A Genuine “Garbage” problem

The first thing the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka had to face for the New Year and Easter was a big ‘garbage ‘ problem that destroyed many lives. No wonder! the ‘housekeepers’ of the Catholic church in Sri Lanka are made up of bundles of garbage, that destroy the souls of the People of God. The problem was a pointer in the right direction, a clean-up of the priesthood. A genuine and an enlightened priesthood is a rarity to find in Sri Lanka at present.

But in another part of the world, on Easter morn a priest carrying the Eucharist for the sick and on the way to celebrate three Masses escaped death from a train accident. His car got trapped at the railway crossing. He saw the train speeding up. Fortunately he jumped out the car and escaped death. His car was reduced to shambles, but the front locker that carried the pouch containing the sacred hosts remained untouched. The priest still shivering and amazed, praised and thanked the God of Gods in the Eucharist.

God Speaks in ‘Signs’ and ‘Wonders.’

There is nothing ‘Sacred’ about many of the Catholic churches in Sri Lanka. They walk in the ‘tube light,’ or ‘energy savers’. The God from God; Light from Light; True God from True God; Begotten and not (hand) made are forgotten. So ‘Christ Crucified’ is being dished out like ‘string-hoppers for breakfast’ every morning, to the simple and unassuming faithful in these String-hopper factories according to the whims and fantasies of the priesthood. In many the ‘Risen Lord’ is not given a ‘Chance’ to enter into the lives of God’s people, that they may overcome the vicissitudes of daily life.

Christ is made nothing different to a Hindu or Buddhist temple god. What is the difference? The priest himself doesn’t know or doesn’t want to know I guess. His only concern to disregard all traditions of the church, preserved so very judiciously, only in the Catholic church down the ages.

If we wish to treat these incidents seriously, it is extremely important that the catholic church in Sri Lanka do some genuine soul-searching.

‘You cannot serve both God and mammon,’ sys the Lord. Are the authorities only interested in running the ‘rat race’ of the celebrity culture, pursuing materialistic goals? Or are they like the Magi, who led by a star, led the gentile nations to feet of Christ, and recognize Him as the Light of the Nations?. lead the people of God, evangelizing them animated by the ‘Light’ of the most Holy Spirit, in the direction of the Risen Christ.

To do this a revamping, streamlining and a re-organization of the priesthood is absolutely essential. They need to take another look at their pastoral goals. To scrutinize within, to whom they owe their allegiance to,  in their scale of priorities, the Prime Minister of the Country, the President or Christ the Master?. In doing so help the laity to recognize the Christ of the Easter morn, in their daily lives.

 

 

The Star of The Magi

JESUS – The Light of The Nations

“Glory to God in the Highest and Peace to men of goodwill!”

 

                             1. Sometime past in earth’s dark history
The legacy of a fallen race,
When man could see no end in sight
And darkness reigned supreme as night.

2. The time was ripe for God’s great love for man,
To be made manifest,
And man could once again behold the ‘Light’
The spark of His saving grace.

3. It dawned upon a lowly city,
That lay deep in sleep that night;
Bethlehem the chosen city,
Where a Savior was to be born.

4. As each naked tree was dressed in white,
And bare hills in snowflakes clothed,
The Star of David, shone high up that night,
Out shinning Others hung low in the sky.

5. It showed some travelers together in a search,
Of a King that was to come;
So wondrously did it guide them to the place,
To behold the King who was to come.

6. Both East and West and North and South,
Knelt down to worship the Infant King;
As choirs of Angels proclaimed to the shepherds,
And they hurried over to witness the truth.

7. The Light of Christ born to the world,
At every Christmas Tide,
Is the Light of Nations ‘Light from Light’
That leads all mankind to God.

8. The Light that shone for us in the darkness
Two Thousand years ago;
Is the Light that enlightens every man,
His misery to overcome.

9. The Light of Christ, ‘Light from Light,’
No darkness can overcome;
As we pay Him homage by His crib,
God help all Nations to embrace,
The Light of Christ,
This Gracious Christmas Tide.

 

 

 
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Living in Cyber Space (2) Media and Technology in the Process of Peace Building

Look at the number of Cell phone users round the world today. These amount to billions. Blogs on the Internet more than 200 million over 120 million YuTube Videos and over 500 million Facebook users. Other Social Media such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Printerest, Digg and so on make up the world’s arena of people in constant interaction twenty-four hours of the day.

    Come to think of it! People are living more in Cyber Space than down to earth, than ten to twenty years ago. Harnessing nature’s abundant resources in the use of man resulted in the use of tools and new industrial and agricultural inventions. The concept of greater efficacy in the use of these led to revolution in technology, developments which has zoomed to such bizarre heights that man never dreamt of a few centuries ago. ‘Cyber Space’ is one of creations in technology storing kinds of data. A realm that is beyond the control of known physics or mechanics. This ‘Space’ as in all other inventions can be used as a tool for the preservation or destruction of man as in the case of the Atom bomb and kinds of armory, used for war or devices to promote peace. To sustain man in the fulfillment of his temporal needs, such as food clothing and shelter; the eradication of poverty and human misery or bolstering up of riches of the affluent.

     The question arises, is man the master of technology, or technology the master of man? When God created man, he gave man power over nature. How is man going to exercise power over nature? Obviously he should be able to control nature. As man could not control nature solely with the help of his hands, he was given the ability to think. Logically it follows then that man could control nature only when he could control technology.

     Needless to say that if man was possessed of the present day Social Media, disasters of two world wars of the past may have been avoided. So let’s reflect on the tremendous advantages we are equipped with today in the various devices and Social Media if they are utilized in the work of peace building rather than war.

     Look at your Cell phone, turn on your Computer, check your Facebook page or Twitter and others, you are using tools that can build peace, this, besides the TV, Radio, and Print applications and Internet surfacing accelerated by technology.

     These devices can be utilized to create awareness in groups and communities, of trouble spots than are in urgent need of being reached, to educate and empower them with wholesome impact of peace. To gather data as to ways and means to reach tem and help find viable solutions to conflicts. As in the case of all new inventions, there is its positive and negative impacts. It can be used as a negative force to incite hatred and violence or muster forces to foster peace and harmony between rival forces.

    In Pakistan for instance a Taliban leader used videos and Cell phones calling for suicide bombings. In Columbia a Facebook Group drew millions to join in protest in a march against rebel groups trying to destroy the country. In Dubai and Detroit University students signed up for Skype based inter-cultural dialog. In Iran the Green-Movement brought protestors to the streets, using Twitter to stay ahead of the government crackdown. In Nigeria producers used TV and Radio dramas to model peaceful problem solving as alternatives to tribal violence.

    Social Networking has an enormous impact on human interaction, which affects the minds and behavior of young people. Many young people like to spend their leisure hanging out with friends. Last but not the least is the prime importance of education for peace, channel students and young peoples energies and enthusiasm to work for peace, by bringing ‘Peace Education’ to the Classroom. Stories appeal to the mind and imagination of children more than any other peace of literature. As a part of educating children to become Peace Makers. Read A Collection Folktales Retold from Cultures. Peace Tales from Asia:Building a Culture of Peace.

     

PEACE TALES FROM ASIA: BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE: By Chandrani Warnasuriya (ISBN: 978-1-60976-827-0) A Collection of Folktales from cultures Re-told for youth and children is a product of much study and research. It can be purchased from the publisher’s website http://sbpra.com/ChandraniWarnasuriya or www.amazon.com for $11.95

http://promotepeaceandpeaceeducation.com

Living in Cyber Space in a Digital Age (1)

Living in Cyber space in a digital age has in many ways revolutionized our minds and ways of thinking on common topics of daily living such as family, friends, children, shelter, jobs and so on. Many years ago these called for a deliberate choice on the part of individuals at a very personal level, through a minimum of news and media available to them or through personal contacts that was limited.

As Margret Wertheim the author of The Pearly Gates of Cyber space states, ‘A hitherto non existent space, each year this new digital domain plays a greater role more and more in peoples lives.’ As of mid 1998 over a hundred million people are accessing the Internet and it is estimated that in the next decade there will be close to a billion people on Line on a regular basis. Currently it is growing by a million pages a day. This ‘Space,’ has grown into being from nothing making it surely the fastest growing territory in history.

What exactly is ‘Cyber space’? Like physical space this new Cyber space is growing in an extra ordinary rate increasing in “volume” unimaginable in the form of digital connections. It may be described as “web” and “net” To be plain and simple this new digital space is “beyond” the space that physics describes, for the Cyber realm is not made up of physical particles and forces but of bits and bytes. These packets of data are ‘ontological’ elements being the foundation of Cyber space. Since it has nothing to do with physical phenomena it is not subject to the laws of physics. It is a space beyond what scientists call ‘hyperspace.’

The fact is, this hitherto non-existent space is playing a greater role more and more in peoples lives. People whom I am unable to correspond in flesh blood personally I am able to correspond via Email. In the academic arena almost all Institutions, Research centers and major libraries round the world now have websites. So are the content of many newspapers and magazines. Why buy the New York Times paper, when you can access it online for free.

Businesses are also stepping into On-Line sales.  Clothes, books, cosmetics, Airline tickets, computer equipment to name a few. The virtual  Mall has arrived. Families with Home Pages, posting albums keep loved informed how they spent Summer holidays. Cyber space is also a new place to socialize and play games. Chat rooms, news groups, IRC channels On-Line conferences, Forums, fantasy worlds, known as MUDS promise infinite scope for social interaction.

All this is well said about On-Line access to almost anything one can think of. But there is also the downside aspect of Internet access and surfacing the Internet, this specially with regard to gender problems, where men can masquerade as women and vice versa. The famous case of “Joan” on the CB Channel of CompuServe highlights how people can ‘change’ gender on-Line. While it has its advantages living in Cyber space cannot and should not be encouraged as a panacea for all evils, as with every kind of new invention, without weighing its pros and cons and thoroughly studied, before venturing into using the Internet on a regular basis.