By Basil Fernando –
So you are now a saint
Do remain human, all the same!
You understood our times
Our need to understand and respond
To change;
To have windows and doors open
For all winds to blow through
Daring to face diversity
As a friend and not a foe;
Talk, talk, you said
And ushered in the great council,
The Vatican two.
A great moment
When a force greater than
The Niagara Falls came down
Untying the spirit of humans,
To rise from their bondages
To rediscover the sisterhood
With all forces of nature;
To break the knots of decadence
Uprooting ourselves from utilitarianism
Which caused
Greatest unhappiness
of the greatest number.
Now it is time for your second miracle
Bring back again the living spirit of
Those great documents
And that great council
And let the people again
Cry out for an open Church
Where love will prevail,
Where fear has no place
Where all embrace all
To end destruction
And make way
For another flowering of
the human spirit.
A resurrection, yes
A resurrection, please!
Father S.J.Emmanuel / May 3, 2014
thank you Mr.Basil Fernando for that well written lines in admiration the great Pope John XXIII – whom I had met by hhis last Birthday visit to Propaganda Fidei, Rome. within a short space of time he gave us a new Pentecost for our times but we have not benefitted much because those given responsability to put into practice those documents were not spiirit-filled. Aggiornamento, reading the sign of the times, self-renewal etc are unknown to them.
But with Pope Francis we have another charismatic figure – may his visit to Sri Lanka inspire the church toreform itself and become a true Instrument of peace among peoples
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gamarala / May 3, 2014
Yes, thank you, BF for some lovely lines about a lovely man – for that was what John XXIII was, a lovely man,
Having said that, and whilst it may seem ungracious in the context, could I indulge in some nit-picking with the first two lines of your contribution? You say, ‘So you are now a saint’. No, it is only now that he is officially being proclaimed a saint. The Church teaching is that all who go to heaven, regardless of official proclamation by the Church, is a saint. So, he’s been a saint all this time.
In your second line, you say, ‘Do remain human, all the same’. Technically, once he left this world John XXIII will have ceased to be human. But more importantly, John XXIII achieved sainthood not through being other than human. He did so by being human. He achieved it by realising in substantial measure, the potential of his humanity.
When clergymen (or any other persons we admire) fall from grace, we try to be charitable and say, ‘He’s only human’. We invoke our human nature to plead in mitigation for our lapses. But we seldom recognise that those who achieve great things are also human. We fail to recognise that the capacity to succeed and the tendency to fail are both part of us being human. Being human we are prone to fall down but by the same token, by being human, we are also capable of great things.
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Thondamannar / May 3, 2014
John XXIII was the title of the infamous “anti pope” in the 15th Century……….similar to S.J.Emmanuel who is detested by the non gullible Catholics. He was and is the “BEAST” of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka.
With the demise of Pope Pius XII, John Cocteau was the Grand Master of Priory of Scion who himself had the title of John XXIII. When Cardinal
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was elected Pope he too took the Title John XXIII.
Was this to appease the Priory of Sion OR was the Pope too a member of the Priory of Sion OR he agreed with the beliefs of the Priory of Sion that he took the same title of a former anti – pope which was an anethema to the Vatican & the Catholic Church?
The Appostellic letter issued by John XXIII in 1960 has reveresed many positions held previously by the Catholic Church.
Ah…… ha…….. in such a scenario this opportunistic scum equated the status of a ruthless terrorists name Prabakaran to that of the Great Redeemer.
Despite such comparison being exposed in the British News Papers the LONDON TIMES and INDEPENDENT, the Vatican & his ecclestiastical superiors in Sri Lanka as well as those in the Bishop Conference in Sri Lanka remains DEAF & MUTE & the gullible Catholics are ready to worship Prabakaran.
It would not be a surprise if a Church of Prabakaran is formed and scum S.J.Emmanuel become its Pope for the Tamil worshippers of Prabakaran.
IT IS UNFORTUNATE GOD & THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS TOLERATED TODATE FOR MAKING SUCH A SACRILEGE STATEMENT.
Basil Fernando and this remorseless megalomanich S.J.Emmanuel appear to be birds of feather.
In the eyes of the Catholics, Here is this scum of an Emmanuel who made such a vile comparison of a ruthless terrorists to that of the Great Redeemer venerated by millions throughout the world.
What the Pope John XXIII GAVE this rascal the new Pentecost on his last birthday for his time remains a mystery as his dark logical conclusions by his subversion of historical realities.
It is to amazement of the Catholics that such a heretic has not been brought to book by his ecclesstiastical superiors ranging from local Bishops & by the Bishop’s conference of Sri Lanka. Lo and behold,by the Bishop’s conference of Asia of which Emmanuel the scum was a Theological advisor. Wonder whether the advice was LTTE Tiger ideology.
Despite of the Vatican Council 2 conducted by John XXIII, the Vatican & the Catholic Church continue to pull the wool over the faithfuls face by hiding the truth and thereby permitting scums like Emmanuel to run amok & remain in robes and use the Church for terrorists activities in Sri Lanka.
Has Emmanuel blackmailed the Vatican & The Church that he is yet at large & thereby permitting other Bishops & Clergy in Sri Lanka to pursue activities and indulgences he propagated ?
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