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| Sunday, 11 December 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Christmas and trends in Church by W. T. A. Leslie Fernando
People prepare months ahead for Christmas. Shops become full of goodies and shining ornaments. Journals are filled with Christmas advertisements. Hotels organise special lunches, dinners and dances. People rush to the cities and there is so much glamour and revelry associated with Christmas. However, the birth of Christ celebrated at Christmas was not such a fascinating and fantastic event. According to the account given in the Gospel of St. Luke, it was a very touching and moving humble story. Augustus Caesar, the Roman Emperor at the time had decreed that all his subjects should come to their native place to be enrolled at the Census. Joseph, the poor carpenter came to the city of David called Bethlehem with his wife Mary pregnant with child because he was of the house and lineage of David. As there was no place for this helpless carpenter and his wife in a single inn, they took refuge in a cowshed at Bethlehem. There in this cowshed Mary got labour pains and delivered Christ unto this world. The holy angels announced the good news not to the rich and the affluent making merry in the city but to some unkept shepherds watching their flock by night in a field near Bethlehem. The shepherds followed the light from heaven and found the baby Jesus in the cowshed with Mary and Joseph. They worshipped the divine baby with joy coming from the bottom of their hearts. It was to this very cowshed the three kings from the East came in search of the infant Jesus guided by a star and paid their homage with gifts - frankincense, myrrh and gold. Suppression Thus Christ the kind of king was born poor and humble in a cowshed at Bethlehem, while his divinity was proclaimed by crowned kings, holy angels and innocent shepherds. Christ being the Son of God, he could have been born to power, wealth and wordly distinction. But in his birth Christ had made the important decision that the luxuries of the world was not for him and he would reject them for himself. When Christ began his ministry, he went from place to place saying "Foxes have holes. Birds in the air have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matthew 8/20) He instructed his disciples to lead simple, austere and humble lives. He said, "Provide neither gold, nor silver or brass in your purses. No script for your journey. Neither two coats, nor shoes or yet staves for the workman is worthy of his meat. (Matthew 10/8,9) The Apostles and the early Christians adhered to the teachings of Christ to the letter. They shared their income within the community and led simple and serene lives. The rulers feared Christianity as it preached equality and justice. They tried to suppress Christianity by persecuting the Christians and even putting them to death. But the more they persecuted the Christians, the more Christianity spread. This situation changed in the 3rd century when the Roman Empire embraced Christianity. The rulers and the rich came into terms with the Church and donated lands, wealth and privileges to the Church. Subsequently the Church became an affluent and reactionary institution retarding the progress of humanity. Later the Popes deteriorated to the status of worldly rulers, the Church got involved in wordly affairs and witnessed many a crisis. In some countries those who disagreed with the Church were burnt alive by the Inquisition. The scientists like Gallileo who came into conflict with the dogmas of the Church were persecuted. The Church backed Crusades to convert people to Christianity by force. Pope John Paul II, publicly apologised for the crimes the Church has committed throughout history. The Catholic Church in Sri Lanka too was a reactionary force. It opposed the Free Education Scheme and those Catholic priests who branded themselves under the banner of "Social Justice" did everything possible to sabotage it. Likewise the very same priests propagated against the Paddy Lands Act that brought relief to the farmer. The Vatican Council II (1962-65) brought about some significant changes in the Catholic Church. It acknowledged the truths and values found in other religions, their society and culture. It relaxed the attitude of the Church towards modern political thinking. The rules relating to Catholic clergy and religions were modified to enable them to move more freely with the public to serve the people. Everybody expected that the new outlook of the Catholic Church would bring about a renewal beneficial to humanity. It did not happen and after the Vatican Council II, there is so much confusion in the Catholic Church. There are various interpretations to Christianity and one is at a loss to understand the Christian doctrine. Many have misinterpreted the directions of the Vatican Council II. There are some who want to give a political dimension to religion and advocate that Christians should set up a Kingdom of God in this world. The spirituality in religion is being relegated to the background. Discipline There is an erosion of Christian values all over the Catholic world. In Italy where the Vatican is, which has produced the majority of Saints and Popes, there is drug trafficking and a murderous Mafia organisation is operating there. There are swimming pools in the Catholic West where both men and women step in naked. There is also a degeneration of the standards of the Catholic clergy in the West and sexual misconduct of Catholic priests are often disclosed in various journals. some couple of years back two Bishops in Great Britain admitted they were fathers of illegitimate children. If Bishops who enforce discipline among priests are found so, you could imagine the standard of priests. The plight of the Catholic clergy in the West have their repercussions in Sri Lanka as well. All the good work religious and social, done by many Catholic priests and nuns in our country under trying conditions with immense personal sacrifice is being negated by the misbehaviour of some clergy. There are some Catholic priests who get foreign funds, who wear lay cloths, lead indisciplined lives and attract scandal by their worldly outlook. Christ enjoined his disciples not to handle money because that would lead to their degeneration. No wonder that when priests get foreign dollars, foreign trips and other luxuries and what not, they begin to lead sensuous lives. There are some Catholic priests who have formed their own organisations funded by foreign agencies. Some of them used to place pictures of Christ on one side and that of Lord Buddha on the other advocating Christianity and Buddhism which are poles apart as parallel religions. They try to get round Buddhists into their fold on the sly. Hidden agenda There are other Catholic priests who set Buddhist Bhikkus to preach Bana in churches, place statues of Buddha, erect pandals and illuminate lanterns in churches for Vesak. Lord Buddha is not a God but an enlightened human being. Paying homage to such a personality in churches where the omnipotent God is present in the form of Holy Eucharist is a sacrilege and a big joke as well. Once such Catholic priest has stated thus to a Sunday Sinhala journal. "In ten years time people would not be divided as Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Hindus. All would go to Sri Maha Bodhi, Nallur Temple, Tewatta Church and meditate." This sounds a hidden agenda. It is one thing for people of different faiths to work together for the common good while maintaining their religious identity. But diluting of basic tenets of religion would lead to the destruction of both Christianity and Buddhism. If this were to happen our much cherished spiritual and cultural values would be degenerated to low levels found in the West. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
According to the 2001 Census, Catholics are 6% and other Christians are
8% of the population in Sri Lanka. Christians taken together are less than
7% in our country. Nevertheless no other religious festival in the island is
celebrated with so much feasting, entertainment and extravagance as
Christmas. 
