Holding on to that message of hope
A Christmas like no other!
This is what the world including Sri Lanka will experience as the lives of men, women and children are overwhelmed by the new coronavirus which has invaded every nook and cranny, leaving behind death, disease, isolation, loneliness and poverty.
The celebration, sometimes even excessive in earlier years, may be muted but many are holding onto the hope that filled the earth 2020 years ago at midnight on December 24, from the bare and barren manger where lay the tiny Baby Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothes.
A quiet Christmas this year: St. Eugene de Mazenod Church, Pothanagama, Anuradhapura
“This year, Christmas may not be a very visible celebration, but if we understand the significance of the birth of Christ, it is that Jesus’s vision of adaraya (love), karunawa (kindness) are within us, propelling us towards caring and sharing whatever we have with the dugi-asarana (humble and poor),” said Fr. Shane Winston De Rosayro, the Priest-in-Charge of Pothanagama’s Roman Catholic St. Eugene de Mazenod Church, a sub-station of the St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Anuradhapura.
His flock encompasses about 60 families who cultivate their tiny gardens and sell stuff like bada-iringu (maize) or fish from wayside lean-to kades or eke out a living by working as labourers, masons or carpenters, on whom the economic toll of COVID-19 has been severe.
Within the limitations imposed by the wasangathaya (epidemic), there is a need to act on behalf of Christ – sangwedi weemata (to be sensitive), is his view, as he talks with much emotion how the children in his area have lost eight months of education. He appreciates the effort made by a group from Colombo to bring exercise books for the children of different grades.
It is on a note of sadness that Fr. De Rosayro says that their customary carol-singing in the children’s wards of the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital will not take place this year, as also the usual carols in church due to health concerns.
However, they will not forego that important tradition of tenderly setting up the crib with its Holy Family (Mary, Joseph and Jesus) and sheep and cattle as observers, a task a few members of the youth group would engage in, while keeping to health guidelines.
They are collecting the raw material, simple stuff, not expensive, and will put up the crib of Saturday, says Fr. De Rosayro, happy that young people who have been overly-focused on their mobile phones would be able to engage in some community activity, however small. They would also have a small Christmas tree.
For Christmas, St. Eugene de Mazenod Church would have two masses, one a night service on the 24th and the other a morning service on the 25th, so that limited numbers could attend them while adhering strictly to the distancing requirement.
Up north, the Anglican Church’s Archdeacon for the Jaffna Diocese, Ven. Sam Ponniah says in all simplicity that since the virus hit the country, “we are basically living one day at a time”. They plan something today and when they get up the next morning, the situation has changed.
They know not what tomorrow holds. The situation is fluid and he says that on Monday, schools were functioning but in the night, the news bulletin announced that on Tuesday those in the Jaffna and Vavuniya zones would be closed due to an infection. “Life is so uncertain.”
Ven. Ponniah rejoices that last Sunday, after two long months, a limited number were able to gather for worship (several services) in the Jaffna district as the threat of COVID-19 had reduced somewhat. But there would be no carol service and no carolling with choristers doing the rounds, raising their voices in harmony and filling the night air with age-old notes of ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’, the hallmarks of the season.
Last Christmas: Children of St. Eugene Church singing carols
“Last Sunday, we had reduced numbers but an increased number of services – we are ready to adapt,” he says, hesitant to discuss Christmas services in case the virus raises its spikes and there is a lockdown or semi-lockdown.
The 13 Anglican churches in the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya, would not put up any dazzlingly decorated Christmas trees but would have the essential cribs.
“We are encouraging people to gather as families and share whatever they can in these difficult times with their hard-hit neighbours,” said Ven. Ponniah, explaining that most people in these areas are paddy farmers or fishermen, while in the Jaffna district they also cultivate vegetables.
He talks of the people’s economic troubles, as this year during the lockdown during the first wave, these farmers could not transport their harvests to Dambulla or in more recent times, the fishermen their catch to Colombo due to fears about eating fish. While vegetable and fish prices skyrocketed in Colombo, the people in the north could not get more than around Rs. 40 for a kilo of brinjal, while a kilo of gal malu fetched them only about Rs. 250, after their toil and labour. With the rains coming at the right time, these farmers are hoping for a good harvest next year.
Ven. Ponniah hopes that the uncertainty of these times would peter out and they would be able to hold several night services on Christmas Eve to commemorate the birth of Christ……..a big “if”, however, hangs over these plans.
From the Thummodora Catholic parish in Labugama, the same views of a simple (bohoma sarala) Christmas sans carols, the prize giving of the daham pasela (Sunday school) but just with a crib are expressed by Fr. Tanter Fernando of St. Joseph’s Church. They would not have a festive Christmas tree but as usual would string some bunting and balloons on the spreading pihimbiya tree which stands tall in the churchyard. The Christmas masses will not be held within the church but in the large mandapaya (hall) set amidst the spacious garden, allowing for ample social distancing.
“The situation is grave and we will have limited numbers at several services, under the Bishop’s and Public Health Inspectors’ guidance,” he says, adding that there would be no midnight mass as people are reluctant to come in the night.
Christmas is a festival for the nethi aya (impoverished) and Fr. Fernando and his parishioners would share whatever they have with these people, following the example of Christ who came to this world on “our behalf as a humble and poor person”.
Hope and wishes rise for a better tomorrow, where there is peace, harmony and a life free of illness.
Fr. De Rosayro yearns for something good (yahapathak) for the people, while having absolute trust in Christ so that the uncertainty would be dispelled and materialism would abate. “Centre your attention on Christ and have the faith that He is with you.”
Adds Ven. Ponniah: “This will pass. Every day, the sun rises and a new day dawns. Then there is the sunset and the day ends. But with each sunrise, there is always a new beginning. We need to give hope – people are living in fear, suspicious of each other whether they have come from Colombo, whether they are carrying the virus. In Bethlehem, the birth of baby Jesus, those long years ago gave hope to the shepherds, the carpenters, the downtrodden, all those who were anxious.”
……..And the hope and prayer rising heavenward on Christmas Day would be that the bleakness and the fears of 2020 will give way to a fresh beginning in 2021.