After the feast of Easter, we are celebrating the feast of the Pentecost. It is the commemoration of the pouring down of the Spirit of the Risen Lord. Pentecost  is the turning-point in  the  salvation history. Luke describes the  mission  of  the church  and its inauguration (Lk 2:1-41). It is the era of the Spirit. Pentecost  inaugurates the era of the Church with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Originally, Pentecost was an agrarian feast of harvest (Nb 28:16; Ex  23:28).  It  was called the feast of  the  first-fruits  (HAG HASHABBUOTH) and was celebrated on the fiftieth day, seven  weeks after  the Passover. It was one of the three  pilgrimage  feasts, but  already in the Old Testament it became the feast of the  Law-giving  (or renewal) of the Covenant. Even at Qumran, it was the feast of the law and covenant of Essenes. It was called the feast of the oaths (HAG  HASHEBBUOTH). The  feast of the first-fruits became “feast of oaths“. Also, in orthodox Judaism, it became the feast of Law-giving or Covenant.

The main elements are sound  (v.2) and tongues of fire. The onlookers began to “speak in tongues” (v.4). Is  it xenolalia  (gift of foreign tongues) or glossolalia (“they  began to speak in other tongues“, v.4)? It is speaking in tongues, it is not to communicate, but to praise God.

The  feast of  Pentecost  commemorated  the Sinaitic Covenant, fifty days after leaving Egypt. An interesting rabbinical text from Exodus Rabbah shows how the Jews understood it:

“It  is said: ‘God thunders wondrously with His  voice’  (Jb 37:5).  What  does ‘God thundered’ mean? When God gave  Torah  on Mt.Sinai,  he  did for Israel great things with his  voice.  What happened? God spoke and his Voice resounded throughout the world, Israel  heard the Voice coming to them from the South:  they  ran South  to meet…”

According to a rabbinic  tradition  at the  promulgation of the Law, the Voice of God was heard  by  all nations, as we have already seen. It was divided into 70 languages, corresponding to the 70 peoples of the world. This  tradition is  recalled by the miracle of the “gift of tongues“.  Fire-like tongues rested on each of the disciples. This may be related to a Jewish  legend,  based on Ex 20:18: “All the people  ‘saw’  (perceived) the Voice, which came as a flame and was articulated into ordinary  speech“. The  association  “fire/word (or law)” is found  also  in  a Jewish  legend, according to which fire appeared on the  head  of famous Rabbis, engaged in the study and interpretation of the Law (eg.Rabbi  Johannan  said  that  Voice  of  God  split  into   70 tongues/voices,  so that the nations might understand. God  spoke on Sinai-(Horeb) like a thunder and his Voice resounded  throughout the world).

Today we are witnessing a revival of the charismatic movements. They help us to imbibe our Christian Faith for which we are grateful. The Church of the Holy Spirit brings today to our mind the work done by the missionaries. The Church of Margão was founded by the Jesuits in 1564. The church was destroyed by fire during the invasion by the Muslims in 1571. The present church building is the fifth one and was built in 1675.

The fair is useful for the provision (purument) during the rainy season. We need also provision for our values and courage during the difficult times that we are facing in India and in Goa: rampant corruption, criminality, thefts, murders, rapes, political gimmicks… May we witness to the human and Gospel values in the chaotic situation in which we are in Goa and India!

Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi was an Indian historian and Marxist. 

Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi (1907-1966) was the son of Dharmananda Damodar Kosambi. The father was a great scholar and professor of the Pali period of literature and Buddhist philosophy; and the son was a rare genius of unusual brilliance having mastery over many disciplines who re-wrote the socio-political history of India through scientific methods and logical deduction.  Thus, he liberated history from the clutches of myths. Born on July 31, 1907 in Goa, which was a colony of the Portuguese, Damodar was interested in India’s history and heritage. His father being a specialist in the Buddhist Era of Indian history, he too became sufficiently knowledgeable in the contribution of the Buddhist philosophy to Indian Culture. But his formal education and training was in Mathematics. At the age of 11, he accompanied his father to the USA, where his father was working with the Harvard University on Buddism. The young Damodar completed his schooling from the Cambridge Latin School and joined his father’s University from where he graduated in Mathematics, History and Languages. English, Greek, Latin, French and German were his favourites, along with Sanskrit, Pali and Persian, which he learned at the feet of his father. But his basic specialty remained with Mathematics, Statistics and Genetics. He returned to India and began teaching Mathematics in universities. But soon he realized that he could not limit his attention to mathematics and genetics, but the subjects, which he had been pursuing as hobbies, were to be taken up more seriously, especially the subjects, like ancient literature, history, languages and philosophy. One of his boyhood fancies, numismatics, came handy for the study into the distant past of his country. The study of money and coins helped him to discover some significant economic and fiscal developments engulfing the Maurya and Gupta ages of India’s ancient history. His analysis of the events in the socio-economic, cultural and even military fields led him to the discovery that the established historians of the land failed to see the significance of the economic factors in the course of history. It was this, which led him to Marxism and for direct experience of the Marxist doctrines he read the originals in French, German, Italian and English; and he found to his surprise that even the so-called Marxist historians were not able to bring out the basic facts behind societal changes. And it was what made him in later years to be an interpreter of historical forces and developments in a different and scientific point of view. For finding more time and space in his mind, he left the universities and joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, from where he resigned after a couple of years to devote his time and energy entirely for studies and research and for peace. But before realizing all his dreams, he died in his sleep in 1966, at the age of 59.

His deep study of Sanskrit and ancient Indian literature resulted in his classic work on the ancient poet, Bhartruhari, and he published critical editions of his Shatakatrayee and Subhashitas during 1945-1948. It was almost at this period that he became a Marxist. The Second World War made him an activist for the cause of peace, and he campaigned against the nuclearization of the world. He stood for alternative energy sources like solar power. And he travelled to Beijing, Moscow and Helsinki in his efforts towards the realization of peace in the world. But he did not forget his fascination for history and in 1956 he came out with his book, An Introduction to the Study of Indian History. A.L. Basham, eminent historian and a specialist on India, wrote about this book: “An Introduction to the Study of Indian History is in many respects an epoch-making work, containing brilliantly original ideas on almost every page; if it contains errors and misrepresentations, if now and then its author attempts to force his data into a rather doctrinaire pattern, this does not appreciably lessen the significance of this very exciting book, which has stimulated the thought of thousands of students throughout the world.”  Then came out Myth and Reality (1962), and a couple of other books on the history and culture of India, in his own unique style of analytical brilliance. He had left more than 150 works on the breath-takingly diverse fields of his interest like mathematics, electronics, history, literary studies, biology, energy, numismatics, philosophy and politics.

My acquaintance with the life of Fr.Joseph Vaz began in the Minor Seminary of Our Lady, Saligão-Pilerne, where “Academies of Fr.Joseph Vaz” were being organized, once a month: a speech, a kit, a song, a poem. Every Wednesday a hymn would be sung at the end of the Eucharistic service, reminding God of this great man and saint. It runs thus: “Ogonnit kakulltichea Deva, kiteak ravtai ozun pore¬ant, diinastona Bhogtak altaracho man, bhagoinastona hi amchi vhodd axa…?” This hymn would bring to our mind that Father Joseph Vaz is yet to be beatified/canonized. Now that Fr.Vaz has been already beatified by John Paul II, we should remind the Church authorities–as a matter of fact, John Paul II showed a lot of interest for the Cause–again and again that Fr.Vaz is to be canonized as soon as possible. Fifty years ago, the great Belgian missiologist, Fr.Pierre CHARLES, wrote of Joseph Vaz: He was “more than a hero”, “a symbol and a lesson”, “the perfect model of an apostle”. Born on April 21, 1651, Joseph Vaas (as he would artistically sign) was the third child of Christopher Vaz and Maria de Miranda. His father’s house was at Sancoale. His mother’s house was at Benaulim. He was born in Benaulim, where he was baptized on the eight day at the Parish Church of St.John the Baptist by its Jesuit Parish-priest, Fr.Jacinto Pereira. He was first enrolled in the elementary school at Sancoale, his paternal village. He was a model student: bright, attentive, diligent, obedient and loved by his classmates. When he grew up, his father sent him to the High School at Benaulim, where he could learn Latin in preparation for his priestly studies. Of all the children of the family (six in number), Joseph was the most lovable and the brightest. He was intelligent and practical, gentle and kind-hearted, patient, trustworthy, care¬ful, tolerant. He is the builder, the producer, an artist. His inner urge was to “produce”, and that too “on a larger scale”. Artistic bent of mind. Friendly and helpful. A remarkable memory. Man of principles, he would stick always to them, but he was also flexible. Whenever he would discover God’s Will for the good of the people, he would go forward, in spite of risks and sacrific¬es. Man of energy, more even full of inner strength, capable of hard physical labour. Quiet by nature and keen observer. Cau¬tious and conservative, but also adaptable and with bright ideas–inculturation. Very good in reconciling the people. He gave his time, energy and advice to the people. Emotionally mature, deep and lasting friendship. Faith in God, in his power. Prayerful. Liberal in giving alms to the needy; stable nervous system; cool and calm nature; illness was rare, though he was of frail health. Indefatigable and hard-working. Passion, ardour and tremendous will-power. Courageous and calm. With this type of make-up, he would be successful in life. He chose as a vocation to serve God as a priest, once he discovered that this was God’s call. Pious, endowed with a singu¬lar love for the poor. Desire to be unseen and unobserved in his piety and alms-giving. He had inherited the gravity of manners and earnestness from his father. His discernment was superior to his age. His love for study and inclination to virtue were re¬markable. Love for prayer. In his family, there was prayer and fixed time for spiritual reading. His greatest longing was to pray and work for the “conver¬sion of sinners”. Tender loving devotion to Mary to whom he of¬fered himself perpetually as a slave with his “Deed of Bondage”, written in 1677 (cf.Sebastião do Rego, Life of Ven.Fr.Joseph Vaz, book 2, ch.4, 3rd.ed., 1962, p.172). He would read spiritual books and lives of Saints. He manifested love for all, but in a particular way for the sick, the poor and the enemies. At a very young age he used to teach other children whatever he had learnt in the school. He would give a portion of his food to a poor beggar asking alms at his house. He was mortified and austere in his food habits. Seeing his rapid progress in studies, his father decided to send him to the city of Goa (Old Goa), to follow a course of Rhetoric and Humanities in the Jesuit College of St.Paul. He showed his singleness of purpose in becoming a priest. His source of strength was the Eucharist. He set his goal quite high, and never swerved from the path that leads to the attain¬ment of this goal. He was a man of good nature, of good charac¬ter, strongly cemented by God’s Grace through existential faith and prayer. In his life, we can see how Grace subsumes and radically transforms the human make-up through human and spiritual forma¬tion. His dreams were fulfilled through his tremendous faith in God’s Providence. “Digitus Dei est hic!” (‘God’s finger/power is here!’) could well be said at every step of his existence. After completing his humanistic studies at the College of St.Paul, Joseph joined the Academy of St.Thomas Aquinas, direct¬ed by the Dominicans, for his philosophical and theological studies. During this time, he stayed in the collegiate Church of Our Lady of the Rosary. After six years of studies, Joseph was ordained in 1676, at the age of 25, by the then newly appointed Archbishop of Goa, Dom António Brandão. After his ordination, he went to his home at Sancoale where he gave himself to prayer, preaching and assisting the parochial clergy. As a preacher, spiritual counselor and confessor he was often summoned to the capital city of Goa. He also opened a Latin school at Sancoale to help the aspirants for the priesthood, as well as to give good education to the youth. It was at this stage that the young priest discovered God’s call to work in the island of Ceylon through a Canon of the Cathedral of Old Goa (perhaps F. de Sardinha by name), who told him of the utter misery of the Catholics of Ceylon. Father Joseph dreamed of Ceylon and its transformation. With his servant John, he went to Jaffna, where he arrived half-dead with all the vagaries of time and place. In need of food and rest, they knocked at the doors of some people. At last, a lady allowed them to spend the night in a outside hut, near her house. Father Joseph was attacked with acute dysentery as a result of tiredness. People would shun this type of sick, so the neighbours took him in a litter and abandoned him in the forest without hope. John would beg, cook and feed his master. But he was also afflicted with dysentery. Father Vaz had deep, existential faith in God. God rewarded his trust: a lady, who had gone to collect wood for fire in the forest, gave them daily a bowl of canjee out of pity. After a few days, they were restored to health. Father Vaz was begging for food from door to door. With his Rosary on the neck, he came into contact with Catholics. Having been received well into one Catholic family, he asked them wheth¬er they would like to receive sacraments from a priest. Thus, he revealed gradually his priestly identity to them. An organizer, he founded the Congregation of St.Philip Neri in Goa. A conciliator, he was very prudent in his attitude to the conflict of jurisdiction between Propaganda and Padroado. An artist and actor, he disguised himself as a coolie-beggar. As a builder, he built 15 churches and 400 chapels, with schools and dispensaries or hospitals. As a Christian Yogi, he adapted him¬self to the people whom he served with remarkable detachment and humility. He was self-taught in Tamail and Singalese languages. As a man of God, he overcame politics with enlightened zeal. He refused bishopric, offered by Cardinal Tournon. A man for others, he served the sick people during epidemics. He lived heroically his option for the poor (soon after his priestly ordination, he has started going barefoot). Joseph Vaz was truly a man for others, a saint, a heroic missionary. May he be canonized as soon as possible!

Nasceu em Navelim, Salsete, Goa, em 31 de Maio de 1829. Formou-se pela Escola Médica de Goa. Foi poliglota, conhecendo francês, italiano, inglês, marata, além de português e concanim. Escrevia para o Boletim Oficial, bem como para os jornais Ultramar e Defensor da Verdade.

Quando em virtude da Carta Constitucional de 1826, o Estado da Índia ganhou o direito de representação nas Vortes, Francisco Luís Gomes candidatou-se pelo círculo eleitoral de Margão e foi eleito ao parlamento protuguês em 1860. Ele foi eleito doutor honoris causa em ciêncuias políticas e socais, pela Universidade de Lovaina. Faleceu em 1869.

Lutou pelos direitos humanos dos humildes, dos escravos, dos pretos da África. Escreveu no seu Essai sur la Théorie de l’Économie Politique : « Dans son activité extérieure, l’homme accomplit des actes qyui ont pour but la conservation et l’amélioration de sa vie, er pour mobile, l’intérêt personnel. Il résulte de ce que nous avons dit, que les lois qui regisssent ces actes ne peuvent pas être contraires à celles de la morale et du droit ».

Escreveu o romance Os Brahâmanes. O objectivo primário foi proclamar a liberdade, igualdade e fraternidade sob a iluminação da religião cristã. Veremos o enredo do romance…

Em 1842 foi criada a Escola Médico-Cirúrgica. Em 1854 foi fundada a Escola Normal bem como o Liceu Nacional de Nova Goa.

O advento da República em 1910 marcou uma nova fase de desenvolvimento do ensino em Goa. Criaram-se vinte escolas de português nas Novas Conquistas, uma escola de marata em Sanquelim, uma de guezerate em Nagar-Aveli, mais escolas nas Velhas Conquistas.

A Imprensa periódica e a Evolução do Jornalismo

Foi no ano 1556 que se estableceu em Goa a primeira tipografia, segundo a técnica inventada por Johann Gutenberg. Esse foi o primeiro prelo em toda a Índia. Os pioneiros neste campo, os missionarios jesuítas, tinham em mira propagar pela palavra escrita os ensinamentos da fe cristã. Os Solilóquios Divinos que datam de 1640 e a terceira edição do Purana de 1654 foram as últimas publicações dessas tipografias no século XVII.

Os historiadores notam um hiato em matéria de quaisquer publicações eventualmente saídas dos prelos de Goa, entre os anos de 1654 e 1657, ano em que uma ordem enviada em nome de el-rei pelo Secretário de Estado, Diogo de Mendonca Corte Real, proibiu estabelecer qualquer imprensa « não só particular mas ainda nos conventos, colégios our qualquer outra comunidade por mais privilegiada que seja » (Cunha Rivara, O Cronista de Tissuari, vol2, p.95). Em 1821 a Junta Provisional mandou vir de Bombaim uma tipografia e foi desta que saiu o primeiro jornal oficial Gazeta de Goa que, « além de documentos oficiais, inseria algumas informações da metrópole e do estrangeiro que de qualquer maneira chegassem à Índia ». A partir do ano 1838—ano em que saiu A Biblioteca de Goa, o primeiro jornal literário—começaram a vir a lume várias publicações dedicadas às belas-letras. Seguiram o Enciclopédico, o Compilador, o Mosaico, a Revista Ilustrativa, o Vergel, o Tirocínio Literário; de 1846 a 1848 O Gabinete Literário das Fontaínhas, A Harmonia, O Recreio das Damas, A Harpa do Mandovi, Goa Sociável e a Ilustração Goana. Com a fundação do Instituto Vasco da Gama por Tomás Ribeiro, em 22 de Novembro de 1871, expandiu-se a vida cultural de Goa. Publicaram-se várias revistas literárias, tais como Álbum Literário em 1875, sob a direcção do Padre Narciso Arcanjo Fialho e António Felix Pereira, a Estreia Literária, O Divan Literário. O Ultramar foi o primeiro semnário que veio em 6 de Abril de 1859, sob a direcção de Bernardo Francisco da Costa. Dois anos mais tarde, em 1861, um outro semanário A Índia Portuguesa começou a ser publicado sob a responsabilidade redactorial de Manuel Lourenço de Miranda Franco. O primeiro jornal diário, O Heraldo, foi publicado em 1900, fundado por Aleixo Clemente Messias Gomes. Em 21 de Maio de 1908 António Maria da Cunha que tinha sido director de O Heraldo de 1902 a 1908, lançava um outro diário Heraldo cujo redactor efectivo era o general-médico José Maria da Costa Àlvares. Este diário deixou de ser publicado em 1962.

Em 1 de Dezembro de 1919 apareceu o Diário da Noite, fundado por Luís de Menezes que o dirigiu até 1950, ano em que, por motivo de doença, a sua direcção passou para António de Menezes. Este periódico, o primeiro e o único jornal da tarde, viveu até 1967. O diário A Vida, fundado em 1938 por Sales da Veiga Coutinho, Pedro Correia Afonso, Francisco Correia Afonso, António Colaço, A.F.Peregrino da Costa, marcou no meio social e intellectual de Goa até 1967. Este escol de homens de letras começara, em 1925, a publicar o Suplemento mensal do Heraldo que, em 1931, se transformou no Heraldo dos Domingos.

Luís Menezes de Bragança (1878-1938) batia-se pelas ideias do progresso e da República no Nacionalista e nos semanários O Debate e Pracasha.

Einstein’s many contributions to physics include his special theory of relativity, which reconciled mechanics with electromagnetism, and his general theory of relativity, which was intended to extend the principle of relativity to non-uniform motion and to provide a new theory of gravitation. His other contributions include advances in the fields of relativistic cosmology, capillary action, critical opalescence, classical problems of statistical mechanics and their application to quantum theory, an explanation of the Brownian movement of molecules, atomic transition probabilities, the quantum theory of a monatomic gas, thermal properties of light with low radiation density (which laid the foundation for the photon theory), a theory of radiation including stimulated emission, the conception of a unified field theory, and the geometrization of physics.

Einstein published over 300 scientific works and over 150 non-scientific works. In 1999 Time magazine named him the “Person of the Century“. In wider culture the name “Einstein” has become synonymous with genius.

The service took place during the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Speaking at the end of the Service, the Cardinal said, “I have been delighted to be a President of Churches Together in England over the last nine years and am proud of the work we have done to bring Christians of all denominations together.”

Reflecting on a past sermon in which he said that the three enemies of ecumenism were  suspicion, inertia and impatience, he said: “If you were to say to me what was one of the gifts that has happened to all Christians here in England over these past 30-40 years, I think I would say that it has been the overcoming between Christians of suspicion, inertia and impatience.”

The Cardinal has been a President of CTE since he became Archbishop of Westminster in March 2000. His previous ecumenical work included serving as Joint Chairman of ARCIC II (Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, Second Phase) from 1983-2000.

Benedict XVI at Lambeth Palace:

Though the method is at work throughout the Systematic Theology, it finds its most explicit formulation in the introduction to that work:

Theology formulates the questions implied in human existence, and theology formulates the answers implied in divine self-manifestation under the guidance of the questions implied in human existence. This is a circle which drives man to a point where question and answer are not separated. This point, however, is not a moment in time.