PANJIM: Archbishop of Goa, Daman and Diu, Rev Filipe Neri Ferrao on Thursday extended and assured the help from Church to the state government in building a supporting society that promotes peace and harmony in our land.
“I shall end with the assurance that we have given consistently on this meaningful occasion along these years, namely the Church in Goa will be only too glad to offer the collaboration in the building of a supportive society that sincerely and genuinely promotes peace and harmony in our land” said Archbishop Ferrao addressing the annual civic reception on the occasion of Christmas at the Archbishop House, Altinho.
“All of us here are people with the heavy responsibility on our shoulders. The government, to begin with, the public authorities and the Church. The people look up to us for orientation guidance and good governance and we owe to the people”, he said.
The Archbishop further said that the question he would like all of us to ask today that how can we work together in this tiny state of Goa to bring out the society of peace, built up on justice, with love as its ground and freedom as its environment.
“Can we create such a space of trust and truthfulness, beginning right here I invite you, the government, the public authority and ourselves the Church to outdo each other in the healthiest of spirits in the achievement of this goal,” the Archbishop questioned.
Speaking on Christmas, the Archbishop said Christmas is a celebration of ‘vasudev kutumbakam’, a famous ‘shloka’ found in the ‘Maha Upanishad’ and which has been thoughtfully engraved at the entrance hall of our Indian parliament.
He added, “It is perhaps befitting that we read out this great ancient text on the occasion like this. In its English translation, it goes like this: only the small minds discriminate, saying this is my relative, the other is a stranger. For those who live magnanimously the entire world is but one family.”
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in UN General Assembly, the Archbishop said “we are glad to note that our respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened his historic address at UN General Assembly in September 2014 with a tribute to India’s ancient tradition telling a packed assembly hall that India’s philosophy which has guided us since vedic times is that of vasudev kutumbakam.”
“In other words we believe that we live as one family under God. The gift of peace that we celebrate as Christmas highlights this sense of being one family under God. And encompasses not only human persons but the whole creation,” the archbishop said.
The Archbishop said that in India, the civilization has always chanted and continues to chant “Om Shanti” acknowledging our connection with all other living beings and rest of the creations.
“The gift of divine peace that we celebrate as Christmas becomes a task for all of us to make peace, harmony, and genuine freedom come true in the life of every citizen in our country and thus bring the fulfillment deepest aspirations of our heart of every Indian,” he said.
Meanwhile, he said that we believe that Christmas is the time to intensify this culture of peace, the peace with humanity and peace with creation that is embedded in the ethos of our country.
