Sri Lanka, "the Church can and must do more for peace. Following in the footsteps of the Master"
Colombo (AsiaNews)
- His vocation to the priesthood "matured in the footsteps of Christ, our Lord and Savior. In my 25 years as a priest I have had highs and lows and met with criticism, but I have always been motivated
solely by the desire to follow Jesus.
I still have much to do, and I am convinced that He will walk with me on this
path", Fr.
Jayawardana Sherard tells AsianNews. The priest who teaches at
a Catholic school in Ragama Tewatta, celebrated
the 25th anniversary of his ordination on
July 22.
Fr. Sherard began
his priestly life in 1989 as
assistant pastor of Kalutara. The following year he became parish priest, and pledged to help the poor youth of
the parish through special free classes:
with time, his charitable work expanded
to other fields in supporting the poor. Between 2002 and
2012 he served in a Catholic school in Duwa in Negombo (north of Colombo).
During the civil war between the army and the
Tamil Tigers he did everything possible to support the fishermen in the area, trapped by the ongoing violence and forced to move to
Kokilai to find work - a "hot spot" of the war - and support their families. Even today,
many of them remember how Fr. Sherard provided help during those terrible years.
The priest said that "the purpose
of my life is to
build the Kingdom of God on earth.
I became a priest because of this, following in the footsteps
of Christ. It is He who gives us the courage and the strength to go on, and it is He who is the strength of my priestly life. I'm satisfied and happy with
the last 25 years, although not entirely. I still have to do a lot, and I'm sure that
Christ will help me".
The road has not always been easy, "Some misunderstood my mission and though that I had turned against
the Church, but Jesus has never
left me. Sometimes the problem
is my nature, I sometimes lacked the courage to face challenges. This is why I still have to
improve. "
His is also an
appeal to the rest of the Catholic
Church in Sri Lanka: "As
Catholics, we can and must do more for
the good governance of the country. We must remain vigilant and steadfast in defense of the rights of the poor, strive for freedom of
expression and for the rule of
law, to help ethnic minorities and
do everything possible to solve social problems. "
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30/11/2022 18:28
24/01/2007
