Appreciation Rev.Fr. Raveen had a compassionate heart

25 July 2020 12:00 am Views - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}} 4 Bookmark

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‘The Lord gave, and now he has taken away. May his name be praised!’ (Job. 1:21). It’s three months since our uncle Fr. Raveen Perera was called to rest in the Lord. We miss him very much and we as family understood that there are so many others who genuinely miss him as well. It is because of the exemplary priestly life he lived and the Love of Jesus that he was able to radiate love to all who came to him.

Fr. Raveen was a role model to us. He was a guiding light to the family. Of course he had little time for the family, but that little meant a lot to us. Whenever he visited home we saw that his main concern was returning to the place that was assigned to him by the Church. He was fully committed to the tasks entrusted to him. Most of all he was a true disciple of Jesus Christ and practised and lived what Christ preached as the Director of the Philosophate of the National Seminary. We felt that he did his best to improve the seminary in many areas. Particularly the facilities of the kitchen area and the library were uplifted for which the resources were found by him by going out of his way. Yet he never even spoke about what he did. We only came to know this from his past students; now elite priests serving the lord’s vineyard across the country and the world.

But if there was anything of which he did speak about within his lifetime it would certainly be of his assignment in the parish of Monaragala. “The best time of my life” he would say. Though when we once visited him there we saw how life was hard there. But my uncle, was the happiest. After his death we were told countless stories, about his ministry, which he never shared. One that touched us most was a story where he had taken the children in Monaragala on a trip to show them the sea, the Thewatte Basilica, the Airport and Colombo; something none of them had ever seen in their lives.

Now when we look back we find many sterling priestly qualities like simplicity, honesty, patience, spirituality and sense of poverty which were visible in his life. Very often he travelled from Badulla by bus. He used the van given to him very carefully. Towards the end of his life he worked tirelessly as the Director of Caritas in the diocese and as the person in charge of building a new hospital in Badulla. His heart was always with the work entrusted to him by the Church. We felt that his sincerity and dedication to a given task was unprecedented. Many Bishops, Priests, Buddhist Monks, Hindu and Muslim clergy offered appreciations about Fr. Raveen. We know that they were very sincere in all what they expressed. They seemed to feel the pain of his untimely departure. Though we are deeply saddened we also feel proud that we had an uncle like Fr. Raveen whose memory will never fade away from our lives. And though we miss him here I’m sure that everyone in heaven must be enjoying his company and his infectious smile and compassionate heart. May the good Lord grant him the eternal reward.
Ryan Perera

Comments - 4

saman hettiarachchi Monday, 27 July 2020 01:47 AM

Whom God loves dies young. Like the biblical Enoch in Genesis 5, Fr Raveen walked with God, and he was not there, because God took him. Ryan has beautifully briefed how his uncle walked with God, though the time seems to be so short from our earthly perspective. The pictures we all saw of the darling family of Fr Raveen at his funeral, especially of Roshini our dear sister engulfed in flames of excruciating pain, would speak for themselves for ages. God knows best, dear family members. We can hardly comprehend the unfathomable wisdom of God and hence, we commend the soul of our dear brother priest into the loving Hands of our dear God Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. With a deep bow, we finally say, 'Amen to Him.' Requiescat in pace!

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Fr Saman Hettiarachchi, St Anthony's Ch, Mount Monday, 27 July 2020 02:07 AM

It is more a marvel, when God called Fr. Raveen at a time he was so full of vim and vigour, as a priest, pastor and pedagogue. But, in some instances, God takes the one whom He loves all of a sudden. This ‘all of a sudden’ is from our perspective and not from the divine aspect. With God, there are no accidents or mistakes or chances. It looks ‘sudden’ for us, and not for God. He knows everything, even before it happens and He knows best. We do not know and so, it is ‘sudden’ only for us. We are surprised; but, God is never surprised, nothing catches Him for surprise, for things do not just happen with Him. Anything that happens to us, good or bad, must pass through His fingers first. He is sovereign! Joseph’s brothers intended to harm him but later in life Joseph saw that it was God’s intent to bless him through the sinful actions of his brothers. They meant it for evil; God meant it for good. So has the life or death of our dear brother passed through the Fingers of God first. RIP.

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Fr Saman Hettiarachchi, St Anthony's Ch, Mount Monday, 27 July 2020 02:13 AM

The Christian Hagiography is full of ‘young’ Saints and Martyrs. St Anthony of Padua died at 36; The Little Flower of Jesus or St. Therese of Lisieux, at 24; Maria Goretti, at 12. We can go on and on like this. Another son of Pamunugama, Fr. Sunanda Wanasinghe, 38, too died so young in 1998, when on the peak of his charismatic mission (he would have loved to live his sweet 60s this year). Our brother, Raveen, has now joined all of them.

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Fr Saman Hettiarachchi, St Anthony's Ch, Mount Monday, 27 July 2020 02:23 AM

Fr. Raveen is back! (a poem composed by us seeing how his family surrounded him at St. Joseph's Ch, Pamunugama in April,2020) Fr. Raveen is back to his Village, Church and Family: A scene, which these eyes never wanted to see; A loss, which words can hardly express; A moment, which these hearts never expected; An hour, which these lives can hardly pass ... But, we are with you, friends and countrymen, as you stagger through this hour of agony. May the Mother by the Cross of Jesus be your tower of strength; and the risen Lord, be your anchor of hope! May our dear brother rest in the peace of the Lord and in the company of our saintly parents and ancestors! Adios amigo, adios my friend, The road we have traveled has come to an end, Adios amigo, adios my friend.

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