"Don't cast your pearls before swine"

Fernando, R. (2021, December 13). The pigs, the dogs, and the pearl of the Indian ocean. The Morning. https://www.themorning.lk/articles/179002

Fernando, R. (2021, December 9). What to do with the pearl, the pigs & the dogs, my dear citizens? Colombo Telegraph. Fernando, R. (2021, December 9). What to do with the pearl, the pigs & the dogs, my dear citizens? Colombo Telegraph. https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/what-to-do-with-the-pearl-the-pigs-the-dogs-my-dear-citizens/

"Don't Cast Your Pearls Before Swine"

    Recently, I have been encountering people who seem to share one common feeling towards the current situation of the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka. Among them are highly learned personnel, university professors, senior lecturers, administrators, teachers, religious leaders, social analysts, thinkers, friends, and colleagues. All of them seem to be hinting quite overtly at one and the same thing: ‘This country is gone to the dogs. There is no way out. They ruin it and eat it up, the dirty pigs.’ It is this common opinion that reminds me of the proverb, “Don’t cast your pearls before swine” which has its origin in the Gospel of Mathew in the New Testament of the Bible, “Give not that which is holy unto dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine…” (Mathew 7:6, KJV).

    Even though such a gem of wisdom has been passed on to us for 2000 odd years, one could possibly argue that the truth of this wise saying is more justified today especially when it is seen against Sri Lanka in the current geopolitical contextual backdrop, than whatever may have been its original cause in history. It is needless, however, to cite examples here to substantiate this claim for two reasons: Firstly, because they are being rigorously and vehemently exposed and analyzed by the country’s popular media 24 X 7; secondly, because any such effort to replicate them here could and would definitely be looked at through colored glasses as catering (kade yanawa) to some vested interest or other. For better or for worse, it is, in fact, the bitter truth that almost all the news providers in the country today, be it TV Channels, Print Media, or Social Media, have their own agendas.

    The points of this essay, therefore, are the following four assumptions which are taken for granted as factual. 1) There is a famous country known as the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. 2) It is thrown. 3) It is thrown to the pigs. 4)It is gone to the dogs. What shall we do, then? It is indeed the main purpose of this essay. What shall we do with Sri Lanka, the Peal of the Indian Ocean, thrown to the pigs and gone to the dogs? This is perhaps the question that practically every intelligent Sri Lankan living in this country or outside it is asking at this moment in history. 

    Answering this question needs an explanation and it could be done better by understanding the following scenario. One day a motivational speaker asks the audience the following question after showing them a five-thousand-rupee note. Who wants this? Understandably, all the hands show up. Then, for the second time, he crunches the note in his hand and asked the same question again. Who wants this note, now? Once again, all the hands show up as quickly as possible. Then, for the third time, he tramples the note under his foot and asks the same question once again. Now, who wants this note? Still, almost all the hands show up except for a few indecisive ones raised reluctantly halfway through. Then, for the last time, the speaker shreds the note into pieces and asks the same question again. Well, who wants it, now? All the hands which were very enthusiastic till that moment drop lifeless as the audience sinks back in their seats in dismay. While many start murmuring against the speaker, a courageous few vent their frustration out aloud spontaneously. Is it not the fate of the Pearl of the Indian Ocean thrown to the pigs and gone to the dogs at this moment in its history?

    It is commonly known that pearls, as they are precious, should be given to those who know their worth and appreciate their beauty. By throwing them to the pigs instead, we not only devalue the pearls but we neither enhance the value of the pigs. For the pigs do not use them for the right purpose they are meant to be used for. However, there is something more here that we often miss as in the case of the five thousand rupee note of the motivational speaker. That is, no matter whether it is thrown to the pigs or trampled upon or muddied with dirt, the pearls always remain pearls until their pearliness is ruined and robbed. Imagine for a second; supposing actually you see a pearl thrown to the pigs. Do you not pick it up even if it happens to be in the dirtiest place of the piggery? Likewise, it should be kept in mind that no matter how precious are the pearls that are thrown at the pigs, the pigs always remain pigs. Think for a second again; if you find a pearl under the foot of a pig, do you carry that pig in your arms, pet it, and put it on your pillow? I am afraid, not! Rather, one would perhaps barbeque the pig to celebrate the joy of finding a pearl.

    There is another aspect here we often tend to overlook. I believe a better understanding of it would definitely lead people towards certain progressive measures needed to be taken concerning these two areas: 1) A thorough cleaning of the pearls found in the piggery to re-establish their original beauty;  2) Right barbequing the pigs to satisfy one’s desired taste. It is important therefore to understand that neither the pearls nor the pigs change their nature from being pearls or pigs as the giving-up of the pearliness or the pigginess is impossible. It is a sure impossibility because the moment they manage to do so they cease to be pearls or pigs and the entire initial proposition becomes invalid. What is needed therefore is to understand that none of them, neither the pearls nor the pigs, are the doers of the action. Rather it is a third party who is the agent who decides either to throw the pearls to the pigs or to make a necklace out of them. Or having found the pearls under the feet of the pigs, either to leave them there or to pick them up and cleanse them. Or, having collected the pearls, either to pet the pigs in the bedroom or to have them barbequed in celebration of the pearls found. It is the same when it comes to the Pearl of the Indian Ocean, the nation of Sri Lanka as well.

    Unless this third party makes its decision about the Pearl wisely, correctly, and quickly, the Pearl risks being shifted from ‘thrown to the pigs’ to ‘gone to the dogs’. Either way, the Pearl will always remain a pearl but in a place where it does not belong, in the piggery or in the kennel.

Passing Last Days of Another Pioneering Jesuit...

 

Ignatian Year Jubilee Song

For the occasion of 500 years of conversion (1521-2021) of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the Founder of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

Ignatian Year Jubilee Song

Friends in the Lord we’ve come beneath thy banner Quincentenary of your fall so blessed You’re our inspiration, our Founder, Holy Father Saint Ignatius, we hail... All anew in Christ, you saw upon your cannoned knee Willed for things of higher with your heart on fire To serve God and His people for His Greater Glory Saint Ignatius, we hail... Loyal to our roots and treasures you’ve imparted Nobler, humbler, stronger we grow with life’s trials Purer keep our souls to make the Heaven surer Saint Ignatius, we hail... Lyrics and Melody by Fr. Rashmi M. Fernando, SJ Sung By Jesuit Candidates 2021 Music by Asela P. Fernando Digital Mixing & Mastering by Amila Dilhan (A3 Life Recording Studio) Visuals by Dimanthinie De Silva

Crucial Conversations

Fernando, R. (2021, February). Crucial conversations. In V. Jadav (Ed.), Jivan, News and views of Jesuits in India: Go, set the web on fire! (p.28). 

 Crucial Conversations

        Freedom with responsibility is how the vow of obedience makes sense to me as a Jesuit, 16 years in the vocation and 3 years to the Priesthood. No matter what the responsibility rested on me thus far, while the aspect of inner freedom of the obedience I seek and enjoy the most, the responsibility part of it makes me accountable to my Superiors and, through them, to the universal Church at large, in all I say and do in my life-mission as a Jesuit priest. It is nevertheless this freedom with responsibility which for me makes the vow of obedience either our way or a limit of exercising my fullest self in freedom. Let me explain. 

        The Ignatian spirituality and formation right from my Novitiate have disciplined me to look to the Person of my superior not as a human being, subject to errors and miseries, but as the Christ who is supremely good, all-knowing, and faultless. Moreover, I should always be prepared and quick to do so when it is needed to seek out reasons to defend what the superior commands or is inclined towards, rather than reasoning out against to disapprove of it. This points towards the common Ignatian understanding that whatever the superior enjoins is the command of God and His holy will which should be executed blindly and without any inquiry, but with the force and promptitude of the will, eager to obey. 

        When trying to see that invisible God of my faith and His holy will in my Superior whom I daily see fully flesh and fully alive (or do not do so that often) in corridors and common places in my community; when the Superior has little or absolutely no time to listen to his subject; or even at the tiniest of the time found, the apprehension of the gravity, the depth, and the importance of the issue shared, the understanding of the emotions and the affects that the subject undergoes, the active listening and the personal empathy, etc. do not seem to evoke from the part of the superior; when the confidentiality is ruptured and/or related comments are passed at common forums in the community; when the workaholism of the Superior esteems little or no freedom of the subject whatsoever, rather it curtails the latter’s time for self, socialization, etc.; it is often in such instances that the crucial conversation had meaning and is felt very much a necessity in my vocation as a Jesuit. To see God and His holy will in such instances becomes not only an internal struggle against the image of God of my faith but also the obedience in executing the entrusted mission under such circumstances often making it more functional, limited, and heady rather than charitable, bountiful, and hearty. 

සන්තන්තෝනි මුණිඳුනේ... A hymn dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua

සන්තන්තෝනි මුණිඳුනේ... A hymn dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua 

නැතිවූ දේ සොයා සුව පිළිසරණය පතා ඔබ ලඟට එන සැමා අත්නොහරිනා මුණිදුනි ඔබ ළඟ වැටී හද බැතියෙන් නමදිනා එන සැමදෙන සනසනා අප මුණිතුමා සන්තන්තෝනි මුණිදුනේ අප සුදුවරයානනේ දිලිදුන්ගේ සරණෙනී අන්තෝනි මුණිදුනේ සන්තන්තෝනි මුණිඳුනේ... දෙවි සමිදුන් ඉදිරියේ අප හදවත් බබලවා නපුරෙන් අප රැක දෙනා අප මුණිතුමා හඬමින් ඔබ ළඟ වැටි මුළු හදින්ම අයදිනා ඒ සැමදෙන සනසනා අප මුණිතුමා සන්තන්තෝනි මුණිඳුනේ... ඉල්ලු දේ දෙනා අප යනමග රැ ක ගෙනා දෙවියන්ට යදිමිනා අප මුණිතුමා හද බැතියෙන් අයදිනා ඒ කවුදැයි අදුනනා අප සැමදෙන රැකදෙනා අප මුණිතුමා සන්තන්තෝනි මුණිඳුනේ...

Lyrics by Rev. Fr. Rashmi Madusanka Fernando, SJ Sung by Amila Dilhan & Priyal Dissanayake Music by Amila Dilhan (A3 Life Recording Studio) Visuals by Dimanthinie De Silva Courtesy to Precious Movies Production & Internet for Images and Footages

Easter Amidst Bombings and Pandemics

Easter Amidst Bombings and Pandemics

        Easter is where there is despair. This is what the experience of the women and the disciples, including our Blessed mother as St. Ignatius would put it, at the First Easter at the empty tomb. When their so-called Saviour was crucified, they lost their hope. To add insult to injury, even the faint hope they had of seeing His broken and torn body laid inside the tomb while running to it early in the Easter Sunday morning, was denied to them upon seeing the tomb empty, the stone rolled open, the swaddling clothes of Him wrapped up where His legs were, and not finding Him inside the tomb. But, according to the scriptures, that’s when the resurrection has meaning and the Resurrected is indeed witnessed. In a gist, Easter is where there is despair, where there is emptiness, and where there is vulnerability in the utmost sense of the word.

        On Easter Sunday 2019, the day of this cruel incident at St. Sebastian Church, Katuwapitiya, I rushed to the church (since I was already in Negombo at that time), and upon seeing the raw bloodbath inside, I was trying to control my tears, anger, as well as despair out of which I found myself asking, “Why, God? Why is it that it had to be this way?” Then, the turned pages of the Lectionary in the pulpit took my attention. There were human flesh, hair, blood stains, and glass pieces all over them. What attracted me the most was the Scripture verses I read amidst them. Though it was during the Easter Sunday Morning Mass that the attack took place, the pages of the book at the time of the bombing had turned back to the readings of the Easter Vigil Mass which said: “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth”; “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” Ever since I saw that, I was consoled as much as I was in bewilderment. Even though I was determined not to capture and keep any photograph of the massacre that my eyes had then seen inside the church, if I have captured anything on my own in my cellphone camera then, it is the following snap of these Scripture pages on the lectern.

        History has proven that one disaster is indeed worse and the other has never been any better either. As it is said, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the current global lockdown situation in and around Easter 2020 might become worse before it gets better. In repeated events such as these, the above Scripture verses amidst a real human ambush, on the day of the Resurrection of our Lord, and inside a church can be seen as nothing but a paradox. Or can we make sense of the triple gems of easter: hope, faith, and love? The sure hope where there is despair, uncertainty, fear, and insecurity; the sure faith where there is nothing to cling onto, including any advanced development of science whatsoever; the sure love where there is an immense need for it, irrespective of any human-made distinction whatsoever. As these pages witness it, it is in that emptiness that God created the world, it is in that vulnerability that Abraham found God in faith, and it is in that despair that God led the Israelites out from the Egyptian bondage. 

        From one Easter to another, life has never been easy for those who had lived the real flesh and blood experience of the Easter Sunday bombings in 2019 at St. Anthony’s Church, Kochchikade, Colombo, St. Sebastian’s Church, Katuwapitiya, Negombo, and Sion’s Church, Batticaloa, in addition to several tourist hotels in the country. It has ever been easy for those around the world at this very moment are fighting the deadly battle against the Coronavirus. As easter approaches, therefore, my heart goes to survivors of those attacks, the wounded, the traumatized, and those who continue to grieve over their lost ones, be it daddy, mummy, husband, wife, son, daughter, grandma, grandpa, friend, neighbor, relative; to those thousands of people who laid their lives in the fight against the Coronavirus; to those who are at the frontline risking their lives for the good of others; to those who are under lockdown and not being able to practice their religious observances, especially participating in the Holy Mass at this time of the Holy Triduum of the Paschal Mystery. 

        I honor a word here about St. Sebastian Church, Katuwapitiya, where alone the death toll of the bombing mounted to 115. It has already given four Priestly Vocations, counting not the one currently in formation, to the Society of Jesus in Sri Lanka. I am the fourth one and I am ever grateful to God that he has chosen me for a reason which I am trying to understand every day amidst all that happens in and around me. Please click here to read more about the relief activities done for the bomb victims at Katuwapitiya, Negombo

        May this blessed season of Easter, amidst all its despair, bring us that hope, faith, and love that the Risen Lord alone could give us so that we may be able to be born anew and be rebaptized in our closeness to God, to fellow human beings, and to our Mother Earth by realizing, repenting, and rectifying our fallen ways in the Light of the Easter!

To My Eucharistic Lord...