals, and commu-
nity centers in these areas to
protect and care for their com-
munities, which often include
refugees, asylum-seekers, chil-
dren and victims of war.
 March 26, 2017 Messenger XVii

The Kachchativu Feast

The annual Feast of St. Anthony in the fishing Island of
Kachchativu was celebrated on a grand scale on March
11 and 12 in the presence of over seven thousand pil-
grims. The Parish Priest of Delft, Fr. Anton Jeyaranjan,
under whose jurisdiction this Island is located, spared
no pains in contributing to the success of this annual
feast. Kachchativu is an uninhabited Island, almost mid-
way in the Palk Straits between Sri Lanka and India, fre-
quented by fishermen for venerating St. Anthony and in
the process drying their fishing nets.
The old chapel that existed from very early
times had been badly damaged partially due to neglect
during the recent war. As a result, the Sri Lankan Navy
rose to the occasion and built a completely new church,
under the watchful eyes of Fr. Jeyaranjan which now
adorns the beautiful Island of Kachchativu.
The recently concluded feast was the first cel-
ebrated in the new Church. The Sri Lankan Navy had
gallantly contributed in various ways towards the fes-
tive celebrations. It was indeed quite fitting that Fr. Je-
yaranjan paid a glorying tribute to Vice Admiral Rav-
indra Wijegooneratne Sri Lanka's Navy. Commander
who was present and to all the Navy personal based at
Kachchativu. At this point, all pilgrims present at the
Festive Mass gave a round of applause to the Sri Lankan
Navy, for an extremely difficult job "Well done" as every
item needed, had to be brought by sea from the Jaffna
main land.
On the eve of the feast, a few senior mem-
bers of the National Joseph Vaz Secretariat arrived in
Kachchativu at the invitation of the Parish Priest of
Delft. They comprised of Messers Shelton Fernando,
Theobald Samaratunge, Antony Christopher, Raymond
Fernando and Roggy Corera. They brought with them
a gift of a 30" wooden statue of St. Joseph Vaz carved
by Mr. Raymond Fernando of Moratuwa. The Parish
Priest received this gift officially from Mr. Raymond
Fernando at a mini-ceremony in front of the church
on 11th March. Fr. Jeyaranjan thanked Mr. Raymond
Fernando and wished him and his family God's choic-
est blessings through St. Antony. He emphasised that
the value of this statue has been enhanced by the fact
that it was brought by "hand" all the way from Moratu-
wa to Kachchativu instead of being packed in a crate.
Throughout the day, at frequent intervals, announce-
ments were made, highlighting the gift of this statue.
Mention was made that St. Joseph Vaz an Indian, had
ministered to the abandoned flock in Sri Lanka and
thus it is but fitting that this statue is being installed
at a spot where Indian and Sri Lankan Catholic come
together here at Kachchativu.
The feast concluded after Holy Mass on Sunday
12th March, celebrated by Fr. P. G. Jebaratnan, Vicar -
General of the Jaffna Diocese, Not withstanding all the
assistance rendered by the Navy, the Navy Band was in
attendance throughout the celebration and as a fitting
finale, the Navy, even went to the extent of ferrying a
couple of thousands of pilgrims on board a Navy Vessel
to mainland Jaffna.
Roggy Corera

Motherhood - The most beautiful

of God's creation
When the Lord God is His child who asked for it and Mother has given us many with humanity by giving By sirohmi gunesekera

Punishing
wisdom breathed life in when life has taken its toll avenues in order to reach water from a spring which
to the empty cosmos and and her son has commit- her. In a direct confron- has therapeutic value.
started the world process, ted a heinous crime, who tation the powers of hell Similar lessons
beautiful as this material is the mother who will not shudder at the recitation emerged form Fatima and
side of His handiwork was fight for his innocence. of the Hail Mary. So you Medjugorge, with Fatima
with its harmony, intri- This is the can just imagine the pow- enjoining a special prayer.
cacy and splendour, the mother to whom we ap- er of the Holy Rosary for That is to "lead all souls
most beautiful of all was peal when we pray to the the cause in which you to heaven." If we pray for
His creation of the rela- Blessed Virgin Mary to are immersed. others through the Holy
tionship called mother, plead before the throne of This is the lesson Rosary we cannot enter-
which he instilled in to us. Almighty God. It is not for from Lourdes, when Our tain envy, hatred, jealousy
And so we are our just deserts or justice Lady announced that she and ill will towards our
able to say - who is the that she is pleading, (of is the Immaculate Con- neighbour and bear up
mother who can refuse which as sinners we have ception. She did so with with equanimity the prov- What do you think? Today I dropped a glass on the
suckling to her crying none), but for something the Rosary in hand with ocations that our neigh- ground and it broke. I am afraid to tell my mother
baby, who is the mother that we do not deserve as her fingers running over bour gives us. as she will scold me. I know I was careless and I
who will not give a piece an act of mercy. the beads. She also estab- deserve to be punished, said Channika.
of bread to her growing up Our Blessed lished permanent contact Leslie Peiris Wettasinha Come on. It was an accident. Why are you
so afraid of being punished? asked Ian.
Jesus: I am afraid that God will punish me if I do
The Great Redeemer The
wrong even if my Mother doesnt. We Catholics are
a God-fearing lot, said Channika.
Jesus fought a lonely fight, I think that thinking of God as Someone
And the powerful battle was won, Disaffected who Punishes is a wrong understanding of Christi-
With scars of honour and dignity on His flesh, anity. God is a loving father and mother and His is
Jesus' love redeeming work on earth was done.
Unhappy an unconditional love or Agape. Jesus Christ who
Tormented is the Son of God came to Earth and suffered for
our sins and even said of those who tortured Him,
Christ the God has risen from the dead, Burdened Father, forgive them for they know not what they
In vain were the soldiers, the stone and the seal, As authority do. So Jesus brought a Forgiving Christianity and
For Jesus' salvation of work on earth is done, Left Betrayed if He can forgive those who made Him suffer and
He had risen and He has burst the gates of hell, die, I dont think that He will want to punish us for
Jesus coped what we do. It is only if we commit sins that we
Many consoled need to repent and ask Forgiveness so we wont do
The Great Redeemer lives, who all our sorrows bore,
Pacified it again, said Ian.
He died for our sins and lives to die for us no more, You are right. It is our human nature
He files to His Father's hands, for His salvation work is done In affection
to commit sins and we should examine our Con-
For only then pardon, peace and love, from the heavens will flow. Leaves the Lord science and find out if we have done wrong and be
Now contended honest enough to admit it to ourselves. Then we
Jesus is victorius and He has come, can pray and ask God to forgive us and we must do
Many others
our best not to repeat the sin, said Channika.
To dismiss our fear and wipe away the falling tear, Emulate There you are. It is only in the Old Tes-
Also to soothe and calm our troubled hearts As serenity tament that it was said, An Eye for an Eye and
So let us thank and sing praises to our Saviour without fear. A Tooth for a Tooth. Let us practise a Forgiving
Leaves affected
Christianity and talk frankly to God Our Loving Fa-
J. A. Dulcle Perera Miran Perera ther, summed up Ian.
 XViii
Young World
Children's music
programme at Marawila
A children's music programme was organised recently
at the Marawila Silesta music Institute under the aegis
of the Director Ladani, Rev. Fr. Neville Coonghe and Di-
rector Communication, Diocese of Chilaw Rev. Fr. Frank
Tissera
Shriyanganie Felicia
Training Camp for Young Animators
Joseph Vaz
Blessed Joseph Vaz was born on January 1651.
He was a Catholic Oratorian Priest from Goa.
He is known as the Apostle of Ceylon.
Fr. Vaz entered Ceylon during the Dutch
occupation, when Calvinism was the official
religion.
Messenger
Kalutara District Sunday School
Lenten Programme
A Lenten programme was held for the Kalutara Dis-
trict Sunday school students from Grade 4 to 11. The
programme was organised by Rev. Fr. Ishan Premeena,
Director Sunday Schools, together with the teachers at
the National Calvary Shrine Maggona, recently.
The Chief Celebrant at Holy Mass was Rev. Fr.
He travelled throughout the island bringing the
Eucharist and the Sacraments to the hidden groups
of Catholics.
Later in his mission he found shelter in the
Kandyan kingdom, where he was able to work
freely.
At the time of his death Fr. Vaz managed to
rebuild the Catholic Church in the island.
He gave time for praying and reading the Bible.
March 26, 2017
Sam Quintus Perera, Episcopal Vicar Missionary Re-
gion Archdiocese of Colombo. He was assisted by Rev.
Fr. Lawrence Ramanayake Dean Kalutara, Rev. Fr. Ishan
Prameena Director Sunday Schools Kalutara Deanery.
D. Anselm Fernando
Young Catholic Students' Movement of the
Archdiocese of Colombo conducted a Very
successful training camp for 75 Animators of
Negombo, Negombo East (Bolawalana) and
Katana Deaneries on the 17th, 18th and 19th
of this month at Ja-Ela Ma-Eliya Centre.
This training camp conducted by
Rev. Fr. Pradeep Kumar, the Archdiocesan
Chaplain and his Diocesan Team covered an
overall and comprehensive understanding
on YCS for the Animators present.
Purpose of this camp was to empow-
er these animators in order to support their
students in the deaneries to become better
disciples of Jesus.
He began his misslonary work in Sillale in Jaffna.
He was ordained as a priest in 1676.
He deed on 16th January 1711 in Kandy.
On January 21, 1995 he was beatified by Pope
John Paul II in Colombo.
He was canonised a Saint in 2015 by Pope Francis.
S. Finola Jeniffer
Grade 4 , St. Mary's Mattakkuliya
 = March 26, 2017
St. Patrick: His heartfelt plea on behalf of girls
and boys abducted into slavery
M
any know that Saint Patrick, bishop and mis-
sionary to Ireland, was once a slave but few
know of his heartfelt plea on behalf of girls
and boys abducted into slavery.
The pathos of St. Patricks description of the
fate of his victims is something we can identify with
now, said Jennifer Paxton, a history professor who
teaches at the Catholic University of Americas Irish
Studies program. The girls stolen by Boko Haram
are very similar in their fates, I think, to captives of
Coroticus.
St. Patricks Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus
was intended to shame the fifth century general whose
raiding soldiers the Faint declared to be blood-stained
with the blood of innocent Christians, whose numbers I
have given birth to in God and confirmed in Christ. He
denounced those who divide out defenseless baptized
women like prizes.
Patrick said he did not know what grieved him
more: Those who were slain, those who were captured,
or the enslavers themselves those whom the devil so
deeply ensnared.
The plea is all the more poignant because
St. Patrick was himself a former slave. In his letter he
wrote that Irish raiders once took him captive and
slaughtered the men and women servants of his fa-
thers household.
He would have known acutely what these
slaves were going through, because he was the victim of
just such a raid, Paxton told EWTN News. In the fifth
century this kind of raiding was endemic, all around the
British Isles. He was stolen from someplace, were not
sure where, in western Britain, and taken to captivity in
Ireland.
He spent six years tending sheep for his master.
Obviously he did not enjoy his time as a slave
and wanted it to end, Paxton said. So he would have
definitely identified with these victims.
The Saints letter is a unique witness in medi-
eval history.
We do not have any other first person account
of someone who was captured by barbarians and sur-
vived, the history professor explained. We have noth-
ing else quite like it.
The letter was written to be read aloud else-
On a Cross
Jesus was hanging on a tree,
Filled with agony and sweating blood,
Fixing His sorrowful eyes on you and me,
While His beloved Mother near the cross stood.
When His assassins assailed Him,
He did not revenge but He sought to forgive,
And on to the cross when they nailed Him,
Jesus prayed, "Forgive them and let them live."
Jesus paid for our sins with His blood,
And took our sinful souls to His care as well,
He breathed His last with sorrow and shame,
To save you and me from the pains of hell.
Let us praise and thank Jesus who was slain,
Because He suffered for sinful souls like us.
All the heavenly angels fall beneath His feet.
To adore a Him who died with power, honour
wisdom and riches.
J. A. Dulcie Perera
Messenger
where, with the hope that Coroticus and his men would
eventually hear of it and come under popular pressure.
St. Patrick said those who hear the letter should not
fawn on such people and should not share food or
drink with them until they release their captives and
make satisfaction to God in severe penance and shed-
ding of tears.
Paxton said St. Patricks style is somewhat de-
fensive because he is up against tremendous odds, and
he knows it.
He does not, as far as we know, ever get these
captives back, Paxton continued. What we have is this nating figure. In later legends he became a wonder-
cri de coeur that has resonated down through the ages.
But he doesnt manage to save them. land and defeated druids in battle.
She speculated that St. Patrick must have felt
the tragedy of seeing these people newly saved from
damnation by baptism, and (then) taken away into
slavery.
Modern slavery is an enduring problem. Islam-
ic State militants in Iraq and Syria have enslaved Chris-
tians, Yazidis and other religious minorities. In Nigeria,
where St. Patrick is a patron saint, the militant Islamist
group Boko Haram became infamous for the April 2014
abductions of several hundred girls from a school in the
countrys northeast.
To Soar high
A vulture usually builds its nest on the high nest branch
of a tall tree. The female makes the nest with dry twigs
and when it is time to lay its egg (most vultures lay only
one egg) she makes the inside of the nest smooth by
spreading some of her feathers at the bottom. Till the
egg is hatched, the vulture sits over her egg. Once the
fledgling is out of the egg, she goes out and brings food
for it. When the fledgling grows big enough to find its
own food, the mother vulture will remove the feath-
ers that were lining the nest. Then the twigs will prick
the fledgling and it crawls out of the nest. The mother
would be watching the fledgling making its moves. If
the fledgling cannot fly, and if it is about to fall down,
the mother flies below it supporting it with her wings.
The fledgling feels happy and comfortable. But soon
the mother will push the fledgling down, but she will
XiX
In December 2014 major religious leaders in-
cluding Pope Francis signed a joint declaration at the
Vatican urging the eradication of modern slavery. A
2014 report from the organization Walk Free estimated
that almost 36 million people worldwide suffer some
form of slavery, with 61,000 people held in slave condi-
tions in the United States.
As for St. Patrick, his letter seeking the release
of slaves was not widely circulated. It was preserved in
a few places, including the Book of Armagh. Paxton said
the letter played little role in Christian debates over
slavery, which was taken for granted for centuries.
Slaverys decline in Europe doesnt owe much
to Church efforts, she said. It was more economic
forces that led to its decline, Im sad to say, Paxton re-
marked, adding that Coroticus himself was probably a
Christian.
St. Patrick became known for his life of sacri-
fice, prayer and fasting. Although he was not the first
Christian missionary to Ireland, he is widely regarded
as the most successful.
Paxton noted that St. Patricks letter and his
other known work, the Confession of St. Patrick, are
steeped in the scriptures.
He basically writes in scriptural quotations.
Thats the way Patrick thinks, she said.
St. Patricks use of the Bible is rare in a medi-
eval text because he quotes from many different sec-
tions of the Bible: the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles,
and numerous prophetic books.
Paxton said she found Patrick a really fasci-
working superhero who expelled the snakes from Ire-
But the real St. Patrick of his own words is re-
ally a far more moving and inspiring example for Chris-
tians of today, she added.
Ireland was never the same as a result of what
he did. Thats something I think we should all be im-
pressed by, somebody who himself was very marginal,
who was not a major figure in his own Church, perse-
vered in the face of all these obstacles and achieved
something really wonderful.
EWTN
not allow the baby to fall to the ground. In this fashion
the mother teaches its chick to fly. She does not force
the chick out of the nest to destroy it, but to make it
grow in an appropriate manner, to make it fly and to
look for its food.
When our parents give us the necessary train-
ing for life, we often feel bored and irritated. Parents
will scold their children when they refuse to pray, go
to church or study. But children do not like this kind
of scolding. But remember, they do that for the good of
the children.
The discipline that teachers insist on in schools
is to make us good persons. They all help us to make
our life orderly and learn good habits so that we can be
successful in our later life as adults.
Courtesy: Vachanolsavam
"With all your practice giving me
sermons, you could
become a priest."
 XX Messenger = March 26, 2017

Language Study & English Grammar

Dear Readers,
In our 9th lesson we looked at verbal nouns, deverbal nouns, gerunds and
participles. In this lesson lets learn compound nouns.
NJ
Activity 1- Play the roles of Sumaga and his Sir with a partner with the cor- (i)breakwater (ii)driveway (iii) dressmaker
rect stress and intonation
Sumaga: Good Morning, Sir. Are you busy at the moment?
Sir: No. You can come in and take a seat.
Sumaga: Yes. Sir. I read the lesson on verbal nouns, deverbal nouns,
gerunds and participles.
Sir: What do you think of the lesson? Did you learn anything?
Sumaga: Yes sir I got a lot of doubts clarified on verbal nouns and the ing form.
Sir: What about deverbal nouns.
Sumaga: That wass the first time I ever read about deverbal nouns.
It is a new concept for me.
Sir: What about participles?
Sumaga: I need to learn a lot about participles and gerunds?
Sir: What do you really need?
Sumaga: If you give us a lot of activities with many other forms and
uses of participles and gerunds I would appreciate?
Sir: You are right Sumaga. It is not easy to understand them without a lot
of examples and activities. Ill have a separate lesson only with activities.
Sumaga: What is your next lesson, Sir?
Sir What do you think that I should write next?
Sumaga: After noun the next important part of speech is about the words
that describe nouns.
Sir: What are they called?
Sumaga: Well. Sir, they are adjectives.
Sir: Thats right.
Sumaga: Im anxiously waiting to have an exciting lesson on adjectives next.
Sir: Hope for the best, Sumaga.
(iii)While youre at the store, please pick up some toothpaste, a six-pack of ginger
ale, and some egg rolls.
(2)Compound nouns can be made with an adjective and a noun: Examples
blackberry grandstand greenhouse small talk
(i) Lets watch the full moon come up over the mountain.
(ii) Please erase the blackboard for me.
Compound nouns can be made with a verb and a noun: Examples
(i)Be sure to add bleach to the washing machine. (ii) Lets be sure to stay some-
where with a swimming pool.
(3) Compound nouns can be made with a noun and a verb: Examples :
(i) He always gets up before sunrise. (ii) I really could use an updated hairstyle.
(4)Compound nouns can be made with a verb and a preposition: (i) Checkout
is at noon. (ii) Please remember to schedule your dogs annual check-up.
(5)Compound nouns can be made with a noun and a prepositional phrase:
Examples ; (i) My mother-in-law is the kindest person I know.
(6) Compound nouns can be made with a preposition and a noun: Examples (i)
Do you believe in past lives? (iii) This city is vibrant, so its hard to believe it has a
thriving criminal underworld.
(7)Compound nouns can be made with a noun and an adjective: Example -
(i)We need a truckful of mulch for the garden.
Activity 1- Compound Nouns Exercises. Choose the word that makes each of these
nouns into a compound noun.
1.Fund __________ (A driver, B seat, C raiser)
2.News __________ (A paper, B story, C travels)
3.Sun ____________ (A day, B glasses, C heat)
4.Child ___________ (A hood, B ren, C play)
5.Door ___________ (A frame, B handle, C way)

Compound Nouns- Dread the definitions and be familiar with compound nouns Answer Key: 1 C, 2 A, 3 B, 4 A, 5 C

Definition (i)- A compound noun is a noun that is made up of two or more words.
Most compound nouns in English are formed by nouns modified by other nouns. Activity 2 Fill in the blanks to complete each compound noun, or with the one-word
For example: The words tooth and paste are each nouns in their own right, but if you compound noun that fits best.
join them together they form a new word - toothpaste. Other examples (i) car park
(ii)Iceland (iii) shopkeeper (iv) website (v)headmaster 6. Prevent a heart _________ by eating properly and getting enough exercise.
(A stroke, B attack, C murmur)
Definition (ii) Compound nouns are words for people, animals, places, things, or
ideas, made up of two or more words. Most compound nouns are made with nouns 7.Do you prefer peppermint or cinnamon flavored _____________?
that have been modified by adjectives. or [adjective + noun], Examples : (i)black- (A cookies, B toothpaste, C applesauce)
berry (ii)grandstand (iii)greenhouse (iv)small talk
8.The full ___________ looked enormous as it rose over the horizon.
Definition iii Compound nouns in English are formed by nouns modified by other (A moon, B sun, C sunset)
nouns. And nouns that have been modified by adjectives but also by other combi-
nations. 9. Im going to the barber for a _____________. (A trim, B new style, C haircut)
Examples (i)check out , (ii)check up, (iii)mother-in-law
10.Theyre digging a new swimming ____________ in the park.
Characteristics of a compound noun- In many compound nouns, the first word (A suit, B pool, C game)
describes or modifies the second word, giving us insight into what kind of thing an
item is, or providing us with clues about the items purpose. The second word usually 11.Id love to learn to pilot an ____________(Aboat, B airplane, C submarine)
identifies the item. Examples (i)fireflies (ii) egg rolls
12.One reason donuts are fattening is that theyre fried in cooking _____.
Classification of compound nouns- It is important to understand and recognize (A oil, B sugar, C pans)
compound nouns. Each compound noun acts as a single unit and can be modified by
adjectives and other nouns and prepositions. 13.Sherrie is upset because she lost an ______________.
(A input, B earring, C friendship)
There are three forms for compound nouns:
open or spaced - space between words (tennis shoe) full moon, Christmas tree, 14.We put a ____________ in the garden to chase birds away.
and swimming pool (A runway, B sunshade, C scarecrow)

hyphenated - hyphen between words (six-pack) dry-cleaning, daughter-in-law, 15..Ive got to pick up a package at the post ___________.
and well-being (A man, B office, C book)
closed or solid - no space or hyphen between words (bedroom) Examples - Answer Key: 6 B, 7 B, 8 A, 9 C, 10 B, 11 B, 12 A, 13 B, 14 C, 15 B
toothpaste, haircut, or bedroom

Examples of different types of compound nouns- Your suggestions are welcome. Your com-
ments are deeply appreciated.
(1) Compound nouns can be made with two nouns: Examples
(i) car park (ii)Iceland (iii) shopkeeper (iv) website Greetings from Brisbane Queensland
Australia.
(i)Lets just wait at this bus stop. (ii) I love watching fireflies on warm
summer nights. NJ