St. Joseph Vaz

St. Joseph Vaz was born on 21^st April 1651 at Benaulim, Goa. An interesting fact is that he was born on a Friday, baptized on a Friday and he passed into eternity on a Friday. He was the third son of Christopher Vaz and Maria de Miranda. The day on which he was born his father Christopher Vaz saw a star in the sky around midday. He wrote in his personal diary that his son would become a great man someday. One night when he went to visit the Blessed Sacrament the doors of the Cortalim Church opened by themselves. He was called “the little saint” as a boy. He used to recite the Rosary on his way to Church and his school. He did his schooling at the elementary school in Sancoale. In Sancoale he learnt Portuguese and studied Latin in Benaulim. He was a smart student and was respected by his teachers and fellow students. Since he made such rapid progress in his studies that his father decided to send him to the city of Goa so as to do further studies in rhetoric and humanities at the Jesuit college of St. Paul. Further on he studied philosophy and theology at the St. Thomas Aquinas’ Academy of the Dominicans in Goa city. He went on to become one of the greatest missionaries that Asia has produced.

He resolved to have kanji for his food (which was called as the food of the poor) all through his life. In 1675, he was ordained a deacon by Custódio de Pinho, the Vicar Apostolic of Bijapur and Golconda. In 1676, at the age of 25, he was ordained a priest at Old Goa by Monsignor Antonio Brandao, Archbishop of Goa. Later in March 1681 he set out for Kanara from where there was no turning back. His ministry took him to Ceylon ie present day Sri Lanka where he proved himself to be a missionary par excellance at Kandy. He bravely faced the problems and the weather. Not only this he also underwent imprisonment, suspicion and hardships of every kind only so that the Word of God could be proclaimed and His love could be made to reign supreme. He started the first Milagrists or Oratorians (as they are famously known today) an indigenous order after coming back from South Kanara having made peace among the warring factions. The Oratorians served the Church in Sri Lanka and other countries for 150 years and still continue to do so.

He masqueraded himself as a coolie wearing a loin cloth around his waist when he entered Sri Lanka as part of his mission since no priest was allowed on the island. His wheatish brown complexion facilitated him to slip onto the island where the Dutch oppressed Roman Catholics. He entered Sri Lanka hiding a kit under his loin cloth and wore a Rosary around his neck. Later he built the first Church in Sri Lanka and dedicated it to Mother Mary. He worked unaccompanied in Sri Lanka for 10 years and the next 14 years he was accompanied by the Goan Oratorians. He learnt their culture, sang their songs, and helped build their own local Church, by no means imposing the western Church on the faithful. He baptized, catechized and built 300 chapels, churches and built homes for the old, sick and the deprived next to the churches. He would at all times keep a sack of rice to be distributed to the poor after mass. Under the fear of being caught by the Dutch who were ruling over Sri Lanka at that time, he disguised himself as a baker, dhobi, coolie, servant , businessman, porter and even a fisherwoman. He would also work at night by the light of the moon.

He issued a command over snakes to never bite a priest. The amazing fact is that till date, not a single priest has been bitten by a snake. He made fruitful use of his time in prison, he learnt Tamil and Sinhalese. He translated Catechism books and wrote the Stations of the Cross in the local language. He won the hearts of the Buddhist kings with the exemplary life that he led. He was invited by the kings to pray for rain when the island witnessed a drought. He executed the miracle of rain in Kandy, a record of which can be found in their archives. It had rained all over the island except on the Saint and the Altar he had built to pray for rain. He never kept any currency with him; he always depended on divine providence and his fellowmen. He didn’t own anything and there was nothing that he could call his own. He wore and owned one cassock, which was mended and sewn all over. The Sri Lankans called him Samasu Swami (the angelic priest). He is the first and the only missionary of the East to have his mission in the East. His simplicity was to such an extent that he would always sleep on a mat on the floor and would never seek for glory. He educated his neighbor and companion, John who accompanied him in Sri Lanka and requested the superior of the Oratorians to ordain him a priest. John on returning to Goa was ordained a priest (the first Dalit priest).

Long before the onset of the use of the word inculturation, Joseph Vaz had already shown how authentic Christian asceticism could be joyously blended with Indian sanyasism. His love for the mission was to such an extent that he not only learnt the local language i.e. Sinhala but also compiled a dictionary (English- Sinhala) for the benefit of his companions. His practice of the Catholic faith and the methods he used drew non- believers to the faith. He was referred to as “the perfect model of an apostle” because of the way in which he dealt with people of all ranks, kings and paupers.

His pioneering efforts in putting up the first ever aboriginal missionary institute in the third world known as the Oratory of the Cross of Miracles of Old Goa not only ensured a steady supply of missionaries to continue his work in various places but actually helped revive the Church in Sri Lanka and save it from virtual extinction. We come to know that his love for Our Lady was phenomenal through a letter written by him shortly after his ordination. In the letter he states thus: “Let it be known to all who see this ‘Letter of Bondage’, angels, human beings and all creatures, that I, I Fr. Joseph Vaz, sell and offer myself as a perpetual slave of the Virgin Mother of God.”

He met his death just the way he was meeting life everyday- serene and peaceful, a light to all around him. He breathed his last just before the verge of Friday 16^th January 1711, at Kandy with a lighted candle in his hands and the sweet name of Jesus on his lips. 284 years following his death i.e. on 21^st January 1995 at Galle Face Green, Colombo, Sri Lanka he was proclaimed “Blessed” by Pope John Paul II. He was canonized on 14^th January 2015 at Galle Face Green, Colombo, Sri Lanka by Pope Francis. He is adorned with a mitre placed to his side, holding a crucifix, the sun icon and the oratorian habit.

He served 30 years as a priest with 24 others in the Sri Lankan Vineyard. He walked barefoot for the most part of his life. Despite his thin figure, he walked through the jungles like the wind. He passed away on the day he had foretold. Before dying he advised those who had gathered around him in Sinhala telling them, “Hardlyl will you be able to do at the time of death what you have not done during your life.” He sent the crucifix given to him by the Pope to Goa, which is now preserved in the oratory room of the shrine of St. Joseph Vaz at Sancoale, Goa, the only relic which is present in India.

“The one who illumines us…….. is our good Jesus, the saint of saints, the light of lights, himself eclipsed on the Cross. May he give you eyes of the body and much more of the soul…. To desire to imitate him and follow his example and his doctrine in everything.” (Excerpt from a letter of Fr. Joseph Vaz to his nephew, Deacon Joseph Vaz)

Immaculate Conception

The depiction of a crescent moon, halo of 12 stars, blue robe, assumption into heaven and a serpent underfoot brings to mind the picture of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the teaching of the Catholic Church, the Immaculate Conception was the conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne, free from original sin by virtue of the foreseen merits of her son Jesus Christ.

  

   1.      Free from original and personal sin

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception says that Mary was preserved from any strain. The Roman Catholic dogma clearly states “that the most Blessed Virgin Mary in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin.” Since she was always free from original sin, the doctrine teaches us that from her conception she received the sanctifying grace that would normally come with baptism after birth. The Church holds that Mary was also sinless personally. The decree of the Council of Trent says, “If anyone shall say that a man once justified can sin no more, nor lose grace, and that therefore he who falls and sins was never truly justified; or, on the contrary, that throughout his whole life he can avoid all sins even venial sins, except by a special privilege of God, as the Church holds in regard to the Blessed Virgin: let him be anathema.”

   2.      Virgin Conception

Very often the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception i. e. Mary being conceived without original sin is confused with the virginal conception of her son Jesus. The term Immaculate Conception is many times misunderstood in the mass media. The Holy See in 1677, condemned the belief that Mary was conceived virginally, which as a belief was frequently coming up since the 4^th Century. The Church teaches that Mary was conceived by normal biological means and not virginally. The Immaculate Conception deals with the conception of Mary herself and not her son. Today Catholics believe that Mary wasn’t the product of a virginal conception but that she was the daughter of human parents; whom we know by the traditional names of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne.

   3.      Redemption

There is another misunderstanding which says that because Mary was immaculately conceived she did not need a Savior. Pope Pius IX when defining the dogma in Ineffabilis Deus openly affirmed that Mary was redeemed in a manner more sublime. He said  that Mary was totally prevented from contracting Original sin in view of the foreseen merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race rather than being cleansed after sin. The Church teaches that even if man would have never sinned and been sinless in the Garden of Eden, he would still need the grace of God to remain in the state of sinlessness.

   4.      Dogma

Bishops in various countries began to press for a definition as dogma of the teaching of Mary’s Immaculate Conception during the reign of Pope Gregory XVI. In 1839, Mariano Spada, a professor of theology published ‘A critical examination of the doctrine of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor, regarding original sin with respect to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary’. Here Aquinas was interpreted as dealing with the sanctification of the fetus within Mary’s womb rather than the Immaculate Conception later formulated in the papal bull. His interpretation relieved Pope Pius IX of the problem of having to foster a doctrine not in agreement with Aquinas’ teaching.

At the beginning of his pontificate and again after 1851, Pope Pius IX appointed commission to investigate the whole subject. With support of the overwhelming majority of Roman Catholic bishops, whom he consulted between 1851- 1853, he promulgated the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus (Latin- “Ineffable God”) which defined ex cathedra the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

We declare, pronounce and define that the doctrine which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the first instant of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace of the Omnipotent God, in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin, has been revealed by God, and therefore should firmly and constantly be believed by all the faithful.

— Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus, December 8, 1854

The dogma was defined in accordance with the conditions of papal infallibility, which would be defined in 1870 by the First Vatican Council.

The papal definition of the dogma declares with absolute certainty and authority that Mary possessed sanctifying grace from the first instant of her existence and was free from the lack of grace caused by the original sin at the beginning of human history. Mary's salvation was won by her son Jesus Christ through his passion, death, and resurrection and was not due to her own merits.

    5.      Veneration and Patronage

The Immaculate Conception is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, some Oriental Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion. Korea, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippines, Portugal, Spain, United States, Uruguay are the countries which are under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception. The Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8; in many Catholic countries, it is a holy day of obligation or patronal feast, and in some a national public holiday. 

St. Joseph

It is really shocking for a husband to come to terms with the fact that his wife is pregnant out of the marriage bonds. When we hear of such news in today’s world it seems to be the story of almost every day. However it wasn’t very common in earlier times; more specifically during the time of Jesus. I imagine how shocking it must have been for St. Joseph to even come to terms with the fact that Mary was pregnant before they came together.

St. Joseph being a just man didn’t want to disgrace Mary publicly and hence decided to send her away in private or quietly. While this just man was contemplating over these thoughts, an angel of the Lord spoke to him confirming that the child to be born of Mary was of the Holy Spirit. The narration ends with Joseph, the just man accepting his wife.

What strikes me most in this passage is the acceptance of whatever the angel said to St. Joseph and that too without a question. If I were to be in his place, thousands of questions would have immediately popped up in my head like why my wife? Couldn’t the Holy Spirit work a little later? Is this Gods way of confirming whether I am a just man or not?

According to my thinking, St. Joseph was not only a just man but also a wise man. I don’t know why I say this but I strongly feel he was wise man. Maybe it’s because of the way he took care of Mary and brought up the child Jesus.

Concluding this small piece of writing, I would say that it is difficult to be a just person in today’s world where everything we see around is just the opposite. However when we come across situations in life, we must always have the image of God in our minds and our self- respect before us.

Name

           

‘And he called his name Jesus’ Mt 1: 25

            The name giving ceremony in any culture is of significant value. I have heard that in a name lies the mission of the child. Some may argue ‘What’s in a name?’ In a name is a person’s self-image, mission to be accomplished and most of all identity. Hence it can be said that a name is very dear to a person and on being fooled may cause deep damage to a person’s self-image and esteem. Another point to be noticed is that whenever we meet a new person we ask his/ her name and then try to fix the photo and other features of the person in our mind.

            I still remember that in earlier times children were named after saints. This made the child realize that s/ he had a mission in life to complete. I believe that some families are still carrying on that system of naming their children after saints. Care has to be taken while naming a child because a person will be called by that name throughout his/ her life. One must feel good and accepted when ones name is taken or called out. When parents give a name to the child, they must also take into due consideration the effect of it on the child in the future (A good name will call for respect while a funny name will only call for jokes and teasing).

            When a person is not accepted or made fun of, due to his/ her name, that person goes into some kind of identity crisis. Hence we see people changing their names (not always) and making an official notice about it in a newspaper. All human beings like their names to be taken in the context of good deeds done, achievements achieved and the list goes on and on. To put in a simple way, all of us like to preserve our good name.

            Coming to the naming of the Son of God, I must really praise the way in which it took place. The angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him that the child has to be named ‘Jesus’. From the life of Jesus it is very clear that He was very clear or rather He had a clear picture about his mission. He knew very well why He had come down to earth and He achieved it before returning to the Father. Jesus was very firm in His convictions and held on to His beliefs in the times of criticism and backbiting by the Pharisees and others.

            In conclusion I would say that a name is not only about honor, prestige and power but also about ones mission on earth which has to be discovered with the help of God. Let us then respect each other by respecting each other’s name and know and live by the mission entrusted to each one of us.

Evangelization

Religious by the very nature of their calling are a sign of Gods existence. This way of life is a gift given to some with the aim of evangelizing. Religious are a sign and symbol of availability to all. Religious are a challenge to the world by the witness value of poverty, purity and sincerity that they carry. This type of witnessing to the faith touches the hearts of those who do not believe in Christ or in other words are non- Christians.

            While there are religious on one hand, there are also lay people on the other hand who are amidst other people in the world. They too carry a very specific form of evangelization. Their range of evangelization is much larger than that of the religious. They evangelize in the vast world of politics, society and economics, culture, sciences and arts, international life and mass media. They are also involved in the field of human love, family, education of children and adolescents, professional works and so on.

            Coming to the context of the family, it can be said that the family is the place where the gospel is transmitted and from which the gospel radiates itself. When one family has been evangelized by members within or from outside the family, other families too get evangelized due to this family. Also young people who are trained in the faith and prayer have a duty towards the other youth. Their contribution means a lot to the Church.

            The laity are called to work in collaboration with their pastors in the great task of evangelization. This collaboration must have an effect on those who are close to the Church and also on those who are not. For such an effect to take place, proper training of the laity and the clergy personnel has to take place. All who are in the field of evangelization need an adequate amount of training so as to facilitate greater enrichment in the faith and also greater evangelization.

            What is of great importance is the inner attitude that an evangelizer needs to have while evangelizing. A right and docile attitude to the workings of the Holy Spirit will be of great benefit both to the evangelizer and to the one being evangelized. The Holy Spirit plays a dynamic and a great role in the process of evangelization to whom the evangelizer must be ever grateful.

Hope

                We hope for different things in life. Among the many things, we hope for a good life, work, health, children, political ambition and the list goes on and on. More often than not our hopes and dreams are crushed along lifes way. This doesn’t mean that we should stop hoping. If we stop hoping, it can be said that we are dead. I equate hope with life and hence feel that hope is a necessary aspect of our life.

                To define hope is not easy but according to my perspective ‘hope’ means a kind of expectation (Mostly positive but can be negative at times).

Eg. Positive hope – I hope it rains tomorrow

       Negative – I hope he dies soon.

When we hope we don’t reject reality but expect something better in the future. The key word here is ‘expectation’.

Family tree

The genealogy or the family tree is a treasure which a person holds dear to his/ her heart. However when the genealogy of Jesus is read, I find it difficult to connect with the family tree of Jesus. The only thing that happens in my mind is travelling back in time to my own family tree. Though it isn’t easy to make a family tree of 14 generations like that of Jesus, it is possible to make a family tree of at least two to three generations.

                Some people are interested in remembering their ancestors forever by making a family tree while others are not. Those whose parents have taken efforts to put down names and pictures of their parents and relatives into a family tree are lucky. A family tree may be described as the identity of a family so as to facilitate information and fond memories of or for a particular family.

                 I haven’t literally put down my family tree on paper but have a rough view of it in my mind. The family tree according to me gives a sense of pride to the person. There is a sense of joy and happiness when our family is remembered by people. A family tree includes names, a little bit of information about the person and most importantly picture/ pictures (If there is an album).

                Our family is our greatest treasure; our heart is where our treasure is and hence we arrive at the conclusion that our family is close to our heart. Like the heart is connected to the family, our memories are connected to our family tree. When I look at the obituaries of my grandparents, tears well up in my eyes thinking of all the love and care they bestowed on me.

                Now I have come to the realization that I must be proud when the genealogy of Jesus is read because it too am a son and disciple of Jesus. Hence my family tree is also part of His family tree.