Another Holiday!

Sri Lanka is truly an island of holidays! Next week - May 19th & 20th marks the Vesak Poya, the most important of Poya days. These take place every month when there is a full moon.
A 3 fold celebration which commemorates the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death which are traditionally thought to have taken place on the day of the Vesak poya.
In addition, the last of the Buddha's three alleged visits to Sri Lanka is claimed to have been on a Vesak poya day. Lamps are lit in front of houses, and platforms decorated with scenes from the life of Buddha (pandals) are erected throughout the country. Cars and buses are decorated with streamers and free food is distributed from roadside stalls.

May Day

Christian Workers Fellowship Mass
50th Anniversary 2008

Here a few photos of the service I attended last week at St Michael's, Polwatte.
For those interested in liturgy, here are a few excerpts from the Eucharistic Prayer:
Clergy: Let us now lift our hearts
People: To our God we lift our hearts Clergy: Cleansing fire of the Universe, Preserver and Life-giver, O Holy God, we worship you offering heartfelt praise and thanks. People: Of all reality the heart O Dharma eternal and true, Sat-Chit- Ananda are you!
Clergy: O most Gracious God, Truth Primaeval, springhead of all life, nourishing us, Our Mother of all beings Father. From darkness you bring forth light, from chaos you draw out order, out of nature's beauty speaking into fellowship calling us....
... Poor like us and born of woman, knowing toil, a worker by profession Dharma, Truth and Way became human named Jesus and *Taraka by acclaim...

NB *Taraka In Indian cultures, Taraka is one who not only crosses over to the further shore (from suffering to freedom), but also makes others cross over, i.e. Liberator, Saviour. In kalidasa's epic "Kumarasambhava" the child is called Taraka, the one who guides us through the ocean of Samsara,


For more details about the liturgy or a copy, please contact me!

Ghandi Book signing

Just to prove I met Ela Ghandi! Ghandi's grand-daughter.
She was good enough to sign my book written by the Revd Charles F Andrews about Mahatma Ghandi.

Bishop's Letter April 08

CEYLON 080428-1 April 28, 2008

[The Church of Ceylon (E-P) - Ceylon] Last evening's bomb explosion in a bus at Piliyandala, which killed twenty-four civilians and left many injured, is an act of vicious violence and must be condemned. Once again, the finger points to the LTTE.

The recent killing of a Roman Catholic priest, Revd. Fr Karunairatnam in Ambalkulam in the Vanni, was another tragedy in this never ending conflict and must also be condemned. His killing could well have been the work of a military deep penetration unit, now known to operate within these areas.

Reports of fierce military confrontations and aerial bombings in the Vanni have caused and continue to cause very heavy casualties amongst soldiers and cadres on both sides. Every life destroyed is a totally unnecessary death of a son or daughter of our soil. Whether soldiers or cadres or civilians, these are our people who are being killed in a senseless war being fought by those with little political will to resolve our crisis through negotiations.

I express the condolences and prayers of our Church to all Sri Lankans in the North and South who grieve at the loss of loved ones. May the risen Lord, who shares human grief, sustain us through life.

The impact of the conflict also has serious repercussions on the cost of living, which has now reached a crisis stage. The modest and the poor simply cannot make ends meet, and the Government must hear the cries of the people and bring immediate relief. Good governance has everything to do with ensuring the dignity of people and feeding and protecting them. It calls for steering us away from death to life.

Most Sri Lankans view these happenings with utmost concern. We sense a daily worsening and widening of the crisis but are helpless to intervene or conditioned not to do so.

I once again plead with the President and leadership of all political parties to put an end to our differences and to address the sufferings of all our people. We still have able leaders and the necessary skills to work for peace. Please think and speak differently and initiate and nurture practical non-violent steps towards a lasting solution. All communities will walk with you and our children will call you blessed.

With peace and blessings to all

The Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera
Bishop of Colombo
26th April 2008

Parishoner Story of Kidnapping and Death Threats

This evening, Sunday April 27th I have received a phone call from one of my housebound communicants. 'X' and 'Y' are an elderly couple both in their 80s, they have no children, she has a chronic bowel problem and he has heart problems. Having run a children's home for 'differently-abled' children they decided to retire a few years ago. They are now in the process of selling the home and land. The matron of the home arranged for them to meet a 'broker' and between them using threats of assault and violence forced 'X' to sign a document which said that the broker would receive 500,000 rupees (est £2380) from the sale of the land. 3 days ago the broker visited their home to demand they sell for less than half of the asking price. 'X' is unwilling to do so as she has medical bills and other expenses. The matron has refused to leave the property, despite never having had to pay any rent and being given adequate notice, and so 'X' has had to purchase land and build a house for her, as potential buyers were being harassed.
The broker has threatened 'X' that if he sees her on the street he will kidnap her. 'X' had already gone to the police, but as she has signed a legal document, there is not much they are willing to do anything to help. Subsequently this elderly couple are now living in fear, imprisoned in their home and relying on friends to accompany 'X' for her doctor's appointments and shopping.

Please pray for this situation, 'X' and 'Y' are very frightened of what might happen to them if they do not comply with the broker's demands.

CMS meets USPG

The USPG (United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel) General Secretary, the Rt Revd Bishop Michael Doe is currently on his first visit to Sri Lanka and was invited by the Colombo Diocese Cathedral Institute to give a lecture on 'Anglicans Around the World'.

The lecture was well received and gave a thorough analysis of the present situation concerning the future of the Anglican Communion and the drawing up of an 'Anglican covenant'.
Bishop Michael reflected further on what it meant to be 'in Communion' and indicated that there was a need for Unity through hospitality, Authority through Inter-relatedness, Truth through scripture illuminated by traditon and reason and finally that covenant meant 'travelling with differences'.

Myself and Bishop Michael outside of the Cathedral of the Living Saviour in Colombo.

'Sing -a long' fundraiser

To raise funds for the Anglican church's Denipitiya Medical Mission based near Weligama, a 'sing-a-long' fundraiser was held. Participants were encouraged to join in with renditions of 'Down by the Riverside', Amazing Grace, 'Roll out the barrels', and many more both English and Sinhala favourites.

The medical mission was began in 1918 and has provided medical provision in an area where there are no hospitals or clinics. Income is also provided through selling a small crop of rubber trees and coconut. Next to me is Mrs Marlene Jayewardena, one of the medical mission committee members and a member of my parish.

A good night was held by all, to note too that the evening was strictly teetotal!

Suffice to say yes I did go dancing!