Sri Lanka’s first Camillian priest once studied to become a Buddhist monk
Rome (AsiaNews) – He was to have become a Buddhist monk, but today he is Sri Lanka’s first Camillian priest. Father Maximilian N. Ranatunga, 45 years old, synthesizes his life: “ I was no stranger to sufferance, but then at a certain point, without my knowing why or how I found the joy and beauty of the faith and the vocation to the priesthood”. Born in Ragama near Colombo and of Singhalese origins, Nihal – as he was known before baptism – chose to call himself Maximilian, because his conversion from Buddhism came about in a parish dedicated to Maximilian Kolbe.
Fifth of six brothers, his was a poor Buddhist family and early on his lost his father. From adolescence Nihal desired to become a monk: “Each and every month I would go to the temple in an attempt to gain entrance to religious life. This made my mother very happy because it is said that a monk in the family brings blessings for five generations”. “After my father’s death – he continues – my family could no longer cope, so I was brought to Ekala village to a Catholic family, who gave me bed and board in return for help with domestic chores. It was in Ekala that my search for God began, I would go in secret to the local parish dedicated to Saint Maximilian, I was simply curious, but a state of well being would come upon me as soon as soon as I entered those walls and after a while to my complete surprise I found myself praying to the Virgin”. His wonder at these gestures – explains the priest – was born of “the total aversion to Christianity which I felt during my period of studies to become a Buddhist monk”. Little by little, Nihal began to make friends, and to find time after he had done his daily shopping at the local market to attend mass. Yet his doubts remained. “I didn’t understand who this Christian God was, but I kept going to Church despite my many questions. I can’t really put my finger on what exactly led me to Christianity from Buddhism, but in a certain way I feel that I was chosen: instinctively I began to pray, and faith, like love, is born without explanation. The beauty of forgiveness is what drew me to Christianity, the joy of serving others. In Buddhism, you have to find salvation on your own, and you are not always guaranteed that you will attain it, while for us Christians the Risen Christ is our salvation. In moments of pain and suffering this helps us to find strength”.
Five years on Fr. Maximilian goes home to Ragama, after a further six months of catechesis he asks to be baptized. It is from this moment that the road towards the priesthood becomes an uphill struggle. A vocation to the priesthood is felt immediately, but “health problems and the wrong type of acquaintances” place obstacles in his path. Without ever giving up, he arrives in Italy in 1992. In San Giovanni Rotondo he meets nuns and priests of the Order of St Camillus: “I was attracted by the red cross they wear on their breast, a symbol of their complete dedication to the sick”.
In 1994 he enters the seminary, but following an accident, looses an eye. “I continued to study, for eight years until I became a priest in 2004, an immense achievement”. His happiest memory, which he still holds dear, is the first mass he celebrated in Sri Lanka, in the Parish of St Jude Thaddeus apostle, “before my entire family, even my eldest brother who opposed my conversion most”. The monk from the local temple also attended the ceremony, “in a climate of celebration and harmony”.
Fr. Maximilian is now one of the six chaplains at the St Camillus hospital in Rome. “We take care of the sick person’s spiritual needs – he says – but it is not always easy: I try to speak to them, but many don’t accept this and even refuse to have a priest as a companion to their sick bed”. The Camillian is also in charge of pastoral care for Rome’s Singhalese community, while he cultivates a dream “The opening of the first Camillian house in Sri Lanka”. Upon till now, thanks to his constant dedication, the first sisters of St Camillus have arrived in former Ceylon: since 2005 in Wattala, Colombo, and four sisters have an old peoples home, which now they are hoping to enlarge. And while he works diligently to see this project come to fruition, Fr Maxi million confides that he already has his heart set on another : a school for the children of the Parish of St Jude Thaddeus, his home village, but to for his dream to come true “we need help and funding”.
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