"Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children
of God."
by His Grace Rt. Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis
|
He was on earth to reconcile God and man and man and man
|
Once again we celebrate Christmas at the time when the dark clouds of
war are enveloping our country. As we sing and rejoice in some parts of
the country there is bitter suffering and agony in others. Apart from
the war there are other factors that disturb the normalcy of life and
even threaten the life of citizens. There are thousands still left
homeless and forced by circumstances to flee into the jungles.
Children are deprived of education and many others are displaced from
their homes and work places.
While all this should not deprive us from celebrating the feast of
Christmas reasonably commemorating the birth of Jesus, our celebration
should not simply be the commemoration of a historic event nor should it
be just the celebration of a birth. It should rather be a renewal of our
commitment to Jesus Christ and to His mission on earth.
The mission of Jesus was that of reconciliation. He was on earth to
reconcile God and man and man and man. To this effect He showed us that
our God is a kind and sympathetic Father.
He also showed that all of us, irrespective of our colour, creed,
caste or any other consideration are brothers and sisters of one
another. As such love should be the guiding principle of all human
beings.
He proved his conviction by laying down his life not only for his
friends but also for his enemies.
 Thus, especially those of us who profess to be Christians cannot
forget our role as men and women committed to bring about reconciliation
where there is strife and dissension. There is no secret about the fact
that there is dissension and division among the inhabitants of our dear
land.
We are divided on race and religion not to mention caste. And sadly
there are persons among us who foster such division to promote their own
selfish ends.
It is time that we realize the folly of division and engage in
building unity and harmony among all those who are entitled to live in
this blessed Sri Lanka. We could do this only by building mutual
confidence and not by force and suppression.
Unless the forces for good join and work together at this crucial
juncture of our country's history the forces of evil are bound to
prevail.
As Christians we are privileged to have within our community members
of both the major racial groups in this country.
I believe this gives us a greater responsibility to play the role of
mediation among the two groups.
Let us resolve during this Christmas to be true imitators of Christ
and be committed peacemakers so that we may really be God's children
seeing the words of Christ "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall
be called the children of God." (Mt 5:9) fulfilled in us. |
