According to the Dhammapada, Lord Buddha once preached ‘Sabban pahaya gamaneeyan’. Lord Jesus Christ preached, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12/15). A sermon was reflected during the latter part of year 2021 at Our Lady of Katunayake’s Shrine, by His Holiness Rohan Lalith Aponso, The Fourteenth Apostle, and the Only Apostle living in this world today. Combining and summarizing the sermons of both these Two Masters emphasizing that, we shall have to go leaving behind everything we possess and the physical wealth which we earn cannot be taken with us when we are leaving and that the lives of humans do not depend on the assets they possess. The sermon delivered that day flowed around yet another story woven around the Most Venerable Agga Maha Panditha Abhidaja Maha Rattaguru Balangoda Ananda Maithriya Maha Nayaka Thero and His Holiness Rohan Lalith Aponso, The Fourteenth Apostle. That story is one that would open the eyes of every one of us.
Also, when the whole world was in the grip of an extremely gruesome pandemic during the year 2021, His Holiness The Apostle addressed His affectionate devotees via zoom technology and gave them advice and guidance about specific health habits to be followed as well as His blessings and also His Holiness did not forget to reflect sermon to guide them on the righteous path. At such a sermons a question posed by His Holiness to the devotees was ‘what can we take with us when we die on some day in the future?’ The nearest and the most accurate answer to that question was given by a small child from among the young, elderly and adult populace who were present on that day. That small child gave that answer based on the contents of the previous sermon delivered by His Holiness The Apostle about an interesting incident which took place between the Most Venerable Agga Maha Panditha Abhidaja Maha Rattaguru Balangoda Ananda Maithriya Maha Nayaka Thero and His Holiness The Apostle Rohan Lalith Aponso. The day when that answer was given, His Holiness The Apostle had decided to do a special appreciation at the Holy Mass to be held celebrating the dawn of the new year 2022 about the aforementioned child recognizing his memory about the sermon His Holiness preached and his attraction to it.
As precisely of that thought of His Holiness The Apostle Rohan Lalith Aponso, the child who performed that distinguished act through his bondage and attraction to the Dharma was appreciated together with his parents during the midnight Holy Mass of 2021 December 31st new year dawn. His Holiness reflected the following at this occasion. “So dear children, children like this are a great asset to us. I really feel proud when I see you all listen to my Homilies and take what I preach into your lives. These are not adults but little ones. To see you acting like this is a matter for great pride. That day itself I decided to tell this story at this midnight hour with the dawn of the year 2022. I praise the parents who guide their children to act like this. Parents should show the way of the Dharma to their children. They should provide the stamina, strength and encouragement to them to follow the way of the Dharma. So, Upeksha Fernando who is seated beside this altar is that child”. At that moment His Holiness The Apostle commenced to symbolize His admiration by presenting the gifts which had already been prepared for the occasion to the child Upeksha Neluvinda Fernando who is assisting His Holiness in His holy rituals and to his parents namely Mr. Ashoka Fernando and Mrs. Nilmini Fernando.
On the first day of January 2022 on new year day early morning, His Holiness Rohan Lalith Aponso, The Fourteenth Apostle, addressing all the parents who had assembled, commenced a very lengthy Homily pertaining to the responsibilities the parents should bear in mind with regard to the future of their children and in the process of the Homily stated as follows: “Why should we lead good lives without committing wrong acts? Why should we remove our children from evil and make them follow the path of the Dharma from the very young age? The reason is the fact that we are living in a society which motivates us to do evil things at a much greater speed than it motivates us to do good things. We are living in a society which attracts us towards doing evil things at a much greater speed than it attracts us towards doing good things. One cannot say that there is no sense of well-being, comfort, enjoyment or satisfaction of some sort in committing sins, isn’t it so? One gets some sort of an enjoyment while committing sins and doing anti-social and illegal things. If there was no sense of well-being, comfort, enjoyment or satisfaction of some sort in committing sins and doing evil things, there is no reason for people of this world to commit sins at this scale. People would not commit sins at this scale in the event it is such a tasteless thing, if it was a tasteless thing from beginning to end, and it does not render an enjoyment or a satisfaction of some sort. In that event the world would not have become such a sinful place. The absolute truth is that there is some sort of a sense of enjoyment, satisfaction, a comfort and a sense of well-being in committing sins and doing evil things. That is why there is a saying among us which goes as ‘while committing sins it feels sweet as if tasting honey’. For the person who commits sins it is like tasting honey until the day he faces the consequent reward, Very enjoyable. However, on the day the person faces the consequent reward the head catches fire. The mind which had a feeling of comfort and well-being while committing sins starts burning”
Mr. Ashoka Fernando, the father of the child Upeksha Fernando, is the Secretary to His Holiness Rohan Lalith Aponso, The Fourteenth Apostle. His Holiness recalled a certain statement regarding the year 2022 made by Him a very long time ago (approximately 15 years ago) to Mr. Ashoka Fernando, who is doing his duties close to His Holiness The Apostle very honestly and righteously, which evoked a curiosity in the minds of everyone who had flocked from various sections of the Island to attend to the new year Holy Mass.
From these photographs you can see the moment at which His Holiness The Apostle Rohan Lalith Aponso presented gifts to the child Upeksha Neluvinda in appreciation of answering the question posed using the knowledge he had accumulated by attentively listening to the sermons reflected by His Holiness The Apostle and to his parents for making him follow the path of the Dharma from a very young age
