Wewala (AsiaNews) – In order to mark 500 years since his birth, Sri Lankan Catholics, young and old, reflected on the theme of being missionaries and not just ordinary Christians in the period leading up to the Feast Day of Saint Francis Xavier. The period of reflection culminated in a solemn mass that was celebrated in Sinhalese last Sunday in Wewala parish, in the diocese of Colombo, by six diocesan priests and two Jesuits in the presence of hundreds of faithful. In his homily Fr Lasantha Aabru sj urged the community to “open up our hearts and minds to God as Saint Francis Xavier, the ‘ Flame of Asia’, did.”
Many of the young participants spoke to AsiaNews about their impressions.
“I am very happy about the festivities in our church,” said 22-year-old Shayamali Fernando. “The Saint’s life was very much an example, a good encouragement to lead life in the correct path. With that good awareness I feel that I can be happy about my Christianity.”
“I am happy about the jubilee year because we got to know better our spiritual life through the retreats organised by Jesuit Fathers,” said Suranga Yohanm 15.
For months the local parish priest, Fr Ranjan Silva, got the community ready to celebrate the Apostle of the Orient.
“I tried to make my parishioners understand the zeal with which this missionary [Saint Francis Xavier] was able to communicate the Word of God,” Father Ranjan explained. “This way in my homilies I often talked about him throughout the year and I invited Jesuit Fathers to hold some retreats.” In addition, the latter made house calls to see parishioners inviting them to come to church for mass and parish activities.
“This year I wanted the community to reflect upon how to be a missionary and not just ordinary Christians because Christians are by their very nature missionary”.
The final preparation began on November 10 and ended last Sunday on the Saint’s feast Day.
There are 14 churches dedicated to Saint Francis Xavier in Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist country.