Cardinal Benjamin Thomas Cooray OMI

Fr. Benjamin Cooray had just returned to St. Vincent's Home, Maggona after an outing to Beruwala Light House with his Oblate seminarians on January 5, 1945 to learn that he had a telegram calling him to Colombo where the happy news awaited him that Pope Pius XII had appointed him Co-adjuator Archbishop of Colombo with the right of suceession to His Grace Archbishop Jean-Marie Masson OMI who a year or so earlier had requested for a co-adjutor as a result of his failing health. The news concerning Fr. Benjamin Cooray OMI had been overwhelmingly received with joy. The appointment had been officially made in Rome by the Pope on December 14, 1945. At this news he notes in his diary: "Having consulted His Grace and the Vicar of Missions, accepted the appointment, offering myself to the Heart of Jesus through Mary". With the news going public, he humbly writes in his diary the day following:

"The news is out. Plenty of congratulations. It would have been the same for anyone else. Who even thinks now of those numberless Bishops who were similarly congratulated, but are no more now. Or what use was their worldly greatness for eternity. The only thing that counts is to do well God's will and to work for Him alone. I accept the post not for the honour quid hac ad aetenitatem but for the labour". It was hard for him to leave the Oblate Seminary where he had been Superior for the last eight and a half years and now having to move to Archbishop's House.

Fr. Cooray then journeys to the Rosarian Monastery in Tholagatty, Jaffna where his acquaintance Fr.B.A. Thomas OMI is the founder and makes a retreat of sevenfull days in preparation for his Episcopal consecration. On his return, he took canonical possession of Office as Co-adjutor by making the Profession of Faith and Oath of fidelity to the Pope in the Sacred Heart Chapel of the Bishop's House on March 4, 1946. Having received the interim document from the Delegate Apostolic, Archbishop Leo Kierkels CP from Delhi to proceed with the consecration before the arrival of the Papal Bull, the ceremony was eventually held on the March 7, 1946 at St. Lucia's Cathedral, Kotahena with the Apostolic Delegate as the chief consecrator and with Bishops Edmund Peiris OMI of Chilaw and Bernard Regno OSB of Kandy as co-consecrators. On the very day of his consecration, he was appointed the Vicar General of the Archdiocese. Due to the sudden demise of the Archbishop Jean-Marie Masson OMI, the Coadjutor Cooray became the sixth Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Colombo, being the first ever Sri Lankan to be called to this highest ecclesiastical office in the country.

His diary shows that immediately following the days of his consecration, he had been celebrating Mass at his beloved Scholasticate where he was superior for over eight years, then at St. Joseph's College, his Alma Mater where he was also a staff-member; then at St. Bernard's Major Seminary where he taught for several years and finally at St. Aloysius's seminary where for 12 years he had been a junior seminarian. It was from there, that he attended the Colombo University and became the first-ever seminarian to gain a secular degree (B.A) from the London University. His religious life then began with his entry into the Oblate Novitiate on first January 1924 and making his first religious vows on January 25, 1925 as a full-fledged Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI). His superiors having seen in Bro. Benjamin Cooray, a very promising vocation, taking into consideration his intellectual abilities, spirit of holiness, prayer and obedience and other human qualities, had decided to send him as the first ever Oblate seminarian to Rome for his further religious, missionary and priestly formation. Having pursued his studies brilliantly at the Angelicum University of the Dominicans he had earned doctorates both in Philosophy and Theology. Ordained by the Vicar General of Rome, Cardinal Basilio Pompilj on June 23, 1929 and having celebrated his first mass in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Mary Major , he returned to Sri Lanka in July 1931. His first appointment was to the staff of St. Joseph's College, followed by appointments to the Catholic University Hostel as warden and finally to Oblate Scholasticate from where he was called to be the Co-adjutor to Archbishop Masson.

Archbishop Cooray OMI was created a cardinal at the public consistory held on February 25, 1965, the final year of the Vatican II. Having been the chief shepherd of the Archdiocese, ats chief administrator and spiritual head for nearly 30 years from July 1947 to September 2, 1976, he retired to his home at "Emmaus" where he lived for another 12 years before his demise. Cardinal Cooray was the fifth Asian to be raised to the honour of Cardinal and the third in the rank of the Oblate Congregation worldwide and the first ever SriLankan. Cardinal Cooray was preceded by Cardinal Joseph-Hippolyte Guibert OMI, the great architect of the imposing Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris (created Cardinal in December 1873) and Cardinal Jean-Marie Rodrigue Villeneuve OMI, the Archbishop of Quebec, Canada (created Cardinal in March 1933). At the time of his demise, Cardinal Cooray was 63 years an Oblate Religious, 59 years a priest, 42 years in the Episcopal rank and 23 years a cardinal. In his last will he had expressed his desire that his mortal remains be interred in the crypt of the Basilica. This edifice is a great accomplishment of the Servant of God besides it being a great symbol of his personal devotion to the Mother of God, to whom he wished that others too turn, their hearts. Amidst great difficulties and challenges, he had persevered for 24 years to raise this monument which was to fulfill a vow made by his predecessor to honour Our Lady of Lanka who saved our mother land from the perils of World War II. Together with Paul VI Centre in the heart of Colombo for the co-ordination of all Lay Apostolates in the archdiocese, these two ventures were two of the major dreams of Cardinal Cooray.

His Episcopal Coat of Arms carried the words of the Jesus in the Gospel "Ministrare non Ministrari" : to serve and not to be served. Besides, it carried also the words of Jesus uttered in the synagogue of his hom-town of Nazareth: "Pauperes Evangelizantur": the poor are evangelized. No wonder as a young seminarian faced with a choice, he embraced the charism of St. Eugene de Mazenod, the founder of 'the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who desired that his missiolaries leave nothing undared to evangelize the poor and who chose Sri Lanka as one of his first missions sending his Oblates here in 1847. Cardinal Cooray had chosen the membership of the Oblate Congregation for as his founder, he ha an unbounded love for Mary Immaculate. It is in this love that made him welcome the Pilgrim Virgin statue that toured worldwide to SriLanka in 1950 and got the sculptor who carved that wonderful statue to also do the statue of Our Lady of Lanka that stays crowned by his own hands since February 6, 1974. As Archbishop he worked towards' the establishment of a local clergy, invited 12 womens' and eight mens' congregations to work in the archdiocese. He had innovative ideas about priestly formation and was very much dedicated to the sanctification of his clergy. The intermediate seminary of Haputale and the work connected with the opening of National Seminary of Kandy bear witness to this zeal. The Retreat House in Tewatte together with its two contemplative convents of nuns in the precints of the Basilica, the Rosarians and the Poor Clares, are clear symbols of the spiritual ideals he had set for priests and religious. To cater to youth formation, he invited the Christian Brothers to open a Boy's Town in Diyagala and the Salesians to open a technical school in Ettukkala, Negombo. One cannot forget his pioneering missionary undertakings in the north western province of Anuradhapura where thanks to him, poor farming families whom he planted there and nurtured in faith and life during the settlements era, became the foundation of what thirty years after, became the diocese of Anuradhapura.

From the days of his priesthood, sanctity was his sole aim in life and he was intent on spending his whole life, his total energy, time and God-given gifts to serve the beloved archdiocese that God had entrusted to him. Cardinal Cooray is well known for his kindness, humility and compassion, resilience, his spirit of prayer and faith that assisted him in difficult and trying times such as the schools take-over in the sixtees, political/cultural upheavals in the country and the problems that began to afflict the Church following the false interpretation of Vatican II. As Cardinal, he had the interests of the Asian Church too in mind and being the member of important Vatican dicasteries rendered a yeoman service to the universal Church. In Sri Lanka, he was much respected as a religious leader and a true patriot. He had a profound respect and love for the person of the Pope and the Holy See and saw to it that orthodoxy in doctrine was never put at risk. History will remember Cardinal Cooray OMI as a priest, a bishop and a cardinal who lived up to the ideals of episcopacy and loved the Church in the way he served it. Indeed, the Servant of God accomplished well his historical task of' guiding the destinies of the Church of Sri Lanka through the vicissitudes of the post- independent era.

YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS ALL YOUR NEEDS

We should place our trust fully in God.

Jesus explains how we should trust in God our loving Father, because, He will never forget us.

Jesus shows the birds and the flowers. These simple creations of God; do they ever go to work to earn money and strive to live a good life? They do not, but God Himself provides for them. Jesus asks, why do we worry?He says we must not worry about tomorrow or the future after that. He says to first think about the Kingdom of Heaven. Do good and always be blameless. Because like St. Paul puts it, God is our judge and He knows what is in our hearts.

Do I always seek God's Will before my own? How much do I trust in God, like a little child? What have I done to build the Kingdom?

Let us try to train ourselves, to always seek God's Holy will first, and to do whatever we can, in order to build His kingdom.

Ash Wednesday

Lent is an invitation for all of us to get ready to once again remember Jesus' death and resurrection. The most important part of his life on earth was his death, Jesus died for us, to take away our sins, so that we could go to heaven.

We enter into Lent (The Passion of Jesus) on Ash Wednesday. We can use this time to pray and do little sacrifices to purify our souls, doing so will make us truly ready to celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday well.

Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are small (nothing) and sinful before God our Father. Ashes are applied on our foreheads to remind us that our bodies came from the earth and will go back to the earth. It is a sign of being humble and turning back to God.

The Man and The Satyr

Once upon a time on a bitter winter's night in a dark and lonely forest, was a Man, lost and trying to find his way out.

Suddenly a Satyr (a spirit of the woods with a man's chest and goats legs, ears, tail and horns - it doesn't exist, of course) appeared to him. "Are you lost, my friend?" asked the Satyr. "Yes," replied the Man. "And c c c cold too. Could you please lead me out of this forest?"

The Satyr instead offered to give him a lodging for the night, and then guide him out of the forest safely in the morning. "It is too dangerous to go any farther tonight," said the Satyr.

As he followed the Satyr to his home, the Man tried to keep himself warm by cupping both his hands against his mouth and blowing into them.

"What are you doing that for?" said the Satyr.

"My hands are numb with the cold and my breath warms them up," said the Man.

They soon reached the Satyr's home. And before long the Satyr put a smoking dish of porridge before his guest.

This time the Man raised his spoon to his mouth and began blowing on it. "And what are you doing that for?" said the Satyr.

"The porridge is too hot, and I am using my breath to cool it."

"Out you go!" said the Satyr in disgust, sending out his guest to once again face the cold and dark forest. "I will have nothing to do with a man like you who can blow hot and cold with the same breath!"

Saints Montanus, Lucius and Companions

Emperor Valerian tortured and punished the Christians during the days of the early Church. He had allowed a Roman officer to put St. Cyprian to death in September 258.

The Roman officer himself died soon after and the new official, Solon, was nearly killed by some rebels. He suspected that they tried to kill him in revenge for the death of St. Cyprian and arrested eight innocent people.

They were all Christians; mostly deacons, priests and bishops. Each of them had been a devoted follower of St. Cyprian. These Christians were taken down into dark dungeons where they found others whom they knew.

These deep dungeons were dirty and damp and the high walls surrounded the group. They realized that they would soon be put to death. The Christians were kept many months in the prison.

They were made to work during the day and were often kept without food and water for no reason.The cruel treatment, made these Christians grow close together and they helped one another bear their sufferings. The ordinary people protected the bishops, priests and deacons at whom the emperor's cruelty was specially aimed at.

When the Christians were finally called to the place of execution, each was allowed to speak. Montanus, who was tall and strong, spoke bravely to the entire Christians crowd. He told them to be true to Jesus and to die rather than give up the faith.

Lucius, who was small and poor in health, walked quietly to the place where he was to die. He was weak from the hard months in prison. In fact, he had to lean on two friends who helped him to the place where the executioner waited.The people who watched asked him to remember them when he went to heaven.

As each of the Christians were beheaded one after another, the Christians who watched became braver and stronger. They wept for those who suffered such injustice. But they were also filled with joy when they realized that these martyrs would bless them from heaven.

Montanus, Lucius and their companions willingly died for their faith in Jesus in 259.

Private Universities And Cooperation of Private Sector in Education

Sometime back the Former Minister of Education in SriLanka, Mr. Bandula Gunawardena showed the importance of mustering the support of the Private Sector for University Education. Then Minister Bandula Gunawardena said that the Private Universities are a must for the development of the country. He went further to mention that political hypocrisy of some parties and politicians had hindered the setting up of Private Universities in SriLanka. Mr. Luxman Kirielle, the Present Minister of Higher Education in Sri Lanka and the then Kandy District UNP MP, too expressed the cooperation of their party for the Government to establish Private Universities in Sri Lanka. Both of them highlighted the collosal expenditure the parents have to bear to send their children abroad for University Education. It is common knowledge that over billions of rupees of foreign exchange are going out of the country.

There are some sections opposing the setting up of Private Universities. It would be important to see what is behind their thinking. The power base of some of these political parties is the State Universities. It is no secret that the leftist political parties attempt to make State Universities their power stations to build up political empires. They manipulate these Institutions of Higher Learning by making use of University students and even try to destabilize the administrative structures. A lot of publicity was given in the papers recently regarding this phenomenon.

Socio-economic Situation

The hue and cry of some who oppose private universities is "Don't Privatise Universities" and "Don't sell out higher education." I suppose that they have not understood the difference between privatisation of University and establishment of Private Universities. Most of the countries in the world including China have opted for the establishment of Private Universities.As Mr. Bandula Gunawardena said , "Every sound mind agrees that a country needs Private Universities for its development." Establishment of Private Universities does not mean privatisation of State Universities. When I look at the Socio-economic situation in Sri Lanka, the establishment of Private Universities is a must. We know the percentage of students who qualify to enter the Universities and out of that a very small percentage gets the chance to enter these institutions. Some continue to vie for University Education by repeating the Examinations over and over again. Those who can afford,they go abroad. We can easily find out the thousands of students going out of the country after in Senior High School to Universities in the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, and even countries like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Russia and China. We see how foreign universities come and fish around to get students from Sri Lanka to their universities. Some open up institutions here and make money. How many of us object to this phenomenon?

Many parents make a lot of sacrifices. Some sell their properties to send their children abroad for studies. Having sent them they are anxious and worried because they are far away from their children. All these could be avoided if Private Universities are established making it possible for those who can afford  to frequent them. Foreign exchange will remain in the country.

Healthy Competition

The concern of some of the leftist politicians and even Medical Doctors is that it would destroy the chances of some students obtaining higher education. On the contrary it will enhance the opportunities to enter State Universities as the run and the rush to State Universities will be reduced significantly with the intake by Private Universities. This too will avoid students already qualified and not admitted to State Universities to embark immediately on a Higher Education programme without wasting their time and energy in repeating these examinations. The batches that follow will have better chances to enter university education. Parents who can afford small amounts, will invest money in their own country saving foreign exchange that would flow out otherwise. The healthy competition created between the Private and the Public Sectors will act as a catalyst to improve the standards of both Public and Private Universities. Therefore establishment of Private Universities will help indirectly the poor students and also the creation of institutions of quality and excellence. The Government can intervene and get these private institutions to give scholarships to deserving students. Some of the Private Institutions are already giving scholarships to deserving poor students.

The Government should monitor the facilities, the content of curricula and the structure of fees in the Private Universities so as to persuade and encourage them to maintain standards, lest the unscrupulous entrepreneurs will exploit the students and parents to make money at expense of quality and standards. However, the markets will decide the quality of their products and the State Universities too will have to compete thus ensuing a better quality of education in the State sector.

The development of a country depends on education but what kind of education? It should be a quality education relevant to the modern day needs and not numbers of Graduates produced that will help the development of the country. We see that over 40.000 Graduates from the State Universities are unemployed or under employed. This is the result of filling the Universities without proper planning and market study. The employers say that many of them are unemployable and lack necessary skills for their requirements. This is proved when the World Bank came forward to re-train Graduates investing a lot of money again. Let us be realistic and sincere so that we may not hinder the progress of the country for our personal interest, jeopardizing the educational system and draining out our meagre financial resources.

Quality of Education

The Private Medical College at Malabe is an attempt by the Private Sector to stop students going abroad for medical studies. It will be interesting to see the quality of education in some of these foreign Universities and also the facilities for students for board and lodging. Nobody dares to analyse and evaluate the quality of education in our own country. Some medical faculties in SriLanka, too should come under scrutiny so as to find out whether they are up to standards. Is it true that the lecturers in some of the medical faculties fall far below the required cadre and the facilities too have to be enhanced? Medical College at Malabe they have good facilities but there is a lot of room for improvement. They are ready to make good whatever shortcomings they have and they have the power to do so. So it is important to see how we can help them to improve the quality of education if the Medical Association finds that they are not up to the standards.It is not a solution to discourage or drive away the Private Sector Investors in the medical field.

These investors can get their children educated in any part of the world but who is going to lose? It will be our own children who cannot afford to go to other countries. Let us not throw the baby with the bath-water because of our own self-interests. Let us see how can make use of the resources we have to get our children educated and encourage and work with the Private Sector to get the best services from them to provide a quality education in medicine.

Bring public, private - sectors together

I was happy to hear that Sri Lankan Honourable Prime Minister has already taken the right steps to see how we can bring both the Public and the Private Sectors together in educate youth. I appreciate the Political Will of the Government to work together with all Sectors for the development of not only education but the whole country. 

We appreciate the critical approach of the opposed sectors which I think is important for any development as Hegelian philosophy teaches us. However when we reach a synthesis for the good of the country we too should have open minds to accept truth with humility and generosity. 

May I appeal to people of good-will to help the private sector to invest in our own country and work for the development of the SriLanka without sabotaging the attempts of the Private Sector. The State can always lay down terms and conditions and consult the General Medical Association so as to improve and enhance the services of the Private Sector in the field of medicine. Let right reason prevail.  

Pope Francis Encyclical Letter: Laudato Si', On the Care of Our Common Home

I am greatly saddened by the pollution and the lack of care for the environment I see around me. As we all know this environmental destruction is a universal problem and the Pope's Laudato Si', calls it the most critical need of the 21st century and goes on to actually call it a sin. We have never been asked to consider what we do to animals as sin before, let alone what we do to the natural world. Sin has usually only been linked to what we do or not do to other humans, love your neigjbour as yourself.

If we really open our hearts to the destruction of creation, we will know the truth of the Pope's strong words that mankind has turned the planet into a "polluted wasteland full of debris, desolation and filth" desecrating God's creation. But as the Pope says even committed Christians do not take this seriously and "with the excuse of realism and pragmatism, tend to ridicule expressions of concern for the environment while others are passive."

How do we evade the naming of our behaviour as Sin? How do we gloss over this so easily? The apathy is so dense that even priests are helpless in the face of it. Is Satan so clever he keeps us totally lost in the thick fog of our throw away, convenience and progress driven culture with an obsessive need to compete and succeed with no consideration of the costs, blinding ourselves to the ever increasing inequalities in our world? Is it a time to wake up and say "Satan get thee behind me!" and give ourselves the space to let in the light of truth, our sin?

It was our responsibility to sanctify and consecrate all creation back to God to whom it rightfully belongs. Calling on the Holy Spirit, God's presence in the world, to guide us would be so valuable in this journey. The Holy Spirit continues to draw near to creation, continues to support and sustain creation on its journey back to the Creator, God.
For a long time I have been asking how we could engage with the Laudato Si' in a way that will bring the spiritual ecological transformation the Pope speaks of and the following is what I came up with.

1. Become very aware of the destruction each of us is engaging in. There are plenty of awareness programs. When I show mine I am surprised to hear many people say they had not realized the extent of the damage.

2. Let a deep appreciation of our sin against creation penetrate our hearts and know true repentance, for our part in this destruction.

4. Make the difficult decision to change our beliefs, attitudes and behaviour, and persevere with this change. The Pope takes on the call of many environmentalists and gives very spesific ways to stop further damage, all of which we know but invariably do not engage in, namely; stop using polythene, particularly shopping bags which kill so many birds and animals and is so hard to dispose especially if they are dirty, separate garbage, save water, cut down showers, do not use non degradable products, buy less, reuse, use reusable water bottles, ride a bike or walk rather than drive, compost, join local projects that are engaged in these ventures and start projects in institutions, churches, schools, offices.
See how we can apply the Laudato Si' in our parish.
Do something to restore the damage - change individual habits, engage with the issue in the church or community.
Teach the Laudato Si' in Sunday Schools - children are our future and many love nature.
Open our heart to the gifts of creation and invite the Holy Spirit to inspire and guide us to a deep connection to all of creation and our divinity, the essence of God, the essence of Love.