SCRIPTURE
READINGS (A)
Exodus
17:3-7
The Isaelites in the desert ask Moses for water
Psalm
94
Harden not your hearts as on that day at Massah
Romans
5:1-2, 5-8 The love of God has
been poured into our hearts
John
4:5-42
The dialogue of Jesus and the woman at the well
LENTEN REFLECTIONS
By
the time this newsletter appears Lent will be half over
and if the readers of these notes are at all like their
author a distinct feeling of discomfort will have made
itself felt.
This
may arise from the very obvious effect of having ourselves
actually fasted and as consequence feeling more than usually
hungry .and weak We may have been brought face to face
with an awareness of our own frailty and of our dependence
on bodily nourishment. And that is part of what Lent is
for. On the
other hand our discomfort may arise from the fact that
we have done very little or indeed nothing to meet the
season at all. We may say to ourselves as a schoolboy
once said to me: “Why should I fast if I can give money
to CAFOD or any other cause, without doing without myself?”
Or we may say: “My failure makes me realise
how inadequate I am and surely the humility this induces
is a good thing, so why should I be alarmed? Humility,
like charity covers a multitude of sins”.
There is some truth in both approaches, but they must
seem to us on a little reflection to look rather like
evasions. They also immediately prompt the question; 'Why
fast anyway ?'
All
the great monotheistic religions of the world have advocated
fasting. Indeed the fasting
a good Muslim practices make even our own feeble efforts
in that direction pale into insignificance.
Ramadan
lasts for a month, whereas Ash Wednesday and Good Friday
- the only two occasions in the year when fasting is required
of those under
65 - account between them for only two days.
Even
so for some reason it seems built into the fabric of great
faiths. Why? Jesus in
Matthew 6 censures the Jews not for fasting, but for the
vanity which apparently went
with it. And Jesus began his public ministry with a fast
of forty days, after which
he was hungry. [Matthew 4;2, Luke 4;2] At the heart, therefore,
of Christian fasting
lies not so much any temporal gains or any charity we
may be enabled to dispense,
but the example and precept of Jesus.
Together
with this goes the very human fact that any positive achievement
we may care to name seems to demand as a necessary precondition
a willingness to undergo a certain discipline, which will
mean in effect a willingness to go without things for
the sake of a higher end. Few things that are worth doing
are achieved without the negative
element of some form of self denial.
An
easy going, self indulgent existence is seldom the birthplace
of great achievements. Some form of austerity is built
into success even in this world. And what is true of this
world is even more true of the world to come and of our
relationship with
God; We can of course spoil it all by vain self-advertisement.
But to avoid fasting for fear of vanity is not unlike
avoiding many a good deed for fear of vanity, and where
should we be if we worked on that principle?
Anthony
Meredith SJ
POST
TSUNAMI RELIEF REPORT
JESUITS
- SRI LANKA
21
February 2005
Colombo
- Central Coordinating Office
The
following news item was flashed in our last communication
to keep you informed of the contact numbers of the
Central coordinating office, Colombo.
The
office of the coordinator of the Jesuit Tsunami Relief
and Rehabilitation (JTRR) project, Fr. Anton Pieris, is
almost ready.
It will be functioning in a day or two. The postal address
is: 'Nirmala', 31 Clifford Place, Colombo 4, Sri Lanka.
The email address is: jtrr@sltnet.lk . Telephone: (0094)
Oil 2583483. Mobile: (0094) 0776136148. FAX: (0094) Oil
2585260. Drop 0 before 11 and 77 when calling from outside
Sri Lanka. From now on all correspondence, documents,
projects and this bulletin will be handled by the JTRR
Desk.
Thank
you for you cooperation and the concern extended to us
in many ways. Now the relief and Rehabilitation activities
have reached its second phase, i.e. to launch programmes
of providing ways and means to the affected reestablishing
their livelihood thus making them feel that they are back
to normal life. This was an uphill task for the
field workers to get everyone affected to believe that
their hopes are not shattered forever but to
look for the
silver lining of the dark clouds gathered over their lives.
Batticaloa
The two main resorts of the affected were AAanresa
(a place bordering the Batticaloa lagoon where the Jesuits
conducted their Spiritual A Human Development programmes)
and the parish of St. Sebastians. Thirty five families
continue to remain in Manresa. According to the Government
Agent's office alternate arrangements will be made for
them only in a month's time. Fr. Ranjith Abeyasinghe who
is helping Fr. Gabriel at the parish says that the committees
in the parish render a yeoman service in gathering data
and implementing the decisions taken. The project started
in the parish to help people to get going their livelihood
disrupted by Tsunami seems gathering momentum. According
to the data collected the masons will need Rs: 3000/-
to begin their work and similarly the carpenters need
Rs: 10000/-. The fishermen have varied needs such as 18
feet lagoon or sea canoe some fitted with outboard motors
plus nets, small scale fishermen will need throw nets
and lanterns and accordingly funding also may vary from
10,000/- to 400,0007- .
Trincomalee:
According to latest news the construction of houses in
Trincomalee has been undertaken by N6Os and the need will
be fully taken care of. The Zonal group has thought about
their involvement in health-care programme in a different
way. Many competent groups are taking care of it to the
best of their ability and thus preventing diseases that
come in the wake of such disasters as Tsunami. The innovative
planning of the Zone has come up with the idea of helping
the children who need nourishment to be given for an extended
period of time. This health programme will be carried
out in schools in the interior where the support and care
won't reach easily.
Another
venture is to begin a vocational training centre and the
preliminary steps have been taken to repair the old building
partly destroyed by the tidal waves. Once the centre is
up the Zone can render another important service
to the youth of the area.
Galle:
When
talking about &a\\e an important achievement
by the Government is the restoration of the southern Railway
track within 51 days. According to the facts available
when Tsunami hit the southern coast on 26th December 2004,
95 kilometres of the track were fully damaged, another
40 kms slightly damaged and another 7 kilometre stretch
needed restoration. The restoration work was started on
January 3, 2005 and was brought to an
end on February 21, 2005. This was done in quick time
by the local engineers with the local work force and with
less funding than estimated by foreign companies. Hats
off to Sri Lanka Railways! Hope other restoration work
will
follow the inspiration!
The
Galle Zone is busy with allocating scholarships to students
in areas where the student population is badly affected.
The initial steps seem to be proceeding slow but with
a few more field workers it will gain its momentum.
Fr.
Joe Xavier, S.J., the Secretary of JESA (Jesuits in Social
Action) of the South Asian Assistancy is at present
in the Zone sharing his expertise in the field and he
will be an asset to the field workers. The Zone has also
undertaken to provide push-carts to those venders who
lost their equipment in the disaster and similarly getting
the damaged three wheelers repaired. Getting livelihood
of the affected people up again is of vital importance
without which all the attempts towards rehabilitation
will not be effective. Personal concern and interest
shown to them in the attempt to improve their livelihood
restores self worth and confidence. The experience
shows
us that each has to be met as a unique individual and
treated so. This individual attention is difficult
and painful but it is fully human.
Anton
Pieris, S. J. - "Jesuit Tsunami"^jtrr@sltnet.lk>
FARM
STREET CHURCH APPEAL
Our
Tsunami appeal in aid of relief and reconstruction in
devastated areas on the island of Sri Lanka resulted in
donations exceeding£20,000.
To this sum will be added another £4,000
in tax refunds from Gift Aid. Heartfelt thanks are due
to all who contributed to this inspiring Christian response.
This help has been sent to the Jesuits working in Sri
Lanka and we have received a thank you from Fr Chryso
Pieris SJ who is the Socius (Assistant) to the Provincial
Superior. It might be timely also to add that, quite separately
from donations being made through Jesuit organisations,
parishes, schools and other works in the UK , the British
Province of the Society of Jesus has allocated
£250,000 from
its own resources for use in Jesuit-led relief programmes
in the entire region affected by the tsunami. The
parish appeal will continue as long as funds are needed
and we are working in partnership with Jesuit
Missions, the Jesuit
Refugee Service (JRS) and Young
British Jesuit Alumni (YBJA). Donations
are chanelled directly through the Society of Jesus to
the locations in Sri Lanka which we have targeted for
help.Cheques may be made to Farm Street Church and there
are Gift Aid envelopes available. May God continue to
bless our efforts.
