The Homily by His Excellency, Archbishop Joseph Spiteri, the Apostolic Nuncio to Sri Lanka on the occasion of the
Annual Feast of the Shrine of Our Lady of Matara
2009.

INTRODUCTION

Your Lordship Bishop Harold Anthony Perera,

Rev. Fr. Nihal Nanayakara, Diocesan Administrator of Galle,

Rev. Fr.Charles Hewawasam Parish Priest Administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Matara

Venerable Members of the Maha Sangha

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

It is a joy for me to be with you in this historic and beautiful Shrine of Our Lady of Matara. We are gathered to celebrate the Solemn Vespers in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Heaven and Star of the Sea. She who came over the waves  to stay in the midst of her children to console them, protect them and lead them all to her divine Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us participate with all our heart in these prayers to honour our heavenly Mother. Together with Her, let us praise and thank God the Father for choosing Mary, his humble servant, so that through her He could send us his only-begotten Son to redeem us. Let us praise and thank God the son for giving us his mother as our mother to keep us under her loving care. Let us praise and thank God the Holy Spirit who gathers us as one family round Mary, the Mother of the Church, and who gives us the light and the strength to bear witness to the love of God.

May our prayers through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, strengthen our faith in God renew our hope in the power of God’s merciful kindness and open our hearts to love one another as much as Mary our Mother loves us.

HOMILY

Life is full of surprises. There are those surprises that fill us with joy, but there are also those that cause distress, pain and sadness. Four and a half years ago, no one was expecting the tsunami to hit this coast with such devastating rage and leave a tragic trial of destruction behind it. And nobody, notwithstanding the fervent hope and prayers for a miracle ever expected the statue of Our Lady of Matara to be washed ashore coming back over the waves, three days afterwards.

The finding of the miraculous statue changed sadness into joy. Her return to the very place she had chosen centuries ago as her home among the people of Ruhunu Rata instilled new hope and fresh strength in her children, who were facing the daunting task of reconstruction. The Holy Mother of God was with them. And with her came many other brothers and sisters, from all parts of the world, to help rebuild what the forces of nature had destroyed.

Today, four and a half years after that tragic event, we can witness the fruit of the untiring efforts of so many people of different nationalities and different creeds, who joined forces and worked side by side, as one family, transforming hope into reality.

Contemplating the statue of the Virgin Mary carrying Her Child, Jesus Our Lord, we are filled with admiration and gratitude. Mary, our heavenly Mother instills serenity in our hearts. She is the ever-shining Star of the Sea the sign of Hope that leads us to Christ, our Saviour, He who gives us the strength to overcome fear and to react positively in front of the unexpected problems that try to submerge us.

In fact, one of our greatest challenges is how to react in front of the unexpected events that worry us. How can we remain faithful to our ideals when unexpected problems fill our mind with doubt (e.g. a problem at work or a heated argument with a friend)? How can we not be led astray when certain superficial pleasure try to lure us away from our responsibilities towards our family, spouse of children? How can we continue to struggle to build a better world for ourselves and for those around us? What must we do to maintain the ability to perceive the beauty of life and always value it, even in the midst of suffering, caused be an illness, violence or death?

The history of Our Lady of Matara- from that first encounter with the blessed statue centuries ago-reminds us that every new day is an unexpected gift for us. It is a gift from God, the gift of life and love.

Mary Our Mother, is telling us today that every encounter with the persons we meet starting from those close to us, the members of our family of our religious community, our colleagues at work, our companions at school or university, are all “gifts” God offers us. And every new meeting represents something that can enrich us.

Unfortunately, we are often tempted to see a new encounter more as a burden than as a gift of love from God. How many times do we still dwell on the negative and remember only the ill feelings, the bad things that happened to us or the injustices we have suffered?

If, on the other hand, we are convinced that the other persons have something positive to offer us and that we too can share with them our gifts, we will be able to build a more sincere and respectful relationship and make our world a better place to live in.

Today, the Blessed Virgin Mary is urging us to change our attitude. If we wish to be truly her children, we have to resemble her. There is no finer compliment for a mother then when she hears someone say how much her child resemble her. What must we do to resemble our Holy Mother Mary? We know well enough that we have to imitate her love, her life of prayer and total dedication to God’s will, her unwavering union with her Son, Jesus, even in the most difficult and terrible moment of his death on the cross.

If we really wish to resemble our heavenly Mother we need to renew our relations with our brothers and sisters and forget any injustice we suffered and all the pains and divisions we caused. We need to ask God’s forgiveness and also forgive one another. Only the grace of reconciliation can help us start afresh and to work together for the benefit of all. In one word, we are called to live as a real family.

And in a family everyone takes care of each other. We protect each other and pay attention to the needs of the weakest members, of those who are suffering, feel abandoned or need most help. There can be no rivalry among us. We have to be the first to love others, to understand their needs and to discover ways how to serve them.

The Baby Jesus in the hands of statue of Our Lady of Matara lost his hands due to Tsunami. Those missing hands, as  Fr. Charles, the Administrator of this Shrine, points out , are inviting us to be the hands of Jesus to work with him for the good of our brothers and sisters, especially those most in need.

We have come here today from many different parts to honour the Mother of God in this Southern-most tip of our beloved island. From this Shrine we want to embrace, with the hands of Jesus, all our brothers and sisters from the farthest North to Deep South, from the East to the West, because we are all children of Mary.

The Mother of Jesus is asking us to continue the work of her Son, to be his hands reaching out to offer forgiveness and reconciliation; to work unnecessary to build bridges and overcome divisions; to foster understanding and mutual respect and to defeat injustice, hatred and vengeance. It depends on each and every one of us to bring about the national reconciliation, with justice and solidarity, which everyone Civil Authorities religious leaders and all of us- desires so ardently.

In the Mass after praying the “Our Father”, we ask the Lord to “protect us from all anxiety”, since His love is stronger than all evil and He is able to bring out good even from that which seems negative to us.

May our Holy Mother Mary protect us at all times. May she ask her Son to bless us and to free us from all our fears so that we may always bear witness to His love by loving each other as He loves us.