All they want for Christmas is a better tomorrow
As the evening shadows lengthen, gently nudging the time towards midnight on December 24 and the joyous peal of bells heralds the celebration of the birth of a tiny Babe 2013 years ago, the “image” that flashes across the mind is one of absolute simplicity and humility.
Fr. Amalarajan
In that lonely manger in Bethlehem, away from home and family, was born Jesus Christ to humble Mary and Joseph, to be wrapped in swaddling clothes and firstly venerated by the lowly shepherds. Not only thousands of miles away from Bethlehem but also 2013 years later, the Nativity which changed the course of history, is relived in all its simplicity on an island “within” or is it “without” an island.
Not for these “islanders” the external and artificial trappings, the tinsel-covered pine trees, the shops and malls swathed in twinkling-lights, the shockingly expensive glittering attire or the excessive wining and dining with Christmas as an excuse. But for them the strong and enduring hope that with the coming of Christmas there would be a turnaround in their lives.
As the nippy and chilly winds tinged with a tang of salt from the Indian Ocean blow across oval-shaped Delft, the men, women and children dressed in their Sunday-best will troop to church at midnight to participate in the birth of Christ.
They will bring with them, their fears, their sorrows, their burdens and their yearnings to lay before the Babe. “On this remote island, people face a lot of hardship,” says Fr. A.A. Amalarajan under whom comes the Parish of Delft. Nine churches and three chapels of the Catholics comprise the ‘Delft Parish’ as also two churches on the uninhabited islands of Kachchativu and Katkadativu, which become home to fishermen for a little while during the year.
Midnight mass will be celebrated by Fr. Amalarajan at St. Anthony’s Church which was opened in August.
A jeep-ride around Delft, with a land extent of around 21sq.km, located about 10km across the sea from the Jaffna peninsula is an eye-opener. Catholic churches, where a majority of the people worship, and a single Church of South India dot this tiny island which has a population of about 4,000 people.
Talking tenderly about his ‘flock’, Fr. Amalarajan is quick to point out that people face a lot of hardship because there are no jobs to go around. Even those who eke out a living by fishing are confronted by the issue of Indian fishermen invading their waters and taking away what is rightly theirs.
Water a major problem. Pic by Susantha Liyanawatte
To add to their woes, this year there has not been much rain, says this ‘Shepherd’ who has been on Delft for five years now, lamenting that the people’s wells have turned salty and drinking-water is hard to come by.
These economic problems are not the only issues the people of Delft face, according to Fr. Amalarajan, who points out that there has not been an end to the political problems as well. Both the economic and political problems have a major impact on their social lives.
It is in such a desolate scenario, which reflects the desolation of the island that Christmas comes, bringing with it the love, solidarity and redemption, offered by God who became Man in Jesus Christ.
Veneration at an earlier Christmas Eve mass
As Fr. Amalarajan celebrates midnight mass on Christmas Eve at St. Anthony’s Church and his assistant priest at the Church of St. John the Baptist, the crowds will flock-in.
And on Christmas Day, while other Sri Lankans across the waters have rich food and expensive gifts, the humble men, women and children on Delft will tuck into simple fare in the form of rice and meat and sing and dance in their spartan homes and go a-visiting to their neighbours’ houses.
An “authentic” Christmas on Delft in the true spirit of the season. Joy mingling with hope……hope for a miracle to ease their hopelessness held out by Baby Jesus born on this revered day.