Army preparing Christmas with Christians and Buddhists

(December 22, 2010) The Sri Lankan Army and Catholics have come together to organise activities to celebrate Christmas in the northern part of the country, especially those areas still recovering from war. Christian priests and nuns as well as Buddhist monks took part in a number of events marking the birth of Jesus, the ‘Prince of Peace’, like carols, dances, gift giving and help and attention for the neediest of their fellow men and women. Army officials stressed the aspect of “forgiveness” of the celebration, an important gift brought by Christianity. At St Joseph’s College Chapel in Colombo, the Sri Lankan Army’s Christian Association organised a Christmas concert last Sunday. Army chaplain Fr Joseph Benedict read the opening prayer. He gave thanks to God for all the soldiers who fought to restore peace and blessed the army and its members. Fr Sylvester Ranasinghe, Rector of the College, delivered the Christian message, stressing the need of recognising the symbols of Christmas in today’s society and pattern our lives accordingly. Last Friday, the Seva Vanitha Army Branch organised an evening of Christmas carols for war heroes recovering at various rehabilitation centres and handed out gifts to them. Soldiers and a large group Tamil came together. This, the priest said, “is the first time in almost 30 years of civil war that Christmas is celebrated in Jaffna this way, all this in the name of national harmony.” In the Interreligious Foundation for National Harmony and the Child Foundation for Ethnic Harmony, the celebration included 500 Buddhist monks, Sinhalese visitors, the Gampaha Methodist Church Choir as well as some Muslim and Hindu religious leaders.